Two Worlds

Alex jumped when his phone buzzed. It was a text from Ethan. "Grabbed an extra cookie from the cafeteria. It's on your desk."

Alex looked at the cookie wrapped in a napkin. Next to it sat his laptop, where just minutes ago, "Emily" and Ethan had been sharing their deepest secrets.

This was his life now—living in two worlds that were getting dangerously close to falling into each other.

Three days had passed since the real Ethan found someone else had been using his account. Three days of Alex trying to be two different people. And the weirdest part? Ethan was being nicer to the real Alex than ever before.

"Thanks for the cookie," Alex said when Ethan returned from his shower, hair still damp. "No problem," Ethan smiled—actually smiled! —at Alex. "How's your art project going?"

Alex nearly choked on his cookie. Before "Emily," Ethan barely asked about his day, let alone his art.

"It's... good. Working on some character designs."

"Cool. Maybe I could see them sometime?" Ethan asked, pulling on a clean t-shirt. "Sure," Alex mumbled, his face hot. Living this double life was making his head spin.

Later that night, after Ethan fell asleep, Alex opened his laptop to check Emily's texts. His heart sank when he saw what Ethan had written:

Gamer Ethan23: Hey Emily, I've been thinking about you all day. There's something I need to tell you.

Alex's fingers hovered over the keys. What did Ethan want to tell her? Him? This was getting too difficult.

Emily_ArtGamer: What is it?

GamerEthan23: I think I know who was using my account before. Alex's blood turned to ice. He looked over at Ethan's sleeping form.

Emily_ArtGamer: Really? Who?

GamerEthan23: My friend Liam. We've known each other forever and he knows all my passwords. He says he didn't do it, but who else could it be?

Alex let out a silent breath. Ethan suspected Liam, not him. He wasn't sure if that made things better or worse.

Emily_ArtGamer: That's weird. Why would he do that?

GamerEthan23: No idea. But enough about that. I wanted to ask you something.

Alex waited, heart pounding.

GamerEthan23: Would you be up for a live chat sometime? I really want to see you.

The question hit Alex like a truck. A video chat would reveal everything.

Emily_ArtGamer: I'm super shy about video chats. Maybe we could just keep texting for now?

GamerEthan23: Sure, no rush. I just feel like I know you so well already.

Guilt squeezed Alex's chest. Every day, this lie grew bigger and more dangerous.

The next morning, Alex woke to find Ethan already gone, but a sticky note on his desk read: "Coffee run. Want anything? Text me."

Since when did Ethan offer to get him coffee?

Alex texted back: "Caramel latte would be amazing. Thanks!"

When Jasmine came over later, she noticed the change too.

"Okay, what's happening?" she asked, eyeing the two coffee cups on Alex's desk. "Ethan's buying you coffee now?"

"I know," Alex groaned. "It's because of Emily. She's—I'm—making him happier, and somehow that's spilling over into how he treats me."

"That's actually kind of sweet," Jasmine said, then frowned. "And completely messed up."

"Tell me about it." Alex flopped onto his bed. "And now he wants to video chat with Emily."

Jasmine's eyes widened. "What are you going to do?"

"Keep making excuses, I guess." Alex stared at the ceiling. "But there's something else. Ethan thinks Liam was the one who hacked his account."

"Liam?" Jasmine sat up straight. "That's not good. If Liam finds out Ethan's accusing him..."

"I know. The whole thing could blow up." Alex's phone buzzed with a text from Ethan.

"Coming back to grab my books. See you in 5."

"He's coming!" Alex whispered. "We need to switch topics."

Just as they tried to study, the door swung open. Ethan walked in, looking happier than Alex had ever seen him.

"Hey, Jasmine. Hey, Alex." Ethan grabbed his backpack. "By the way, Alex, would you mind if I invited someone over tonight?"

"No problem. Who?" Alex asked, trying to sound relaxed.

"My friend Liam." Ethan's smile disappeared. "We need to talk about something."

After Ethan left, Jasmine turned to Alex with fear in her eyes. "He's going to confront Liam about the account! Here! Tonight!"

"This is bad," Alex paced the small room. "Really bad."

That evening, Alex tried to make himself scarce, but Ethan demanded he stay. "You should meet Liam properly."

When Liam arrived, the stress in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife. Liam was tall with sandy blond hair and strange eyes that seemed to look right through Alex.

"So you're the roommate," Liam said, pointing at Alex. "Ethan's told me about you."

"All good things, I hope," Alex tried to joke, but his voice cracked.

Ethan cut right to the point. "Liam, I wanted to talk about my gaming account."

Liam's eyes narrowed. "What about it?"

"Someone's been using it. Talking to this girl named Emily. At first, I thought it might be you."

Liam looked furious. "Me? Why would I do that?"

"You know my passwords," Ethan said. "And you've done stuff like this before, remember that time in high school—"

"That was different," Liam cut him off. "I haven't touched your account."

Alex sat frozen, watching this disaster unfold.

"Then who was it?" Ethan asked. "The only people who could know enough about me to pretend to be me are you and—" He stopped suddenly, his eyes moving to Alex, then away.

Alex felt like he might throw up.

Liam followed Ethan's eyes. "Your roommate? You think he did it?"

"No! I mean, why would he?" Ethan looked confused. "Alex doesn't even game."

"Doesn't mean he couldn't," Liam said, studying Alex with new interest.

Alex's phone picked that moment to buzz loudly. All three of them looked at it.

Emily_ArtGamer: 1 New Message

Alex lunged for the phone, but he was too slow. Ethan had already seen the message.

"Emily_ArtGamer?" Ethan repeated slowly. "That's the username of the girl I've been talking to."

The room went quiet. Alex felt the walls closing in.

"Why do you have messages from Emily?" Ethan asked, his voice dangerously quiet.

Alex's mind raced for a lie, any lie. "I—I met her at the coffee shop. We started talking about art and games, and she mentioned you. Small world, right?"

Ethan frowned. "You met her? In person?"

"Yeah," Alex said, the lie getting bigger by the second. "She's... she's really nice."

"What does she look like?" Ethan asked.

Before Alex could answer, his laptop dinged with a new message. Ethan walked over and froze when he saw what was on the screen.

Emily_ArtGamer's account was open. The texts between "Emily" and Ethan were all there.

Ethan turned to Alex, his face pale with shock and hurt.

"It was you," he whispered. "All this time, it was you."

And in that terrible moment, Alex knew his two worlds had finally merged.