Social Media Discovery

He posted another flawless beach selfie from his solo work trip. I almost scrolled past it, until I noticed what his sunglasses were reflecting.

I was half-asleep, scrolling past a silly street quiz, when something in the blurry background of the video made me sit up and stop breathing.

A blank little account showed up in my suggested follows one ordinary Tuesday. I almost ignored it. Then I looked closer at the photo.

I was scrolling the local rants page to laugh at someone else's drama. Then I saw the photo, and the comments started loading.

He swore he only used the app for scores and headlines. Then one bored Sunday afternoon I tapped a tab I had never thought to open before.

He lived three states away, which made it easy to believe him about everything. Then one woman kept appearing under his name online, and I started asking questions.

He reposted our photo, called me from rooftops, said all the right things. On my birthday, a friend matched with him on a dating app — where he was very, very single.

A blunt proposition lands in her inbox from a man she barely knows. Then she notices who is smiling beside him in his profile photo.

She thought blind trust was a gift. She didn't realize it was the one thing she'd bragged away.

I ordered a surprise present for my boyfriend from the same little shop he'd been following. The owner read his name and went very, very quiet.

She swore she was home for a quiet night in. The little cartoon avatar on the map told a different story, and it was standing somewhere it had no business being.

I was half-asleep, tapping through stories on the couch, when a stranger's face appeared where his should have been — smiling like she belonged there.

I changed my whole life for him. Clawed out of depression, doubled my income, held his family together. Then his ex sent me one message while he was in the bathroom.

A stranger's brunch photo crossed my feed by accident. I only zoomed in because the toast looked good. I should have scrolled past.

He left his tablet at home so the map would swear he was innocent. He forgot I knew how to read a map too.