Chapter 1: Outmatched

The hum of my mini-fridge was the only steady thing in my cramped dorm as I hunched over my desk, the soft glow of my monitor lighting up half-empty ramen cups and a tangle of charging cables. Down the hall, the bass from someone’s party thumped faintly through the cinderblocks. It was one of those late Thursday nights where the world shrinks down to you, your screen, and the match in front of you. That’s when I got into it—again—with my gaming nemesis, Kayla. What started as the usual trash talk turned sour, the digital arena suddenly claustrophobic, every word making my skin prickle with a weird, familiar dread.

Hours earlier, a TikTok influencer—one of those girls who always pops up in your FYP with a ring light glare and pastel hoodie, neon posters in the background—decided to rally her followers on Twitter. She’d hashtagged #ProtectKayKay, bouncing between memes and callouts like it was just another viral dance trend. Seeing her summon a digital mob with a flick of her phone was almost surreal, like watching someone light a fuse for fun.

“Who do you think you are, daring to insult our Kay-Kay?”

“If you don’t want your info leaked, you’d better apologize fast.”

I scrolled through the 99+ hateful DMs exploding on my phone, my hands shaking so hard I nearly dropped it. I set it face-down, like that could mute the hate. My scoff bounced off the cinderblock walls, but the sound felt small compared to the storm online.

With a resigned sigh, I snapped a barrage of screenshots of the harassment, reported Kayla’s League and Twitter accounts, and messaged my RA: “Hey, getting spammed by trolls—can you loop in campus IT about cyberbullying?” It felt so basic, but it was all I had.

Who doesn’t have an alt account anyway? In college, a backup’s as necessary as pepper spray in your bag at night. You hope you never need it, but you’re glad it’s there.