Crazier Than You (Shoey)

Chapter 8: Telephone Hour

Joey just got home from the therapist and was still hazy about what had happened in the lobby at Dr. Bronston's. What happened to Shane? Was he okay? His mother said he would call him, but there was still no ring of the phone. Joey blushed, realizing he had been staring at his phone for about thirty minutes now. "You okay?" his sister interrupted his dread once again.

He blinked and shook his head. "I'm fine, but I'm worried about Shane." Nicole walked into his room and sat on the bed beside him. "He was really upset today."

"Did you two get in a fight?" she asked with concern. Her brother wasn't usually so calm when he was upset.

Joey shook his head no. "He was fighting with himself." Suddenly his phone lit up and began vibrating. Joey jumped out of his bed and swung the phone to his ear. "Hello?" he asked with worry.

The caller identification had said Shane. "Hey, Joey," the boy on the other line answered. He sounded normal and completely there. Joey smiled, relieved that he wasn't hurt anymore. "I'm sorry about what happened earlier," Shane mumbled, clearly embarrassed and beating himself up.

Joey chuckled with a sigh. He was so relieved. "I-it's okay. I'm just glad that you're okay now."

Shane chuckled nervously in response. "So, um, I'm sure you have some questions for me? Sorry, I had this big explanation planned, but I've totally blanked."

Joey ran a finger through his hair nervously. Why was he so flustered? He was just talking to his friend. Why was he too terribly concerned with Shane's wellbeing; Shane was fine. There was nothing to be upset about now. "I do have some questions, but I don't want you to have to talk about it if you don't want to. Do I need to know anything in case that happens again? I felt so helpless, and I don't want you to be so upset like that again. At least, I want to be able to help when I'm around." He looked up to see that Nicole had left.

The other end of the phone was silent for a minute. "Well, it helps if you talk to me, but... do you understand what happened?"

Joey shook his head before remembering he was on the phone. "Not really."

Shane sighed, "Then I have to tell you what's up." Joey gulped in anticipation, his hands sweating with nerves. Shane cleared his throat audibly before adjusting the phone to a comfortable position agains his cheek. "Well, it started a few years ago when my dad finally left us. I met these new people, but these people weren't actually there. The first one was Ned the Nerd. I met him at school, and he was the only one that didn't beat me up. He was still mean to me verbally, but not physically. The next one I met was Aunt Hilda at my family Thanksgiving. It didn't even occur to me that my mum wouldn't invite my dad's sister. She's always so mean to me, but it's all true. That makes it okay, right?" Joey gasped at all this, still not completely understanding but realizing that Shane went through so much undeserved abuse. "Later on I asked my mother why she invited Aunt Hilda to the party, and she said... I didn't have an Aunt Hilda.

"They started taking me to doctors offices, and that's when it got worse. There were more people; I call them the voices. They kept showing up, and I was the only one that could see or hear them. I have a mild form of schizophrenia."

"Mild?" Joey choked out, "You were terrified."

Shane sighed softly. "Yeah, what you saw was something that hasn't happened in a while. A new voice appeared and started to speak to me. The scary part was that he looked just like me, so much like me that it shocked me. And... and he said such awful things to me about you. I just couldn't handle it. I'm so sorry Joey; you shouldn't have seen that. Now you know why everyone thinks I'm so weird. It's fine; you probably have lots of new friends already."

Joey interrupted, "You keep saying that. You keep saying I have so many options, but Shane... you were the very first person to be nice to me. You still are nice to me. We get along, and I'm not going to stop being your friend just because you're..."

"Crazy?" Shane suggested with a hint of sarcasm.

Joey laughed. "Yeah, cuz I'm crazy too. How could I judge you for something you can't control?"

The line was quiet for a few moments. "Why is it impossible to hug someone through the phone?" Joey blushed at Shane's words.

The two ended up staying on the phone together for hours until Joey's mother made him come down to dinner which then resulted into the classic game of "you hang up first." Joey giggled as Shane finally hanged up the phone. Why was he feeling so warm? Why was his face so red? Why did Shane make him so happy?

---

Awwwww Joey's got a little crush on Shane, huh? Alas, everything can't be so sappy forever, can it? Maybe? When you're crazy it can be! Or maybe not...

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