CHAPTER 26: A FACE BEHIND THE SCREEN
Some people entered your life all at once.
Like a storm.
Like fireworks.
Like a story that began with a bang.
Others arrived quietly.
One conversation at a time.
One message at a time.
Until one day you realized they no longer felt like a stranger.
Rowan had become one of those people.
Not suddenly.
Not dramatically.
Just slowly enough that Liora hadn't noticed it happening.
The following week arrived carrying the familiar chaos of school life.
Assignments piled up.
Teachers became increasingly obsessed with reminding everyone about graduation.
And Kai continued to be a public menace.
By now, that was simply expected.
"Listen," Kai announced during lunch, "if we all fail together, technically nobody failed."
"That's not how failure works," Jaden replied.
"It should be."
Mira looked genuinely concerned.
"Do you hear the things that come out of your mouth?"
"Every day."
"And?"
"They're brilliant."
The table erupted into laughter.
Liora shook her head, smiling as she opened her lunchbox.
Across from her, Evren quietly pushed a juice box toward her.
"You forgot your drink."
Liora blinked.
"Oh."
Then laughed sheepishly.
"Thanks, Ren."
"You're welcome, Lio."
The exchange was so natural nobody paid attention to it.
Not even them.
Years of friendship had made small acts of care invisible.
Normal.
Expected.
The conversation continued.
Yet halfway through it, Liora's phone buzzed.
Just once.
A single vibration.
Her hand immediately moved toward it.
Then stopped.
Because Mira was already staring.
"Oh, look."
"No."
"Oh, look."
"Mira."
"The phone thing is back."
Kai nodded solemnly.
"We're losing her."
"I am literally sitting right here."
"Barely."
Liora rolled her eyes while Jaden looked exhausted on behalf of everyone.
The moment passed.
But not before Evren noticed the way she'd smiled before even opening the message.
Just for a second.
Then the conversation moved on.
School ended.
The group walked home together.
Life continued.
Normal.
Comfortable.
Familiar.
That evening, Liora finished her homework earlier than usual.
A miracle.
One that deserved scientific study.
She stretched before reaching for her phone.
A new message waited.
Rowan.
Rowan
survived?
A smile immediately appeared.
Liora
unfortunately
Rowan
tragic
Liora
i know
The conversation drifted naturally from there.
As it always did.
At some point, Rowan mentioned he had spent most of the afternoon at a café trying to finish an assignment.
Liora laughed.
Liora
sounds boring
Rowan
it was
A few seconds later, another notification appeared.
Not a message.
A photo.
Liora blinked.
The image opened.
A coffee cup.
A notebook.
Part of a wooden table.
Rain visible through a nearby window.
Nothing special.
Nothing dramatic.
Yet somehow she stared at it longer than expected.
Because for the first time, she wasn't imagining where Rowan was.
She could actually see it.
A small piece of his day.
A small piece of his world.
Rowan
exciting life i know
Liora laughed.
Liora
wow
Liora
absolutely thrilling
Rowan
i try my best
The conversation continued.
But something had shifted.
Only slightly.
The photo remained in the back of her mind.
For weeks, Rowan had been words on a screen.
Now there was suddenly context.
A place.
A moment.
Something real.
The next few days passed quickly.
Wednesday became Thursday.
Thursday became Friday.
And somewhere in between, exchanging random photos became normal.
Nothing personal.
Nothing important.
Just little moments.
A sunset.
A book.
A rainy street.
A cat sitting on a wall.
The sort of pictures people usually forgot.
Yet somehow they kept sending them.
Then Saturday arrived.
Liora spent most of the afternoon organizing old Polaroids.
Hundreds of memories covered her bedroom floor.
School festivals.
Birthday parties.
Classroom moments.
The friend group.
Evren.
Everyone.
A notification appeared.
She reached for her phone.
Rowan
look what i found
A new image loaded.
Liora opened it.
Then froze.
For a second.
It wasn't a landscape.
It wasn't a coffee cup.
It wasn't a random street.
It was Rowan.
Not entirely.
Just a quick mirror photo.
Casual.
Unplanned.
A black hoodie.
Messy hair.
Tired eyes.
The caption arrived immediately afterward.
Rowan
ignore how tired i look
Liora stared.
Not because he looked particularly handsome.
Not because it was romantic.
Because it felt strange.
After weeks of conversations, there was finally a face attached to the messages.
A real person.
Not a username.
Not a profile picture.
A person.
For some reason, her heart skipped slightly.
Not in a romantic way.
More in surprise.
Like finally seeing an actor after hearing their voice for an entire movie.
Liora
you do look tired
Three dots appeared instantly.
Rowan
wow
Rowan
i trusted you
Liora laughed so hard she nearly dropped her phone.
Liora
honesty is important
Rowan
clearly
The conversation moved on.
Yet the photo remained.
Not because she kept looking at it.
Because it changed something.
Before, Rowan had existed inside her phone.
Now he existed outside it too.
That night, she found herself staring at the chat longer than usual.
Thinking.
The city lights shimmered beyond her bedroom window.
The room sat quietly around her.
A familiar thought appeared.
Then another.
Then another.
Finally, she opened her camera.
Front-facing.
Immediately regretted it.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
Regretted it again.
Closed it.
Liora groaned into her pillow.
This was ridiculous.
Why was she overthinking this?
It was just a photo.
People sent photos all the time.
Yet somehow it felt different.
More personal.
More real.
After several minutes of internal suffering, she finally took one.
Simple.
Nothing special.
Just her sitting by the window with her Polaroid camera resting beside her.
She stared at the image.
Debating.
Questioning.
Regretting every life decision.
Then—
Sent.
Immediately throwing her phone across the bed afterward.
As if distance would somehow protect her from embarrassment.
The reply arrived less than a minute later.
Rowan
photographer finally revealed
Liora buried her face in a pillow.
Another message appeared.
Rowan
cool camera
The smile that appeared this time was impossible to stop.
Because somehow—
out of everything he could've commented on—
he noticed the camera first.
Outside, the city continued moving beneath the night sky.
Inside, two phones remained lit by an ongoing conversation.
And for the first time since accepting that friend request weeks ago, Rowan no longer felt like someone on the internet.
He felt real.
Which was exactly what made him dangerous.