Real People

"Ya know, I can't say I imagined my first date like this." Delilah quipped.

"Oh?" Megan responded, smiling at her screen. "What did you imagine?"

"Well, I thought it would be in person, for one."

"Yes, well...strange times call for strange...dates?" The girls broke into an awkward laughter, and when they fell silent, neither knew what to say. Clearly Megan tried to play on the phrase 'desperate times call for desperate measures' but she didn't really think it through until she was already halfway through her sentence. It was something that got her in trouble often, her mouth moving faster than her brain. She had really hoped she could go at least a little while without screwing it up. Delilah was really cute.

Delilah felt the emptiness behind her once the laughter died down. She became painfully aware that she was in a room...by herself...staring at a screen. Strange times, indeed.

"That was a serious question, by the way. What did you imagine for your first date?" Megan pulled Delilah out of her thoughts of isolation. It was easier to forget she was physically alone when she was looking at a friendly face on a screen.

"Erm...well..." Delilah stumbled, eliciting more awkward chuckling. She didn't think she would actually have to explain. It was a little cheesy...ok, no, a lot cheesy. She couldn't just deflect, though, not when the question was asked so earnestly.

"I imagined...a picnic, with homemade food, and we hold hands and we watch the people go by. Maybe there's one of those things where people sit in a park and they project a movie onto a wall and everyone watches. Do those actually exist? I mean, I've seen them in shows and stuff but never really seen them in real life."

"They must have been a thing at some point, where would the shows get it from?" Megan responded. "Yeah, can't really do that in quarantine, huh? Well, I hope you can do that soon."

Delilah's breath caught in her throat. 'I hope you can do that' Megan said 'you' and not 'we.' Was she already counting them out as a potential couple? Was it really going that badly? She thought about just hanging up then, but she reminded herself that shutting people out like that was a panic response, and the most probable explanation for a situation wasn't the worst one. Still, she didn't want to ask for clarification right now, better to be unsure than to cement the worst possibility into reality.

Then again, maybe Megan was just taking things slowly and not assuming anything about where their relationship would be going. Maybe she just didn't want to go too fast and creep Delilah out like one of those people who have an entire future planned out by the second date.

One thing was certain, Delilah was absolutely overthinking this.

"You're really cute!" Megan blurted out, catching Delilah and herself off-guard. "I, um, yeah. You're really cute. The pictures on Bumble really don't do you justice."

"Thanks, you too." Was all Delilah could think to say for a moment. Her thoughts raced like those motorcycle guys in Tron, all zipping around at 90 degree angles and whatnot. "But, uh...right now, we're just pictures in motion." Delilah finally said. "With some electronic wave forms pretending to be voices."

"Yeah, gives a whole new meaning to, uh...ya know, framing yourself so people only see the best of you. There's a better word for that, right? I mean, I got the top half of my body all prettied up, but I'm barefoot in pajama shorts and you would have no idea unless I just told you." There was more awkward laughter. Megan hadn't been planning on giving that little secret away. "And, anyways, don't you think you're being a little jaded? I'm here and you're there, yeah, but this is still a connection." Megan gestured back and forth between herself and her screen.

"I suppose so. It's hard to experience a person when there are only two dimensions and two senses available to us." Delilah mused. Megan raised an eyebrow, 'experience a person?' Was that some sort of double entendre? It was said so earnestly, though, so she dismissed that thought for now.

"There are social distance dates. Like...we could go on a walk somewhere and stay six feet apart and wear masks. That's still not what it sounds like you want, ideally, but it's better?" Megan half-asked.

"Are you already saying you want to go on a second date? Isn't that jumping ahead a little?" Delilah asked.

"You're the one talking about 'experiencing a person!'"

"Yeah, but-" Delilah buried her face in her hands, flustered by how her words had been turned against her. It was the most adorable thing Megan had ever seen.

"Relax, relax. I'm not as bold as that...unless you want me to be, of course." Megan gave a cheeky wink, and Delilah blushed, so much so that this time Megan could see it this time, even with Delilah covering her face. However, this left Megan unsure about how to proceed with the conversation. So, as usual, her mouth just hooked onto the first thing her brain could come up with. "Do you...want me to be...?"

"No, no, I...sorry. I got a little, um...sorry. Are you, though? Saying that you want to go out again? Where we can actually see each other?" Delilah asked. Megan took a breath to steady herself.

"Yeah, I am. As long as that's ok with you, that is."

"O-of course that's ok with me!"

"And we absolutely have to be safe. My nana lives with me, you know?"

"Of course, of course, I totally understand." Delilah was...a little overwhelmed. She had answered without thinking, for once in her life, without analyzing...That was weird, right?

"Alright, cool! We'll send each our availability or whatever and pick a time and place! Sound good?" Megan asked. Delilah smiled at her screen...soon, she would be able to connect the images to a real person.

"Yeah, it really does."