unknown number ʳᵃⁿᵇᵒᵒ

4

hey
is this joe swanson

excuse me

my friend gave me your number
im toby

oh
ur the one he meant to text
hi
apparently im joe swanson

well
you wont tell him your name
so
joe swanson

he refused to tell me his first
im just being fair

he doesnt tell a lot of people his name
he likes security and privacy
he hates facetiming me because of his
face lolol

?
he didnt mind sending me a photo
of himself
why doesnt he like showing you his face
you're like his friend or whatever

what?
when????
he showed you his face???
he didnt tell me that
oh my god
youre so powerful
woah
what the fuck

i guess?
lol i asked him to prove he was 6'6
when we first talked and he sent
me a photo of him next to big andy

big andy?
what?

the apple orchard right off of 32 mile
theres this 5 foot cutout of an apple
named andy

ohh
huh
weird
hes normally really anxious
about people seeing his face

why though?
is he like
a secret government agent?
holy shit wait
if he is?? fuck
i
man >:((
can't believe i ratted myself out to
the feds

oh he didnt tell you?
fair enough ig
hes not a cop or whatever though
forget i said anything

no now im curious
who is beanstalk
pretty boy i might even say

well first
what has he told you about
himself?

"im 16 and still play minecraft,
99% of my friends are online,
i think i qualify as a loser"
thats what he said
oh
he also said hes the main
character
normally that'd be a red flag
but he has pretty privilege

Hmm
thinking
you should call him

what?

do it
he'll answer
he feels bad whenever he declines
a call

ok??
weirdchamp but alr

— ❀

the phone was cold against her ear as she impatiently listened to the phone ring. it rung once. twice. five whole times until a small voice came from
the other end.

"hello?"

"hey stranger," she smiled, her teeth slightly peeking out from behind her thin lips. "your friend told me to call you. he was very adamant about it."

"oh my god— of course he did," a light chuckle came
through the speaker. "you scared me, honestly. i was thinking about letting it ring before it went to voicemail, but then i kept thinking that maybe something was wrong so..."

"owch," she laughed, "can't believe you were going to
ignore me."

"no! well—"

the lighthearted panic felt familiar in her ears. she hummed softly, feeling herself lulled to comfort to the voice she didn't know, but still knew all too well.

"somethings familiar," she pressed her lips together, thinking aloud.

"yeah?" the boy's voice sounded worried, "how
so?"

"toby said you hate showing people your face. why?"

the question cut the air into a thick tension, the slice of the blade sitting in the phones that connected the two.

a sharp breath was heard through the phone, ringing in her right ear. there was a moment of silence, but he decided to speak up.

"so many people know me. im terrified something will leak. that my family and friends or i get hurt." the soft sigh broke through with a shaking breath.

she frowned, did she push too far? did calling him ruin the small friendship that was there?

"sorry," she furrowed her brows, "i made you uncomfortable. i shouldn't have called—"

"no, no its alright," the small smile on his face was prevalent in his voice. "im kinda glad you did, i've been itching to talk to you like this but ive been too scared."

and so they talked. both ignoring the blatant fact of who the he was. it wasn't important, as the only thing that they needed to focus on was the sound of each other's voices.  the soft tone lured them both closer to each other. with every word spoken, they dipped their toes into the waters just to feel it's warmth.

a yawn escaped her lips, causing him to yawn as well. they shared a small laugh before she spoke up, "i probably should head to bed. i have so many tests tomorrow."

he hummed, "yeah, probably." a short moment of comfortable silence passed, then he spoke again, "thanks for calling me. i really enjoyed talking to you."

she smiled, "yeah, i enjoyed it too."

another pause of conversation.

"goodnight, ranboo."

"night, joe swanson,

"coraline."

"what?"

"its coraline."