Egos and Sides (In highschool) --Discontinued--

Chapter 24: Learn to Love Yourself

"Brah! Can't I catch a break!" I yelled as the Professor pulled up my diagnostics on a computer screen.

He'd just compared me to Google for the thousandth time, and Google just sat there. Smug, taking it all in.

I sighed, "Look, I do the best I can with what I have. And the only reason I'm not oh-so-perfect compared to Google is cause a' you-" I pointed at the Professor. "Professor dude. So maybe you should own up and not try to make me feel like shit all the time."

They both ignored me. They always did. Ignore the blubbering buffoon with the hurt feelings, they thought.

I hated being cast aside, like trash. Instead of getting weepy about it, as I did all those years ago, I lashed out. Neither method worked, but at least they made me feel better.

We sat in tense silence for about five minutes till the Professor said, "You're in great shape, Bing."

"Good," I growled. I unplugged the cable hooking me up to the computer, closed the port, and stomped out of the lab.

Once I was in my room, I flopped down on my bed. I just told myself, it could be worse, I could be Bernice, or Remy, struggling with things that wrecked people for life. That thought prompted me to check on them. I sat up, reached for my phone.

Huh. I'd already had a missed call from Remy. I called him back.

One ring. Two rings. Three. Four. Five. Six- Damn dude, is he ever gonna pick up?

As if he heard me, his voice cut off the seventh ring. "Hello? Bing, why are you calling me?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa brah, you called me first."

"Hmmm? I did? I don't remember doing that. Sorry," His voice was weak, strained.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'm just a lil' tired."

"Ah, don't let me stop you from catching your z's then, dude." I knew if I hung up, he wouldn't sleep. In fact, I couldn't exactly pinpoint when the last time Remy got proper rest. I just wanted to see what he'd say.

"Don't leave," His voice got high-pitched, almost hysterically so.

"What's wrong?"

"I.... can't sleep. I haven't been able to for a while now."

"I know."

"THEN WHY WOULD YOU ASK?" His fierce sassiness was back.

"Cause I wanted to see if you'd lie to me, like Bernice did." I regretted that last bit, I threw her under the bus a bit.

"Mmm."

"Do you know why you can't sleep? Maybe I can help."

He went silent.

"Remy?"

"I..." He whimpered a bit. "I have these... nightmares. All the time. They're so vivid and real that I wake up screaming. Then there's the sleep paralysis."

"Damn."

"Yeah... The less often I sleep, the less often it's a problem, right? During the day, it's a little better, but only a little."

"That explains you falling asleep during lunch."

He yawned. Terror entered his voice as he said, "Can we talk about something else?"

"Sure."

As a mechanical being, I didn't need sleep, only an every other day recharging. So, I could stay up with Remy as long as he needed.

We stayed up for hours, talking about middle school memories, gossip, Starbucks (Why we had an hour long conversation about C O F F E E, I couldn't tell you.)

The sky began changing shades. I had been talking Remy's ear off about my theory about Mary and Remus dating, and he'd been quiet for quite some time.

"Remy?" I whispered. "Remy?"

No answer, he finally managed to fall asleep. He could get at least two hours of sleep before having to get ready for school, more, if he decided to ditch the makeup today.

I smiled. I kept the call going, just in case he woke up and was in need of consoling.

It filled my heart to the brim with happiness to know that something I did helped someone out in their time of need. Maybe... I wasn't so inferior to Google at all. Maybe I had something he didn't.

That idea turned on light that vanished long ago. Now, I wanted to spread to the light to those I love most.