Diary of a Tiktok Junkie

Diary of a TikTok Junkie

Chapter One: Five More MinutesMy name is Lexi, and I have a problem.At least, that's what my mother says.She calls it an addiction.I call it staying informed.There is a difference.Every morning, before my alarm even finishes ringing, my hand reaches for my phone.6:30 a.m.TikTok.6:31 a.m.TikTok.6:45 a.m.Still TikTok.By the time I get out of bed, I've already watched cooking videos, makeup tutorials, dancing teenagers, conspiracy theories, a woman who claims her cat can predict earthquakes, and a guy who insists the government is hiding an underground city beneath Nevada.I don't believe most of it.Probably.My favorite part is the little voice in my head that says:Just one more video.That voice is very persuasive.One video becomes ten.Ten becomes fifty.And fifty becomes...Well.I don't know.I stopped counting a long time ago.Chapter Two: The Algorithm KnowsThe strange thing about TikTok is that it knows me.Not just what I like.Everything.If I watch three videos about abandoned houses, suddenly my entire feed is abandoned houses.If I search for haunted dolls, I get haunted dolls.If I watch someone eating pickles at three in the morning, somehow I get forty-seven more people eating pickles.The algorithm knows.It knows what makes me laugh.It knows what scares me.It knows what keeps me scrolling.And lately...It has been showing me videos I don't remember watching.The first one appeared at 2:13 a.m.I was lying in bed, scrolling with the lights off.A video appeared.No creator name.No profile picture.Just a black screen.Then white text appeared.WE SEE YOU, LEXI.I laughed."Okay. Creepy."I scrolled.The next video was normal.A girl doing a dance.Then a dog wearing sunglasses.Then someone making a giant pancake.I forgot about it.Until the next night.2:13 a.m.Another black screen.Another message.YOU'RE STILL AWAKE.I stopped scrolling.My heart beat a little faster."How does it know?"Then I laughed again.It was probably some stupid glitch.Or a targeted ad.Or one of those creepy videos people make to get attention.I scrolled away.But I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching me.Chapter Three: Going ViralA week later, something happened.One of my videos went viral.I had posted a silly makeup transformation.Nothing special.Just me putting on makeup while lip-syncing to a popular sound.I went to sleep with 312 followers.I woke up with 18,000.By lunch, I had 74,000.By dinner...200,000.My phone wouldn't stop buzzing.Comments.Likes.Shares.Followers.Messages.Everyone wanted more.So I gave them more.I filmed everything.Eating breakfast.Going shopping.Doing my makeup.Cleaning my room.Going to bed.I even started recording myself waking up.My followers loved it.They wanted to see everything.And I loved them for loving me.Then one night, I received a message.You're forgetting something.I stared at it."Who is this?"No response.A second message appeared.Check your drafts.I opened TikTok.I had 17 saved drafts.I knew all of them.Except one.The thumbnail showed my bedroom.My actual bedroom.I hadn't filmed it.I tapped it.The video began.It showed me sleeping.My camera was sitting on my dresser.The timestamp said:3:07 A.M.I watched myself sleeping for thirty seconds.Then the camera slowly zoomed toward my bed.A whisper came through the speakers."Lexi..."I dropped my phone.Chapter Four: DeleteI deleted the video.Then I deleted TikTok.I turned my phone off.I unplugged my Wi-Fi.I checked every window.Every door.Every closet.Nothing.Nobody.I finally climbed into bed.For the first time in months, I didn't scroll before sleeping.I closed my eyes.Then my phone lit up.I froze.I had turned it off.Slowly, I reached toward it.The screen displayed one notification.TikTokI hadn't reinstalled the app.I picked up the phone.The screen unlocked by itself.TikTok opened.A live stream was already playing.The camera showed my bedroom.My bedroom.Right now.I was staring at the screen.The viewer count climbed.1,2038,42132,900Then comments began appearing.OMG SHE'S THERE.LEXI TURN AROUND.TURN AROUND!!!I looked behind me.Nothing.I looked back at the phone.A new comment appeared.She's behind you.My blood turned cold.I slowly turned around again.Nothing.Then another comment appeared.Not that way.I looked at the screen.The camera had changed angles.It was now behind me.And I could see myself sitting on the bed.But there was something else in the room.Something standing directly behind me.Tall.Thin.Smiling.Chapter Five: The Last ScrollI screamed.The phone fell onto the carpet.I ran.I don't remember opening the front door.I don't remember running down the street.I don't remember calling my mother.I only remember sitting in the back of a police car, wrapped in a blanket, telling everyone that someone had been inside my room.They searched the house.Nothing.No footprints.No fingerprints.No hidden cameras.Nothing.The officer handed me my phone."You should probably stay off social media for a while."I nodded.That was three days ago.I'm writing this now in a notebook.A real notebook.No phone.No internet.No TikTok.I thought I was safe.Until tonight.Because five minutes ago, I heard my phone buzzing downstairs.I didn't bring it with me.I left it in the kitchen.It's been turned off for three days.But it's still buzzing.Again.And again.And again.I don't want to go downstairs.But something tells me I should.Maybe it's a message.Maybe it's nothing.Maybe it's just my imagination....Okay.I'm going downstairs.Wait.There's a new sound.A notification.Then another.Then hundreds.The buzzing won't stop.I can hear the phone vibrating against the kitchen table.I'm standing at the top of the stairs.The screen is glowing downstairs.And somehow...I can already see the notification.TikTok LiveI don't want to look.But I know what it says.LIVE NOW: LexiViewer count:1Then:101001,00010,000The number keeps climbing.And now there's a comment.Just one.From an account with no name.No profile picture.No followers.It says:Go ahead, Lexi.Give them something to watch.