Chapter 1My Cousin Stole My Face to Date a Professor

My cousin used my photos to catfish someone online, posting my selfies to his feed every day.

I finally slid into his DMs. “Are you ever going to stop?”

“Liv, come on, just a little longer. I’m one rank away from Grandmaster. I’ll break up with him after I get it, I promise.”

Later, my cousin and his online boyfriend broke up.

And the professor from the department next door requested, by name, that I come to his office.

* * *

Lately, my high-school-aged cousin, Liam, has been acting weird.

He’s been posting my selfies on his Instagram story with the strangest captions.

Like: “Perfect day for a boba.”

A few minutes later, another story would go up. A picture of a plastic cup. “Thanks, I love it.”

My lips twitched. I messaged him directly with a single question mark.

“...Crap. Forgot to hide my story from you.”

I continued the interrogation. “Are you using my pictures to catfish someone?”

“Liv, he’s an amazing gamer. I just wanted him to help me rank up.”

I didn’t push it, but I gave him a warning. “Less gaming, more studying. And don’t you dare scam him for money, or I’m telling your dad.”

He went quiet for about a week, then his feed lit up again.

It was one of my selfies, bizarrely paired with a picture of a massive LEGO set.

The caption: “My birthday’s coming up, and I really want this…”

…Unbelievable. He was officially a scammer now.

I shot him another message. “Are you ever going to stop?”

“Liv, come on, just a little longer. I’m one rank away from Grandmaster. I’ll break up with him after I get it, I promise.”

I wanted to drive to his house and punch him.

“Ranking up is one thing, but don’t ruin my reputation. If you want the LEGO set that badly, I’ll buy it for you.”

Half an hour passed before he replied. “Don’t worry about it, Liv. I already got it.”

“What?” I immediately Venmoed him the cash. “Give him his money back and end this. Now.”

Liam accepted the payment, replying with a reluctant, “Fine.”

I still didn’t trust him, so I called and gave him a piece of my mind. He apologized profusely and promised he’d change his ways.

I’m in my final year of my Master’s program, and with the holidays approaching, I was swamped. I didn’t have time to keep tabs on Liam.

And his social media went completely silent.