Chapter 5 - Going Live
842 Words
I slumped into my gaming chair, exhaling sharply as I kicked my feet up onto the edge of my desk. My fingers drummed against my knee, my head tipped back against the headrest, eyes fixed on the ceiling.
Fucking Caleb.
Fucking Ryan.
I was still bristling, the entire exchange hanging in the back of my mind like a bad smell.
Why did Ryan keep trying to talk to me? What did he want? It was either guilt, if he was even capable of feeling such a complex emotion, or some elaborate prank to reel me back in with the intention of humiliating me again. Either way, I wanted no part in it.
And Caleb—ugh. I should’ve been used to his s**t by now, but he still had a way of getting under my skin and I hated him for it.
I clenched my jaw, gripping the arms of my chair. I needed to shake this mood off.
I checked my phone, ready to doom-scroll until I felt marginally less homicidal, but the second I tapped the screen—
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
My alarm went off, the words “STREAM TIME, b***h!” flashing across the screen in all caps.
I exhaled through my nose, trying to compose myself.
Like flipping a switch, my brain shifted gears.
Caleb and Ryan? Didn’t exist.
The shitty conversation? Never happened.
I shoved my frustrations to the back of my mind where they belonged, rolling forward in my chair and cracking my knuckles.
Time to be Trashleigh.
I adjusted my headset, checked my mic levels, and did a quick once-over in the mirror hanging beside my desk. Decent. My eyeliner wasn’t smudged. My lip gloss was still intact. Most importantly, I looked awake.
I cracked open my second energy drink, taking a long sip before flipping over to my streaming software.
Chat was already buzzing, my notifications blowing up with alerts from my regulars.
@WeirdGorl69: omg omg she’s here!!!
@SimpLord420: MOMMY??
@GamerBro777: Trashleigh in the HOUSE! Let’s GOOO!
@PixelPrince77: Finally, I was about to file a missing person’s report.
I grinned, dragging my mic closer. “Alright, alright, calm your t**s. I was only gone for, like… what? Fifteen hours?”
The chat flooded with dramatic messages.
@DaggerWolf: DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I COULD’VE DIED IN ELDEN RING IN THAT TIME??
@SimpLord420: Fifteen hours too long!
@GamerBro777: DO YOU EVEN CARE ABOUT US?! 😭
I snorted, taking another sip of my drink. “So, uh… anyone else see that clip of me go viral?”
Chat exploded.
@WeirdGorl69: YESSS THE MALIKETH CLIP!! LEGENDARY.
@DaggerWolf: Still can’t believe you went from crying to soloing that dude in like ten seconds.
@PixelPrince77: The switch up was CRAZY.
I chuckled, shaking my head. “Listen, I’m telling you, I was possessed in that moment. That wasn’t even me. That was some kind of eldritch gaming god channeling through my body.”
@Pigette: Miyazaki himself possessed you.
@SimpLord420: Miyazaki saw your pain and was like “ight, let’s give her this one.”
I smirked. “Yeah, yeah. Let’s just pretend that’s what happened and not that I just got lucky AF.”
Chat was chaotic tonight, but in the best way. The energy was good. The banter was sharp. This was why I streamed.
For a while, I got lost in it, letting the adrenaline take over as I dove into my game.
I was mid-run, dodging through an absolute nightmare of enemy projectiles, when a familiar name popped into my chat.
@ToxicBoi88: Lmao, imagine being THIS famous and still too lazy to check your messages.
My stomach flipped slightly, but I kept my expression neutral.
I smirked at my screen, shaking my head as I finished off the encounter before leaning into my mic. “Oh s**t, ToxicBoi, the ban hammer wielder himself... did I forget to text you back?”
@ToxicBoi88: More like straight-up ghosted.
@SimpLord420: OMG WHO IS THIS???
@GamerBro777: HE SOUNDS TOXIC. I LIKE IT.
I grinned. “Relax, chat. ToxicBoi is one of my mods. The dude who keeps this chaos under control.”
@WeirdGorl69: MOD PRIVILEGES??? UNFAIR.
@DaggerWolf: Imagine having a personal bouncer.
@PixelPrince77: Trashleigh’s got security detail.
@ToxicBoi88: Damn right. You’re all on thin f*****g ice.
I laughed, shaking my head.
Wes, aka ToxicBoi88, had been watching my streams since the beginning. Back when I had no face cam, no setup, just a laggy mic and a dream.
He was always there—in my chat, in my DMs, hyping me up, making me laugh on the worst days.
He got it... he got me.
And at some point, he became… more.
But chat didn’t need to know that.
I stretched, rolling my shoulders. “Alright, enough distractions. Let’s focus. No more dying.”
@PixelPrince77: Cap.
@WeirdGorl69: Big cap.
I grinned. “Shut up.”
And just like that, I was back in it.
The night stretched on, the hours bleeding together, but I didn’t care. This? This was my escape. These were the moments I lived for.
- Writer
