Missed Connections

Piper closed her textbook with a groan, her head beginning to ache. She rubbed at her temples and then dropped her face into her hands, her nimble fingers massaging her scalp soothingly. She closed her eyes, wondering how she was going to pass the final. She was not the best test taker in the world; in fact, she was probably the worst with her test anxiety. She’d been studying ever since she’d gotten back to her apartment that afternoon.

She opened her eyes tiredly, staring down at the scratched wood of her desk. Her eyes traced the pencil scratches and the ink stains and the swirls of color in the wood. It was something that she’d found on the curbside a couple years ago, waiting to be picked up by the garbage truck. With the help of a few friends, they’d hauled the desk into the back of a friend’s pick-up truck and moved it into her bedroom. The desk fit right where she wanted it, and it had been one of her favorite pieces.

Piper was a thrifty one, always looking for bargains and ways to save money. However, she had been meaning to get rid of the old junk desk and find a newer, better looking one. She’d searched the thrift stores in and around Los Angeles, but everyone knew that LA thrift stores were not the normal Salvation Army or Goodwill ones. No desk in any of the thrift stores had caught her eye or been in her price range.

Deciding that she was finally finished studying for the day, she shoved her textbook to the side and covered her computer mouse with her hand. The computer woke up from its idle state, the Google homepage appearing. Piper’s fingers quickly typed in “Los Angeles Craigslist”. She clicked on the link she was looking for, the white and blue homepage of Craigslist appearing.

Piper moved her mouse, hovering over “free” section. She clicked the link, knowing that she had a better chance of buying a nice and free desk from a stranger in the area. Craigslist was actually one of her favorite websites and one of her favorite pastimes. When she wasn’t looking for things she actually needed, she got a good laugh from the “rants and raves” section and from looking at all the foolish and tacky things people tried to sell.

At some point during her scrolling, her black and white tuxedo cat, Boots, jumped onto the desk next to her. The fluffy, adult cat purred for attention. The cat nudged Piper’s arm and pawed at her hands, begging for Piper to pet her.

“You hungry, Boots?” Piper cooed towards the cat, scratching the cat’s neck. Piper pushed back her chair, rolling over to where she kept a few cans of cat food on the shelf. She grabbed one and popped the tab, pulling the lid off. “Come eat, Boots.”

As if the cat knew what Piper was saying, the cat scurried across the keyboard and the desk, knocking the mouse off of the desk in the process. The cat greeted Piper anxiously, meowing for her meal. Piper set the can onto the floor, satisfying her demanding pet.

When Piper rolled back over to her desk and picked up the mouse, the computer screen was no longer on the free section. Piper’s eyebrows came together in confusion as the screen was now on the “personals” section under “missed connections”.

A missed connection is a type of personal advertisement which arises after two people meet but are too shy or otherwise unable to exchange contact details…

Now Piper was curious. She scrolled down the page some after reading the purpose of the section. Did people actually put out ads for strangers on the internet? Piper was going to find out. She was sure it would be a good laugh, or maybe even creepy.

Starbucks on Sunset Strip.

In line at Whole Foods.

Blonde in the dark blue BMW.

As she read the titles, Piper felt just a little… freaked out. People actually took to the internet to find the person they stood behind in line at the store or only saw for five minutes at most. She continued to scroll down the postings from the day anyway, still somewhat intrigued.

Cute, shy, dirty blonde I bumped into at Target.

Piper clicked on the ad instantly. She couldn’t help it, but just from the title she knew she had to read it.

I saw you at Target today, sometime around 3 in the afternoon. You bumped into me, or I bumped into you, but you dropped your book. I think you were reading something about crime. You had your earphones in, too. You practically ran away before I could really speak to you after apologizing.

You were wearing blue and white shorts, an orange shirt, and boots. You had brown eyes and brown/blonde hair. I don’t know what your name is, but maybe you shouldn’t be so shy. If this sounds like you or if it is you, I hope you respond to this. Maybe if you reply and describe me, I can confirm that it’s you. –Matt

Piper could feel the familiar churning feeling in her stomach and her underarms began to dampen. She looked down at her shirt- it was a bright coral blouse. Orange in a guy’s eyes. She glanced down at her lap, looking at her acid washed jean shorts that had turned them blue and white. By her bed were the shoes she’d worn that day- tan, suede ankle booties. Although it was basically confirmed that the person this man was talking about was her, she had a bit of doubt.

Without thinking, she hit the reply button and started a new email to the man, Matt. She bit her bottom lip, thinking about what to say without sounding stupid. When she gathered her thoughts, she typed tentatively.

Hi, Matt. I’m not sure if I’m the girl you’re looking for, but it sounds like you were talking about me in your Craigslist ad. I was reading my criminology textbook when I bumped into you. You apologized and uh…

Piper backspaced on the last part. It wasn’t hard to forget what the man looked like.

You had a lot of tattoos, up and down your arms. Two silver earrings, I think. You had longish, brown hair and you had on a black sleeveless shirt. Again, I’m probably not the person you’re looking for, but I thought it was worth a shot. –Piper

Feeling more hesitant than ever, Piper closed her eyes as she hit the send button. The message was out there now, on its way to him. She wasn’t sure if he would respond right away or in the morning since it was getting pretty late. How often did regular people check their emails anyway?

Piper took a deep breath, reading Matt’s posted ad one more time. She got up from her chair and left the ad on the computer screen, secretly hoping the man would never respond.