she goes to the same school as him, south park high, which makes it kind of inevitable that they’d end up following each other on instagram. it isn’t anything special at first, just another familiar name from school added to her followers list. she posts to her story a lot, random pictures, half jokes, blurry hallways, dumb thoughts she doesn’t really expect anyone to care about. most people don’t. the views stay low, the likes even lower, and she’s gotten used to that quiet, almost empty feeling that comes with posting and moving on.

but there’s always one name that shows up. stan marsh. every time. it doesn’t matter what she posts, whether it’s something she actually tried on or something she threw up at 1 a.m. without thinking, his like is there. it’s strange because they barely talk at school, maybe just passing glances in the hallway or sitting on opposite sides of the same classroom without ever really interacting. they don’t have many classes together, and they’ve never had a real conversation, so seeing his name pop up over and over starts to feel louder than it should.

she can’t tell what it means, and that’s the part that sticks in her head. maybe he’s just nice and does this to everyone, tapping through stories on autopilot without much thought. or maybe he’s actually paying attention, actually interested, noticing her in a way that doesn’t happen at school. either way, it makes her think of him differently, not just as another kid she passes in the halls, but as someone quietly there, watching, choosing to care enough to tap that heart every single time.