The Catfish Incident

The neon from his gaming PC reflected off Tyler's glasses as he stared at the Discord call. His best friend since kindergarten was suddenly acting weird.

"Bro, you coming to Jake's party tonight?" Marcus's voice crackled through the headphones. "Everyone's gonna be there."

Tyler's stomach did that thing where it felt like a fox was chasing butterflies inside him. Parties weren't exactly his vibe. "Maybe. I gotta finish this English essay."

"Bruh, it's Friday. The essay can wait." Marcus paused. "Unless you're still salty about what happened with Jessica?"

Tyler rolled his eyes even though Marcus couldn't see him. Jessica, who'd sat next to him in homeroom for three months, who'd somehow convinced him she was different from the cat-obsessed girl everyone warned him about. Who'd then posted their entire DM conversation on her Snapchat story for laughs.

"I'm over it," Tyler lied. "Just need some me time, you know?"

"Sure you do." Marcus's tone shifted. "Hey, random question – you ever talk to that girl from your coding camp? The one with the bear emoji in her username?"

Tyler's face heated up. "How'd you know about that?"

"Saw you guys on Instagram live. She seemed chill."

Yeah, chill. If chill meant Tyler had spent two months messaging someone he'd never actually met in person, someone who got his obscure gaming references and didn't make him feel like his brain was wired wrong.

"We're just friends," Tyler said, but his voice cracked.

"Friends don't stay up until 3 AM every night talking about literally everything," Marcus shot back. "When are you gonna finally meet up?"

The cable connecting Tyler's console to the TV lay tangled on the floor. He stared at it, thinking about how easy it was to be brave behind a screen, and how terrifying it was to be real.

"This weekend," Tyler heard himself say. "I'm gonna ask her to hang out."

"FINALLY," Marcus cheered. "Now get your butt to Jake's party. Practice your social skills."

Tyler took a deep breath. "Fine. But if it's awkward, I'm leaving."

"Deal. And hey?" Marcus's voice softened. "Whatever happened with Jessica? That's not on you. Some people just project their own insecurities onto others."

Tyler smiled. "Since when did you get so wise?"

"YouTube," Marcus said. "YouTube and too much therapy TikTok."

As Tyler grabbed his hoodie, his phone buzzed. A message from BearEmojiGirl: *this party better be worth the anxiety. see you there?*

Tyler grinned. Some things were worth being brave for.