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Jeremy hates thunderstorms. Hates them with every inch of his being.
So when the first crack of thunder came down right in the middle of his math class, he almost drops on sight. It’s hard enough to keep from squeaking, let alone bursting into tears, but he grips the sides of his desk as hard as he can and works to steel himself.
“Jeremy!” His Squip calls, materializing in front of Jeremy’s desk to keep his attention away from the window. He’s smiling and his voice is chipper, but there’s a clear sense of artificiality behind it. “Look at the kitties!”
Jeremy blinks as a video of small kittens playing begins, overlayed with real life. He takes a breath, trying to focus. Apparently all prospects of him being big are right out the window, if his Squip isn’t even trying to help him stay big. And he does love kitties.
The class crawls by. His Squip activated his optic nerve blocking so he wouldn’t be able to see the window, but that doesn’t stop his body from jolting every time thunder struck. Auditory nerve blocking didn’t work either, because he could still feel it, and feeling it without hearing it made it even harder for him to keep a grip on the illusion of being big.
The bell can’t ring fast enough. Jeremy’s hands are shaking, and he’s about to scramble to the nearest bathroom and cry until Micha takes him home, when someone unfamiliar grabs his wrist.
He’s roughly two seconds away from screaming and breaking down crying like a baby in front of his entire class when he sees Rich is the one hanging over him.
“Come on,” Rich murmurs. He readjusts his grip so he’s holding Jeremy’s hand as he leads him down to the library.
The place is near deserted, and the librarian only gives Rich a polite smile as he walks past. He offers a wave in return, and then disappears into a tiny, cozy area near the back. There’s a lone bean bag there, which Rich gently pushes Jeremy into.
“My Squip gave me the heads up.” Rich explains. “I don’t like storms either, so I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Oh.” Jeremy shifts, wrapping his arms around himself in a desperate attempt at self-comfort. Even if that was true, it was clear Jeremy was the only one slightly little in this situation.
“So why do you hate storms?” Rich asks.
“Why do you?”
“Because my dad was always passed out drunk when they hit so I had to go through them alone.”
Jeremy winces. “I’m sorry, Richie.” He takes a deep breath. “I’m scared because they remind me of when my Squip used to shock me to make me do things.” It seemed so small compared to what Rich had to go through, even if Jeremy had to go through a somewhat similar situation, but he’d never developed a true fear of storms until his Squip started telling him that everything he was ever doing was absolutely wrong.
“I’m sorry, Jer.”
Before Jeremy can answer, another rumble of thunder shakes through the school, and he finds that he can’t control himself anymore. He just lets the tears build up and spill over.
“Oh… hey, it’s okay. You like stories, right? Your Squip said you like stories.” Rich stands, scouring the shelves. Jeremy then notices they’re in the youth section. No wonder the area was all but deserted.
“That one.” Jeremy sniffles, pointing to the set of Magic Tree House books.
“Yeah?” Rich takes the first one in the series. “Here. Move over and we can snuggle, yeah? That always helps me calm down during a storm.”
Jeremy does so, slightly surprised when Rich wraps an arm around his shoulders and begins to read. Not only is Rich warm and comfy, but he’s also a really good snuggler. His Squip begins playing soft music, which works perfectly in slowing down his heart.
By the time the bell rings to signal next period, he feels perfectly capable of acting big again. As he’s standing up, Rich confirms that he’s okay at least three times, but he waves it off.
But before he can leave, his Squip materializes. “Jeremy, what do you say?” he coaxes.
Jeremy throws his arms around Rich and hugs tight. “Thank you, Richie.”