Operation: Catfish Cable Guy

Leo's plan was practically foolproof. Well, except for the part where he was definitely going to get caught.

The new neighbor girl — Skylar, with perfect winged eyeliner and an air of mystery — had been outside for twenty minutes, and Leo was convinced she was up to something cool. Illegal cool. He'd spent the last week trying to become a certified social media spy, which mostly meant lurking and refreshing pages obsessively.

"You're being pathetic," his sister Jordan called from the couch. "Just go say hi like a normal person."

"Normal people don't become TikTok famous, Jordan," Leo shot back, adjusting his phone on the windowsill. "This is content creation. I'm building a brand."

His cat, Nacho, chose that exact moment to launch himself at the window. The phone went flying, knocking over Leo's carefully positioned ethernet cable — his lifeline to decent upload speeds. Nacho landed gracefully and immediately began chewing on the frayed end.

"Dude, not the cable!" Leo dove for it, but Nacho was already batting it across the floor like it was a particularly entertaining mouse.

Outside, Skylar looked up. She made direct eye contact with Leo, who was currently on the floor wrestling network equipment away from his cat while one sneaker dangled off his foot.

This was it. The end of his social life before it had even properly begun.

But instead of laughing, Skylar waved.

Leo scrambled up, Nacho still attached to the cable, and stumbled to the door. "Hey! I was just— my cat—"

"Spying on me?" Skylar grinned. "I figured. You kept almost-dropping your phone."

Leo felt his face burn. "I wasn't—I mean, I was just—"

"Relax, I'm kidding." She adjusted her backpack. "I'm Skylar. I was waiting for my mom to bring my bike."

"Oh." Leo blinked. "That's... less exciting than I imagined."

"Sorry to disappoint." She pulled a water bottle from her bag, offering it. "Want to come check out my new streaming setup? I need someone who knows about cables and stuff."

The water bottle was cold against his palm. Nacho finally released the cable and flopped dramatically onto the rug.

"I'd," Leo said, "I'd actually love that."

Jordan made gagging noises from the couch, but Leo didn't even care. Being a spy was overrated anyway.