Chapter 03

I didn't sleep well that night. All throughout my sleep I kept seeing the guy from the club blowing his brains out over and over again. And when he subsided the girl from my vision walked towards me with the same pleading look in her eyes as before.

All she kept saying was "Why don't you come? I've left the door wide open for you. All you have to do is find it."

To this I responded "But where is this door you're talking about? Why must I come to the wired to see you? Listen, I want to see you but I don't know how. Hell, I don't even know your name, though you seem to know mine."

She closed her eyes at these words as though she was deep in thought. Than she opened them and said "My name is Lain. Look in your locker at school. I'm sure the Knights have left you a little present."

"Who are the Knights? What did they leave me? Lain, what does this have to do with me coming to the Wired?"

"Everything…" She said, and all of a sudden my ears filled with the cacophony of my alarm clock and Lain faded from my sight as I opened my eyes.

Later at school I resumed my daily trudging through my life, living day by day with no real purpose. During 3rd period my cellphone rang up a text message

Matt,

If you have lunch 4th period, come meet me at the lobby. I want to talk about last night with you.

Jenn

I texted her back saying I would meet her there. So 4th came with the rush of pubescent carnivores ready to eat whatever slop the cafeteria had to offer today. In the lobby I saw a flock of red hair which clued me in to Jenn's location. She looked like I felt, basically. Her eyes were red and puffy as though she had been crying all night, she had circles under her eyes that gave her the appearance of a raccoon, and she slumped in apparent exhaustion against the wall. However she greeted me with a small smile when I approached her, and hugged me tightly.

"What's going on Jenn?" I asked when we parted the embrace.

"Well, how do you feel about last night?"

"What do you mean?" I asked completely confused as to why she would ask such a cryptic question "What happened last night was terrible! I mean what the hell could cause someone to snap like that!" I exclaimed. Tears welled up in her eyes again as she explained the meaning to her cryptic attitude.

"Well, it's just that Nick and Ben don't seem to care. They all act like he was some crackhead who had an overdose and went insane. But after seeing something like that how could they be so nonchalant about the whole situation?" At this point the tears overwhelmed her and I pulled her close as she wrapped her arms around me, silent as the tears streamed down her face. All the while I couldn't help but think about what the hell was wrong with those two. "…And then I had this weird dream last night about some little girl…"

"What do you mean?" I said with a note of fear coming into my voice.

"Well, it was this girl with auburn hair and a braid on one side, she looked so young but at the same time she looked so old. All the while she was telling me to 'guide Matt into the wired' or something."

"Jenn…" I said backing away from her "…I saw the same girl before the guy killed himself and again in my dreams last night." The both of us got really quiet afterwards and didn't talk until we parted, I decided then it would probably be a good Idea to check my locker.

Except for my schoolbooks the entire thing seemed empty and blank. I never saw the point of decorating my locker for I only had one year left in middle school and it didn't seem to be worth my trouble. I was about to close it I heard Lain's voice say "Look at the top." After a quick glance around to see if anyone was watching I reached into the top shelf and pulled down a plain brown envelope like the ones used in offices to transfer papers, with the message "Something you might find fun." written on it. Opening it I reached inside to withdraw a small computer chip. I was completely clueless as to why I might find it fun, but I'd figure I'd go to Cyberworld and ask if there was anybody who knew what the hell was it.

Wearing another one of Jenn's strange outfits I went inside the club to the blast of techno that I guess was common place. Over in the corner I saw three "gothicky" girls huddled over laptop. Figuring they might be able to help me I walked over to them. They took one look at me as I approached and rolled their eyes, but one was looking at me strangely as she asked what she could do for me.

"I was hoping you could tell me what this is." I said withdrawing the chip out of my pocket. The girl's pupils widened to the size of quarters.

"How did you get that?" She asked me with impression in her voice.

"Sent to me. I have no fucking clue what is though."

"This is the most advanced processor out there, what's you navi's model." I told her only to here a sharp intake of breath. "If you have an Intrigue installing this puppy will be easy. What grade are you in?"

"8th, but what has that got to do with anything."

"Chester Arthur Middle?"

"Yeah, but…"

"Chapter 7 in the basic computer knowledge textbook you got last year will tell you how to install it." She finished.

"Really? Thanks!" I said turning to walk away.

"But…" She said stopping me "…this info will come at a price. Luckily you look pretty cute so how's about a date."

At once I lost control of my body as some unknown entity took over "A date, huh? Sorry, but I already have a girlfriend." "I" said leaving her speechless both by "my" sneering tone and the message that they carried. As I came home I found Jenn waiting outside my front door.

"Hey Matt!" She said greeting me with her usual energetic self.

"Jenn, why are you here? Shouldn't you be at home?" I asked her.

"I can't… After last night I realized all I wanted to do was spend a little time with you. If that's alright with you I mean. Your parent's already said it was fine…"

"Sure, why not?" I asked a smile coming to my face, despite myself, But as I said that I remembered what "I" said back in the club. No, it couldn't mean that I… "Besides…" I said to get the confusing thoughts out of my head "…I actually could use some help with something if you don't mind."

An half-an-hour later the navi was stripped to it's skeleton and Jenn had the textbook opened to chapter 7. She blushed as she read the line "to prevent static shock to the inside of your navi, it is advisable to remove all outer clothing."

"What?" I said going an even deeper shade of red. I shrugged "Well, I'll risk it." And through the night we worked on my Navi until about 2AM both of us forgoing dinner. By the time I put the outer shell back together Jenn was already asleep on my bed. Figuring how tired she was I decided to just let her sleep; besides she looked so cute asleep. WHAT? What was I thinking? There was no way she and I could… But what if? I fell slowly into sleep though my mind was racing, and had constant dreams of Jenn.