more than just a dream; t.simons

august first, twenty twenty-one

naomi's pov

they know, and i'm sure of it.

tommy and I arrived back to our apartment yesterday, and I opened twitter just to be greeted with a picture of me next to our university banner, the university of brighton, trending #1.

Everyone knows I live with tom, and if I go to that university, so does he.

they. all. know.

what happens if they find out what's happening between him and I? we're not very private about it in public, so what if something gets leaked? how will I deal with that? what even is going on with us?

how will I deal with the guilt? the guilt of being the reason his life can't be private, the pressure of never messing up knowing everyone's watching.

they will always. be. watching.

I've kissed my privacy goodbye, as I know they'll find out soon enough everything that goes on.

I immediately message zeyna, my friend from my econ class. they're a really good friend of mine, I just haven't had the chance to talk to them since mark and grace came by.

zz <33

me
zeyna I need help, sorry this is
so out of the blue i'm just scared.

zz <33
nonono! don't even worry i'm getting
in my car right now,, see u at the
usual?

me
yeah. thanks zz means a lot<3

zz <33
dont mention it bb

—

I waited patiently within the yellow green walls, a vanilla latte in-front of me, and a honey-mint infused tea across the table.

I see the raven head gently push the door aside, a little bell ringing indicating they're arrival.

"naomi! I haven't seen you in ages, now tell me what's wrong honey." they say, not wasting a second as if this was clocked.

I go onto explaining to them what had happened between tom and I, and the twitter thing.

"and now i'm scared. the feeling of always being watched isn't nice, and I have a feeling that i'm not going to get enough of it." I end, letting them process all the information I just poured.

"there's not much. but it's fine, you have me in half your classes, and tom in the other half. you'll be okay, i'll walk with you to and from every class even if it means I get late." they say, making my eyes to gloss.

"thank you."

—

voices. mean, mean voices are all i hear.

all eyes on me. every. single. one.

they're stares burnt into my flesh as I walked down the hall, already wanting to diminish my stay.

Not even zeyna could make me feel better at this moment, all I felt was pure pain and humiliation as I reached my locker.

my chest was sinking more and more, my breathing irregular.

I unlocked my locker, and attempted to get my economics textbook which was lost in the blur.

my eyes fluttered around my locker, looking at the variety of books left unattended, which seemed to be every single one except which I needed.

everything is tumbling down.

I can barely see anything, and my legs had a slight wobble to them as I used all my willpower to stand up.