"An Old Flame" (TTSSC)

Jada sighed as she logged into her Facebook account. Long blonde bangs flopped over one eye and she flipped them back impatiently. A "friend suggestion" showed in the little box and she clicked it. "Corey Haskem!" she whispered a little excitedly. She had not heard or seen from him in at least four years. She had no idea he was the sort to even have a "Facebook". Clicking again she sent him a "friend invite."

Corey Haskem had crushed on Jada since highschool. Maybe he would get in touch? She certainly would not mind gazing into those brown eyes of his again that is...if he was not attached already. Jada was not the sort to steal someone else's man.

Being lonely and single for the past few years had made Jada into a daydreamer at work. As an accountant to a small brokerage firm the tasks were humdrum and tedious. Sometimes she just stared into space chewing her nails and imagining other more interesting things she could be doing. Today she thought again about Corey and whether he had answered her invite or not. Maybe she would get up the nerve to ask him out this time. All through highschool they had flirted with each and hung out together. Their ways had parted when each had chosen different colleges in different parts of the country. They had called each other often at first and then the calls had dwindled to nothing. "That's what happens I guess" Jada muttered under her breath"Guys lose interest if they don't ever get to see you". She had missed Corey and their carefree highschool days.

Heading home from work Jada planned to spend another nice relaxing evening at the computer chatting with friends and catching up again. Most of her friends had scattered to the four winds after graduation ceremonies but with the help of the internet it had been easy to find them. Except for Corey. "He must've just gotten an account lately" she thought. Maybe she would hear from him soon.

To Jada's satisfaction she found that Corey had indeed accepted her invite and she could see that he was logged into the chat function. " Hey babe! Long time no see, howya doin'?" popped up in the little screen.
He had never been a man of many words or even "fancy" words for that matter. Jada chuckled remembering what an adorable goof he could be. Sitting back in her chair she thought for a few seconds about how to answer back. Finally fingers flying over the keyboard she wrote "I'm doing good and so glad to hear from you". Working up her nerve she also wrote "Where are you now? Is it possible we could meet somewhere???" She waited for the little box to blink again with his answer. And waited a little longer. Then she realized he had logged off of chat and Facebook. Maybe he had gotten kicked off? Surely he would have wanted to chat a little more than that?

Chewing her nails again Jada rather angrily logged off and dispiritedly got ready for bed. Maybe Corey did not remember her with the same affection as she had for him she thought as she drifted off to sleep.

The next day at work Jada was in a foul mood and came close to even snapping at her boss. She had decided to be furious at Corey's callous disregard. "I mean why accept my friend invite if he's not even really going to speak to me" she thought angrily. "What an A-hole he must have turned into since I've seen him!". Slamming down a pile of papers a little loudly onto her desk she slumped down in her chair and felt tears mist her eyes.

Seeing what a horrible mood his best employee was in, Jim Harris her boss tried to engage her in some diverting conversation. "Say Jada, did you hear about that guy that lived just down the street from you? A cop at the coffee shop was telling me about it this morning. Seems his name was Corey Haskem I think. Someone broke into his apartment last night, shot him, cut his throat and even ripped his computer out of the wall. Blood all over the place. Poor bastard never even knew what hit him! I don't know what the world's coming to these days."

Jim stared in amazement as Jada's face crumpled and she started crying even more.

That was great! Good luck in the contest!!

Well done, good writing and an especially good twist.


I was wondering how you were going to pull off the twist bit in the short amount of time/space left in your story.


Edit to say I gave it a star.

[edit on 6/9/2009 by Desert Dawg]

I figured he was going to be contacting her from the dead, good twist you got me. Star for you!

Sweet..just spoke with an old boyfriend I found on facebook myself, haven't kept in touch since high school...
Very good and realistic.

Thankyou all for taking the time to read my story. I appreciate all of your comments.

Antar I did think about doing the "haunting through the internet" thing but I thought it might be a bit "expected" so I ended it this way instead.

reply to post by elaine


Now that was a cool story elaine! I was getting ready to read that he was going to show up at her job with flowers! Instead he was nearly decapitated! AWESOME. That was a great twist and what a bummer for the main character. Really, I loved it Elaine because I was seeing it from how a woman would think about things and you blew me away. I actually audibly said "No way." Great job and a well deserved star and flag.

A nicely done twist and good interesting story.

Yikes... poor Corey and Jada.

That was quite an ending, elaine. Well written with attention to details. It reminded me of how much of my life is devoted to a computer.

Good luck in the contest.