I returned to my phone

I sighed and grabbed the phone again, desperate for anything to distract me from spiraling down that familiar rabbit hole.

I was scrolling through the same boring feed when a notification chimed. A message from an unknown profile. I tapped on it opening with a string of messages.

Unknown: Hi
Unknown: Beauty
Unknown: I'm Mudit. Saw your profile through a mutual friend. You're in the science section, right? I'm in commerce.
Unknown: Thought I'd say hi.

I stared at the screen, confused. Mudit? The name sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place it.

I clicked on his profile. It was... flashy. Too flashy. His display picture was him in a gym, shirt pulled up to show off his abs, flexing for the camera. A bit cringe, I thought. His bio was just a string of emojis and something generic about being a "gym freak" and "living life to the fullest."

I scrolled through a few posts. More gym photos. A group shot with a bunch of guys who all looked the same. A blurry picture from a party.

I went back to the message and hesitated. Should I even reply? I didn't know this guy. But he said a mutual friend...

I typed carefully.

Me: Hi. Do I know you?

His reply came almost immediately. Like he'd been waiting.

Mudit: Not yet But I've seen you around school. You're hard to miss.

I frowned. That felt... weird. But also, depressingly normal for how guys talked online.

Me: Okay. Who's the mutual friend?

Mudit: Rina Sharma. She's in your section, isn't she?

Rina. Okay, I knew her. We were in the same bio lab, though we never really talked. So, maybe this wasn't completely random.

Me: Oh. Yeah, I know Rina.

Mudit: Cool. So, what are you up to?

I stared at the message. What was I supposed to say? I didn't really want to chat with some random gym-flexing guy, but I also didn't want to be rude if he was friends with a classmate.

Me: Just homework. You?

Mudit: Same. Boring stuff. But talking to you is making it better

I literally rolled my eyes at the screen. That line was so cheesy it hurt. But I replied anyway.

Me: Lol okay.

Mudit: You seem nice. Do you have a boyfriend?

My stomach tightened. Ugh. There it was. Why did they always have to ask that? I didn't want to lie, but I also didn't want to tell some stranger about Arvind. It felt private.

Me: Why do you want to know?

Mudit: Just curious. Thought maybe we could be friends.

Friends. Sure. That's what guys always said when they wanted something else.

Me: I have a boyfriend.

There. That should shut it down.

Mudit: Lucky guy. He must be really happy.

I didn't know how to respond to that, so I just sent a thumbs-up emoji.

Mudit: But hey, friends are still cool, right? I mean, no harm in talking.

I hesitated again. He wasn't being too pushy, not like some guys. And it wasn't like I was interested. Arvind and I were solid. Thinking of him, of just a couple of hours ago, made my stomach do a little flip. This guy was nothing. It wasn't like talking to someone online would hurt anything.

And I was so bored.

Me: Yeah, sure. Friends is fine.