“Come with me! Let me show you something!” Christopher tugged me out of the exhibition hall and we left. Back at our home, he turned on his laptop and turned the screen to me. He pointed at an icon and asked, “Look in here! Do you know what this is?”
I glanced at him suspiciously and clicked at the icon that Christopher was pointing at. My eyes widened at the contents. I flipped through the pages on the screen. It was a chat history between Christopher and a girl.
The conversations were not flirtatious in nature; it was just two people sharing stories of their lives and sending encouragement and support to each other. The very last message was a message that I had sent to Key when I was living in a small seaside town.
The message read, Even though I had suffered a shipwreck at sea before, I can still appreciate the beauty of the ocean now as I stand on the beach of Summerbank. Tell me, Key, what should I do with my dying days so that these last three months will not be in vain?
There was no reply to that message, but on the very next day after that, Christopher had appeared in front of me.
“So, did you manage to locate me through this little nugget of information?” I was still holding the laptop in my hands. My mind was still digesting this new revelation. No wonder Christopher had found me so fast and was so sure that I was alive; I had been messaging him all day every day unknowingly. It was as good as confessing the truth to him.
I stared at Christopher incredulously. “You are Key? The Key that I had been chatting with online all these years?”
“Yes, I am Key!” Christopher nodded, then said in a somber tone, “I told you we’ve known each other for many years. Throughout all those years, you have shared with me all your thoughts and confessed to me your love for painting. Eve, we met much earlier than you can remember, and I know all your stories. For example, I knew that you would seek revenge by secretly adding salt into Crystal’s water bottle whenever she teased you so that she would not dare to drink any water all day… I also know-”
“Hold on, stop talking. Let me digest this. Why does it feel like we were actually dating online?” I blinked a few times, feeling a little mad. Back then, I had thought of Key as my confidant. I had kept no secrets from Key. Who would have thought that Key was actually Christopher? Doesn’t this mean that Christopher knows all my embarrassing stories? Including the story of when I got my first period?
I did not have a mother to prepare me for womanhood. I did not even know how to use a sanitary pad. I had complained to Key who had then sent me a video tutorial on how to use one. Back then, I thought of Key as my wiser, older sister.
I could not bear to think about all the things that I had told Key anymore. It was just too embarrassing and all I wanted at that moment was to sink into the ground. I can’t believe Christopher was the one who had taught me how to use a sanitary pad and that’s not even the most embarrassing thing! I can’t take this shame, but I don’t think I can bear to look Christopher in the eye for the next three days!
“Why didn’t you ever confess your feelings to me? You’re not lying to me, are you?”
“Silly girl! How could a man confess his feelings so casually? If he does, then his feelings must not be true.” Christopher lightly nudged me.
“How could you be Key? How could such a tough guy like you use such a feminine nickname? I’ve always thought that Key was female!” I was still in disbelief. When I first started chatting with Key, I was only thirteen years old, and Key was still young too.
“I didn’t think much about it! ‘Key’ had seemed like a friendly name. Anyway, it worked, didn’t it? It got you to start chatting with me!” Christopher said proudly and pressed a kiss on my forehead. “So, you see, I’ve already got you wrapped around my finger from the time you were thirteen! You won’t be able to leave me now!”
Due to my ill health and lack of nutrition, I was small at thirteen years old. Isn’t it a little bit too much that he liked me when I was thirteen?
I playfully bit down on Christopher’s arm and cried, “You old man! You pedophile!”
