Jasmine & Elijah: a Catfish Story

Chapter One: Excuses

It was a regular Friday evening when Elijah Lee messaged me on Facebook. I had recently accepted his friend request because when you're seventeen, you add just about anyone so long as they look decently unsuspicious. His first message was a simple "hey", but that wasn't enough to convince me of replying. It took a second attempt, which read, "you're so beautiful" to pull a response out of me.

Elijah Lee: hey
you're so beautiful

Jasmine Cruz: Thanks! But do I know you?

Elijah Lee: no, but we should work on that :)

Jasmine Cruz: Oh, really?

Elijah Lee: definitely. tell me about yourself jas :)

At first, he seemed like a typical slimy teenager looking to get laid, but that quickly changed. Elijah turned out to be everything I was looking for in a guy. Intelligent, funny, sweet, dorky, and extremely handsome. He was never afraid to message me first or send me long, romantic messages that made my stomach erupt in butterflies. He also loved to send me a variety of selfies, most of which were made to make me laugh but sometimes made my heart skip a few beats.

We quickly discovered a lengthy list of interests we had in common, including a deep love for baking shows and a desire to travel the world. Elijah loved the idea of spending our lives abroad together and never really settling down until we reached old age. We spent countless hours discussing our travel plans and developing a route that would carry us around the globe through the greatest of places. Wandering the planet with Elijah became a dream of mine that eventually turned into a dream to simply spend life with the man I met over Facebook.

It took about a month of texts and calls before Elijah boldly confessed his feelings for me over the phone. "I really, really like you, Jasmine. You're unlike any girl I've ever met, and I can't imagine not having ever messaged you. You are just incredible."

Elijah's confession hit me like Cupid's arrow. My feelings for him had been stirring for the previous weeks, but having verbal confirmation set everything into motion. That night I told Elijah that I liked him too, without hesitation, and allowed myself to reveal the feelings I'd been withholding. He explained to me that he'd been crushing on me since we first talked and that his feelings had only grown since then. I told him about the butterflies I felt as I first heard his voice on the phone. Everything seemed to come together that night, and I found myself happier than I'd been in a long time.

Several months passed and me and Elijah's relationship transformed without me even recognizing it. Elijah had become 'Babe' in my phone, a picture of him had replaced my previous wallpaper, and our discussions had transitioned from innocent flirting to serious talk about the future. We talked about a wedding and getting married and about the number of kids we were hoping for. We also discussed our future jobs and how we would work around them for our travel plans. Elijah promised to apply to the same colleges as me and swore that he'd get a dorm right next to my own. The escalation of our relationship seemed sudden yet natural at the same time. It became something that I never could've expected.

At the eight-month mark of our relationship, I finally came to terms with the fact that I desired something new out of our relationship. After countless hours on the phone and text messages between the two of us, I realized that what I really needed was to see Elijah face-to-face. Pictures had allowed me to know what he looked like, but they didn't nearly compensate for my growing need to see him in motion. Before then, I'd been nervous about bringing up video-chatting to Elijah because there was so much safety in avoiding the subject. However, eight months had me feeling secure enough in our relationship to finally mention it with the expectation of a 'yes'.