the other is an alien hunter Then you battle it out Western style like your life depends on it It’s last player standing a fight to the ultimate CRUSH Or until the timer runs out At first I attempted to find other Alienlord streamers but it was hard Alienlord isn’t a cool new game in fact it’s kinda old and it was a fluke that I found it at all So one night I decided to set up a stream My parents okayed me streaming but they don’t really understand video games Enter Dylan my big sister I know most thirteen-year-olds wouldn’t say they’re best friends with their twenty-two-year-old sister but Dylan’s different She always has been And she’s looked after me from the day I was born I mean literally there’s a photo of her holding me in the hospital and she has one of those looks that says Mess with her and I’ll punch you in the face Dylan helped me start the stream and all things were going smoothly But while battling a three-headed alien I made a bad move and lost a life The streaming commenters did not like that Obviously it really hurt 8 ANDREA TOWERS
GNAT US SPYDER AsparagusMonkey ur a bad gamer WhatsUpDog90 purple headset how original chris_g_5 girls can't game AsparagusMonkey ur boring chris_g_5 go do something else b00mb0x_00 no1 cares WhatsUpDog90 go read a book Don't pay attention They're just trolls Dylan hissed Not actual trolls like the cute dolls or goblin type guys Online trolls meaning people who hide behind a screen and make hurtful comments I tried to listen to her I grit my teeth and went back to the game But the comments kept coming in I was a poser an attention seeker a fake gamer I stopped the stream I can't concentrate I told Dylan Should I tell them to stuff it Dylan shook her head Don't feed the trolls she said That's like internet rule number one Keep your head up keep streaming and you'll find your people soon 9
I didn’t feed the trolls and tried to keep going but every time I thought about streaming again I felt like there were a million unused tokens in my stomach So I closed my streaming channel Or deactivated it according to the website because I think technically it still exists in their system I still want to stream but I must have tougher skin when I do Now when I do play I make sure to have camera off and anonymity on Dylan tells me all the time that I should embrace what I love and ignore what people think be it my IRL friends or online trolls But it’s just easier to like what I love in my own world Plus it’s not like I can walk into the cafeteria throw a mind-melding potion on Celia and Jess and make them gamers too Or use a potion to get enough confidence to stream again But wouldn’t it be cool if I could Then everything would be AWESOME 10 ANDREA TOWERS
CHAPTER TWO Natalie Dylan’s voice rings out from the driveway early on a Monday morning I’m going I’m going I yell back mostly to myself because I know she won’t hear me I’m running late for school but it’s not entirely my fault Spyder_0wns and I were locked in a heavy battle last night and I overslept Before I leave the room I manage to sneak a glance at my outfit for the day in the large standing mirror next to my vanity I’ve pulled my long brown blonde hair into two hastily twisted braids with my side bangs carefully swept over my left eyebrow and clipped back with a small silver butterfly clip I nod approvingly at my reflection before I grab my bookbag and race downstairs taking the steps two at a time I skid to a halt at the kitchen table grabbing a 11
