Love In The Time Of Facebook

It was Facebook that prompted the first move by suggesting her profile. It had been nearly six weeks since he moved from Chennai to St. Joseph’s (Kochi) and he had managed to talk to almost everyone in the class except Norah - A tall, dark girl with distinct green eyes and a voice that had sounded all too familiar (and soothing) to Joshua.

Though he spent his entire free hours shamelessly staring at Norah, unaware of the umpteen jealous eyes watching him, he couldn’t muster up enough courage to go talk to her.
He was pretty confident that Norah knew him well enough to ‘add’ him to her network in Facebook. Deep down he liked to believe that she was eyeing him whenever has wasn't staring. Couple of days after he had sent, she accepted the request. And his major pastime since the ‘acceptance’, became a quest for the perfect one liner to kick off the conversation.
“Dear Norah, you’ve stolen my heart.”
“Hello, I’m in your class too.”
Soaked with expectation, he would sit there in front of the ‘blue and white’ screen typing and then deleting his ‘openers’ much to the dismay of his aunt and uncle who found his new addiction to be a little distressing.
Yesterday while he was conversing with a friend in Chennai, he noticed something ‘grey’ beneath his favourite chat window. It took an eternity for his brains to translate the light rays striking his retina. Beneath the ever-open chat window was a small message. It read, “Norah is typing…” It was there for some ten seconds and then it vanished. But those ten seconds meant more than a life to Joshua. He did not have to soak in heap of uncertainty now. For he knew!
For the first time since that ‘dark day’ of his life, he looked at his parents, whose photo clung on to the wall like moths in Kerala during the Monsoon season, and smiled. His mind was suddenly filled with the deafening sound of a car crash.
Finally he typed, “Hi!”

PS: This story was written as a part of Indiblogger's new contest in association with Surf Excel Matic. ( Know more)
I wanted to tell a humble tale of love in less than 350 words. I look forward to some healthy criticism, so don't shy away.

Posted in: short love story,soak no more