Day Dreaming (DreamNotFound)

12. We Need To Talk

"George, are you sure you're okay?"

My father was sitting across from me at the dinner table. My mom had a late shift today, so it was just us two in the house, plus my happy little bean curled up on the couch.

"Yeah, Dad, I'm fine," I assured him for the thousandth time. 

He heaved a heavy sigh. "Alright. Just know that your mother and I support you 100%, and no one should hate you for who you like."

"I know." I took a small bite of my dinner. "He was just trying to provoke us anyway."

"Are you really just going to let this go? I mean, I'm sure I could probably ask the school to punish him-"

"I'm not letting it go, I'm just... Clay and Nick fucked him up bad enough, you know?"

"Language," he said sternly.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"But still... I can't forgive him for calling you those things."

"You think I can? The only reason I'm not suspended too is because Clay got to him first."

We stared at each other for a tense moment before I spoke again. "Listen, Dad, I don't want to cause any more trouble. I've heard his family, like, presses charges on some of the people who fight back. If Jack gets suspended or something, what if Clay or Nick..?"

"That's... I hate to say it, but they are probably in their right to do that. So, you're sure you don't want to do anything?"

"Yes," I said, exasperated.

He sighed, looking defeated. "You're a good person, George."

"Um... Thanks."

We ate the rest of our dinner in silence, and after washing some dishes, I promptly left for my room. My cat followed, hopping down from the couch as my dad sat down next to where he was. As I entered my room, I let my cat dash through the door before closing it. To my dismay, though, he immediately hopped on my gaming chair, curling up on the seat. I tried shooing him off, but he didn't budge, so I collapsed on my bed in defeat.

After contemplating what I should do for a while, I decided to take an early shower. I grabbed my pajamas from my dresser and headed to the bathroom, turning on the water to a fairly hot temperature and stripping down. 

I stepped into the scalding water, happy to be in my own shower for once. I took my time to make sure I was thoroughly clean, carefully scrubbing my ankle that had been twisted. It barely hurt anymore, though, so it wasn't too much hassle.

Once I finished my shower, I stepped out and dried off, turning off the water. I threw on my pajamas and took my old clothes with me to my room, where I tossed them on the floor. My cat had still not moved from my chair, so I scooped him up and put him on my lap as I turned on my PC.

"Baby," I said softly, petting his head. Now that I was here, though, he didn't want to be with me, so he wriggled out of my arms and dashed away.

"Why don't you like me?" I sighed, returning my attention to my monitor. Once Discord loaded, I saw that Clay was offline. He was almost always online at this time of night, so I knew that he was grounded for sure.

Nick, however, was still online, so I talked with him for a bit. We eventually decided to play Minecraft together for a little bit, jumping on Hypixel and doing some casual SkyWars. Neither of us was particularly amazing at PvP, but we did win a few rounds. After one of these victories, we sat in the lobby for a while longer than usual, talking.

"How'd your parents take it?" I asked.

"They pretty much blamed Jack for everything and were chill with what I did, so I basically get a week off," he said, nonchalantly.