Books > Boys

One week back from out of town, and every single prospect I had seems to have poofed. And you know what? That's okay. I have replaced them with books. On my trip I read four print and two audiobooks. Since I returned I've read 1/2 a print book and one CD of an audiobook. I also find myself diverting conversations with friends from boys to books.

I'm a little bit disappointed, especially about facebook guy; and a little bit hopeful that some might still be interested; but mostly I'm feeling really proud that I don't think about it all the time. Slowly but surely, that pesky association between singledom and desolation is severed.

In other words, the Rules is accomplishing the primary purpose I had set out for it.

But let's go a little deeper into the triple-poofing that I have just endured. There are some mitigating factors at play.

1) In the "tag, you're it" a.k.a. normal world, I am the one whose turn it is to call/text/facebook message/e-mail/whatever. For all three of them. (Technically four, but I'm not interested in the fourth.)
2) I was gone for awhile, and therefore it makes even more sense for me to be the one to call/text/facebook message/e-mail/whatever. Again, for all three of them.

3) Drumroll.... For facebook guy,

• I did not return one text and one phone call in the two days after the date that indicated that he hoped to talk to me soon and had a good time and wanted to see me when I got back.
  
• I e-mailed him three days later and said see you when I get back, have a nice week.
  
• He e-mailed me three days later and said great, and asked me a small-talk-y question.
• Sixteen days passed.
  

Did the Rules require me to be so stingy in my communication with him? I would argue yes, at least the spirit. I wasn't even going to send the one e-mail but college friend convinced me that I should. But it sounds extreme on paper, doesn't it?? Nonetheless, I do tend to believe that if he were thinking about me, he would give me a call when he knew I was back in town (as he must by now unless he's not thinking about me at all). Even though I didn't return his last e-mail.

Upon returning, two friends who know facebook guy, one girl and one guy, asked me if I'd heard from him. I said no. The girl said that I should call him. The guy said he's an idiot, to which I responded, well, he might still call, I hope he doesn't think I don't like him since I didn't get a chance to call before I left or something. Then the guy made the comment that "[facebook guy] has options."

Which made me feel pretty good about the decision not to e-mail him back.

Anyway, I am likely to run into facebook guy, and texting guy, and possibly even guy #3 that I haven't really talked about much, at various events. So I'll probably eventually get a sense of whether the poofing is final.

In the meantime, plenty of novels beckon.