When the Internet Broke in Half

Marcus's mom had started him on those gummy **vitamin** D supplements because "you never leave the house anymore, sweetie." He'd been crushing them ironically while watching his favorite streamer, BullDawg99, attempt to ride a mechanical bull in a crowded convention center.

The chat was going absolutely feral.

"YO THIS IS ACTUAL FOOTAGE"

"when the bull throws him into orbit 💀"

"bull literally means weakness lol get it"

Marcus was supposed to be finishing his English essay—something about identity and coming of age, which was rich considering he didn't even know who he was half the time. High school was this weird limbo where everyone was trying to be someone while simultaneously trying not to be anyone at all.

Then it happened.

Outside his window, **lightning** struck so close the whole house shook. His monitor flickered once, twice, then died completely. The stream cut. BullDawg99's face froze mid-yell.

"No no NO," Marcus groaned, checking his router. Nothing. The **cable** company's automated voice told him there was an outage in his area. Estimated repair time: unknown.

He stared at his black screen, at his own dim reflection staring back. Suddenly, the most-watched streamer of the moment was gone, and Marcus was just... alone. No chat. No hype. No dopamine hits from watching someone else live boldly and badly.

His phone buzzed—his group chat blowing up about the outage.

"everyone's internet is down wtf is happening"

Marcus opened his window. The air smelled like rain and ozone. Across the street, he saw his neighbor Chloe—actual Chloe, the one he'd been lowkey crushing on since September—standing on her porch, phone in hand, looking around like she was waiting for something to happen.

She waved. Actually waved.

He waved back.

"Your internet too?" she called across the dark street.

"Yeah!" he yelled back, feeling ridiculous. "BullDawg99 cut off mid-stream!"

"I was watching that!" She laughed. "Want to come over? We can complain about it in person."

Marcus grabbed his jacket. His mom's vitamin gummies were still on his desk.

Sometimes the universe hits the reset button. Sometimes the cable breaks, the lightning strikes, the bull bucks, and you're just left standing there—awkward and alive and weirdly okay with it.