The (Totally Not Misleading) Calm
Connors finger hovered over the button uncertainly. There were so many ways this could go wrong. There were so little ways this could go right.
He'd been meaning to do this for a while. Well, that's a lie. Over the past few months, he'd been thinking about it, and then immediately pushing those thoughts down. After all, they'd left on practically the worst terms they could have left on.
Well, other than that whole mess with the coma and the letter.
But this was far different than that, because that could have been blamed on multiple people. This could only be blamed on one.
Connor sighed, and deleted the text. He wished he could smoke a little, to calm down, but his parents have been keeping him on a very strict lockdown. Idiots. He felt as though he was going to go insane.
Connor laid back on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Without the sweet release of his drugs, all the things he'd rather not think about came flooding back.
He doesn't know why he didn't just delete that stupid contact off his phone. Despite the We'll Get Better apps really odd insistence (constant weird messages like: "maybe it's a good time to do that thing you've been putting off" and "Old friends are still friends!". Connor would be freaked out if he cared), some dump fires you started can't be picked up. That's one reason he hasn't talked to that Hansen kid. Too much of a mess.
And yet, despite Connors repeated assurance, he could never bring himself to delete Miguel Maynard from his phone. On the bright side, this stupid app did give him more people to hang out with, who luckily didn't want to hang out often, so the Miguel Maynard's name was buried underneath Donte Marshell, Hailie Wiggins and Rares Velez.
But that wouldn't delete the stupid name. So, like he had been doing for the past hour, he opened the contact once again, and typed in the same message he'd been staring at for so long. Did Miguel know what happened? Would he even want to speak to Connor again? Could they ever have the same relationship again?
With those questions in mind, Connor was staring once again at his text.
Miguel Maynard
Hey, I'm alive
Michael wondered what Veronica and the rest of them were even worried about. Not only did this app seem completely harmless, but it even seemed to be helping people! In fact, it was even helping Michael, too, and Michael didn't think he could be helped. But it did help with his confidence, and with his drug addiction. It gave him mental tricks to do and it gave him more hobbies than just video games. Michael never knew he would like film studies, but it was actually surprisingly fun.
And, luckily, he wasn't so dependent on Jeremy anymore, which was probably a relief to both of them. They still hung out, but now they could also hang out with other people without the other one getting lonely or sad.
And he saw it helping with all his new friends as well. Jenna, Jake, Rich, Chloe, Brooke and Christine. In fact, despite what happened at their old school, they were all pretty close now.
Christine and Jeremy weren't dating anymore, but they still remained close friends. They were close even without the We'll Get Better app.
Rich and Jake apologized to both Jeremy and Michael for bullying them, Chloe, Jenna and Brooke apologized to Rich for spreading rumours and Jeremy apologized for the whole SQUIPcident. Then Rich apologized too, because apparently he forgot he told Jeremy about the SQUIP.
Anyway, because of the app, the group had a fresh start, and now Michael would even go so far as to say that he enjoyed their company.
"Hey, Michael!"
Speaking of company, Michael turned away from where he was listening to music in his lock to look at Rich, who was running up to him with an excited look on his face.
"Hey, Rich," Michael greeted. His voice was so quiet he wondered if Rich could even hear him above all the chatter.
"Did you hear?" Rich asked, panting slightly. "Jake'th... I mean, Jake's having a party this Sunday! Wanna come!"
Michael absolutely did NOT want to go, and luckily he had the perfect excuse. "Sorry, but I can't. Me and Christine are going to the Portal musical," Michael told him. Rich frowned.
"That's a thing?" he asked skeptically. Michael shrugged.
"Not officially," he replied. "That's why it's called the unauthorized musical."
"Oh," Rich looked, understandably, confused. "You guys have fun then."
"We'll see," Michael told him. "By the way, what happened to your lisp?"
Rich scowled. "What lisp?" he asked, but didn't wait for an answer as he stomped away. Michael waved him go.
Rich and his lisp were a little weird. Sometimes Rich was fine with it, and didn't care about how he pronounced his s', but other times he completely denied its existence. It was confusing.
But Michael didn't care too much. Everyone in their group was a little peculiar. It was part of why he liked hanging out with them.
"What, no thank you?"
J.D looked back at Alana, a teasing smirk growing on his face. "You'll get a thank if I pass the test."
Alana raised an eyebrow. "That's sure confident."
"About as confident as I am in your tutoring skills!" J.D shouted back. He turned a corner before Alana could make a quip back.
Alana shook her head, but it was more in amusement than in annoyance. She knew... she was pretty sure J.D didn't mean what he said. And he probably would pass the test... Well, she hoped so anyway.
Navigating around the student filled halls, Alana managed to find her two other friends. It wasn't too difficult, after all, one was green and the other was radiated enthusiasm like she was the sun.
Glinda's face lit up at the sight of Alana, which was a nice feeling, and Elphaba gave her a smile. Alana gave them both a small smile back.
"Hey, Alana!" Glinda said cheerfully. "How was your weekend? How many people did you tutor for the test today?"
"My weekend was... productive," Alana replied. "And I managed to tutor five people, in total."
"Aw," Glinda sighed, pouting. "I only managed three."
"That's two less," Alana mused. She turned to Elphaba. "How many did you tutor?"
Elphaba reached into her locker. "You both realize you should tutor people because you want to help them and not for some completion?"
Glinda gasped, looking offended. "Of COURSE we know, Elphie!"
Alana nodded. "There's no harm in adding just a little bit of competition. There's not even a prize!"
"Alright," Elphaba sighed, closing her locker. "I only really helped one person, and it was on a singular word problem."
"So you're in last then!" Alana realized. Elphaba nodded, not looking to disappointed about it.
"Yep."
Glinda gasped. "But didn't the We'll Get Better app tell you that you should tutor people?!"
"Not mine," Elphaba said. "Mine told me there was a park that needed cleaning around here, so I spent most of my weekend doing that with Heather Chandler and this guy from a collage around here. I think his name is Jehan or Jean or something like that. He's French, at least."
"Wait, so who did you help?" Alana asked.
"It was Chandler," Elphaba replied. "It took a while, but eventually she asked me for help."
"Oh," Alana said, surprised.
Elphaba shrugged. "Yeah," she agreed. "I kind of thought she was kind of mean at first, too. But I think she's trying to get better."
"Wow," Alana said. Maybe she didn't give the We'll Get Better app enough credit. Not only did it make people better, but it also could mend broken relationships, her, Jared and Evan had reconciled after the complete mess of the Conner project. They weren't friends, but they were on better terms now than they were in the summer.
But, who knows? Maybe with the We'll Get Better app, they could be.
Heather Duke looked out at the students gathering at their lockers with a disdainful look. Behind her, her two 'friends' Tanya Ayers and Christie Dominguez chatted about something or other. She didn't really care.
Well, maybe she cared a little bit, as she leaned back to catch what they were saying.
Duke thought she was being remarkably subtle. Tanya and Christie, thought, thought differently.
"What do you think of Hope Solo, Heather?" Tanya asked politely. Duke snorted.
"Who?"
Tanya gasped. "You don't know who Hope Solo is?!" she cried, as if Heather had personally offended her.
"Am I supposed to?" Duke asked snootily. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Brook, Chloe and her old 'friend' Heather McNamara walk past. In her old school, she would have considered them enemies, but the three didn't do anything to warrant a feud. They mostly talk between themselves, leaving everyone else alone. So Duke just despised them in secret.
"Hope Solo is the greatest soccer goalie to ever live!" Tanya exclaimed, bringing Duke at least halfway back into their conversation. "You have to watch her play!"
"Why?" Duke asked, not really listening. She was still being angry at the other trio.
"To know the awesomeness of Hope Solo!" Tanya told her loudly. "Alright, tonight, you are coming over to my place and watching her soccer games you hear me?!"
"Can I come to?" Christie asked.
"Of course!" Tanya screamed like an army general.
"Whatever," Duke mumbled. Tanya and Christie cheered, like Duke had actually agreed to it. But it really didn't matter, because Tanya and Christie would make her go anyway. The power in their little group was a little askew.
With the We'll Get Better App, the students of Denaro High School seemed to be much better off. They were connecting, they were getting more active and they seemed to be movie on from the path that they had. But, could it last forever.
Well, nothing lasts forever. The app that had seemed to help them so much turned against them as soon as the police arrived.
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