First Touch

+ Kathrine Andrews: (Song of the first half of the chapter: The Walls by Chase Atlantic)

I haven't gone to school since the party. The whole thing still feels like a nightmare, one I can't wake up from.

The second I opened my phone Monday morning, I knew my life would never be the same.

There it was: the video of me—soaked in beer, looking helpless while people filmed and laughed.

It was everywhere: Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube Shorts. And the worst part? Some of those videos had hundreds of thousands of views. I couldn't believe it.

There were a few comments that defended me, but honestly, it didn't matter.

They were from people who weren't even from my school—just random people who'd stumbled across the video and felt bad for me.

The ones I recognized, though? They were brutal. They weren't just laughing. They were saying some of the most homophobic things I've ever read.