Player 3?

Chapter 20 : Visiting Rich

Chapter 20

The next day...     

Kaye POV

Michael drove me to the hospital Rich was at. He waited in the lobby while I went to Rich's room. When I got there, I knocked on the door. I'm kind of nervous to see him.

"Come in!"

I pushed the door open and went in.

"Hey," I said, walking over slowly.

"Kaye! What are you doing here?"

"I tried texting you and you didn't text me back. I just wanted to know how you were doing."

I sat down in a chair next to his bed. He sat up a little straighter and turned towards me.

"My phone got melted in the fire. I'm ok. Just have some burns."

"How long are you going to be in the hospital for?"

"I actually get to go home tomorrow. Not that that's really any better than being here."

"Really? I thought you'd want to get out of the hospital."

"Things at my house just aren't really that good right now. Money is really tight and we don't really have the money for my hospital bills. My dad wants to kill me. Thank god nobody is pressing charges against me for setting Jake's house on fire."

"Can I ask why you set his house on fire?"

"My squip made me do it."

"Really? Why?"

"I was getting annoyed with it and I was starting to think about trying to get it out of my head or deactivate it or something. And it got mad at me, so it just kind of made me go crazy. To be honest, I barely remember the night of the fire. Everything is such a blur."

"So you still have your squip then?"

"Yeah. He hasn't said much since the fire though. I think he's mad at me for wanting to get rid of him."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm not really sure, to be honest. I think I just want to focus on getting better, and then I'll think about what to do with my squip."

"Ok... I was just asking because Jeremy has one, and there's just some weird stuff going on with it."

"Oh... Yeah, I'm not sure what to tell you. I feel like they have really glitchy software or something. I don't know what to do."

"Ok. When do you think you'll be back at school?"

"Probably the end of this week. I'm fine. I just have some burns. Are you doing ok? I remember you'd said Jeremy was being mean to you and Michael. Is it because of his squip?"

"Yeah. Things are tense right now."

"I'm sorry. Maybe when I'm back at school, I can try to help."

"That would be great. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"I have to go, but I'll see you in a few days?"

"Yeah. Thanks for coming by to visit. My parents only visited once."

"Really?"

"Yeah. They're working overtime because of my hospital bills."

"Oh... I'm sorry. I hope you feel better."

"Thanks."

"Bye," I said, standing up.

"Bye, Kaye."

I walked back down to the lobby and found Michael. He looked nervous, but I couldn't think of why he'd be nervous.

"How'd it go?" He asked, standing up.

"Uh... Well Rich is doing ok. He still has his squip. But he doesn't know how to get rid of the squip."

"Did he set Jake's house on fire because of his squip?"

"Yeah. His squip got mad that he was thinking about getting rid of it, so it made him crazy. He barely even remembers that night."

"Ok, that's really scary."

"I know. He said he'll be back at school in a few days and he'll try to help Jeremy. Now tell me why you look so anxious."

"I'm not anxious. I just got a call from Jeremy and he was having a panic attack and it just made me a little worried."

"Why was he having a panic attack?"

"Because we're not there."

"Is he ok?"

"I don't know. I think we should drive back and go to the rest of our classes and make sure he's ok. He sounded really freaked out."

"Ok. Let's go."

Later...

Kaye POV

Jeremy was glad I came back to school for the remaining classes. He was really freaked out, so I decided to walk home with him after school and tell him what I found out from Rich.

We went downstairs to his bedroom and sat on his bed, facing each other.

"Ok, so tell me how things are going with your squip," I said.

"It started talking to me again, so I have to stay away from Michael."

"Oh... So what has it said to you?"

"It wants me to go to play rehearsal tomorrow. It knows I still like Christine. But I already got rejected by her. I feel like if I go back to play rehearsal, I'm just going to make a fool of myself. This thing was such a waste of money. OW!"

Jeremy curled up on his bed, covering his head with his arms.

"What happened?"

"It shocked me. Freaking tic tac. OW!"

"Ok, maybe you should stop insulting that thing."

I gently put my hand on his back and he jumped.

"Calm down, it's just me."

"I know. It's been shocking me in my head and down my back, so you just scared me."

Jeremy sat up again and sighed.

"What did Rich say?" He asked.

"Well... I don't want to scare you."

"I'm scared because you just said that."

"Look. I don't think I should tell you exactly what he said. I think it'd be safer that way."

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"I think you should just do what it tells you to do for now."

"But why?"

"If you start rebelling against that thing, it's going to make you go crazy."

"Then how am I ever going to get it out!? OW! Stop shocking me!"

"Jeremy, that's what I'm saying. It's going to hurt you if you think about that. So don't. Just do what it wants you to do, ok? And when Rich comes back to school, he said he'd help."

"I don't like this. This is getting scary."

"I know. But this is the safest thing for you to do right now, ok? Trust me. You don't want what happened to Rich to happen to you."

"Ok... So I should go to play rehearsal tomorrow then?"

"If that's what it's telling you to do, then yes."

"Ok..."

"I'm going to head back to Michael's and try to catch up in the classes I missed today. Text me if you need anything, ok?"

"Ok."

I gave Jeremy a hug and then I left.