Chapter One
933 Words
11:11 PM
The rain started at exactly 11:11 p.m.
Lily Hart knew because the time glowed at the top corner of her phone while thunder rattled against her bedroom windows hard enough to make the glass tremble.
She should've been asleep.
Instead, she was curled beneath a blanket with one AirPod in, scrolling mindlessly through videos she wasn't even watching. Her room was dark except for the pink neon light above her bookshelf and the cold glow of her screen.
Outside, the storm swallowed the city whole.
Inside, loneliness felt louder.
Her friends were out at some college party downtown. The kind with flashing lights, expensive drinks, and photos that would flood i********: tomorrow morning with captions pretending everyone was happy.
Lily had lied and said she had a migraine.
The truth?
She just couldn't handle pretending tonight.
Not after seeing Noah with another girl.
Again.
Her chest tightened at the memory of his hand resting casually on the blonde girl's waist like Lily had never existed at all.
Three years together.
Three weeks broken up.
And somehow she still checked his profile every night like it was a bad habit she couldn't kill.
Pathetic.
A notification buzzed.
MIA:
you alive???
LILY:
Barely.
MIA:
Still stalking Noah's account?
LILY:
No.
A pause.
LILY:
Maybe.
Three typing dots appeared instantly.
MIA:
Girl stand UP 😭
Lily laughed quietly for the first time all evening.
Then another message came through.
MIA:
Download AnonChat.
LILY:
Absolutely not.
MIA:
PLEASE. I'm bored and people there are insane.
LILY:
That sounds like the opposite of a good recommendation.
MIA:
Exactly why it's fun.
Lily rolled her eyes, but Mia had already sent the link.
AnonChat.
No names. No faces. No rules.
Until you fall.
The slogan alone screamed terrible decisions.
Which was probably why Lily downloaded it.
Rain tapped softly against the window as the app loaded. The screen was almost entirely black except for tiny pink glowing accents. Anonymous profiles floated across the homepage like ghosts.
WARNING: Conversations are completely anonymous.
Proceed carefully.
"This already feels illegal," Lily muttered.
She almost deleted the app immediately.
Instead, she pressed START.
The screen flickered.
MATCH FOUND.
A profile appeared.
ZERO.
No photo. Just a dark silhouette icon.
Online.
Lily stared at the blinking cursor in the empty chatbox.
This is stupid.
Before she could exit, a message appeared.
ZERO:
You sound bored. Dangerous combination.
Her breath caught.
LILY:
And you sound confident.
Three dots appeared instantly.
ZERO:
I usually am wrong about people.
Let's see if you're different.
Lily frowned slightly.
Something about the message felt... strange.
Not creepy exactly.
Too observant.
LILY:
What makes you think I'm bored?
ZERO:
You matched with a stranger at 11:11 on a Friday night instead of sleeping.
Okay. Fair.
LILY:
Maybe I just have insomnia.
ZERO:
Maybe you're trying not to think about something.
Her fingers froze above the keyboard.
The storm outside cracked loudly.
Lily glanced toward her bedroom door even though she lived alone with her mother, who was working a night shift at the hospital.
Ridiculous.
It was just some random guy.
Probably.
LILY:
You do this often? Pretend to be a therapist online?
ZERO:
Only for pretty girls with sad eyes.
Her stomach tightened.
LILY:
You can't even see me.
ZERO:
Don't need to.
She stared at the message longer than she should have.
There was something dangerous about him.
Not in the obvious way.
Not like the loud arrogant boys at parties or the fake sweet ones who broke hearts for fun.
This felt quieter.
Sharper.
Like someone standing in the shadows smiling while they already knew something you didn't.
LILY:
You flirt with every anonymous girl?
ZERO:
No.
Only the ones who stay.
A shiver crawled down her spine.
She should leave.
Instead, she typed:
LILY:
What if I leave right now?
ZERO:
You won't.
Lily hated the fact that he was right.
She leaned back against her pillows, pulling the blanket tighter around herself as rain poured harder outside.
ZERO:
Tell me something true.
LILY:
That's ironic considering this app is built on lies.
ZERO:
Truth is easier when nobody knows your name.
That line hit harder than it should have.
Maybe because lately Lily felt like nobody really knew her at all.
Not her friends.
Not her ex.
Not even herself sometimes.
Her thumb hovered over the keyboard before finally typing:
LILY:
Fine.
Something true?
I think people leave the second they realize who you really are.
The typing bubble appeared immediately.
Stopped.
Started again.
ZERO:
Who hurt you?
Lily swallowed.
Too personal.
Too fast.
Yet somehow she answered anyway.
LILY:
A boy.
ZERO:
That explains the sadness.
LILY:
You talk like you know me.
ZERO:
Maybe I do.
The room suddenly felt colder.
Lily stared at the screen.
LILY:
That's not creepy at all.
ZERO:
Relax, Lily.
Her heart stopped.
The phone nearly slipped from her hand.
Every sound in the apartment disappeared beneath the violent pounding in her chest.
LILY:
How do you know my name?
No response.
The typing bubble appeared.
Vanished.
Appeared again.
Then finally-
ZERO:
Goodnight.
Offline.
Lily shot upright in bed.
"What the hell?"
Her breathing turned uneven as she clicked desperately onto his profile.
No information.
No photos.
Nothing.
Just the name:
ZERO.
Rain crashed against the windows as panic curled slowly in her stomach.
Because she had never told him her name.
And suddenly-
Her phone buzzed again.
Unknown Number:
You should lock your window.
The storm's getting worse.
Lily's blood turned ice cold.
Slowly...
Very slowly...
She turned toward the half-open window beside her bed.
- Writer
