The Group Chat Without Me Novels & Stories

Her tone left absolutely no room for argument. “We’ll all meet again properly.” Then she grinned. “And before that, you’re joining the group chat again.” I suddenly looked nervous. My grip tightened around my phone. “What if they ignore me?” Aveline looked horrified. “They absolutely won’t.” Then she nudged my arm. “Try.” For several long moments, I only stared at the old group chat on my screen. The same chat I hadn’t touched in years. Finally, gathering every bit of courage I had, I typed slowly.

He ruffles my hair, making the mess worse, and leaves without another word. I fall back into the silence, the heavy, suffocating quiet that wraps around me like chains. My heart clenches, Millie’s face burning behind my closed eyelids. I grab my phone with trembling hands, ignoring a missed call from Mariam. I’m too raw, too broken to talk to anyone right now. But the group chat? I can’t resist. I shouldn’t, but I do. It’s like picking at a scab that won’t heal. The unread count mocks me. 60+ messages.

group chat was buzzing with activity. In reality, everyone in the group came from different places and had never met in person. Their group chat had only six members, all brought together by their shared interest in the stock market. Initially, they only interacted on forums, discussing market trends. Eventually, after sensing they would get along, someone started a private group chat on their messaging app. Three of them had IP addresses based in the capital, while the other three were from different cities. They never pried into each other's personal lives and had never met in real life.

If whoever that was thought I’d panic over red lipstick and a dumb message, they clearly hadn’t seen me survive a client meltdown while PMS-ing. I walked into the closet, threw on a white tee and black jeans, hair still damp. My phone buzzed nonstop on the vanity now, the notification tone sharp and relentless. A group chat. Oh God. I tapped the screen, and chaos exploded like fireworks. Dozens of messages from the most emotionally unstable group chat in human history. [WINONA 🍷🖕] DI— OH— MY— GOD. [SHEENA 👛💄] HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HAVE YOU SEEN IT???

I was nothing but baggage. My lips were pressed so tightly that they turned pale. Alex slid a tablet across the table toward me. "Did you know you guys actually had two group chats?" I looked up, confused. "One was the all-team chat—the one with you, Damon, Ken, everyone. That one was for planning routes, splitting costs, all that." He tapped the tablet. "But this one here, the one I just showed you—that was their private chat group. That's where they talked trash about you and made plans. You really mean to tell me you never noticed how they felt about you?"

I had built it carefully over three years, and it had never failed me yet. Lena did not reach out. Not that day, not the next. By Wednesday the group chat she and Brooke and Talia and I shared had gone quiet in the way it went quiet when something was sitting inside it that nobody wanted to be the first to address. Talia sent a meme on Thursday that landed without response. Brooke texted me separately to ask how I was doing. I told her I was fine and meant it by approximately sixty percent.

My legs still trembled a little with every step, a deep residual ache that made me hyper-aware of every movement. I was already outside, the door clicking shut behind me, when my phone buzzed again. I pulled it out while I started down the stairs. A new group chat notification. I opened it and stopped mid-step. They had added me back after I unblocked them. The latest message sat at the bottom of the screen in bold text. *Don’t fucking run from us again. This is where we communicate. If you’re facing any challenges or you have any problem or there’s something you need to tell us, do it right here.*

I've been with Sebastian Radford for five years, and I assume there are no secrets between us. Then, the night before our engagement party, Sebastian says, "Cece, check the group chat." I open the four-person group text, confused. "Nobody sent anything." Sebastian goes, "Oh. I misread it." When he heads into the bathroom, the tablet on the coffee table lights up with two new messages. My friend, Noelle Frasier, texts, "You scared me to death. You almost gave away our trip plans." My childhood friend, Wade Kirby, writes, "I really don't want Cece to tag along. I can't even cut loose with her around." Sebastian replies, "I'll be more careful next time." I glance at the group name. "No

Fortunately, her computer wasn’t locked. Graham watched me from across Rita’s desk, as if he were sneaking a peek. But I didn’t care. A messaging app appeared on the screen, showing an anonymous group chat named ‘Corporate Strategy Squads’. One of my eyebrows rose. I wasn’t in a group chat like this. Had they created a group without me? I let out an amused snort as I skimmed through the messages.

Aunty Betty said, I just nodded and faced the window, my head was aching and I was feeling really dizzy. I think I'm going to fall sick, I just want my parents now, I don't want to loose my mom. I tapped my phone, it came on so I turned on the data. Messages trooped in again, and the sound irritated me. I might just leave the group chat, who even added me? I saw another message from the unknown number and I was eager to know who the person is. Who are you? I sent it and turned off my data after going through my class group chat, they were all gisting and joking around, not caring if I was not in school.