I checked the next day for Nick's message again. But it wasn't there.

I didn't know how to feel, good or bad. For one reason, I was busy sometimes due to classes and might not reply him fast enough, or I could accidently check his message while I'm busy and not reply. These all are some things which make people worry whether we're still friends or not.

I've experienced it with some of my toxic friends like Anna, and it was harsh on me. I never really showed it to them, but I was really angry and sad when she left me for another friend. We were like a trio, and she always chose her over me, and finally, I put it to a whole stop and just decided to exit the group so they can be free, without me, in their friendship. So I wouldn't like to do it on anyone else either, whether a stranger or friend. Lolguy might be crazy and stupid figuratively, but he was still a guy, who messaged me first, and I didn't want to make him feel down.

Besides, my chat yesterday with Nick had turned me down a little, but even still, I wanted to see if I could try to change his stupid belief, or if he was joking about that. If he was being sarcastic self.

But by the next week, he sent his next rapid fire question himself. Sweet relief!

It was a sudden question. No hi or good mornings.

This is one reason I loved to talk so much - I'm an only child. I actually was about to have a sister back when I was six years old, but unfortunately, she passed away before she was even born due to too much complications.
I had the same complications as her too, and if not for my doctor's hard work, I wouldn't have been right here now either. Just my luck, and my little sister's bad luck...

But now, I wasn't so sad about it anymore, since I had my whole family, friends, and of course my cute little Toffy with me. They're more than enough to make me feel better. Maybe Nick could actually be one of those who make me feel better unknowingly too - he already had been much nicer to me than most other online guys I've met, and though I didn't like the talk he said about drinking yesterday, all other things about him were okay. I did like him in general, though I didn't completely trust him in person yet.

He meant if it's the "bad" girl who messaged him yesterday. For one thing, I don't have a cousin like that who's toxic and checks other people's phones.

That... Was an unexpected question now.
He was 2 years older than me and didn't know the meaning of an indirect cousin?

Ok, now I was sure he had bunked his English classes or was just being a little stupid. I'm stupid around my friends too, but only close ones.

I didn't know if he knew the meaning of second cousin either. Maybe he just nodded it off not seeming to want to be a dumb guy, or he might've googled it's meaning.

It wasn't that I was judging him for being too stupid or uneducated, it's usual for people to not know stuff, because even I've had such moments sometimes. But indirect cousin is such an easy word, and most people at Nick's age definitely knows what it means. It's such a common word. It's still fine though, I won't insult him for that. If I do that, I'm not a real friend anymore. And even if I did judge him subconscious in my mind, I would never show it out via text and my mind erased it right at the moment. A real friend will explain the meaning of a word if they do not know it, and not insult their misunderstandings.

I'm subconsciously calling him a 'friend' now and then, aren't I? Crap.

But hey, what's the problem if he doesn't want to be anything more than 'friends' and can keep boundaries, unlike some creeps online? It's not so bad to have an online friend who's nice. It's a good thing, actually.

Translation:

Crazykid: mm, you?

Me: yup had food.

Crazykid: mm what are you doing?

Me: watching TV, you?
Nothing to see but just bored 😂

He: ohh I'm watching reels.

This guy seemed to be a real Instagram addict. Either he was always watching reels, or chatting with me. Or watching Netflix series. He was always active here though, anyways.

I like Instagram a lot too, but I've a lot of other sites where I've got to be active as well(that includes Wattpad), so I try to stay off Instagram most of the time. I use snapchat, discord, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Wattpad other than Instagram.

What I noticed again was that his behavior was different from yesterday, when he kept putting those stupid cat laughing emojis and just cussing me a bit, like saying Goa is better than Bangalore and those 'drinking relieves you of stress' myths etc.

Today, he wasn't criticizing at all, neither did he post those cat emojis, or ask me if I drank. There was certainly some change, maybe in his behavior or the person chatting. He was back to the good old Nick who wasn't annoying.

However, I still felt the need to investigate more into his case, JUST IN CASE he actually was a creep itself. I had to know if he was just bipolar, had a split personality or was drunk like the questions he asked me.

He did look a bit old, like about 17. But a kid in my own batch had a bold mustache at 13 years and looked 16, so that wasn't quite logical.
Even my own friend - Devyn - looked way older and taller than me though she's nearly one year younger than me. You see, she was born in 2001 October 11th and I, 2000 December 13th. But she definitely was taller, and a little older looking too - she had really curvy hips and more of a body change than me, who had the flattest chest and butt ever. But of course, I liked myself that way. I hated being curvy. She was still 12 and yet to turn 13 by October, while I would turn 14 by December 13th.

The only thing I felt good about was that Riley, my other friend, was one month older than me, but shorter, making her the third shortest in our class before me. At least I've someone to accompany me as the 'shorty' kid!

I was serious about it. When I said I was short, it means I looks like a REAL 5th grader instead of an 8th, even with me being the third oldest than everyone else in my class. And with my weight as well, it was GREAT. Just great.

But the laughing emoji he put after I said I'll try my best sounds like he was joking and not as an instruction, and though it wasn't something so bad, I felt a little hurt at that. What if he saw my response as stupid? So awkward. I shouldn't have been so nice at a simple reply.

Jumping does help a bit, but I think I didn't have to sound so sweet at that. I just had to tell a simple "thanks". It was just that I liked to be really sweet to strangers, since I don't know how they might be if we become close, and then if they turn out bad, I can leave them. But if they're good, I should be sweet as always. In this case, however, I realised that it's better to be 'chill' than being overly nice. That's how some people are. In my case, I like people who are nice to me both by words as well as by their actions. By that, I mean that they should behave like how a good friend behaves, with good jokes, roasts, memories, and not bully me or ignore me everytime, and shouldn't have that 'coolest bad-boy thug life' kind of aura. I hated them completely.

We were complete opposites in physical appearance too - he was tall, not fat but normal weight. I am short and thinner than a stick.

He also used slang (not bad ones, just 'lol', 'bcoz' etc) always and was informal, and didn't care much about being very sweet to me like a stranger usually would, which was actually a trait of close friends. We weren't close friends yet though. Even if he wouldn't hesitate to tell me anything personal, I won't tell him anything about me until I really make sure he can be trusted. I've certain techniques - which sometimes work, and sometimes don't - to see if people I meet online are okay.

I was very formal, maybe an extra bit, around strangers and even distant relatives. But both of these traits about us didn't make us any less nicer. He was quite nice in the way I saw him, at least he was respectful and not like the other guys I met before. Me being formal can also be quite good in someone else's eyes, but I don't know about him. We all are behind screens and do not know about the other person's emotions or feelings. It's all virtual now, isn't it?

The following messages were also some random but not personal questions about me, like my favourite something etc, or if I had a swimming school at my school. He never criticized my choices again, and instead, respected them. Yet again, I was back to my normal mood and didn't feel so down because Nick was back to being crazykid. The literal crazykid.

But the main twist comes at the near last...

Wait for it!