Hailey's P.O.V.
I heard the sound of the lock clicking, as I focused on the cloud of hot breath circulating in the chilled air. I rubbed my hands together for warmth as Karl pulled on the door handle in front of us, holding the entrance open before signaling for me to enter.
I took a hesitant step into the warmth of Karl's living room as I began to survey the area. I didn't think a man could keep his house this clean, but Karl's place was practically spotless complimented with an unexplainable comfort.
I looked back as Karl shrugged off his coat to hang on the rack propped against the door. He turned to me, nervously wiping his hands against the denim of his jeans, "Uh, so this is the living room, obviously..." He whispered the last part to himself, attempting to collect the anxiety ringing through his tone, "And uh, the kitchen is right there, you're more than welcome to grab anything you want" He pointed to the room adjacent to the living room, "My streaming room is upstairs, but do you need to use the bathroom or anything first..?" He offered awkwardly.
I sighed, the anxiety beginning to spread through my chest, "Um, no I'm okay. Thank you though,"
Karl nodded his head tightly, "Yeah, yeah no problem.." He cleared his throat before spinning on his heel and beginning to jog up the stairs, "Alright then, follow me"
"Okay," I whispered mostly to myself, as I bounced up the stairs after Karl's retreating form.
Karl led me down a darkened hallway past two closed doors, to the furthest room from the stairs. He gently turned the doorknob, pushing the door open. The room was a small office-like space with a large desk and PC set up occupying the center of the room. Behind the table, two different cameras were facing the empty desk chair, a ring light sat between the two cameras, and an extremely expensive microphone standing proudly on the side of the table.
The setup was impressive to say the least. There was also a small couch tucked into the corner of the room, hidden from the view of the cameras.
"So, this is it," Karl said tightly, "Um, you can go ahead and chill on the couch, it won't be in view of the camera so you should be fine" He prepped before hastily adding, "Just, try not to talk"
I raised a confused eyebrow at his request, "I'm sorry, what?" I asked, a hint of displeasure ringing through my voice at the command.
He rolled his eyes at my presumption, "You should try not to talk because the audience will be able to hear you,"
I shook my head in confusion before saying, "Why does it matter if they hear me?" I asked, slightly offended.
"Because," Karl started a hint of annoyance flashing in his tone. He was silent for a moment attempting to retain his patience, "Because, I deal with enough interest in my personal life. There are some things I want to keep... ya know, personal..." He trailed off, gazing at my face in a way that made me shy.
I felt my ears turn pink as I whispered, "Oh"
"Yeah," He cleared his throat uncomfortably, both of us sitting in the tension of unspoken words.
"Okay," I said softly, regaining my composure, "I'll uh, go take a seat then" I announced, beginning to wander towards the comfortable-looking couch.
Karl nodded his head, before taking a seat at his desk and beginning to mess around on his computer. As I sat on the couch trying to make myself comfortable, Karl spun around in his chair to face me, "Can I grab you a blanket or something? You're gonna be stuck there for a minute" He chuckled a bit towards the end of the sentence.
I gave him a half smile, "Yeah, sure,"
"Okay," He whispered, returning my smile. He rose from his chair before saying, "The stream is live now, but it's muted and my starting screen is counting down. Last chance to run before you're trapped" He stated, a sarcastic smile growing across his lips.
I rolled my eyes, a small scoff escaping my mouth, "With what car?" I replied matching his tone.
Somehow, I think his goofy smile grew. "Alright, I'll be back with that blanket"
I watched as Karl left the room and heard his footsteps descend the stairs. I sighed to myself, playing absentmindedly with the rings adorning my left hand. However, my moment of silence was soon interrupted by the feeling of my phone vibrating in my back pocket.
I slowly shifted to grab my phone, hoping to silence the ear-piercing ringtone. I smiled to myself as I saw a picture of Alison illuminating my screen. I pressed the green button and brought the phone up to my ear, "What's up, Al?"
"Nothing much," She said casually, and I could just imagine her filing her nails as she said the words, "Just noticed that I missed your call earlier, sweetcheeks"
I giggled slightly, "Yeah, you are not going to believe where my day has taken me" I lamented as I glanced around the room, chuckling softly at my situation.
"Oh yeah?" An intrigued tone enveloped her voice, "Spill."
I chuckled, "Fifty bucks says you can't guess where I am at this exact moment" I teased.
She snorted, "I have your location bitch"
"Hey, that's cheating!" I said quickly.
She laughed, "I haven't looked! Don't poop your panties..." I rolled my eyes at her comment before she guessed, "Ummm, are you at the liquor store getting that promised bottle of tequila?"
I chuckled, "I wish," I said softly, "No, uh..." I trailed off, feeling nervous all of a sudden, "I'm in Karl Jacob's house"
The line went silent.
"Hailey. Montana. Dunnlap."
"yes?" I said meekly, not loving how serious her voice turned.
"What the actual fuc-" As Alison began freaking out, the door to the office swung open revealing Karl holding a blanket, a water bottle, and an energy drink.
My eyes widened as I saw him, suddenly feeling like I was caught doing something I wasn't supposed to be. I hurriedly cut Alison off, hoping Karl couldn't hear her very loud lecture from across the room, "Hey Ally, I gotta go" I said quickly, trying to end our conversation as soon as possible.
"What?!" She practically screamed, making me wince and pull my phone away from my ear slightly, "You can't just-"
"Yeah, I love you too, Als!" I said a bit louder, hoping she would take the hint, "See you tonight!"
"Haile-" I quickly hung up the phone, knowing I was going to be in deep shit for that later.
Karl set down the energy drink on his desk, before sauntering over to me with a wide smirk written across his features, "You didn't have to end your conversation just for me, darling" He held out a blanket and a water bottle that he had snagged from downstairs.
I rolled my eyes, scoffing at his words, "Alison just wanted to make sure I could still go out with her tonight" I said in an annoyed tone as I snatched the water bottle and blanket from Karl's outstretched hands.
Karl's tongue pressed up against the side of his closed mouth, an amused expression playing across his features, "Oh yeah? That's why you looked like a deer in headlights when I walked in the room?" He questioned, slightly hovering above me now.
I raised my chin meeting his challenge as I said, "I know this might be hard for you to hear superstar, but it's not always about you" I seethed, running my tongue across the bottom of my chapped lips.
Karl's stare intensified, as we both sat in silence for a moment, the charged energy of the air wrapping around us. His eyes flicked around my face quickly before landing back on my blue orbs, "I wish it was"
A ghost of a smile twitched on my lips, as I noticed our proximity for the first time, "I bet you do"
I could hear my heartbeat pounding through my ears, as I felt Karl's hot breath on my cheek. Karl leaned in then, completely removing all the air from my lungs as he whispered softly against the skin of my ear, "I'm going to start the stream now, let me know if you need anything, okay?"
His sweet words cut through the lingering tension like honey in my ears. I let out a large breath before whispering back, "Okay" It was all I could do to contain my sudden need to be engulfed by the smell of his cologne.
Karl took a few steps backward, maintaining our eye contact as he sat down at his computer. I didn't want to tear my eyes away from him, as I carefully watched him give me one more smile before turning his attention to the screen glowing in front of him.
Karl slipped a pair of headphones over his ears and I knew that was my cue to be quiet.
"Hey, hey, hey," I watched him say, "How are we doing today chat?" He asked, cracking open the can of monster he had brought into the room earlier.
The vile smell of the drink filled my nostrils and I felt myself visibly cringe as the scent filled my senses. Recovering from my dramatic disgust, I looked back over to see Karl was watching me, giving me an apologetic stare.
I nodded my head slightly, my way of telling him I was okay. He seemed to understand and returned his concentration to the thousands of viewers who awaited his attention.
"So, today we're gonna be joined by a few friends," Karl began, "Yes, yes I know, very exciting" He chuckled a bit, "Quackity, Foolish, Tina, Wilbur, and Tommy are gonna play jackbox for a little while"
As Karl continued addressing the chat, I buried my nose in my phone attempting to catch up on some of the schoolwork I missed from today's classes.
. . .
"Ah man," Karl's disappointed voice grabbed my attention, as I looked over to see him desperately typing on his computer and playing with his headphones. It was about an hour into the stream now, but Karl looked seriously concerned about his headset.
"Chat, you guys can still hear me?" I heard him ask. He seemed satisfied with whatever answer he was given as he sighed to himself, "Well, that means that my headphones just crapped themselves" I sat watching him as he shot me another quick apologetic look, "I'm just gonna have to go without them"
I pursed my lips together as I understood what he was saying, my hour of silence was over. I felt my lips curve into a straight line as I nodded sympathetically. He left me with one last look, before turning back to his computer and ripping the headphone cord out.
Immediately the room was filled with yelling and shouting from the speaker's audio. I flinched a bit as the overwhelmingly loud noise startled me.
"Dude, where did you go?!" I heard a voice yell from the speaker.
Karl seemed to understand that the person was speaking to him as he quickly responded, "Sorry Quack, my headphones just died so I'm doing this through my computer's honking speakers"
...honking?
I felt my face contort into a confused look of repulsion at his choice of words.
Is he... is he trying not to curse..?
Never in my life did I think I would ever hear Karl Jacobs say the word 'honking'. Hearing this come from the man who used to call me a "fucking bitch" every week was surprising to say the least.
Karl seemed to expect that I would have questions about his choice of words, as I got a text on my phone a moment later.
Karl
I have to be PG for some of my sponsors.
I looked up at him with raised eyebrows, where I noticed he took a careful peek in my direction. I quickly reverted my gaze towards my phone to text him back.
Hailey
What the honk?
I giggled softly at my stupid joke as I heard Karl's phone chime, indicating he had received my message.
"OOOoo," I heard someone's voice ring through the speakers, "Karllll, who's texting you?"
My eyes widened in fear, but Karl didn't seem phased, "Your mom"
I rolled my eyes as a sense of relief washed over me. "Watch your mouth..." A menacing voice grumbled through the speakers.
But Karl didn't even look up from his phone, as he rolled his eyes and said, "Alright Papi Chulo" The sound of laughter erupted through the speakers creating the undertone of a static whine that rang through the room.
As the laughter died down, the person Karl was mainly speaking to spoke again, "But seriously, you sure it wasn't candle girl...?"
I blinked.
Who the fuck is candle girl?
I felt confusion fill my bones as my head involuntarily inclined, waiting for Karl to answer the question. Karl was statue still. I expected him to shoot me a nervous glance, but when he sharply avoided eye contact, I felt my stomach get queasy.
After a moment of silence on Karl's end of the call, his video game friends started erupting in excited cheers, "So it was candle girl?!" A woman said in a high-pitched excited voice.
I watched as Karl shook his head, dragging himself back to comprehensive words, "No guys, it's not candle girl.." He awkwardly chuckled a bit at the end of his sentence. He stretched up and moved his hand to begin rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.
"Bullshit!" I heard from the speakers.
"I promise you..." Karl trailed off, finally turning his head to stare in my direction, "That definitely was not candle girl"
I'm not sure if it was his poorly disguised look of longing, him openly staring at me, or the ridiculous smile that lit up his features, but when he looked at me I felt my skin crawl in a way it never had before.
Yes, ever since Karl and I had officially become "friends" we had been playfully flirting. But that's all it was. I've been told that I have a naturally flirty personality, and I've worked with Karl long enough to know that he has one as well. It means nothing.
But that look? That look felt like it meant something. And that scared me.
The hairs on my arms stood, as I raised my eyebrows at the boy who couldn't seem to drag his eyes away. After a moment more of his silent staring, I pointed softly back to the screen with an unspoken "pay attention!".
I watched his eyes roll at my command, as he spun his chair around to face his computer once more.
"Chat, chat," Karl said, preparing to do some serious damage control, "Relax guys, relax. It's just my roommate" He said, with an easy glowing smile on his face.
"Umm, Karl?" That same voice rang through the speakers.
"What's up Q?" Karl asked, his attention being pulled away from his Twitch chat that was freaking out over Karl's painfully obvious staring towards the corner of his room.
"Get off stream"
Karl chuckled a little bit, confusion lacing his features, "W-what?"
"Get off stream, right now"
Karl's eyes widened before he muted the questioning voices of his friends and quickly addressed the chat saying, "I'm so sorry guys, there was a family-friend emergency! I have to end stream early! Bye." I heard the obvious sound of the stream ending, before Karl quickly unmuted his friends once again, "Quackity, VC 2"
I sat up at the urgency in his tone, confusion riddling my body.
A noise indicated Karl and this Quackity person had moved to another voice channel emitted from the shitty speakers, "Okay, what is going on man?!" Karl said, his anxiety clearly on high as he began to nervously spin the rings on his right hand.
"Any chance you're sitting in your room with a girl named Hailey right now...?" Quackity trailed off.
I felt my blood run cold. A horrified expression painted my features, as my eyes filled in fear.
No, no, no... this can't be happening.
"Alex, how do you know that?" Karl said in a deep, serious voice.
"Karl, check Twitter man..." Quackity said, a genuine sadness laced his voice.
I began moving before I could think twice about it. I felt myself rise from my seat, tossing the blanket covering my lap carelessly to the side. I took two long strides before I was met with the back of Karl's chair. I leaned over Karl staring at the news article that proudly read "Karl Jacob's New Mystery Girl?"
A small shocked sound escaped my lips. I felt like I couldn't breathe.
"No" I heard Karl whisper faintly, as his eyes started to rapidly skim the article.
"Oh my god" I breathed out, finally being able to pry a few words from my lips.
Without notice, Karl whipped around in his chair and looked at me with apologetic eyes. "Hailey, Hailey, please," He started begging as his eyes desperately darted around my face, "I'm so so sorry," He said, his breathing becoming heavy and panicked. He reached down and took my hands into his, "I'm going to fix this. I promise"
I shook my head rapidly, pulling my hands from his grasp, "No" I whispered, stumbling backward slightly, "No" I took a few more drunken steps towards the door, "You can't fix this!" I sobbed, feeling my hand meet the cool metal of the doorknob.
I threw the door open and sprinted down the hallway, away from the mess that was Karl Motherfucking Jacobs. Hot tears were pricking the corners of my eyes, as I whipped my phone out of my pocket and began searching for Jimmy's contact.
I was already halfway down the stairs when he answered, "Jimmy" I sobbed, "Please help me... I don't know what to do.."
. . .
the plot we all want