changlish (noun) - words by Chang.

“I’ve tried to figure it out. When we were children we lived in a story that we made up. But when I grew up the story wasn’t enough. I had to have something else, because the story wasn’t true any more.”

“Well-”

“Wait - let me get it all out. Aron didn’t grow up. Maybe he never will. He wanted the story and he wanted it to come out his way. He couldn’t stand to have it come out any other way.”

“How about you?”

It wasn’t until our second drink that I found out she was just as nervous about our first date. We had once met over a year ago when a college friend was in town for a weekend to visit his sister, my date, and invited me out to dinner. She was dating someone at the time, so I didn’t give her much thought after we said our good byes.

Just last week I ran into her again, of all places, on an online dating site. I don’t know whether I messaged her because I remembered liking her when we had first met, or if I thought it would be funny, or perhaps it was out of mere curiosity. But I was more nervous than expected when I reached out to her and equally as excited when she responded.

There’s not much else more magical for a first date than the combination of walking into a speakeasy through a secret entrance and strong cocktails. She was so intoxicatingly beautiful that night I felt like I had to hold my breath while facing her across our table for two.

After a few sips into our second drink she hesitantly looked up at and me and said, “I didn’t know what to expect tonight. But I have to say, I’m pleasantly surprised.”

I said “me too,” as I finally exhaled.