nerve ;gd + ed

[❁ before nerve]

[one → grayson]

"I heard from Harrison, that last night Anderson tried to snitch about the game," a freshman hushly gossiped to her friend, looking at me from the corner of her eye. I didn't understand why'd she eye'd me before softly whispering, I hadn't associated himself with Anderson since the whole incident went down in ninth.

"Really? I saw his locker get sprayed painted today." her friend spoke back, whispering the last part. "He's such a dumbass!"

"I know right, I hope Nerve gets him good." another freshman spoke, containing her laughter. Nerve, the up and coming app that was slowly destroying everyone's life, but that was the type of entertainment this school liked.

I couldn't stand it, them whispering and eyeing me as if I cared about Anderson. If Anderson fucked around with the game, that was his shit -- not mine's. I could care less if Anderson currently was stuck in a well, Anderson would had to help himself out either way.

The bell rang, signaling that our last period was over for the day. I was grateful it had rang at the exact moment, I couldn't handle the stares the group of freshies gave me. I had cut all the ties, nothing existed around us anymore.

I shoved himself through the crowd of kids that attended my school, excited to go home and pass out on my bed. I eyed my twin from the side, mumbling "let's go" whilst still pushing around. I saw Ethan following me closely behind, almost closing the space between us when I heard my name being called.

I turned around and saw that it was Irina, a girl who I had been paired up to work on a project. I stopped, signaling Ethan to go home without me today. He nodded before going back to whatever he was watching on his phone. Probably something stupid, like how to correctly cut an atom.

"What's up?" I questioned, propping myself against the beige lockers. I flashed my signature smiles, which she quickly shot one back herself.

"This is embarrassing but could you please help me with my locker?" she spoke, flustered. She covered her blush red cheeks, giggling to ease the tension.

"Sure! Lead the way,"

"You're a life savor!" she grabbed a hold of my hand before dragging me into the opposite direction of which everyone was going.

N E R V E

I shoved himself through the front door, I was exhausted from the work the school had piled onto me today. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed and take a nap -- however that wasn't possible due to my annoying older brother loudly watching a Youtube video.

Gosh, how there were times I wished my brother was into clubs, like me, so I wouldn't have to deal with him all the time. But he wasn't like me at all, even though we were twins. Ethan preferred keeping to himself and getting good grades, while I was the complete opposite of that. I loved and craved the attention, but not fully.

I softly pecked my mother's cheek before heading upstairs towards my room. A Kid Cudi poster hanged on my door, which I pushed to shoved myself in. Once inside, I threw my book bag on the foot of my bed before climbing onto it and slowly falling asleep.

N E R V E

I woke up due to my brother harshly shaking me, muttering "asshole" and "dickface" while doing so. I thought pretending to still be asleep would drive him away but after each shake, the next one was even sharper.

"What?!" I yelled, annoyed at Ethan's actions.

"We should sign up for the nerve app, don't you think?" Ethan asked, nervously biting his nails. It was one of his gross habits but it apparently worked.

"That's the most stupidest idea you've ever come up with," I blurted, shifting back to face the wall. "And the answer is 'no'."

I closed my eyes again, ready to fall asleep and hoping Ethan would get the hint that I didn't want to further this conversation any longer. I knew the app was stupid and the dares were even worse, each one progressively getting worse. What if one of the dares was something so illegal and one of the us were put in jail? I always pondered on who out of the both would have gone to jail.

"What if i dared you?"

"What?!" I yelled, quickly rolling over to eye Ethan. I was confused, what was Ethan's sudden interest in the game? Just a few days ago he said the game was badly made and now he wants to be apart of it?

"What if I dare you?" He repeated again. "I dare you I could last the longest."

"I could play this game with my eyes closed and still win before you," I said confidently.

"Then bet on it."

"No."

"Why not? Scared of losing?" Ethan smirked, knowing this would eventually work out for him.

"No, the game is corrupt and will suck you into it."

"Whatever, I'm signing up." Ethan said before leaving my room. "Bye loser!"

I was left alone in complete silence and my thoughts. I grabbed my phone, looking at it as if it was going to tell me something. I stayed pondering about Ethan dare.

I quickly typed in "Nerve" into the Appstore before quickly downloading it. I couldn't believe I was actually thinking about playing this game. A game I swore to never be apart of, not even to watch people play it. I refused to be apart of such a dehumanizing game, yet here I was downloading it.

One I had finished downloading it, I opened it and was greeted by a voice. The voice went on to further explain the meaning of the app and the rules. The rule, "Snitches get stitches" was brightly illuminated to emphasize how serious the consequence would be.

The words watcher or player illuminated onto my face, was putting my personal information on the line really worth beating my older brother?

Ethan calling me a "pussy" taunted me already, I decided to take the risk. If my brother already touched player, surely my information was already collected on with it.

I then proceeded to do the unthinkable, I touched player and little did I know that that was just the beginning of my hell of a life. I laid back down on my bed, going to sleep and hoping what I'd just done was just a dream.

[account statement update: $0]