Knock Off Among Us Novels & Stories

"Isn't this all because of you? If you hadn't helped her back then, would Brianna have ever scored that well in math?" I dug my left hand into my thigh, hard, forcing myself not to tremble. The others smiled and echoed her, as if they'd all suddenly forgotten what they had done to me in high school. During lunch, it was like they were following a script, casually showing off how well their lives had turned out. Finneas took a call and loudly mentioned a deal worth millions of dollars. Melissa showed off a diamond ring that was clearly several carats large. Vexana Jones made sure everyone noticed the luxury watch on her wrist.

People shuffled awkwardly, whispering under their breath, trying to decide which one looked least likely to kill them. Then Hoodie guy stepped forward first. Of course he did. He studied the options for a second, then smirked and pointed at the Crab Walk Arch. “That one. Looks funny enough to keep me alive.” The Game Master gave an approving laugh through the speakers. “Excellent choice, Player 0464. Humor in the face of death… how refreshing.” I rolled my eyes. Hoodie guy turned slightly, looking at me over his shoulder. “You should pick the same,” he said casually, like we were choosing movie seats, not life-or-death positions. “We make a good team.”

*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" data-turn-id="request-WEB:345c954b-cbcd-4080-b1e5-93aa7f2b4038-5" data-testid="conversation-turn-8" data-scroll-anchor="true" data-turn="assistant"> Knock.

Fynn raised an eyebrow at Noah, “There seems to be a Soother that came to the scene to help, yet you… knocked him out?” Noah knew that sooner or later, this issue would come up. Using reverse soothing on the injured to knock them out could be considered a method of treatment. It wouldn’t cause him problems as long as his reverse soothing didn’t cause any negative consequences. However, knocking out a perfectly fine man, and even a Soother at that, with no provocation, would be considered an assault. Especially in a situation where there was a Fluxer on the loose that could have vaporized the said defenseless, unconscious Soother.

But it was unmistakable. The booth. The corner of The Third Quarter where we had been sitting during those six minutes. Jaxon's shoulder against mine, the closeness of the frame, the specific way we had been looking at each other in the window of the conversation that the rest of the table had not been present for. Two faces turned toward each other in a bar booth with the particular quality of people who were somewhere that had nothing to do with the noise around them. Below the screenshot, four words. 'Cute. Does the team know.'

"I'm not just a trainer. I'm also a delivery driver." Zach leaned in like he hadn't heard correctly. "What? A delivery driver? Did I hear that right?" Then he burst into loud laughter. "You're just a pathetic delivery driver. What right do you have to say anything to me? Do you even know who I am? In Valemont, every street is under my family's control." I snorted. "You can mess with whoever you want, but don't mess with delivery drivers." I took out my phone and called Stanley. "Hey, Stanley, bring some of the guys to Ashfall Road. Don't ask questions. Bring as many people as possible."

Dinner was loud, everyone was still talking about the compatibility stream results from yesterday trying hard not to talk about the one thing they all really wanted to talk about and that was the group chat that Cole had created. “There's a party off campus tonight, it's going to be lit as hell.” I stared at Cole's message on the group chat on my phone and wondered exclusively why in God's name the group was named cocksuckers. “Shut up and eat your food cole.” Mira responded to him, the both of them avoiding eye contact with each other like they were on some sort of top secret mission.

Then came the knock. I opened the door to find Andrew. Soaked. Holding take-out and a portable charger like offerings to a goddess he wasn’t sure still prayed. “You followed me,” I said. He shrugged. “Checked the emergency contact list in HR. And your doorman likes me.” I let him in. He set the food on the table, then lit a candle with a practiced flick. “We used to do blackout drills,” he said. “Remember? Middle school science fair.” “You cheated,” I muttered. “Brought a hand-cranked generator.”

For this wedding, I didn’t have any bridesmaids of my own. Instead, Sandra had invited Stella’s friends. In the makeup room, they didn’t even bother to hide their mockery. “Stella really had bad luck. Died young, and now this country bumpkin gets to take her place.” “So what? Everyone knows she’s just a stand-in. Mr. Davidson loves Stella. Mr. and Mrs. Walker love Stella, too.” I didn’t care about their sneers and gossip. However, one of them suddenly threw a pillow straight at my head.

“I get it. But you have been through worse, haven’t you? You have faced Kendrick and walked away stronger. You have built a life for yourself. This is just noise, Mickey. We will figure it out.” His words calmed me slightly, but I was still feeling very frustrated. “Do you think we can get it taken down?” I asked, hopefully something can be done. “I will make some calls,” he promised. “In the meantime, don’t engage with them. Don’t post, don’t react publicly. That is what they want.” “Fine. Thank you, Teddy.” “You don’t have to thank me,” he said. After I hung up, I sat in silence for a while, watching Kayden play.