Michael woke up alone the next morning. Most teenage boys would be disappointed to wake up without a girl in bed, but Michael's unhappiness came from the absence of his familiar computer.
He sat up, staring blankly out the window.
Please, come back.
He was answered with silence.
"Michael, we'll be gone for the day. Please hold down the fort while we're out." Michael heard his parent's voice from the living room.
"Yeah, okay." he replied. He heard the sound of the front door shutting.
Sighing, Michael donned his glasses and got out of bed. He changed clothes and checked his alarm clock. It read 8:04.
What now, Michael? You're on your own.
He shrugged to himself, moving to the living room. His parents' car left the driveway and flashed past the window adjacent to the front door. He gazed out the window, unable to think about anything else besides last night's events.
A familiar car slowed in front of the house, then pulled into the driveway. Startled, Michael moved to the glass to see the unexpected visitor.
Indeed, it was Jeremy's car. Well, Jeremy's father's car. Michael watched as Jeremy tumbled out of the passenger seat, saying something to the driver before hurriedly running to the door.
Michael stepped back, unprepared to talk to Jeremy. The doorbell rang, accompanied with several harsh knocks and a desperate friend calling out Michael's name.
"Michael! Michael, please let me talk to you. I need to talk to you!"
He pushed up his glasses, staring at the door as if it would make Jeremy go away.
"Michael, please! I know you're here!"
Knowing Jeremy wouldn't give up, Michael gave in. He approached the door and slowly opened it.
Jeremy looked disheveled, still wearing the same outfit he had on yesterday. His hair was a mess and his cheeks were quite red. He sighed, relieved that his efforts worked.
"Michael..." he huffed.
Michael didn't respond, at least not initially.
He sighed. I don't want to hear an explanation.
On the other hand, an explanation is better than complete silence.
"Come inside." Michael spoke quietly.
"Look, Michael, we gotta talk about last night. A lot of stuff happened, and we both went through a lot, and I have a lot to tell you, and-" Jeremy entered shakily, passing Michael as he gave a blurred explanation.
"Jeremy, please." Michael silenced his friend. "Sit down. Calm down. Let's talk."
"Okay, okay." Jeremy helped himself to one of the four chairs surrounding the small dining table. Michael sat across from him.
"Alright, Jeremy. Let me start with the obvious: Why did you want to get rid of my Squip?"
Jeremy exhaled, his breath noticeably shaky. "Michael, I..." He looked around, recollecting his thoughts. "I didn't like the Squip. You knew that. I was angry with it. I was unhappy that my best friend was being controlled by this computer. After what happened with me, I didn't trust anything those things might do."
I wasn't controlled...
Okay, just listen, Michael.
"I was scared of it. Scared of what it might do to you. And these feelings were strong enough for me to go against your will."
"So you went behind my back and tricked me to get rid of it?"
"Bluntly put, I suppose."
Michael shifted. "I'm almost impressed. You're not usually this confident, Jeremy."
"Well, I wanted to help you. Even if it's not what you wanted, I believed it's what is best for you."
"But I believed it was all fine." Michael countered.
"So did I-" Jeremy stopped. "Well, even if you did, it's not proper for a computer to rule your life. There's a better way to deal with your problems than having a Squip. Talk to people. Talk to your parents. Talk to me. You've got a lot of people in your life now. All of us can help you."
Michael sighed, remembering his Squip's similar advice. "Jeremy, that's not easy for me. I can't openly talk about what's going on."
"That's what I thought too. I've been able to talk to my dad about our issues. I told Christine what I want to tell her. Things are working out for me, and I didn't need a Squip to help."
"Jeremy, it's not that easy for me! I can't! I truly can't talk to people about what's going on!"
"Why not?"
"Because they don't help me. I can't help myself. It's really pathetic."
"Don't say that, Michael." Jeremy's harsh tone reminded Michael of his Squip. "You're not pathetic."
Michael didn't respond.
"Look, Michael, I think I understand."
"Understand what?"
"Well, I wasn't sure of bringing it up, but..." Jeremy hesitated. "You like me, don't you?"
Michael jumped. "No! Of course not!"
"Michael, come on! It's obvious! I thought about it last night and it all makes total sense. You're into me!"
"Knock it off! No, I am not!" Michael stood up, the chair shoved to the side.
Jeremy rose with him. "Just tell me! It's okay!"
Jeremy, I can't!
"No, Jeremy. I swear I'm not in love with you."
"There's nobody else. You can't lie to me, Michael."
"Just leave me alone!" Michael stepped back.
Jeremy prepared to argue, then redirected. He sighed. "Fine, I'll leave. You need time alone. I'll see you at school on Monday."
"Thank you." Michael didn't move, prompting Jeremy to see himself out.
"Bye, Michael." Jeremy turned the handle, slowly making his exit.
Michael nodded in response.
The door shut as Jeremy crossed to the driveway and reentered his vehicle of transportation.
Michael stood silently, lazily scanning the room for absolutely nothing. He sighed.
I can't believe this. What am I supposed to do now?
Michael leaned against his car on Monday morning. He watched students flock by him, eventually joining them in their migration to the campus. He pulled his headphones over his ears, glancing around to assure that nobody would approach him.
Let's make an effort to heavily avoid Jeremy today.
Right. Any encounter with him would be dangerous.
Michael pushed through the growing crowd, keeping himself secure with his hands in his hoodie pocket. He heard the muffled sound of the bell through his music, prompted him to change his path.
He felt a sharp push, then watched an arm appear around his shoulder.
"Michael!" He turned to see Jake speaking to him. He pulled his headphones back.
"Hey." Michael spoke monotonously.
"What's up? How was Rich's house?"
Ha, terrible.
"It was fine."
"Awesome. What'd you guys do?"
Killed my Squip.
"Not too much. We just played video games and talked."
"Next time, you guys should come to my place. We can rent movies beforehand and stuff."
"Sure thing. I-" Michael stopped, spotting Jeremy's figure in the crowd. "I...gotta go. I'll see you later." He scurried away from Jake without hearing his response.
He entered his first period classroom, collapsing into his seat. He dropped his head onto the desk, uncomfortably resting on the wooden pillow.
Is this what our life is now? Running away from our best friend and crush for the rest of our high school career?
Well, we've shot our chances. I told you, we shouldn't have even bothered. It was better before all this Squip business.
I know.
Michael fell asleep in class with no mental computer to keep him awake. He woke to the release bell, grumbling. He stumbled out of the classroom, slowly pushed forward by the herd around him.
"Michael."
Without waiting to see who the voice belonged to, Michael did a 180 and power walked down the hallway away from the speaker, beelining through the crowd.
He survived until lunch, not speaking to anybody in his classes. In the open cafeteria, he felt more exposed than in the crowded hallways. Joining the lunch line, he turned up his music and searched around for anyone looking for him.
Rich.
Michael saw the short teen approaching and immediately rotated away.
"...chel." Michael couldn't hear his name through the beat of his music. A jostle of his shoulder was the next indicator that Rich had reached him. Michael was turned back around, facing Rich.
"Michael!"
Admitting defeat, Michael removed his headphones.
"Hey."
"Michael, how have you been?"
What do you think, Rich?
"I'm the same."
"Still angry with us?"
"...Yep."
"Look, I'm sorry for what-"
"No, you're not sorry." Michael loomed over Rich. "You knew what you were doing and you didn't do anything to stop it. Your apology isn't accepted."
Rich hesitated. "I guess you're right. I don't regret helping Jeremy, but I'm trying to sympathize with you."
The line snaked forward slowly; Michael and Rich followed.
"You can't sympathize, you're the enemy." Michael said coldly.
"The enemy, Michael, was that computer. Don't you see that?"
"That's not your choice. You took something away that belonged to me!"
"Michael, you were addicted to that thing!"
"Addicted? Are you kidding me?!" Michael hadn't realized that he had shoved Rich, sending the man back a few feet.
The lunch line move forward; Michael and Rich didn't follow.
Rich readjusted. "Dude, look at yourself. You're this upset over a dead computer!"
"He helped me! I felt major changes in my life due to him."
"Really?" Rich laughed. "You're still single, are you not?"
Michael shut up.
How could you?
Rich's facial expression changed by when he realized what he had said. He gasped.
"Michael, I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean-"
Michael stepped back from the lunch line, glaring at Rich. He fled, turning the other direction and sprinting out of the cafeteria.
Students watched the blur that was flying to the bathrooms, immediately forming stories about what happened.
He shut himself into the first stall; the bathroom was fortunately empty.
Here we go again. Retreating from our problems.
Yeah. It's what we do best.
He heard the door creak open.
Jesus, what now? Can't I just be alone? He sat down on the toilet.
"Uh, Michael?"
Jeremy's voice.
"Oh my God, leave me alone!" Michael bursted out. He leaned forward and locked the stall door.
The voice of his best friend was quiet.
Michael leaned back, picking up and hugging his legs. He sat perched upon the toilet, staring at the door.
"Michael, I'm not leaving. I'm your best friend. I'm not going to leave you." He sighed. "I made a mistake leaving you on Saturday. I won't do it again."
"Oh, whatever." Michael buried his face.
"I mean it, Michael." His voice quieted. "Look, I'm sorry for exploding that day, claiming that you liked me. It wasn't a mature move, and I apologise."
Michael didn't reply.
"Still, I'm sticking with you. Whether you want me to or not. And if I have to crawl over or under this door, or just bust it down, I will. Come out and talk to me before I do any of the above."
Silence.
"Well, you'd have to pay for the door."
"...What?"
The stall door unlocked. "Y'know, you break it, you buy it."
"Michael, what the hell?" Jeremy laughed.
The door swung open. The two boys looked at each other.
"I mean, how much do bathroom stall doors go for these days?" Michael smiled. "They can't be cheap."
Jeremy mirrored his smile, then stumbled forward and hugged him. Michael welcomed the embrace, his glasses pushed out of the way as he buried his head in Jeremy's shoulder. This was the man he wanted. This touch, this scent, this voice, this love. Michael wanted all of it. At the moment, he didn't think about Christine, or Rich, or Jake, or Brooke, or Chloe, or Jenna, or the Squip. Right now, it was just Michael and Jeremy, hugging each other in a bathroom.
"Jesus, man. You're gonna break my ribcage." Jeremy kept smiling, kept hugging.
Michael hugged tighter in response.
The bell rang.
"We should probably get going." Jeremy relaxed his embrace.
I don't want to.
Michael released, stepping back. "Yeah, you're right."
"Do you...want to meet up later and talk?" Jeremy shifted his weight onto one leg.
"Maybe. I'll text you."
"Okay." Jeremy headed for the door and pushed it open.
"Jeremy?"
Jeremy stopped. "Yeah?"
"Thanks for...uh, finding me. And...sticking with me. I'm grateful."
His best friend nodded. "Of course. I'll see you later." He gave one final smile before leaving the bathroom.