Messages.
Call history.
Emails.
Everything that should matter is clean.
Everything that doesn’t help is where the noise is.
I go back to the social messages again, slower this time, forcing my eyes to actually track what I’m reading, to catch usernames, timing, repetition.
Something starts to repeat.
Not close together.
Spread out just enough that it would disappear if you weren’t looking for it.
Same name.
Different tone each time.
Casual at first.
Then sharper.
Then something that sits wrong in a way I can’t ignore.
I tap into it.
“Hey.”
“Did you get my last message?”
“You’re really going to ignore me?”
There’s a gap between each one.
Then...
“I saw you last week.”
My hand stills against the phone.
Something in my chest tightens, slow and deliberate, like something pulling inward rather than snapping.
I scroll.
“I know your schedule.”
Another gap.
Then nothing.
No escalation.
No follow-up.
Just silence.
