Until the Last Message

Chapter 1: First Ping

The late afternoon light filtered through the half-closed blinds of Aiden's bedroom. His laptop lay open, forgotten, amidst a clutter of books and digital scribbles of a research proposal he hadn't touched in hours. The clock on his phone flicked to 4:58 p.m., and with it came the soft, familiar chime of a message notification. He glanced down.

"Heyaa"

He blinked.

"It's Aiden :)"

The message was a warm breath in the sterile air of his day. Before he could overthink it, a reply arrived — bursting with life and energy.

"Helloooowww
Can I ask u for something??"

Aiden chuckled. He hadn't expected this. Just hours ago, she was a username on a contact list. A faint, curious ripple in the digital crowd. And now, here she was — or rather, Lira was — asking to anchor herself in his world.

"Sure," he typed, fingers hovering briefly.

"Is it okay for me to text everyday?"

A moment passed. Aiden didn't hesitate.

"Absolutely fine!!!
I love that.
This can be our safe space to yap and stuff."

There. He pinned the message in the chat. A digital keepsake. Their first rule.

Lira responded instantly — bubbly, excited, unfiltered.

"YEYYY ‼️"

She was a burst of sunshine on a screen. Every word she typed danced. She didn't speak; she sang her thoughts, her typing style a melody of stretched vowels, emojis, and playful chaos.

Should I put a heart emoji on your name or nah? 👉👈

Lira's answer was a squeal through pixels:
"Is okayyy, your choicee hehe
I mean it would be so cutee"

Aiden grinned. He didn't really do this — this kind of energy. But there was something disarming about her. Like gravity in reverse.

He hesitated.
"I know, but we aren't dating are we?
And it's too early, we just met few minutes agooo
And that would be silly 😂"

But then:
"Alright, I'll put a heart in your name on my contact."

Her reply came soft and honest.
"Hehehhe, yea but as a lovergirl I think it's just cute and normal :D
Anywaysss
Meeting u is the best thing everrr
I'm glad that u add me backk"

Aiden felt a flicker in his chest.

"Really??? Why??"

"Cuz u're so fun to talk with
Yappa yappa yappaaa
It's so hard to find people who match ur energy yk"

He leaned back in his chair. He wasn't used to this. Compliments, yes — but not this sort of raw, candid affection. Not this early. Not from someone so young in presence, maybe even in years.

Still, he typed:
"Yeah I'm glad I found ya too."

He wanted to say more. Needed to explain why he might not always be this available.
"Anyway, my college starts on March 6th... I got a heavy research assignment. I'm worried I couldn't reply your text."

There was a silence.

"But keep checking on me
Hope I don't die because of it XD"

Lira sent back a storm of laughter.

"LMAOOOO, good luck on it ‼️
I believe in you, don't mind me too much okay? :3
Just focus on it if u need it, but when things get heavy or u tired
U can talk to me about it!"

He hadn't expected that — a mix of support and understanding, layered in a teenager's voice. And yet... comforting. Uncomplicated.

They soon made a pact — a goofy, childlike rule:

If we ever run out of things to say, let's just spam stickers or type gibberish.

It was stupid. It was adorable. And it worked.

"Jdbdhdhdjjs"
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"
"Wawawawwaa"

Just like that, they began.

Later, when she stepped away — called by her mother — Aiden waited. Minutes turned into an hour. He messaged again.

"Helooo? :("
"Okie, I'm abandoned 😔"

When Lira finally returned, she came with apologies and concern.
"I'm sorry my phone was in charger so I didn't get ur notification 😭
I'm not leaving 😔🙏"

Aiden smiled. He typed fast.
"Omgggg
Yay
You texted :D
God, I sound clingy to someone I just met 😅
Considering my age, I shouldn't do that tho 😣"

"Lmaooo, you're a big baby :3
It's cute yk
I'm surrounded by my clingy friend so I'm used to it XD"

They laughed again. Question after question. Story after story. The conversation blossomed into confessions, into histories. From favorite cartoons to high school regrets. From silly music debates to dreams left unspoken.

At some point, Aiden asked — maybe out of caution — about her age.
The truth hung quietly for a moment: "18 - 3 = ?"

She was fifteen. He was older. Maybe not scandalously so — but enough to make the air shift a little.

"OMG I'm talking to a kid," he joked.
"I should be in jail 😔"

She teased back. Brushed it off. But the subtext lingered. A tension between innocence and experience. Between comfort and caution.

Still, they kept going.

Because something rare was unfolding —
Two strangers who had no reason to speak again after hello,
finding solace in each other's notifications.
Finding laughter between their mismatched lives.
Building a fragile bridge, one emoji at a time.

And though neither would say it out loud yet,
a question quietly rooted itself between the lines:

"Where is this going?"

But not today.

For today, the typing continued.
And Aiden's screen lit up once more.

"What about uuuu?"

And so, the first chapter of them —
Aiden and Lira —
was not written in ink.
But in messages,
Until the last one.