A/N - This chapter is now edited /thankfully/. Now buckle your seatbelts churren, because there's going to be many, many, musical references.

The Squip's demise brought joy and happiness, especially to Michael, who was more than glad to have his best friend back. He thought that the story ended there, that the red mountain dew ensured a drama-free world. Little did he know that every new beginning comes from another beginning's end.

...

That's it then. No more drama for another lifetime. Michael felt more stress in his Sophomore year than in his whole entire life. The Squip incident was...well, stressful. His poor unfortunate soul had been through too much. Let's review, Michael...

1. Was ditched by his best friend at the biggest party of the fall, despite the fact that the latter knew of Michael's anxiety and panic attacks

2. Confessed to his best friend's dad that he might have feelings for Jeremy

3. Had to deal with his 'new and improved' /mean, drugged and angsty/ best friend

4. Remained calm and collected through the hole Christine /Christinneeeeee/ phase, even though it pained him to see Jeremy falling for someone other than him

The thing is, the Christine phase wasn't just a phase. Jeremy's feelings were genuine. So they talked to each other, and now they're dating. Needless to say, eleventh grade came and went by excruciatingly slowly. Jeremy seemed to fade more and more from Michael's grasp, but that was okay as long as he was happy, right? He thought back on all his interactions with his best friend;

With all of Jeremy's time spent on school and Christine, there seems to be no time for him to just chill with Michael. In fact, they don't play video games after school anymore, or talk countless hours on the phone during weekends. They don't hum Bob Marley tunes on the way to class, they barely even have classes together anymore. At least they hung out during lunches right? Some dark and uncharacteristic part of Michael's mind reminded him how lunches didn't really count, because Jeremy always had one arm around Christine's waist, and strung up conversations with his new pals /the popular squad/. People he hated less than two years ago. Wow, things really have changed.

During lunches /and those minimal classes together/, Jeremy would glance at him from time to time, smile to reassure that their bond was as strong as ever, and go back to whatever he was doing previously. Did he think he was stupid, or did he really not see that he was no longer his favorite person? Maybe he just doesn't care, counterparts a voice in Michael's head. No, Jeremy already messed up their relationship with the Squip, he wouldn't mess it up again on purpose, right? Don't forget that he's got other friends now, popular ones. An unsettling feeling settled itself in Michael's stomach.

Jeremy didn't ignore him, no not really. He just...he was preoccupied by other stuff. As you get older, time does get more valuable. They hung out sometimes when Christine was too busy with all of her club activities and couldn't make it on a date. Jeremy would then invite him to play video games with him. But Michael would be lying if he said he was happy with it. If he was perfectly content that his best friend almost always spent time with Christine, and close to never spent time with him, he would be lying. He was humble when it came to his opinions and feelings, but it crossed a line when he couldn't feel them anymore. Because the truth was, that his 'opinions and feelings' didn't matter to Jeremy, didn't matter to anybody, really. His parents were always working or away on vacation, and barely saw Michael, much less talk to him about his problems. After the Squip incident, everything was supposed to get better. At least everything got better, for everyone else. For Jeremy. He got to keep his popularity, found a caring father along the way, and he got the girl. But for Michael, things were as they were before, if not worse. No. Definitely worse. He was fading away from Jeremy, slowly but surely. And the worst part was that he couldn't do a single thing about it.

Or could he?

He wasn't cool like Rich or Jake, he wasn't a jock or an athlete, he didn't sign up for plays like Christine, he couldn't act or sing or dance as well as other people could, he didn't wear awesome clothes that were designer or trendy, he didn't own the latest phone, he wasn't good with girls, he didn't have the nicest car, he didn't own social medias to vent or brag or upload his 'life' to.

No.

He was Michael. The awkward nerdy geek, the one who drank slushies and bought outdated Mountain Dew Red. The one who hid his pathetic feelings for his best friend, the one who was obsessed with musicals and Marvel TV shows, the one who wore red hoodies with pride patches on them, the one who constantly wore those hoodies to hide his pacman tattoo in shame /because his best friend, who suggested that they'd get them together. never displayed pride in his geekiness anymore/, the one who was gay, the one driving a PT Cruiser, the one who had panic attacks and suffered from extreme anxiety.

But he was also Michael. The hero who saved everyone from the squip. Michael who still cared for his best friend even though the latter had ditched, ignored, abandoned him. Michael who was in too deep in the shenanigans of love. Michael who was proud to like guys and create diversity in the world. Michael who made an entrance. But all of that got swept under the rug when 'Jeremy saved everyone from the squip' as everyone put it. Was Michael that forgettable? Maybe the audience just didn't see him with the Mountain Dew red. But Jeremy knew, he screamed his name in sheer relief. And yet, when people asked him how he did it, how he deactivated the squip, he always failed to mention how Michael was included in the denouement. Maybe the squip somehow deleted that memory, but it was unlikely. Too many things were changing for Michael. He couldn't stand it.

Michael told himself that it would be enough to be Jeremy's friend, which was fine, because he was so used to suppressing his feelings. But there was a flaw in his plan. His feelings only grew, and grew, and grew, until seeing him with Christine was too overbearing. Until looking and admiring wasn't enough. He always told himself, 'One more year. Endure it one more year, then you can get over him far, far, away from here', but one year more (one day more /haha/) of that was just too much.

Michael then realized three fundamental truths:

#1. He was hopeless, and helplessly in love

#2. He would never get over Jeremy completely, therefore he was a Dead Boy Walking if he wanted to survive his last year of high school

And...

#3. He would never be satisfied...

God, senior year would never end at this rate.