I sat there staring at my computer screen, the evening’s events replaying in my mind like a movie I had only half paid attention to. This was crazy, wasn’t it? Surely I was grasping at straws. What were the chances my idea could actually work? It was like picking up a lottery ticket and thinking it was a winner. Sure, there were some winners, but what were the odds mine was?

In my mind’s eye, I saw my spare hand reaching past the one grasped by Namjoon - or RapMonster as I had always referred to him when talking with my sister, Alice - handing him the envelope with the letter I had written him and the video message I had recorded. I saw the polite, slightly curious smile as he took it, giving me a grateful nod and setting it beside him before making a little idle small-talk. I saw Alice and I moving down the line, gathering smiles and greetings and autographs from each member of the group, and even hugs from J-Hope as he teased us good-naturedly for the laughter he had heard from their leader. I saw Alice stepping onto her train, waving as I blinked back tears at the all too short get-together ending already. But work was calling, and the four hour journey home wasn’t one she could have put off until the morning.

I was startled out of my reverie by the beep of a text message from my phone and smiled as I picked it up, preparing a lecture for her at the waste of valuable sleeping time on the train. The smile soon turned to a confused frown, though, as I saw that the message was from an unfamiliar number.

“Hi Robin” it read, “How are you this evening?” I paused, unsure whether to respond, before curiosity got the better of me.

“I’m fine. You?” I texted back. The response was almost instantaneous.

“Much better now :)”

I felt a tinge of pink colour my cheeks, then shook my head. What was wrong with me? Yes, it was a nice thing to say, but I didn’t know who the hell this person was!

“That’s good to hear :) Who is this?”

“That’s a surprise ;) You can call me...Pikachu for now”

I was officially weirded out. What the hell kind of name was Pikachu?

“Well, in that case, you can call me Strawberry Shortcake” I texted back, almost immediately regretting the comeback as I saw the icon show my new penpal was already typing.

“Is that because you’re so sweet?”

I could virtually hear my stomach turn over at the cheesiness.

“Nope, I’m as bitter as they come. Can I at least know if you’re a guy or a girl?”

“I’m shiny”

My head connected with my desk, partly at the lame response and partly at the fact that I actually understood it.

“I didn’t ask your rarity, I asked your gender. Keep up :P”

“Feisty. Glad to see it’s not just show. I’m a guy. Yours if you want ;)”

I literally threw my phone on my bed, jumping up and scurrying around my room doing an ‘oh my God there’s a spider on me!’ kind of ‘dance’. No. Just no. I didn’t care how long it had been since I had had a date, I was not going to just randomly start dating a complete stranger. I had standards. I had morals. ….I had a brain! I stopped and stared at my phone for a moment before reaching out for it as though it might burn me if I wasn’t careful. Just as my hand touched it, it beeped again. I jumped back, then snatched it, reading the new message.

“Too far? Lol sry. Forgive me?”

“I suppose. Don’t scare me like that!”

“Aww! But you’re so cute when you’re scared”

Now I was really creeped out. How did this person know if I was cute when I was scared? Wait. I grinned. He clearly didn’t know me.

“Liar. I’m not cute EVER. So HA! You just gave yourself away. You don’t know me, do you?”

“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t know your name, would I?  Or that you have beautiful eyes, and a dimple on one cheek that shows up when you’re shy.”

I stared at the phone, then slowly turned to look in the mirror. I thought of a situation when I might be shy and made the expression I knew I always seemed to have. Sure enough, there it was. Holy crap. I was about to start typing again when another message arrived.

“Anyway, shouldn’t you be in bed, princess?”

I scowled. A button had been pushed.

“I dunno if we’ll ever talk again, but let me make one thing clear. Do not. EVER. Call me princess. Got it?”

The phone was silent for a full minute before the screen lit up, a series of messages coming through in quick succession.

“Got it”

“I’m sorry”

“I’m guessing that’s got some bad meaning behind it”

“I won’t call you that again, but please don’t stop talking to me”

“Can I call you my angel? Or my butterfly? I promise to behave”

I raised an eyebrow. He actually sounded contrite. Cheesy, but contrite. I smiled a little as I typed a response.

“Only if I can call you dork”

“Deal! ^^ Goodnight angel!”

I stared at the phone as I set it on my bed, wondering if I should have just ignored the message. I’d changed my number not long ago, and the only person I knew in a social way that had it was Alice. So who was this guy?

Shutting off my computer, mind still reeling at what had happened, I showered and changed for bed, plugging in my phone to charge and setting it on my nightstand before checking everything in my room was in order and shutting off the light. With one final glance at the phone screen, I shut my eyes defiantly and rolled over, determined to put the last few minutes out of my mind. There was no way I could carry on talking to this guy. He was a total stranger, and probably a creep. Wasn’t he?

What was I getting myself into?