It is the summer before your senior year of high school.
You've definitely had some fun so far, but bored one day you decide that it would be fun to create a fake social media account to mess with your best friend, Sarah.
You laugh with excitement thinking of all of the possibilities!
You brainstorm some ideas, then decide to make the account:
[[create the fake account using a random female name]]
[[create the fake account catfishing as a man]] You've created the account, and sent a friend request to your friend.
Your mind races with ideas of how you can mess with her.
You are now Sabrina Evans!
You decide to read a book, looking for inspiration for your backstory while you wait for her to accept your request, and it seems like an enternity until you get the notification:
[["Sarah has accepted your request"]]You've created the account, and sent a friend request to your friend.
Your mind races with ideas of how you can mess with her.
You are now Daniel Evans!
You decide to read a book, looking for inspiration for your backstory while you wait for her to accept your request, and it seems like an enternity until you get the notification:
[["Sarah has accepted your request!"]]You take a deep breath.
You debate with yourself on if you should send a message or hold off.
After a few minutes you decide:
[[send her a message]]
[[see if she reaches out to you first]]
You begin to think of a backstory for your character Daniel, so that you can introduce yourself to her.
The perfect idea comes to you: Daniel will be a new student at the beginning of the year, looking for new friends that attend their school.
Excited with your backstory you shoot her a message:
"Hi, my name is Daniel Evans and I just moved to your area from Michigan! I wanted to send you a friend request and get to know you so that I have some friends when school starts up!"
You begin to feel anxious about the whole thing and think maybe you're in over your head. You debate not sending the message at all, but when you think about how Sarah will react when she finds out it was you all along, you envision you and her laughing hysterically.
[[so, you hit send.]]Nothing happens for a few hours.
You decide to take a shower and when you get out you see a notification on your phone, it's Sarah.
You open the message and it reads:
"Do I know you??"
You laugh to yourself.
"Actually Sarah, you do" you say out loud, fighting back a giggle.
You decide to respond:
"Hi Sarah! No, we don't know each other yet! My name is Daniel Evans and I just moved to your area from Michigan! I wanted to send you a friend request and get to know you so that I have some friends when school starts up!"
[[satisfied with your message you hit send]]You take a deep breath.
You debate with yourself on if you should send a message or hold off.
After a few minutes you decide:
[[send her a message.]]
[[see if she reaches out to you first.]]
You think it would be funny to start some drama with Sarah.
You want to freak her out.
You think for a moment, before figuring out the perfect message:
[["I know a secret about you"]]
After a full day, Sarah doesn't reach out.
You think of what you should do now.
You have a few options in mind:
[[send her a message.]]
[[don't message her at all.]]She responds rather quickly.
"Oh wow! Nice to meet you! I'm glad that you reached out, how was your move?"
You respond back fabricating a story about how stressed your parents were, but that they moved here to be closer to your ill grandparents.
You exchange a few more messages getting to know each other before heading to bed for the night.
You made up some stories about living in Michigan, and explained that you were excited to live in Florida where it is warm and sunny year-round.
Content with how your interaction went, you [[decide to go to bed.]]She responds rather quickly.
"Oh okay, that makes sense! Nice to meet you Daniel! I'm glad that you reached out, how was your move?"
You respond back fabricating a story about how stressed your parents were, but that they moved here to be closer to your ill grandparents.
You exchange a few more messages getting to know each other before heading to bed for the night.
You made up some stories about living in Michigan, and explained that you were excited to live in Florida where it is warm and sunny year-round.
Content with how your interaction went, you [[decide to go to bed.]]You wake up and immediately message Sarah.
You were so excited after the thrilling interaction last night that you could barely sleep.
"Good morning!" you message.
She takes a few hours to respond, but eventually she messages you back.
You spend the day getting to know each other better, and you ask Sarah questions that you already know the answers to.
Since you know her so well, you base Daniel's personality off of Sarah's, making sure that they would be a great fit as friends.
Your connection grows stronger and stronger as you [[continue messaging back and forth for a week.]]
A week has passed of consistent messaging.
You are certain that Sarah trusts you and genuinely wants to be your friend.
You remember that you made plans with Sarah to hangout, and you quickly try to think of an excuse for why Daniel won't be messaging her back.
You send her a message as Daniel saying that you got into a huge fight with your parents and that you won't have your phone for awhile.
She messages back that she understands and tells you to be safe.
When Sarah arrives at your house you notice that she looks extremely happy, but that she keeps checking her phone throughout the night.
You think about coming clean- maybe she has started to like Daniel and it's going to hurt her to find out that it's //you//.
You start to crack jokes at Sarah asking why she is so giddy and why she keeps checking her phone. You ask if she has a new man in her life, and she quickly responds "no," before putting her phone down for the night.
It partially bothers you that she hasn't mentioned Daniel to you.
[[continue hiding your identity]]
[[come clean]]The next day arrives and Sarah goes home.
You wait a few hours to message her as to not arouse any suspicion.
You message her making up details of a huge fight with your parents in which you and your Dad got into a physical fight.
She replied instantly. She seemed worried about you.
You told her that everything was fine, and that your Dad has been like this your whole life. You tell Sarah that you cannot wait until you graduate high school and can move out on your own.
You see Sarah replying, the dots appearing and disappearing as if she keeps typing and deleting what she is trying to say.
After a few minutes she responds.
[[The message shocks you.]]She starts off the message explaining how badly she feels for you and how she hopes things get better. Then she details her own situation. She explains that she cannot wait to escape her parents house as well, and that her father covered up for his friend that molested her for years when she was younger.
You stare at the screen dumbfounded. Sarah never told you this.
Part of you wanted to cry for her, and part of you was angry that she never told you.
Why wouldn't she tell her best friend? Why would she tell a stranger that she has known for a little over a week?
It didn't make sense.
You sent her a message saying that you were so sorry for what she has been through. You told her that you were always there for her if she needed anything. You spoke from your heart as her friend.
You were still upset that she never told you,
[[leave it alone and go to bed.]]
[[come clean so you can ask her about it]]You decide within the next few days that Sarah likely had a good reason not to tell you about her father.
Deep down you still wish that she would have told you before a guy she has never met in person, but you decide to let it go.
As the conversation between you (Daniel) and Sarah progresses, she reveals more details of the struggles she faces.
She explains how much she feels like an outcast, and that she cant trust anyone.
[[You decide to ask about her friends.]]If Sarah won't tell you about Daniel, surely she will tell Daniel about you- right?
You phrase the message asking if she has a good group of friends at school that act as her support system through the challenges she faces.
She mentions that most of her friends she doesn't feel comfortable enough sharing personal details with, and they they are more acquantainces than friends.
Confused, you decide to ask if she has a best friend.
She mentions you, but it seems like she doesn't want to talk about you, so you press on asking more questions in hope that she will tell Daniel about you.
Finally, Sarah lets loose.
She talks about you. She tells Daniel that while you guys have known each other forever, that you are the worst friend of all. She explains that you have never shown interest in her personal feelings, and that the last time she tried to open up you made it about yourself. She called you fake. She called you narcassistic. She called you entitled.
This pisses you off.
You try to stay in character as best as possible, but at this point you are in utter shock.
You decide to respond:
[[Well, if she's so terrible, why are you still friends with her?]]
After sending the message, you realize that you sound a bit defensive.
You can't think of a time where you were ever a bad friend to Sarah.
You feel like she is making this up to get Daniel to feel bad for her.
You want to confront her so badly, but another part of you wants to make Sarah feel as shitty as you do right now
so you decide to:
[[come clean to Sarah so that you can confront her]]
[[use your fake account to get more information and make her pay]]You ask Sarah if you guys can FaceTime.
She seems super excited, and asks you to hold on a few minutes.
When she finally calls, you see that she has done her hair and makeup and is smiling so big.
You take a deep breath before you turn on your camera, feeling guilty.
As soon as she sees you her face gets pale. You can see that she wants to say something, but only bits and pieces of words come out before she starts to break down in tears.
You try to explain yourself.
You tell her that it was only supposed to be a joke, but that things got too far.
You then start to ask why she was saying those things about you.
Wiping away her tears, she screams at you.
"THIS. THIS RIGHT HERE IS WHY I SAY THESE THINGS. YOU LITERALLY JUST PROVED MY POINT. YOU ARE SO SELF ABSORBED THAT YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUNNY TO CATFISH ME! I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS OKAY. FUCK YOU."
Without letting you respond, Sarah hangs up.
[[you lost a friend]]You decide to change the conversation.
This time, you are trying your hardest to flirt with Sarah.
Since you've known her forever, you know exactly what kind of guy she likes.
You make it your mission to make Sarah fall in love with you.
You tell her that you would never treat her as terribly as her friends, and that someone like her is worth protecting.
You can tell this is exactly what she wanted to hear.
She sends you hearts, and asks when she can meet you.
[[You plan to meet up with her tomorrow]]The news shocked the school.
You wondered how long it would be until the police discovered that you were the reason that Sarah took her own life.
You thought about how her parents were feeling.
You instantly began to cry.
You wished that things were different.
You wished that you could go back in time.
You hate yourself for what you did.
You were a coward behind your screen.
[[end]]Tomorrow rolls around and you don't message Sarah.
You ghost her.
She texts and calls you all day, but you don't answer her messages until late that evening.
You make up some intentionally lame excuse as to why you didn't show, hoping to upset her, but Sarah was strangely understanding.
You could tell that she was really beginning to like you.
[[You realized how much damage you could actually do]]You tell her that you probably won't be able to meet her until school starts in two weeks, because your parents have gone crazy and won't let you leave the house.
Sarah understands, and explains how excited she is to finally have someone in her life that cares for her.
You continue to flirt with Sarah.
You find photos on the internet to send her, and she sends photos back.
As the days progress, the photos you two are sending each other become more and more explicit.
Sarah trusts you, and you even tell each other that you love each other.
You can't wait to see how things unfold, and you have a whole lot of ammunition against her now.
You decide that you will continue the charade until the day before school starts.
[[This will be the perfect time to crush her]]Finally, the day arrives.
You have been putting much thought into how you want to do things, and you have a few options in mind.
You haven't responded to any of Sarah's messages today, and you are ready to get things over with.
All you know is that Sarah said terrible and untrue things about you, and you need to get even.
It is time to deliver the final blow.
You gather yourself and decide to:
[[leak Sarah's inappropriate photos on the internet for everyone to see]]
[[tell Sarah that you never cared about her and don't want to meet her]]
[[come clean to Sarah so she knows who you really are]]You posted her photos.
It takes only an hour before Sarah realizes.
She messages Daniel a million times.
She texts, calls, and blows your phone up.
After 30 minutes of ignoring her, she finally calls you.
You answer as her friend, acting as if you didn't know what was going on.
She was hysterical.
Partially crying, partially screaming she tells you the story about Daniel and how he leaked her private photos for everyone to see.
Part of you felt bad, but part of you still hated Sarah for what she said about you.
You told her that there's really nothing she can do, and that she shouldn't have sent those photos.
You hear Sarah's demeanor change from panic to anger. She yells at you asking why you are such a terrible friend.
[[Sarah hangs up]]
You sent Sarah a hateful message in the morning.
You tell her that you never cared about her, and that you weren't going to her school, just using her.
You call her names, make fun of her appearance, and laugh at the fact she thought you really liked her.
Sarah reads your messages but doesn't respond.
[[You go to sleep that night feeling satisfied.]]You ask Sarah if you guys can FaceTime.
She seems super excited, and asks you to hold on a few minutes.
When she finally calls, you see that she has done her hair and makeup and is smiling so big.
You take a deep breath before you turn on your camera, feeling slightly guilty.
As soon as she sees you her face gets pale. You can see that she wants to say something, but only bits and pieces of words come out before she starts to break down in tears.
You try to explain yourself.
You tell her that it was only supposed to be a joke, but that things got too far.
You then start to ask why she was saying those things about you.
Wiping away her tears, she screams at you.
"THIS. THIS RIGHT HERE IS WHY I SAID THOSE THINGS. YOU LITERALLY JUST PROVED MY POINT. YOU ARE SO SELF ABSORBED THAT YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUNNY TO CATFISH ME! I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS OKAY. I SENT YOU PICTURES OF MYSELF. I TOLD YOU I LOVED YOU. I THOUGHT SOMEONE ACTUALLY FUCKING CARED ABOUT ME. FUCK YOU. I HATE YOU."
Without letting you respond, Sarah hangs up.
[[you lost a friend]]You go to sleep that night feeling satisfied with the justice you felt that you rightfully served.
You wake up the next morning and head to school for the first day.
You are still angry with Sarah, but you look for her in the hallways.
By third period you realize that something is wrong.
The teachers look pale.
You haven't seen Sarah.
She should be in this class with you.
Where is she??
The teacher makes a quiet announcement at the front of the class.
The room stands still.
[[you lost a friend.]]You wake up the next morning and head to school for the first day.
You are still angry with Sarah, but you look for her in the hallways.
By third period you realize that something is wrong.
The teachers look pale.
You haven't seen Sarah.
She should be in this class with you.
Where is she??
The teacher makes a quiet announcement at the front of the class.
The room stands still.
[[you lost a friend.]]You see Sarah the next day at school.
She ignores you, and doesn't make eye contact.
The guilt is eating you alive as you start to realize what you did.
Maybe she was right.
Maybe you were a terrible friend.
If you weren't one before, you definitely are a terrible friend now.
You were a coward behind your screen.
[[end]]You decide that you won't message her at all.
You can still have some fun without directly messaging her.
You think it would be funny to start commenting on some of her posts to start some drama.
[[comment question marks on her recent post about abortion]]
[[comment vomiting emojis on her recent selfie]]You comment on her recent post about abortion, where she details her stance.
Sarah believes in pro-choice, so naturally you want to start some drama by disagreeing.
She responds to your comment.
"what do you mean by the question marks?" she replies.
You decide to stir the pot.
You know that what you're about to say is stupid, but it wouldn't be as fun if you don't challenge her views.
You decide to reply:
[["what a stupid take. abortion is murder!!]]
[["you must be one of those pro-choice whores. If you decide to have sex, it is your responsibility to deal with the consequences."]]You decide to comment some vomiting emojis on her recent selfie.
She doesn't reply, but you notice a few hours later that she deleted your comment.
You think to yourself, "maybe I should crank it up a notch to get a response."
You begin to type out a nasty comment:
[["You look fat in this. Delete this, you're embarrassing yourself."]]
[["No wonder no one has liked this, what is wrong with your face???"]]Sarah doesn't seem too phased by the reply.
She essentially ignores it, replying
"You have your views and I have mine."
That wasn't enough to be interesting, so you decide to message something more intense.
[["you must be one of those pro-choice whores. If you decide to have sex, it is your responsibility to deal with the consequences."]]These seems to set her off.
She replies:
"Who even are you?? You can have your own views, but don't call me a whore because I think that women should have the right to choose."
You don't even have a chance to respond before she blocks you.
You thought the exchange was funny!
It was funny seeing Sarah get so angry over a comment on the internet. You didn't think she was the type to let these things get to her.
Now that you've been blocked, you have to change your strategy:
[[create a new account and friend request her again]]
[[use the blocked account to post about Sarah on a public page]]You decide to create another fake account in hope that you can mess with Sarah some more.
You create the account and send the friend request.
She accepts it almost instantly, and messages you shortly after:
"who are you????" she writes.
Her directness catches you off guard.
You decide to give her a piece of your mind, while laughing.
You call her every bad name in the book. Admitting to making another account to call her out for blocking you. You call her stupid, fat, ugly, obnoxious, etc.
She responds calling you a terrible person and blocks you again.
You laugh hysterically! She is going to think its so funny when you tell her it was you all along!
But the rush was too exciting, and you don't think you can stop now.
You decide to turn it up a notch.
[[use the blocked account to post about Sarah on a public page]]You think it would be funny to post about Sarah on your public school group page.
You upload a picture of her with the caption
"Sarah is pro-choice so that she can sleep around without consequences."
You laugh as you post the message.
An hour later you notice the post has gotten some traction.
a few comments, likes and shares pop up in your notifications.
One person commented laughing emojis, one person asked Sarah if she wants to have sex with them, and one girl called her nasty.
As you're reading the comments you get a text from Sarah.
[[read text message]]You open up her message.
She sent you a screenshot of the post:
"Have you seen this??? Who is this and why is she calling me a slut??? Can you help me find out who this is??"
You laugh to yourself. Why is she so freaked out?
You message her back:
[["Sarah, calm down. It's probably just some internet troll. Who cares what random people say about you!"]]
[[(sarcastically) "maybe if you weren't such a slut people wouldn't say these things about you, LOL"]]This seems to make her angry.
"What do you mean?? If this was being posted about you, you would be just as angry! This isn't cool at all! I haven't even slept with anyone and you know that! Why haven't you commented on it clarifying things? Or reported it so it gets taken down?"
You reply:
"I honestly just saw it. But people who know you will know that its fake anyway. I'll report it if it makes you happy, but it seems pretty harmless to me."
Sarah leaves you on read for 15 minutes before replying:
"Some friend you are. I know things would be different if the roles were reversed. It would make more sense if the post was about you anyway."
Was Sarah implying that you sleep around? This makes you angry.
[[You decide that this means war.]]Sarah did not understand the sarcasm.
Angry, she responds:
"WTF? Why would you even say that? If anyone is a slut its YOU not ME."
This makes you mad.
[[You decide that this means war.]]You respond "whatever" to her message, acting like you don't care, but it really makes your blood boil that she would say that to you.
You begin thinking of all of the details you know about Sarah and her personal life, and you're prepared to air out all of her dirty laundry on the public page.
You draft a long post detailing personal information about Sarah, her family problems, her issues with her weight and eating disorder, and find the most unflattering photos to go with it.
You even throw in some lies to make the post extra damaging. You write that Sarah has three STDs, has slept with a teacher, and has overall poor hygiene.
You take a step back and read over your draft.
"Perfect," you think. "That will knock her down a peg for sure."
Without much more thought you hit send post.
[[SEND POST]]You feel a little bit guilty after the fact, but decided that it was too late to turn back.
You decide that you'll get some rest and see what happens in the morning.
You wake up to what seems like a million notifications.
Basically everyone from school has seen your post and has commented or shared it.
You didn't expect it to blow up so much.
The comments were terrible- it seemed like everyone jumped on board to say bad things about Sarah.
You check your phone to see if she texted you.
She did.
"How did this random person know about these things.... you were the only person I told."
Your heart began to race.
"I knew I shouldn't have included things that only I know! What was I thinking??" you think to yourself.
You sit there deciding what to do while a pit grows in your stomach:
[[come clean and explain yourself]]
[[ignore her message]]You decide to come clean.
You tell Sarah that you thought it would be funny to mess with her but you took things too far.
You explained that when she implied that you were a slut it pissed you off and without thinking you retaliated.
You apologized as many times as you could, and begged for her forgiveness.
Sarah read your message.
A few hours later she replied:
"Hope you had fun with your little game. My life is ruined thanks to you. I always knew that you were a terrible person, but I would have never expected something so incredibly vile from you. I hope you get what you deserve. Don't ever speak to me again. Fuck you."
[[you lost your friend]]You decide to ignore her message and see how it plays out.
The guilt overwhelms you as you continue to read the nasty comments from your peers.
A few days go by and you haven't heard from Sarah.
You hope that everything blows over and she eventually forgets about the situation.
You hear a light knock on your door. It's your mom.
[[open the door]]
[[tell her to go away]]Tears swell in your eyes as the gravity of the situation sets in.
It wasn't funny.
It wasn't worth it.
Sarah hates you.
You wish you could turn back time.
You are a coward behind your screen.
[[end]]You open the door and there are tears in your mother's eyes.
You ask her what's wrong.
She sits you on the bed and tells you that Sarah committed suicide.
[[you lost your friend.]]You tell your mother to go away, and she does.
Trying to shake the awful feeling in your stomach you unlock your phone and open social media.
The first post you see is a news article:
LOCAL TEEN TAKES HER OWN LIFE AFTER BEING CYBERBULLIED
Your heart races and your hands tremble as you click the link.
It finally loads and you realize that the worst possible scenario has happened:
[[you lost your friend.]]The news shocked the community.
You wondered how long it would be until the police discovered that you were the reason that Sarah took her own life.
You thought about how her parents were feeling.
You instantly began to cry.
You wished that things were different.
You wished that you could go back in time.
You hate yourself for what you did.
You were a coward behind your screen.
[[end]]You decide to come clean.
You tell Sarah that you thought it would be funny to mess with her but you took things too far.
You explained that Daniel was fake, and you just wanted to have some fun.
You questioned why she wouldn't mention him to you, trying to flip it back on her.
Sarah looked shocked.
"How could you do that to me?? How could you lie so easily? I thought that I finally found someone that cared about me, and it was a joke to you the whole time. I can't believe you. You are a terrible friend, and an even more terrible person."
Sarah stormed away, leaving your house before you could say anything else.
You tried to call her but she wouldn't pick up her phone.
[[You lost your friend]]Sarah spent the rest of the summer ignoring you.
You see Sarah when school starts back up a few weeks later.
She ignores you, and doesn't make eye contact.
The guilt is eating you alive as you realize she will never forgive you.
Maybe she was right.
Maybe you were a terrible friend.
If you weren't one before, you definitely are a terrible friend now.
You were a coward behind your screen.
[[end]]You decide to come clean.
You ask Sarah if you guys can FaceTime.
She seems super excited, and asks you to hold on a few minutes.
When she finally calls, you see that she has done her hair and makeup and is smiling so big.
You take a deep breath before you turn on your camera, feeling guilty.
As soon as she sees you her face gets pale. You can see that she wants to say something, but only bits and pieces of words come out before she starts to break down in tears.
You try to explain yourself.
You tell her that it was only supposed to be a joke, but that things got too far.
You then start to ask why she never told you about her father.
Wiping away her tears, she screams at you.
"THIS. THIS RIGHT HERE IS WHY I WOULD NEVER TELL YOU. YOU LITERALLY JUST PROVED MY POINT. YOU ARE SO SELF ABSORBED THAT YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUNNY TO CATFISH ME, AND NOW YOU ARE FLIPPING IT ON ME BECAUSE I DIDNT TELL YOU ABOUT MY TRAUMA! YOU ONLY EVER CARE ABOUT YOURSELF. I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS OKAY. FUCK YOU."
Without letting you respond, Sarah hangs up.
[[You lost your friend]]You post your comment.
Sarah messages you shortly after.
"Do I know you? What is your problem? Why are you commenting nasty things on my photos?"
You respond while laughing. You want to stir the pot a bit more and see what kind of a reaction you can get:
"Maybe if you weren't so ugly I wouldn't have to comment things on your photos."
Sarah responds:
"You must have no life. You are pathetic. I know whoever you are that you made a fake account to hide behind. People hurt themselves over comments like these. I'll be reporting you to the police."
This message startles you, is she serious?
After all it is only a prank.
You decide to:
[[tell Sarah that it was just a prank]]
[[ignore her threat]]You post your comment.
Sarah messages you shortly after.
"Do I know you? What is your problem? Why are you commenting nasty things on my photos?"
You respond while laughing. You want to stir the pot a bit more and see what kind of a reaction you can get:
"Maybe if you weren't so ugly I wouldn't have to comment things on your photos."
Sarah responds:
"You must have no life. You are pathetic. I know whoever you are that you made a fake account to hide behind. People hurt themselves over comments like these. I'll be reporting you to the police."
This message startles you, is she serious?
After all it is only a prank.
You decide to:
[[ignore her threat]]
[[tell Sarah that it was just a prank]]You decide to come clean.
You tell Sarah that you thought it would be funny to mess with her and you tease her for being so serious about the situation and threatening to call the cops.
Sarah responds:
"Why would you think something like this is funny? It just goes to show how little you think of others. You posted those on my photos! My mom saw those comments! You made me feel like shit for your own entertainment? What the fuck is wrong with you???"
You apologize, acknowledging that you messed up.
Sarah didn't seem to care about your apology.
"It's situations like these that destroy people's confidence and drive them to do terrible things. I don't want to be your friend anymore. Don't ever talk to me again."
You tried to call her but she wouldn't pick up her phone.
[[You lost your friend.]]You decide to ignore her threat.
You keep going, calling her names and mocking her for threatening to call the cops.
You send her terrible messages for a few days until she stops replying.
A week later, there's a knock at your door.
[[answer the door]]
[[let your mom answer the door]]
Sarah spent the rest of the summer ignoring you.
You see Sarah when school starts back up a few weeks later.
She ignores you, and doesn't make eye contact.
The guilt is eating you alive as you realize she will never forgive you.
Maybe she was right.
Maybe you were a terrible friend.
Maybe you are a terrible person.
If you weren't one before, you definitely are a terrible friend now.
You were a coward behind your screen.
[[end]]It was the police.
They ask your name and immediately handcuff you.
They read you your rights while your mother comes around the corner.
She screams out asking what was happening.
Finally, the cops speak to you both.
They let you and your mother know that what you did is illegal.
Cyberbullying is a serious offense, and often has some serious consequences.
They informed you that Sarah started to self-harm after the messages you sent her.
Her parents discovered her self-harming and reported it to the police.
They wanted to track down whoever sent those messages and press charges.
You were informed that you have been expelled from your high school and will have to finish out your senior year at the local school for juvenile delinquents.
You have never seen your mother look at you the way she looked at you in that moment.
She was disgusted by you.
Your friend was in the hospital being treated for mental illness.
The cops made it clear that Sarah's family knew it was you, and that the press would be covering the story.
Everyone would soon know what you did.
You disappointed your family and ruined your future.
[[end]]It was the police.
They speak to your mother first, and she looks horrified.
Finally, the cops speak to you.
They let you know that what you did is illegal.
Cyberbullying is a serious offense, and often has some serious consequences.
They informed you that Sarah started to self-harm after the messages you sent her.
Her parents discovered her self-harming and reported it to the police.
They wanted to track down whoever sent those messages and press charges.
You were informed that you have been expelled from your high school and will have to finish out your senior year at the local school for juvenile delinquents.
They handcuff you while your mother cries.
Your friend was in the hospital being treated for mental illness.
The cops made it clear that Sarah's family knew it was you, and that the press would be covering the story.
Everyone would soon know what you did.
You disappointed your family and ruined your future.
[[end]]You decide to try and freak her out.
She responds to your message 20 minutes later:
"A secret about me???? Who are you? What secret?"
You try to think of a good secret. Something that other people might know, so it wouldn't link back to you.
Maybe an old rumor that died out.
"I know those rumors about you and your cousin are true. I have proof."
Sarah responds:
"WTF that is just a rumor?? no one has talked about that in years. WHO ARE YOU???"
Her response is interesting... almost as if she isn't denying the rumor.
You think of your options and decide to:
[[blackmail her]]You decide to blackmail her.
You warn that you will expose proof of the rumor if she doesn't comply with your demands.
She takes a moment to respond
"What kind of demands?" she writes.
She didn't deny the rumor. She must be afraid of some sort of proof.
You think of some funny things you can make her do.
Your mind spins with ideas.
You ask her to:
[[break up with her boyfriend]]
[[post the rumor herself]]You told her to break up with her boyfriend.
She begged you to request something else.
You told her to do it or you would post the photos and messages that you had for everyone to see.
You messaged:
"If I post these photos your boyfriend will surely break up with you anyway."
She stopped arguing after that.
She told you that she would break up with him that night.
You waited a few hours, and she messaged you that she did it.
Shocked that she actually did it, you thought of what to say next:
[[tell her that its you, and it was just a joke]]
[["Good. Your secret is safe for now."]]
You call Sarah.
When she answers the phone you start to laugh, but you can hear her sniffling on the other end.
She had been crying.
You told her that the account messaging her was you.
You explained that you thought it would be a funny prank, and that she was being dramatic.
You told her that she can get back together with her boyfriend, and to stop freaking out over some stupid rumors.
Sarah began to sob.
"Why would you do that? Do you understand how bad that rumor hurt me when it first came out? I bet it was YOU who started it in the first place. You are a terrible person and a terrible friend. Don't talk to me ever again."
Sarah hung up before you could say anything else.
[[You lost a friend]]You spend the next few days blackmailing Sarah.
You make her embarrass herself publicly.
You make her post unflattering photos of herself.
You make her sneak out in the middle of the night to meet you somewhere, but don't show up.
After a week of this, Sarah is exhausted.
Angrily, she tells you to just post it.
If the price of your silence was making her life hell anyway it didn't matter.
You think about what you should do.
[[tell her that its you, and it was just a joke]]
[[post about the rumor with fabricated "evidence"]]
Sarah spent the rest of the summer ignoring you.
You see Sarah when school starts back up a few weeks later.
She ignores you, and doesn't make eye contact.
The guilt is eating you alive as you realize she will never forgive you.
It was just a prank...
Maybe she was right.
Maybe you were a terrible friend.
Maybe you are a terrible person.
If you weren't one before, you definitely are a terrible friend now.
You were a coward behind your screen.
[[end]]Since Sarah refuses to do anything else you decide to create fake evidence.
You photoshop some messages between Sarah and her cousin, fabricating details of a relationship between them.
You post the fake messages and tag her in the post.
The photoshop job looks rough- surely everyone will know this is a big joke.
Giggling about the absurdity of the evidence,
[[you go to bed.]]
You wake up the next morning to what seems like a million notifications.
Basically everyone from school has seen your post and has commented or shared it.
You didn't expect it to blow up so much.
The comments were terrible- it seemed like everyone jumped on board to say bad things about Sarah.
People made jokes.
People said that they knew it all along.
Sarah's boyfriend even commented about how disgusted he was.
You check your phone to see if Sarah messaged you.
She did.
"You completely made everything up. Those screenshots aren't real and you know it! Whoever you are, you are sick."
You really didn't think that people would believe it.
You sit there deciding what to do while a pit grows in your stomach:
[[come clean to Sarah.]]
[[ignore her message.]]You decide to ignore the message.
You hope that things will blow over soon, and that she never has to know it was you.
You expect her to reach out to you to talk about it, but she never does.
A few days pass and you're watching the news.
What you see shakes you to your core.
[[You lost a friend.]]You decide it's only right that you tell her it was you the whole time.
You call Sarah.
When she answers the phone you start to speak, but you can hear her sniffling on the other end.
She had been crying.
You told her that the account messaging her was you.
You explained that you thought it would be a funny prank, but it went a little too far.
You explained that you thought it would be obvious that it was you messing with her, and that people would be able to tell that the proof was fake.
Sarah began to sob.
"Why would you do that? Do you understand how bad that rumor hurt me when it first came out? I bet it was YOU who started it in the first place. You are a terrible person and a terrible friend. You ruined my life. Don't talk to me ever again. Fuck you."
Sarah hung up before you could say anything else.
[[You lost a friend]]
The news reporter begins to talk.
She details that a student from your school took her own life after rumors surfaced about her online.
You looked over at your mom.
Your mother looked at you horrified as the image of Sarah appeared on the screen.
You were too stunned to speak.
You instantly began to cry.
You wondered how long it would be until the police discovered that you were the reason that Sarah took her own life.
You thought about how her parents were feeling.
You thought about how your parents were going to find out.
You wished that things were different.
You wished that you could go back in time.
You hate yourself for what you did.
You were a coward behind your screen.
[[end]]You ask her to expose herself of her own will.
Sarah instantly refuses.
She tells you that she will do whatever she can to not live through those rumors again.
You think of what to ask her to do, but only one thing comes to mind,
you ask her to:
[[break up with her boyfriend]] (text-colour:red)[WARNING]
This game contains content surrounding cyberbullying.
The content may be unsettling or distressing to you.
Content may include: explicit language, sexual content, self-harm, and suicide.
If you wish you proceed, start [[here]]
In modern society, everything is or can be done online. While access to state-of-the-art technology and the internet can provide opportunities to enrich our lives, it also proves to be a place where iniquitous activities thrive. From the hidden horrors on the dark web, to the seemingly innocuous social media websites, the online world is a breeding ground for acts of deindividuation- like cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is defined as “…repeated behaviour, aimed at scaring, angering or shaming those who are targeted [through digital technologies]” (UNICEF). Victimization rates differ depend on region, and groups being surveyed. In one study, it was reported through United States data that of 1,200 children aged 6-17, “10% had experienced online bullying, 7% were bullied by phone, and 8% via text messages” (Bauman, 251). Using Twine, I decided to raise awareness of some different forms of cyberbullying from the perspective of the perpetrator. I use an interactive storyline to showcase how online communications can start as a harmless prank and develop to cyberbullying as well as some of the serious consequences for both bullies and their victims. For more information and tools on how to identify and prevent cyberbullying, check out https://www.stopbullying.gov/
(align:"=><=")+(box:"X=")[ Works Cited]
“Cyberbullying: What Is It and How to Stop It.” UNICEF, UNICEF, 2022, https://www.unicef.org/end-violence/how-to-stop-cyberbullying.
Bauman, Sheri. “Cyberbullying: What Does Research Tell Us?” Theory Into Practice, vol. 52, no. 4, 2013, pp. 251. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/43893893. Accessed 4 Oct. 2022.