Chapter 2Before I Knew It Was You

When I made my second burner account, I played it smart. I decided to infiltrate his replies and build trust first.

When he tweeted, I liked and retweeted. When he insulted Carter, I joined in on the dogpile.

For a while, it worked perfectly. Then, he posted a new thread.

@TheSwineherd:

[I can't take it anymore. Are we experiencing a literal plague of stupidity? She had a guaranteed spot for that elite summer fellowship and she just... dropped out?]

[Piglet stays in the library until 11 PM every night. Working so hard just to flush it all down the drain.]

[She’s just a useless little mascot waking up at the crack of dawn to be a spectator in her own life. Who can even tolerate this level of incompetence?]

I knew exactly what fellowship he was talking about. Academically, I had earned the spot. But another student—a kid with wealthy parents who desperately needed the resume boost—had privately offered me two thousand dollars to withdraw my application.

Rich kids cared about prestige and padding their grad school applications. I just cared about making rent.

I obviously couldn't explain the reality of my poverty on Twitter, so I played along with his narrative:

[She really is useless. Studying all day and still couldn't get it. Piglet really does have a pig's brain.]

I hit send, tossed my phone on my desk, and went to brush my teeth.

When I came back, my notifications were a blur of chaotic vibrating. My inbox was completely flooded.

@TheSwineherd (DM):

[Who the f** do you think you are? I can talk about MY Piglet, but you keep her name out of your mouth.]*

[You’re the one with the smooth brain. My Piglet was valedictorian of her county and got into this Ivy League on a full academic merit. What did you do, peak in middle school?]

[Some community college dropout thinks they can come for her? Go clock into your shift at the Amazon warehouse and leave us alone!]

The comment I had left in the thread was being systematically quote-tweeted and ratioed to hell. Every time I refreshed, there were new, blistering attacks from Harrison.

A veteran follower slid into my DMs:

[You must be new here. This is just how he is. He’s allowed to trash her, but if anyone else agrees, he goes feral. He's the king of aggro-simping. You better delete your comment before this rabid dog stays up all night quote-tweeting you.]

I scrambled to delete the reply, only to watch my screen go grey.

My second account had been mass-reported and permanently suspended.