I had just gotten on my Xbox to relax for the night. I had a rough night at work and it was already one in the morning. I had gotten myself something to eat while lying down to prop my legs up. I always had to work the late shift because most of my coworkers hated it. I thought, it gives me hours and I'm normally up at that time anyway. I've always kind of been a night owl.
I am twenty-seven working in a grocery store; even though it isn't the ideal setting, it gives me the flexibility to take care of my parents. The Superstore I used to work at did a point system; even if you gave them a doctor's note they still gave you a point. So this store I'm at now is very understanding if I need to call off for a family emergency or if I'm even sick. They know I wouldn't call off unless something was actually wrong.
I usually put on Hulu to binge watch some television shows I'm interested in while I eat. It puts my brain to sleep in a way. I can focus on how good my food tastes and makes my brain stop thinking of what happened in the day. I've had anxiety and depression that I try to take care of every day. They will never go away. I've had to figure out my way of dealing with them.
Those demons can make you drown. So working with the public can turn very bad, very fast. My anxiety shows its form when I get overwhelmed, then snap at people. My depression shows itself after when I feel bad for snapping and I apologize. Anyone who knows these demons knows that they can show themselves as complete opposites so you end up fighting yourself even more.
After I was done eating my meal for the night, I decided to go play a game. I like to play online because I have a microphone to talk to people who can't get to sleep just like me, who also usually understand the demons I have. You meet a lot of kinds of people on the internet. It's just like interacting out in the real world for me except you may never meet these people. Some people you get along with but others you don't so much.
I had found these two guys who also had a microphone. We were all having fun. I can be a sexual being sometimes and at night it can get worse. I think it's just another coping mechanism my brain had come up with. If I thought about sex, I wouldn't have to think about life.
I'm a very sexual person. It led to me watching gifs of cartoons having sex which escalated quickly to watching actual porn. During this time, my father had bookmarks to porn sites. He didn't know that I had found them until he caught me watching porn and masturbating. I was intelligent enough to know how to delete history before I got caught, but this had gotten me grounded. So after getting grounded for my first and final time, I didn't tend to watch porn and masturbate. Until later, when I got my own computer in my room.
The two guys I was playing with on the game were making innuendos towards me. I went along with it as it always makes me feel good. I was flirting back to both of them but one caught my attention more than the other. It may be a cliché but this gentleman was the one with an accent. I hear accents all the time while playing games so I don't ever think much of it. Plus, they don't want you to treat them any differently just because of a little accent. I think it was the fact there was something else about him that I really seemed to gravitate towards.
He wasn't making dumb jokes like the other and he seemed more mature. I thought brains were always a turn on but I've dated some really stupid guys. I became friends with him pretty fast. I had to get up for work in eight hours when I finally managed to get off the game to go to sleep, all the while thinking about him.
When I got on my Xbox again after work, he was already on. I asked where he was from; he told me he was from New Zealand but lived in Australia for work. He absolutely hated it when someone would say he's from Australia. He took great pride at being born in New Zealand.
I don't know what it was about him but I loved talking to him. My anxiety had to rear its ugly head though. I was starting to think I was annoying him by messaging him every day. He would give me short answers but I finally worked up enough courage to tell him that I liked talking to him. He didn't believe it at first because he said people usually tell him to shut up. I didn't really want him to shut up unless he was doing something to me.
The thought finally sparked in my brain and I wanted to start something with him. It was, of course, late one night that I was playing some Minecraft while talking in a party with him. He had gone to go make himself some dinner so my brain began to wonder. I did have a boyfriend but we didn't see each other much. He also was what I mentioned before about being dumb. We had been having issues with him not putting me as a priority above other things.
I hadn't been thinking about doing anything before these issues came to light but as I started thinking about how horny I was, I thought about my Xbox friend, Daniel. I had learned he was twenty and still hadn't gotten his virginity taken. I didn't know how because, even though at this point I didn't know what he looked like, I could only imagine, 'What girl wouldn't like his personality?'
He could be a little rough around the edges sometimes but I wasn't one to judge. Everyone has their edges and more people should accept that. His maturity is what caught me at first. Even though I can act like a big kid, he still had that in him plus being serious when needed. I know life can be serious sometimes so I always try to make it light for my friends.
He seemed he needed it just as much as me. We clicked on that level. We became close when I was telling him about my issues with my boyfriend. He kept telling me the same thing, that I didn't deserve what was happening. My boyfriend was being dumb as everyone kept saying. He said I should dump him but I felt it was more complicated than that. My feelings were growing for Daniel but I felt as though it wasn't anybody's decision but my own what to do about my situation.