Offline Mode

The iPhone notification lit up my face at 2:47 AM — another DM from the group chat that wouldn't let me sleep. I stared at the screen, my thumb hovering over the typing bubble, heart doing that stupid fluttery thing it always did when *she* posted. Maya had sent a photo of the party I hadn't been invited to, captioned "missing u vibes."

Yeah. Right.

I threw on my running shoes before I could overthink it. The air was crisp, the kind of cold that wakes up your lungs. Running was the only time my brain actually shut up — no notifications, no FOMO, no Maya.

Then I saw it: a fox standing by the abandoned tennis courts, its coat burning orange against the dawn. It froze, watching me with those too-human eyes. We stood there for what felt like forever, two insomniacs in a sleeping city.

"Weird night, right?" I whispered, and the fox's ear flicked like it actually heard me.

That's when I spotted the cat — this ancient calico that lived in the apartment complex, limping toward the fox like it owned the place. I braced myself for a nature documentary moment. Instead, the fox dipped its head, almost respectful, and slipped into the bushes while the cat sat down and started washing its face like nothing happened.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I ignored it.

Mom was making breakfast when I got back. "Running again? You're gonna waste away." She dumped spinach on my plate, the way she'd been doing since I told her I was trying to "eat clean" because some TikTok said it helped with anxiety.

"Maya posted photos," I said, poking at the spinach. "Without me."

Mom didn't look up from her coffee. "People show what they want you to see. Not what's real."

The fox knew that. The cat definitely knew that.

I opened my phone one last time. Maya's photo had three comments already, everyone saying "where were u??" My thumb hovered over the keyboard, but instead of replying, I opened the group settings and turned on Do Not Disturb until Monday.

The spinach actually wasn't bad. And my legs felt like jello, but in a good way.

I didn't need to be at that party to be okay. I just needed to be here, running toward nothing, watching the sunrise paint the sky pink and gold, finally offline and actually breathing.