One night last summer my roommate "Glitter" and I were just sittin' around and decided to fire up the computer. We started hopping in some chattrooms and finally stopped on one that didn't seem too lame. We started talking to some guys in there and when we were getting ready to leave, we traded e-mails.

We started writing back and forth..all four of us. I wrote to "Jed" and Glitter wrote back and forth with "Michael." We must have traded hundreds of e-mails over the next three months.

When summer was almost over we decided to trade phone numbers and started talking on the phone as much as we wrote. Jed and MichaeL wanted us to meet them Labor Day weekend. At first we thought it would be a bad idea. Glitter and I had heard all the net horror storiesÉ stalkers, murderersÉ the whole nightmare thing. In the end we decided to meet them since we would be together and there is more safety in numbers (thank my mom for that bit of insight). We picked St. Louis. We picked a hotel and where to meet in town; Union Station haha (more of that numbers=safety stuff). Glitter and I got there about an hour early and found a place where we could watch the place we were meeting without being seen. At the exact time we were supposed to be there, we saw two nice looking guys walking around with flowers looking kinda scared. We came out of our hiding place and walked up. It was Jed and MichaeL. At first it was kind of weird and uncomfortable, but then the guys made a few jokes and we all calmed down. We hit all the spots in Union Station and then headed down to the riverboats. We hopped all over the place. We gambled for a while, then hit a few nightclubs. We laughed and danced and had a great time. The whole weekend was nothing but fun. Even though we knew St. Louis, we played tourist with the guys. We went all over. When the weekend was over we were pretty bummed. The guys lived in Jeff City so it would be a while before we saw them again, or so we thought. When we were getting ready to come home there were tons of hugs and even some tears.

When we got home on Monday we were tired and happy but sad it was over. On Monday night we both had e-mails from the guys telling us how great they thought we were. Jed and I had really become close friends over the months of writing, and the weekend just made us closer. But only friends.

Glitter moped around the house all day Tuesday. It got so bad I finally went for a bike ride so she didn't get me all depressed. When I got back guess who was sitting on my couch.....MichaeL. He had driven down after work to see Glitter and they were all snuggled up together. She was grinning like a maniac and he couldn't stop rubbing her hand or stroking her arm. I didn't know it then but this was the beginning of what would amount to me losing my roommate.

They took turns driving back and forth from here to Jeff City until the beginning of November. That's when she told me she was quitting her job and moving there. She found a job right away in Jeff City and packed up and bailed on me. On New Year's Eve they got engaged. I thought that was a little too "cute." MichaeL said we wanted to start the new millennium beginning their new life together. I laughed at him and told him they should have called DeBeers to do a commercial.

Anyway, I don't have a roomie anymore. Jed and I are best friends and we get together when we feel like it, bumming around St Louis or hanging down here.

Glitter and MichaeL are getting married in April. I am going to be the maid of honor and Jed will be the best man. So I guess this has a happy ending for all of us. Jed and I found great friends in each other and Glitter and MichaeL get the storybook ending. I just hope she doesn't pick out nasty dresses for the wedding party; I told her I am allergic to ruffles.