I had soon learned that the unfamiliar girl was Jenna Rolan. She shouted her lines dramatically, that is, when I could get her to look at the script. All she seemed to want to talk about was me. I deduced that she was a bit of a gossip, and was careful about what I told her.
"Oh, you'll love this story!" Jenna said, looking away from the script once again. "So, there was this party over the summer, and I was there with Chloe, Brooke, and Madeline. Jake was trying to get into Madeline's pants, but she was all like, "I'll only have sex with you if you put me at pool. Then she lost at pool... deliberately! She's such a slut."
I forced out a laugh. "Yeah, sounds pretty slutty to me."
"Alright students!" Mr. Reyes, boomed, "Play rehearsal is over!"
I gave a fake upset face to Jenna, "Damn, I was just about to tell you all about when Derek, the hottest boy at my old school, jumped off his roof at one of his pool parties." It wasn't a lie, Derek did jump off his roof at one of his parties, but I definitely wasn't there.
"Well, I could give you my number! Then you could totally call and tell me!" Jenna suggested, a bit too eager.
"Yeah, great idea!" I smiled, taking Jenna's phone. I added my number to her contacts. "There ya go." I swiped up my backpack, stuffing the script into it. I followed the rest of the students out, passing a flustered Jake attempting to flirt with Christine. I giggled to myself. So when Jake is actually interested in someone, he loses his game. I wouldn't have believed it, but I had just witnessed it! I exited the drama room, Jeremey swiftly walking to the bathroom, until he ran into Rich.
"Hey, don't touch me tall ass!" Rich shouted, gripping the collar of Jeremy's shirt. Just then, Rich's squip appeared, looming behind him. I hid behind a pillar as the squip whispered something in Rich's ear. Rich tensed, letting go of Jeremy. "Sorry, old habits... but..." Jeremy watched as Rich chose his words carefully, "Freshman Year-"
"Wait, you weren't here Freshman Year," Jeremy stated.
"Yeth I wath!" Rich said, a lisp, or should I say, lithp, suddenly appearing. "You juth didn't thee me! No one thaw me..." Rich slapped his face. "I need to talk to you..." the lisp was gone as Rich placed an arm on Jeremy's back, leading him into the men's bathroom. Rich's squip followed ominously. I backed away, not sure if I wanted to stay near that male squip much longer. I pivoted on my foot, launching myself into yet another person. I know, cliché.
I rubbed my nose, "Ah, god, this is like this tenth time I've done this, I'm so- Oh, heh, hey again, Michael."
Michael laughed, his eyes shimmering, "You really need to watch where you're going, Amanda."
I giggle, "Yeah, I'm going to end up breaking my nose."
"Amanda, ignore him," Scarlett once again said, tapping her foot, disappointed. I couldn't help it, running into him just seemed so... right.
"But there's no one else here," I say, wanting Scarlett to let me keep talking to Michael,
"Um... what do you mean?" Michael asked, confused.
"Oh, um, I think everyone left, so I was just wondering what you're doing here?" I try to cover up my mistake.
"Waiting for Jeremy. Do you know where he is?"
"Um... he just went to the bathroom a few minutes ago."
Just then, Jeremy stumbled out, "Hey, Michael! Oh, Amanda, hey."
I gave a small wave, "Hey yourself."
"So, Apocalypse of the Damned?" Michael questioned.
Jeremy walked closer, sharing some weird handshake with Michael, "You know it!"
"Have room for another player?" I offer despite Scarlett's devilish look. The door slammed from the boys bathroom, and Rich rushed away, not giving us a second glance.
"You play video games?" Jeremy exclaimed, stunned.
"Hell yeah she does!" Michael shouted.
I chuckled, raising a hand. "Guilty as charged."
~
"I hope you don't mind, but we're already on Level Nine," Michael warned.
"Level Nine, really?" I asked.
"Yeah... sorry about that," Jeremy apologized awkwardly, still not used to my presence.
"No, I just thought you would have been farther along," I teased.
"Hey, Level Nine is really hard!" Michael defended.
"We'll see, we'll see," I told them, following them down the stairs. Jeremy took a seat on one of two beanbag chairs. Michael tossed him a controller, tossing one to me afterwards. He sat on the other beanbag chair. Knowing Michael a little better, I threw myself on to his chair.
"Wow, these are so fucking comfortable!" I squealed.
Michael shifted next to me, "Yeah, they're pretty nice."
Taking a hint that he didn't like me sitting so close, I stood up. "Ah, sorry, I can just sit on the ground or something."
Michael instantly looks ashamed, "No, sit." He offered a smile as I reclaimed my spot next to him. He starts the game, quickly running the controls by me.
"Ok..." I started calmly before screaming, "LET'S BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF SOME ZOMBIES!"
"YEAH!" Jeremy yelled. Michael chuckled before hitting the start button. I instantaneously become comfortable with the controls, slashing my way through Zombies."
"Damn, your good," Michael smirked.
"I try my best," I said, my squipped personality fading. "Oh, fuck, look out!"
"Shit!" Jeremy cursed in agreement.
"Dammit!" Michael, threw his body back dramatically, "Go on without me!"
"Already are, dipshit," I teased, slashing forward with Jeremy.
"We've never gotten this far before!" Jeremy explained giddy.
Michael sat back up, curious. "That's because you've never had me before," I told them.
Then, Jeremy began to speak of something other than zombies, "So, I talked to Rich today."
"Oh yeah? Did he write something else on your backpack?" Michael scoffed angrily.
"No... he told me about this thing... a squip."
As soon as the words left his mouth, my playing faltered. A zombie bit the back of my neck, and I was dead, "Oh! Not so good as we thought, huh?" Michael joked.
"No no no!" Jeremy shouted, his own game over screen flashing. He then looked back over to us, "So, back to the squip thing... he said it's this super computer thing that plants into your brains and helps you be cool."
"That... sounds super weird, I choked out.
"I know, but what if it works? I just have to give Rich the money and he'll give me one!"
"Dude, he's scamming you," Michael added.
"He's not scamming me! I just have to give the persons that torments me... six... hundred... dollars... ok, yeah. He's totally scamming me. B-but what if he's not!"
"It does seem kinda sketchy though..." I told him, trying to steer him away from buying a squip.
"But what if we went to scope it out ourselves?"
"Jeremy..." Michael said, concerned.
"It's just a quick trip to Payless!" Jeremy tried to convince Michael.
"You sure you won't be too cool for video games?"
"Never," Jeremy smiled.
"Am I not invited?" I poke back into the conversation.
"Oh, I mean, if you want to come?" Jeremy offered.
"Why not?" I said, turning back to the video game. Michael stayed the game once again, and we were off, cursing and yelling until a voice began to call through the house.
"Hello?"
"Son?"
"Jeremy!"
Michael suddenly hit the pause putting, his hand landing on the back of my head, pulling me down with him as he bent over. The bedroom door opened.
"What the hell man?" I whispered to Michael.
"Jeremy's dad," I heard Scarlett speak for the first time in a while, "and let's just say, he doesn't like pants." Well, this was great.
"Dad!" Jeremy groaned.
"What, do you have a girl in her?" His dad teased, yet also hopeful.
Michael sat up, "Sup, Mr. Heere."
"Oh, hi Michael.. wait, who's that?"
I sat up slowly, turning to face Jeremy's father, "Hi there," I greeted, waving nervously. I kept my eyes on Mr. Heere's face, as to not see his bare legs. He looked stunned and I turned to see Jeremy's face turning bright red.
"Um, you should go, Dad!"
Mr. Heere winked, backing away, "Oh, alright! You boys be nice! You wouldn't want to scare this beautiful girl away!"
Now it was my turn to blush, "Who wants to go to Payless?"
"Yeah, let's go," Michael and Jeremy replied in unison.
~
Jeremy and Michael walked ahead, trying to sneak like dorks. Michael had his hood draped over his head.
"You guys are dorks," I giggled as we entered the Payless store. I followed the boys as they walked to the back of the room, a sketchy man leaning against a shoe rack.
"Hey, man," Jeremy said, his voice raspy from trying to make it sound deeper.
"Are you here for it?
"For... it?"
"It's from Japan, a gray oblong pill. It travels through your blood until it implants in your brain," the man responded.
"Oh, y-yeah. I'm here for it," Jeremy stammered out. I stood by Michael as we watched the man pull out a box. "Women's... running... shoes?"
"No," the man said, removing the lid of the shoe box. He pulled out a small gray pill, one identical to my own previous one. "Take it with Mountain Dew! And don't ask me why!" He handed Jeremy the pill. "$400," the man said.
"$400? I guy at my school," Michal elbowed Jeremy to keep him from being stupid. "Ok, here you go," he handed him $400, and I was a little pissed. Mine was $600!
A middle age woman walked to the aisle, "Hey, do you-"
"We're all sold out!" The man shouted.
"Of... shoes?"
"Oh, you want shoes... come, right this way," the man said, steering the woman away. Jeremy squinted at the pill, holding it between his thumb and index finger.
"Let's go to the food court," I suggested, my eyes never leaving the pill.
~
I sat next to Jeremy as he sat down a tray of food, Michael walking away to grab some Mountain Dew.
"So, do think it'll work?" I played dumb.
"I don't know." Jeremy shrugged.
Michael jogged up, a soda bottle in his hands, "I guess we'll just have to find that out for ourselves." Jeremy took the bottle, placing the pill in his mouth. He took a swig if the soda. He took a look around the mall.
"Umm..." he said.
"Well, do you feel different?" Michael questioned. "How did it taste?"
"It's kind of minty... man, I really hope I didn't blow all my money on a mint tic-tac." I laughed at the joke, and Michael patted Jeremy's back.
"Sorry, dude. If you need me I'll be buying some Crystal Pepsi from the back of Spencer's Gifts." Jeremy sadly nodded as Michael left. I gave Jeremy a sympathetic look, but I knew better. The pill takes a few minutes to activate. Just then, Christine walked in with Jake. Jeremy's eyes shot daggers in his direction.
I giggled, "You like Christine don't you!"
"What do you mean?" Jeremy asked, trying to play dumb.
"Go get her tiger," I told him. He stood up nervously, and walked in their direction. He fidgeted, playing with his fingers, words I couldn't hear tumbled out of his mouth.
"Ow!" He shouted, staggering backwards. This was it.
"Jeremy!" Christine hollered.
"Ugh, what the hell?" Jeremy continued to shriek in pain, "Mild?" I stood from my seat to walk over to him. He fell to the ground, writhing and squirming on the floor.
"Jeremy, what's wrong?" Christine yelled, voice filled with concern.
"The freak's freaking out!" Jake exclaimed.
I knelt beside him, "Shh... it'll be alright," I brushed his hair out of his face. He finally laid still, the pain momentarily gone.
"Woah, wait-wait-wait-wait-wait... I'm fine," he stood up.
I stood up as well, "Damn, are you okay?"
"I'm- Guah!" He was back on the ground. "Agh! Guaaah!" I dropped to the floor as well, grabbing his shoulders.
Then, a man materialized in front of us. He had brown, slicked back hair and stubble on his chin. He fixed the tie of his suit as he spoke, "Jeremy Heere, welcome to your Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor, your SQUIP." I stared into his brown eyes, and he glanced over to me. The smirk on his face disappeared. He looked behind me to Scarlett. His gaze returned to Jeremy. "Get up," he demanded. I looked away from the squip, helping Jeremy to his feet.
I forced out a chuckle, "What the hell was that?"
"Jeremy, are you ok?" Christine took a step forward.
"I'm.. I'm fine," Jeremy stuttered. He turned and sped walked away. Without saying a word to Christine or Jake, I ran after him.
"Jeremy!" I called.
He stopped and turned to face me. His squip flickered to his side, eyeing me curiously. "Oh, um, sorry."
"So, back there... did it work?" I glanced to his squip, then back to Jeremy.
"Oh, well..." Jeremy looked hesitant.
"Tell her," the squip said.
"Yeah... it did," he watched for my reaction.
"You need to get away from Jeremy," Scarlett told me. "I don't trust that squip."
Jeremy's squip turned to look at Scarlett, snickering. Jeremy looked to the squip, quizzically. "That's, uh," I finally spoke, "that's good, I guess?"
I could feel the other squip's eyes on me, debating on what to tell Jeremy. He whispered something into Jermey's ear. Jeremy looked to me in shock, "Amanda... do you..."
I took a shaky step away. Something about this male squip didn't settle right with me, more than Rich's. "I should go..." I said, taking another step backwards.
"Amanda, wait!" But I was already running.
~
After a lot of searching, I finally found Spencer's Gifts. I jogged to the back to find Michael on a computer, in a heated bidding war for a case of Crystal Pepsi. I placed my hands onto his shoulders, leaning over him to look at the screen.
"Shit, is Crystal Pepsi really that worth it?"
Michael chuckled, continuing the battle. One hand stay on the mouse, one landing on my left hand. "You've never had Crystal Pepsi before, have you?"
I turned to look at his face, "Is it that obvious?"
He glanced at me, smiling. "If you'd had Crystal Pepsi before, you would know that it is always worth it."
I giggled, "Then you won't mind sharing some with me?"
"I wouldn't mind doing anything for you," Michael whispered. I continued to look at the screen, not sure how to respond. Michael quickly glanced to me, wondering if I heard him. I turned my hand over from under Michaels, grabbing his own hand. He was hesitant before gripping my hand back.
"That's very sweet of you to say," I whispered to him. Heat began to rise to my cheeks as I watched Michael win the case of Pepsi. He looked up to me, his own cheeks flushed a bright red. I gave him a genuine smile, to which he returned. "So, when do I get to try that Crystal Pepsi?"
Michael chuckled, his eyes never leaving mine, "About two weeks." I removed my hands from his shoulder, allowing Michael to stand up. He turned of the computer, and we walked side my side to the exit. "Where's Jeremy?"
"Oh, um, I don't know. He um, wanted to be left alone so I came to find you," I lied.
"Well, we'll just wait for him in the parking lot then," Michael suggested. Our hands swayed by our sides, occasionally touching one another. I reached my hand out, brushing my fingers against his. My eyes flickered to Michael's face, to our hands, then back in front of me. I reached my hand out again, his meeting me halfway. We intertwined our fingers together, swinging our arms slightly as we walked. A smile bloomed across my face, ultimately falling once a familiar face appeared in front of me.
"What did I say about getting close to Michael?" Scarlett scolded. "This will use make things more difficult when you have to pull away. He is not in your goal." I tried to ignore her. What if I wanted to change my goal?
"Changing your goal? That would be a bit difficult at this point." At first I was shocked, but then I realized, Scarlett was a supercomputer in my brain, of course she could read my thoughts.
Why didn't you just tell me to communicate with you like this before?
She shrugged, "Didn't cross my mind." I rolled my eyes as we exited the mall.
What if being friends with Michael is my goal?
"You have two goals. Being popular, and being with Michael. You cannot have both."
But, I-
"You can't tell me that you only want one, I'm in your head, I know what you want." My thoughts raced as we approached Michael's car. Our hands separated as I entered the passenger seat and Michael sat in the driver's side. I looked out the window as we waited for Jeremy. Just then, a car drove pass, Brooke driving with.... Jeremy in the passenger side!
I pulled on Michael's sleeve, still looking out the window watching as Brooke drove away. "I don't think Jeremy needs us to wait for him..."
"What do you mean?" I turned to look at Michael's confused face.
"I'm pretty sure I just saw him leave... with Brooke." Michael pulled his phone from his pocket, hurriedly typing something.
"You should take a hint from Jeremy," Scarlett said from the backseat.
Shut up.
"He usually texts me back immediately," Michael sighed, placing his phone in his lap.
"I'm sorry..." I said, giving him a small smile.
"It's not your fault... let's just go," Michael assured me.
I wanted to ask him if he was ok, but instead I responded, "Alright."
Word Count: 3002
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The New Girl: A Be More Chill Fan Fiction (Maybe Discontinued?)
FanfictionIn progress. Probably will be a lot of errors, I'm waiting to edit until the story is complete. Feel free to point any major errors out and I'll fix them! . . . . . I was never the most popular girl in my school, but I was finally getting to press t...
