It’s Friday Night in Austin, Texas on the eve of SXSW. The biggest festival of the year where over the course of 10 days music, film and tech professionals flock to the city for a good ole time. Locals are far too used to the hoopla and hospitality is booming. I can’t find a hotel or Airbnb so I turn to Instagram in hopes someone can give me a lead on where to stay.

Low & behold, Bella Blaze. Rarely does anyone extend an invitation for me too stay, let alone a girl I’ve never met. After a few back and forth texts earlier that day, she sends me her address. I really have no idea what to expect. Apparently we matched on a dating app 2 years prior and here I was going to her house alongside my dog at 10pm after a 4 hour flight. I’m tired, hungry, but curious to see who in their right mind would invite a stranger in like this. Nevertheless, I was grateful and told myself I would be on my best behavior.

Over the course of that night and the rest of that week Bella and I spent a lot of time together. Partying, photo shoots, skateboarding, hiking, grocery shopping, flirting, talking about relationships, career frustrations, dreams of travel and so much more. We were kind of inseparable and oddly similar. Was she my twin flame? My best friend? Honestly, to this day I dont know.

More of Bella in issue 002 of Boy Has Dreams.