Chapter One
Shiloh
I jump into thematch, wiping my hands on my sweats before putting them back on my mouse and keyboard. My phone vibrates against my desk and I quickly pick it up. My heart quickens slightly as I see Suga’s name across the screen.
Suga: Rooting for you.
That’s it. That’s all he’s said.
What a dickhead.
I flip my phone face down on my desk, focusing on the screen. I’m sure Suga is just trying to taunt me so that I fuck up. How the hell have I found myself here? How the fuck am I even in this situation?
I’m about to jump head first into a battle royale type video game. This lobby is filled with moderators who work with BlueStreamer, RodKneeonComs, and the guy I personally mod for, PourSomeSuga. I know all their real life names but I hate feeling parasocial so I’ll continue to call them by their gamer tags. We’re in the middle of a massive charity stream and while the guys have a moment to relax and maybe catch a quick nap, the stream is doing a mod takeover.
Part of that takeover includes this particular match. Whoever wins this, will win a stupid-ass online date with Suga.
I don’t particularly want to win.
I also really,reallydon’t want anyone else to win.
My character drops into the map and I take off running. I know Azaad, the head mod that takes care of all three streamers, and his partner, Wizard, are doing live commentary on Blue’s stream. I have it muted, not wanting to cheat by seeing other people’s point of view, or be distracted by their banter.
I’m not the biggest video game player, preferring to watch it rather than play them myself. My PC is really fucking slow which works in my favor in this case.
My character bounces around the map, lagging so badly that no one can get a shot on me. If they can’t hit me, then they can’t kill me. I find a couple grenades while I run around, using those so I don’t have to worry about being the most accurate.
Sure, some might think this technique is kinda cringe and to that I’ll simply say, they’re not wrong but also, they can suck my left nutsack. A win’s a win!
I run around the map, collecting supplies, and dodging incoming fire. The number at the top of the screen slowly goesdown as people die. I run around the corner, suddenly face to face with another player. I yelp, shooting my gun practically point blank.
“What the fuck? What the fuck? What the fuck?” I hear come through the game’s voice chat. “Where are you even shooting from? I can’t even see you!”
I giggle as I kill Joker, one of Blue’s mods.
“Get fucked!” I cackle before running away.
It doesn’t take long before it’s just me and Vee. VeeEyePee is another one of Blue’s mods. Vee is actually good at this game but fortunately for me, lag somehow beats skill. My movements zig zag across the screen as I toss grenade after grenade at their character. Eventually, the screen goes still. ‘Winner’ flashes across the screen. Then my game crashes.
I close out the game, going over and pulling up Discord, jumping into the mod call.
“Hey,” I say in greeting beforeso manyvoices are chiming in, telling me how fucked up it is to win like that. “It’s not my fault I don’t have money for a new PC!”
“Is your computer from the stone ages? What the hell was that?”
“Doesn’t seem fair that you won when none of us could even see your character!”
“Gods, if you wanted a date with Suga that badly all you had to do was ask.”
I tsk into the mic, setting them all off into giggles. I cross my arms over my chest, staring at the screen while everyone talks.
Azaad and Wizard jump into the call, muting everyone but me. I sit up a little straighter. I don’t know what it is about Azaad but he always commands a room. He’s the sweetest guy you’ll ever meet, but we all defer to him. He’s really good at his job as head mod.
“Well done, Sookie,” Azaad says with a chuckle.
“I’m not sure if you should be complimenting him or his PC,” Wizard adds.
“You guys never established that an internet connection was a requirement for playing.”
