I did not hear about the app all at once.
It slipped into the day quietly, the way things do when they are not meant for you at first.
Nia was talking behind me in history, her voice loud enough to carry.
"I still don't know what he looks like," she said, laughing. "There aren't pictures."
Someone leaned across the aisle. "You've been talking for days. Ask him."
"That's awkward."
"So? You can't talk to someone forever without knowing."
I kept writing even though I had stopped listening. My pen moved. The words did not register.
Nia went quiet for a second. Then she tapped her phone.
A few seconds later she gasped.
"Oh my God."
Chairs scraped. Someone said let me see. Someone else said no way.
"He's actually really handsome."
"And he's Japanese?"
Nia nodded like she had just been validated.
"That explains it," someone said, and I was not sure what that meant.
The bell rang and the moment scattered into the hallway.
"You should try it," Nia said as we split toward different classes. "It's kind of better when you don't see their face first."
I did not respond.
But I remembered.
That night I downloaded it.
It looked simpler than the others. No pictures. Just small icons and short descriptions people chose for themselves.
I built my profile slowly.
Music.
Late nights.
Anime I never talked about unless I was sure it was safe.
It felt strange choosing pieces of myself on purpose.
I scrolled without urgency.
That was when I saw his name.
Theo.
I did not open the message.
Leaving it unopened felt safer.
In the living room, my brothers were arguing about the dishes.
"I did it yesterday."
"That's not fair."
"I'm not doing it."
Their voices overlapped until my father stepped in.
"Just pick one and get it done."
From the kitchen my mother said, "Cala should be doing it anyway. She's been on her phone all evening."
My body went still.
Because she was not wrong.
I had been.
"That's not fair," my father said. "She just got home."
There was a pause after that. Not loud. Just there.
Aisling appeared in the doorway a moment later.
"Mum said you should do the dishes."
She did not look at me in any particular way. She was just delivering information.
"Okay," I said.
I placed my phone on the couch. The screen dimmed. Theo's name disappeared.
The sink was already full when I got to the kitchen. Water ran. Plates knocked against each other. My hands moved automatically.
Behind me, the house returned to its usual rhythm. A television laugh track. Footsteps. Someone asking where the remote was.
Nothing dramatic. Nothing unusual. Just how things worked.
Later, in my room, I picked up my phone again.
Theo's name was still there.
Then two messages appeared, close together.
Hey.
Just wanted to say hi before I sleep.
My chest warmed before I could control it.
I opened the chat.
I started typing.
My door opened.
"What are you doing on your phone?" my mother asked.
"I'm done."
"You should be sleeping. Give it to me."
She held out her hand.
I gave it to her.
Not because I agreed. Not because I wanted to argue.
Just because it was easier.
"You can have it back in the morning," she said. "You're always distracted."
She turned the screen off before I could look at it again.
The room felt different without it.
Quieter.
Like something had been paused mid thought.
I lay down facing the wall.
The house settled around me the way it always did. Doors closing. Water running. Someone laughing softly down the hall.
Theo's messages stayed unread.
Whatever I might have said dissolved before it formed.
The app had not changed anything.
But it reminded me how quickly something could be taken before I decided what it was.
I told myself it did not matter.