A Love Story

Chapter 2

Reena

I was jolted awake by the loud ringing of Kryzella's phone on her bedside table. She groaned and stretched her hand to answer it.

"Hey girl, how are you?" I heard Ronni ask on the other end of the line.

"I'm still the same old me." Kryzella yawned.

"I'm coming over. I want to hang out with you," Ronni said firmly.

"You can't! I'm still..." Kryzella tried to protest.

"Sulking? Kryzella, it's been over a year. I'm coming over, and it's final!" She insisted with authority.

She sighed in disbelief. She knew there was no arguing with Ronni. Lazily, she got out of bed and made it, then headed downstairs.

We went down and greeted our older sister, who was already cozily sitting on the sofa.

"Hey! You two are up, finally." She greeted us.

"Hey, sis!" I greeted her cheerfully.

"Heya, whatcha watching?" Kryzella asked while rummaging through the fridge for food.

"There’s this show on Harmonic Hologram about catching people who use fake profiles to deceive others into relationships," I explained.

"Hmm... that's interesting!" I mumbled distractedly as I sat on the sofa.

"Mom and Dad went out, in case you want to know," she declared.

"Oh, it's back on!" I cheered as the show resumed.

After Kryzella was done rummaging in the fridge, she sat down and started munching on the leftovers she found.

"By the way, Ronni is coming over," she said as she continued sipping through a juice box.

"Again? She's been over almost every day this week," I remarked, rolling my eyes.

"Yeah, well, you know how she is. She says she's tired of my moping around and wants to drag me out of the house," Kryzella replied with a small smile. "I guess it's good she's making the effort. I just wish she'd be a little less... intense about it."

I chuckled. "That's Ronni for you. Always on a mission."

"Yeah," Kryzella sighed, "I just hope I can keep up with her today. I'm really not in the mood for one of her pep talks."

"Well, at least you'll have company," I said, trying to be supportive. "Maybe it'll be fun."

"Maybe," she replied, but her tone was doubtful. "Anyway, let me finish this before she gets here. I don't want her nagging me about my eating habits too."

***

Later, I noticed Kryzella scrolling through her news feed, her eyes focused and intent. She paused when she found something interesting and began typing a message. “Hi, I saw your post in the group. I’d like to connect and get to know you more.” she typed hesitantly, then sent a friend request.

On Christmas Day, she excitedly showed me a message she had received from the guy she had messaged.

REE THOMPSON

"Hi. It's great that you wanted to connect with me. Let's chat more to find out if we match."

“Look at this,” Kryzella said, handing me her phone. “He responded! He seems pretty interested.”

We both read the message, and Kryzella’s excitement was evident. As they continued chatting, however, Kryzella began to have doubts. She recalled the signs from the show about fake profiles and wondered if they applied to her situation: