Glitch in the System

Chapter 2: Last Visit

   Lilly started to wake up about two hours later, seeing the TV screen move as Drew played a game that she did not recognize. She assumed that it was the new zombie game he had gotten earlier because she could see undead creatures running after him.

   "I must be pretty comfortable for you to be able to fall asleep like that," Drew joked, not looking away from the screen.

   "Yeah, you're pretty comfortable. Plus I was tired, I beat the shit out of a guy today," she stated nonchalantly, still leaning on him. 

   "Oh really, what did he do?"

   "He kept trying to grab me. I told him to stop and he wouldn't listen, so I punched him in the mouth and knocked a few teeth down his throat," she recounted, yawning as she started to wake up a little bit.

   "Nice job Lil," he said before cursing at the game as he lost. He set the controller down and looked at Lilly who was still leaning on him. She looked back at him and smiled before grabbing the wireless controller and running off with it.

   "Come and get it!" She ran into Drew's room and hid in the closet where his clothes were. A few seconds after she was safely hidden, Drew ran into the room and started to search for her. She let out a giggle, quickly covering her mouth and hoping Drew hadn't heard her. She watched as he slowly walked to the closet and felt around, his hand grazing her arm. A smile grew across his face as he quickly pulled her out of the closet.

   "Found you. Do you know the punishment for stealing my controller?"

   "I don't know the punishment but you love me so much that you won't punish me at all my dear brother," she insisted, smiling sweetly and staying put where he held her.

   "The punishment is tickling and unfortunately, I can't let you off the hook this time," he said, laughing and tickling her sides.

   She began to laugh, hardly able to stand as she tried to squirm out of his grasp. "N-nooo, not the tickles!" He held her still and kept tickling her, giving her a break after a bit and taking his controller back.

   "Next time it'll be even longer," he cautioned, holding the controller in the air with one hand, the other on his hip.

   "It definitely won't happen again," she lied, walking past him and going back to the living room. She sat on the couch, waiting for Drew to join her. She looked over to the games and grabbed one, sitting down and hiding it behind her back. He came back into the living room, his phone pressed against his ear. She waited patiently for him to finish his conversation, putting the game back on the stack with the others. Once he finished his conversation he sighed and sat next to her.

   "My mom will be back soon and she checked with the pharmacy, they don't have the medicine for my insomnia," he sighed, knowing he wouldn't be getting any sleep.

   "I'm sorry Drew, I know how much you need those meds," she recalled, remembering when they were kids and he told her about his extreme case of insomnia. He would go days without sleep and be extremely weak. Sometimes it would get so bad that he would hallucinate. When he reached that point she would skip school to help take care of him whenever possible.

   "It's not your fault Lilly, you don't have to apologize," he said quietly, leaning back on the couch and closing his eyes.

   "I know that, I just feel bad that I can't help," she mumbled, looking down at her hands which were resting in her lap. He pulled her close to him, comforting her. She blushed at the closeness and stayed put, closing her eyes and relaxing. They heard the sound of the car pulling into the driveway and put a small amount of distance between them. A few moments later Sarah, Drew's mother, came into the house.

   "Hi Lilly, didn't know you were visiting," she smiled, setting some bags of groceries on the counter and putting them away as she went. Lilly and Sarah held small talk for a short time before Sarah went to her room to change clothes.

   "Do you want to stay here for dinner or do you want me to go ahead and walk you home." Drew spoke, still relaxed on the couch with his eyes closed.

   "I think I'll stay for dinner if that's okay with your mom."

   "That's code for 'if it's okay with you' and you are more than welcome to stay for dinner you punk," he chuckled, standing up and stretching slowly. He was right, what she was really asking was if he didn't mind her staying. She laughed to herself and stood up, walking into the kitchen and pouring herself a glass of tea from the pitcher in the fridge.

   "It's always polite to ask, even if indirectly," she stated, acting serious as she sipped her tea.

   "You say that but you didn't ask earlier when you fell asleep on me," he joked, poking her side playfully. She giggled and carefully jumped out of his reach. She set her glass of tea down and poked him back, laughing as he jumped. This went on for a bit until Drew's mother came to cook dinner. They played a few games of zombies while they waited for it to be done, laughing and joking around about how the zombies looked. Dinner came and passed quickly, everyone was hungry and there was very little conversation.

   "Hey mom, I'm going to walk Lilly home, I'll be back soon," he called from the door as he opened it for Lilly.

   "Alright honey, be careful on your way back," she replied from the kitchen, waving to him as she started to wash the dishes. He gave a short wave as he walked out of the house behind Lilly, closing the door as he left.

   "Go ahead Lilly, I know you want a piggyback ride," he said, standing still and waiting for her to turn around and jump on his back. She smiled and did exactly that, careful not to knock Drew over as she adjusted herself into a comfortable position. He smiled softly to himself and walked towards Lilly's house. She looked up, watching the stars as Drew carried her. She had always been fascinated with the stars and how they were huge but they all looked so tiny. In no time they arrived at her house and she jumped down carefully, hugging Drew from behind before running to her porch.

   "Bye Drew, see you tomorrow," she said before opening the door and going inside, closing it behind her. He smiled to himself once again as he walked back to his house, watching his feet as he went. He reached his house and opened the door just as his mom put a pan of cupcakes into the oven.

   "They should be done in about 20 minutes if you would like one Drew." she said, closing the oven and heading back to her room.

   "Thanks mom, I'll get one when they're done." he said, closing the door behind him as he entered the house. He sat down and waited for the cupcakes to be done. After a while he smelled them and watched as his mom took them out of the oven, let them cool, and then frosted them. She brought him a plate with two cupcakes. Thanking her, he took the plate. He ate them quietly, putting the plate in the sink when he was done. Knowing that he wouldn't be getting any sleep, he turned the Xbox 1 on and started to play 'The Arisen', the new game he had downloaded. He had been playing for about an hour when the time in the game and the time in real life matched up as he was jump scared, causing a strange glitch that transported him into the game.