There's a small flicker of light from the computer, and then suddenly Caden's face could be seen, smiling wide. His hair was significantly shorter than it was last year, and he looked taller, too.
"Hey! Is uh... is this thing on?" Once he made sure it was, he clapped his hands and stood up. He was wearing a red, long-sleeved shirt with a black pleated skirt, along with forearm fishnets and a rainbow wristband.
"So, I'm thirteen now!" He did a small happy dance. "Uh, excuse the outfit. Was feeling a bit— confident? Is that the word I'm looking fo— oh, shoot, uhm"
Caden let out a nervous chuckle, rubbing the nape of his neck. "Anyway, this is uhm, my yearly birthday log. I do apologize for previous cringy-as-fuck entries. No idea what was going through my head at the time, haha!"
"Oh! I've got something to show you!" He went offscreen, and rustling sounds could be heard, as well as pages flipping. He came back with something hidden behind him, and a large smile. "Look!"
He held up a sketchbook with a drawing of him and multiple other people, none of which having any distinctive details from the next. They were all labeled "follower ❤︎".
Above the sea of people were the words "thank you."
"I, uh..." His face turned a bit pink. "I had a speech planned, dammit..!" Again, he went offscreen and more sounds of paper being moved were heard.
"Aha!" Seems like he found what he was looking for.
Caden walked back into frame, holding a couple notecards. He cleared his throat.
"Dear followers. I'd like to thank you all for your everlasting support on not just my books, but my journey to becoming a better writer, a better person, and the me that I wish to be. Though this adventure is not yet over, I'd still like to take a second to acknowledge all that you've done for me. You have made me laugh when I felt like crying. You have made my day ten times better just by commenting something nice or voting."
Caden began to tear up.
"I have met... So many amazing people through this app, and made a lot of friends. I could not ask for better fans and friends, because there aren't any. You guys are all so amazing and I'm so glad I could supply at least a small fraction of happiness to you. Again, thank you."
Tears fell onto the cards, but they weren't ones of sadness. "I am so... incredibly grateful for you all..!" He set the papers somewhere offscreen, wiped his eyes, and gave the camera one big smile. "Have... have a wonderful day."
With that, he reached towards the camera, and the computer screen went dark again.
