The Social Glitch

Raj scrolled back up through his texts, rereading them for the fifth time.

Nick: bruh. wtf. I just had lunch w Joey n it was insane. Madison n Aynsley were all over him. like ALL OVER HIM
Nick: dude im not even kidding. Madison was practically in his lap n Aynsley was right there w her. like touching his arm, giggling at everything he said. shit was unreal.

Raj locked his phone and tossed it onto the tray beside his half-eaten fries.

"I still say you’re full of shit," he said.

Across the table, Nick gave him a flat look. "I literally just told you—"

"Yeah, I read it," Raj interrupted. "I just don’t believe it. That’s a big difference."

Nick sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. "Dude."

Raj didn't know why Nick was pushing it. It was obviously not true. How could it be? "No. No way. This is, like… the dumbest prank of all time. Joey Granger? Joey? Our Joey? The guy who cries like a baby when Boromir dies? That Joey?"

"Yeah."

"And you expect me to believe that Madison Ashford—one of the hottest girls in school—was all over him?"

"Yes."

"Aynsley Cho too?"

"Yes."

"Bullshit."

It wasn't that Raj didn't want to believe it. He did. Of course he did! The idea of waking up one day and finding out that the social order had been flipped on its head, that what had always been considered undesirable was now what women wanted was a common fantasy. But that was all it was: A fantasy.

His whole life Raj had wanted more. He worked hard in school, was personable, funny even, and yet lived the life of an invisible nobody. Just like Nick. Just like Joey.

Girls didn't notice Raj. They never had. He wasn't tall, he wasn't strong. No chiseled jawline adorned Raj's face. He was, in so many ways, average.

Not in ambition. No, Raj was going to conquer the world one day. He had goals, he had dreams. Once he was finished with his education, he would start his own business. He would work himself to the bone. Anything other than success would be unacceptable. He would rise to the top. People would know his name.

But for now, just like his friends, Raj existed as a face in the crowd, one that would go unnoticed by anyone who mattered.

Nick leaned forward, lines of frustration showing in his forehead, "Look, I get it. If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't believe it either."

"I wouldn't believe it even if I did see it," Raj countered, "Girls like that don't pay attention to guys like Joey. He's gum on the bottom of their shoe."

"I swear," Nick was emphatic, "It fucking happened."

Raj let out a disbelieving laugh and sat back. "No, it didn’t. Things don’t just happen. There’s an order to this shit. A system. A food chain. We’re at the bottom. Joey’s at the bottom. But you’re telling me that, overnight, he skipped the whole line?"

Nick shrugged. "I’m just telling you what I saw."

Raj waved a fry at him. "Oh, sure. Next you’re gonna tell me they laughed at his jokes. Flipped their hair. Twirled their skirts or whatever girls do when they’re into you."

Nick said nothing.

Raj stopped mid-chew.

"They did?"

Nick just nodded.

Raj stared at him, trying to process. For a moment, just a moment, the look of earnestness on Nick's face began to break through his cynicism. But then reality broke through.

"No. Nope. It’s a glitch in the matrix. Maybe you’re in a coma. Maybe you hit your head this morning, and your brain is just firing off its last good fantasy before you die."

Nick rolled his eyes. "Stop being dramatic."

"Am I?" Raj leaned forward. "Because I’m not crazy for thinking this doesn’t make sense. We've all been invisible since grade six. All of us. You too. Tell me, have the girls at school suddenly started paying attention to you? Are they coming up to you and talking? Are you on their radar? Let me answer that for you: No. Of course not."

"I don't know what to say," Nick said, leaning back and staring at the high ceiling of the food court, "I saw what I saw."

Raj exhaled and picked at his fries. "I’m just saying. You don’t just wake up one day with Madison and Aynsley fighting for your attention."

"Well, he did."

Raj opened his mouth to argue again—

Then a voice cut in.

"Hey."

Raj blinked.

Two girls stood at their table.

Two popular girls.

The kind of girls who floated through the halls like they were walking on air, always laughing, always with a place to be. The kind who never had to look around, never had to hesitate. They just belonged.

Raj had seen them before—of course he had. Every guy at school had.

The blonde was Isla Cunningham. A senior, a cheerleader, a girl who somehow made a basic ponytail look like something off a movie poster. She had these sharp, bright eyes, like she knew people were looking at her and liked it. Her top was tight, some kind of cropped sweater that hugged her chest in a way that made Raj’s brain short-circuit. Low-rise jeans sat just right on her hips, a sliver of her toned stomach showing.

Next to her was Taylor Vasquez, tan skin and thick, dark hair that she kept in loose waves. She had curves that didn’t even seem fair, her fitted tank top clinging to her body in a way that made Raj’s hands twitch under the table. She wore a little necklace, just this thin gold chain, but somehow, somehow, it made her collarbones look extra nice. Her skirt ended way above the knee, showing off smooth, golden legs that Raj had definitely noticed before but never this close.

And yet—here they were.

They weren’t looking through him. They weren’t laughing at some joke another guy told. They weren’t tossing their hair and glancing away like he wasn’t even worth acknowledging.

They were smiling. At him and Nick.

Expectant. Curious.

Like they actually cared about the answer to whatever they were about to ask.

And Raj?

Raj felt like he’d been thrown into an entirely new reality, one where the rules of the universe didn’t apply. His pulse pounded in his ears. His mouth went dry. A little voice in his head screamed, don’t fuck this up.

Isla tilted her head. "You’re friends with Joey Granger, right?"

Raj’s brain stalled.

Nick, beside him, cleared his throat. "Yeah. Yeah, we are."

Taylor leaned in slightly. "What’s he like?"

Raj’s mouth went dry.

What if Nick wasn’t lying.

Maybe the world had changed.