GAME OVER: a Be More Chill fic

Level 6

Monday went by in a blur, since the boys woke up around noon and spent the day relaxing in the basement anyway. Jeremy went home in time for dinner, after he claimed to be feeling much better, though his stomach was still churning with anxiety from the night before.

Tuesday began like any other. Jeremy had performed his usual morning routine and, after clearing his internet search history, set off for school.

As he walked through the door, he was greeted by Rich and his friend, Jake Dillinger. Jake, Christine's ex-boyfriend (her OTHER ex-boyfriend, Jeremy reminded himself bitterly) and certified jock, did not particularly like Jeremy. The feeling was mutual, but at least they had something in common now.

"Hey Rich! Hi, Jake," Jeremy added.

"Hey, tall-ass! How's the weather up there?" Rich jested.

"Cloudy with a chance of fuck off," he returned.

Jake looked a little concerned at their style of friendship but managed to ignore it. "So, how are... things?"

Taken aback by Jake's attempt to be polite, and unsure whether to return the favor or shoot back something sarcastic, Jeremy hesitated before responding. "Um... things are... pretty okay. You?"

"Good! Pretty good. I uh... I heard about this weekend. I'm sorry, man." Jake seemed genuine, so Jeremy decided to play nice too.

"Oh, no, it's -- it's fine, we're cool." How did he know about that? He decided he must have talked to Christine.

"That's great!" Jake looked at the clock, attempting to be casual about it, but coming off a little overdramatic. He was never a great actor, anyway. "Oh, man, I gotta get to class. You know how Ms. G can be." He hurried away.

Jeremy scoffed. "Well, if that wasn't the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Did you see him? And we still have fifteen minutes before class." He noticed that his friend was paying no attention. "Hello? May I speak to Richard, please?"

"Wha? Oh, sorry, man. I spaced out."

"You did not, you were staring at Jake's ass," Jeremy laughed.

Rich shrugged. "It's a nice ass. You're allowed to agree, you know, now that you've embraced the gay."

Jeremy shushed him in a panic. "Nobody knows about that, okay? And I'm not gay."

"Half gay."

"That... has not been confirmed."

Rich patted him on the back. "Dude, my gaydar went haywire the first actual conversation we had. Remember, in the bathroom? I told you about the -- the thing, and I could just tell. It's a gift, really," he rambled. "The only problem is, I can't decide whether to use my powers for good or evil."

"For good." Jeremy cleared his throat, face already turning red. "Do you think there's a chance... that Michael might be a little, uh... you know?"

"Gay?" Rich laughed. "Everyone's a little gay, Jeremy. Take you and me, for example." He paused. "Bad example. Take Christine for example. Don't you think she'd jump Brooke if she had the chance?"

"Well, uh, Christine isn't really interested in anyone right now."

"Right, right, sorry, she only has eyes for you, yeah? But still, I -- "

"No, not for me." Jeremy sighed deeply. "We broke up this weekend."

"...Oh. That's what Jake was talking about. I'm sorry, man, I didn't mean to open any wounds." Rich's eyes darted behind Jeremy for a moment. Then he seemed to be struggling to hold back laughter.

"What's so -- "

"No, really, dude, I am so, so, so sorry, if there's anything I can -- "

Jeremy felt a sudden weight and went down like a ton of bricks. "Ow, what the hell?"

Whoever had just jumped onto his shoulders was laughing hysterically. "Gotcha," he managed to choke out.

"Michael!" Of course. Jeremy tried to sound stern, but his own laughter was getting in the way. "I'm having a conversation here."

"Yeah," Michael laughed, helping Jeremy up. "What're we talking about?"

Rich cut in. "Jake's ass."

"No, you were talking about Jake's ass. I was just... uh... listening." Jeremy couldn't believe it. He'd somehow made it worse.

Michael didn't seem to notice Jeremy's mortification. "Nice," he said, giving Rich a high-five.

Rich grinned. "C'mon, Jeremy. Answer this, one dude to another -- would you tap that?"

"I -- uh -- "

"Hey, Michael!" Brooke interrupted. "What's up?"

Jeremy sighed in relief too soon. "Not much, just talking about Jake's ass," replied Michael. Brooke nodded profoundly.

"Can we get off the topic of Jake's ass?" Jeremy pleaded.

"Not when it's right there, in tight gym shorts," said Brooke. "Booty at ten o'clock."

The three friends stood there watching Jake rifle through his locker. They huddled together, making quiet remarks, as if they were studying a painting at an art museum. They were positively enthralled. Jeremy just rubbed the bridge of his nose, exasperated.

"What's wrong with you people?" he muttered to himself. He glanced up at the group, then had to do a double take as he saw Jake shut his locker and turn towards the girl approaching him -- Christine.

Jeremy watched as they started talking. He couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but Jake seemed a bit more nervous than he usually was around her. Christine looked fairly casual, at least until she did what Jeremy least expected and burst into tears.

Without hesitation, Jake folded her into his arms, stroking her hair. It reminded Jeremy of how Michael had reacted to the him-being-dumped news. He realized that this behavior very plainly said "I love you". Jake loved Christine, and he was sure she loved him, too. Jeremy shook his head in disbelief as his heart sunk.

How in the world was he supposed to react to this? He turned to Michael, meaning to ask for help, or comfort, but Michael was deep in conversation with Brooke and Rich about some upcoming concert.

Jeremy just stood there. He felt as if the floor had dropped out from under him and landed him in a glass jar, forced to watch what was going on around him without being able to do anything about it. And now he was running out of air, about to panic, or cry, or something.

He was trapped. He was lost, and stuck, and alone. Worst of all, he longed for some kind of instruction -- the kind of instruction a certain supercomputer could provide. If he were still Squipped, he wouldn't be feeling this way. A Squip would tell him exactly what to do.

And right now, he honestly, truly didn't know what to do.