A series of not so chill events

The "best wingman" ever

Jeremy's POV:

Thanksgiving holidays were never really my favorite, they were enjoyable with Michael's family, but it was pretty much the same thing every year. I never thought i'd have the guts to invite other people to my house, but I'm glad I did. It was fun; different from all the sleepovers i'd had with Michael, of course, but still fun, maybe even more fun than I usually have with Michael. The weekend went by really quickly. Just two days ago I was shopping at the mall with some of the most popular kids at school, and now I was sitting in my room with my best friend, a Sunday similar to most of the ones in the past. We weren't really doing anything, we played a bit, listened to music, but we weren't really into the games. I guess talking would more fun, and my mind wandered to what I'd asked Rich about over a week ago. Christine and I had talked about Michael and Rich liking each other, and it led to a pretty fun conversation. We were determined to get them together.

"Soo I know I ask you this a lot, but Rich is pretty cool, right?"  I put down my controller and grinned.

"Yeah? " Michael didn't look away from the game screen.

What kind of response was that? I leaned forward to turn off the console, and Michael paused the game. "What are you doing? We're about to win!"

"You're not paying attention to me," I rolled my eyes. If you want to keep playing, you'll have to talk to me for a while.

Michael sat up straight and glared at me. "Don't start this again, Jeremy."

I ignored him and continued: "So, I never got to ask- You left with Rich during lunch the other day, right? What did you guys do?"

Michael narrowed his eyes slightly then shrugged. " Which day?"

Oh, right. One day he ran off with Rich, and the next he went looking for him. I know I wanted them to be together, but I guess I did feel a bit left out.

"Both days, specifically the first though."

"Sure? We went to 7/11 because he bumped into me that morning and made me spill my Slushee all over myself."

That was a pretty blunt answer, but then again I don't know what I was expecting. I didn't know what to say in response to that. "Oh, okay."

Michael nodded slowly and then smirked. "Are you.. jealous?"

Me? Jealous? Never. (̶m̶a̶y̶b̶e̶)̶ If only he knew my elaborate plan (̶ ̶I̶ ̶d̶i̶d̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶a̶c̶t̶u̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶n̶)̶ to get him and Rich together. "Nah, I guess it's just that you two have been getting pretty close lately..-"

He scrunched up his nose. "Well, can't I have friends other than you? And you're the one who thinks there's something going on between me and him. "

"YES, yes, yeah of course you can have friends other than me! Sorry, I was just -"

"Just what, Jere?" Michael's voice was stern, but I could tell that he was trying to stay calm.

"Stop making me look stupid." I rolled my eyes.

"Hey, you brought that upon yourself, bud." Michael rested his arm on my shoulder and shook his head. "Are we done with the subject of Rich?"

"You didn't say what you did the second day,"

Michael paused for a moment, as if he were contemplating telling me what had happened.

"Nothing really, I found him in the theatre. We uhh talked about what we were going to do now that all of us are in it. Are you finally satisfied?"

I didn't entirely believe him, but It was good enough. I would pry, but I didn't want Michael to get annoyed again.

"Fine, but I want to know your honest opinion about him" I said quickly.

"Honest opinion? Why?" Michael looked at me with a dubious expression.

"Because that's the last question."

"Okay then? Rich.. let me see." Michael sat up and bobbed his head slightly.

"He's.. weird. Honestly reminds me of you." He turned to look at me and grinned.

"Are you saying I'm weird?" I frowned. Why'd he bring me into all this??

"No, you're right you're not weird." He nodded seriously and then broke into a grin. "You're outright bizarre."

"Stop it Michael! I'm asking a serious question." I brushed off his comment and crossed my arms. Why was he making this so difficult? Was this his way of deflecting?? I've been friends with him for over a decade, but I've never seen him act like this before. He was one of the chillest people I've met, unafraid to speak his mind.

Michael looked taken aback. He nodded and apologized. "Okay, fine. I really don't know why you care so much, Jeremy, but sure."

Shit. Did I make him mad? Whatever, I'd have my answer soon enough. He'll thank me when he finally gets to experience a relationship too.

"Rich is weird, but good weird. He's different from the bigoted asshole we've known him to be, but I guess that's just because he's his true self without the SQUIP. I honestly very much prefer him this way." Michael chuckled, half to himself.

"He's honest and awkward. It was kind of wack at first, but I like the little guy. I'm glad I've gotten to know him more." Micahel paused and stared at the wall, lost in thought. He quickly regained focus and smiled sheepishly. "Oh god was that weird to say-?"

I shook my head quickly and grinned. "No! It wasn't. Thank you for answering, Micha."

"So.. can we finally keep playing now?"

"Sure," I turned on my console and he immediately continued the game. He's so obsessed with video games, but then again who isn't, really?

Michael's answers weren't exactly what I was fishing for, but it was good enough. He liked Rich. Maybe not romantically, but we were getting somewhere. I couldn't wait to tell Christine. We'll get Michael and Rich together by the Winter dance if it's the last thing we do.