—The room was dark, even though it was only 3:00 PM. White noise floods the atmosphere, being produced from the equipment scattered around the room. A bed was situated in the middle of the convoluted mess. Nurses, doctors, and even a member of the county police were all waiting in line to greet the patient.
Jayson, Isabelle, and Josh were in line, being put at the front since Jayson was considered a special guest.
The entire time Jayson spent walking Isabelle and Josh around the hospital was not nearly as impactful as getting to see his mom. It was indeed the highlight of his day and week.
As Jayson and his friends approach their turn to see his mother, he turns to the few remaining staff in the room.
"Excuse me, but I'd rather the room not be so crowded," Jayson utters.
"Of course." A doctor responds, "Everyone, let's give the young man some private time with her."
Isabelle and Josh watched silently as the rest of the people in the room walked out of the room, letting the door behind them have the slightest amount of space from being shut. Once everyone is gone, Jayson loosens the straps on his shoulders and allows his backpack to sway in front of him. He unzips the top pocket and pulls out a set of flowers.
'Thank god they aren't ruined this time!' Jayson thinks as he pulls out the bundle of fauna.
Isabelle and Josh shimmery back and forth in a semi-awkward motion since they didn't know what to do. This was their first time seeing Jayson this vulnerable, let alone see him do his routine here. Jayson picks up the old flowers from last week and holds them in his opposite hand to put the new flowers in the vase.
"Um, Maguire..." Josh mumbles, "Want me to throw those out for you?"
"Nah, it's alright," Jayson responds, walking over to the trash can.
Isabelle walks over to the vase with her arms crossed tightly. She takes a better look at the flowers Jayson had bought, then studies the rest of the nightstand they rested on top of. She then spots the calendar Jayson marks every week, seeing all of the "X" marks on each Sunday of this month and the previous.
"If you want, you can mark today!" Jayson says from behind her right shoulder, then turning to Josh, "And so can you!"
"Are you sure? This seems to be a 'you' thing..." Ivy says nervously.
"Yea, I was thinking the same thing," Josh says.
"Well, this is your first time being here in the first place, so you guys could sign your names on today's date to commemorate it! It would be cool to look back on." Jayson explains.
When he put it like that, Isabelle and Josh seemed to be more open to it. Jayson shows them how he usually does it, crossing the date out with an "X." Then Isabelle and Josh sign their names next to the "X."
Josh looks at the calendar from two weeks ago. A circle was placed under the crossed-out date, having the words "2nd Anniversary!" in Jayson's writing style written next to it.
"Two whole years, huh?" Josh says to himself.
"Yeah, it doesn't feel that long ago, does it?" Jayson responds.
Isabelle walks over to Jayson's mom and inspects all of the wires and hookups around her body. Her eyes were covered with a sleeping mask, and her hands and arms were covered in IVs. Several machines next to her bed had readings of her heartbeat, oxygen levels, and pulse. Isabelle starts to get a little over-anxious looking at the state of Jayson's mother but doesn't want to make a scene.
Jayson walks over to his mother's side, sitting at the edge of her bed. Isabelle and Josh watch as he looks at her with one of the strongest gazes they have ever seen before. For a couple of moments, the only thing you could hear was the white background noise and the breathing of Jayson's mother.
Everyone else fell silent.
After staring at her for a little while, Jayson gets up from the bed. A doctor peaks his head into the room to see if everything is ok. The last time Jayson spent this much time in here, he had a panic attack. Jayson spots him and gives him a thumbs-up. Isabelle and Josh make their way to Jayson's side as he waves goodbye to his mom and walks out of the room.
The light around them was blinding for a minute straight after being in such a dark room for a little bit. Jayson didn't seem phased by it, but Isabelle and Josh were noticeably in discomfort.
"Are you guys ok?" Jayson asks.
"Oh yea, just splendid over here!!" Josh calls out, wiping his eyes aggressively.
"My eyes just haven't adjusted yet..." Isabelle mumbles.
"Ah, I see, because of how dark mom's room is..." Jayson nods his head, closing his eyes with them, "It took a couple of visits before I wasn't affected by the sudden change in light level."
"Well, thanks for the heads up..." Josh says playfully, but also passively.
Jayson and his friends laugh after talking with each other, making their way slowly to the parking garage. As they go through the maze of hallways and open lobbies, the group ends up at the parking garage entrance.
Before getting a chance to enter, however, a voice from down the hall echoes their way.
"*Jayson!*" The voice says.
Turning around to see who it is, Jayson is genuinely surprised who showed up. Josh also looks in awe and complete dismay.
"*MOM?! DAD?!*?!" Josh yells.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Benton!" Jayson calls out and waves in their direction. Josh's parents slowly make their way to the group.
"Well, this is a surprise! What are you doing here, sweetie?" Josh's mom says to her son.
"N-nothing," Josh says in embarrassment, "And don't call me that in front of my friends!! I'm not a kid anymore!!"
"Watch that tone." Josh's father says to him, with a deadly gleam in his eyes.
Josh's expression turns fearful as his father challenges him, letting Jayson's mind ease up a little bit.
"So, what are you guys doing here?" Isabelle asks them.
"We came to visit Jayson's mother! Our schedules were open today." The Bentons say.
Jayson looked at them as they spoke with joy in his heart. He had no idea that anyone else was visiting his mother other than him and some of his family. It gave him hope that someone in this world still cared for her. In Jayson's mind, his father had given up.
"Well, have fun with the line!" Jayson jokes, "She sure is a popular one around here!"
Everyone laughs, breaking the slight tension between Josh and his father. Before Josh's family walks off again, Josh steps forward a little bit.
"Hey, can they sleepover tonight? We have to study for an upcoming project." Josh asks.
Josh's parents stop their path to the elevator and glance at their son. Josh's father walks over to Josh and looks at him intently.
"For what?" His father asks.
"School," Josh responds quickly.
"For why?"
"It'll count for half of our grade this semester."
"For who?"
"Our science teacher?" Axel says confusingly.
Josh's father takes a moment and glances at Isabelle, who was staring at Josh in sheer disappointment.
"Is this all true?"
"A-ah! Well, u-um..." Isabelle shakes.
Josh's dad turns around and whispers to his wife. They both start to converse with each other, taking quick little peeks as they talk. Jayson waited patiently for their response while his friends bickered with each other over Josh's terrible lie and Isabelle's poor acting skills.
Josh's parents stop whispering and face the group.
"They can come over on two conditions." Josh's mom says, "One, you can't lie to us. Two, you can't play any of those games on your special device, whatever it's called. The 'Cast?'"
"*LucidCast*." Josh corrects his mom, "And fine, we accept your terms and service."
"And no sleeping over, but they can hang out until midnight." Josh's father adds.
"Okay, fine!!" Josh responds.
After that, Jayson follows Josh to his parent's car. Isabelle drives her family car back home, and Josh's parents pick her up afterward. Isabelle tells her family what is going on, and they approve. Jayson just tags along with everyone, not telling his family where he'd be.
It's not like his dad cared. He was staying at the Davis' household for now. Jayson's father didn't even manage to visit the hospital today.
—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-—-
"And one!!" Josh yells as he performs a lay-up.
Jayson watched on the sidelines as Josh ran drills in front of the basketball goal in his driveway. Josh's temper flares up whenever he fights in the Nexus or plays basketball, and it was definitely showing right now.
"You know no one's contesting you, right?" Jayson jokes.
"Well, if you wanna be my guest, step up!!" Josh says, dribbling to the goal once again.
"Yea, I'll pass." Jayson jokes around, "I'm more comfortable on a *diamond* than a *court*."
"Yea, yea, whatever, you baseball tryhard!!" Josh yells as he misses a two-point shot.
As Josh makes up excuses for the shot, like how the ball was flat or the goal was too low, Isabelle walks out of Josh's house and sits down on the curb.
"I forgot how much your parents like talking!" Isabelle sighs.
"What'd they talk about this time?" Jayson asks.
"Oh, the usual, their stance on «The Connected» and «The Naked». This time, they talked about the conspiracies surrounding the LucidCast," Isabelle explains.
"Well, they *are* skeptical of the NIE still, even though they both have one," Josh says as he takes a moment to catch his breath.
Jayson listens in patiently. The Connected support the NIE, while the Naked don't. This split in different stances and some new rules from the governments around the world caused society to be split in the middle. A lot like politics, you either hate who's in power or love them. This is the same premise with the NIE, being you either hate it or love it.
"They're so Naked but Connected at the same time," Jayson says, cracking up.
"Yea, they can be interesting sometimes." Josh agrees.
"On the subject," Isabelle butts in, "Are we gonna log in today?"
Josh's parents said they couldn't do that while they were here, but if it was late at night, the group of friends could easily sneak in a play session.
"I'm ok with not playing today. Honestly." Josh says.
"Same," Isabelle says.
"I have to play today," Jayson says.
Contrary to their attitude, Jayson had to keep practicing for this final part of the tryouts. He had to be better, at all costs. Isabelle and Josh have the power he doesn't, which means he'll have to train harder and harder to compare.
"Hmm, well, I guess Isabelle and I could go over the routine for 'Game-Day.'" Josh suggests, turning to Isabelle, "I mean, do you have solid footing yet?"
"Yes! I have the choreography down from my instructor!" Isabelle blushes.
"Well, you need to be better than the other school's cheerleaders!!" Josh rebukes, "You make the team look bad when one of you guys mess up an easy move!!"
Isabelle and Josh are both active during the basketball season. Josh is on the school team, being one of the best players on the team. Isabelle is a cheerleader, so she also has to perform well during the games. This gives them time to give each other tips and talk during matches.
"You worry about yourself! Did you already forget that easy shot you air-balled just a second ago?" Isabelle taunts.
"Shut up!! My hands slipped!!"
Jayson laughs at his friends, standing up afterward. Isabelle and Josh look at him as they break away from their argument. They crack smiles as well, and all of them head-on inside Josh's house.
Jayson was sprawled out on the floor in Josh's room. Josh and Isabelle sat next to each other at the desk across the room, talking about game-day and their workout routine. Josh looks away from his desk and looks at Jay. His attitude shifts from his hyper-active self to a more toned-down feel.
"It must be hard," Josh whispers to himself.
"Huh?" Isabelle says startlingly, looking up from the desk.
"Oh, nothing!!" Josh catches himself, "I was just thinking about what, Jayson... I mean 'Jay' must be doing right now."
"Uh-huh," Isabelle agrees, looking over at Jayson as well, "He seemed focused outside."
"Yeah," Axel says.
"You think he's doing ok?" Isabelle blurts out.
Josh's eyes widen at the thought of it. Is he doing ok? I mean, he lost his mom and hasn't talked about his father in a while.
"Of course he is!!" Josh exclaims, "Nothing ever stands in Jayson's way!! You and I know that most!!"
"Yea, I guess you're right, but I worry about him sometimes—"
"—Truth is, he's been staying at my house for the past couple of weeks," Isabelle tells Josh.
"What?!" Josh says in shock, "Why—"
"Because he ran from home." Isabelle puts it bluntly before Josh can continue his sentence.
The knowledge bomb Isabelle was throwing at Josh just made him even more surprised, and he had even more questions. He tried to hold his composure as he asked Isabelle more questions.
"W-why would he do that?" Josh mumbles.
"You should ask him for the exact details, but it has something to do with his dad," Isabelle explains, "To be honest, he hasn't filled me in on everything either."
"Well, do you think his dad said something rude to him or maybe kicked him out?" Josh elaborates.
"I don't think he would kick Jayson out, but I know Jayson ran away from him at the hospital," Isabelle says.
"Yea, so it was probably something to do with his mom." Josh hypothesizes.
"Maybe it's because his dad just remarried."
"And he has to move, remember?"
"Shoot, you're right! That was so sudden too..."
After going over every scenario, Josh and Isabelle settle their discussion and decide not to talk about these kinds of thoughts behind Jayson's back.
"So, what'd you think of the hospital?" Josh asks Isabelle.
"I thought signing the calendar was thoughtful for Jayson to let us do!" Isabelle cheerfully says.
"Yea, too bad I hate writing my signature!!" Axel says.
The two laugh and lean back in their chairs.
"So what'd you do for training last week?" Isabelle asks Josh.
"Oh, now *that's* a story I'll save for when Jayson—" Josh says but is cut off.
"—Wakes up?" Jayson says, sitting up straighter after he had just logged off.
"Oh! Jayson!" Isabelle says, almost falling out of her chair, "What's up?!"
"I was just about to talk about my training last week!!" Josh says.
"That's it?" Jayson asks, "Anything else I missed?"
"Nope!!" Josh reassures.
"Well then, let's hear it!" Jayson eggs Josh on, "I wanna know how you managed to learn that new 'Ash-Burn' move you used during the race!"
"Why? You jealous?" Josh smirks.
"Not at all! I just didn't know you had any other moves than the one where you shadowbox air."
"*Shut up, Maguire*!! It's called 'Fire-Fist,' not 'Shadowboxing-Air!!'"
Isabelle giggles as the two bickered back and forth.
"Anyways!! Here's what happened..." Josh explains.