Running Behind the Scenes

The cable's hopelessly tangled. Again.

"You ready or what?" Jake yells through my locked door. "People are waiting."

I've been hiding behind a filter for two years while everyone else at school lives their unfiltered lives. Tonight's the night I finally go live—Jake's 16th birthday stream, and he's making me come out of the digital shadows.

"Almost," I call back, but my hands shake.

My phone buzzes. Chelsea: are you really doing this??? Everyone's gonna see your hair lol don't embarrass yourself

I can't do this. I'm about to bail when—

Jake's dog, this ancient golden retriever named Bear, pushes open my unlocked door and flops onto my feet.

"Bear!" Jake appears in the doorway, laughing. "Dude, stop sabotaging my guest."

Bear doesn't move. Just looks up with those dopey eyes like he knows exactly what I'm feeling.

"You know what?" I say, something shifting in my chest. "Let's just do it."

The stream starts. Comments flood in instantly: who's this guy, his hair tho, wait this is the ghost kid right

My stomach twists—until Jake grabs the mic.

"Hold up," he says. "Before we start gaming, I gotta introduce y'all to my boy. This dude's been running behind the scenes for years, editing my clips, making me look way better than I actually am. If it wasn't for him, I'd still have twelve followers."

He high-fives me. On camera.

The chat explodes: wait he edits everything??? no way this dude's a legend respect ↑↑↑

Bear snores loudly on my feet and suddenly the whole chat's just bear emojis.

"He's not wrong though," Jake says. "This dude's been carrying me since seventh grade. Without him, there's no channel. Without him, I'm literally nothing."

Something loosens in my chest. All that time I thought I was hiding—I was actually building something real.

Three hours later, I've got my own followers. People asking when I'm starting my own channel. Chelsea sends three texts: group chat tomorrow? you were actually kinda fire today sry about earlier

The cable's still tangled around my feet like something that's always been part of me, connecting me to everything I've been running toward all along.

Bear doesn't move from my feet the entire time, like even he knows: ghost time is over.