Game Over: Life's Over

Trapped

Thankfully, my credits and grades were good enough that I only had to finish my English class. As a senior, I only had to pass English to graduate. Some of my teachers accepted my grades as they were and let me pass without needing to continue or finish them. That was a big relief since I planned on teaching myself the rest of what I needed in order to get my diploma.

I wasn't sure what was going to happen after I graduated. I couldn't go to graduation and, honestly, I didn't want to. But what happened after that was a bit of a mystery.

I didn't know how the mutation would affect me. It could take years or weeks before any changes started to happen. While I knew I wanted to have a future and do things with my life, I was scared at the thought of venturing out into the real world.

It took a few days before Theo was able to get some work for me. He transferred me to a local high school and then used their curriculum to get me assignments to work on. I never had to interact with any students or teachers and everything was done online. I was hoping it'd be easy to finish so I could just get it done and over with.

Theo set up his laptop in the dining room for me and let me have the room to myself. Once I was all set up on the computer, he left me alone so I could work on my assignments in peace. I knew he'd still walk by every so often to check on me though.

I forgot how boring school was. No, how boring English was. The first assignment was to write a paper on a topic of my choice. It wasn't a difficult assignment and it was only three pages but I never wrote papers often in my old school. We spent a lot of our time reading chapter books and talking about it in class. And the standardized tests. Hopefully, I was done with those.

After a few hours of working, my brain felt like it was fried. I wasn't sure how much longer I could spend researching. My fingers were cramping up and I was having a hard time focusing on the screen.

I shut the laptop screen and pushed away from the table. I walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. I didn't realize Theo was in the room until I heard a drawer shut behind me.

I jumped and turned around quickly. "Jeez."

He hardly seemed fazed. "How's the work coming along?"

"Fine. It's really boring though."

"Wasn't the point of doing some school work to prevent you from being bored?"

"Yeah, but... it's like a different kind of boring."

He shook his head and took a sip of the water he was drinking.

I turned back to the fridge and looked for something to eat.

"Need something?"

"I don't think I need any help."

"I'm not supposed to let you in the fridge."

I stuck my head around the door to look at him. "Seriously?"

He nodded. "The rules are pretty strict."

"Are these rules you and Eric came up with or ones you're stuck following?"

"A little of both. We don't want to see you get hurt or get into something you aren't supposed to. It's our job to keep you safe."

I rolled my eyes. "It's a fridge. How much trouble could I get into just looking for a snack or something?"

"The fridge could fall on you."

"That's your best argument?"

"You could get into something you're allergic to. Or something that upsets your stomach."

"I'm not allergic to anything."

"That's not the point I'm trying to make here. We just need you to understand that we're responsible for you. If anything happens to you, it falls back on us."

"I don't really see anything happening to me. I'm not accident-prone or anything."

"Jacob, do you know how your mutation works? Did Dr. Simmons explain it to you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. I'm gonna turn into a fucking baby."

He didn't even flinch when I cussed at him. It surprised me a bit. "There's a lot more to it than that. Sure, that's the underlying issue but there are little things that can happen long before any physical changes occur. Your impulse control and ability to manage your emotions are already shifting whether you notice it or not. You aren't able to make rational and concise decisions for yourself so that's why Eric and I are here. We have to take care of you."

I shook my head. My freedom to do even basic things was being taken from me. It wasn't fair. I hated that I couldn't continue to live my life how I had been all because of a stupid label. There was nothing wrong with me. "It feels like I have to ask permission just to exist."

His expression softened. "I know it feels that way to you. I wish things didn't have to be so controlled. We're really trying to make things easy for you. Eric and I don't want you to feel trapped."

I was trapped. I was trapped inside my own body. Did that mean that I'd be stuck as my body regressed? I wasn't sure I could handle that.

"Tell me what you want and I'll get it for you. Go watch some TV and I'll bring it in."

"I just want something to drink."

"Have anything in mind?"

"Whatever's fine. Just no coffee."

He smiled and set his drink down on the counter. "Alright."

—-

Hi, everyone! I wanted to give a little update for you all. I will be moving the first of November so I won't be able to write for a few days. Then my boyfriend will (hopefully) be coming home from the hospital so I gotta play nurse and take care of him. I promise to come back to my stories and keep writing! Also, I know a lot of you want changes to happen to Jacob now but I have to ease into it or the story will be too rushed. I hope you can understand my thought process and bear with me. I want to give you a good story! But I promise it is coming in the next chapter or so. Stay tuned! Oh and thank you guys for the kind words and well wishes. It means the world to me ❤️