#dark enough

Summary: "Hey, uh, Win?" Ed said, gently rapping his knuckles against the door as he pushed it open. He swallowed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm, uh... I'm not going to be able to finish my client. I need you to take over. When you've got a minute." "What's wrong? What happened?" she said in a low tone, reaching out and grabbing his hands. "Ed, you look like... What did she say?"  "Nothing, she just..." Ed shrugged and did his best to laugh, but it came out more like a whimper. "She just said that I don't look Xerxian. That I'm supposed to have brown skin. And I might have snapped at her a little bit." 

Requested

Jake loved Jeremy. He had since sophomore year and he ended up lab partners with the dork that had curly brown hair. He was nice, constantly giving him huge toothy smiles and listening to everything he said even though he knew Jeremy didn't care about sports. He saw Jeremy hang out with Michael all the time and despite knowing he couldn't be caught dead with a nerd like him Jake still wondered what it would be like to be his friend.

Much to Jake's surprise in Junior year Jeremy had become popular almost overnight. He was friends with Rich, dating Brooke and in the play with him too. And when they talked it was still the same dorky kid from sophomore year only there was something...off about him. He thought Jeremy probably wasn't used to handshakes but he always flinched when Jake got to close to him. He'd be in mid-sentence then suddenly stop talking as he backed away. Jake tried asking him about it but Jeremy never answered, instead bushing it off and changing the topic.

It was only after the night of the play did Jake find out that it was because of the SQUIP. The SQUIP made Jeremy popular and act different so that he could try to get with Christine. Even after months of hanging out with Jeremy, SQUIP-free, there had been something off about to the previously happy nerd Jake developed a friendship/kind of crush on. He still smiled all the time and was nice to everyone but there was something different now. But Jake always figured it was nothing, Jeremy was just getting used to not having a SQUIP again like Rich who was already acting like his normal self again.

It was human anatomy now and Jake was staring ahead at the empty desk where Jeremy usually sat wondering where the other boy was. He couldn't focus on anything the teacher was saying when the sound of the intercom made everyone's heads turn.