Chapter 1
Midnight Status Updates
The long-distance sleeper bus vibrated with the steady, dull hum of the highway, its interior bathed in a soft blue nightlight.
Jaanu had booked her ticket days in advance for this personal trip back home. She sat in the aisle-side of the double berth, her shoulders tucked in tightly, determined not to invade the personal space of the passenger beside her.
Near the window, a figure in an oversized hoodie and a black face mask leaned against the glass. The passenger—Anu—had boarded quietly at the last stop, keeping her head low and her hood pulled deep. To Jaanu, she was just another tired traveler heading down the same long stretch of road.
Jaanu turned her body away, lying on her side so her back faced the window seat. She pulled her knees up, pulled her phone close to her chest, and opened Instagram.
In the quiet darkness of the bus, the glow of Jaanu’s phone screen illuminated her face in dim, flickering light.
Jaanu tapped on her search bar and opened a profile she visited far more often than she’d ever admit to anyone: @Anu.Official.
From the window seat, Anu shifted slightly in the dark. Because Jaanu was lying on her side facing away, the angle was perfect—Anu could see every bright pixel on Jaanu’s screen clearly mirrored against the dark fabric of the seat ahead.
Anu watched, dark eyes sparkling behind her mask with quiet amusement.
On the screen, Jaanu opened Anu’s latest story update—a simple aesthetic shot of a coffee cup from earlier that morning.
Jaanu paused on the story. Her thumbs hovered over the quick-react buttons.
Tap. 👍
Tap. 🥰
Tap. ❤️
Tap. 😍
Anu’s own phone, tucked silently in her palm on low brightness, buzzed four times in rapid succession.
Anu glanced down at her screen.
Notification: @j_notes reacted to your story.
A slow, knowing smirk spread beneath Anu’s mask. She opened her direct messages and tapped on @j_notes.
She scrolled up. The chat history was a long, one-sided stream of sweet, low-key support going back months. Comments on outfits, supportive emojis on project announcements, quiet wishes for good health during late-night shoots. Anu had never replied—her team managed her public account, and she rarely checked her DMs personally—but the handle was familiar.
Anu tapped on the profile. Private Account. 0 Posts. Bio: "Keep it simple."
Anu looked back up at the back of Jaanu’s head. In the dim, shifting blue light of the bus, she couldn't make out the girl’s face clearly—just the sharp silhouette of her jaw, her tied-back hair, and the intense focus with which she scrolled through every single frame of Anu's media page.
So my seatmate is a fan, Anu thought, a low chuckle vibrating silently in her chest.
She watched Jaanu double-tap a recent photoshoot picture, lock her phone with a satisfied sigh, pull the blanket up to her chin, and finally close her eyes to sleep—completely unaware that the very woman whose photos she had just been liking was breathing softly barely a foot away from her.
Anu locked her phone, placed it face-down on her lap, and rested her head against the window glass, watching the dark trees blur past.
Small world, she thought.
