Selfie Inflicted

4

I went home.

Lyza was being totally weird. She said she didn't sleep well, had all sorts of weird dreams and now had a huge headache. At first I thought she'd been messing with me about the photo but I know Lyza's technical skills are hardly the best. I don't think there was any way she could have edited that picture. And why would she?

Just as I was leaving she ran out into the hallway and gave me the phone. She said she didn't want it in her house. I felt it now in my pocket, alongside my own phone. I figured I'd try to work out how to find the owner later. Or, if I couldn't do that then I'd reset it and maybe just keep it myself. I still needed to get the picture off. Maybe I could fix the weird effect that had happened to it.

I moved quickly down the stairs. The phone felt heavy in my pocket. Too large, and icy cold. I didn't like the way it bulged against my leg.

When I got to my apartment I put the phone next to mine on the counter and went and had a long shower. I felt chilled right through and was worried I was getting sick. The warm water was magical.

After that I made a hot chocolate and plumped myself down on the couch. I was going to catch up on some reality shows I liked.

Even more than usual the people on the show seemed disconnected. Their unreal lives, the wealth, the crazy situations. But then as I watched it seemed that everyone around them was just as rich and glamourous and crazy. Maybe I was really the odd one out. Here I was, halfway through university and I was pretty much a regular person. All these girls on the show had millions of followers and fans around the world.

I sat at the table and ate some cereal. I stared at the phone. Its silver edges glimmered in the dull light. I picked it up and looked at it, the front, the back. It was in perfect condition, not a scratch or a scuff anywhere.

I swiped it open and tried browsing through the settings. There were a few other apps that had been put away in folders but when I opened them they were all reset. There were no messages, no sent items, nothing in the call history. And with no network I wouldn't be able to call myself.

I pulled open the gallery again and looked at our picture. It sure had been a great picture, in fact I'm pretty sure it might have been one of the best photos of us all together. We were all so bright and, well, we all seemed extra beautiful in it. Weird.

I tried playing with the photo settings but the phone kept having weird errors. Every time I tried to change something it showed an error message and just went back to the photo of Lyza's room with our faded faces smiling outwards.

Bzzzzzzzzz

I just about jumped in shock and dropped the phone to the table. I thought it had buzzed but it was in fact my own phone. I grabbed it and looked at the messages.

Just about got into a fight. Some old guy was staring at me like he wanted to kill me at the grocery store. Even when I paid and left he was just standing there giving me death beams. I was like old man, you better not step up! WTF is happening huh?

I messaged Ryan back.

That's crazy, sorry. Did you do something to piss him off?

No. Anyway, I got some awesome sandwiches - wanna come over for lunch?

How about you come here. There's something I want to show you.

Awwwwww yeah ;-) ;-D

Ugh seriously Ryan. It's the phone - there's something really weird about it.

Uh - ok. Well, see ya soon.

I sat on the couch and tried to watch the rest of the show. One of the main characters, some dumb but super rich brat was having an argument with her mom. They were fighting about something stupid, I don't even know what.

The mom stormed out of the room and the girl threw a vase at the wall. She screamed something that got beeped out. She was really crazy, almost scary crazy.

The camera panned around so I could see her face and she shouted right at the camera, loud and clear this time. She stared right into the camera, and it felt like she was staring right at me.

"I hate you!"