Connor.

The SQUIP had to repeat itself multiple times before Connor paid it any attention, practically yelling by the time he acknowledged it.

'What?' he answered in his head, barely concentrating. He was barely concentrating on anything right now, his mind wandering wherever it wanted to go — although the SQUIP prevented that.

Why did you leave? it asked, not sounding angry. More thoughtful.

'They didn't want me there!'

So it seemed. You did the right thing.

Connor stopped in his tracks. 'What?'

It appears I miscalculated. I can see favourable outcomes, as I've said before. Evan and Jeremy are both sympathetic personalities, it mused.

"Jeremy didn't seem that way," he grumbled aloud, carrying on walking in no particular direction.

He may not have appeared that way, true... he felt guilty after he sent you away. He's loyal to his friends and suspicious of you, but he has a heart. The SQUIP paused, and Connor could almost hear it thinking. I think it would be in your best interest to—

"Connor, wait!"

He turned, facing the direction the voice had come from. It was Evan, running towards him. He'd drowned out the rest of the SQUIP's sentence, so Connor hadn't heard what his "instructions" were.

"What?" His voice was defensive, he couldn't help it — it was a natural response at this point.

Evan paused, a little out of breath. "Are you okay?"

Tell him you're fine.

"I'm fine," Connor responded, repeating the SQUIP's words.

"Okay. Well. That's all. I'm sorry about Jeremy, he's just..."

Protective.

"Protective?" he suggested.

Evan let out a sigh. "Yeah. I guess so." A pause. "Do you wanna go back? Jeremy won't mind, and I know the play kinda needs more people."

Say you will.

"Yeah, I will."

Suggest going home with Evan, the computer then instructed. Ask nicely. Tell him Zoe won't drive you.

"And, also..." Connor hesitated, waiting for further instruction but receiving none. "Do you drive home normally?"

Evan shook his head. "I normally walk, but Michael drove me the other day."

"Oh, right. Cool."

He smiled at Connor. Smile back.

Connor did so. "Maybe we should get back? I don't know how long rehearsal is, though."

"Neither do I. It might be over by now, and I need to catch up with Jeremy," Evan answered quietly. "But we can go back, sure."

The two of them started to walk slowly back to the theatre. It felt like it took Connor ten times longer to get back than it had to leave, but that didn't particularly bother him. It was quite nice, just the pair of them, with the pleasant silence of the school surrounding them. The SQUIP was silent, too, only adding to how calming it was. He'd almost forgotten the solitude he could have without a voice bugging him every so often.

"Hey, uh..." Evan had stopped walking, directly in front of the door that led back to the theatre. "You know you said you were walking home?"

"Yeah?" Connor asked, stopping right next to him.

"Well, maybe Michael could drive you home instead. I think I'm going home with them, so..." Evan smiled hopefully.

What did I tell you? The SQUIP's voice sounded very pleased with itself. Accept. And thank him.

"Oh, sure. If he wouldn't mind, that'd be fine... thanks."

"No worries!" Evan looked like he was going to say something else, but his voice was suddenly drowned out by a horde of people racing towards the door and pushing it open. He recognised most of them, now, and they were all talking about the same thing — some Halloween party Jake was throwing at his massive house. Connor tuned out; by now he'd worked out that, if it was important info, the SQUIP would save that itself. He didn't really need to pay attention in class either, the supercomputer took care of that.

Jeremy came out last. His eyes darted around until he saw Evan, a smile appearing on his face — and fading slightly when he saw Connor. "Hey," he greeted.

"Hi," Evan grinned back, visibly more relaxed now he was in the company of his friend again. "Jeremy, do you, uh... do you think Michael would mind giving us a ride home again?"

"I'll call him, but I don't think he'll care much," Jeremy shrugged it off, pulling his phone out to phone Michael.

"Do you mind if Connor comes too? He doesn't have a ride home."

Jeremy paused, considering the proposal for a second. "Sure," he muttered finally.

Evan gave him a thumbs-up as Michael's voice suddenly burst through Jeremy's phone, accompanied by Weezer. "Hello?"

"Jesus, Michael— it's Jeremy."

"I know."

Jeremy rolled his eyes. "Do you mind if Evan and Connor come with us again? Like, we drop them off."

Michael perked up slightly, and the music in the background receded in volume. "That's fine! I'm just outside still."

"Great. Thanks." Jeremy hung up, turning to face the other two. "Well, we should go."

Connor nodded as the SQUIP's grating voice punctuated his thoughts again. I told you.

He ignored its remark, following Evan and Jeremy out to the front of the school. They both walked a little in front, talking in slightly hushed voices to each other. He heard a couple of brief snatches of sentences — 'strange' and 'unnatural', and a few times he caught his own name. Eventually he decided to just tune them out.

An old car, pretty banged up but in decent enough shape, was the only car parked in front of the school. Michael's head poked out of the window, and he grinned, waving at them all. Weezer blared through the open window.

Jeremy opened the passenger door, sliding into the seat, leaving Connor and Evan to climb awkwardly into the back seats.

"Connor, where exactly do you live?" Jeremy asked, as the car pulled out of the car park.

"Just up there. Right at the top of the street, it's not far," Connor replied, indicating with one arm.

"That's like... the fancy street, isn't it? Woah," Michael murmured, barely audible over the guitar blasting from the car's speakers.

"I guess," he grumbled, leaning back on his seat — obeying the SQUIP's short instruction of 'don't get mad'. "You can drop me off at the bottom of the street, that's fine."

"Nah, I wanna see your house!" Michael's huge grin was on display in the rear-view mirror. "Give us a tour!"

Connor didn't answer, waiting for the SQUIP's suggestion, which came barely a second later. Let them in. Introduce them to your mother, it may alleviate some of her worries, it suggested. She needs to know you have friends. Or at least acquaintances.

"Okay, sure."

"Wait, really? Cool!" Michael's smile only widened, and Jeremy lit up slightly — even Evan looked a little excited, or at least curious.

The car pulled up outside a small group of houses at the end of the street. Connor got out immediately, glad to be out of the stuffy machine. "My house is the middle one," he said shortly, starting to walk towards it. Jeremy, Michael and Evan all followed him down the front path — Michael prodding almost every little statue and ornament on the lawn, Jeremy seeming particularly interested in the stone people, and Evan taking a closer look at some of the small flowers in the beds and hanging baskets next to the door.

Connor rattled the door handle a couple times, before sighing and resigning to ringing the doorbell. His mother answered it, a confused look descending onto her face when she noticed his entourage. Zoe's head peeked over her shoulder, and she frowned darkly before running back up the stairs again.

"Guess I'll have to make extra pasta," Cynthia mumbled, but she didn't look too upset about it. Frankly, she seemed quite pleased — her son had finally made some friends.