Signal Lost

Zara was running late, again. Her iPhone buzzed against her thigh — eighth notification this period. Sliding it under her desk, she tapped the screen. Another DM from ThatAccount99.

"ur playlist is straight fire 🔥"

Zara's stomach did that thing — the half-flutter, half-nausea combo that defined her entire existence lately. Someone was spying on her. Not like, creeper style, but actually paying attention. The mystery had haunted her since September.

"You good?" Marcus whispered, leaning over.

"Yeah. Just... thinking."

Marcus, who she'd been lowkey crushing on since before orientation, gave her that look. The one that made her feel transparent and invisible at the same time.

"Got cable?" he asked, nodding at her dead battery. "You can charge at my spot."

Wait. What?

His Spotify playlist. The one she'd been obsessively listening to since she discovered it last month. The playlist ThatAccount99 had commented on three times this week.

The pieces clicked together so hard she almost got whiplash.

Marcus had been following her. Not in a creepy way — in an I-see-you way. The way she'd secretly wanted someone to see her since she started high school, when her friend group shifted and she found herself eating lunch in the library.

She watched him all through physics. The way his leg bounced when he was concentrating. How he doodled in the margins. Small details she'd cataloged without meaning to, the same way she'd memorized every song on his playlist.

"Hey," he said after class, falling into step beside her. "You going to the game Friday?"

"Maybe. Why?"

He shrugged. "Just wondering. If you'll be there."

Zara's heart was doing something genuinely concerning now. She'd spent so long running from herself, from being seen, that she hadn't noticed someone was already looking. Not spying. Not lurking. Just paying attention.

Her phone died in her pocket, and she didn't even care.

"I'll be there," she said.

Marcus's grin was worth everything.

"Cool. I'll save you a seat."