How Could This Be Real?

21. I'm New Here

The next day, David invited me to play Xbox with him and some of his mates. Stampy and Ash were in the game and we all had a good time. We did that a couple times over a few weeks and eventually, they found out about Squid and me. They didn't seem to mind but teased us constantly.

One day when we were finishing up, Stampy said, "Hey Angel, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure."

"Uh oh Squid, better be careful, he might try to steal your girl," Ash teased.

I rolled my eyes, "Bye guys."

Stampy invited me into a private call, "Hey, I was wondering, you've seen my Lovely World series, right?"

"Of course. The first Minecraft video I ever saw was in your world."

"Well, I think, if you wanted... you'd be a great Minecraft helper."

"Wait, like, for real?"

"Yeah, you're a great builder and really energetic and I just think you fit the part."

Woah, he wants me to be in his videos?! But he has like five million subs! That's so many people... Well, it's not like I would be speaking. It would just be my avatar, not the real me. This could be a lot of fun. "That sounds awesome!"

"Cool, you want to check out the world quick to get your bearings?"

"Okay." I joined his game and he explained his next project to me. We came up with a backstory for me and did a trial run of an episode.

When that was over, he said, "You're a natural! You ready for the real thing?"

"Already?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, why not?"

"Alright," I said apprehensively, "if you think I can do it."

"I do."

"Then let's go for it." We recorded an episode and it was so much fun. I played with the dogs, helped out with building, trolled him a bit- basically just tried to imitate what I'd seen his other friends do. Everything went to plan and I grinned when he signed off.

"That was perfect!" he exclaimed. "We make a great team."

I nodded even though he couldn't see me, "Indeed we do."

"Well, I've got some stuff to do, can we do another tomorrow at this same time?"

"I'll be there."

"Cool, I'll see ya then."

Right when I left the call, Squid invited me into another. "Hey, what did Stamps want?" he asked.

I bit my lip, nervous about what he would think about this. "I'm the newest addition to his Lovely World..."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, we just recorded an episode."

"Oh wow, that's amazing! Congrats!" He sounded excited, but I knew he probably didn't care.

Why does he put on an act? I get that this type of thing happens all the time for him. He doesn't have to pretend to be excited for me. "Thanks? It's not really that big of a deal."

"Sure it is! You're a Minecraft helper! That's cool! Why don't you sound happy about it? Don't you want to do it?"

"Of course I do," I said honestly. "I just didn't expect you to think much of it."

"Well I'm really happy for you," he said with genuine delight in his voice.

Hmm, maybe he isn't acting.