Then & Now

You know, I never expected this to happen. It was kind of a joke that Dean and I got together anyway. 

We'd been friends on this gaming site. Not sure how we hit it off. It was nothing big. I think it all started with "Spam". I thought we were talking about, um, online "spam", but he was talking about the sliced up stuff in a jell that so many Asians stock up on. I'd never had it.

Back then, I thought he was maybe somebody from BTS. He liked K-dramas. I liked K-drama. Imagine a guy loving K-dramas! Yeah, I should have known there was a catch.

Dean is not Asian. Of course, our next step was on the phone. A lot. We could barely stand it. You know, not really being face-to-face. I felt like he was my whole world. 

My dad did not like that. I was too young to be this serious. "I'm not in high school anymore," I had wailed about the matter. After all, nothing had worked out. I ended up at a daycare. Ugh. But now I know it could have been worse, and sometimes, I feel toddlers know me better than adults. Strange how you never knew these things until later.

So yeah, virgin me made the big move to Denver. Of course, the only person who told me not to go was my high school mate and math tutor, Wade Woo, who begged me not to go. I didn't know he even liked me. Well, I didn't listen, and he went off to a better University, but I said I'd keep in touch. His last words before I left were, "You better write me." Of course, I never got an address.

Life was good, but not completely. It was a start of lot of hugs and doing things together. We didn't have a relationship right away. But we had our own place. He worked in IT support at a big company, and of course, I got on at a day care and took online classes. Didn't see my parents until the Christmas I decided to drive home alone. 

Yes, that was the biggest hiccup with Dean's family, me having his old car. It had a lot of problems, but I got to drive his newer car, and I saw all sorts of weather patterns between Colorado and Illinois. It was a wick drive with wind and rain, then snow and ice. Yeah, I was a real champ by the time I got there, and home just wasn't home anymore. Dean was home.

I love him. I still do. He's got a charm about him that I might only notice. He's like a warm cup of London Fog (my favorite tea). He always found out-of-the-way bookstores to take me. We'd have challenges where he'd find a book I might like and I'd find a book he might like. Then we would exchange them and give it read.

And to think he'd thought I would love Ruby Dixon. Was he just trying to spice up our sex life?

We didn't break up because of any falling out. It was the fact that life was getting expensive. Parents could only help us so much. And I gotta say, his room was not his. It was never ours. Yes, it all slipped away.

But Wade Woo called me when I was home. "You never did write me," he snapped.

"Well..I didn't know where to write," I started.

"Look, I think I can get you a job." He never really did listen. He was one to give orders.

"Oh."

"Yeah, come to Chicago. You can sub-rent my place. I'm moving in with my fiancé." 

I took a deep breath and said, "OK."

Yeah, my parents think it'll be a disaster, but I have something to prove. I got another old car. This time from my grandmother. It's always been under warranty, until now. Of course, I haven't driven it, since I got to Chicago. I've met someone in the building who works where I do, and L drives so much better than me.