Ghost in the Group Chat

Maya's iPhone buzzed for the fifth time in two minutes. Another notification from the group chat. 'Emergency meeting at the food court NOW.'

She considered ignoring it. For three weeks, Maya had been slowly disappearing from their friend group—not literally, but in that way where you're still in all the photos but somehow no longer really there. Her texts went unanswered. Her invites got declined. Meanwhile, Jada and Chloe posted stories without her, inside jokes she didn't understand, a whole life happening in parallel.

Then came the running meme.

Someone—probably Chloe—had found an old photo of Maya from track freshman year. Not the good kind of throwback. The kind where she'd fallen flat on her face during a relay, looking absolutely unglamorous in every possible way. They were reposting it daily. Adding fire emojis. tagging her with '💀 goals.'

'She's just messing around,' Jada had said when Maya confronted them. 'You're so sensitive now.'

Maya stared at her iPhone screen, thumb hovering over the group chat. She could walk away. Let them win.

Instead, she typed: 'Food court in 10. Don't start without me.'

Her hands were literally shaking as she walked through the mall. What if they were laughing at her right now? What if she got there and it was some elaborate prank?

She found them at their usual table. Jada, Chloe, three others. All quiet. No food.

'What's going on?' Maya's voice came out smaller than she wanted.

Chloe stood up. 'So—' She looked genuinely uncomfortable. 'We were gonna give you space, but we've been talking, and—'

'It's not cool,' Jada cut in. 'The reposting thing. We crossed a line.'

Chloe nodded. 'Like, a big one. We're sorry.'

Maya blinked. 'What?'

'We looked at your account,' Jada said quietly. 'You haven't posted in three weeks. That's not you.'

'I thought you guys were—I don't know. Done with me.'

'What?' Chloe actually laughed. 'Maya, you're literally our favorite person. We were just being total assholes.'

Someone slid a milkshake across the table. 'We ordered your favorite,' Jada said. 'And we're deleting the picture. All of it.'

Maya sat down. Her iPhone buzzed—another notification. When she glanced at it, she saw that Chloe had posted something new. It was just the four of them from last week, Maya included, captioned: 'my actual ride or dies. no filter needed.'

'Maya?' Jada asked. 'You good?'

Maya nodded. A genuine smile, finally. 'Yeah. I'm good.'