It all begins when I stumble upon a dating app, searching for connections in a foreign land. Fate intervenes as I match with Anthony, a guy who is set to embark on his own exchange journey in just two weeks. Knowing that our time together is limited...
"It's crazy, but do you want to meet now?" I can't believe I said yes to this, to a guy I just matched with on Tinder for about five minutes. It started with a random "Hi" that I sent, and now I'm on my way to meet this man, who could be a psychopath, a weirdo, or even worse, a serial killer.
It's just about two weeks since I arrived in mid-August. I'm an exchange student who came all the way to Lille, France, for a semester. After five months, I'll be going back to finish my last semester in college. The guy I'm meeting, named Anthony, is also an exchange student who will be leaving for Japan in two weeks for a year-long exchange program. That's why we're meeting so soon—we don't have much time to see each other.
When I arrive at the designated meeting place, the Museum of Beaux-arts, I spot a guy who looks like the man in the picture, looking at me. He's good-looking, almost the same as his Tinder profile, but a little shorter than I expected. He sees me and walks towards me with a smile. "Hi!" he waves his hand and greets me, still taller than me. "Hi!" I greet back with a lovely smile, feeling relieved. This man looks nice, although it's still too soon to judge a person. He could still be a serial killer.
"Where do you want to go?" Anthony asks. "We can go anywhere; I'm not familiar with this city." I joke about it. "Okay, we can..." Anthony looks around, thinking about where we should go, "have a drink in the city center?" He asks, with a look of uncertainty, as if he wants to make sure I'm okay with the idea. "Sure, it sounds like a good idea."
"I have to tell you, to be honest," Anthony starts a conversation as we walk. "I didn't expect you to say yes when I asked you out."
"I did hesitate," I laugh. "I thought you might be a weirdo because you said yes so fast."
"I felt the same. You could be a weird girl or a killer," he says, giving me a naughty smile.
"Maybe I am..." I give him a playful smile in return. "Or maybe I am."
"So I was about to leave. I was about to take the train at Gare Lille Flandres. Because I wasn't expecting you to say yes, and when you did," he pauses, looking into my eyes, "I left the station immediately and came here. It was crazy."
I give him an incredulous look. "No way, this is crazy."
"Yeah, it's so crazy. You're crazy too for saying yes to me," he jokes.
"I hope you don't regret it," I say.
"I hope you don't regret it either."
"So far, I don't regret it," I laugh, and we both share a laugh. Suddenly, Anthony's face freezes.
"Oh shit," he says.
"What's wrong?" I ask, scanning the surroundings, trying to figure out what's happened to our date.
"It's my friend."
"Your friend? Where?"
"There!" he points, but I still can't see the person he's referring to.
"The Korean girl. I just had lunch with her and told her I was going back home, and damn, she finds me here now," Anthony explains, looking embarrassed, not because of being seen with me, but because he was caught lying.
"I have to talk to her," he says.
"Okay, no problem," I say, letting him go to talk to the girl. I stand next to him, listening to the language I don't understand yet.
"Okay, I'm done," Anthony returns with a laugh on his face. "This is a small city," he chuckles, explaining.
"What did you say to her?" I ask.
"Just explaining what happened," he replies.
"I'm lucky I don't know many people here," I say to Anthony, but in the next moment, I freeze too.
"Oh shit, it's my friends." It's my friend, Edward, whom I had lunch with a few hours ago. I told him I had to go back and do my homework, which I've already completed, so it wasn't a lie, but it still feels awkward. Eddie sees me and gives me a wicked smile. I look at Anthony and find him frozen once again.
"It's my friend again... another friend," he says.
"Oh my god, what a small world," I can't help but laugh, and Anthony joins in.
We arrive at a bar I've never been to before, but it looks pretty nice. "What do you want to drink?" Anthony asks as we sit down.
"Ugh... the same as you," I reply. I'm not a fan of beer, and the beer here is very different from what I'm used to in my hometown. There are so many options and choices here, and it always overwhelms me when it comes to ordering.
"Ah... red beer?" Anthony suggests. "It's sweet and very typical for French people."
"Okay," I smile at him, and he returns the smile, ordering in French from the waiter.
The whole conversation flows smoothly. We talk about our exchange experiences, travel, habits, and more. It feels so nice, something I didn't expect when I agreed to this date. "It's crazy, but do you want to go to the party with me later?" I blurt out. I thought it would be a two-hour date, but something chemistry-wise happened, and now I want to spend more time with this guy.
"Ugh..." Anthony looks hesitant. "Usually, I would say yes," he begins. "But?"
"I told you I was ready to go back to my parent's house. I have an apartment here, but I was planning to go home," he explains. I can see he's considering it. He does want to go with me, so I put on my 'that girl look.' I don't usually resort to this, but I know it works, so I hope it does this time. "Alright, you've convinced me," he finally says. "Damn, you're dangerous. I can't resist you. How?" He smiles, clearly happy with his decision. I smile back, pleased that my secret weapon worked.
"We still have time before the party," I say. We have over two hours left before the party starts, but we've already spent a few hours at the bar and finished our drinks. "Should we go somewhere else and maybe grab a bite before the party?" Anthony suggests after paying for the beer.
"Okay," I agree. We walk out of the bar, and naturally, we hold each other's hands, as if we've been together for a month already. It's not awkward at all; it just happens. Anthony leads me to a small convenience store where he grabs a small baguette for dinner. Then we head to a park near the city center.
"Let's sit there," he points to a bench in the park. We find a spot and sit down to talk. The conversation shifts to deeper topics—family, past relationships—and then circles back to how crazy we are right now and how he couldn't resist my invitation. And suddenly, the air becomes still, time stops. Our eyes meet, our lips draw closer, and in an instant, the two people who met just a few hours ago share a passionate kiss. It happens so fast yet feels so natural, as if nobody else exists in the park but the two of us. Moreover, it doesn't feel like a fleeting desire for a one-night kiss.
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