Sample Sunday - Give Me My "Like" Back

Mscraftyifyanasty liked your photo.I was sitting in the break room during my lunch hour, aimlessly scrolling my Instagram app. There were only a few minutes left before I had to head back to the classroom, but I was burning time while I finished my sandwich.That was when the notification popped up at the bottom of my screen.I grinned at the name – I liked that type of thing – then tapped the button that would lead me to the list of notifications. I wanted to check Ms. “crafty if you’re nasty” out.But the notification wasn’t on the list.Weird.I thought about it for a few seconds, trying to remember how the username had been spelled. I typed in a couple of different combinations before I got it right. I tapped on the name to bring up the profile, frowning when I saw that it was private.But then my eyes went to the profile image.It was black and white, and so crisp and high quality that it had to be a professional shot. The picture was cropped so that only the bottom half of the face was visible. The little circle it fit into framed lips I’d been close enough to kiss, a graceful neck, and a bare collarbone. She had freckles sprinkled across there too.I smiled to myself.So that’s why the “like” disappeared.I hit the “follow” button, then tapped through a few more screens until I was where I needed to be to send a message.“Give me my “like” back. You don’t have to creep.”After I sent that, I got up and cleaned up my place at the table, then headed back to my classroom. I had just a couple of minutes until my next students were going to start coming in, so I quickly passed out papers, then snuck a peek at my phone.According to the little icon in the corner, she’d replied.“I wasn’t creeping. It was an accident. – mscraftyifyanasty”“You sure do a lot of “accidental” creeping. May as well just stop playing and follow me back. Like whatever you want, I don’t mind. I’m trying to figure you out anyway.”“Nah. Wouldn’t want my “likes” to get lost among all your other fans. – mscraftyifyanasty”“I would notice. Just like I noticed today. I know you don’t think that was a coincidence.”“What else would it be? – mscraftyifyanasty”“You already know…”“Oh please. I’m putting my phone away now. Bye. – mscraftyifyanasty”I wasn’t wasting my turn to send the message on saying goodbye. What she’d handed me was prime – I could start another conversation later without looking thirsty. The sound of students changing classes filled the halls, and I moved my thumb to the power button to turn my screen off. But before I did, one last notification popped up.Mscraftyifyanasty followed you back.