The Stranger I Like (1.1)

 ENIGMA

 - an unexplained wonder

Wait, what? Why does it feel like electric tingles down my spine? Ever had that happen to you—where you catch just a glimpse of someone, maybe not even in person but online, and suddenly you’re swept up with this wild, unexplainable urge to know them? To talk to them, even though you’ve never even met? Sounds unreal, but it happened to me.

There’s this guy. I stumbled onto his Instagram profile, and from just a few photos, a handful of old captions, and the way he presents himself, I felt this instant connection. I started scrolling, going through his entire timeline from 2019 to now, and the more I saw, the more I got hooked. It’s not just about his looks, though—he’s undeniably attractive—but his thoughts, his words. He has this intellectual charm, this “sexy brain” vibe that’s completely captivated me. It’s as if his words have a way of pulling me in, and I’m just... lost in them. I can’t shake the feeling that he’s someone I need to know, someone I genuinely want to be friends with, to get close to. I want to understand all those little details that make him who he is.

So, I did what anyone with a spark of hope would do—I texted him. And as I hit send, I found myself wishing, actually hoping, at 11:11 that he’d reply. I know he’s a busy guy—his profile makes that clear, and I’m not naive enough to expect he’d just drop everything and chat with me right away. But a tiny part of me couldn’t help hoping he’d notice me.

Then, the next morning, I checked my phone and saw his reply. My heart nearly stopped—he’d responded! “Haha, nope not yet,” he wrote, in this casual, playful way that had me grinning. My message to him had been a bit silly: “Are you really straight out of Pinterest?” And seeing his reply, that short, simple line, felt like opening a door I’d barely dared to knock on.

Now, here I am, wondering: Will he feel the same pull I do? Will he want to know me too? He probably has no idea just how curious I am, how much I want to be his friend and maybe share little pieces of our lives. Someday, I hope. Someday, maybe we’ll be good friends, talking about everything from dreams to the simplest parts of our days. Someday.