While Lily and Lin Que were having a romantic date, Ginny's night was the opposite. Recently, she realized a college classmate had begun following her social media posts. Almost instantly after posting something online, that classmate would be the first to like it.
Feeling frustrated about the situation, she wasn't sure if she should confront the girl to stop actively liking her pictures. At the same time, she felt it would be chaotic if she says something about this matter. What if she was a sensitive person and her words ended up hurting the classmate?
Scratching her head out of irritation, she wanted to call Lily to ask for her opinion. She was used to having Lily as the last contacted person on her phone, so her finger naturally pressed the first person on her call history. After the first ring, the person picked up from the other side.
Ginny was about to chant Lily's name when she heard the male voice over the phone. "Hello? Ginny?"
Gasping at her mistake, she looked at her phone screen and realized she had called Alan instead. 'It'll be too embarrassing to tell him that I called the wrong person. It's still early, so Lily wouldn't be able to pick up my call anyways. Whatever, it's not like he knows my classmate.' She thought to herself silently.
He waited a minute before chanting her name again. "Ginny? Are you still there?"
"Huh? Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry, I was thinking about something just now. Uh, am I interrupting something?" She asked as she hugged her seal plush and rolled around in bed.
"No, I just finished doing some chores. Did you need something?" This was the first time she had initiated a call, so he was excited. When he saw her name as the caller ID, he almost fell off his bed.
"Uh, well. Not really. I just..Uhm.." Other than Alan, she rarely communicated with males, especially about her personal issues. Throughout the years of studying in school, she only spoke about schoolwork with classmates. At most, she met up for projects. Still, those meetings would be focused all on work.
Hearing her stutter, he remained quiet to give her time to say what she wanted to talk about. "Uhm, I'm not used to talking about to guys about my problems. Sorry, but I just.." Her voice trailed off as she slapped the plush toy to her face. She didn't even know what to say anymore.
"It's alright. I'll be listening. Take your time." His voice sounded steady, making her feel at ease. There were no background noises on his end because he purposely paused his Netflix movie to answer this call. Though she called exactly at the scare jump scene with the close up of the ghost's face stretched on his television screen, he didn't mind pausing at that spooky part just for her.
"Thanks. Uh. This is quite random, but would you confront the person if you feel like they are stalking you on social media? For example, a classmate started following your account and dug through your oldest posts to like and comment on it. Almost every post you upload, that classmate would be the first to like it." She said it all in one breath.
Hearing her concerned voice, he jumped out of bed and started walking around his room in circles. With his thumb rubbing his lips, he asked, "Is this classmate male?" When he heard about the situation, he was worried he had competition.
"No. Female." She replied as she poked the seal plush toy's body.
Feeling relieved, he patted his chest lightly. "If it bothers you, then you should confront her. Since she's your classmate, she should respect you."
"You see, if things were that simple, then I wouldn't be bugged by it. I don't mind her liking my posts. I mind the comments that she leaves." Thinking about the comments she read, she wanted to bang her head against the wall.
"What kind of comments?"
"I'll give you an example. I uploaded a picture of a selfie with me smiling. Her comment to that post was, 'Oh my gawd! Stop! I want to bite those shoulders and leave my mark.' It only gets worse. This is just one of the not too disturbing responses."
"If comments like those get worse, you should tell her the truth. Tell her that her comments are crossing the line, and it makes you feel uncomfortable. Luckily, this classmate is a girl." Even though the classmate was a girl, the comment was enough to make him cringe.
"Another thing is I'm kind of scared to meet her because we aren't close. I don't have her contact information. She added me on Instagram and I don't feel comfortable talking to her over the internet. I feel like things could be cleared up better if I meet up with her." She bit her lip and sighed as she wanted to get this over with.
"If you're scared of meeting her alone, I can accompany you. What I mean is that I could sit somewhere close by and keep an eye on you guys. If anything happens, at least you have a witness." He was feeling quite disturbed by the fact that someone was stalking her.
"Would it be too much of a bother?" Ginny frowned at the thought of interrupting his plans.
"It's no bother at all. I want to see you anyways." His tongue slipped and his face earned a slap from his palms. Quickly twisting the meaning of his words, he explained, "I mean uh..didn't you treat for lunch last time? I still owe you a meal."
"Huh? But you paid last time." She remembered him paying for the bill when she was using the restroom.
"Ah! Then..then you owe me a meal. We can have it the same day. Just message me the time and location. I'll be there for you." He rubbed the back of his nape and looked up at the ceiling. His heart raced as he waited for her response.
"Then, I'll thank you first. I'll send you the details later. If you're not free, then you don't have to come that day. Okay?" She made sure to let him know her thoughts in case he ditches something important for her.
"Alright. I'll see you then."
"Okay, good night." Ginny sucked her bottom lip as she waited for him to say good night.
"Good night. Sweet dreams."
"En.. then bye bye." She said as she waited for him to hang up first.
"Bye bye..."
After some minutes later, she looked at her phone because she didn't hear the disconnection sound. She realized he was still on the phone.
"Alan?" She whispered.
"Yes?" he answered.
"Aren't you hanging up the call?" She asked.
"I thought you were hanging up." He smiled thinking how cute she sounded.
"Oh.. then we both hang up."
"Okay." He agreed, but didn't press the red button to drop the call.
After a minute later, she sat up in bed and said, "You're still here!"
"You too." His response made both of them giggle into the phone.
At the end, they continued talking over the phone about different topics. This was the first time they lost track of time while talking to the opposite gender. By the time they finished the call, it was already 1 A.M. The only reason why Alan found out about the time was because Ginny fell asleep. Therefore, he hung up after whispering, "Good night."