Category
DMs, secret accounts, and digital breadcrumbs
15 stories
He posted another flawless beach selfie from his solo work trip. I almost scrolled past it, until I noticed what his sunglasses were reflecting.
A blank little account showed up in my suggested follows one ordinary Tuesday. I almost ignored it. Then I looked closer at the photo.
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.
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.
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.
She thought blind trust was a gift. She didn't realize it was the one thing she'd bragged away.
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.
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.
I was scrolling the local rants page to laugh at someone else's drama. Then I saw the photo, and the comments started loading.
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.