The Web I Spin for You ~ Richpez & Rosenwalker

Chapter 7

Richpez chapter; we deserve it.

"I swear to god I can't look at this thing anymore. All the pieces look the same!"

"We got this," Joey encouraged, trying over and over again to get the dozens of remaining green puzzle pieces to come together. "Also I'm so happy I got you into puzzling."

"Everyday I'm puzzlin' and I HATE IT but I also love it." Lauren remarked happily. They were spending their Saturday together working on Joey's Jones Beach Puzzle while binging Lord of the Rings. "I will resent this thing for the rest of my life."

"Damn. Hopefully you don't resent the person who introduced you to this puzzle along with it."

"I could never hate little Judee," Lauren teased. "I needed a break. I was losing my mind working on college applications."

"Oh? Are they hard?"

"The one for Michigan is, the rest not so much. It's just a pain in the ass because my parents don't want me to major in acting, so we basically fight about it on a daily basis."

"Aw, that sucks. Why don't they want you to
Major in acting? You're fantastic!"

"I don't know if I'd go that far," Lauren said with a shrug, "but it has nothing to do with that. They're just worried because of the lack of security. They said I need to pick a more stable career."

"I feel like people who choose to live in Hatchetfield don't get to really have the high ground on stability." Joey commented. "No offense or anything to your parents, I didn't mean it like that." He added nervously.

Lauren giggled. "Nah you're right, that's exactly how I feel. Like, what human would willingly live in this shithole? I can't wait to get out."

Joey nodded, turning his attention back to the puzzle pieces and pretending that the idea of Lauren leaving didn't make him want to cry.

Lauren looked over at Joey, sensing his unease. "I mean, you know Michigan is only a few hours away. I'll come back to visit and stuff."

Joey looked up, trying not to look too hopeful. "Really? You will? I get the vibe once you're out you're out."

Lauren bit her lip. In truth, she did want to be out of this damn place entirely. "My family's here. And my friends. And my little Judee. I can't miss out on my little Judee." In truth, Lauren felt confident that high school friendships weren't meant to last post high school, but she couldn't deny that Joey was special to her. She looked across at him longingly; the young boy was beaming ear to ear as he tried to force more puzzle pieces together. She was having that obnoxious urge to lean over and kiss him; the same one she'd had the night she'd finally done it.

Her phone buzzed, snapping her out of her trance. She picked it up and glanced at the screen. "Jesus fucking Christ."

"What's wrong?"

"Darren just texted me saying 'Joe is losing his shit,' with no further context." She answered, slamming her phone down on the table.

"Ugh," Joey ran a hand through his hair, which he'd been growing out ever since Lauren had told him that she liked it longer. "Did something happen?"

"I don't know," Lauren whined, picking up her phone to ask Darren. "He doesn't tell me anything. He acts like he's fine all the time, when I know damn well that he's not."

Joey nodded, debating if he should share his information with Lauren. "I, Brian told me that they had a run in with Zoey last week."

Lauren looked up from her phone, her face suddenly looking much paler. She set her phone down, standing up and beginning to pace around in a circle. "Jojo, do you wanna bake some cookies?"