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It was gone,
It was really gone…
The only thing Jake had to remember his parents other than his own memories is gone…
It’s burned to the ground…
Jake felt somewhat happy,
Wandering the lonely halls of that big house made him feel small…
One small thing attempting to fill the house…
He hosted parties to cope with the overwhelming sense of loneliness…
It worked for the most part, except he always expected to be able to throw those kinds of parties…
Now, without a big house, big parties are out of the picture.
And it wasn’t like his parents were just going to drop everything and return home and help him…
No, that would risk too much, they made the slip up to send him letters,
Which ultimately ended once they almost got caught because of it…
Rich was Jake’s best friend, well was until this whole thing.
Not once has Jake went to see him in the hospital…
Instead, he chose to stay with Chloe or Brooke, sometimes both
After the Squip incident, everything started getting more and more okay for Jake…
But, Jake has never forgotten about that party…
~
Jake hadn’t seen Rich in a while, he had heard others saying how he was yelling about some drink.
Jake walked up the stairs, and repeatedly called out Rich’s name over the loud trashy music,
Jake was at the entrance of the game room when he found Rich…
Rich was standing holding something in his hands, muttering to himself…
Rich seemed so out of it, considering Jake had barely seen Rich drink that night,
Other than a few cheap beers, he had no alcohol in his system…
He hadn’t had any of the weed, so that was off the list…
Jake began to listen and began to make sense of what Rich was saying,
“…No one even knows the real me…”
At that Jake visibly froze, he thought he was best friends with this guy…
“…after I got the Squip, I wasn’t the depressed suicidal kid with a lisp and an abusive father…”
Questions were running through Jake’s mind,
And for the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to do.
What to say…
Jake panicked when he heard those four words…
Spoken with such sincerity. Nothing like the Richard Goranski he knew…
Jake heard those few words and finally said the only thing he could say,
.
.
“Rich?”
~
That night had haunted Jake,
Every night, Jake would question himself…
‘What if I had noticed Rich in freshman year…’
‘What if I had helped him, and not have him get a squip…’
‘Could all of this have been avoided if I had just opened my eyes?’