Short Story Compilation

Internet Friends Are Real Friends

BASED ON A TRUE STORY
I was always told that "internet friends aren't real friends", but that wasn't the case for me and my best friend. My best friend is actually one of my internet friends. We consider ourselves practically sisters. We're into the same bands, the same YouTubers, and almost everything. We're on the level of friendship where we can have an entire conversation solely in memes.
    Claire has been there for me more than my own family has, and I'm almost 100 percent sure that she knows more about me than they do. She sees me as my true self, at least in message form. The thing is, neither of our parents know that we have friendships online, so we aren't able to video chat or anything like that. Sometimes it's hard because we need to physically talk to someone without it being in message form, but we can't let our parents know anything. We can barely use a regular texting app to talk, even though nobody would know that we don't actually know each other in real life unless they looked at our contact details. Claire has a strange nickname in my phone and I have an equally as weird name in hers.
    "Who are you texting?" My mother asked, as I was texting Claire from the passenger seat of her car.
    "My friend," I responded.
    "Why are you hiding your screen then? What do you have to hide, Sara?" My mom nagged, with an annoyed face.
    "I'm not hiding it, that's just how I hold my phone when I type."
    "Mhm, sure."
    "It is! What would I have to hide anyway?" I halfway rolled my eyes. She shrugged kept looking at the road and drove. I hate that she always nags me when I use my phone in the car.
    Yeah, yeah, I'm texting somebody. Big whoop. It's not like it's a drug dealer.
    I unlocked my iPhone when it lit up with a new message notification. "My mom figured out that I have internet friends," the message from Claire read.
    "How?" I quickly typed back.
    "She was using my phone earlier and saw our text conversation, and noticed that you had a different area code.  I told her that you were using a texting app that had different phone numbers. She didn't believe me and threatened to take my phone away, so I told her to let me show her that internet friends aren't a bad thing," She replied.
    "That's so stupid. And lots of adults use online dating apps and talk to people they don't know, and they meet up with them, so I don't see what the big problem is."
"Neither do I." The conversation stopped for a minute, so I decided to shut my screen off and just listen to the music I had playing through the car speakers, and just silently sing along. After about a minute, my phone lit up with a message from Claire.
"Okay, seriously, Sara. Who are you talking to that's replying that fast?"
Will you stop yelling at me? "Mom, I told you, it's my friend. It's nothing to worry about."
"You never text anyone that much, Sara," she nagged, almost yelling.
"You always complain that your friends don't ever text you." She groaned, and moved into the right lane with no turn signal.
"Well this person actually shares my interests, so I actually put forth the effort to text her," I rolled my eyes.
"And your other friends don't like any of the same things you do?" My mom asked, still yelling.
"Well, one does, but that's not the point," I groaned.
"Why don't you ever hang out with this girl then?" We stopped for a red light and she looked over at me.
"I would if I could."
"Well why can't you?" I stayed silent for a second. "Huh?"
"Well see," I sighed, "she may or may not live six hours away."
"Are you talking to people you've never met on the internet?" The light turned green and we kept moving. I halfway slumped in my seat, stretching my short legs out. "Internet friends aren't real friends," she told me, shooting a hole through my heart. "Sara you don't know those people, they could be stalkers or child molesters acting as someone your age."
"Okay, no, I don't know her in real life, but adults talk to people on the internet and then meet up with them. What's the difference?" I shakily asked.
"Adults usually meet up in public places, in case they are like that. Kids don't usually have supervision when they're out like that."
"Well it would be the same for internet friends. If I thought she was someone trying to murder or rape me, I would've stopped talking to her," I protested. "Mom. This girl has been there for me way more than anybody else has. Making internet friends was the best decision I have ever made." Claire always "listened" to me when I needed to vent or anything else.
"Are you sure about that?" My mom gave me a side-eye look.
"Yes, I am. My internet friends are better friends than my friends in real life, so I don't even want to hear it," I responded, obviously annoyed.
"I want your phone the moment we get home. I'm not going to put up with your attitude," she told me firmly. I looked back at my phone, opening it up and sending Claire a message. I pushed my thick and curly brown hair off my forehead, then picked my phone up and unlocked it, holding it the same way I always do.
"So it looks like we both got caught today..." I sent.
A few seconds went by, and then Claire started typing. "Oh my god, really," she sent, with the eye roll and annoyed face emojis.
"Yeah. My mom kept nagging me because I had my hand blocking my screen as I typed messages and accused me of hiding something, or of texting a guy. When I denied all of that, she randomly came out with 'are you talking to people on the internet that you don't know?', and I had to come clean."
"What did you tell her?" Claire asked.
"She asked why I never hang out with you, and I said I would if I could, but obviously I can't, and I hate it so much."
"So do I," she replied.
"Sara," my mom said, and I looked up. "Just be careful who you talk to online. I just want you to be safe. And watch your attitude, or you will actually be grounded." My mom told me, making sure I knew.
"I know, Mom." I smiled. Maybe things would work out okay after all.