DRAGONLOVER666: Will you marry me?

Those were probably the most horrifying words Shay had ever read. And this wasn’t a horrible nightmare, this was really happening. Those seemingly innocuous words were really glaring at her from the IM window.

DRAGONLOVER666: Shay, you still there?

Shaking herself, Shay leaned back toward her laptop.

LONELYWRITER13:Yeah, I’m still here

DRAGONLOVER666: So, will you?

LONELYWRITER13: lol, be serious

DRAGONLOVER666: I am being serious

LONELYWRITER13: c’mon, it’s really not funny now, dray

DRAGONLOVER666: why do you assume I’m joking? Why can’t it be a serious question?

Shay tried to control her emotions. Something akin to panic was ripping through her veins. No way could he really be serious, she reasoned. No way in hell.

LONELYWRITER13: ok, I know that marriage doesn’t mean anything to me, but I know you take it seriously, so don’t joke like this

DRAGONLOVER666: I’m not joking

LONELYWRITER13: are you really proposing to me through IM?

DRAGONLOVER666: if you want I can drive up there tomorrow and do it in person

LONELYWRITER13: NO

DRAGONLOVER666: alright, tonight then

LONELYWRITER13: no, don’t be stupid, we can’t get married!

DRAGONLOVER666: why not?

LONELYWRITER13: because, 1- I live in a different state 2- I’m not looking for forever at the age of 19 and 3- we aren’t in love which is kind of something that marriage requires

DRAGONLOVER666: I’ll move, we’ll wait, and love will come

Shay stared at the screen, appalled. This. Could. Not. Be. Happening. I have to go, she typed quickly before shutting off her Yahoo! Messenger. Taking a few deep breaths, Shay finally looked back at the computer and started slowly shutting down the programs on her computer. Just as she was about to sign out of AIM, a message window popped up.

TYLERTIGER writes: hey cutie, what’s up?

Shay sighed with relief. Tyler was a steady guy, maybe a conversation with him would keep her from panicking over the fact that one of her oldest friends had just proposed.

THORNYDEMONROSE writes: hey there, not much

TYLERTIGER writes: it’s been forever since I caught you, what’s been going on?

THORNYDEMONROSE writes: nm, well, except for the fact that I was just proposed to

TYLERTIGER writes: no shit? Who?

THORNYDEMONROSE writes: an old friend of mine

TYLERTIGER writes: do you know him well?

THORNYDEMONROSE writes: better than anyone else knows him

TYLERTIGER writes: well before you say yes, make sure it’s what you want

THORNYDEMONROSE writes: oh hell no, I didn’t even have to consider it before I said no

TYLERTIGER writes: really? You said no?

THORNYDEMONROSE writes: of course I did

TYLERTIGER writes: holding out for someone else?

Shay bit her lip. Yes, she was holding out for someone else, not that she really wanted to explain that to anyone. It wasn’t the sort of thing you could just casually work into the conversation. How do you explain to someone that you’re head-over-hills in love with someone you’ve met once but that you seem to have some sort of psychic link to? Not really the easiest thing to explain, no matter how close you are to someone.

THORNYDEMONROSE writes: in a way I guess

TYLERTIGER writes: anyone I know?

Shay let herself chuckle. God, the true answer to that question would make him doubt her sanity.

THORNYDEMONROSE writes: maybe

TYLERTIGER writes: well, if you don’t want to marry that guy, why don’t you marry me?

Shay stared at the screen, her mind suddenly blank. No way, no way could two people be proposing to her in one night. Anger sparked suddenly and she growled before pounding harder than necessary on the keys to reply.

THORNYDEMONROSE writes: are you trying to be funny?

TYLERTIGER writes: no, I’m totally serious. I was going to ask you before you moved

Without another word, Shay switched off her laptop, not even bothering to let it shut down properly. She stared at the flat black screen, tension turning her body to stone. She could see their words printed across her eyes: Will you marry me? I was going to ask you before you moved . . .

This was unbelievable. And what was infinitely worse were the conversations Shay had just recently had with her friends. All of her close friends but one were talking non-stop about getting married and starting families, they wanted it more than anything.

Shay thought about Tyler and David, remembering everything she could about them. Years ago with David, there had been love and easy comfort, a feeling of rightness, but that had faded as they got older and their lives had taken them different directions. With Tyler, there had been passion for a month or so before Shay had decided that he wasn’t really what she wanted. She loved them both in a way.

If she was really being truthful to herself, she would admit that she was in love with David. Tyler she loved, but like a friend or a brother, not a lover. But even if she dismissed Tyler’s offer, David’s was still a problem.

Unwillingly, her mind flashed to the books she was reading, the Twilight series. Something the main character, Bella, had said came to her as she looked down at her computer. I love you both, but I know which one I can’t live without. That was how it felt to Shay. David was her Jacob, her werewolf that she loved, but not completely. And He, the man she truly loved, was her Edward, her vampire that she couldn’t live without. She laughed as she placed Tyler into his role in the book: Mike Newton, the hopeful hanger-on who wouldn’t take a hint and give up his infatuation.

It’s not fair, Shay thought, getting up from the desk and dropping onto her bed. The one thing in the world that everyone I know wants comes to me, the one person who never has, and never will, want it. She curled in on herself, fighting back tears. She loved Him because he would never ask for marriage or children or anything she didn’t want to give.

The one thing in the world that they want from me is the one thing I can’t give, she thought, David and Tyler flying through her mind as the tears started to fall. The one thing in the world that Sarah and Michelle and Sheena and Hayley and Katie and Toni want but can’t have is coming to me.

Obviously there was no justice in the world. None at all.

I know it’s rough, but I was mostly just trying to get something out of my head. Who knows, maybe after my sense of humor returns, I’ll do something more with this. Or maybe I’ll just print it out and burn it to make myself feel better. I have a lot of options to consider.

Please review if for nothing else than because I like to get them, but I don’t think the story really calls for them.