#instaregret

I wish I never sent a post out the first time. It was the most stupid idea I ever had, but my friends begged me to get on Instagram and share my story to the world. "It'll be fine Mark!" they told me. "It isn't that bad!" They told me.

They lied. With their venomous words, they flipped my life upside down. At first it was nothing but a couple of posts of my cat or new video games I purchased. But then, someone replied to one of my posts. I should have ignored it, you know. My parents told me never to talk to strangers, especially on the internet. Of course, I didn't listen even though I should have. This girl called @amyCourse was a floral designer and apparently lived in my city. She started texting me supposedly because she liked my cat, I didn't see any harm in that. Cats are cute, I guess.

But then things became more... intimate. She wanted to know more and more about my personal life. It wasn't as if she immediately asked for my home address or my credit card information. No... she was too intelligent for that kind of gag. First, it was all innocent and not too suspicious. What are your hobbies? What do you do when your bored? What kind of video games do you like? It seemed as if she was the only person who ever truly wondered about my life.

Then the worst of it all started to develop. I was feeling attracted to this mystery girl. I haven't had much luck in the love department so that might have contributed to my strange infatuation with her. And she was similarly infatuated with me, or at least so I thought. We texted each other every day and now that I reflect on it, she was slowly building up my trust until I believed all of her two-faced lies. About how she was earning lots of money from her flower arrangements and saving up to buy her own business. About how her parents kicked her out of the house because she didn't finish high school. I could easily understand that last issue but what sealed the deal for me was that she loved video games as much as I did. I, as any stupid teenager would, thought that she was the one. Even my friends warned me that this was all a little suspicious, and all too familiar.

I didn't care.

I was happy and my family could tell that there was a certain glow around me ever since I realized just how much I had fallen for this complete stranger.

I we started sending scandalous pictures that I am afraid to even mention here because of how inappropriate they may be. And then we started asking more details about each others private lives. What do you actually think of your friends? What would you say to your boss' face if you had the chance? Have your coaches or teammates ever some anything that you resented them for? No idea of deception crept into my mind at these extreme examples of curiosity.

And then that text came. She requested to see a photo of where I live so I posted a picture of my home. What a foolish idea! I should've sniffed out the devilish plot the millisecond I read the first word of that disastrous message. Do you know how many people she sent that message to? Better question: Do you know that it wasn't even a girl who had played such a devious trick? No, it was an old rival I had since middle school. Good ol' Alex could never let go of a grudge that easily and I thought I saw the last of him ever since I got him expelled. He gained a massive amount of followers posing as this floral design... just to get back at me for reporting him after fighting me. The day he left the school, he warned me that he would ruin my life in worse ways then I could imagine but I never put much stock in it. He then showed all of his thousands of followers the picture of my house and labeled me as a loser and a freak. And to cap it all off, I have been labeled a stalker and sent screenshots of texts as if I texted the account shameful messages. Ever since, I have had to suffer under the harsh cruelty of human ignorance and punishment.

Every single day since, I have been harassed and slandered at school. My minimum wage job has fired me, my soccer coaches won't even look at me as if I had committed some grievous act towards them, my fellow theatre students glared at me like a rabid racoon, and what was worse was that my parents disowned me. They threw me out into the street like common garbage. Can't anyone see that I am the true victim here? A fool who simply hoped too high? Who couldn't see through the elaborate ruse placed before me? Of course not, all of you are fools who dare not think with logic or reason.

It was at that low moment that I couldn't hide from the police who had finally discovered the incident. I had only one choice. I have only one last choice to make. To anyone who receives this post, don't follow in my footsteps. Think carefully about ever trusting anyone, not just those over the media. Think carefully about every decision you make and every word you speak or write. Because you never know what evil forces are listening and waiting for a chance to destroy your life. The cops are here, bashing down the door of this crappy motel and yelling my name. If I were to give in then I would be subject to the horror of prison. I'd rather die then submitting to such a fate. I put a lot of emphasis into creating these last paragraphs so that my final words may be as glorious as Poe. But now I have one last thing to write. Goodbye, cruel world.

#instaregret