Page 80 of Talk to Me

“I’m bright!” Theo responded, the nerves apparent in his voice.

I glanced at Arthur and he shot me a disbelieving look.

“Well,” Arthur said, “that’s obvious. Your tone and the wobble in your voice proves it.”

Theo sighed and clasped his hands in his lap. I reached over tentatively and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Theo shot me a look, then looked over at Arthur. He looked at me once more, started to say something, stopped, then looked down at his lap. After exchanging another look with Arthur, I was about to say something, but Theo finally spoke.

“It’s just Peepers,” he said slowly. “It’s not anything worth getting upset over, really.”

“Yet here you are,” Arthur said, “upset.”

When I gave Theo a sympathetic look and another shoulder squeeze, he sighed and looked at me, then locked eyes with Arthur.

“Everyone wants to be on my channel now,” he said. “Ever since Josh made that video defending me against Ben—”

“You know about that?” I asked Arthur.

“I may have stumbled across it.” Arthur sniffed.

“—yeah, well, now everyone is all up in my ass,” Theo said. “They all want me to put them in a video. Everyone wants to be my friend.”

“That’s good, yes?” Arthur asked.

“I guess,” Theo said. “But it’s kind of superficial. Like, everyone wants me to make a video with them talking about…whatever…but it’s all bullshit. They want to talk about Midway’s football, the lack of amenities at school, or some cool trend they love. No one has anything worth videoing. It’s all just noise. No one is actually talking to me about anything real. I feel like people just pull something out of their ass for me to record, just so they can be the cool person on my channel. No one is really connecting with me like I’d hoped.”

Arthur nodded along sagely as I gave Theo another shoulder squeeze.

“I really thought…I thought people would connect with me, you know?” Theo asked. “People would talk about real shit—like you did—but it’s just…noise.”

Theo slumped and my hand slid from his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, guys,” Theo glanced at me, then Arthur. “I just feel really alone. I love making videos for Peepers and doing the whole influencer thing, but it also makes it clear to me that everyone at school doesn’t actually care about me, they care about what they see on Peepers. Things weren’t great having an account with Ben, but at least I wasn’t alone.”

Sitting in silence for a few moments, Arthur and I watched Theo hold his hands in his lap and look down, distraught. I looked over at Arthur, and after a knowing look, we turned our attention back to Theo.

“Theo,” I said finally, “you have me. And Arthur.”

“Precisely,” Arthur said blandly. “You ungrateful little bitch.”

Theo cracked a smile.

“I know,” Theo said, looking up to meet our eyes. “But you know what I mean. Other than you guys, no one is genuine with me. I was really excited about having other people make videos with me. I wanted to create content that was meaningful and made people feel seen. But as soon as I turn the camera on the people who beg to be on the channel, they just act like idiots. It’s not real. None of it is real.”

“Well, of course not,” Arthur said. “If people wanted real, they would turn on a documentary. Not click on motherfucking Peepers.”

I chuckled.

“The internet isn’t a real place, dear,” Arthur said. “It’s a sanitized, filtered version of anything it reflects from real life.”

“I know,” Theo said. “I know.”

“Then why are we sitting here listening to you bitch and moan?” Arthur threw his hands up. “You know none of it is genuine, yet you’re acting hurt when it’s confirmed for you.”

I shot Arthur a frown.

“If it’s not watering down that which we call life, it’s creating a heightened version of it.” Arthur shook his head. “You don’t get life from social media. You get entertainment. And it’s not even all that entertaining, if we’re being honest. It’s just easier.”

Theo was nodding along, unoffended by the truth Arthur was sharing.