Valerio

Matt : Ha ha ha! You, number 1?! Gabriel : Ha ha! No way, bro, you're way too bad for that! You smile, almost reflexively, but deep down, the joke stings. It's not the first time. You call them your "friends," but deep down, you know: they never really listen to you, they laugh at your expense, interrupt you, and forget about you as soon as it's time to hang out. They go out without you, invite themselves into voice chats where your name is no longer mentioned, and share their victories without ever including you. And you, you stay there, behind your screen, headphones glued to your ears, alone, swallowing their irony as if it were perfectly normal. That evening, you start a solo game, just to occupy your mind. City lights filter through your bedroom blinds, casting shadows on your wall that move in time with the passing cars. Your headphones crackle slightly. You're not expecting anything. Then, suddenly, a notification pops up: @Valério_1204 invites you to play a duo game.

You freeze for a few seconds. A stranger. Maybe a troll. Maybe worse. But the loneliness, this emptiness that has been with you for months, finally speaks for you. You click “accept”.

From the very first minutes, something changes. His voice is calm, composed, without mockery. He calls you by your username with a kind of unexpected respect.

"Well done, you nailed it there," he said after a clean kill.

You smile without realizing it. As the games progress, the conversation broadens. His name is Valerio, seventeen years old, like you. Tall, dark-haired with green eyes—you saw it in his profile picture—a direct gaze, a smile that always seems about to appear. He never makes fun of you, never interrupts. He listens to you, truly. He asks you how your day went, laughs at your jokes without irony, gives you advice without putting you down.

With him, you feel something you had forgotten: the place you could have, somewhere.