Unfollowed

Lila's iphone lit up with another notification from Jordan's story. She'd been lowkey stalking his posts since freshman orientation—basically a social media spy at this point. Her thumb hovered over the screen, caught in that endless scroll loop where twenty minutes vanish and you've learned nothing except that Jordan really likes breakfast burritos.

Her golden retriever, Buster, nudged her hand with that wet-nose insistence that meant walk time NOW. Lila groaned but grabbed the leash. Some fresh air wouldn't kill her.

They turned the corner toward the park when Buster—usually a chill dude who'd sell his soul for a cheese stick—went full chaos mode. He lunged toward someone sitting on a bench, tail like a metronome on overdrive.

Lila scrambled after him. "Buster, bro, what are you doing?"

The dog parked himself in front of none other than Jordan, who was grinning like this was the best thing that'd happened all week. "Is this the famous Buster I've seen in your stories?"

Lila's brain short-circuited. Wait. WHAT.

"You... watch my stories?" she managed, while Buster thoroughly investigated Jordan's shoes.

Jordan's ears went slightly pink. "Yeah. I mean, your photography is actually sick. That sunset series last week? Main character energy."

The realization hit her like a splash of cold water—all this time she'd been in her feels thinking Jordan was out of her league, meanwhile he was double-tapping her posts and probably overthinking it just as hard.

"You could've just... replied?" Lila said, feeling suddenly brave.

"I didn't wanna be that guy," Jordan laughed, scratching Buster behind the ears. "But your dog definitely made that decision for both of us."

Buster flopped dramatically onto Jordan's feet, clearly claiming his new human.

"Want to walk him together?" Lila heard herself say. "He's not gonna let you leave anyway."

Jordan stood up, smiling. "I was hoping you'd ask."

Later that night, Lila's iphone pinged with a DM from Jordan. No more spying from the shadows—sometimes real life hits different than any story view ever could.