Veronica trudged into her room, her phone buzzing with notifications. Four messages from Vance. She quickly opened the first one.
"You know, I don't usually talk to people much. So, if I'm boring you, just let me know."
"Why is he so self-conscious?" she wondered, before typing back:
"You're not boring me. I'm actually really interested. Tell me more about coding."
She moved on to the next message.
"Coding is pretty much my escape. It's the only thing I feel I can control. The rest of my life is a mess."
She paused. Something about that struck a chord with her. She typed:
"You're not alone in feeling that way. I get it. Coding sounds like it helps you make sense of things. Tell me what you're working on."
The next message popped up.
"It's not much. I'm working on this app, but it feels like I'm hitting walls every time I try to move forward."
Veronica couldn't help but feel sympathy. She knew the struggle. Trying and failing, over and over. But it wasn't a reason to give up.
"You'll figure it out. Don't give up so easily."
Before Vance could respond, Veronica heard footsteps approaching her room. Her mom. She quickly shoved her phone under her pillow, but it was too late. The door burst open.
"Veronica! How many times do I have to tell you to get off your phone?" her mom shouted, her face red with anger. "It's already late, and you've been on that thing for hours! Hand it over."
Veronica flinched. "Mom, I'm talking to a friend. Can't you just—"
"Don't 'can't you just' me, young lady. You're always on that phone, wasting time. Don't you have homework? Don't you have anything to do other than chat with people who don't even matter?"
Her words hit harder than she expected. Veronica clenched her fists, a sharp retort forming in her mind, but she held it back. She was tired of the constant fights with her mom. Why couldn't she understand?
"Fine," Veronica snapped, snatching her phone from under the pillow and handing it to her mom. "Take it. I'm going to bed anyway."
Her mom gave her one last glare before storming out, leaving Veronica fuming in her wake. She flopped back onto her bed, staring at the ceiling. I hate this. I hate being controlled like this.
But then her eyes flicked to the other phone on her nightstand—the backup she'd kept hidden for moments like this. A secret lifeline to the world that her parents didn't control.
Grinning, she grabbed it and powered it on, waiting for the familiar buzz of incoming messages. As soon as the screen lit up, she saw it.
"You still there?" Vance had messaged her again.
Her fingers flew across the screen. "Yeah, I'm still here. My mom just freaked out and took my phone. But don't worry, I've got backups."
The reply came almost immediately.
"Damn, that sounds intense. You're lucky you have a backup. I guess that's what it's like when you don't have control over anything."
Veronica smiled at his message. "Yeah, tell me about it. My mom thinks I spend too much time on my phone, but she doesn't get it. It's the only time I have to talk to anyone. To be myself."
Vance seemed to get it. "I know the feeling. My parents never really understood my coding. They're all about business and being practical. They don't get that coding is like... my thing. My way of escaping."
"That's exactly it," Veronica typed back, "I just need something for me. Something that's mine. But you know, when I talk about it, they look at me like I'm wasting my time."
There was a brief pause before Vance responded. "Yeah, they don't understand. It sucks. But hey, at least we get to talk now, right?"
"Yeah, that's true," Veronica replied, feeling a little lighter. The tension with her mom hadn't completely faded, but talking to Vance helped. It was a distraction she badly needed.
Just as she was about to respond again, Vance's message popped up.
"Wait, where'd you get a spare phone from, anyway?"
Veronica froze for a moment. That was a question she wasn't used to answering. She thought about it, then typed back with a grin.
"I won a scholarship last year. Part of the reward was a phone, so I just kept it as a backup. Funny, right?"
Vance responded almost immediately. "A scholarship? Wow, that's impressive. So, you're not just a night owl, but a scholar too?"
Veronica chuckled. "Something like that. I guess I just don't like to brag about it. But, yeah, I got a scholarship for my grades, not for my phone skills."
Vance seemed genuinely impressed. "That's pretty amazing, though. I'm lucky if I pass any of my exams at all. But hey, that's why I code. It makes more sense than the stuff we're taught at school."
"I get that," Veronica replied, "I don't like the way they teach things either. It feels like they don't really care about what interests us. But hey, coding's a whole other world. At least there, you're in control."
They spent the next few hours discussing everything—coding, school, life. Veronica was surprised at how easy it was to talk to him. His words were raw and unfiltered, and for the first time in a while, she felt like someone understood her.
As the hours passed, Veronica lost track of time. Before she knew it, it was already 5:00 AM.
"Shit," she muttered to herself, "I've got school in two hours."
"Same here," Vance replied. "But this was fun. Really, thanks for listening."
Veronica smiled, feeling a strange mix of satisfaction and exhaustion. "Of course. We should do this again sometime."
"Definitely," he said. "I'll talk to you later, Veronica."
"Goodnight, Vance," she typed back, then stared at her phone. This conversation felt different—real. She hadn't felt this way in a long time. Maybe it was just the lack of judgment from him, or maybe it was that he understood her in a way others didn't