Chapter 1 the text mishap
Jade flopped onto her bed with a groan, her phone slipping from her fingers and landing on her chest. She stared at the ceiling, replaying every awkward second of what had just happened.
She had finally worked up the nerve to talk to Jaylen — the boy she’d been crushing on since last semester — only for him to say, in the driest voice imaginable, “You cool people, but I don’t really see you like that.”
Cool people?
Like she was his auntie or something?Jade grabbed her phone again, thumbs flying across the screen as she opened her messages to her best friend, Amaya.
> GIRL. I really got curved like a folding chair. Jaylen told me I’m “cool people” like I asked him to write my college rec. I wanna delete myself 💀<
She added a dramatic skull emoji, then hit send before she could overthink it. She tossed the phone beside her and groaned into her pillow.
A few seconds later, the buzz came.
But the name lighting up her phone wasn’t Amaya.
:Unknown Number:
> Damn. I don’t know who Jaylen is, but that “cool people” line was foul 😭
Jade blinked. Sat up.
Jade:
> Wait. Who is this??
I meant to text my best friend omg I’m so embarrassed 😭😭😭
Unknown Number:
> Well I feel honored. I got a front-row seat to your emotional breakdown.
I’m Elijah btw. And for what it’s worth… he’s trippin’.
Jade:
> Oh lord. This is how I die. Sending desperate girl texts to strangers.
Elijah:
> Nah, this made my night. For real. I needed a laugh.
Jade bit her lip, cheeks heating. This Elijah guy had no idea who she was, yet he wasn’t being rude or weird about it. Kinda… funny actually. Chill. And maybe a little too smooth?
Jade:
> Well glad my misery entertained you lol
Wait… how did I even text you??
Elijah:
> Beats me. But I’m not mad. You got more personality than half the people in my phone tbh.
Jade stared at the message, unsure if she should laugh or blush. She clicked into the message thread, and that’s when she saw it — she had typed in 404 instead of 401. Amaya’s number was 401, and Elijah must’ve had the similar rest of the digits.
One wrong number.
And somehow, this El
ijah guy didn’t seem like the type you just delete and forget.
