Algorithm

The snow was still falling after I had finally finished my makeup and fixed my hair perfectly, so it just furthered my belief that this was meant to be. As soon as I pushed the front door open, a gust of freezing air blindsided me and nearly took my breath away. Lord knows that sometimes a girl has to do what she’s gotta do for the perfect winter selfie photoshoot. I couldn’t just let this sparkling winter wonderland go to waste, especially after spending over an hour and a half beating my face to the gods.

My Insta page was steadily losing followers… not that I had many to begin with. It was my humble dream to become an influencer. You know, one of those pretty girls that everyone checks in on every day for the latest fashion or inspirational quote paired with a gorgeous selfie. Yeah, that’s what I was shooting for. I’ve done cosplays, workout videos, karaoke shorts, political posts… you name it, I’ve given it a go. And it all works for a little while, and then the follows start to vanish. I once made it to ten thousand, and then after a week or two they would dwindle back into the hundreds. I just don’t understand what I keep doing wrong! Could the algorithm seriously be this messed up to where you can be so close and have it slip away so easily? It was beginning to feel hopeless. This photoshoot was really my last shot before making the decision to give up my dream and focus on something a little more feasible. 

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. For a brief moment I forgot all about the cold as I tore one of my mittens from my hand with my teeth and grabbed my device. It could be a new follower! When I pulled up my screen, my heart sank at the notification. It was just a comment. Probably another bot trying to sell me fake follower accounts again. That’s the only comments I ever get anymore. I decided to ignore it and continue my walk toward the lake. It was the absolute perfect location for a cute snowy shoot. My props were all ready there. It would only take me ten, fifteen minutes and then I would be back in the house editing the images to upload within the next hour or two when the traffic is the highest. My pocket vibrated again after only a few steps. 

I couldn’t stand the suspense anymore, even if it did turn out to be another bot. I tapped the notification and within a second the screen loaded the comment. It was left under my most recent post – my breakfast of avocado toast and a strawberry smoothie in front of the patio door as the snow first began to fall. It was a nice shot, if not generic as hell, but food pics sell – everyone secretly enjoys aesthetic plates of food. Yet this comment had absolutely nothing to say about my breakfast. In fact, it was just three letters separated by periods. 

“R.I.P.”

R.I.P.? Was this a joke? It had to be some Internet illiterate who posted on the wrong photo. These things happen all the time. I just don’t like it when these things happen to me. I decided to look at the other notification, the more recent one. It also happened to be a comment. Another second and it appeared, this time under a selfie I took the other day after a shower. Yeah… shower selfies sell, too. Especially when there is just a little bit of cleavage showing above the towel. 

“I just heard. I can’t believe you’re gone.. gonna miss you girly 😭”

Okay, this was really weird. A hard wind blew against me, forcing me to move forward. I had to hurry up and get this photoshoot done before the wind destroyed my hair. Whatever was going on had to be a mix up. There was probably an influencer with a similar name as mine and these fools were commenting on the wrong profile. Crazier things have happened. All I knew was that I had to get this done as soon as possible. I hate winter. I hate the cold. But I need more followers and this was my last shot. My feet moved through the powder, each step crunched and slid and my pocket started to vibrate constantly. While I continued forward, I peeked to see that there were dozens of notifications coming in, not only on Insta but my Snap, TikTok, and Facebook. Something insane was going on. I stopped walking and tapped my Facebook app. 

Ninety-three notifications and climbing. I’ve never had that many notifications at one time! My timeline was filled with friends and family tagging me in status updates and old photos.

“This has to be a horrible nightmare. We were just talking about grabbing coffee on Sunday!!”

“Lord NOT MY LITTLE COUSIN!!!😭😭😭” 

“Can’t believe my eyes, tears won’t stop. R.I.P. LainyLayne!😰”

“Precious girl you will be missed. Rest up in heaven and look down on us!🙏🙏🙏”

“My bestie, my ride or die… this canNOT be true!!! Your a$$ better call me ASAP and tell me this was some sort of awful prank for followers or my heart is going to literally break. CALL ME RIGHT NOW LAYNE”

“Niece please please please tell me this is a joke. Your mother just called me crying. This can’t be real.”

There were dedications on Snap and TikTok too and the notifications kept pouring in on all platforms. My heart was beating down to my fingertips and my face felt so flushed that I no longer felt the cold. My fingers tapped wildly against my screen. I didn’t know what was happening, but I had to put a stop to this insanity. 

“Guys I’M OKAY! 😳 I literally have no clue what is going on but I’m fine! Thank you for the nice comments but I’m alive and well lol 😂😂😂”

I tapped Post. Unable to send, no connection. I turned off and restarted my data and tried again. Once more, unable to send. But the notifications kept coming in. My phone would not stop vibrating for a moment, a constant tremble in my trembling hands. Suddenly a call appeared from my best friend, Nichole. I tried to answer but the notifications caused it to glitch out. I couldn’t even answer calls – my phone was actually blowing up! 

I decided to abandon the damn photoshoot I worked so hard to put together and head back to the house. If this was all true, Mom was probably there tearing the place apart looking for me. What a nightmare this afternoon turned into. Walking back turned out to be a little more difficult than it was to go to the lake because the house was built on a hill, and the snow was getting deeper by the minute. I couldn’t help but think that perhaps this will all work out to my advantage. So many people were posting condolences that once I let them know I’m okay, I could get a surge of followers due to the chaos! I could release a YouTube video about my story. Maybe this is the beginning of my dream coming true! Sure, it didn’t work out the way I wanted it to, but at least this was definitely interesting and unique! I could change my handle to LainyFromTheGrave and really play this up. Oh yeah, this could really work!

The snow had me turned around. What was once just delicate little flakes turned into those massive, blinding walls of spiraling masses. I had no idea which way was home. I kept looking down at my phone to read the latest notifications. Somehow I was lost in my own backyard. Well, this was just perfect. My phone would not stop vibrating for a moment and I couldn’t see my way back home. I moved forward a few more steps and my phone stopped vibrating. It had been trembling for so long that I still felt phantom vibrations in my hand. I looked down to see another post on my timeline. This time, it was a Facebook Live feed from the local news station. There were firetrucks and ambulances, along with cop cars with sirens and lights flashing wildly around the snowy landscape. I knew that landscape… I knew it very well. It was my backyard! They were parked near the lake, folks moving around the edge. The headline read: Body of Missing Woman Found. Blue thumbs and red hearts sprinkled the feed. This was crazy… this couldn’t be real! Comments under the feed kept coming in.

“I went to school with her! What a sad way to go”

“I’m sorry but what did she think would happen taking pictures laying on a frozen pond in 35 degree weather??? People ain’t too smart these days. Condolences to her parents”

“She was so obsessed with getting views and follows on social media. I hate to say it but this was kinda bound to happen”

“Um why tf are you live streaming this when HALF HER FAMILY HAVEN’T BEEN NOTIFIED YET???? Have some damn respect for the living and the dead! The media ain’t nothing but a bunch of vultures!”

“Did you see where they cut it off real quick when they were dragging her out?? That was timed just right. You know the news is going to air just enough to get by. Needing as many views as possible to profit off a young girl’s death. Sickos!!!”

“If you look real close at the bottom right you can see what looks like a pink glove or mitten laying half buried in the snow. So why is only one glove several feet away from where her body was found? Something isn’t adding up, none of this makes sense.”

“I just can’t, this is too sad! R.I.P. sweetheart! 💔”

I looked around. This can’t be happening. I should be able to see the lights even through this snow. I couldn’t see or hear anything but snow. Just swirling, heavy snow. 

And at that very moment, I felt the break from beneath my feet. The sound echoed through the storm and just like that, I fell through the ice. I never even realized I had stepped onto the frozen lake. Screams were no good, it didn’t matter because no one could hear me this far away as deafening as the storm became. I tried my hardest to claw my way out, but with every grab onto the ice I made, it would break away in my grasp. My pocket began to vibrate again, sending prickling shockwaves through the water and my entire body became numb within seconds. 

I wanted so desperately to become an influencer, to make some sort of difference in the lives of people around the world. I guess in a way I did just that. The algorithm just didn’t match with the right timeline. But in the end I caught up to reality. 

They are always a step ahead.