Chapter Text
Jeremy looked at everything that was currently in multiple boxes, scattered across the room. He was going to college. It was something that he had been waiting for. Sure, he somehow stayed “popular,” But there was one part that he missed about his life before the squip.
And that was Michael Mell.
That was why he wanted to go to college so badly. He wanted to leave his past behind. He didn’t want to remember himself as the person who hurt Michael. He didn’t want to think about anything remotely related to Michael.
Because it felt like a knife through his chest. It was heartbreaking to know that they’d never be the same. Michael never full-out ignored Jeremy, but that’s what it felt like.
After the squip, Michael stayed alone, it was what he seemingly wanted. Sure, Jeremy had Rich, Jake, Jenna, and the rest. Sure, he had dated Christine for a while, (until he realized he didn’t truly love her). Sure, it seemed like he was living his dream.
But he was honestly pathetic.
He stared at the crumpled-up picture of the ‘anti-social headphones kid’. It had been in a frame on his bedroom counter, but after the squip happened, he tore it down. He couldn’t bear to look at his face before he went to sleep. Then all of the events of the Halloween party would come back to him. Chloe. Being held down. Michael and the loser situation. Christine. All of it came in a flash when he stared at the photos. When he stared at the texts, anything could remind him of it.
And everyone treated it like it was a normal Saturday.
He didn’t need to be thinking about it now though. He was going to college. It was going to be a new environment.
And, besides, guys like him were cool in college.
Or at least Michael thought so.
He sat there for a long while, he believed that he may have been going insane.
“I’m off, Dad!” He exclaimed as his father placed the boxes in the back of his Nissan.
“I’m proud of you,” He said, squeezing his hand as a goodbye. They both knew it wasn’t going to be forever. Jeremy didn’t even know what he was going to do outside of college!
But he knew that it would at least distract him from everything.
As he entered his car, he felt anything but proud of himself.
The past three hours driving to his college campus were probably the most boring hours of Jeremy Heere’s life. He wanted to go to college so he could forget, but he just spent the last three hours remembering.
The photo of him and Michael was still sitting in front of his seat. It sat there, both of the boys staring him down; almost like they were taunting him.
He tried to get it out of his mind. It was almost like how he tried for a whole year to get the squip’s thoughts out of his head. But at least he didn’t see the squip at school for days on end, and at least he didn’t have texts, photos, years together, and-
Yep. That was something that he did not want to think about
One thing that he did want to think about was college! That was why he was here, wasn’t it!?
He was going to see his roommate. He was a bit nervous, he was Jeremy Heere, a professional in anxiety, so it made sense.
It probably wasn’t going to be anyone too bad. And, even if it was, he’d be at lectures most of the time, so he wouldn’t need to really know.
He stopped his hand flapping before he entered the room. He didn’t want whoever he was staying with thinking he was fucking weird already.
And as he opened the door, he saw the same person he had been worrying about.
Michael Mell.
The universe definitely seemed to be cruel.
He had seemed to grow out his hair a bit, a streak was now red. He was holding an energy drink in his hand, and his jacket had the same pins that it had a year ago.
Michael stared at the anxious boy who entered the dorm, he had just put up his posters and made it look a bit like home, and now he felt like he was going to fall out of the small beds they were given.
Jeremy Heere.
…wow.
He had pretty much tried to get him out of his memories. Sure, he was..friends with Jeremy, but being with Jeremy after the squip incident made him anxious. He wasn’t the one with a squip, sure. But he hated being reminded of it.
And Jeremy was the biggest reminder.
So he tried to avoid him in most situations and they had seemingly parted ways. He had some friends that most people in his school didn’t know about, and Jeremy was “invited into the high ranks.” They weren’t mad at each other, they were just…distant.
It was something that Michael wanted to keep. It was something that Jeremy wanted to break.
Jeremy dreaded seeing Michael’s face, but it was honestly a relief. He seemed to be doing well, and from the look on his face, he didn't seem to hate him like he thought he did.
“Hi?” He said, awkwardly, as he usually was.
“I see we meet again,” He said with a little smile, in true Michael fashion.
They hadn’t spoken in a year, but Jeremy felt like he had known him for his whole life. He felt like he had never left his side, playing Apocalypse Of The Damned.
He wished that he had never taken the tic-tac from Japan because he had now lost someone who he genuinely liked.
He always knew that he felt more for Michael. He knew it since he turned thirteen.
But he got into a relationship with Christine to hide. Sure, she was great, but she wasn’t Michael.
He might’ve been a coward.
He wasn't planning to confess his love anytime soon; he probably never would.
But it was still in the back of his head as he said his awkward hellos’.
Goddamnit. It was all confusing.
He felt the hot redness of his face and immediately left the room. He lied and said that he needed to see the rest of the campus. (He already had during orientation)
Michael simply sat there with no thoughts in his head. He didn’t mind Jeremy being there. The whole summer without thinking about the squip and Jeremy had cleared his mind. He wasn’t really planning to be friends with him. Michael didn’t need Jeremy. You could say that he didn’t even want to hang out with him. He had other people he knew were more important than the anxious boy.
He felt peace. For once in his life there weren't a thousand people screaming at him at a time. He was sitting there with his earbuds in and his head cleared.
He really was right, guys like him were cool in college.
He was at peace for once in his lifetime, and he wasn’t going to let Jeremy Heere ruin it.