Screen Burn

I was a total fraud at the top of the social pyramid—twitch streamer with 50K followers, zero actual friends at school. My hair earned me the nickname "Fox" back in seventh grade, this messy orange situation I'd finally learned to weaponize instead of hide.

Then I saw him: Marcus Chen, golden boy of the sophomore class, slipping behind the gym during lunch with my charger—my lucky limited-edition cable I'd spent three weeks hunting down. I should've let it go. Instead, I followed.

He wasn't vaping or dealing. He was hunched over some beat-up notebook, furiously scribbling, looking like he'd rather be literally anywhere else. I'd spent months being his secret spy from across the cafeteria, overanalyzing every jawline-flex and half-smile. Now here he was, being uncool on purpose.

"You gonna stand there being creepy all day, Fox?" He didn't even look up.

"Dude, you stole my cable."

"Borrowed. My phone died and I needed to finish this—" He shoved the notebook behind his back. "None of your business."

"Everything's my business when my charging situation is involved."

Marcus cracked. Like, actually smiled, and it was devastatingly genuine. "Fine. I write fanfic. Happy now?"

I stared. Marcus Chen, varsity soccer starter, wrote fanfic? The hierarchy of my entire existence had just rearranged itself.

"That's... honestly kind of iconic."

"Don't tell anyone. I'll literally never recover."

"Your secret's safe with me."

We sat there against the gym wall until the bell rang, talking about plot holes and character arcs and how exhausting it was, performing all day. I'd spent years watching from the sidelines, convinced the popular kids had it figured out. Turns out, everyone's just winging it.

"Same time tomorrow?" Marcus asked, handing back my cable.

"Wouldn't miss it."

That night, I went live like usual. But for the first time ever, I didn't feel like I was spying on a life I wanted. I was too busy texting Marcus about his main character's motivation problem. The view from the pyramid wasn't so lonely when you had someone real to share it with.