Peach Silhouette

30, Part 2 | education and invitations

A bright eyed woman stood smiling in the doorway, her long dusty blonde hair falling in perfect curls on her shoulders. Before she spoke I could see where Dream got his everything.

"Hello George! You finally made it for dinner." I laughed, immediately at ease.

"We were long overdue," I grinned. 

"Come in, come in," she gestured, and I followed, the air conditioning hitting me like a breath of relief. Claire nudged me, and I turned to look at her.

"I knew she would like you." She whispered, and I rolled my eyes.

"You're sly. I like it." She glowed at the compliment, and I couldn't help but smile as the positive energy radiated off her in waves. I understood why she and Tommy got along so well, I couldn't even imagine what trouble they would cause at the NSHH. 

I knew Dream was planning on letting her join the fun when she finished high school, but that was a long way off. 

"I'm almost done with dinner, but for the time being Claire can give you a tour." Claire practically cackled.

"I'm gonna show him Clay's old room heh," she grabbed my arm and began tugging me away. 

"Clay, can we talk in the kitchen for a moment please?" Clay caught my eye and I shrugged. He followed his mom into the kitchen and I let Claire drag me away. She led me up a stairway that ended in a hallway. 

She pushed open a door, and we stepped into a room that screamed younger Dream. Football posters speckled the wall, intermixed with pictures of Harry Styles and Taylor Swift. There was a guitar on a stand in the corner, positively covered in an array of stickers. Claire leaned down and plugged in the fairy lights that weaved all over the walls. I looked to the right to see a simple bed and a desk. I walked toward the desk, studying the wall behind it. 

It was covered in screenshots of our in game characters, pictures of Sapnap and I, and sketches of all three of us. 

"He wanted to meet you both for so long." Claire said, staring at the wall. "He's such a simp." She rolled her eyes and I laughed.

"Finally, someone who sees the truth." I replied. We stepped out of the room, knocking on the door of the next one over. 

"Callie? You in there?" Claire called. 

"Yeah, come in." She pushed open the door. A tall woman with long bleach blonde hair was typing away at a desk. Her glasses reflected the light from her computer, before she turned to look at Claire and I. 

"This is George," Claire introduced, and Callie nodded. 

"Nice to meet you, George." She said courteously. 

"She's finishing her masters in Computer Programming at MIT." Claire offered, and my eyes went wide. 

"Wow! That's so cool," I said incredulously, and Callie smiled. 

"Thank you. I've seen some of your work, it's pretty good." 

"Thank you so much," I gushed. "We'll move on and leave you to it." We exited, and I turned to Claire. "Do you all excel in school?" I asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. Computers are Callie and Clay's thing, though. I graduated a couple weeks ago and I'm going to major in political science and minor in community relations." At this point my jaw dropped.

"I thought most people graduated at 18 in the states?" I asked in awe. 

"Yeah, they do, but online school was funner fast-paced and before I realized how far I'd gone, I was already almost to twelfth grade, so I just said 'why not?'" 

"You take after your brother." I shook my head. Did these people not understand how incredible they were? A family of overachievers was something I'd never seen before. 

"Everyone thinks it's great until we explain how much pressure we were under to succeed in life. It makes all four of us bitter. I don't even have very many friends; besides Tommy and Tubbo, school is my entire life." 

"I know we just met, but take two gap years. Come live in the NSHH. You deserve a break. I'll buy you a one way ticket and you can come back with us."

"You're joking, right?" She asked.

"I'm not. I can't let you lose your youth to your education. Think of it as my birthday gift to you - you'll love it there. Promise you'll think about it this weekend?" 

"I promise." She knocked on another door. "Cadeeeeee." She demanded. The door swung open and a short person with fluffy dyed-black hair smiled wide. 

"The real Georgenotfound," they said excitedly. 

"Indeed," I replied.

"I'm giving him room tours while mom talks to Clay." Claire explained. Cade stepped aside.

"This is my room, I guess." They laughed nervously.

How can every single one of them remind me of Dream in some way?

LED lights lit up the rather dark space, and a laptop was open on the bed in the center of the room.

"Ok, let me guess," I started. "College, almost done with your associate's degree?"

"I'm predictable." They said.

"No, he just met Callie and I first. Callie set the bar pretty high for his expectations." Claire offered.

A non-binary flag hung in the window as a makeshift curtain, catching my eye.

"What are you studying?" I asked.

"Philosophy and psychology." They replied earnestly.

"Ah, a mind-breaking pair. Sounds very intriguing." I said. "Why'd you choose those two?" They hummed, staring into space for a moment.

"Philosophy was an easy choice. I've always thought too much and wondered why we're really here. Psychology snuck up on me, I didn't plan on studying it until recently. I realized I didn't understand the way my mind worked as much as I wanted to, so I decided to go into a degree where I could find some answers. My friends all think I'm crazy."

"I think you're cool for wanting to know the why behind things. Most people would be content with just what, and going along with the motions. It takes courage and intelligence to look into the why." Before they could say anything in response, there was a yell from the kitchen.

"Dinnertime!"

~

inspiring song(s)

how to save a life - the fray

little talks - of monsters and men

i lived - onerepublic

anchor - novo amor

~

an: zooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom

the dre family is just a family of not-burnt out gifted kids 

wait do those even exist wtf

anyways.

this is gonna hurt people but chapter 30 is gonna have 4 or more parts because i didnt realize how long this family meeting would be. sorry. 

weeeeeeeeEeEeeEEEeeeEeEE

ok bye

love you all and afri out <3