Game Over, Golden Boy

The second I said "I do," deafening laughter shattered the silence, loud enough to blow the roof off the room.

Pierce, the guy who had spent the last six months relentlessly chasing me, spun around and grabbed another girl's hand. "I won, Chloe," he announced, a smug grin plastered on his face. "So, you gonna go out with me now?" Chloe raised a freshly popped bottle of champagne and deliberately poured it all over my clothes.

She stepped right over me in her stilettos, grabbed his face, and kissed him hard.

The crowd erupted into vicious, earsplitting laughter, staring at me like I was the ultimate freak show. I buried my face in my hands, letting out loud, pathetic sobs right on cue.

Over the roaring mockery, no one noticed my hand slipping into the shadows, my fingers closing tightly around the hidden phone.

The HD camera recorded every second of their sick performance.

By tomorrow morning, every gossip page, TikTok feed, and group chat on campus was going to be completely hijacked by this exact video… Chapter 1 Pierce, who had never spoken a single word to me before, suddenly went out of his way to say hi.

The shock rooted me to the spot, my brain shortcircuiting as I stared at him. Pierce was the undisputed golden boy of our college.

He had trustfund good looks, came from serious old money, and ruled the Student Council with an iron fist. Girls threw themselves at him constantly. And he knew it.

He carried himself with an arrogant, untouchable Godcomplex, treating everyone else like they barely existed.

Whenever he showed up at Student Council meetings, he would lean back in his chair like a king holding court, tearing down the underclassmen with ruthless efficiency.

He kept his inner circle insanely tight. They were basically campus royalty—an exclusive pack of four guys and two girls who moved together everywhere they went.

They ruled the top of the campus social pyramid.

Draped in expensive designer coats, they moved through the halls while the rest of the student body automatically parted for them—half dodging them like the plague, half worshiping them like deities.

The suffocating weight of their privilege choked the air right out of the room. The dynamic was locked down. No one got in, and they sure as hell never stepped out.

The four guys were Pierce and his roommates. As for the two girls? That was Chloe and her best friend.

Aside from Chloe's friend, who was in a different major, the other five were not just in our department—they were in my exact classes.

After he finally walked away, my roommate Daisy grabbed my sleeve, her fingers digging into the fabric. "Oh my god, Maeve! Tell me I didn't just hear that.

Did Pierce actually just talk to you?" My chest still felt tight. I gave a stiff nod. "Yeah. I think he did." I figured it was just some fake, fleeting charity from the elite.

But then he started deliberately cutting me off in the hallways.

With the whole school watching, he would step right into my path, invading my personal space with this aggressive, suffocating energy.

The real shock hit when he actually sat down next to me in class. Usually, the seats around him were strictly reserved for his inner circle.

The second he dropped his bag next to mine, I instinctively grabbed my backpack to scramble out of his way. His fingers wrapped around my wrist, locking me in place.

He looked up, his eyes trapping mine. "Stay. There's nowhere else to sit." I glanced toward the back.

There were empty seats in the last row, but my eyesight was trash without my glasses. With no other option, I slowly lowered myself back into the chair.

Sitting in the very front row, Chloe turned around, locked eyes with Pierce, and then flashed a perfectly white, chilling smile right at me. The hairs on my arms stood up.

Why the hell were they suddenly acting so friendly? Halfway through the lecture, he leaned in closer.

The scent of expensive cologne hit my nose as he stared at my notebook. "Nice handwriting," he murmured. "Uh, thanks." I shifted my weight, dragging my chair a harsh inch in the opposite direction.

A low, amused chuckle vibrated from his chest. After class, Daisy and I headed to the campus cafe for boba. Out of nowhere, Pierce’s entire pack swarmed in.

They sucked the air right out of the room, and every single student in line snapped their heads around to stare at them.

I quickly pulled up the QR code on my phone and looked at the cashier. "Medium hot boba, please." Before I could scan it, a large hand slapped down over the scanner.

Pierce leaned in, a dangerous smirk playing on his lips. "It's on me." Without missing a beat, he turned his gaze to Daisy. "What are you getting?

I'll cover it." Daisy's face instantly turned the color of a tomato. "Osmanthus milk tea… thanks." I practically shoved my phone back toward the scanner, trying to block his card. "No.

I pay for my own stuff." The corner of his mouth twitched up into a smooth, practiced smile. "It's just boba, Maeve. Don't be like that." The line behind us was growing restless.

I bit the inside of my cheek and dropped my hand. The second the barista handed over the cups, I grabbed Daisy by the elbow and hauled her out the door.

Nobody from that tier of the pyramid handed out free favors without expecting blood in return.

Chapter 2 Late that night, a contact request popped up on my phone from the class directory. Pierce. The attached message was brief. "Project lead.

Need to talk." I figured it was about the group assignments from a few days ago, so I hit accept.

Trying to keep it strictly professional, I typed, "Hi, what's up?" It felt a bit stiff, so I tacked on a waving emoji to soften the landing.

Ten minutes later, my screen lit up. "Can't I add you just because?" I was way too busy to play games. If he didn't actually need anything, I wasn't going to entertain him.

I locked my screen and pulled up my laptop to prep for the project. My phone started vibrating violently against the desk.

It was a rapidfire string of texts from Pierce. "I want to switch groups from the other day." I had purposely shoved his entire exclusive clique into one group just to spare the rest of the class from dealing with them.

I had even announced on the day of the assignments that anyone wanting to trade could work it out amongst themselves and let me know. Dead silence back then.

Now the roster was already finalized with the professor, and suddenly he wanted out. Since he was asking directly, I couldn't exactly shut him down.

I texted back, "Switch with who?" "I'm switching into your group." Wasn't that basically ditching his royal court?

I shook my head to clear the thought and replied, "Our group is full. You have to find someone willing to trade spots with you.

If you pull that off, I'll run it by the professor." His reply was instant. "Already did. Wyatt is swapping with me." Honestly? I hated this.

Having him in our group would just make everyone else walk on eggshells.

But Wyatt had actually agreed, and the professor gave the green light, so I had no choice but to update the roster. Wyatt was originally scheduled to handle the presentation.

With him gone, that fell on Pierce.

I shot him a text telling him he had to present and fully braced myself for pushback, but he agreed without a fight. "I'll send you the slides then.

Let me know if you need me to explain anything," I texted. His response came through immediately. "No classes tomorrow. Let's meet up and I'll run through it in person.

Texting is too slow." He had a point. "Fine. The coffee shop right off campus. Does that work?" "Yeah. 9 AM." "Works." The next morning, I showed up ten minutes early.

I snagged a booth on the second floor, booted up my laptop, and waited.

The second I saw him walking up the stairs with his entire entourage trailing right behind him, a dull ache throbbed behind my temples.

Chloe flashed a bright, perfectly curated smile and waved. "Hey." I forced a tight, polite smile back before dropping my eyes straight to my screen.

They hijacked the booth right next to ours. The thin wooden partition did absolutely nothing to block the noise.

They were loudly making plans to catch a movie on Sunday, laughing and completely dominating the airspace.

I could tune it out, but I figured Pierce would be totally distracted by his own crowd. Surprisingly, he came completely prepared.

He knew the material inside out, delivering the entire runthrough without once glancing at the notes. I tapped my fingers against the table in genuine approval. "Not bad at all.

Wyatt dragged his feet for a week and still couldn't get through the first slide without stuttering." The corner of his mouth ticked up into a slow, deliberate smirk. "If I didn't nail it, I'd be letting you down, wouldn't I?" I let out a stiff, awkward laugh, staring blankly at the screen.

Chapter 3 The runthrough took barely ten minutes. I snapped my laptop shut, ready to bolt back to my dorm, but he announced he was taking me out to eat.

Before I could refuse, the two girls physically boxed me in and practically dragged me along with them.

They dragged me to some ridiculously expensive offcampus restaurant, where I stuck out like a sore thumb.

I trailed at the very back of the pack, dragging my feet and furiously texting Daisy to complain while internally screaming.

Holden fell into step beside me out of nowhere, his voice completely flat. "If you didn't want to come, you could've just said no instead of acting like a martyr." I instantly locked my phone screen, shooting him a defensive glare. "I have no idea what you're talking about, I never turn down a free meal." He didn't respond, just matched my pace with maddening slowness before finally dropping another bomb. "You don't belong in our world, and hanging around us is only going to make people sick of you." I wasn't blind to his blatant hostility, but as long as he wasn't throwing actual punches, his elitist garbage went straight in one ear and out the other.

We all bleed red, so I had no idea where he got off acting like he was some superior species. During dinner, the entire table zeroed in on me with this suffocating, fake politeness.

They fired off questions that sounded like friendly small talk but dripped with the kind of condescension you reserve for a charity case they were tossing scraps to.

Whatever, I just focused on inhaling my food so I could ditch them the second the check dropped. The minute I got back to my dorm, I Venmoed Pierce for my exact portion of the bill.

He instantly rejected the payment and fired back a text. "What exactly are you doing?" "You have your little power games, and I have my boundaries.

If you don't take the money, I'm dropping you from the presentation." A few minutes passed before the Venmo acceptance notification popped up, followed immediately by another text. "Are you free tomorrow?

We're catching a movie, you should come." "Sorry, busy." He left me on read. I swiped out of the chat just as a loud, violent thump echoed across the room.

I climbed up the ladder to Daisy's bunk, raising an eyebrow. "Who died?" She was glaring at her phone through a sheet mask, letting out a pathetic groan. "Maeve, I'm getting absolutely slaughtered, you have to help me." I glanced at her screen and realized she was midmeltdown over a mobile game.

She ripped the mask off her face, practically on the verge of tears. "I ganked the enemy Healer literally one time, and their Swordsman has been hunting me down across the map ever since!

How was I supposed to know she was his egirl?" I checked her atrocious KDA.

Her combat score was hovering at a miserable ten percent, making her practically weaker than the enemy Healer, and she was already sitting on two deaths.

One more strike and she was permanently locked out of the match, which was just humiliating.

She shoved her phone into my hands. "Maeve, please carry me." Daisy had joined a random local lobby that needed a fifth player, completely unaware she was walking into a firing squad of her own teammates.

Aside from the enemy Swordsman camping her, three of her own teammates were relentlessly flaming her in the chat, and since her mechanics were actually trash, she didn't have the nerve to clap back.

The sheer toxicity immediately flipped a switch in my brain. I gripped her phone and cracked my knuckles, ready to flip the board.

Even after I completely salvaged her negative KDA, her toxic teammates kept whining in the chat, accusing me of killstealing. A cold scoff ripped from my throat.

Trash like this did not deserve a free win. I immediately started throwing on purpose, feeding the enemy team free kills like an absolute maniac.

The enemy Swordsman figured out I was actively griefing my own team and dropped a message in the global chat. [ Hey bro, just play it out.

I'll duo queue with you next match and help you get payback. ] I aggressively tapped the screen and sent my reply straight into the public channel. [ You are nowhere near my league. ] Chapter 4 Tanking that match on purpose gave me a massive rush of dopamine.

To make up for dragging down Daisy's rank, I had her log into my smurf account so I could carry her through a few games.

Right before I hit the queue button, a friend request popped up on the screen. It was the Swordsman from our last lobby.

He dropped a message saying he wanted to carry Daisy to make up for his toxic teammates. I checked with Daisy, hit accept, and dragged him into our party.

Three backtoback wins later, I tossed the phone back to Daisy, leaving her to grind with the Swordsman, and logged off. Daisy instantly quit out right after me.

She chewed on her bottom lip, admitting the Swordsman wanted to add her on Snap and carry her fulltime.

I shot her a knowing smirk. "And you said yes?" Her cheeks turned pink. "Hey, I'm just using him for the free Elo." I rolled my eyes with a smirk and spun my chair back around to focus on my research papers.

Presentation day rolled around. Pierce was a noshow. Ten minutes into the lecture, my phone buzzed. A text from him claiming he felt sick and was taking a sick day.

I dug my fingernails into my palms to stop myself from typing out a string of curses and forced a smiling emoji instead. "Get some rest." He fired back a sadface sticker. "I really thought I could push through, but the second I got to the building, the room started spinning.

Had to hit the campus clinic. I'm so sorry." The group chat practically exploded.

Panic notifications rolled in backtoback as everyone freaked out over who was going to present, but not a single one of them had the spine to actually call out Pierce for bailing.

I dropped a quick text into the chat to cut through the chaos. "Relax. I'll take the podium." Thank God I built the slide deck myself; I knew the material backward and forward.

Pierce popped up in the chat. "Are you sure you can handle it?" "I've got it handled. Don't worry about it." I tapped the send button.

I had survived way worse than a college presentation. This was child's play. As I walked up to the front of the lecture hall, my eyes accidentally locked with Chloe's.

Something cold and twisted flashed in her gaze. She was staring at me like I was the punchline to a sick joke. Whatever, psycho.

I absolutely crushed the presentation without breaking a sweat. The room broke into solid applause as I clicked to the final slide.

Out of the entire crowd, Chloe was the only one glaring at me, her jaw locked tight.

Just two days ago she was flashing me those fake, sweet smiles, and now she was staring at me like I stole her trust fund.

The professor, who already liked me, gave our group glowing feedback right in front of the class.

My phone immediately started blowing up with party popper emojis in the group chat. [ Maeve carried us! ] [ Hell yes, she actually praised us.

Think we'll get an A on this? ] Pierce dropped three question marks into the thread. "What did I miss?" One of the guys uploaded a video he recorded of my presentation. "New standard for the group right here." Pierce immediately chimed in. "Wow.

Thank God you stepped up, Maeve.

I would have felt sick with guilt if I ruined this for everyone." I played the humble leader and dropped a twentydollar digital Starbucks gift card into the chat—just enough to cover iced coffees for the five of them.

A second later, Pierce dropped a fiftydollar card into the thread. He attached a quick message saying it was an apology for bailing.

He actually seemed to be genuinely beating himself up over it, so I threw him a bone. "It's fine.

It's just one assignment, and it's not like you planned to get sick." With the project officially wrapped, I hit delete and permanently nuked the group chat.

The next day, Pierce shoved a massive iced boba into my hand to thank me for covering his presentation. "Thanks," I muttered.

A smooth, easy smile spread across his face. "Stop being so polite. It makes it feel like we're strangers." I bit back a scoff. We practically are.

That night, the campus was throwing a massive outdoor music festival on the football field.

Pierce practically dragged me out of my dorm to go, claiming his roommate's band was playing and he needed to show support.

The only guy in our major who played in that band was Holden. Chapter 5 Holden was the lead singer. His raspy, smokewrecked voice had dragged in a massive cult following.

Add in his untouchable badboy aesthetic, and he was basically campus royalty. Chloe and her clique had monopolized the VIP pit right by the stage.

With zero chance of breaking through that wall, I was stuck standing on the outer edge of the crowd. Holden was completely killing an indie rock ballad.

That gravelly voice tearing through an acoustic track was literal poison for every girl in the audience. He was a complete nightmare to be around, but the guy had undeniable talent.

He didn't just sing; he wrote his own tracks. A sea of cell phone flashlights lit up the football field, swaying in perfect sync with the heavy bass.

Pierce’s large hand suddenly clamped down on my wrist, forcing my arm into the air to sway with the beat. I violently yanked my arm out of his grip. "Enjoy the show.

I'm finding Daisy." The second I broke out of the suffocating crowd, I dug a sanitizing wipe out of my bag and ruthlessly scrubbed the skin where his fingers had just been.

By Monday, toxic rumors that Pierce was aggressively pursuing me had infected the entire department.

I treated the gossip like white noise, shutting out the relentless whispers every time I walked into a room.

Pierce slid into the seat next to me, slamming a ridiculously expensive box of imported chocolates onto my desk. "Do you believe it?" he asked. "Believe what?" I didn't even bother looking up.

I kept my eyes locked on the textbook, even though the words were completely blurring together. He leaned in, his cologne hijacking my breathing space. "The rumor.

About me being completely obsessed with you." I dug my back teeth together and finally snapped my gaze up to meet his. "It's cheap gossip, Pierce.

Why the hell would I buy into that?" A dark, amused smirk curled his lips. "Because I do." "Excuse me?" The words slipped out before I could stop them.

His smirk faded into something that looked dangerously serious. "They got it right. I want you." He didn't even bother lowering his voice.

The entire lecture hall went dead silent, followed instantly by a massive wave of collective, shocked gasps from every row around us.

The professor practically kicked the door open and marched in, instantly cutting through the suffocating tension.

I might have zero experience playing these twisted dating games, but I wasn't an idiot. I knew what actual attraction looked like.

Pierce's moves had absolutely nothing to do with feelings. His whole vibe screamed calculated, predatory persistence.

When I looked into his eyes, there wasn't a single trace of heat—just a cold, mechanical drive to win.

Once he publicly confirmed the rumors, he flipped a switch and launched a fullscale, suffocating offensive.

I shut him down ruthlessly to his face, but he just ignored the rejection like it was part of the script. Whatever. If he wanted to waste his time playing hunter, fine.

As long as he stayed out of my way during midterms. To the rest of the campus, Pierce was playing the tragic, fiercely devoted Romeo who wouldn't take no for an answer.

But I saw right through the act. I was just his latest shiny toy, a temporary distraction to cure his elite boredom. He tried shoving a brandnew, limitededition Prada bag at me.

I instantly Venmoed him the exact retail value. When he rejected the payment, I blocked his number without blinking.

He had to hijack someone else's phone just to call me. "Unblock me. I'll take the damn money." Honestly, the bag was ugly anyway.

I marched straight up to him the next day and shoved the pristine designer box right back into his chest. "I don't owe anyone anything.

If I pay you for this, I eat ramen for six months. Take your trash back." The sheer audacity of me handing it back shortcircuited his brain.

While he stood there staring dumbly at the box, I spun on my heel and walked away. His entire pursuit felt like a heavily scripted video game mission.

No matter how viciously I rejected him, his pulse never even spiked. There was zero actual frustration. Just a robotic reset.

Right outside my dorm building, a dark figure stepped out of the shadows, blocking my path straight from the library.

The freezing wind had turned the tip of his nose raw, and a layer of icy mist clung to his eyelashes.

My eyebrows snapped together. "Why the hell are you standing out here freezing to death?" "Waiting for you." A flawless smile cracked through the cold.

He pulled his hand from behind his back, revealing a massive, suffocating bouquet of crushed velvet roses. "Happy birthday, Maeve." Chapter 6 I glanced at the crushed velvet roses but kept my hands firmly in my pockets, shifting the focus. "How long have you been standing out here?" He buried his jaw deeper into his scarf. "Almost an hour." "Go back to your dorm before you freeze to death." He ignored me, aggressively shoving the massive bouquet straight into my chest, forcing me to grab it or let it drop.

A stiff smile cracked his freezing face. "I actually bought you a cake, Maeve, but you weren't answering your phone. Had to wait out here instead.

I'll make up the cake next year." "Thanks, but I don't do birthdays." He brushed off the rejection, giving a slow nod. "Got it." After he finally walked away, I stared down at the heavy bundle of roses in my arms, a heavy sigh ripping from my throat.

The second I walked into the dorm, Daisy practically tackled me.

Her precious Swordsman was getting suspicious, questioning if she was actually the same player who carried him before or if she had hired an Elo booster.

Desperate to keep her highrank sugar daddy, she begged me to take the wheel again. To keep her cover intact, I had no choice but to lock in.

Daisy usually mained a Healer, and to avoid messing up the team comp, I forcefully picked the Healer class too.

Five minutes into the match, the Swordsman pinged the chat, telling me to stop pushing the front line and just stay in the backline to spam heals on him.

But I was so used to playing aggressive DPS roles that holding back was pure torture. The Healer's base damage was absolute trash, and playing passive was driving me insane.

He secured first blood on the enemy Healer and pinged me to grab the dropped loot. Instead of crafting health potions with the materials, I immediately forged a pure damage item.

Three massive question marks popped up over his character's head. [ Potions heal too slow. ] The real issue was the absolute lack of kill pressure, which was severely testing my patience.

Our Mage typed in the chat. [ Every time you cast a heal with that build, it drains 30 percent of your own HP.

That's way too risky. ] I hit the keyboard. [ Yeah, but it also deals 5 percent max HP true damage to the enemy. ] The Swordsman suddenly recalled to base and stood completely still.

A second later, a direct message popped up on the screen. [ Are you using an Elo booster? ] I typed back. [ No. ] [ This isn't your usual playstyle. ] I rolled my eyes and typed out a response. [ I only acted like trash before so I could stick close to you and get carried. ] Daisy stared over my shoulder, her face turning the color of a fire engine as she practically choked on her own spit, frantically begging me to unsend it.

I deleted the message, but considering how fast he read, he definitely saw it. Another teammate dropped a message in the global chat. [ Healer, are you a girl? ] [ No.

I'm a dude. ] The Swordsman's DM popped up again. [ You used voice chat last time. You sounded like a girl. A really sweet one.

Are you using a voice changer? ] I snapped my head around to glare at Daisy.

She gave me a painfully awkward, guilty smile. "I might have faked a highpitched gamergirl voice." After we finally crushed the enemy nexus, he typed that I played well this match—like a completely different person. [ Stop it.

It's just because you're such a good teacher. ] I locked in a Mage for the next two games.

The second we finished, he cornered me in the chat again, demanding to know if I was a hired booster. [ No. My mechanics are just inconsistent.

Today I'm locked in. ] [ Oh, really? ] That single text made a cold spike of guilt shoot through my chest. I shut down the game without bothering to reply.

Chapter 7 For the final match, he invited the two toxic teammates from last time. The lobby had four people; they needed one more.

I logged into my smurf account, and Daisy dragged me into the party. This time, I was going to teach these two scrubs a brutal lesson in humility.

The second the match started, the two scrubs actually turned on their voice chat. Daisy and I stared at each other. That voice… why did it sound so painfully familiar?

Daisy gasped, her eyes going wide. "Wait, is that Chloe?" Daisy and I kept our mics strictly muted.

We listened to the two girls complaining in the team channel, instantly confirming it. It was Chloe and her best friend.

Right out of the gate, Chloe and her minion completely ignored their gear upgrades and blindly rushed into a team fight.

After getting instantly obliterated and feeding the enemy free kills, they immediately looked for a scapegoat and turned their rage on Daisy.

Chloe's shrill voice blasted through the headset. "Healer, are you blind or just braindead?

Heal me!" I cracked my knuckles, opened the global chat, and aggressively hammered the keyboard. [ Are your fingers completely disconnected from your brain stem?

Do you need me to teach you how to play a Healer with my toes? ] I relentlessly kited two enemy champions until they were absolute oneshot, but I deliberately held back from securing the kills.

I pinged the map and sent a private message to Daisy. [ Healer, get over here.

Two free kills waiting for you. ] Ten minutes into the match, Chloe and her friend had already tried to steal my kills multiple times.

Every single time, their sheer mechanical stupidity just let the enemies escape with a sliver of health. This time, I was going to serve the kills right up to them.

They had already died twice; one more strike and they would be permanently locked out of the match.

Even at one HP, those two enemy champions had enough burst damage to easily counterkill two braindead scrubs. Daisy played along perfectly, typing in the team chat. [ On my way!

Hold them! ] Like clockwork, Chloe and her minion took the bait and sprinted blindly into the jungle.

Three seconds later, the brutal system announcer echoed through the lobby. [ Double Kill. ] They were completely wiped out.

Chloe's mic flared up, her voice trembling with absolute rage. "Swordsman, you set us up on purpose, didn't you?!" I smirked and hit the chat box. [ No.

You're just garbage at the game. ] The match ended in a crushing defeat.

Daisy's beloved Swordsman dropped a direct message into my chat. [ Good mechanics, bro. ] I fired back. [ I do alright. ] Chloe's friend's voice instantly morphed into a sickly sweet whine through the headset. "Holden, you were amazing too.

Way better than him." Daisy's jaw practically unhinged. She stared at me, her eyes completely blown wide. "Did I just hear that right?

Did she just call him… Holden?" I frowned, raising an eyebrow. "You've been grinding ranked with this guy for weeks, and you never actually figured out who he was?" "He literally never uses voice chat!

He only ever texts me, how was I supposed to know?!" Thank God Daisy and I had kept our mics on lockdown.

Since I deliberately threw the match, I queued up another lobby to help salvage Daisy's rank.

A system notification popped up on my screen: [ Request to join party. ] I practically choked on my water. Holden was actually trying to lobby up with us again.

Daisy, who practically worshiped the ground Holden walked on, grabbed my arm and squeezed it hard enough to bruise. "Oh my god! It's actually Holden!

I've been playing with his smurf account this whole time!" The second I hit accept, the guy who supposedly never used voice chat suddenly keyed his mic. "Sorry about that," his raspy voice filtered through the headset. "Those two girls from the last match are friends of mine.

They were way out of line.

I apologize for them." Daisy immediately unmuted herself, forcefully pitching her voice an entire octave higher into a sickeningly sweet, syrupy tone. "Oh, it's totally fine!

We have really thick skin. We never hold grudges against actual trash." I bit the inside of my cheek to stop from bursting out laughing and flashed her a solid thumbsup.

A low chuckle rumbled from Holden's end of the mic. "Queue it up." When we finally wrecked the enemy nexus, Holden typed that he needed a favor and asked for my Snap.

I gave him my burner handle.

Chapter 8 [ Hey. ] [ What's up? ] I expected some basic small talk, but he cut straight to the chase. [ Are you in college? ] [ Yeah. ] He dropped a link into the chat.

It was the official registration page for the "Celestial" National Collegiate League—a massive intercollegiate tournament where random universities formed fiveman rosters.

Registration closed in exactly one month. While I was scrolling through the page, his next message popped up. [ Our roster is short one player.

Want in? ] I quickly hit the keyboard. [ I'm not that good. I'll pass. ] [ I watched your VODs. Your mechanics are insane. You pull off combos I can't even hit.

Just think about it. ] Before I could type another rejection, a notification pinged. He dragged me into a group chat. Including me, there were exactly five members.

The second I loaded in, my screen practically exploded with backtoback voice memos welcoming me to the team. My thumb hovered over the 'Leave Group' button, but I hesitated.

Someone was spamming highlight clips into the thread. Every single one was recorded by Holden, and the MVP in every clip was me.

The other three guys in the chat were aggressively hyping me up, practically treating me like a gaming god. The sheer level of flattery was suffocating.

Trapped by the overwhelming hype, I caved and sent a reluctant yes. But then the reality check hit. The tournament required verified realname registration.

Holden, as the team captain, was going to see exactly who I was. I massaged my temples, feeling a dull ache forming.

The next morning, Holden tagged my burner account in the group chat. [ My bad, forgot to properly introduce myself.

I'm Holden, junior at South City University. @Blank ] The others instantly followed suit. Unbelievably, every single one of them went to a college right here in South City.

I couldn't just play dead. I tapped the screen. [ Same here. Junior in South City. ] It was an incredibly vague intro, but it was the best I could do without doxxing myself.

On New Year's Eve, Pierce invited me to the movies. To avoid getting trapped in another suffocating oneonone, I dragged Daisy along as a human shield.

When we pulled up to the theater entrance, my eyes immediately locked onto three familiar faces. Holden, Chloe, and her minion. So much for an exclusive invitation.

I was just an afterthought added to the royal court's group outing. Pierce strolled over to me, flashing that practiced, effortless smile. "You made it. Let's head in." "Thanks