The waitress tilted her head. Her voice was the sound of a finger tracing a dusty screen. “It’s as real as the hunger that brought you here.”
No one spoke. No phones. No music except the rain from the GIF, which now seemed to be coming from a real window.
Back to his room. Back to the laptop. Back to the unblocked games and the endless scroll and the group chat where no one had messaged in three days. Back to the hunger that wasn’t for food.
Liam finished the burger. He ate every last fry, including the tiny crunchy ones at the bottom of the carton. He drank the Coke until it gurgled. He wiped his hands on the napkin, folded it neatly, and set it on the tray.
“This isn’t real,” Liam whispered.
