"Rich!" I said, nodding my head as I came towards him in the lunchroom.

He returned the greeting. "Hey."

"Dude," I said, leaning on the table, "How do I get rid of it? The SQUIP?"

He started laughing. "You're kidding, right?"

"No. I want this shit out of my head."

Rich rolled his eyes. "Yeah, can't help ya there. Sorry dude."

"This isn't funny, Rich," I hissed, clenching my fists, "this is ruining my life. You don't get it, I need to get rid of it."

"What do you mean 'ruining your life?' Dude, don't think I didn't see you with the Selfie Squad at that party. You're in with the Hot Girls. I wouldn't be so eager to throw that away."

"If you haven't noticed, Chloe is dead," I sneered. "I don't consider last night good luck, and I don't think that this is helping."

"I knew you were a loser but I didn't know you were a complete idiot!" Rich hissed in my face, turning to walk away. "You're on your own, tall -ass. Sorry."

I gripped the back of his shirt in a moment of either super confidence or super stupidity. The SQUIP screamed at me, "You're making a mistake." I ignored it and dragged Rich backwards. I glared down at him.

For someone so short, Rich had a lot of nerve. Five foot whatever of pure rage. "Let go of me, tall-ass."

"How do I get rid of it?"

"That's not my problem, you paid to get one. I don't do refunds."

I shoved him away. "I'm not asking for a refund."

I heard someone behind us start chanting fight, fight, fight! And part of me feared Rich would give in.

"Yo, Rich, this weirdo giving you trouble?" Jake asked, punching his friend on the arm.

Rich's eyes didn't move from me. "Just a geek trying to imitate the popular people."

"Back off," I snarled, taking a step forward. Honestly, I have no idea why I was being so bold, but that doesn't matter now. Jake was also clenching his fists, and I knew I couldn't take them both on.

"Jeremy, you need to exit this situation," The SQUIP instructed. "This will escalate if you don't leave now."

I'm not taking advice from you.

Maybe I should have. Maybe I wouldn't have ended up with a black eye if I had actually listened.