What Happened to Lucas?
February 22, 2020
Hey y’all, thank you for stopping by this week! It is pretty awesome that you take time out of your day to read these little excerpts from my life. So, thank you. And thank you to everyone who has given me feedback on my stories, my website, life in general. I apologize for taking a while to respond to some of you, but do know that I go through and read everything you send me. If you want me to talk about a particular topic or have a story you would like to share, please reach out to me through any of the outlets here: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. I love stories, in case you had not noticed, and it would be awesome for others to share their stories as well.
You know who I have not talked about in a while? Lucas. There was some activity happening on that front, but never enough for a full story. At first, it was very normal; this was back in November. We would message each other back and forth, basically getting to know each other. But then, towards the end of the month, the messages got less frequent. I had a feeling this was going to happen; his profession is notorious for going dark for days at a time.
Even though I was expecting it, that does not mean I am okay with it. I get it, life happens. Someone messages you, you read it, but do not respond, then something else catches your attention, and you forget about that text until it is weeks later at 2 am when you are just about to fall asleep. I do it too, I get it. But when the same situation happens over and over again, and I start noticing the pattern, that is when I begin to lose interest.
I am definitely a product of my generation. That means my main form of communication is through texts. If you are not texting me, I assume it is because you do not want to talk to me. And growing up the way that I did, texting is always my preferred method. Phone calls are dangerous because anyone can listen to the conversation. At least now, with cell phones, they can only listen to my half of the dialogue. Back in the day, you could just pick up the landline and listen to the whole conversation. Not that I speak from experience or anything. And of course I was not allowed to go out on dates when I was younger. Even hanging out with friends was a heavily restricted activity.
I do not blame my parents, they were immigrants trying to raise children in an unfamiliar culture, and they could not fall back on their own experiences for reference. But, I feel they significantly stunted my social skills. I am way more confident talking from behind a screen of texts than in real life.
As Thanksgiving passed and we moved into December, things started to wind down. At one point, I started making a game out of how many texts Lucas and I would send each other in a day (on average it was about three). I am the type of person who loves to text. If I am having a conversation with you, I could fall asleep mid-topic, wake up in the middle of the night, respond, and fall back asleep. I love getting texting through the night that I can respond to in the morning. So, three texts a day is not a good sign.
The part of me that jumps to unreasonable conclusions starts thinking that he is not texting me because he does not like me, or he has something better to do, or it is easier to ghost than to confront, or a myriad of other reasons. Later on, I found out his schedule changed during the middle of December and his first day off was after Christmas.
Now, Lenny, the mutual friend who tried to set me and Lucas up, being the nosy aunty he is, messaged me, curious about how things were going. Lenny is interested in us being a thing, I can tell that much. But why he is so interested, I cannot figure out. Maybe this is a new experience for him and he just wants us to have a “happily ever after” ending. Or maybe Lenny made a bet with someone and he only wins if Lucas and I end up together. I have been watching too many rom-coms. I told him that things were kinda slow and that it is hard to have a meaningful conversation when all I get are a handful of texts a day.
Lenny said that we (Lucas and I) should just go on a date and get to know each other over a cup of chai. First of all, it is chaiya. If you are going to be an honorary Malayalee, say it in the correct language please. Secondly, why do you assume I like tea just because I am Indian? I actually prefer coffee on a date. And lastly, Lucas works odd shifts in another state. Even if we did manage to find a time both of us were free, how exactly would we meet? Mind you, I am not telling my parents about this. So I cannot just take the car and drive over to meet him!
But that would not be a concern for too long. We have stopped texting each other completely. Not in a mean or definitive way. The last message I sent him was a question regarding something we were talking about before. The question was left unanswered. It has been over a month, I do not think I am going to get a response for that question.
In all honesty, there could have been a plethora of reasons why he never responded. The most likely is that he got busy and forgot that I had messaged him. Or maybe he started talking to someone else and found their company more enjoyable. Or maybe he lost his phone and did not have a way to restore his contacts (a bit unrealistic in 2020, but still possible).
But it was not solely Lucas’ fault, I did not text him again either. At the time of my last message with Lucas, I was talking with Kyle and things were picking up. In all honesty, I had not thought about Lucas until I was trying to figure a topic for this week’s post. So maybe it is the universe trying to tell me something; hopefully, it is that Lucas and I were not meant to be together.
It was fun while it lasted, but I am not going to pursue this. If Lucas ever texts me back, I will of course respond. There was no bad blood between us, at least I do not feel there was. But who knows where I will be or what I will be doing if that ever happens. Oh well, I guess Lucas will fall into the “non-happenings” category now. That is it for this week, see you all next time!
- Aemi
