Armando didn't pause telling his story about the quirky grocery clerk when her phone lit up and she habitually snatched it. It was just a text from her sister. Nothing important. She quickly replied then proceeded to open Instagram, blocking out Armandos babbling. Her photo still only had 48 likes and it had been an hour since she posted. Seconds ticked by and she refreshed her feed.

“Madelyn!  Are you even listening to me?” Armando snapped.

Armando and Madelyn lived  in a tidy apartment together. It was decorated with modern furniture that impressed the guests they had over every Saturday night. To Madelyn, the apartment sounded too quiet without the buzz and chatter coming from her friends in every room. Armando, on the other hand, enjoyed all the quiet he could get with Madelyn.

Madelyn had worked very hard for their popularity, spending almost every spare minute in between meals, meetings and sleeps on their phones. Madelyn's colorful feed containing inspirational quotes, flamboyant selfies and pictures with her girlfriends reeled in the attention of many. Every like and comment brought a smile to her face and a rush throughout her body. If she had a long day at work, or drama between her friends, she knew she could rely on the confidence boost she drew from instagram. 

For Armando, instagram had become a nuisance. He spent more and more time seeing Madelyn on his phone screen than in person. He had lost his patience, making every moment with her a drag.

“How was work?” asked Armando, one friday, before the weekly bash at their place. She replied with a shrug but kept her head down, her neck bent at a painful angle looking down at her phone.

Madelyn hadn’t told Armando about the celebration she was planning at their meager apartment. There would be a lot of strangers, but it was bound to be a fun night. She knew Armando wouldn’t buy it, so she put off telling him. Having a party with so many strangers could either be a way to make more friends, or have your house completely raided by strangers.

Madelyn spent the rest of the day getting ready until the party actually started. Her friends told her it was bound to help her expand her circle. However after Madelyn finally informed Armando of the function, he disappointed her with his reaction. Instead of being angry, like she expected, he hardly said anything.

“Are you okay?” she begged for a reaction from him. “Yes, I’m just going to leave for a bit.” He uttered with no emotion.

She was discouraged that he didn’t even seem to care. It was gonna be the best night of her life and he wasn’t even going to be there for it, so she went the rest of the night blocking Armando from her mind. After making her face shiny, primed and bright, it was easier to keep Armando out of her mind and her attention focused on herself.

As people began  to arrive at the apartment, there became less and less space to actually walk around. Everyone was limited to about 2 square feet. Counters were sticky with spilt beer and it smelled like sweat and perfume. When Armando returned, she was excited to see him, instantly forgetting about his reaction earlier.

He yanked her by the arm to a lonely corner. “I can’t do this anymore. I don’t like you like this” he snapped, too quiet to be heard by anyone else. Armando was fed up but showed little anger. He turned around and left the apartment promptly.

Madelyn didn’t wait a moment to tell her girlfriends what happened. In fact she told about half the men at the party what happened too. By the end of the night everyone's pity did not improve her mood as she thought it would. She opened instagram and found a dark picture to post. Her caption announced her loneliness.

Days passed and the instagram likes, comments and DMs from random men didn’t make her feel any better. She lost her motivation to communicate with her friends and they didn’t bother making an effort to see how she was doing either. 

Madelyn spent the next few days communicating with her sister, who ended up flying out to see her. They spent a week together catching up on many things they missed out on due to Madelyns lack of communication with her. She had forgotten how well they got along whether it was just staying in and talking or going out and doing chores.

She deleted her social media to get away from the boasting selfies and pictures that just made her sick. She never realized how much her social media made her compare herself to the filtered and edited pictures of her friends. Without the pressure of keeping up with new trends and impressing her followers, Madelyn had more free time to go to new restaurants, try new activities and make meaningful friends. She didn’t try to follow up with Armando, although she was grateful to what he had made her aware of.