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Chapter Eleven

Paige

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Exactly five weeksafter the day Mikel and I first met I hit three-million subscribers.

That's just one week since he'd gifted me my personal VR suit. The production level of my channel skyrocketed, and even though he denies all responsibility for my success, I know much of it is thanks to him.

As I stare at the number on my screen, and as Cookie Crumbs dances in her simul-cast video in my upper right screen corner, joining in on the celebration, I wonder how much better things can get. Money is about to pour in—I've been getting tons of emails asking for reviews, for product deals, for interviews and collaborations.

My monthly income has bounced from the four-grand I need to get by living alone in Los Angeles to nearly double. Visions of packing up, moving into a better apartment with real tables and chairs and maybe a window not as big as Mikel's but still something jumble in my brain.

I'm on cloud nine.

And once I finish my re-review of the new Secret Reader, I'll put Mikel on a happy-cloud, too.

“Thanks everyone!” I cheer, watching my cute 3D anime-style character dance on the screen. She responds instantly to all my movements—no more lag, bugs, glitches. The new camera Mikel gave me to work with the suit reads my facial features in real life and converts them to Fawn's in hyper detail.

Cookie hasn't asked me about the new rig. In fact, she hasn't brought up Mikel at all since our last talk about him weeks ago during the 10k tip drama. My fans have generally dropped it as well, deciding the mystery tip was from a random weirdo, or a “whale” as they like to call people with big banks who drop money on their favorite streamers.

Pretending it never happened is a little silly, but I'm fine with moving on if they are.

I hold my hands up near my antlers, waggling my fingers with a smile. “I have one more thing to do before the stream ends today! I've got... drum-roll... a product review!”

My chat becomes row after row of excited emojis and words. Small tips ping on my screen. Today, on this three-million sub celebration video alone, I made eight-hundred bucks. By the time I finish the review, I predict another five-hundred or so.

Lifting up the package, I reveal it to the camera. “This, my friends, is the Secret Reader 2.0! That's right, you heard me, it's a re-review of a new improved design!”

Cookie, who's been twirling and dancing in the corner, freezes. Her character's eyes flash red, but she says nothing. The chat is clearly torn between confusion and interest, too; there are some WTFs and OMGs floating around.

I keep my smile from breaking. But... my stomach is in knots. “I know, I don't ever do this. But, the creator of the Secret Reader felt so awful, he asked if he could take my feedback, fix the product, and let me take another stab at it.”

:

STAB HIM STAB HIM