The Day I Went Offline

My iPhone was basically my third hand. Seriously, I slept with it under my pillow like it was some kind of electronic security blanket. But that Friday before sophomore year, everything changed.

I'd been running from the truth all summer: my best friend group had somehow moved on without me. Every group chat was ghost town, every Instagram story showed them hanging without inviting me. I was refreshing, scrolling, and spiraling—classic doomscrolling, my therapist would say.

Then came the text: "Pool party at Jake's, 2 PM. Everyone's coming."

My heart did that stupid fluttery thing. I stared at my phone like it was a bomb. Water. My worst nightmare. I'd somehow managed to hide my aquaphobia all through freshman year, avoiding pool parties like they were final exams. But Jake—the guy I'd been lowkey crushing on since that algebra project in October—was finally going to be there. Alone-ish.

"I'll pass," I typed, then deleted. "Busy," I typed, then deleted.

My cat Luna jumped onto my desk, knocking over my water bottle. Straight onto my phone. Complete panic mode. No phone, no excuses, no way to fake sick or pretend I was busy somewhere else.

"Great," I muttered at Luna. "Thanks for the assist, traitor."

I threw on my bathing suit under my clothes—totally planning to just hang out on the deck—and walked to Jake's house, palms sweating the whole way. When I got there, everyone was already in the pool. Laughing. Together. Without me.

Then I saw Jake sitting alone on the edge, feet dangling in the water. He looked up and spotted me. "Hey! Finally. I was hoping you'd come."

My stomach did this little flip. "Really?"

"Dude," he said, "I only invited everyone else so you wouldn't feel awkward. I know you don't swim."

I stared at him. "How—"

"I saw you at every pool party last year," he said. "Just sitting there, looking miserable. I figured maybe you just needed someone to be out of the water with you."

And then my phone buzzed in my pocket—somehow it still worked. But I didn't check it. For the first time in months, I didn't want to.

"You're really bad at being subtle," I said, sitting beside him.

He laughed. "I'm a literal bear when I'm nervous. My sister says I'm excruciating."

We sat there for an hour while everyone else splashed and screamed. Talking about everything and nothing. And when I finally got home and checked my phone? The group chat was blowing up with everyone saying they should've hung out with me more.

Sometimes the universe has to break your phone to get you to pick up your head.