Date with a Dead Girl

Submitted by Kenneth:

Cindy and I traded messages on an online site and really seemed to hit it off.  She was a good conversationalist, a blond, and had a great smile, at least in her pictures.  I asked her if we could meet up sometime in the following week, and I didn't hear from her again.  I thought about writing another message, but didn't want to come across as obsessive, so I decided to move on.

Shortly after, I received a message from her.  It was very short and to the point.  "Hey.  Let's meet up.  Friday, 8 o'clock at Morgan's Bar," or something like that.  I wrote her back, "Is everything okay?" and she replied, "8 o'clock.  Morgan's," and that was it.  Not at all like her earlier messages.  Well, maybe she had a tough week.

Turns out, her week must have been far, far tougher than I would have otherwise imagined.

In contrast to the pretty, friendly girl I had come to "know" over the Internet, Cindy showed up with short black hair, a couple of new piercings, and an all-black wardrobe.  I have no problem with people who want to dress however they want, but I'd be lying if I said that I expected something this extreme.

I thought about pointing it out, but realized that it would be a stupid thing to do.  In any case, my shock must have been obvious, because she asked, "What?"

I told her that she looked good, although a bit different from what I had expected, but was quick to reassure her that this was okay.

She replied, "We all look the same when we're dead."

Wrong.  Patrick Swayze probably looked a hell of a lot different from how Israel Kamakawiwo'ole looked, but I digress.

We sat down and hit some small talk back and forth until I couldn't help but ask, "Cindy, you're a bit different from how you came across online.  What happened?"

She just shrugged off the question and said, "If you don't like the new me, then you don't have to.  But this is the new me."

As I wasn't too into her personality anymore, I didn't ask her out again.  I'm still damned curious to know how she turned from one person into another, apparently over the course of a week.

Any ideas?