Page 93
Story: Dating and Dragons
“Wait. Do you mean…?” Logan glances at the camera set up in front of him.
Horror creeps through me at the possible implications of what Sloane is saying. It isn’t possible.
“The livestream is off now,” Sloane reassures us. “But, um, I just turned it off.”
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.” I sink down into my chair and begin rocking like I’m possessed.
“Tell me that conversation wasn’t public for the entire internet to witness,” Logan says.
“I can tell you that or I can tell you the truth, but I can’t tell you both.”
The room fills with cussing and moaning, and I clap my hands over my face. Did I just tell Logan I love him for the first time in front of a live audience?
Kashvi holds up her phone. “Yeaaaaah, FYI, Andrew watched the whole thing. He texted to tell me what was happening, but I was too caught up to notice it.”
My mortification ramps up another notch, and I feel like I might be sick. My little brother heard everything? I guess I’m moving out of the house because he is nevereverletting me live this down. I’ll be at my eightieth birthday party, and he’ll still be telling this story with gleeful abandon.
Kashvi hurries over to the laptop. “It’s okay, don’t freak out! He’s just one person, and he had a reason to stay logged in. I bet no one else saw it. They probably logged out as soon as they saw we weren’t playing.” Her voice is overly chipper. Sloane pulls up the session stats and I drag myself from my chair to look over their shoulder.
“Am I reading this wrong?” I whisper. “Does that say five hundred viewers?”
“Hey, that’s some good news, Logan! You finally got the five hundred viewers you were hoping for when we started the new campaign!” Sanjiv says with a laugh.
Logan drops his head into his hands.
“We more than quadrupled our usual viewership,” Sloane says. “And the chat blew up too.” They scroll through the chat and then freeze.
“Um, yeah, so one other thing…”
“Sloane, I can takenoother things!” I practically screech.
“Remember how I mentioned that we invited Stephanie…”
“Noooooooo!”
Sloane leans forward and quickly skims the chat. “If it’s any consolation, it looks like she ships you two. And she says congratulations.”
I moan again and a hand touches my waist. Logan stands behind me, and I lean back against his chest without thinking.
“Whoa, the chat isinsane,” Kashvi says. She keeps scrolling but never gets to the bottom. There are so many comments. Memories of the last time I was standing here, reading the chat, are way too vivid in my mind.
Logan wraps his arms around my waist and squeezes. “I know this is basically the most embarrassing thing that could possibly happen, but I don’t regret what I said,” he whispers in my ear.
I look back at him, his voice instantly tamping down my anxiety. “I don’t either.”
“Then it doesn’t matter what anyone else says. Don’t let the comments get to you.”
“Actually,” Kashvi interrupts with a chuckle. “The chat is pretty cute. They like you two together.” She scrolls more. “There are a few trolls and some snarky comments asking why we replaced the game with a soap opera, but overall…yeah, really positive.”
I glance up at Logan, a question in my eyes. “Do we dare to look?”
“I’m not sure we have much to lose, but it’s up to you. I don’t care what a single person has to say about us.” He looks to the others. “No offense.”
Kashvi and Sloane move out of the way so Logan and I can read the comments. Most of them are just as Kashvi described—nice or at least neutral. However, one username sticks out to me. Their comments are dispersed among the others, but I see them as if they were neon yellow.
@64CMscores:She’s ruining another one
@64CMscores:I TOLD YOU
Horror creeps through me at the possible implications of what Sloane is saying. It isn’t possible.
“The livestream is off now,” Sloane reassures us. “But, um, I just turned it off.”
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.” I sink down into my chair and begin rocking like I’m possessed.
“Tell me that conversation wasn’t public for the entire internet to witness,” Logan says.
“I can tell you that or I can tell you the truth, but I can’t tell you both.”
The room fills with cussing and moaning, and I clap my hands over my face. Did I just tell Logan I love him for the first time in front of a live audience?
Kashvi holds up her phone. “Yeaaaaah, FYI, Andrew watched the whole thing. He texted to tell me what was happening, but I was too caught up to notice it.”
My mortification ramps up another notch, and I feel like I might be sick. My little brother heard everything? I guess I’m moving out of the house because he is nevereverletting me live this down. I’ll be at my eightieth birthday party, and he’ll still be telling this story with gleeful abandon.
Kashvi hurries over to the laptop. “It’s okay, don’t freak out! He’s just one person, and he had a reason to stay logged in. I bet no one else saw it. They probably logged out as soon as they saw we weren’t playing.” Her voice is overly chipper. Sloane pulls up the session stats and I drag myself from my chair to look over their shoulder.
“Am I reading this wrong?” I whisper. “Does that say five hundred viewers?”
“Hey, that’s some good news, Logan! You finally got the five hundred viewers you were hoping for when we started the new campaign!” Sanjiv says with a laugh.
Logan drops his head into his hands.
“We more than quadrupled our usual viewership,” Sloane says. “And the chat blew up too.” They scroll through the chat and then freeze.
“Um, yeah, so one other thing…”
“Sloane, I can takenoother things!” I practically screech.
“Remember how I mentioned that we invited Stephanie…”
“Noooooooo!”
Sloane leans forward and quickly skims the chat. “If it’s any consolation, it looks like she ships you two. And she says congratulations.”
I moan again and a hand touches my waist. Logan stands behind me, and I lean back against his chest without thinking.
“Whoa, the chat isinsane,” Kashvi says. She keeps scrolling but never gets to the bottom. There are so many comments. Memories of the last time I was standing here, reading the chat, are way too vivid in my mind.
Logan wraps his arms around my waist and squeezes. “I know this is basically the most embarrassing thing that could possibly happen, but I don’t regret what I said,” he whispers in my ear.
I look back at him, his voice instantly tamping down my anxiety. “I don’t either.”
“Then it doesn’t matter what anyone else says. Don’t let the comments get to you.”
“Actually,” Kashvi interrupts with a chuckle. “The chat is pretty cute. They like you two together.” She scrolls more. “There are a few trolls and some snarky comments asking why we replaced the game with a soap opera, but overall…yeah, really positive.”
I glance up at Logan, a question in my eyes. “Do we dare to look?”
“I’m not sure we have much to lose, but it’s up to you. I don’t care what a single person has to say about us.” He looks to the others. “No offense.”
Kashvi and Sloane move out of the way so Logan and I can read the comments. Most of them are just as Kashvi described—nice or at least neutral. However, one username sticks out to me. Their comments are dispersed among the others, but I see them as if they were neon yellow.
@64CMscores:She’s ruining another one
@64CMscores:I TOLD YOU
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97