The word bad is sort of an understatement.something happened to me this summer and i really can't decide who to tell or how to get this out there, therefore i chose YA to share the story to and gain advice on how to go about telling people.the only reason i actually want to share the story is for it to serve as a big warning for young people (especially young girls) of the dangers of the internet.
right, i am currently 19 years old living in the UK. this mess started when i was 14 (september of 2008) whilst i was living in atlanta, georgia of the united states.i lived in the UK as a child and had several friends i still kept in contact with; one of which told me to sign up for a site called tagged(dot)com.essentially it was one of those bebo/myspace-esque sites, you build your own profile and send comments to each other, have profile photos, etc.i was bored and it seemed fun.i was quite shy in real life but after receiving an influx of attention became blinded by it.soon enough a guy was sending me messgaes, complimenting my photos, as a naive teenager i enjoyed this much more than i should have.we quickly became online friends, spoke loads on msn, that kinda thing.
i was in georgia like i said, and he was in canada.in the province of saskatchewan to be exact.his name was 'matthew eckert', claimed to be two years older than me, soon finishing high school, an avid basketball player, typical teenage boy i suppose.well our friendship turned into somewhat of a romance and before i knew it i was texting him loads (and running the bill up). we would talk endlessly.got along surprisingly well and shared our deepest thoughts and secrets.i was soon his 'girlfriend' although we had never met.i was convinced he was the love of my life and the day i met him would be the greatest.i was stupid, naive as mentioned before, and gullible to have thought this.i lied to everybody constantly, friends would ask to hang out but i'd say i was busy and spend all night speaking to him.we never spoke on the phone though, or had any sort of video communication.i sent him letters occasionally thinking i was cute and romantic; he'd say he sent a reply but it got lost in the post etc.
the following year after our initial online meeting my parents decided to move us back to the UK; this caused some stress in my 'relationship' however we decided we loved each other sooo much that we'd keep it going, and he promised he would visit.every summer or christmas, we'd always make plans to see each other.and something would always occur to randomly ruin the plans.i eventually got suspicious (like i should have done at the very beginning). i realised i had never seen him on video, so i asked for at least a call.my suspicions subsided because we did start speaking on the phone and the voice seemed oddly normal.
well as the relationship continued i grew very wary of the fact i had never seen my boyfriend in the flesh.i started to worry for own safety.when i asked for video chats he'd always put it off saying he didn't have a webcam.okay, a.) nearly every laptop these days has a webcam and b.) even if they don't, how hard is a $10 webcam to purchase for someone you claim to love? it just didn't fit in correctly.i researched the academic awards he claimed to receive and the schools he claimed to play sports for, his name was never mentioned once.there was no record of a matthew eckert ANYWHERE. i started pestering him to prove himself so we could continue the relationship in piece.
low and behold, in the midst of an argument this summer, matt said to me 'okay, i'm not who i say i am'. this was over a message on the iphone messaging app called kik.first this person attempted another lie, trying to say they were somebody called derek, but in the end admitted their real identity.this person was in fact a girl.her name is tiffany strachan and she has ruined my trust in anybody human.for 5 years she lied to me, pretended to be a boy, kept me up when i should have been studying, fought with me over situations she essentially made up, and above all got nude photos from me (i thought i was doing a nice thing for a boyfriend at the time). she knew my deepest secrets and used them against me when i was upset, at times she was horrendously cruel, i just.i can't explain how horrid this situation was.i thought i had the love of my life.who knows how many young naive girls are out there thinking the same?
i don't know how to bring my story to light but i want people to know.any advice???
>>> Something bad happened to me and I don't know who to tell?