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“It could be a bit of that.”

We all wait for Sloane to say more but they only shake their head.

“Well, what are they saying?” Mark asks.

Sloane sighs heavily. “Mostly they don’t seem to be big fans of yours, Quinn.”

My heart plummets. I have a very bad feeling about this. “Can you tell who they are?”

“I don’t recognize any of the usernames.” Sloane crosses their arms over their chest. “Let’s forget it. I’m sorry I let it affect the game. That wasn’t professional of me.”

“No, I want to know what they’re saying first.”

They sigh. “They don’t deserve a second of your time, but…it’s mostly about your role-playing. That it was kind of lazy and they didn’t like your character build. And some other stupid comments.”

“They don’t know what they’re talking about,” Logan says gruffly. “Can we block them?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never had to block anyone before, but I should be able to. I’ll figure it out.”

Kashvi reaches out and touches my arm. “Don’t pay attention to it, Quinn. You’ve been awesome in the campaign.”

I smile at her, but my eyes are watery. “Has this ever happened before to the group?”

Everyone exchanges awkward glances, and the answer isclear.

“Can I see the comments?” I ask.

Sloane hesitates. “That’s not a good idea. Everybody says ‘don’t read the comments’ for a reason.”

But I’m already standing up. I know they’re probably right, but I want to see if I recognize the usernames or if these really are strangers trolling me. Both options are horrible. I stand over Sloane’s shoulder and scroll back through the chat. There aren’t a lot of comments, so the bad ones are easy to find.

@Tr_xp50:Some of this is cool, but the dwarf is the weakestlink.

@dicehaven:The dwarf’s role-playing is the worst.

I scroll to the top of the chat.

@PLynn_:BEWARE of your dwarf. She’s Poison for DND.

@Fighter_CM64:I see she’s found a new group to destroy. Good luck to you all.

I suck in a breath and step back. My eyes meet Logan’s and he jumps to his feet. He strides around the table to read over my shoulder.

“I don’t think we—” Sloane begins, but it’s too late; he’s already seen.

He makes an angry growling sound in the back of his throat. “What the actual f—”

“They aren’t trolls,” I whisper to him, more tears threatening to come, and his face falls with understanding. He reaches for my hand, but I pull away. The last thing I need is for the others to figure us out at the same moment they’re reading these comments about me being a group killer.

Kashvi pushes her chair back, ready to stand as well, and Mark and Sanjiv are leaning forward with agitation. “What’s going on?” Sanjiv asks.

Everyone stares at me. It’s not hard to figure out the usernames. @Fighter_CM64 is definitely Caden. Fighter is his favorite class, those are his initials, and 64 is his favorite number. He didn’t even try to be creative or sneaky. Paige’s middle name is Lynn, so it isn’t hard to figure out who @PLynn_ is. The other two aren’t quite as obvious, but I’m guessing @Tr_xp50 is Travis, and maybe Makayla is @dicehaven.

Logan takes a small step closer, as if he can protect me, but I walk back to my side of the table. “The trolls are people from my old school. The ones I used to play with.”

Mark’s and Sanjiv’s eyes bug out since they haven’t heard about this before, while the others only look sad. I quickly catch the guys up, praying I nevereverhave to tell this story again. I’m tempted to make some edits, but I repeat all the details, including how Caden and I would flirt at the games and how they all turned against me.

“When I ran into Paige last Sunday, I blurted out that I was in a livestreaming game now. I’ve been scared this would happen, though I’m a little surprised they cared enough to go to this effort.” I push my unruly bangs from my face. “I’m sorry I brought all this to the group.”