Chapter 7 - Pranks

With a new day comes new opportunities, and honestly, today has been really good! I got into the shower first today, and all it took was waking up at six in the morning and barricading her door! Sure, the water is cold, and sure, I may get hypothermia in my toes, and sure, I risk ruining my sleep schedule even more by doing this daily with my horrid bedtime, but it's worth it in my book!

I slowly got out of the shower, drying myself off with a smug yet shaky smile. I felt like I was going to just fold instantly under the sheer cold of the morning shower, but sacrifices must be made! I let out a soft sigh, pushing the door open once I finally felt warm enough to enter the hall. A shock ran down my spine as a bucket of cold water fell right on top of me, drenching me from head to toe.

"That woman…" I murmured, the cold biting into my skin. She just doesn't let up! It's been one day to the next with her—just the thought of her sleeping with a smug smile on her face makes my blood boil—oh wait, this is actually helping kinda…

"So let me get this straight—" Gabriel tried to clarify a few hours later that very day, watching me as I schemed on my laptop with a smug face. "This all started because she stayed in the bathroom too long—"

"Yes," I answered almost immediately.

"And that led to a series of pranks to secure this, quote-unquote, 'bathroom first in the morning—'" He continued, raising his hands to mimic quotations as he continued to recall our squabble.

"That's right," I nodded, continuing to type away.

"Which has gone out of control from a simple ice bucket prank," he took a deep breath, his hands clasped together, "to you ordering a bear trap on eBay—"

I turned to him with a confused look, my hand leaning on my gaming chair nonchalantly, the bear trap already set to deliver. "Yeah, why?"

He walked ahead to my laptop, his gaze blank and disappointed as he canceled the delivery, before staring at me with a look that I knew was judging me and my actions up until this point.

"Don't look at me like that! It's her fault for adding high amounts of bleach to my water—" He continued to stare at me with a judging look, clearly not impressed by my petty attitude. Gabriel let out a soft sigh before leaning off the desk.

"What're you doing in my house anyway? I didn't even invite you over—" I murmured, my eyes tracing his path as he walked around my room, seeing him in the dinosaur costume again. "And why are you wearing that stupid costume again—"

"It's the only place I can wear this without being judged," he said with a warm smile, giving me a little twirl as if I asked for it.

"Who said I'm not judging?" I argued, turning back to my laptop screen.

"Well, we're close enough that I don't care what you think!" he said with the same stupid smile, though I could sense a hint of pettiness in his words—even his insults are just compliments.

I turned my chair to face my laptop once more, noticing a pop-up that made me have to do a double-take.

"This is perfect!" I said, laughing like a maniac before getting up from my chair and grabbing the door knob. Gabriel looked at me, his face riddled with confusion.

"Where are you going?" he called out as I disappeared into the hallway, my voice hardly audible as I left.

"To borrow my mom's laptop!" He looked even more puzzled by my words before turning to my laptop screen, noticing a pop-up that said, "UntitledGhost streaming, come stop by."

"Oh, she's still streaming, that's nice!" he beamed at the news. I swear this boy is the pinnacle of innocence—

"Okay, what should we do today~" Okane murmured to herself as the camera rolled, her finger pressed against her lips as she sat deep in thought. Her eyes looked at her library of games to choose from before a pop-up interrupted her.

"Hm?" she hummed, rather surprised. Her eyes darted over to the chat, seeing someone by the name of IdkActually47.

"That's a new face—" she muttered, reading their messages softly to herself, idly moving the mouse about the screen.

"That's a new setup, what's up with that—" she read softly, a soft smile appearing on her face as she answered.

"Oh, it's just a house I'm staying at for the time being!" she said, her voice slightly higher than usual.

"I'm visiting some folks, but I can't just leave you guys behind now, can I?" she giggled, though the act was clearly staged. She was practically beaming the whole stream, playing games as she normally would and eating shit most of the time—to think she would at least learn to play some of the games she bought to bring actual viewers!

"Do you all think I should play FallIn Los Angeles? I heard it was really good and—" A pop-up interrupted her thoughts once more, and her eyes turned to the chat once more, this time the message coming from a guy by the name of SelenaxJordan.

"Is it true that you got put under house arrest?" she read aloud once more, her face turning beet red at the question.

"W-where did you hear that?!" she practically squealed, basically answering the question right then and there.

"Tododoko company posted it on their page??" She kept reading, her heart sinking at the news, "You're lying! Nuh-uh!"

More people started to join the stream, she started to get dizzy from the embarrassment and the climbing numbers.

"Good for nothing streamer under house arrest—" she murmured once again, her eyes on the chat before she burst into a furious cry.

"HOW DARE—"

I chuckled from the comfort of my bedroom, using both my laptop and my mom's at the same time before I took a step back, admiring my own handiwork.

"This is just cruel—" Gabriel sighed, his hand resting on my gaming chair as he watched from a distance. I turned to him with a smug face, my head resting on my hands which were comfortably nestled behind it.

"You call it cruel, I call it paying dues~" I commented, closing my eyes as I listened to the sweet sounds of her panic.

"But what if this ruins her reputation—" he muttered, watching as the chaos unfolded, the sentence causing me to open my eyes with a sigh.

"Gabriel, you innocent soul—"

Results of today's confrontation: Haru wins.