Screen Time Secrets

Maya's thumb hovered over the follow button for the third time today. Her iPhone screen glowed in her dark room, 11:47 PM burning bright in the corner.

She'd been basically cyber-spying on Chloe for weeks now. Chloe, with her perfect aesthetic posts and filtered selfies and friends who seemed to live in a constant golden hour. Maya wasn't proud of it, okay? But when you're fourteen and feel invisible in your own high school, sometimes you creep on the people who don't.

Her cat, Barnaby, chose that exact moment to knock over her water bottle with suspicious precision. The spill soaked her blanket and—more critically—sent her phone skittering across the floor.

"Barnaby, what the actual heck," she groaned, scrambling to rescue her device before the water damage could ruin her already precarious social life. But when she snatched it up, her finger slipped and somehow, someway, she'd accidentally liked a post from three weeks ago. Chloe's promposal post. From last year.

The worst part? It had a caption. "So jealous of whoever gets to ask you this year 💔"

Maya stared at the screen, heart pounding like she'd just publicly announced her undying love to the entire sophomore class. But then her notification pinged. A DM from Chloe.

"Omg thank you!! That was such a cute night 😭"

Maya froze. No mocking. No "why are you stalking my ancient posts." Just... genuine warmth.

Her phone buzzed again. "Hey aren't you in my English lit class? You always have cool stickers on your notebook"

Barnaby curled up beside her, purring like he'd just accomplished something brilliant. Maybe he had.

Maya deleted her forty-seven drafted responses and typed: "Yeah that's me! Your golden hour photos are actually goals"

A week later, they'd be sitting together at lunch. Chloe would complain about how exhausting it was to maintain her aesthetic. Maya would admit she felt invisible sometimes. They'd bond over real things, not curated feeds.

And Barnaby would get extra treats for being a chaotic little spy.