Chapter Two
Gayle
“Your voice makes mewanna drop to my knees and bark like a dog. The things I would do to hear that voice in my ears, chat. I would beg and plead. I would write songs. I would become a poet. I would ride a dolphin into the sunset. Don’t even pretend you wouldn’t do the same, chat. The only thing going on inside my head is how much of a gay disaster I am intermixed withbark bark bark bark bark.”
My eyes get wider and wider the longer this guy talks. Oh. Okay. Right. I don’t think I’ve ever, in my life, had someone react quite like this to my voice. It’s just a voice! Nothing special! If I’m honest, I wish I could change it and make it deeper. Apparently this guy, whose gamertag in the game is RodKnee2, seems to have a thing or two to say about it.
Once he’s petered himself out, I murmur, “umm. Thank you? I’m flattered?”
There’s a very, very long pause. It goes on so long I’m worried they might have disconnected before I hear a very startledWhat?
The other guy, the one who’s been silent this whole time bursts with laughter. The sound is so infectious and the situation is so ridiculous that I can’t help but laugh as well.
“My mic wasunmutedand youheardthat? Oh my gods, Blue, shoot me. Put me out of my misery. Let me get out of this game. Oh my gods.”
No way! He can’t just kill himself and get out of this. My interest has been piqued at the very least.
“Wait, you can’t leave yet,” I blurt out. “I wanna hear more!”
The third guy is laughing his ass off until he’s literally wheezing. I can’t help but join him, crouching even closer.
“The three of us against the rest?”
I do a little crouching dance with my character, mimicking a nod. “The three of us against the world!”
billstopay(mod): What the hell was that?
SnowsOffspring(vip): I don’t know if I should be here for this…
billstopay(mod): *covers your ears and your eyes*
JumpingforJoy: those voices sound SO familiar
SnowsOffspring(vip): I think I know who’s sexually harassing my dad but I don’t know if I wanna tell him
PearlyWhites: Snow you’re BLUSHING
SkateboardKid: Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh that’s ADORABLE
“Oh, sweet child of mine,” I say to my stream. I’m always careful to make sure I’m muted in game. They can only hear me talk if I press a certain button on my keyboard. “Please tell me who that is! I need to getcha a new stepdad!”
I belly laugh as chat goes nuts. I laugh even harder when Calloway starts screaming in all caps at me to not even think about it or he’ll run away.
“Do you actually know who that is? Are they a streamer too or something?”
My eyes drift back to my game. I send my character around a corner, seeing movement in the far right of my stream. I crouch down and pull out the sniper rifle I picked up earlier. I aim and fire, getting a headshot.
“Okay, wow,” one of the guys I’m currently teaming up with says, letting out a long whistle. “Okay, cool. Sick. Amazing. Not only do you have the voice of a literal god, but you can also play well. I’m fine. Totally fine. My heart isn’t going a thousand miles an hour oranything.”
I know my cheeks are heating but there’s nothing I can do about it. I really wish I had decided to go camless today because chat keeps teasing me about the blush. In my defense, it’s beensolong since I’ve even thought about anyone in a romantic sense, let alone get so thoroughly hit on by a stranger! Of course I’m gonna blush!
“Bro,” the other guy says, laughing all over again. “Rodney, you know I love you but holy shit. You’vegotto learn how to mute your mic!”
Rodney. The guy’s name is Rodney.
“You’re kidding. You’re actually kidding. This has got to be a joke. The universe hates me. I’m going to throw myself into thenext person we see so that I can die and get thrown into a new lobby.”
“I’ll take that as a personal challenge to keep you alive,” I say quickly, not really knowing where this confidence is coming from. “It’s not every day I have my own personal hypeman.”
