The Spinach Incident

Jae stared at the ethernet **cable** draped over his monitor like a dead snake. Third time this week his connection had crapped right in the middle of a ranked match. His Discord was blowing up.

'Bro, you good?' Marcus's voice crackled through his headset. 'We need you back in the lobby.'

'Yeah, yeah, gimme a sec.' Jae wrestled with the coax behind his desk, frustrated sweat beading on his forehead. His mom was yelling something about dinner from downstairs—something about salad, great.

But when Jae finally got back online, Marcus was already in a call with someone else. Some girl whose laugh sounded like wind chimes. Jae's stomach did that familiar twist, the one he'd been ignoring for months now.

They'd been best **friend**s since seventh grade, back when Marcus couldn't shoot straight in COD and Jae had carried him through every lobby. Now Marcus was streaming, picking up followers, talking to people Jae didn't know. Meanwhile Jae was still stuck in the same bedroom with the same peeling paint and the same dad who worked two jobs and the same everything.

'Hey,' Jae said when Marcus finally muted his mic. 'We still grinding tonight?'

Marcus hesitated. Just for a second, but Jae caught it. 'Actually, Sarah and I might—'

'Cool, no worries.' Jae cut him off before he could finish. 'I gotta eat anyway.'

His mom had made that **spinach** salad again. The kind with feta and walnuts that he used to complain about until he realized she was trying, okay? She was actually trying to get them to eat healthier after the diabetes scare with his aunt.

Jae sat at the counter forcing down forkfuls of bitter greens while his mom scrolled through her phone. The TV played some reality show in the background. And suddenly everything felt so small and so big at the same time—this kitchen, this school, this whole life where Marcus was slowly becoming someone who didn't need Jae to carry him through anything anymore.

'How was school?' his mom asked, not looking up.

Jae swallowed a mouthful of **spinach**. 'Fine.' He paused. 'Actually, no. Not fine.'

She looked up then, really looked at him, and Jae realized he hadn't actually talked to her in weeks. Not really talked.

'Marcis is—' Jae started, then stopped. The words felt stupid and enormous all at once. 'I think things are changing.'

She nodded, like this was exactly what she'd been waiting for him to say. 'They always do, honey.' She pushed the salad toward him. 'Have some more spinach. It's good for your heart.'

Jae laughed, actually laughed, and for the first time all night, the twisting in his stomach settled. Maybe everything was changing, but maybe that was supposed to happen. Maybe the **cable** cutting out wasn't the worst thing—maybe it was just time to disconnect for a while.