Jeremy scuttles over to Christine and begins gathering up the books she dropped. She tenses up for a moment, almost sure that somebody is trying to steal her stuff, before looking up and realizing that the person grabbing all her stuff is somebody from her school. And not just anybody, but one of the other cast members in the school's most recent play, "A Midsummer Nightmare About Zombies." Honestly, that's kind of relieving, especially since most of her books are "No Fear Shakespeare" adaptations of some of his most classic plays, and most people would see that as kind of dorky. If she had a nickel for every time somebody called her a 'teacher's pet' for coming to English class with her own copy of whatever Shakespeare work they were forced to study that year, she would have enough money to direct and produce her own production of the same play.
But Jeremy is in the play, so he's more likely to be understanding. Sure, she doesn't know him all that well, but he seems nice enough.
"Hey, Jeremy. Thanks for helping." Christine grabs a few books that fell close to her, then pulls herself to her feet.
Jeremy's heart skips a beat. He nearly drops all of the books he has in his arms, but he just barely manages to hold himself together. "Oh, yeah, no problem!" After collecting the remaining books and shoving them into one of the many bags scattered on the floor, he hands them to Christine.
The two stay silent for a few moments. Jeremy can't think of what to say. At all. For the first time in weeks, his mind is completely silent. Growing more desperate by the second, Jeremy blurts out the first thing that comes into his mind.
"Shakespeare, huh? You know, I heard he, um, invented the word… milk."
Behind him, Michael chokes on his drink, barely able to hold in a laugh.
Christine's eyes light up. "Skim milk, actually. But, I can totally understand the confusion. He also made the words tranquil and flawed and lackluster, and so many others! Almost 2000 in total, you know?"
"That's amazing. I mean, I like to think I'm good with English, but he just takes it to a whole nother level," Jeremy says.
The girl clasps her books to her chest, practically bouncing with excitement. "Oh, definitely. I mean, I can't always understand what his writing is about, but even the plots of his plays are so intricate and the humor is so in-depth with references to Greek mythology and ancient history and- I'm rambling, aren't I?"
"No, no, I totally understand where you're coming from!" Jeremy does not, in fact, understand where Christine is coming from. But he's never been able to have a full conversation with her before, and he can't ruin it by shooting down her interests.
Christine breaks into a wide grin. "I've been reading "Much Ado About Nothing" lately, and I absolutely love the whole 'green world' theme. Do you have any favorites?"
Was any of that even English? Jeremy struggles to find something to say. Shit, what plays did Shakespeare write? Romeo and Julia? No- Juliet. Damn it, he can't think straight.
"I mean, I've kind of been into "Tenth Night" recently," he mumbles.
Christine doesn't miss a beat in replying. "Twelfth Night? I've heard that one is super difficult to understand."
Wait, is that what that play is called? What does "Twelfth Night" even mean? What are the twelve nights for, Christmas? Why is Shakespeare so confusing? Jeremy opens his mouth to speak and hopes for the best. "Oh, yeah, but it's really not a big deal."
Now, he really has to drive it home. "There's this really cool gift shop right around the corner. It even sells little chocolate Shakespeares, if you want one. I mean, if you want me to, I could- get one- for, um," Wait, is he being too forward? Hopefully he doesn't come off as creepy or desperate.
Michael slurps his drink a bit more loudly than usual, as if to remind Jeremy that he still exists.
Christine doesn't notice the slurping, or if she does, she doesn't make any indication. "I mean, I have a bit of time before my ride gets here. Me and a few others of us in the play were going down to the outdoor theater for a bit to sort of scope it out. If you don't have anything better to do, you're free to tag along."
Michael slurps his drink loud enough for the two to hear him.
Christine is the first to look over at the shorter teen.
"Oh, um, are you- are you sure you're not busy? I completely understand if you are." Those two are a couple, right? With the way they always hang out, and the fact that Jeremy is involved in theater, she always sort of assumed so. That, and the fact that neither of them have had a girlfriend in possibly forever.
Jeremy quickly glares at Michael, then shifts his focus back to the girl. "Pffft, nah. I'm totally down to, you know, explore the… art of theater."
Michael rests his head on one hand, turning away from the two. Jeremy can't seriously be thinking about ditching him over a silly little crush, not when they haven't had so much as an hour to just chill in the last few weeks. Is twelve years of friendship really that worthless to him? And how much longer is this going to go on, anyway? Jeremy has been blatantly ignoring him in school; is he going to continue with that for the rest of the semester? Or maybe even longer?
Jeremy continues talking to Christine. "I mean, if you're on a time limit, we can check out the gift shop right now."
Fucking bullshit. This is all bullshit.
"That sounds great!" Christine shoots a quick glance over to Michael. He's facing away from her, so his face is indistinguishable. Still, she can tell things aren't exactly peachy. Are he and Jeremy having a lover's quarrel, or something? Whatever it is, she doesn't want to get in the middle of it. Relationship drama is only fun in the theater world, not the real one. Maybe the two spending an afternoon away from each other will give them both some time to think.
"Perfect, let me just clear up my stuff." Jeremy heads back over to his table to collect the remnants of his sandwich so he can throw it in the trash. Just as he approaches the table, Michael sits up and gives him a cutting glare, one of a mix between disappointment and almost pleading for him to stay.
After a few moments of silence, Michael finally speaks. "Jeremy…"
The taller teen doesn't look his friend in the eyes. "Look, we'll be able to hang out some other time, alright? Don't make a big deal out of it."
"You say that, but I'm not entirely sure you're telling the truth," Michael says, quietly.
Jeremy furrows his eyebrows. "What, you don't trust me? Geez, I don't see what you're so up in arms about." He lowers his voice to a whisper. "This is probably the only time I'll have a chance with Christine, anyway."
Michael stumbles over his words, taken aback. "Well, well- maybe I was actually looking forward to having a chance to hang out with you. Maybe you shouldn't have promised that we were going to hang out if you can't commit."
"Jesus, chill out. It's only for one afternoon," Jeremy says, nonchalantly.
The shorter teen stares down at the table, his voice full of spite. "Do I suddenly not matter to you? What, am I too boring now that you're finally 'popular' or whatever?"
Jeremy throws up his hands in exasperation. "I never said anything like that. Maybe you're just projecting-"
"Or maybe you should stop lying to her! You could, I don't know, tell her the truth; that you know nothing about Shakespeare!" Michael is nearly yelling now, both of his hands slammed down onto the table.
Christine stares at the two. She feels sort of awkward being there, like she shouldn't be watching or listening to them.
Jeremy can feel a blush rising on his cheeks. "Maybe you need to learn to shut the hell up. If you're going to be so defensive about everything, you may as well not even be here!"
The shorter teen instantly softens his voice. "I- wha-?" He backs down, withdrawing his hands and placing them in his lap.
But Jeremy holds steady. "You heard me. Any plans we had for today, just forget about them, alright? I'm going with Christine."
Michael covers his mouth with one hand, and turns away from Jeremy, seeming stunned into silence.
Jeremy gathers up his trash and walks away, glancing back at Michael one last time as he reaches the garbage bins across the food court. The teen has his head buried in his hands, his glasses tossed haphazardly on the floor next to him. Jeremy throws away the rest of his sandwich and walks back over to Christine, who has a slightly worried look on her face.
Just as Jeremy walks out of the food court with Christine, he sees the Squip walking towards him, clapping his hands slowly. The Squip has an almost wild look in his eyes, but seems strangely well-composed as he walks up to Jeremy and pats him on the back.