Deception

Virtuality

"On the Internet you can be anything you want." -(purehappylife.com)

The Internet is my virtual haven. I could be as cunning and sly as I would like to be because my face and true identity is hidden behind a screen, right?

Wrong.

Where there is a lie, there are always people and evidence waiting for the right person to search for them. It's only a matter of time before you're found out. Remember that little dash on a gravestone between two dates? It looks insignificant, but truly, that dash represents life. That one, little dash represents the emotions that person gave to another through whatever means necessary. How does that relate to me? One thing, boredom. With boredom, something always manages to coil up and spring into action. For me, this just so happened to be Rai.

Back when you were a kid, have you ever had an imaginary friend? One that you would play with from time to time, fall asleep next to, and gossip with? I've never had one, but this alternate personality seemed to be my closest friend, and is simply virtual. Therefore, Rai is my imaginary friend. The possibility of actually meeting a person to suit Rai's personality is simply too low, but that didn't mean I didn't have fun creating her.

Contrary to the name, Rai is a male, and his full name is actually Raiden. He is sixteen years old, Jamaican, and likes playing football. His grades are fantastic, his GPA a solid 4.0. In the beginning, Raiden has dreadlocks that his father had braided after he turned fourteen. By then, his long, dark hair had stopped growing somewhat, so he could actually be one with his friends. T-shirts, shorts, and sneakers are usually what he wears, on the sunny and slightly breezy days in Jamaica. For fun, he gathers his mates and plays beach volley or football (which is considerably challenging considering they're running on sand). Raiden is almost complete opposite of who I am. Charismatic, arrogant, and handsome. It's exhilarating acting like him at times, and sometimes weird.

Now, I- Raiden- had to choose a social app to call home. There were many out there, so many! Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Kik, WhatsApp, Tango, Peach, etc. Facebook and Twitter were taken off of the list almost immediately. Too sociable and noisy. WhatsApp was out of the question too as well as Peach. From the reviews, Kik was probably my best option considering I didn't have to communicate with others by taking or uploading pictures of myself.

Downloading the app took little to no time at all. Patient is not an adjective I would use to describe myself in the span of five minutes. My finger landed on the app's shortcut as soon as installation was complete. Eagerly, I typed in the needed info, placing a picture of a random character with sky blue hair and eyes, before pushing "register". The screen turned blank before a light grey background took its place.

So this must be the main color," I thought, watching as a new notification appeared on my screen.

Welcome to Kik! We are the Kik Team, so please give us any questions that you may have!

I smiled wryly, responding with a brief Thank You before turning my tablet off. I have school tomorrow after all.