𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦. | 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝

9

"I don't really know, it's been a while since i've played anything." George shrugged, continuing his walk with Clay to his house. "I don't have a console or anything and my PC is still in a box somewhere."

The pair had both delved into some slight small talk in their walk. The conversation has veered into video games, a topic both boys were unknowingly keen on.

"Really? What do you play?" Clay asked, lookimg between George and the sidewalk ahead of him. George hummed for a moment, giving his answer some thought. "I know it's like a kids game but.. Sometimes- sometimes I play Minecraft." George seemed to cower in on himself slightly mentioning the name.

"No way, I play Minecraft too!" Clay excitedly laughed, turning his full attention to the brunette walking next to him. "I barely hear that name anymore besides my own friend group, it's cool that you play it." Clay remarked with a crooked grin.

George seemed to relax a bit. "I've been playing it for a long time." George commented. "Ever since I was a kid it's been one of my favorite games." George stepped over a few rocks on the sidewalk, pushing them towards the side of the pathway as he did so.

"Me too! People always talk shit about it but it's a really good game." Clay preached, kicking off rocks from his side of the sidewalk far into the grass. "Maybe we should play sometime. I have a huge server with a bunch of my friends, i'm sure they wouldn't mind if you joined."

"That.. sounds fun." George warmly commented, flashing a smile at the ecstatic blonde.

-

Clay huffed- flipping the book over in his hand- placing it onto the bed in frustration. George looked up at him from where he was seated on the floor across from him. He put the pencil down he was using to write with, brushing a few eraser shavings off from his paper.

"How's it going?" George quietly asked, scratching the back of his neck. Clay only groaned, running his hands through his hair. He shifted so he was on his back and looking up at the ceiling. A slight silence hung the room before either of the boys spoke again. "-How far are you?" The brunette inquired.

"..Chapter two.." Clay quietly murmured after a few beats of quiet. Another painful set of silence sifted itself onto the atmosphere, making it so quiet you could hear a pin drop. "Only two?" The shorter finally asked, shifting a nervous gaze up where Clay sat on his bed.

Clay let out a long sigh, running his hands down his face. "I'm not that good at reading. English is like.. my least favorite subject." He exasperated, throwing his hands up in mock expression. "Who even invented english?" Clay asked blankly, turning to face George. "It sucks."

George slightly chuckled at Clay's childish comment. "What? Don't tell me you're enjoying this." The blonde mocked, pointing a finger at George. "Maybe not actually enjoying the work, but it's not that bad." George shrugged, still chuckling.

This only caused Clay to groan loudly again and flop back onto the bed. "We're gonna take forever at this rate." The taller complained.

"Do- do you wanna switch?" George asked, putting his notebook and pencil down next to him. "I'm a few chapters ahead anyways, I can just brief you on what happens. You can work on the art portion of the project if you'd like- I'm not too good at that." The brunette shrugged his shoulders.

The project was a type of a presentation type project, consisting of three separate areas to be graded. There was the poster board, artwork based on the book, and deconstruction and meaning of the book. "..Would you?" Clay asked, swallowing back his initial guilt. "That's a lot of work."

George shook his head. "I don't mind. We're still working on this together anyways." He said, standing up. Clay watching him stand up with unsure eyes before reaching over to grab the book, handing it over to George.

-

It had been a few hours since the pair had arrived at George's house and began working on the project. They both had been working a majority of the time, and not talking as much as he first time.

Clay drew a quick few scribbles on his paper before putting his pencil down and looking up at George working on his bed. The two has switched spots when they had traded their respective roles.

Clay let his eyes flicker over the goggles perched at the very top of the brunette's nose, just barely showing off his dark eyelashes. His eyes slowly shifted downwards to focus on the small- but apparent- freckles that dusted his cheeks.

He nearly winced when his gaze eventually landed on the nasty- yet healing- bruise George had gotten on his first day, courtesy of Sapnap. Clay couldn't help but cringe when he really looked at it, taking in the unforgiving purple and blue color it had left. If George didn't have his goggles on, he would probably be able to fully see the black eye.

"What?" George asked, realizing Clay was staring at him. Clay quickly snapped out of his trance, looking down at the ground. "Sorry, lost my train of thought." He lied, sitting up straighter. "Oh, you're fine." George reassured, looking back down at his paper and continuing to work.

Clay also looked back down at his paper, but his mind was completely blank. His eyes darted to the ground, following the lines of the wood flooring. He studied each box stacked on-top of one another, making predictions of its contents. He began drumming his fingers against his knee.

"It's really quiet." Clay commented, his mouth working faster than his brain. George looked up, giving Clay a slight side glance- finding up his last note. "Huh?" The brunette looked up completely.

"It's quiet. Too quiet. Are we the only ones home?" Clay asked, crossing his legs. "Uh,," George hesitated, his own eyes nervously scanning the room. "Yeah.." He swallowed, slightly avoiding eyes contact and instead picking his notes back up.

"You said your parents work? And you're an only child?" Clay continued questioning- looking straight up at George. The shorter felt as if Clay's eyes were looking right through him, like lasers burning holes through his skull.

George nodded, again attempting to swallow down his own nerves at the sudden questioning.  "When do they get home?" The blonde probed, unaware of George's panic. "Late." The brunette sternly answered, a little too quick.

Clay immediately picked up on the raise in George's voice, internally kicking himself for blurting. He hung his head, the oh-so-familiar silence shifting its way back between the boys- like a barrier.

"Do you listen to any music?" Clay asked, his voice now much softer. George stopped reading and again looked back up at Clay. "Uh- not- not really. Why?" The brunette shifted his weight and brought his knees up to his chest.

"Just wondering. Do you mind if I put on something? It's painfully quiet in here." Clay quietly smiled. "Isn't the quiet better for working though? So you can focus without getting distracted." George commented. "I like noise while I work. Maybe i'm just used to it, but it helps me focus better." Clay shrugged his shoulders, already reaching for his phone.

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written on: 5/10/21
published on 6/9/21

1255 words

thank you gusy so much for 300 reads!!

<3