County Falls

Chapter 11: Internet Dating

It was a cool, fall afternoon when my mom came in to my room with a laptop in hand. October was almost over but the leaves were just starting to change colors. It was definitely my favorite time of the year to wander outside and take photos of the changing season, but with my loss of inspiration and the nagging school deadlines, I had to spend it indoors with a pile of college applications and essays. I stared at my mother as she grabbed my desk chair and pulled it around to my bedside.

"What are you doing?" I asked. I was forced to scoot over when she laid the laptop next to me.

"I'm think its time for me to start dating." She blurted out. My eyes widened. I was not expecting this. My mom and I have discussed her meeting new people and making new friends before, men mostly, but she always brushed the idea off, claiming she was too busy with work to go out, so you can imagine my surprise when she opened the browser to a singles website.

"You're going to date online?!"

"How else am I supposed to meet men?" She asked me like the answer was obvious.

"Isn't there a hot doctor at work that you can ask out? Dr. Amaro is looking pretty cute these days."

"Thats sweet hun. I'll tell his husband you said that."

Now I was even more surprised. She scrolled through the website and finally clicked on the "make your profile" section.

"This site was recommended to me by a coworker. Its specifically made for single parents. I think it would be nice to have that in common and if they have teenagers like you, that would work out even better."

"Are you sure about this? I hear some crazy things about online dating."

"Well I wont know until I try but if you don't want me to do this Kai, I wont."

I thought about this for a bit, of course I wanted my mom to be happy but was it possible to find happiness on a singles website?

"If you're sure about this then its fine with me. Now, where do we start?"

We sat there for hours working on her profile and the questionnaire. The questions were simple at first: what are your hobbies, profession etc. But the further we went the more personal the questions got.

"Fetishes? Is that really a question?" I grabbed the computer from my mother to skim the rest. "You are not answering these. This will just attract the creepy men and we don't want them replying to your profile." Luckily, she agreed.

When that was all done it was time to upload a picture for the main page.

"What do you think of this one?"

my mom opened a picture of her from the 80's, complete with acid wash jeans and big hair. I made a face.

"That picture is ancient" I told her. "And you don't even look like that anymore, thank god." I rifled through the rest of the photos. "What about this one?" I showed her a picture that I took from our trip last year to the grand canyon. It was of her standing out by the edge, her hands in her pockets and her hair was blowing in the wind. She had a wide smile on her face and her eyes shone with excitement. It was one of my favorite pictures that I'd ever taken.

"That one is perfect!" She uploaded it right away and hit the publish button. There was no turning back.

"Now what do we do?" I asked.

"We wait. Thanks for your help hun." She kissed the top of my head and left my room.

I must of fallen asleep shortly after because when I woke up, the sun was just setting. My applications were still sprawled all over my bed and I had to check the mirror for any ink stains that might've rubbed off on my face. A familiar tapping came at the window and I turned to see Jason perched on my rooftop. Because of our busy schedules, we hadn't been able to spend time with one another. At school he was always busy with the team and since Justin and I became official, he would pick me up from school and walk me to my classes. The only time I saw him now was when he would come through my window a once a week. Looking at him, I realized just how much I had missed him.

"Whats with all the papers?" he grabbed one and laid on my bed.

"They're my college applications. I was working on them all day."

Jase continued to go through them, occasionally stopping and nodding his head.

"You're applying to CU?" I snatched the paper from his hand. That particular application was the one I didn't want him to see. CU was one of Jason's top schools because of their stellar football team. I didn't want him to think that I was applying because of him.

"It makes sense to apply there. Its close to home and their art program is one of the best in the state. Seth said he would write me a recommendation if I needed one. Apparently he has some contacts within the program." My hands fumbled clumsily as I waited to hear his response. He must of noticed this because he took my hand and pulled me to sit on the bed.

"I think it would be amazing if we went to the same school. It would mean I get to bother you for another 4 years." I smacked him and he chuckled. "What else is going on?"

"Well, today I helped my mom with her online dating profile." Jase's face mirrored mine when I first heard the news. I let out a small laugh. "Yeah, she wants to start dating."

"You're ok with this?"

"I am, actually. I think its time for her to get out there. I don't want her to be alone, especially when I leave for school."

"Good point. I want her to be happy too." I knew he meant it. He was just as protective of her as he was of me and that meant everything to me.

After he kicked off his shoes, Jase proceeded to ask me more questions about what else was new. I told him that life was gloriously boring. Lauren was still stalking Brian, which he was well aware of. Aidan was preparing for his swim meets and Justin was meeting my mom next weekend. This news seemed to grab his attention.

"She hasn't met him yet?"

"Nope. I was waiting for the right time. It's only been a month since we made it official, I wasn't going to introduce him if he was going to bail."

"You think he will?"

"Who knows? Anything could happen. I know he likes me but what if he gets bored?"

"Then he dies."

This time I pinched him on the arm. "Jase quit threatening my boyfriend." He visibly cringed when I said that.

"Sorry, still getting use to it." He relaxed and pulled me in to his arm and started rubbing my head. "Theres no way anyone could get bored of you Kaia. Justin is really in to you, I can tell. Stop worrying about it and have fun." I nodded and yawned in to his chest. After a minute more of rubbing my head, just when I was about to fall asleep again, Jase moved me from his shoulder and got up.

"I gotta go. Ill see you at school." He climbed through the window and I laid back down thinking his visit was just too short.

I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, if so, please vote and comment. Thank you so much for your support!