Sarah's Journal: April 26, 2013

Sarah:  April 26, 2013

He was there again. I can’t believe it. Cracked23 appeared again after I commented on some ridiculous article. I think I’m just going to that site to talk to him. He’s so funny. He totally gets my sense of humor. His name is Will. He told me today. He doesn't have a last name apparently, “only Will.”
I asked if I googled “Will” would I find a picture of him?

“I don’t know. I've never done it before, but my face is all over the internet. I’m totally famous so it wouldn't surprise me,” he typed. “If a guy pops up, decent looking—dark hair, blue eyes, it’s probably me.”

I tried it and ended up with a list of will writing services. We both LOL’d. He kept commenting on how everyone needed a “Will.” He’s so self-assured that I’m starting to doubt the couch potato theory.

Hmm…dark hair and blue eyes—I can definitely work with that.

Sarah's Journal: April 20, 2013

Sarah:  April 20, 2013

The girls and I went to a house party last night. A guy that Megan is seeing lives there. A frat house wasn't really my first choice for the evening, but my choices are a bit limited until my birthday. It was good to be out with girls, though.

I’m glad the house was dark because I didn't want to see any deeper into the dim shadows. It was the kind of house that spawns teenage horror movies, where a blob of unknown origin rises out of the carpet and swallows all the house’s occupants. The carpet? Eeew! Every time I lifted my foot to walk I was halted by my boot sticking to the floor. I felt like a mouse on one of those sticky traps. How do guys live like that? I was afraid to sit down all night.

Once I got past the ambiance, I had a good time. I didn't know anyone there, except the girls, but I didn't get bored. Jessica introduced me to a couple of nursing students and the guys that lived at the house were actually pretty nice. A guy named Scott kept refilling my cup for me and offered to show me around the house. I’m sure it was just a ploy to get me to his room, though. He was so not my type—totally enamored by himself. As I stood listening to Scott tell me how brilliant he was, and how he was going to take over the marketing for his dad’s Internet company, I kept looking around wondering if another guy at the party could be Cracked23. Scott obviously wasn't him.

I’m so pathetic. I know Cracked23 is probably just a made-up persona devised by a couch potato living in his mom’s basement, but the couch potato seems to know exactly what I want to hear and I can’t get him out of my mind. Maybe I can coax him out of the basement someday.

Sarah's Journal: Crazy Net

(Excerpt taken from Sarah Austin's Journal. Austin is a fictional character in Schussler's book, Between the Raindrops.)

Sarah:  April 15, 2013

I finally finished my paper on the media’s manipulation of pop culture. That gossip site more than fulfilled my quota of crazies. There are some really messed up people in the world and the anonymity of the Internet just frees them to speak their minds—it’s scary. I wish I had known this subculture when I had my abnormal psychology class last semester. It would have provided hours of discussion fodder. The only bright spot in the whole experience was the guy I met, Cracked23. Crazy name—I know, but he was the only sane person on the entire site. He was hilarious and a bit of a flirt. I don’t know what got into me, but I ended up telling him I was a supermodel. If he had seen my face he would have known I was lying, but he just accepted it, like being a supermodel wasn't anything unusual.

Why did I do that? I’m normally such a good girl. I’m not that girl that flirts with strangers on the Internet. Maybe I wish I was that girl with no fear—like my friend, Megan. She gobbles men whole and spits out their bone. “No fear. No regret,” she always says. Not me. I’m not that girl. Not yet.