Imma speed things up a bit heere.

-×-

About a week later [see?], I found myself sitting in the school library hunched over a book about the cardiovascular system. Not my preferred way to spend lunch, but I had a test coming up, and I needed to pass. A few minutes before the bell, I put the book back in the shelf and headed off towards my locker.

While walking down the hall, I saw that add for the play again. The 8th . . .

Wait, that's today. I tried to decide whether or not I should go as I walked up to my locker. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I barely even noticed Jeremy at his locker next to mine. I heard him mutter something to himself as I approached.

"That's enough Squips to--" he stopped talking abruptly, and he stared into a shoebox.

"Watcha got there?" I asked catching him off guard. He quickly closed the shoebox and shoved it into his locker.

"Nothing!" he said quickly.

Start up, I thought.

"You sure about that?" I peered into his locker, but he stood in front of it.

What's up? Squip had appeared.

"Yes! Now mind your own business!" Jeremy said defensively.

"Why do you have a pair of women's Airwalk in there?" I asked. When Jeremy hesitated, I continued. "Or is there something else in that box?"

What does he have? Squip asked cautiously eyeing something next to Jeremy.

He has a box that I'm pretty sure is full of Squips.

"Get lost!" Jeremy said slamming his locker closed. The ironic part is that he walked away after saying it.

Real smooth, Squip taunted the air beside Jeremy before quickly running to hide behind me.

Coward. I rolled my eyes.

Rude. Squipsquop crossed his arms.

Whatever. I opened my locker. I'm going to the play tonight. Are you gonna watch it with me, or are you just gonna hang out in my brain?

Squipsquop smirked.

Are you asking me out on a date? he asked all cocky. I paused.

Well, no. His smirk faltered. But if you wanna look at it that way, sure?

Squip's smile had returned, but this time it was sheepish.

O-okay, he stuttered. I closed my locker and turned to face him as the bell rang signaling the end of lunch. The hall immediately flooded with students. Instead of disappearing, Squipsquop followed me to class.

What happened to not distracting me? I asked.

I missed you too much, he said plainly. I smiled as I took my seat.

For the rest of the day, Squipsquop stood by my desk cracking jokes and telling stories. I had to keep myself from laughing out loud several times. The kids around me probably thought I was insane, but I didn't care. I was having fun. At the end of school, Squip and I decided to head over to 7 Eleven to get slushies, but first, we hid behind the school so he could go into his tangible form.

He, of course, didn't wear his trenchcoat because, like, who wears trenchcoats to 7 Eleven? [Patiently awaits inevitable comments] Instead, he had on a pair of khakis and a knit sweater that was the same shade of dark blue as his hair.

"Ooh." I wiggled my eyebrows at him. "Looking sharp."

He blushed and put an arm around my shoulder. "Of course I do."

While walking to Sev-Elev, I noticed I got some confused looks from some of my classmates whom we passed on the sidewalk, and I honestly can't blame them. I'm not the type you'd expect to be walking around with anyone, let alone a cute boy.

"I am rather cute, aren't I?" Squipward mused.

"No." He stopped in his tracks confused. "You're absolutely adorable."

He was blushing for the rest of the walk to 7 Eleven. When we finally got there, we rushed through the doors excitedly.

"Dude, I can't wait for you to try one of these!" I exclaimed dragging him by the hand to the back of the store. The older woman who was running the cash register smiled at us we eagerly grabbed our cups.

I immediately went for the [favorite flavor] slush, but Squip hesitated. He analyzed each flavor like the computer he was.

"Which flavor should I get?" he asked me.

"Pfft, all of them. In one cup."

"What? No."

"It's really not bad when you try it, but . . . " I scanned the flavors before landing on the perfect flavor for him. "Ooh! You'll love this one!"

I grabbed his cup and filled it with Mountain Dew flavored slush. I handed it to him along with a straw and headed up to the counter. Squipsquop examined his slush while I payed. The lady at the counter smiled at us again.

"You two are so cute together," she said as I handed her the money. Squip and I both blushed. She gave me the change, and I thanked her before leading Squip out of the store. We leaned against the wall outside like the lousy, little loitering hooligans we were.

I looked over at Squipsquop and noticed that he was still just examining his slush.

"Are you gonna drink it or what?" I chuckled. Squip looked up at me before taking a sip. His eyes lit up in delight as soon as it hit his mouth.

"It's great, isn't it?" I grinned. He nodded vigorously while taking another sip. I laughed and ruffled his hair. "Adorable."

We chatted and made jokes the whole way home. When we got there, I threw our now empty cups into the trashcan outside the garage. I then turned to Squip. He had gone back into his normal form.

"Aww, no more khakis," I chuckled as I entered the house. We went to my room and hung out there before it was time to head to the play. I was honestly pretty stoked for the play because Shakespeare is dope.

Long live the Pope. The Pope smokes dope, Squippy murmured as we walked to the school.

"What?" I laughed.

Nothing. He grinned.

We were almost late, so when we got to the school, almost everyone who was there to see the play had already taken their seats in the auditorium. I walked down the hall towards the auditorium with Squippy by my side. One of the few people who hadn't taken their seats yet was Michael. I smiled at him, and he ran over to me.

"Hey, Michael. Are you here to see the play?" I asked pointing towards the auditorium.

"I, um, yeah." He seemed nervous.

"Hey, is everything okay?" I asked concerned.

"Y-yeah. Everything's fine," he said, but I wasn't quite convinced.

"Are you sure?" I asked. He looked at me for a moment and nodded.

The next thing I knew something was being poured into my mouth. It happened so fast I could hardly even process what was happening, but everything clicked the moment I heard Squip cry out in pain beside me. I immediately spit out as much of the liquid as I could and started choking. I looked up and saw Michael holding a bottle of Mountain Dew Red.

My head began to hurt as I scrambled towards the nearest bathroom.

-×-