Not Even Real | Dream SMP School AU

56 - Sweet Sensation

Where is he. He should have been here by now...

George sighed as his class started without Clay. It felt like ages since he'd seen him. Everything was going perfectly fine until Clay suddenly just stopped talking to him and Nick.

"Psst, George."

Recognizing the tone of the voice, George slumped in his chair.

"Not in the mood, Nick." He spoke quietly.

Nick poked him with his pencil.

"Come on, you already know everything you need to know in this class!" Nick poked him again.

"And you don't, so you should probably pay attention." George sat forward, out of Nick's reach.

Behind him came a sad sigh and the sound of flipping papers. George almost felt bad. It's not like it was Nick's fault that Clay wasn't there.

Just as he finished that thought, the classroom door opened. In walked Clay, being closely followed by Ranboo. George sat up swiftly, gesturing for Clay to sit beside him.

"And where have you two been?" Quackity tapped his foot on the floor, annoyed.

"We-" Clay cut Ranboo off before he could say anything.

"We were a bit busy helping someone in the hall. Sorry, Mr. Quackity..." Clay explained as he sat down beside George.

"Sure sure- it's just QUACKITY by the way!" The math teacher placed his hands on his hips dramatically.

Clay nodded slightly. Something was off. George could tell that there was something bothering him.

I guess we both have that in common...

As Quackity resumed his Elementary level lesson, George grabbed a pad of sticky notes from his backpack. He discreetly write down a message and passed it over to Clay.

"R u ok?"

He watched closely as Clay wrote down his reply. After a few seconds, the note returned to his desk.

"Ya. Y?"

Yeah, why? What does he mean by why? He's clearly not fine.

George thought for a moment before writing the next part of his conversation and passing it back to Clay.

"U seem sad :(
U sure ur good?"

Just as Clay was about to write down his reply, the note was snatched out of his hands by Quackity.

"¿Qué es esto? A note? Clay Anderson, are you passing notes in my class?"

George looked away, terrified about getting in trouble.

"No. I was just-"

"First you come in late, and NOW you're passing notes! You're on two," He held up two fingers in front of Clay's mask "strikes out of three! Next time you do something like this... You'll be meeting our principal."

Clay sat stunned in his seat as Quackity walked away, the note still in his hand. George's heart sank. Not only had he gotten Clay in trouble, but now he was a probably another reason for his sadness.

God... I'm such an idiot...

-Clay-

God, I'm such an idiot!

Not only had he replaced his classmate with a thing that doesn't know English, he was now drawing attention to himself by being late and getting caught passing notes!

If only I could hide. It'd be much easier to do everything I need to if I wasn't visible.

Numbers were scribbled on the board. Clay turned his attention to them, trying to figure out why Quackity was teaching fractions to high schoolers.

"Clay."

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he recognized the voice. He hadn't even noticed that XD was sitting behind him.

"W- what do you want..." Clay whispered back. His voice wavered slightly, a clear sign of how nervous he was about possibly getting caught again.

"The blue shirt. Kid is staring at. You."

Clay glanced to his left to see that this was true. George seemed to be lost in thought as he gazed upon Clay. It made him feel... Strange. It was true that he's noticed George acting shy around him (a clear sign of some sort of feelings) but he'd never seen George stare at him before.

Does he... Want something?

"AHEM! Mr. Anderson, this is your last warning. Pay. Attention."

Quackity's voice startled him. Clay sat up straight and focused his eyes on the board. His mind however was wandering somewhere else.

George...

Brunette hair that bounced while he walked, plain yet cute fashion, an adorable way of talking. Every time Clay thought about George the word "cute" came to mind. He wasn't quite sure why that was all he could think about and he wasn't interested in trying to figure it out.

He had greater issues.

Even so... It's hard to focus when I feel so... Happy?

Just as Quackity was about to start talking about decimals, the bell rang, sending each and every students into a panic as they packed up their things.

"Hey, wait! I'm not done yet! You still need to know about-"

Quackity's voice was drowned out by people hurrying out of his class. He hesitated before stomping back to his desk in defeat.

XD followed Clay out of the class and to his locker. Each step Clay took filled him with anxiety. At any moment, XD could speak in his broken English that would give away the fact that he wasn't really Ranboo.

And then they'll ask questions. Too many questions results in secrets getting out.

Clay's locker squeaked as it opened. He glanced at XD before rummaging through it and putting his stuff away.

"You know that you can leave, right? It's probably time for you to do that anyway." Clay grumbled quietly.

Despite his best efforts, XD stayed put. Clay was beginning to get annoyed. He slammed his locker closed and speed-walked away. After turning down hallways he'd barely seen before, Clay turned around to make sure XD wasn't there. He stepped backwards slowly. If XD saw him, he wouldn't know what to do.

As Clay turned around he crashed into another student, sending them to the ground. He froze, realizing who it was.

"G- George!" Clay held out his hand and helped his friend stand up.

"Clay! Hi! I've been looking for you everywhere!" George exclaimed, his face unusually bright.

The two boys began walking next to eachother down the hallway in an attempt to find an exit. The final bell was about to ring and neither of them wanted to be late to leave. As they kept on, Clay began to notice how many hallways weren't being used for anything. It felt as though they had been walking further into the school rather than to the front doors.

"We've been... Walking for quite a while... Haven't we?" Clay suddenly spoke after such a long period of silence. George stopped walking to look at Clay. His eyes told Clay that he was noticing the same.

"Maybe we should turn back..." Clay turned on his heels to go the other way. Just as he had turned around, he froze.

Standing across the hall from him...

Was XD.