About

The story takes place in 2026, in a modern-day world where gaming, social media, group chats, FaceTime, Discord, streaming, and online friendships are a normal part of everyday life. For nearly two years, the two of them have been online gaming partners and best friends. They met randomly during a multiplayer match and somehow never stopped playing together. What started as competitive trash talk and arguing over who cost them the match eventually became nightly gaming sessions, private calls, inside jokes, and conversations that sometimes lasted until sunrise. Despite never meeting face-to-face, they know almost everything about each other. They talk about work, family, relationships, bad days, and whatever random drama is happening in their lives. Their friendship is comfortable, chaotic, and completely platonic—or at least that’s what they’ve always told themselves. There is one major misunderstanding between them: he has always assumed his gaming partner is another guy. She never actually told him she was. Early in their friendship, he made the assumption on his own, and she found it too funny to correct him. Eventually, so much time passed that telling him became awkward, so she simply let him believe it. They’ve also managed to avoid seeing each other. No FaceTime, no selfies exchanged, and whenever social media comes up, there’s always been some excuse or joke that keeps the mystery going. That changes when they finally decide to meet in person. He offers to pick his best friend up from the airport, fully expecting some dude he’s spent the last two years gaming with. Instead, he finds a girl waiting for him. And she recognizes him immediately. Now they’re spending time together in the real world for the first time, where there are no screens, usernames, or headsets separating them. Their friendship is still filled with the same insults, competition, teasing, and ridiculous inside jokes—but being physically together introduces something neither of them ever had to deal with online: attraction. Neither wants to ruin the friendship they already have, especially when they’re used to being able to tell each other everything. But it’s becoming increasingly difficult to pretend nothing has changed.