Money Can't Buy Love

Chapter eight

Michael's PoV:

We drive off after Hannah says goodbye to her sister and carers. Alan has put her suitcase in the trunk of the car. I want to ask her so many questions. Why is she being cared for by carers in a home for girls? What happened to her biological parents? Assuming something did happen to them. The question is formed by the assumption that Paige isn't her real mum, as she appears too young to be her biological mother. But I'll wait before asking any questions. I need to build her trust for me first and foremost.

"Do you go to college?" I ask a simple question, smiling in her direction. I assume she attends college since we're the same age and I go to college.

"Yes, I do! But I am on summer holidays right now!" She smiles back at me, giggling. I ask a further question about where and what she studies. She responds with the name of her college and mentions that she's studying computer science, art, and mathematics. She reciprocates by asking whether I attend college and, if so, what subjects I study.

I study at a public college. I mention that I study computer science and maths as well. I also point out that I take a creative writing course at college because I find writing very interesting. I note my attendance at a public college because that was the only bit of information about me I had bragged about to Hannah today. Not that it's that impressive. I rarely brag about my possessions or achievements to anyone, but this can be an exception. I find this somewhat noteworthy because, at least from what I know, many, if not all, rich people attend private schools. The fact that I don't, I think, shows my perseverance to not go by the rich norms, so to speak. But I don't know. It may just be me and the way I think.

On the topic of bragging about things, my brothers are very well recognized for their habit of boasting about their possessions. Their natural reaction to getting something new is to show it off. But I, and many other people, look past that since they do so much good for everyone and everything, so, it's like, all of those, in quotation marks, braggy things that they do, which would be considered arrogant and conceited, don't really matter since they are so beneficial to literally every other aspect of life. They are very entertaining while doing so, as well as while bragging. Don't get them wrong. People still find a way to call them out. But their comments usually don't have enough of an impact to make Jack and Jay stop whatever they're being called out for, which can be amusing to observe unfold at times, especially on social media, through tweets and videos on their Instagram stories or even videos on their YouTube channels.

For instance, they were recently called out by VirtualVisionary, a prominent YouTube company known for producing gaming videos: reactions, reviews, commentaries, and video game news, among other content. They have over four hundred and fifty million subscribers and post every single day. VirtualVisionary's daily posting, as my brothers have shared on social media, creates an illusion of content. But this illusion is belied by the quality of the videos - which isn't particularly impressive for a company of their scale, worth hundreds of millions or even billions. Now, after they've called out my brothers, my brothers want to respond in the best way they know how: by releasing a diss track towards VirtualVisionary.

My brothers were accused of faking a video where they seemed to give away video games to fans and played those games together. That video was very entertaining, actually. I love how the different fans reacted before, during, and after meeting my brothers for the first time. It even boosted a comedian's career from how genuinely funny he was throughout the video. The comedian was a fan. However, the controversy stems from VirtualVisionary's claim that the video was fabricated. VirtualVisionary, a significant player in the global video game distribution scene, asserted that Jack and Jay did not purchase the games they claimed to give away. As a company with substantial control over game distribution worldwide, and considering that it's their territory - video games, they argued that the brothers had no access to the titles they apparently offered to their fans. They say that Jack and Jay faked the giving-away part of the video. Since they allegedly didn't purchase copies of the games they gave away, it would seem that they couldn't have provided to their fans in that video. Ultimately, this isn't the strongest or worst allegation my brothers have been called out for. But nonetheless, they really wanted to write a diss track to VirtualVisionary just because they don't like their content. Which, to some extent, makes sense, I suppose.