Coder Girl 2 /Dreamwastaken/

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Changing the sheets on George's bed and organizing the room to make it livable took me almost the whole day. I know he told me not to touch his stuff, but I didn't think a winter coat hanging from the doorknob when it was scorching hot outside was necessary for room decor.

I had to do some stuff to the shower too. There was literally nothing usable in there - just a single bottle of very skilled and talented shampoo that was apparently capable of achieving more things than I ever could.

I started with the purpose of cleaning as much of the house as I could and finished with no purpose left to live. And a back pain.

But getting into the freshly changed sheets after a hot shower was refreshing. Not worth it, but at least a little bit rewarding.

Since Nick was in his room streaming, I didn't bother going to say goodnight. I slept and woke up feeling dramatic, because my first thought was that my sleep wasn't as good as it would be if I felt the weight of Clay's arm over my body. The thought alone made me roll my own eyes at me.

Nick didn't wake up for the next two hours. I could make breakfast for us, but cereal will do. I could cook something for lunch, but we'll just order in. I could be productive, but staying in bed and watching true crime videos gave me more serotonin than being productive ever could.

The only thing that forced me to get up from the bed and peek out the window was the sound of Clay's car engine. I managed to catch a brief glimpse of it before it vanished from the view the window allowed me to get. I could see that George was in the passenger seat though, and let me mention, at a great risk of getting his skulled smashed to smithereens because of fast his stupid friend was driving.

I swear, he never learns. Never and nothing.

I ran to Nick's room and stormed in without knocking. For a moment my heart raced as I thought of the million possibilities I could be walking into, but luckily he was at his desk, playing.

"They went somewhere," I announced.

"Oh, you're up?" He spoke without turning his head to look at me. I didn't realize I hadn't come out of the room to say hi to him today, "Who's they?"

"Your stupid friends," I replied, maybe guilty of using that description a bit too often lately, but it was just too fitting. "I saw Clay's car leaving."

"Where did they go?" I could tell from the tone of his voice that he had no interest whatsoever, and was just asking random questions.

But my interest was at its peak.

"That's what I'm asking. Where did they go?"

Nick was way too invested in the same old block game he'd been playing for a hundred years already. So invested that his mouse clicks were louder than whatever he mumbled in response.

"Call your boyfriend, I don't know." He shrugged.

I could tell he was using that word on purpose, but it was starting to annoy me. "I don't have a boyfriend," I said bitterly, emphasizing each word.

He finally won the game and spun his chair to look at me.

"Oh shit, so you're single?" His stupid smirk made things worse.

"Nick, just call them." I groaned.

"Why don't you do it?"

"Cause I don't want to."

"Why should I do it then?"

"Cause I want you to."

We locked eyes for a moment before he finally shook his head in defeat and grabbed his phone.

It always surprised me how easy it was to talk him into something, especially compared to the usual stubbornness I dealt with from Clay.

I crossed my arms as Nick called George, waiting for him to pick up. The volume was high enough for me to hear the accent on the "hello."

"Yo, where'd you go?" Nick asked, slowly spinning back and forth in his chair, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Who's asking?"

George's response made me narrow my eyes and part my mouth slightly. Why did it even matter? Did he have two different versions of an answer depending on the person asking?

Nick looked at me and I mouthed "you" and pointed at him.

"The ghost of fucking Queen Elizabeth," Nick replied with a sassy tone that made the corners of my mouth rise slightly. "Motherfucker, I'm asking, who else?"

"Don't know about the queen, bit there are other Elizabeths that could be asking."

The nerve?

"Alright, where the fuck are you, George?" Nick had enough of it too.

"Tell Lizzy that if she wants to know something, she should be the one calling."

If I could jump through the phone and smash his head against the steering wheel, I would. I wouldn’t be surprised if they just went on a fucking car ride just to get me to worry and call.

Nick's patience had its limits too. After the third time asking and not getting a response, a string of curse words directed at George left his mouth, and he hung up.

"Fucking morons, man." He threw his phone onto the desk, adjusting his hat.

"I knew George was the one encouraging that asshole to act like that!" I was so pissed at both of them, but blaming Clay was getting old, so I chose a different target this time.

"Bro, fuck them both, honestly," Nick rolled his eyes, "they probably went to Disneyland or some shit and are trying to act mysterious. How much you wanna bet they're out there getting hugs from Mickey Mouse?"

I couldn't even chuckle at his joke because of how mad I was. And a bit worried too. Where could they possibly go?

"That asshole just wants to get me to call, doesn't he? Cocky motherfucker, I hate him," I was trying to convince myself, "They wouldn't do anything stupid, surely."

That's what I thought. That's what I thought until it was 3 a.m., and there was still no sign of them.

I didn't even realize I'd been pacing around Nick's room for hours until he mentioned it. And when he did, only then did I feel the soreness in my leg muscles.

"Listen, they're grown adults with dicks and balls, stop worrying."

Nick's words weren't that comforting, cause one of the scenarios I imagined involved Clay's dick and balls somewhere they didn't belong. And the thought triggered me immediately.

I finally broke.

"Should I call?"

"Up to you," Nick shrugged.

The universe was on a mission to save my ego from being crushed. Cause while I searched for my phone which had mysteriously disappeared in the mess of Nick's room, the obnoxious engine struck our ears again.

I froze in my spot, analyzing the sound. And the moment I identified it, I ran to peek from the window, Nick following me.

We were watching closely. But it didn't require much carefulness to hear George's unusual laughter and see the way he stumbled out of the car.

My jaw hung open.

"Are they fucking drunk?" I whispered, squinting to see more.

Nick had other concerns.

"Holy shit, and they didn't even invite me?"