The One You Love || Dreamnotfound

Chapter 7

Clay woke up in the morning and followed his usual morning routine: showering, strapping knives to his body, getting dressed, staring into his empty fridge while his stomach growled but not eating, brushing his hair, grabbing his bag, and heading out the door.

He walked to school, knowing he had less than 48 hours to produce a dead body or reap the consequences. For the average person, that would be quite a bit of stress. For Clay, though, he handled it quite well.

What he wasn't handling well was the fact that George was still managing to make him feel all... weird. All gross and emotional. All flustered. It was horrible and he hated the fact that he couldn't get near him without feeling his face heat up and butterflies in his stomach. It sucked and he hated it.

And, of course, speak of the devil- Clay saw him approach out of the corner of his eye.

"Clay!" He greeted, going to hug him. Clay put out a hand to stop him, and it was effective.

"...hi George."

"Hey man. Is everything okay? When techno called yesterday, you seemed sca-"

"Everything's fine. Why wouldn't it be? I love Techno. Are you saying I don't love Techno?"

"...that's not what I'm saying, Clay. I'm saying that-"

"Good! Because I love techno!"

"I know you love Techno-"

"...yeah. So hey-" Before George could get another word in, the bell rang. "Damn. I'll talk to you later, then?"

"Mhm sure!" Clay said dismissively, already walking away from him.

As usual, class didn't matter to Clay. He paid enough attention to class to answer questions and such, but basically zoned out enough to all but timeskip his own mind to lunch.

He got to eat with Techno again, but any attempt to speak was only met with a glare. No words were spoken between that period, but Clay kept a smile nonetheless.

Lunch passed, then the rest of his classes passed, and Clay only grew increasingly anxious. He had to get rid of George today- he told himself he had to. He had never missed a deadline before- he didn't know what would happen if he did. He didn't want to know.

Luckily for him, George was still determined to 'befriend' him. This was evident in how quick after school George approached him, smiling widely to himself. Clay only gave a small smile in return.

"Hey Clay- wanna get ice cream again? Maybe not with the interruption?"

Clay shook his head. "You already spent money on me, I couldn't ask you to do it again." He really just didn't want to go to an open, public place with George. Still.

George blinked a bit and furrowed his brows. "Clay, that's just what people do when they /care/ about others."

Clay looked back, tilting his head softly. "...why are you giving me a look. What are you trying to say?"

George shook his head, sighing. "Nevermind, it doesn't matter."

Clay went to object, but George took his hand and started walking off.

"Here, come with me to get a book, then. I need it for a project."

"Huh? Ok then..?"

George started walking with him to the library, thinking to himself of what to say.

"...Clay, you love Techno, right?"

"Yeah! Of course I do. I love Techno. I love Techno so much. He's-"