Player 3?

Chapter 12 : Grounded

Chapter 12

Monday...

Kaye POV

Jeremy wasn't in school today. And I hadn't heard from him all weekend. I tried texting him but I got no answer. I'm wondering if he's sick or something.

I met up with Michael for lunch.

"Jeremy isn't here today. And he won't answer my texts. Do you think that's weird?" I asked.

"Maybe..."

"Maybe?"

"It's just... it might have to do with his dad?"

"What do you mean? You told me he doesn't have a good relationship with his dad, but what does that have to do with him not being in school?"

"Well his dad probably grounded him and took his phone. So that's probably why he hasn't texted you back. And there have been a couple times he got in trouble and... well his dad isn't really in a good place right now because his wife left him. And sometimes when Jeremy does something bad, he yells at him, and it turns into him blaming Jeremy for his wife leaving. And Jeremy gets so upset that he gets sick and throws up. I don't know. Maybe it's something else. I just know the topic of his mom really upsets him."

"Ok... Well I've been getting the homework for him in every class. Do you think it would be bad if I showed up at his house to give it to him?"

"Honestly, I kind of want you to, just so maybe you could find out what's going on."

"Ok. Will you drive me to his house later?"

"Of course. Did you text Rich yet?"

"Yeah. I asked him if he was ok. I haven't gotten a response back yet. I heard he was in the hospital."

"Mental hospital?"

"No. Regular hospital. He got burned from the fire."

"Oh..."

"I'll try texting him again in a few days. He probably just wants to rest."

"Ok. I'm just worried for Jeremy."

"I know. Me too."

Later...

Kaye POV

Michael parked down the road from Jeremy's house. I walked up to his door and knocked on it, kind of nervous. His dad answered the door.

"Hi, Mr.Heere. I'm Kaye. I have class with Jeremy and since he wasn't here today, I brought over the work he missed."

"Oh. Thank you. You can come in."

I took a few steps inside. Michael assured me Jeremy's dad wouldn't yell at me or anything, but the things he'd told me about how he treated Jeremy kind of scared me.

"Jeremy's downstairs," his dad said, pointing to a door.

Michael had mentioned Jeremy's bedroom was in the basement. I opened the door, shut it behind me, and slowly walked downstairs.

There was a single lamp on. Jeremy was curled up in bed, hugging his pillow to himself. He looked extremely pale.

"Hey. I brought your homework," I said, walking over to him.

"Thanks," he said, quietly, sitting up to take the stack of papers.

"Why weren't you in school?" I asked, sitting down on his bed.

"My squip hasn't come back on. My dad and I got into a huge fight. And I just feel super anxious. I've been getting panic attacks and throwing up from them."

"What are you so anxious about?"

"My squip. And I just really don't have a good relationship with my dad. Sorry I haven't texted you. He took my phone and grounded me."

"I figured. Are you doing ok though? You look really pale."

"I just feel really anxious and it's making my stomach hurt."

"Do you think you'll be in school tomorrow?"

"Probably. My dad doesn't like it when I stay home from school. He only let me stay home today because I literally threw up on the kitchen floor this morning."

"Maybe your squip will show up if you go to school tomorrow."

"Maybe."

"Ok. Well I have to go. Michael's waiting for me. Are you going to be ok?"

I could see tears forming in his eyes.

"Jeremy," I said, pulling him into a hug.

He clung onto me, crying into my shoulder.

"I'm just tired of feeling like this!" He cried.

"I know. I'm sorry."

We broke apart and he wiped the tears off his cheeks.

"You'll be fine. I'll see you tomorrow at school, ok?"

He nodded. I left and walked back down the street to Michael's car.

"How'd it go?" Michael asked.

"His dad seemed happy I dropped off his homework. Jeremy's just... really anxious. He said he had a fight with his dad."

Michael started driving back to his house.

"There have been a couple of times I've been really worried about him. And it's always when he has fights with his dad. He gets so anxious that he makes himself sick. And he kind of just shuts down and won't talk about anything."

"He said he'd probably be in school tomorrow, so I'll see how he is. What do you do when he gets like this?"

"I just try to be there for him... I don't know. It's kind of a tough time for both of us because he won't talk and I don't know what to do to help."

"Ok. Hopefully he's feeling better tomorrow."