𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐃𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒, k. jacobs¹

Chapter XV

"What are you gonna do about it, huh? You sounding real silent over there right now, pretty boy." I half sing at the boy on the other end, teasing him hardcore.

"I-I- you're mean." He stutters out and pulls the sad face with crossed arms as he so often does. I chuckle at him. "You're- you're... YOU'RE DOG WATER!" He cries out in desperation.

I look at him in disbelief. That might've just been the worst insult I've heard in my whole entire life. I blink slowly. "Y'know, that red button looking mighty fine right now.." I threaten him, jokingly of course.

"NOOOO please don't hang up on me, we're about to beat our record!" He whines. I laugh again.

"What's our current record then?" I smile at him. He does something with his hands that I can't see and seems to be reading something.

"Uhmmm...." He's still reading. Then he makes a face of enlightenment and looks back up. "15 hours." He beams, proud of himself.

Sometimes this man acted like a five-year-old and a fourteen-year-old combined. I mentally groan. "Karl..." I say in the most monotone voice I can, making him nervous.

"What? What is it?" He smiles, confused, nervous too.

"Have you been keeping track of our calls? Do you have a book for me?" I tease him, smiling viciously.

"No." He answers too quickly.

"You have!" I exclaim, laughing. He pouts but starts snickering as well. "Aw, don't be embarrassed, it's fine. I don't mind, really, I think it's cute." I smile at him. Then I notice a slight shade of pink on his cheeks. Is he... no, he couldn't be. I push the thought away.

Getting hurt over losing a friend, my only close friend to be exact, is not something I would intend on doing. Feelings are overrated in my personal opinion. I sigh.

"What's wrong pretty girl?" He asks, genuinely concerned. I feel bad for making him worry for nothing.

"Nothings wrong, I'm just being unnecessarily dramatic." I try to laugh it off, but the line between his eyebrows doesn't go away. Damn it.

"Okay then.." He says suspiciously. "Well, I wanted to ask if you were up for another among us lobby!" He continues, more cheerful now. More like himself.

"But there will be other people there.." I whine. Social interactions drained me like nothing else. It just had a horrible effect on my mental and physical state.

"Yeah, but they're great people! I think you'll get along really well with most of them!" He happily says. He really has mastered the technique of mood changes aye?

"Yeah, sure.. who is it? Are there any people I know?" I ask. I need to prepare for this.

"Well, it's the usual among us players. Sykkuno, Corpse, Toast, Poki, Rae, Ludwig, Abe, and Brooke." He smiles at me, but it falters rather quickly when he notices my worried expression. "Are they okay..?" He seems worried still.

"Yeah, just a lot of new people." I try to keep my voice steady. I can't mess this up, for Karl's sake.

"But you'll have me! And I'm great company." He compliments himself. I roll my eyes but he pretends not to see. "And you already know some of them, like Sykkuno!" He's getting really upbeat, and it's amusing to watch.

"Yeah, he's really nice," I say softly.

"But not nicer than me?" He says, less of a statement than before.

"You sound like Tommy right now." I laugh at him. "But no, I'd say you're equally as nice as Sykkuno." I smile at him.

He smiles back. "That's great." Then he whips his head around towards the door. "I have to go." He says looking back at me. "I'll catch you later, bye." He bursts joyfully. I stare at my screen, momentarily stunned, before I catch up.

"Yeah, bye.." But it's too late. He's already hung up on me. 'How great of you' I sarcastically think, insulting myself. I grunt and make my way to my computer to watch some YouTube and learn more about Minecraft. I know nothing at the moment, and it feels embarrassing, to be honest.

~~~

After watching a couple of videos (about 25.. shhh don't tell my brother), I come to the conclusion that potions, red stone, and building sound like the most fun things to learn and master. Yeah, I'll outsmart all of my brother's friends. Mining would also be a useful skill, but that was easier. Mobs, however... nope not my thing at all. They give me minor panic attacks.

I jump when my door slams open. "Have you checked Twitter?!" My brother almost screams. I turn my head to look at him and furrow my brows.

"No...?" I say, confused. What was he on about?

"Well, you should." He snorts, obviously angry with something. Or someone...

I pull out my phone, doing as I'm told. "Now what?" I look at him again. I really didn't know where he was going with this.

"Search for ——— and look at their most recent tweet." I keep looking at him like he's crazy, because he's sure acting like it, but so as he says. And there it is. A picture of me. From the bus.

I almost gag. How did this happen? What kind of creep did this? I start tearing up and my brother rushes over to me, crouching down to my eye level. "I've already reported the tweet, don't worry." He says, trying to comfort me, but he's still angry so it doesn't work very well.

I sob. "Well, now I won't have to worry about a face reveal." I try to joke it off, smiling through the pain. It is not working. When did life become so problematic? Just, who decided, 'yeah, let's fuck her life up a bit. It'll be fun, I promise just look.' Like the heck, what the shit was this. I sob again, and cling onto Sapnap, gripping the back of his T-shirt in my fists, letting the fabric get soaked by my tears.

He awkwardly pats me on the back, before his instincts fall into action and he pulls me down on the floor with him so he can hug me for real. He lightly rubs my back.

"You'll be fine, I promise." He coos me. And I decide to believe him.