He's Changed...I Swear

Chapter 5

After that unintentionally emotionally winded 'interrogation' Jeremy and Micheal started to make their way down to Jeremy's basement. I followed as it would be much stranger to stay in Jeremy's bedroom than to just follow. Jeremy's basement was exactly what I pictured. Though I hadn't personally seen the basement during the period where I was connected to Jeremy, it wasn't hard to imagine especially when I had been connected to his memory. The room had two bean bag chairs sat in front of an old school square television with several different game consoles, old and new, in front of that, and empty bottles of soda and snacks littered on the ground. The rest of the basement was primarily used for storage and hiding pipes.

Jeremy and Micheal sat in the inefficient chairs when it comes to general support for your body and continued a game they previously started. The game wasn't important as they were just trying to spend time together. After everything Jeremy most importantly wanted to fix his and Micheal's relationship and even if the said relationship has been revived Jeremy was still paranoid about Micheal hating him and therefore Jeremy spent a lot of time with his best friend. So they played and I sat a fair distance behind them, taking in the atmosphere. It was interesting, with a mixture of the sent of teenage body odor, lingering marijuana sent, and junk food and the fact this is where they primarily do their gaming it gave it the feeling of a den though the knowledge that Jeremy tended to spend time down here alone when he'd have fits of anxiety or depressive episodes also made it feel somber and melancholy. I didn't know how to interpret it. The empty bottles of mountain dew red did not help anything. So I just sat in silence. Waiting to be acknowledged. Until then I tried not to think too much. That was until I heard a car pull into the driveway and the front door open. There are only so many people that have the key to Jeremy's house and those people were Micheal, Jeremy, and his father. The thought of his father seeing me filled me with anxiety. With how Jeremy has explained his squip experience I can predict an unfavorable reaction from his father. I hadn't figured out an excuse for myself in an instance like this and with Jeremy's track record of working under pressure, there's no way that he'll be able to make an excuse on the spot. Jermy turned to me, whether he sensed my worry or he was just checking on me as I had been quiet I didn't know, but that's neither here nor there. Either way, he noticed me and asked in genuine concern, "You alright dude?'

Before I could answer the door to the basement and Jeremy's father asked down the stairs, "Jeremy? You down there?" Jeremy released why I was so worried and that same fear overtook his expression before he answered, "Y-yeah me and Micheal are playing video games!"

I gulped as I heard the heavy footsteps of Mr. Heere's descended. Though I didn't quite understand the irrational terror, maybe it's because of Jeremy's heightened anxiety issues, I'm not certain. Either way, I was terrified of what Jeremy might say because god knows I haven't come up with anything yet. And once Jeremy's father got into view he eyed me and asked, "Alright well then who's the Keanu Reeves look-alike?" My initial thought to this reaction was '*sighs in Japanese*' Jeremy found this humorous, but we quickly diverted back into worry. Jeremy tried to quickly think of something and his father just stood there awkwardly until Micheal thankfully chimed in with, "His name is Eric. He's a Japanese exchange student."

"Japanese kid named Eric?" He asked. At this point, I finally found my voice and said, "Yes! Mother is American and that's why the name is American." I believe the nervous way I spoke helped with the facade. Jeremy eyed both Micheal and I then smiled up at his dad. He simply shrugged and said, "Makes sense to me. Anyways I was just stopping by to say I'm going to go hang out with Heidi and you know the rules."

"Yeah, yeah, listen to Evan, order some pizza or somethin' for dinner, friends go home by ten. Couldn't you just have called?"

"Well, yeah, but I needed to get something." His father said before saying goodbye and heading upstairs. A sigh was released from both Jeremy and I. Crisis averted.

"You're welcome!" Micheal said in a sing-song tone. Jeremy turned his head to Micheal at a speed that could have hurt if the joint popped and asked, "How the hell did you come up with that?!" Micheal shrugged, "Plot convenience." To which Jeremy rolled his eyes with a small, knowing smile. Though I had a question. The mention of the people known as Heidi and Evan was new and the relationship was unclear so I asked, "Who's Evan and Heidi?"

Jeremy looked at me a little confused then realized, "Oh! Right, you can't read my mind anymore. Uh, Heidi's my dad's girlfriend and Evan's her son. He's like a year or two older than me and a complete anxious wreck."

"Even more than you?" I posed it as a genuine question rather than a joke, but when Jeremy snickered and flipped me off as he did with Micheal, it felt wrong to correct him. They turned and continued their game. I moved forward a little bit to be closer to Jeremy. He seemed fine with it.

Later a slightly shorter teenager, I presume Evan, came down to check-in and ask about dinner. Jeremy ordered pizza for Evan after he explained why ordering a pizza still isn't completely anti-social because you need to pay in person. The rest of the evening was filled with videogames, greasy unhealthy food, and weed.