Tag, You're It

Author Note: There is no sex in this short little look into the world of Internet romance. I hope you all enjoy this little laugh."

*

The IM had come just as she was checking her email for the first time in the day. The familiar screen name and the message made smile. "Tag, you're it...shall we play another round?"

Her fingers were fast on the board. "What are the stakes this time?"

The sender of the message hesitated before answering. "Shall we say your virginity?"

"And if I win?"

"You can name your prize. What ever I have is yours." He sounded confident this morning but despite herself, she knew she could win.

"You're on. You win, I give up my virginity, I win, and you come to me." Even as she hit the send button her fingers were already running away with themselves. For over an hour they chased each other around the chat rooms, bouncing from city to state to country, and into rooms neither of them had ventured into before. There was no way he could win, she had the power and she had the speed.

Finally, she would get to meet the DarkAvenger_32. He had been chasing her all over the net for over a year now and she had found him to be fun and challenging to talk to. She also knew he was as crafty as anyone she knew on line and she had to be careful, otherwise...

The screen began to flash red, damn, a trap. Even as she hit the escape button, she knew he had outguessed her.

"A good morning to you Sweetheart_19." A web cam screen appeared on her monitor. "That's three for me, two for you. Will you admit I'm better then you now?"

She looked into the intensely dark eyes of the man sitting in a well lit room, and shook her head. "Not a chance, but I will stand by the agreement. Where do I come?"

"We meet on neutral ground per the original agreement. We both decided it was safer remember?" He smiled at her and lit a cigarette. "Don't look so unhappy baby, you might like it."

She was sure she would. Hadn't she had some of the most erotic dreams in her life since they had first started talking. The intense dark eyes, the pale face, the long black hair. She knew he was long and lean and liked women like her. Women who didn't fit his belt line and were full and round. He had insisted on private web cam from the start. "I hate typing to someone I can't see. I believe in being up front and honest, don't you?"

She did, some of her earliest experiences had turned into disasters because when they met on cam, one of them had been disappointed. Her friend list wasn't long, but what friends were there were good, honest people she enjoyed talking to. "When?"

"Say an hour at the China Gardens? That's close to you isn't it?"

Nodding, she was already thinking what to wear. The Gardens were nice but casual. "Inside or out?"

"Outside by the big red doors. Hey, give me your cell, just in case I get stuck in traffic."

She typed it in and he blew her a kiss as he logged off. With a smile, she shut down her own computer and went to get ready for the meeting that would change her life. She was nineteen years old and she needed some excitement in her life. As she showered and dressed she thought about all the things they had talked about. Neither of them promising tomorrow but looking for life today.

The China Gardens was only six blocks from her house, but she felt like it took forever for her to get there. At the big blue doors...she stopped short. Whoa, what was going on, he had said big red doors?

Even as she tried to figure it out, her cell phone rang. His voice was soft and sexy. "Hey where are you, did you chicken out on me?"

"No, I'm here, but where are the red doors? The ones here are blue."

"Blue, no, they're red; I'm looking right at them. What the hell. "You're at 15036 Rose Avenue right, here in Portland, Maine right..."

She began to laugh. "Oh lord, no, I'm at 12th and Broadway in Portland, Oregon."

He was laughing as well. "We never did talk about what states we lived in did we?"

"No, so what do we do now?"

He chuckled. "Tag, you're it, first one to the airport in your Portland wins. And I'm on my way right now."

"Oh no you don't...not this time." Putting him on hold, she dialed a number, and a woman answered. "I need a cab..."