Tidal Pools and Stars

Chapter 7

June 18

9 a.m

Dream had a lot of trust in George- that's something clear and straightforward he needed to get out of the way. Everyone knew that George was like Pandora's box when it came to secrets, however, under the right amount of peer pressure and curiosity, George could be opened to release all the monsters and demons he kept safe. Dream knew George was like that, but George would never unseal his lips to hurt him, right?

...Right?

George would never hurt him.

At least not intentionally.

"Dream?" Isla asks, placing a hand on his knee. "Are you okay?"

No, he wants to say but his mouth feels like it was stuffed with cotton balls.

"George told me you broke your promise."

Dream's head feels lighter than before.

"He came to me yesterday and told me about your plan, Dream. He told me everything."

Everything? Dream feels bile creep up his throat and he tries to swallow.

"I understand you broke some rules. Your own rules and Moonlight's rules."

Dream used to argue that rules were made to be broken, but now, he wanted them and he wished he could take it all back.

"Hey," Isla whispers, careful not to talk loud enough for the other agents to hear. His eyes are drying up in his skull even though painful tears are building up behind them. "Are you alright?"

"What did...what did he say?" A part of him hoped he could fudge George's words. Make it seem like she misunderstood.

The look in her eye makes him feel like he shouldn't have asked. "For what part?"

"All of it," he manages to say.

"Well, he first came up to me yesterday after the photoshoot. He could barely get words out and when he did, it was pretty straight forward," she explains, "he said, 'Isla, we aren't in love.'"

A bone-chilling stab hurts his chest and he loses his breath.

"At first I didn't believe him because I've seen y'all together for the whole week- goin' on little dates and stuff- and I just saw you guys kiss. I thought he was joking, Dream, and he had every opportunity to take it back and I wouldn't have known that he told the truth. Now, I didn't know why he decided to come clean then, but I told him that he and I needed to talk when we got back to the resort. So he came down and sat in that very chair you're in and he told me about your stunt. He told me the rules and how you managed to break a lot of them and he told me how the promise was broken. Now, I never got him to tell me what the promise was, but I can tell you know exactly what he means."

Dream's breathing gets shallower and anxiety wraps an iron fist around his heart, squeezing until it felt like it was going pop in his ribcage. George knew. Was it that obvious?

Isla continues, "I should add that before he came to see me, when we were drivin' back here from the photoshoot, I was lookin' at the photos we took. All of them. From the mini-golf to that very beach, and let me tell you, Dream- you had everyone fooled. You painted a truth of an awkward couple that only understood each other and I spent so much time staring at these pictures and thinking: 'How the heck is this fake?'" She laughs and picks at a piece of lint on her skirt.

"What'd he say, Isla?" Dream asks. She doesn't say anything for a while, both listening to the quiet tick of the clock from somewhere in the office. The office behind the customer service counter. The office that killed the spark Dream once had. Isla still doesn't make an effort to say anything. Dream can tell she didn't want to.