Texting Anonymous

flirting at lunch

I hit send and leaned back, staring at the ceiling, waiting for a reply. Moments later, my phone buzzed.

Anonymous: Lmao, my family doesn't know either. My mom and dad would probably be okay with it, just shocked. My brother's pretty young so I doubt he'll care.

I typed back:

Me: Yeah, my sister would never let me live it down.

The dots appeared as the account typed, and I waited, curious about their family dynamics. The response came:

Anonymous: Yeah, siblings can be brutal.

I laughed softly. It was nice to have this shared connection, even with someone I hadn't met. It made the whole experience feel a little less scary.

I typed out the message, my fingers feeling a little more sure now. There was a part of me that couldn't help but feel a little nervous, like I was taking another step into unknown territory, but I pushed that down.

Me: Do your friends know?

It was a casual question, but my heart was beating faster as I waited for the response. I felt like I knew the answer already, but I was still curious.

The dots appeared almost immediately, and then the message came:

Anonymous: I think they'd be cool with it. Maybe rip on me a little jokingly? But they wouldn't make it a big deal.

I couldn't help but smile at the thought. It felt like a huge weight was being lifted, knowing that someone else, someone who was in the same situation as me, wasn't terrified of their friends finding out.

Me: That's actually kind of how I feel. I think my friends would be okay with it. They'd probably make a joke or two, but they wouldn't act weird about it.

The reply came quickly:

Anonymous: Yeah, exactly. I think we'd be fine. It's just weird to think about, you know?

I stared at the screen for a second. Yeah, I knew exactly what they meant. It was weird to think about. It was like a part of me that I'd never fully acknowledged before, but now it felt like it was out there in the open, just a little, even if no one else knew.

Anonymous: Totally. It's like... once it's out there, it's out there, y'know? But at the same time, it doesn't change anything.

I was typing out my thoughts faster than I was fully processing them, but it felt right. Like I was speaking with someone who understood exactly what I meant.

Me: Yeah, like, I don't even know if I'll tell my friends. Not yet anyway. But it's good knowing they'd probably be okay with it.

I leaned back against my bed, thinking about the conversations we'd had so far. It felt strange to have a connection like this with someone I'd never met. But there was something comforting about it—the fact that we both had these pieces of ourselves we were trying to figure out, and somehow, it made everything feel a little less scary.

Anonymous: Same here. Maybe one day, but not yet.

I smiled at my phone, feeling like for the first time in a while, I wasn't alone in this. Whoever was on the other end understood me, and that was something I hadn't expected when I first messaged the account. But now, it felt like everything had changed, and I wasn't so terrified anymore.

A message notification pulled me away from the conversation I was having on the fake account. I clicked on it without thinking, my stomach sinking when I saw who it was from.