22collinsi - Glad you're enjoying it. Hope the rest of the chapters have been satisfactory.
Chapter 13: Gotta Take the Upgrade
"You know that his parents think you were lovers, right?"
No person could ever predict the things that Jared Klienman would focus on. Evan was severely regretting the decision to ask his "friend" for help.
"What? No, no, why would they think that?"
"Oh? Who's in love with who, now?" Michael's voice cut in.
"No, no, nobody's in love with anyone-"
"He wouldn't let you be seen with him on campus, and when he did, he kicked your ass. That's, like, the formula for secret gay lovers."
"Well, it's not like- well, I couldn't-"
"I told you to nod and confirm. That's it! Just nod, and confirm. And you somehow managed to mess that up. Congratulations."
"See. You should have just told them the truth." Ah, that was Alana. Always the pretentious one, always having the solution to every problem.
"What else did you manage to completely fuck up?" And that was Jared. As subtle as a brick through a window.
"Well, ah, I told them that we wrote emails… that Connor had a secret email account."
"Ah, of course! One of those 'secret email accounts'."
"That's not actually all that implausible," Jermey muttered.
"I don't have emails! What do I do, what do I do?"
"Maybe you should stop lying," Alana suggested unhelpfully.
"I can do emails," Jared offered.
"What? Really?"
"It's easy! You just set up an account, backdate the emails, there's -"
"Ah, we could turn it into a gathering. A lovely meeting between friends." What was her name, Catherine? Didn't she have anything better to do?
"You'd do that?" A bit too much hope creeped into Evan's voice.
"For two grand."
"Two thousand dollars?"
"Five hundred."
"I can give you twenty."
"Fine, but you're a dick."
"When? Where?"
"Next weekend. You know that tiny little computer lab off to the side of administration?"
Of course Evan knew what that place was. Connor took his letter there, for goodness' sake. He'd literally had nightmares in that place, when he decided one night to just not take his medication and see what happened.
"Yes."
"See you there."
Alex walked into the room, and Evan instinctively slammed his laptop shut. A knee-jerk reaction from the time when he was younger.
It turned out that this was really unnecessary, however, as his roommate was a) drunk to the point of incoherency, and b) not even looking at him.
"Bye, John. Bye-bye!" Alex giggled. Actually giggled, just like a little girl.
Evan didn't move a muscle as Alex barely stumbled his way into the room without tripping, clumsily shoved the door shut without locking it behind him, and turned to look at him.
Something changed, because Alex's posture straightened and his eyes suddenly looked a lot more sharp.
"Evan. You look like you've seen a ghost."
All the boy could do is just shake his head.
"Oh, no. The Murphys. You just went there. How… I shouldn't bother asking how it went."
"Hell."
"What?"
"I think I've seen a glimpse of hell now."
The Southern Library was just proving to be a favorite hangout for Thomas Jefferson in the dead of night, it seemed. He lounged about on the same couch, wearing yet another ridiculously fancy fuschia outfit, fiddling with something in his pocket.
The double doors opened, and in walked a short, stooped, wimpy looking person, with a frown on his face and a terrible sense of defeat in his eyes, which didn't even seem to have the energy to look upwards and meet anybody else's.
"Ah. Richard. Rich. Richy. What was your last name, again?" Thomas said loudly.
"Goranski," Rich mumbled.
"I actually don't care," Thomas admitted.
Rich couldn't even muster a reply to this insult.
"I heard that you were quite the popular kid back in high school. How have your strategies worked when you transferred over to higher education? How's the college life treating you?"
"You know exactly what this hellhole is doing to me, otherwise we wouldn't be here," Rich nearly spat.
"Actually, I'd still probably be here," Thomas replied.
"Give it. Give it to me," Rich demanded.
Out of one of his many coat pockets, Thomas pulled out a small little capsule. Inside was a shiny grey pill. It didn't look like anything special to the untrained eye, but Rich stood up straight and looked at it eagerly.
He extended a hand to grab it, only to pause while it was inches away and retreat.
"So. You're sure that this thing will work?"
"Absolutely! I've taken one myself, and look at where it got me." Thomas spread his arms wide in one of those grand, theatrical motions that he enjoyed, showing off the whole library as if he owned it. "This place is probably going to get named after me before long. If those bureaucrats ever get around to doing such an important task, of course."
"And exactly how much is this going to cost me? Every time that you've offered one, you never mentioned a price tag."
"We can discuss payment later," Thomas literally waved away. "Don't you want the upgrade now?"
"Yes…" Rich said uncharacteristically quietly.
"This world will be your oyster. What are you waiting for?"
Those words apparently did it for Rich. He snatched the capsule, nearly tore it off its hinges, grabbed the pill inside with two meaty fingers, and prepared to pop it in his mouth.
"You know, I wouldn't recommend doing it right here," Thomas offhandedly mentioned. "It can sometimes have some adverse side effects. Take it outside of a public place, like your dorm. With water."
Looking incredibly disappointed, Rich stuffed the pill back into the capsule, nearly crushed the entire case in his fist, and quickly walked out the door.
Thomas began to laugh that iconic laugh of his, disturbing the midnight silence of the library. Things were set in motion, now. He'd have his way before long. It was only a matter of time.
Two chapters in a single week?! Well, I did say that I wanted to provide for you all.