Catfish & Cable

I wasn't technically a stalker, but Maya's Instagram stories were basically my daily briefing. Being a social media spy wasn't my life's ambition, but when you're fifteen and your entire personality is "quiet kid in the back row," you take your social research where you can get it.

The whole mess started because my mom decided I needed to learn "valuable work skills" by helping her install cable for her friend's elderly neighbor. Which is how I found myself in Mrs. Chen's living room, surrounded by dusty coaxial cables, trying to look like I knew what I was doing.

That's when her cat, a fluffy orange jerk named Mango, decided my headphone wire was a personal enemy. The cat launched himself at me, I flinched, and suddenly I was tangled in cable like I'd been captured by a low-budget villain.

"Smooth," said a voice from the doorway.

I looked up to see Tyler—the actual bull of our grade, not metaphorical. Tyler who took up three seats at lunch and whose voice could cut through cafeteria chatter like a siren. I was expecting him to laugh, to roast me, to make this moment immortal.

Instead, he picked up Mango and started scratching behind his ears. "This cat terrorized me last week too. I think he's secretly an agent sent to test our patience."

"You do cable too?" I asked, surprised.

"My uncle's company," he said, helping me untangle from the wires. "You're Alex, right? You sit behind me in history. You always have those headphones."

"Yeah."

"What are you listening to?"

"Podcasts. About... spy stuff."

"For real?" His eyes lit up. "Dude, I love that Cold War podcast. The one with the sleeper agents?"

We spent the next twenty minutes arguing about whether cable management was an art or a science while Mango watched from the couch like he was judging us. By the time my mom came back, Tyler had given me his number to "continue this very important debate."

Later that night, my phone buzzed. Tyler had sent me a meme about cables. I smiled, then caught myself.

Maybe this year wouldn't be so bad after all.