Dirty Law

At last Scarred responded and I clicked out of his bare profile. “You sounded like you could use a little Dostoyevsky. I assume you’re getting a lot of dick pics right now, too. So, you could definitely use some Dosto.”

I smiled. “No dick picks yet…wait.” I looked at the app’s notification center and saw a picture. “Never mind.”

“Saying sex on the internet is like yelling free beer at Oktoberfest,” Scarred replied.

I smiled, leaning back on my couch. “I’ve learned my lesson!” I saw three little dots appear in the text box which let me know the person on the other end of the computer was typing and I waited patiently for their response. For the first time in months I wasn’t wary, I was excited.

Conversation with Scarred

Scarred: “So, internet noob, what’s your favorite book?”

RecklessDream: “Asking me to pick my favorite book is like asking me to pick my favorite child.”

Scarred: “Parents do that all the time. Mine did. Look, I’ll go first. Huckleberry Finn.”

RecklessDream: “Really? I liked Huck Finn but I’ve never heard anyone say it was their favorite.”

Scarred: “What? An entire generation said it was their favorite and declared it was a classic.”

RecklessDream: “Touché.”

Scarred: “You’re not getting away that easily.”

RecklessDream: “Who me?”

Scarred: “What’s your favorite book?”

RecklessDream: “Dandelion Wine.”

Scarred: “And I’m the weirdo for liking Huck Finn.”

RecklessDream: “It’s like distilled happiness. Family and summer and sunshine condensed into a couple hundred pages.”

Scarred: “I’ll have to check it out.”

RecklessDream: “You’re making fun of me and you’ve never read it?”

Scarred: “If I promise to read Dandelion Wine, you have to promise to do something for me.”

RecklessDream: “Depends…”

Scarred: “Give me your name.”

RecklessDream: “You can call me Dandelion.”

Scarred: “Fine then, until I know your real name, you can call me Huck.”

RecklessDream: “Deal.”

We talked for a few more minutes about nothing; it was nice to talk about nothing. My months had been filled with drama and tragedy, so it was refreshing to talk about simple, silly things. Once we ended the conversation, I changed my alias on the website to Dandelion permanently. I noticed that Scarred also changed his handle, to Huck.

It was times like these that I wished I still had my best friend. Sure, I wanted my best friend for the rough times. It would have been nice to have someone to hold me while I cried. Honestly, though, what I really wanted was someone to talk to about boys and to scream hysterically with over silly things.

Effie Betancourt had been that person. I could tell her the most inane, silly thing and she would get just as excited as I did. Found a nail polish named “Rachel Green”? She would freak out too and demand we cancel everything to give each other pedicures, no matter how hideous the color.

Now, after talking to Huck on Secrets, I wanted Effie back. I wanted someone to be excited with. For the first time in months I was excited about something, and the only person I had was Raskol.

“And you’re a dog,” I said. He cocked his head slightly at my words. I smiled, picking him up. “You’re a great dog, Raskol, but sometimes I wonder if you even understand me.” Raskol jumped off and ran to pick up his toy, a look of triumph on his face.