Before I slept, I wanted to finish some things.
One of the things I wanted to finish was the group project. Although I was pleased with the idea of a group project since I could get what I wanted through it, after I achieved what I wanted, what even was the use?
I saw some messages in the group. By the looks of it, they were kinda done with the presentation, so I just sent thumbs up to like 3 messages.
Man, by the looks of it, I am the lazy piece of shit in the group, but like one of my friends is "missing," so this is just my grieving period.
I was about to close my phone and sleep, but then I was alerted by a notification from my phone.
It was a message from Elena.
"Hey Daniel, can we talk soon? Like face to face. It can be anytime you want."
Woah, Elena, are you coming on to me? I mean cmon, your friend just went missing. Like, it's too soon.
"Of course. Is tomorrow 4 pm okay?"
She just said yes, that would be great, and went offline after a little while.
Well, I should get some sleep.
---
I woke up feeling like shit. I felt like I drank mud just before I slept.
It was 10 am. I had 6 hours before my "date," so I decided to check the phone.
I checked almost everything. Photos, messages, notes, but nothing. The only thing that could help me was the social media.
Even though I was a little sad about not really finding anything good enough, I kinda wasn't surprised for some reason. Maybe I was waiting on this outcome. I mean, you can't win all your battles.
Now the real question was what could I actually do with the social media?
If I just sent some post saying "hey guys im alive" or some shit like that, it would be obvious to the police that it was just an impostor using her phone.
I had to think of my chances carefully. I could make scheduled posts, but if the police thought hard enough, I'm sure they would realize it was scheduled.
I needed to make it so it was in a public place where everybody could see me, while the account could actually respond. I needed to make people believe it was Sofia.
Huh, like another person helping me.
Welp, I could see where I was going with this.
I called up Lukas.
We met outside some cafe. I explained what happened with the phone, how I cracked the password, and what my plan was for today.
"So you want me to just use her social media while you are in front of the public?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
He just nodded and said okay.
I explained to him that I also needed him kinda away so people wouldn't see him using a phone. He seemed okay with it. This just seemed like a foolproof plan.
I mean, at worst, the police would just be confused about whether it was actually Sofia or an impostor.
I slowly got dressed up for the meetup. I kinda wanted my fit to look a little "performative."
I made my way to the place. I saw Elena sitting in a booth by herself. The best way I could describe how she looked was just vulnerable. I'm guessing maybe she just wanted someone to talk to.
I mean, personally, I wouldn't be this sad if my friend was seen as missing, but everyone perceives grief differently.
"Hey, Elena."
"Oh hey, Daniel. Please, take a seat."
Wow, talk about acting fast. What is this, an interrogation?
"So um, Daniel, how close were you to Sofia really?"
"Well, we were jus-"
"No, I wanna know from your perspective."
Damn girl, what's with these questions? And you are cutting my words too???
"Oh, I mean, in my opinion, we were close. Like, I would be there when she needed me and she would be there when I needed her, but I don't think it ever went further than that."
Fucking hell, I thought Lukas would do his job by now.
"Daniel, I also wan-"
Huh, she got a notification.
Wait a minute. Is that what I think it is?
Wow, she looks petrified. I'm guessing my plan has come to fruition.
"Oh my god, Daniel, are you seeing this? Sofia just posted something."
I leaned over a little bit and I saw the post. It was just a random photo Lukas took from the phone's gallery.
The caption said:
"Hey everyone, just wanted to say im okay. I just left for a while to collect my thoughts but I still dont think I will be back for a while."
Eh, not too shabby. It's okay.
"I have to call her right now."
She tried to call her, but the calls didn't go through.
"It's been like this for days. Why would she close the calls?"
Such a good friend. She tried to check up on her after the news.
After trying two more times, I saw her go to her social media and start messaging her.
She looked really focused. I bet if I left right now, she wouldn't notice for a while. I mean, I don't really wanna interrupt her. Let's see how this plays out.
After a little waiting, she just said,
"What the fuck."
Huh? I wasn't waiting on that. What's wrong?
"This is definitely not her. That's not how she talks."
She showed me the texts, and yeah, I could see what she was talking about. The messages looked like someone had seen a photo of Sofia and tried to imitate her just by looking at it.
If it was me behind the screen, I could at least put up a believable performance.
Well, at least the police wouldn't realize this. Even if they had access to private messages, it's not like they knew Sofia like me and Elena did.
"I have to tell this to Miss Cerna right away."
What.
The.
Fuck.
You mean to tell me she has been in contact with that investigator this whole time? Are you kidding me?
Was I being used this whole time? Did Elena even want to see me? Was this Cerna's plan?
Has she been suspecting me this whole time?
I couldn't focus. I felt spaced out. I heard Elena tell Cerna how there was an impostor imitating Sofia who also had access to her social media.
When the call ended, I told Elena I was feeling sick and took my leave.
I went inside a building where Lukas was sitting.
"Dude, did you even try to imitate Sofia?"
"I mean, yeah, but it's hard trying to imitate a person you never really met."
"Well, now Elena knows it's another person behind the account."
"So what? Who cares if Elena knows? It's not like the police have any idea about it."
"Elena is in contact with the investigator."
After I said that, I saw Lukas surprised. Damn, I guess I wasn't the only one.
I mean, maybe if she was like, "omg, I'm gonna report it to the police," they might just see her as a delusional teen. But being in contact with them and actually knowing the investigator's number? Yeah, I think this plan went to shit.
It was just a trap from the start.
I should have known from the first question Elena asked.
I don't really want this phone to go to waste. Maybe sometimes I can use it to throw the public off their own ideas about the case.
I guess this was kind of a lesson for me, showing me I got too relaxed. I gotta be more careful with my moves from now on. At least right now, they probably don't think I was involved with the social media.
I said my byes to Lukas and went back to my room. I can't let anyone else find this phone, so I'm gonna keep it by me at all times.