Eric paused, surprised at a question that should have crossed his mind sooner.

"Something in STEM" That was a blatant lie. Eric's ideal job was no job.

"Wow... perpetuating stereotypes I see"

"Can't be if the stereotype is true"

"The friendly fire is crazyyyy" The typing bubble from Anjo pops up for a while, then disappears, then reappears.

"Speaking of the future, u think we'll still be friends after we graduate?" Despite how seemingly random the question was, a pang of guilt instantly went through Eric. It would be soon enough for Anjo to notice that Eric only reached out to him for comfort. Eric wanted to tell the truth, Anjo deserved to know that much.

"To be honest, I don't know." Eric inhaled deeply while typing the next line, "I only ever talk to you when I want to distract myself from something." No other texts from Anjo was made for a few minutes, but the creeping panic in Eric stretched the time into centuries.

"No. I appreciate your honesty. I kinda knew anyways." The response was unexpected as usual. Why so receptive?

"Then why still talk to me if you knew?"

"Well I don't have anyone else." The typing bubble reappeared and remained longer than usual, "In fact, you've never ranted to me about your issues everytime we texted. I don't think you've realized that you actually listen to me more than I listen to you. You geniunely showed you were engaged even though we talk about nothing most of the time. I appreciate that more than you know." Eric lowered his phone to look up at the car roof, his mouth slightly ajar, taking a moment to reevaluate his previous exchanges with Anjo. He had taken their conversations for granted, while Anjo found meaning in them.

"I'm sorry Anjo."

"Don't be. Thanks for being a loser so I wouldn't feel alone." To his mother's annoyance, Eric laughed for the first time in a while, for some reason he felt a lot less lonely.

"Wanna meet up after school tomorrow?"