George
Saturday had always been a chill day for me. At least until now.
The four of us are in Dream and Sapnaps dorm, discussing things we could possibly do to waste the day away.
Im sat cross legged on the end of Sapnaps bed, with Sapnap sprawled out just beside me. Quackitys laid on Dreams bed, and Dream is laying on the floor.
I don't know why, maybe he just likes the floor.
"What about town?" Quackity asks, after Sapnaps suggestion of 'doing work' that they'd both laughed about right after suggesting.
"Town is shitty on rainy days" Dream tells him, "everywhere will just be full of long queues, theres no point."
The room hums in silence, shaking a little after the second bash of thunder of the afternoon. The weather hasn't been this bad in all my time of being here.
"Im so bored" Sapnap complains, dragging out his sentence.
"Ditto" Quackity mumbles.
"I think we all are" I throw in.
"What about the library" Dream suggests.
Sapnap lets out loud groan and forcefully throws his pillow at Dream. Quackity and I find it funny though.
"You're bad enough dragging us down there to do homework on weekdays" Sapnap tells him, "im not spending my Saturday listening to you rant and rave over some boring books that are hundreds of years old."
"Suit yourself!" Dream smiles, standing up off the floor. And before any of us know whats happening, hes gone.
Sapnap sits up, looking back and forth at me and Quackity.
"He did not just ditch us, did he?" Sapnap glares.
"I think he did, yeah" I laugh.
Rain pelts down harder on the windows, as if to be specifically taunting us. Conversations slip up and down the busy corridors outside, which seem to end up bustling with people each time the weather gets bad.
"He only did it because he thinks we'll come after him." Sapnap shakes his head dishearteningly. "Not this time, Dreamie Boy! You're on your own."
Quackity looks at me, and I look uncertainly back.
Sapnap lays back down, going back to quietly just staring at the ceiling.
Rain slams down, and the thunder bangs again.
"You want to go after him, don't you?" Sapnap moans frustratedly.
"Sort of" Quackity grins.
"Its better then nothing" I respond, standing up.
"I hate all of you" Sapnap cries as he stands up. "I hate all of you so much right now, im gonna cry."
"Cheer up, Sapnap" Quackity notes as he slips on his shoes. "Hopefully hes started a different book and we wont have to hear about Wuthering Heights for the twelfth time."
Sapnap groans out loud again, sounding like he really does want to cry.
"Whats Wuthering Heights?" I peer.
Sapnap groans again, dropping back down onto his bed. "Whatever you do, don't ask Dream that question" he warns.
"Not unless you want to be transported back to England in the 1700s" Quackity giggles.
"1760s" Sapnap corrects in a painful attempt at an English accent.
"That was brutal" I laugh, shaking my head at him.
Sapnap laughs again, continuing on with his terrible accent impression as he climbs out of bed and pulls on his shoes.
All three of us slip inbetween the large and small groups of people that have come together around the hallway. We all break out into loud bickering once we can actually hear eachother outside in the courtyard.
The library is just down the hall from the reception. Everytime we pass by and Maisie is on duty, I always make sure to stop and talk to her. To my luck, shes here today.
"Ill be back in a minute" I smile quickly, running off from Quackity and Sapnap. They know not to wait for me, and continue on down the hall.
Theres nobody around, there never is on weekends. Reception is mostly busy on weekdays.
"Hi" I breathe, grinning as I lean over the desk.
"George!" she exclaims with a smile, "what a lovely suprise, I didn't think i'd be seeing you today."
"I didn't think you'd be seeing me either" I respond, toying with a pen on the desk.
"Did Dream drag you back down here again?" she laughs as loud clicks from her computer fill up the large empty room. I laugh too, because somehow shes spot on.
"How'd you guess?"
"I know that boy better then I know anybody else around here" she says very matter of factly.
"You know him?" I question "Like you know him well, or you both say hello in the halls and then walk on without another word?"
She laughs a little as I ramble, but is quick to answer my question. "Oh, I know him well"
"You know who well?" a voice breezes from just behind me.
Maisie looks up over the top of her computer, and I turn around.
"Speak of the devil" Maisie smiles. She got the devil part right.
Dream leans himself on the desk beside me, flashing a wide smile towards the woman infront of us. For some reason, I feel a stab of jealousy.
"I get to see the two of you in one day!" she exclaims, "what a treat."
"Aren't we just that" Dream smiles back, "I wish we could stay, but Sapnaps already mad enough."
"I don't blame him, what with the amount of time you have all of these boys in that library, i'd think you're all mini Einsteins!"
She laughs a little at her own joke, with makes both me and Dream laugh a little too. "When will you let him back out on the football fields?"
"You know him a little too well" Dream smirks, "hes dying to get back out there."
"Of course he is." I watch her shake her head disapprovingly. "The amount of times i've seen him in a brace or cast because of that damned sport."
"He'll never give it up though" Dream laughs, tugging me away from the desk, as if to make moves to get going.
"I know that much. Oh! And will you tell Quackity I have a package waiting from his mother?" Maisie asks us.
"Of course" Dream nods, the two of us now away from the desk. "We'll be sure to come and see you during the week, i'll bring Sapnap along too."
Maisie waves at the two of us, as if to say that we're dismissed. "You do that, i'll see you, boys"
"Bye" Dream and I call from down the hall, earning another heartfelt wave from the receptionist.
When we're far enough down the hall so the desk and Maisie are out of view, I start my confused questions.
"Sapnap plays soccer?" I half hiss, half whisper. Dream snorts as he pushes open the library doors.
"Soccer?" he whispers confusedly, but then cops it. "No, you idiot, not soccer, American Football"
"Football, Soccer, whatever you want to call it" I shrug, "he still plays it."
"All of us do" Dream tells me, "well, minus you, unless you tryout."
"Ill pass" I respond. He looks at me, so I feel the need to explain further. "Not really a sports guy."
"Neither am I" Dream mumbles, "we all did it together when we first got here, and i've just never been bothered enough to give it up."
I don't pick up on when, or how, but instead of going to our usual table, I seem to have followed him as he peers at the books on bookshelfs. Now it feels rude to just turn around and leave him.
"What type of guy are you then?" I peer.
"Sorry?"
"You aren't a sports guy, what type of guy are you?"
The question feels invasive, but he doesn't seem to think so. His face laces over with intrigueness, his eyes turning from the bookshelfs to study me.
He does that a lot, studying people. Not just me, he does it to everyone.
"I don't know" he shrugs finally, turning back around to his dark brown sturdy shelfs that he spends so much time looking at.
Even on weekdays, he cant help but come sort through each book on the wide shelf.
Something about the way he answers makes me feel uneasy, like i've upset him. I could be wrong, but I feel a need to quickly change the subject. And only one thing comes to mind that I know Sapnap and Quackity will later scald me for.
"Sapnap told me you like a book about heights" I mumble. I totally forgot the name, I won't lie.
Dream is quick to understand what I mean though. "I like a lot of books" he tells me, "but I talk about Wuthering Heights and a couple others the most."
"Thats the name" I nod quietly. Hes gone a little quiet again, so I pester him some more. "What other books do you like?"
He throws me another curious glance, but answers my question. "I like any books, i'll read anything you give me." His hands that had dropped from the spines of all different coloured books return to where they'd been.
The library is quiet, and it feels odd to keep talking at such a volume, so I quieten down again, allowing Dream to continue picking at books.
After a while I grow bored though, quickly disregarding my earlier thoughts about not being rude and walking away.
Sapnap and Quackity are sat where we usually sit to do homework on weekdays, the very back right corner of the library.
Its dark here, but its even darker today considering the terrible weather outside.
Small laterns that would usually be lit later on in the evening have been lighted early, so it seems. Q and Sapnap are leaned over our table, a shared mixture of hushes going back and fourth between them.
I take my place in my usual chair and tune in to what they're on about.
They quickly wrap up their conversation as I sit down though, just making me all the more curious.
But Sapnap is quick to change the subject. "Hows Maisie?" he peers, leaning over a little towards me.
I sit back in my chair instinctively. "Shes good" I respond. Its now that I remember what she'd told me about Quackitys mothers package. "She wanted me to tell you that your mum left something in for you" I note to Quackity.
He nods at me, but Sapnap cuts in again. "Where'd Dream get off too?"
I smile a little to myself when he asks. "He got distracted by the bookshelfs, I don't think we'll be seeing him for a while"
Quackitys concerns himself with scribbling onto a loose page from a notebook. Neither Sapnap nor I are bothered by the loud scratching noises coming from the pen being pressed down onto the wooden table.
"You two never told me you play football" I accuse suddenly. Quackity looks up, and a wide grin grows on Sapnaps lips.
"It never came up" Quackity shrugs, but his face suddenly lights up, "you should tryout, after the new year."
Sapnap is quick to agree. He starts telling me all about how American football, and a mixture of different stories that he can remember from his games. I feel bad when I have to let him down.
"I don't really do the whole sports scheme" I mumble, leaning back in to the table.
A sudden rise of complaints from the two of them grow a little too loud for my liking, considering how quiet this place is. Literally because its a Library.
"Let me teach you" Sapnap gushes, Quackity nodding encouraingly along beside him. "Let me teach you and if you still don't like it then you don't have to do it."
I bite on my lip uncertainly. "Theres thunder and lighting outside, Sapnap."
Quackity holds up a finger, signaling for us to be quiet. We do as he asks. "See?" he says after a couple of seconds, "there hasn't been any thunder for the past twenty minutes."
Shit. "Its raining" I try to reason.
"God, George". Sapnap looks me up and down. "Are you really that afraid of rain?!"
I roll my eyes at him. "Im not afraid of it" I snap, "im just not a huge fan of it."
"Well that ends today" Sapnap finalizes, standing up. When none of us move, he speaks again. "Come on then!"
Quackity packs up his bag he'd brought, but Sapnap literally has to drag me as I cling to my chair. I don't exactly go quietly, either.
As if to be on cue, Dream then appears from behind a bookshelf on the completley opposite side we'd been stood on. He has a small pile of books in his arms.
Quackity takes my other arm that Sapnap isn't holding and wraps it around his neck.
Im still groaning up a loud muster of complaints. Sapnap marches us over to Dream, takes the books from his hands and pushes them onto a random shelf. To my suprise though, Dream doesn't complain.
"You look like trouble" he laughs, allowing Sapnap to take his arm and pull all of us towards the exit.
"I feel like it" Sapnap responds, "Q, Dream, go get a football" he orders.
Quackity salutes him, and Dream does the same, the two of them looking around before taking off down a hallway I've never been down before. Or maybe I have and just don't remember. Since this place is so godamn big.
"Sapnap this is such a bad idea, I hate sports" I complain, but hes having none of it. I've never seen him this determined.
"You're gonna love it." He shakes his head at me, "you just need a good teacher."
I pretend to look around. "I dont see them." He laughs sarcastically, but I know he finds it funny.
All the way down twisty halls, I continue to groan and moan about how much of a bad idea this is, but at some point I think he just tunes me out. Boys stare as he tugs at me, but Sapnap doesn't seem to care in the slightest.
We eventually reach the door to what I guess is football fields, but this means we've reached the door to go outside. Into the rain.
Don't get me wrong, i've been in rain before. And im not scared of it, I just don't understand why one would willing go out into wet weather. Why cause yourself the trouble? Theres no point.
"Lets just go back to the Library."
"No, George, we're going."
"But why." Words can't explain how much I don't want to be outside, and he knows that.
"Those baby browns might work on your loverboy, but they won't work that way with me" he calls, pushing open the doors to run outside.
It takes a second for his words to sink in.
Lover what?
Just purely out of confusion and mixed up emotion, I shove after him and out the door to question what he'd just said to me, but then I realize what I did.
"It worked!" Sapnap laughs from a few feet in front of me. My face must say it all.
Rain is still pouring down, but not as bad as it had been earlier. That doesn't matter to me though, rain is still rain. The fields look foggy too, and are probably full of mud. Great.
"How did that work!" he whoops, taking his place back on my arm and giggling like a ten year old girl. If im being honest, im asking myself that same question.
It confuses me even more that I know exactly who hes talking about, and what scenario, but even then things don't make sense. I want to question how he got a 'my loverboy' impression, but I hold back.
"You okay?" he asks uncertainly, stopping mid walk. I watch his face flaunt over with worry. "If you really want to go back inside, then we can, I don't mind."
I shake my head and smile. "Are you sure you aren't my loverboy? Always making sure im okay" I laugh, trying to convince him I am okay.
The worry immediately disappears, and replaced is the same happy look thats usually set in stone when he speaks to me. We start to walk again, arm linked in arm.
"What would you say if I wanted to be?" he asks playfully, "im much better than him."
I giggle at him. "Oh, id say yes of course" I answer him, "who could say no to a face like that?"
He fucks up my hair with his spare hand, and I shove him away with another laugh. Behind us comes a loud shout, causing the two of us to turn around.
Quackity has a football in hand, and is screaming something that neither of us can hear yet.
Dream is lacking behind him, carrying a small basket of footballs, his smile growing wider which each shout that erupts from Quackity.
"Whats he saying?" I ask, squinting my eyes to get a better look, as if itll help me hear.
"I can't hear hi-" Sapnap starts, but then a loud, clear bellowing echoes across the field as Quackity runs faster.
"GO LONG!"
And, well, Sapnap doesn't have to be told twice.
He immediately takes off without another word. Gone. Left.
I watch him sprint down the field, turning around every couple of seconds to see if Quackitys still running. At some stage, Quackity overtakes me, running as fast as he can after Sapnap.
I chuckle to myself as Quackity boots the ball. It soars through the air for a second, before landing right in Sapnaps expectant arms. The two of them then let out roars of celebration, running towards eachother again.
"I thought you weren't a sports guy" Dream asks, suddenly beside me. He startles me, but I don't let him know it. The guy floats around like a ghost.
"Im not."
He just eyes me curiously, the same way he always does. It sort of pisses me off actually, but not enough for me to voice any concern over it.
"Good luck, with this" he says, taking a few steps foward. I follow him.
"Why do I need good luck?" I question.
"Sapnap taught me how to play" Dream shrugs, as though that answers my question, "I don't know if I ever fully recovered from those months we spent on these exact pitches" he says.
For a second im actually worried, but then I spot the smile on Dreams face. Then again, hes a weird guy. He could be smiling at something completely irrelevant to our conversation.
"Im kidding" he tells me, "incase you couldn't tell." Im glad he told me, because I really couldn't tell. "This should be fun" he encourages.
And I suppose you could say he was right.
The entirety of the evening is spent down on the muddy fields with the three other boys.
Sapnap sticks to his promise, and ends up being patient enough with me.
Quackity and Dream spend some of the time kicking the footballs around with eachother, but sometimes come to help Sapnap with me. Well, mostly Quackity. Dream gets the job of having to run to grab every football I kick astray.
All in all, it does end up being fun. And now im completley torn on if I want to play or not.
Dream is the first to call it quits after about two hours. Sapnap quickly tries to convince him to stay, but Dream promises to come back out here within the next week to help out with me again.
So soon enough, we're all back inside. We're all dripping in rainwater, and freezing cold, but I can tell everyone enjoyed themselves. Even me.
Dream and Sapnap agree to make their ways down to our dorm after theyre done showering. Quackity lets me shower first, and it doesn't take much to persuade me.
The waters steaming hot, quickly washing away the lingering cold rainwater feeling thats been plastered all over my body. I let it rinse over my hair, the freezing water being replaced with the roasting.
Im not a fan of the rain, but warm showers on rainy days will always give this amazing feeling that im unable to describe.
I cut my shower shorter then usual, not wanting Quackity to catch a cold. I can tell hes grateful when I only take less then ten minutes, the shower quickly turning back on as soon as im out of the bathroom.
Im just pulling on my jumper when theres a knock on the door. I already know who it is, without having to ask. "Come in" I call from my wardrobe.
The door opens. I peep out from behind the wardrobe door, and my silent guess was right. "Hey" Dream says, shutting the dorm door.
"You shower fast" I laugh, climbing onto my bed. He laughs a little too, before settling himself down on the floor between mine and Quackitys beds. His hair is still wet, just like mine.
We quickly lapse into an awkward silence, like we always do when we're left alone. Neither one of us knowing what to say to kill the awkward tensions.
To my luck though, Sapnap bursts through the door a minute or two after my last words that were spoke. My head snaps up, and Dreams turns.
Sapnap pauses in the door when he spots us, stopping himself on the tip of his tongue from saying whatever he was about to say. And now theres just even more silence.
"Am I interrupting?" he says slowly, his eyes going from me to Dream.
Im about to ask what the hell hes talking about, but before I can say anything, Dream starts to laugh. Sapnaps confused expression quickly disperses afterwards, and he makes his way over to my bed, resuming his usual position.
It doesn't take long for Quackity to appear out of the bathroom, and thats when things actually kick off. We spend the rest of the night playing board games, chess, and some of it just talking.
When outside grows dark, and loud voices become whispers, we all eventually grow tired. The lights go out per usual, and Dream ends up sat on the end of Quackitys bed.
"Its late" Quackity mumbles from his bed, "you guys should just stay here"
And thats exactly what they do.
It turns out that this is a usual occurence on weekends, so they already have a stash of blankets in the top of Quackitys wardrobe to lay out on the floor. Quackitys already half asleep, so I help Dream and Sapnap set up beds.
It doesn't take long, and by the time we're settled down, Quackitys already snoring. The building has died down, and its not at all like earlier when boys were crowding the corridors.
I turn over in my bed and hush a soft 'goodnight' before I close my eyes, expecting two answers in return, not knowing one of the three of us who were still awake had actually fallen asleep.
Cue another minute or two of silence.
"Night" Dream mumbles, and then after another long second of silence, I hear him also turn over so im barely able to see him, before he yawns, and closes his eyes.