Otherside

Chapter 5: A New Way Of Living

*BANG BANG BANG BANG* George shot up from his bed to the sound of pounding on his door. Being abruptly woken up seemed to be a common theme as of late, George thought sourly. "George get your lazy ass out of bed, it's breakfast time," Quackity shouted through the wall. George groaned. How early was it? "Quackity, keep it down you're going to wake up this whole ship," George said groggily. "Not likely, everyone else is already up; you might wanna get a move on if you want any food." George heard Quackity walk away.

     Despite Quackity's urgency, George did not rush to get out of bed. He slowly got dressed and ready, half because he was tired, half because he was apprehensive to meet everyone. Luckily, he found that Dream let him keep most of his old clothes, so he didn't have to go in rags for his first impression. It took fifteen minutes for George to get ready and about thirty seconds after he left his room for him to realize that he had no clue where he was going.
   
    George tried to remember the way he came when he walked with Dream to his room last night, but with all those twists and turns, he was hopelessly lost. He was beginning to freak out when he heard a voice from behind him. "What the fuck are you doing here?" George whipped around to look at who it came from. A tall woman with purple short hair and large eyes were staring back at him with her arms crossed. The same woman he heard on his first night on the boat. "I knew you got your own room, but I didn't know they were just gonna let you wander around the whole goddamn ship?" She said, looking him up and down.

    "Sorry," George replied, taken aback by her boldness. "I got lost trying to go to breakfast," She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Why would Dream put Quackity in charge of you; of course, he would forget you." She walked up to him and held out her hand. "I'm Minx, by the way; you probably recognize me from before." George shook her hand. "C'mon now, I'm not missing breakfast for you." George quickly followed Minx, not wanting to get lost again.

    Minx led George into the cafeteria, and George was doing his best to not attract attention to himself, following behind Minx weaving in and out of people inconspicuously. The cafeteria wasn't too large, but it was big enough so that George could blend in with the people around him. The problem came when George approached the food counter and had to look the boy serving him food in the eyes. His eyes lit up as he recognized a new face. "Is that him?!" the blonde boy serving the food shouted to the person beside him. The entire room turned around to stare, and George felt his ears turn red. "Oh, Oops. Sorry." The boy said sarcastically, cackling loudly.
   
    "Tommy, you've gone and embarrassed him!" The brunette kid next to him exclaimed. "Well I said I was sorry Tubbo, you heard me, and he's fine," Tommy said, rolling his eyes. "Can you two shut up and just give us some food?" Minx asked impatiently. "Well, you're a smiling sunshine today Minx," Tommy remarked flatly. "Ugh, I hate it when you two have food duty." George laughed at their silly back and forth. "Hey I only dropped one pancake, I'm not doing too bad today." Tubbo protested. "Ewww Tubbo noooo," Minx whined, and Tommy just giggled. "Tubbo moment." He said, and Tommy and Tubbo lost it over some inside joke. George smiled to himself, though mildly annoying; the lively interactions he had experienced so far this morning were refreshing.

    George saw an empty table towards the back and decided this was the best option compared to just throwing himself into a random table and hoping for the best. "Hey, thanks for walking me here; I can remember the way back." She smiled and waved goodbye to him; walking over to her friends crowded around a table on the opposite side of the room. He really didn't mind sitting alone, and based on everyone's reactions to him so far, he didn't care to try to sit with people. George was lost in thought as he mindlessly ate his food. Oddly enough, He liked the people here. He enjoyed Quackity's energy, Minx's sarcasm, Bad's bubbly personality, Tommy and Tubbo's dynamic duo. Under different circumstances, they could even become close.
   
    But there was someone who George didn't understand, Dream. Dream confused him as no one had before. He hated him, his cocky demeanor was insufferable, but he was drawn to him like a moth to a burning fire. If he got too close, George was sure Dream would burn him. But he found himself curious as to who he was. He did not know him, but he hated him. For capturing him, taking away the little bit of hope George had left. Any hope George had of seeing his sister or making something of himself at all was gone. Dream's arrogant stance and judgy stare annoyed George to no end. And that terrified him, just how strong of an effect Dream had on him. And how much he was fascinated by the flame.