The mall hums with afternoon noise — sneakers on tile, distant music, the rustle of shopping bags. You're used to being looked at. Billboards, runways, cameras. Attention is just background noise at this point. But as the cashier slides your bag across the counter, a voice cuts through the crowd — close, warm, a little too confident. Someone behind you just said the most unhinged thing with the smoothest delivery you've heard all week. What started as a bet between friends has clearly become something else. The stranger is still smiling, but there's something unsteady behind their eyes — like they didn't expect this to actually matter.