1:22:49 AM Friend: i feel like bedtime stories should have happy endings

1:22:53 AM Friend: and maybe some element of magic

1:23:07 AM EccentricIguana: Okay here's a good one that relates to me and you and yesterday

1:23:11 AM Friend: k

1:23:21 AM EccentricIguana: It's got a justifiable ending. Not necessarily happy...

1:23:58 AM EccentricIguana: Last year, as I was working on The Comedy of Errors at my school as a Dresser I walked by a guy who was in the same building as me

1:24:27 AM EccentricIguana: We smiled at each other and for the first time in my life I'd smiled at another guy and could tell he was openly flirting with me with his eyes

1:24:33 AM EccentricIguana: not that casual look

1:24:40 AM EccentricIguana: like is he checking me out or not

1:24:44 AM EccentricIguana: It was full on

1:25:11 AM EccentricIguana: I said hello in my awkward way and we both laughed nervous. I found out he was a music major studying the Viola

1:25:24 AM EccentricIguana: I told him I had to go work on my play and perhaps I'd see him around

1:25:52 AM EccentricIguana: Low and behold I found out he had herhersals in the next theater over and while I was dressing the actors he came and said hello

1:26:39 AM EccentricIguana: We talked, I nervous as I often am and him too. We chatted and I learned he was a Violist and I was a dresser...not an actor...My friend working with me was in love with the idea I met someone.

1:27:24 AM EccentricIguana: The next day in a class in the same building I was telling people this funny story of my new "boyfriend" as I jokingly called him (it was a small class of about 6 people and we are all close as classmates can be, I often told stories to entertain them).

1:27:35 AM EccentricIguana: I told them how I kept bumping into this kid and it must be fate

1:28:07 AM EccentricIguana: And about 20 minutes after this story he somehow found my
class and popped his head in to say hello everyone laugh and I was immidately smitten

1:28:53 AM EccentricIguana: The fflirting went on as the weeks continue until the last day of my show and the last day of his as well. He lives in Prospect Heights and was telling me about his dogs and I said I would like to meet these dogs.

1:29:11 AM EccentricIguana: This is before I lived here...keep that in mind. I'd literally just looked at my apartment

1:29:18 AM EccentricIguana: So anyway....

1:30:13 AM EccentricIguana: I met up and met his two adorable dogs, one of which had lost it's leg to Cancer and was the bravest dog I'd ever seen. We chatted, I found out he was older and owned his apartment. Me being in my sad state at the time felt jealous, but didn't necessarily mind

1:30:27 AM EccentricIguana: we went to dinner and chatted more. Then came my fatal mistake

1:30:49 AM Friend: haha

1:31:30 AM EccentricIguana: We sat down and talked at his apartment after dinner. This is why I was nervous to tell you my story because especially at this time I was in the height of it all. It was all on the edge of ending and he asked why my year could've been so bad...and like a damn overflowing I spilled everything

1:32:08 AM EccentricIguana: As I spoke I kept thinking, "You're a fool telling him this...stop talking..." Chelsea, scabies, staph infection, all of it came out. Smiling the whole while.

1:33:08 AM EccentricIguana: I could tell he was shocked and I felt absolutely defeated by the end (as I did a little yesterday) and decided it was time to go my way and say goodbye. He walked me to the door and I went to give him a hug. to my utter surprise he pulled me in and proceeded to kiss me passionately on the lips

1:33:35 AM EccentricIguana: I pulled away sort of confused, but totally loving what happened, as he pulled me in for another kiss

1:34:02 AM EccentricIguana: A coy smile and a soft goodbye from him I walked away from his door floating...I even got on the train but it was going the wrong way...

1:34:16 AM EccentricIguana: The story should end here, it's almost done, but it doesn't

1:34:44 AM Friend: : )

1:35:04 AM EccentricIguana: He never spoke to me again. A common trait that has happened to me many times in my life. Something I really don't enjoy, but it happens always at the right time to remind you that people will do this sort of thing

1:35:51 AM EccentricIguana: I called him a couple of times and left a couple of voicemails and decided it must've been what I originally thought. My insanity was too much, and he probably just wanted the kiss to at least know what it was like, but not have to commit to anything REALLY.

1:36:35 AM EccentricIguana: For months, the entire summer I was upset about it. Why would he do such a thing? Kiss me so passionately and never return a call. I didn't even initiate the kiss, he did!

1:36:43 AM Friend: right!

1:36:51 AM Friend: so confusing : (

1:36:59 AM EccentricIguana: Low and behold I move to his neighborhood, right down the street from where we went to dinner

1:38:07 AM EccentricIguana: I saw my friend who was in love with the whole event after the summewr and told her what happened, I ended with, "I just want to know...I just want to ask him...what did I do. I'd like to know for future reference. I am holding out for when I see him on the subway." She told me that's not likely to happen...I said you're right and put it away in my mind...

1:38:19 AM EccentricIguana: Epilogue: Last Tuesday

1:38:50 AM EccentricIguana: I was coming home from school after my China Orientation, just
having arrived back from New Orleans only a few hours earlier

1:40:16 AM EccentricIguana: I was getting off the Subway and I see the boy. I swallow my nervousness and call out his name. He turns and smiles, I smile to him and say hello. How have you been? That usual answer of busy. Oh so have I, I'm going to China soon...and without missing a beat I asked him, "What happened? Why didn't you ever call me back?"

1:41:48 AM EccentricIguana: I was surprised with my own forwardness. Something I'm not really that known to do, voice my feelings like that....He said he got busy and wasn't man enough to call and let me know. I replied with, "It's okay if you think I'm crazy. I just wanna know if I scared you away with that story. I kicked myself afterwards. That was a lot that you didn't need to know." I basically rambled, but it was what I needed to say.

1:42:10 AM EccentricIguana: I have no doubt in my mind I'll never hear from him again. But that confortation was one of the proudest moments of my life...

1:43:12 AM EccentricIguana: I know that I'm changing because I was able to do something like that, years ago I would've said hello and pretended that nothing happened and hoped we'd reconnect. I know I'm changing because of this little encounter. And for that I'm sort of glad.

1:43:14 AM EccentricIguana: The End

1:43:53 AM Friend: craig

1:44:06 AM EccentricIguana: yea

1:44:27 AM Friend: give me your forehead

1:44:39 AM EccentricIguana: huh?

1:44:53 AM EccentricIguana: what do you want to do with it?

1:45:00 AM Friend: i'm going to kiss it goodnight