"Kaylee, get downstairs and go to the shop!"
Kaylee didn't even tear her eyes away from the screen. Her thumbs were practically a blur on the controller as she navigated the chaotic warzone of Fall of Duty: Blue Ops 4.
"HEY MUM, I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF A RANKED MATCH! CAN'T LINZY DO IT?" she bellowed back, her voice cracking slightly.
There was silence, and not the good kind, either. The ominous, quiet-before-the-storm kind of silence.
A second later, the dreaded 'Connection Lost' icon popped up right in the centre of her screen.
No. She did not just yank the router cord.
Kaylee's blood boiled. She was this close to Prestige 10. Did her mother have any idea how many goddamn hours of grinding she had put in today? Five. Five hours. She'd skipped lunch, ignored three texts from her mate Priya, and endured Linzy barging into her room twice to borrow her phone charger without asking. She'd built this ranking with her bare hands and pure, stubborn, slightly unhinged dedication.
School started tomorrow, meaning the console would be locked away all week. Her mom had this rule — screens off during term time, which was absolutely barbaric and probably a human rights violation. Kaylee had made a bet with her friends that she would hit the rank over the weekend. Winner gets a tenner from everyone in the group chat. That was forty quid on the line. Forty quid she absolutely needed because she'd pre-ordered a game last month without checking her bank balance first.
Her inner monologue instantly cycled through a string of curses that would make her the Grandmaster of the Trash-Talk Sect. But out loud? She kept her mouth shut. Mom was the final boss of this house, and her aggro radius was huge. Kaylee had learned that lesson the hard way — twice grounded in one month had a way of teaching a person when to hold their tongue.
You're so lazy. Why can't you act like a lady? Why can't you be more like your sister? You're just as crass as your father.
She had heard that combo a thousand times, and the best bit was these responses were all her father's fault. It was because of him that she had to deal with all of this.
Ever since her dad pulled the classic "going out for milk" routine and vanished, her mom harboured a burning resentment for anything remotely masculine. Naturally, being a hardcore tomboy who lived in oversized hoodies, cursed like a sailor, and shared her deadbeat dad's exact hobbies, made Kaylee her favourite human punching bag.
Kaylee knew she could be annoying and rash at times, but comparing her with that sack of shit was like comparing a fish to a whale. Two aquatic creatures but very much different. I mean, all in all, while he was around he wasn't completely terrible. It didn't really bother her that he'd left his wife and kids suddenly for no reason.
It was wrong, but she could handle it. However, what she couldn't handle was that the bastard left without taking her as well, leaving her behind to deal with all of this nonsense alone. To deal with her mother and her sister.
Speaking about sisters. Ah, yes. Linzy. She was Kaylee's older sister and the eternal golden child. Hyper-feminine, spoiled rotten, and the sole recipient of every shred of warmth their mom had left to give. Mom latched onto her like a parasite and Linzy soaked it up like a sponge.
Naturally, Linzy was aggressively lazy, which was especially absurd given she was the older one. You'd think the firstborn would have some sense of responsibility. Nope. A lifetime of pampering had stripped her of anything resembling a work ethic.
Kaylee genuinely felt sorry for whoever ended up marrying Linzy one day. They had a very, very hefty job ahead of them.
"Kaylee! Groceries! Now!" Her mom's voice pierced the floorboards like a javelin. "Stop playing those violent boy games and make yourself useful!"
Critical hit. HP is at zero.
Realising her gaming night was officially dead, she threw her controller onto the bed with more force than was strictly necessary. The controller bounced off and hit the floor as she trudged out of her room, or what she'd like to call her sanctuary.
This room was the only blessed thing in this house. Four walls plastered in game posters, a desk buried under empty crisp packets and charging cables, a secondhand gaming chair that squeaked when you leaned back. It wasn't much, but it was hers, and she was leaving it to go buy groceries at nine o'clock at night like a medieval peasant sent to fetch bread.
If only she could just hit the reset button on her life. Maybe spawn in a different world entirely.
Down in the lounge, her mom and Linzy were curled up on the sofa, aggressively eating popcorn while weeping at a K-drama. The TV screen was all dramatic slow-motion glances and heaving shoulders. Neither of them so much as blinked when Kaylee appeared in the doorway.
Lazy shits, she thought, holding out her hand. "The money."
Mom slapped a crumpled twenty into her palm without looking away from the TV. "You know the list. And bring back the exact change. Hurry up."
Kaylee didn't need to be told twice. She grabbed her hoodie off the bannister, shoved her feet into her battered trainers, and bolted out the front door, just happy to escape the toxic zone.
The second the crisp night air hit her face, she breathed a sigh of relief. The streets were dead quiet, illuminated only by the orange glow of the streetlights and a stark, bright moon hanging low in the sky like it had somewhere to be. The whole neighbourhood felt still and hollow, like the world had pressed pause. Honestly? It felt like freedom. No nagging, no perfect sister, no looming threat of school tomorrow pressing down on her chest.
She shifted into a light jog, letting the cool breeze clear her head as she made her way down the road. The shop was only a five-minute walk, less if she moved fast, and the night air was doing wonders for her mood. Maybe she'd grab herself a snack while she was in there with the money left over. Crisps, definitely. Yep, salt and vinegar, it was the least that she deserved.
She was mentally composing her argument for why the bet should still count — she was nearly at Prestige 10, that had to be worth something — when she reached the zebra crossing at the end of the high street.
The pedestrian light flickered, a little green man appearing on the screen.
Always practice road safety, she told herself sagely, stepping out with complete and total confidence onto the asphalt.
Which is why it was incredibly unfair when a massive, speeding delivery truck came drifting around the blind corner, its tyres shrieking against the tarmac, totally ignoring the red light and, more pressingly, her.
The blinding glare of the high beams was all she saw before the world flipped upside down, followed by a sickening crunch that she felt more than heard. The groceries list fluttered out of her hand. The twenty went with it. Her consciousness began to slip away into the dark almost immediately, like someone was slowly turning down the volume on everything.
"Hey! Hey kid, are you okay?! Please respond!" a panicked voice yelled from somewhere above her, very far away.
She let out a weak, pathetic wheeze that might have been a laugh.
Okay? Did it look like she was okay? The guy just ran her over with a fricking truck.
"HAHA... ha..." she coughed, her vision completely fading to black. "Looks like... game over... shame I never reached... Prestige... 10..."