Like Normal Kids Do (Sapnotfound)

Chapter Three

This was not how George expected his day to go. A couple of hours ago, he was sitting at the dining room table and awaiting the lessons for the day. When his last session, which was math, rolled around, he was more than surprised when he was asked to gather his things and follow his tutor.

"Where are we going?" He asked, his face scrunching up in confusion.

"I have to tutor another student, who happens to be your neighbor. Since he needs help with the same thing we're working on, we decided to combine sessions." She opened the gate to Sapnap's house and approached the front door.

"Wait, you're kidding, right?" He asked in an exasperated tone.

"No, why would I be? I'm sure you two will get along, and I believe you're around the same age." George hid behind her as she knocked lightly on the door. A couple of seconds passed, and the door cracked open.

Sapnap poked his head from behind the door. "Hi, miss! Come on in, and I'll be right back." He swung the door open and disappeared into another room.

George was surprised that he hadn't been noticed. He followed his tutor and sat opposite of her at a decently sized table in the middle of the room. Judging by the stove and marble counters, he assumed they were in the kitchen.

After they got settled, Sapnap appeared from the other room and took a seat beside the tutor. His gaze inevitably landed on George, and he jumped. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"He's the other student we discussed earlier. Now, shall we get started?" The tutor handed them both a sheet of paper ad began to review the material.

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A little while later, Sapnap had gained a better understanding, and they were given an assignment that needed to be completed by the next day.

At last, George was allowed to leave. He quickly shoved his book into his small bag and slung it over his shoulder. As he opened the door, the masked boy from the bakery hovered over him.

The boy's eyes narrowed upon seeing him. "Who the hell are you?"

George gulped. From somewhere behind him, he heard Sapnap yell, "He's my math buddy. Come on in, Dream."

Dream stepped silently into the house, his cold jade eyes locked onto George's. He stalked past and into the living room, which left George to scamper back to his own house.

By the time he reached the steps, he was mentally exhausted. He went straight to the kitchen and grabbed an apple. Catt watched from the counter as George climbed up and began petting them.

"Welcome home. How was it?"

George's first instinct was to swing towards the voice. Before he came in contact, he stopped his arm right in front of Ari's face, which held a wide-eyed expression. He breathed a sigh of relief and dropped his arm. "Jesus, Ari. Don't scare me like that."

"Sorry." They shrugged and hopped onto one of the barstools next to the island.

"I had to spend a few hours with our lovely neighbor, so it went great," He said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Ari looked at him apologetically. "Sorry 'bout that. Ms. Terra and I agreed it would be easier if she tutored both of you at the same time; plus, I thought it could help you get to know one another."

"What a betrayal," George mumbled.

Maybe you should give him a chance. You never know what could happen."

He shook his head and silently tossed the apple core away. "Yeah right. He acts differently in front of certain people, and I don't want to be caught up in someone like that."

After retreating to his room, he tiredly slumped onto his beanbag. "I bet he's trying to be friendly, so he can get something out of me."

He lazily glanced at the paper patiently awaiting him on the table. "I need to finish the homework before I forget." Forcing himself to stand, he grabbed a snack and began to work.

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The artificial light from the lamp spilled across the page, lighting up the words that the moonlight couldn't reach.

George rested against the wall of his window seat, his eyes scanning the pages of the book resting in his lap. The calming scent of vanilla drifted from the candle on his desk, allowing him to relax more.

His state of tranquility was disturbed by a small clink from beside him. He watched as a pebble bounced off of his window, creating another clink. His eyes traced the source of the pebble and found Sapnap, who was leaning so far out of his window it looked like he could fall at any second.

The moment Sapnap realized he'd caught George's attention, he pushed his hands into an upward motion and pointed towards George.

George tilted his head, not understanding what the other boy wanted. He watched as Sapnap seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before snapping his fingers. Sapnap closed and reopened his window in an exaggerated motion, then pointed to George again.

Realizing what Sapnap meant, he reluctantly undid the locks on his window and pushed it open.

"What do you want?" He asked in a low voice and scooted close enough to lean outside.

"Whatcha up to?"

He reached for his book and flipped the cover to face Sapnap, who grinned. "The Hunger Games, huh? I've heard it's a pretty good series."

George began to nod, but quickly caught himself. "Cut the small talk. Is there something you wanted?"

"Yeah, actually," Sapnap reached to the side and presented the assignment from earlier. "Could you help me check my answers?"

"Can't you do that tomorrow?" George ran a hand down his face.

"Yeah, but I don't want to look stupid, especially after I thought I had it today," Sapnap pouted.

Despite the strong urge to shut his window and continue reading, George decided to be nice and went to fetch his paper as well. He shifted around to get comfortable again before asking, "Which ones do you want?"

They spent a while checking back and forth, with George having to explain very little, since Sapnap had got most of them correct. As they went through each one, George noticed that Sapnap's eyes seemed to light up each time he got one right.

He quickly dismissed that as stupid and continued calling out the answers, just barely loud enough for Sapnap to hear.

After they finished the last problem, George set his things aside and closed his window, which shut down any possibility of Sapnap making small talk. He returned to reading, except his curtains were closed this time.

By the time he was relaxed again, it was around one in the morning, and he was struggling to stay awake. With a frustrated groan, he closed his book and aggressively rubbed his eyes.

"Maybe what I did was a little harsh. I really don't want him getting in my head and manipulating me into thinking we're friends."

The more he thought about it, the more confused and pissed he got. Too tired to move to his bed, he decided to deal with his confusion in the morning and grabbed the blanket resting at his feet. Slowly, he felt himself drift to sleep.

-1180 words