miami

seven.

chapter seven

Dream.

IRENA STARES AT THE circular profile picture of a white smiley face on a lime green background. She's downloaded Instagram just for this. Just to make sure.

Because his Twitter doesn't exactly allude to who he is, but his Instagram is a lot more obvious. There's less and less doubt in her mind that he's not just Clay.

It's been three days since she's seen him. She's spiraling down a terrible rabbit hole of connecting every dot Clay has provided. How was she so blind before?

She's supposed to meet him for New Year's Eve. Irena turns to glance at her phone's home screen. There's unopened messages and a few missed calls. The red circles glare up at her evilly. She sighs and switches the phone off. The screen is black for only a few seconds before it lights up with another call. Her heart stalls at the name. She knows she can't keep ignoring him.

"Hi," she answers, speaking quietly into the phone.

"Hey!" He sounds so happy. Irena can't help but smile. "What's up? How's your family been?"

"Most of them left."

"Oh. We still on for Thursday?"

Irena bites her lip. Her mother is already annoyed that she missed a good portion of Christmas Day. Yet the prospect of seeing Clay again before she leaves...

"Of course. I was actually wondering...are you free tonight?"

The smile is oozing in his response. It's contagious, even when she can't see his face. The image of his smirk and the dimples lighting up his eyes. The doubts are quenched, completely dying away and sizzling as his personality bubbles over.

"Want to order a pizza and watch some TV with me?"

"Read my mind," she replies.

Her mother gives her a suspicious glare as she walks into the living room, dressed in a casual pair of leggings and a T-shirt.

"Where are you off to?"

"I'm meeting that friend again. I'll be back later."

"Are you driving?" Her mother eyes the keys that Irena extends. It answers the question. "Don't stay out too late."

"I won't. Bye Mom."

Irena starts her car. It shudders threateningly as she plugs the address into her phone. The GPS takes her into a nicer suburb closer to the city.

The black Honda outside the house is familiar. She pulls into the driveway, just as the front door opens. It's a nice house. Really nice. There are modern touches in the floor-to-ceiling windows and the textured siding.

"Do you live here alone?" She asks, eyeing the tall windows as Clay approaches.

"Yeah."

She's surprised when he reaches out and pulls her into a hug. Her shoulders are stiff for a split moment before she melts into his touch.

Clay is a good hugger. She didn't really expect anything less, to be honest.

"I get to meet Patches," she murmurs against his chest.

"She's excited."

"I've always wanted a cat," she muses as they separate. Clay's hand toys with hers, something she knows is completely intentional due to their height difference.

The house is even nicer inside than it was outside. He doesn't give her much time to look around. He heads through the foyer and past a kitchen ( she can't help but think about how different the modern look is compared to that familiar yellow kitchen ). The living room is a lot cozier, with a gray threaded couch that's adorned with plenty of thick blankets.

"I hope you like plain. I already called for it." Right, pizza.

"You should know I'm a simple person by now," she teases.

"I wouldn't say that. There's a lot of knowledge in that head I haven't accessed yet." He gently taps her head. Irena rolls her eyes and moves towards the couch.

"Where's Patches? That's the only reason I came, you know."

"Probably in my room. You can go look for her if you want." Clay drops onto the couch, stretching across it so she can't sit down. Irena glances around the corner into a hallway. She sees the small figure of a cat sitting by an open doorway. She can't help the gasp that escapes her.

"Hi! C'mere pretty." Patches watches her indifferently. Irena moves down the hallway and stops before the cat. Patches looks up at her with wide green eyes. She lets out a small chirp and bumps into Irena's offered hand. The girl is thrilled when the cat lets her scoop her up.

The doorway catches her attention. It's wide open. Irena glances in. There's a desk, set up with three wide monitors. There's a box with multi-colored lights sitting on either side of the outer monitors, matching the keyboard. Irena knows who he is now, but it's still surprising to see such a high-tech set up. She's a graphic arts major...she's seen her classmate's current and dream PCs. This is one of the best.

With Patches in her arms, she returns to the living room. Clay glances up, smiling at the sight of his cat snuggled in her arms.

"Nice set-up. Do you use it for gaming?" She can't keep dancing around the truth. It's a lot easier to just tell him she knows.

"Sometimes."

"Cool. Seems like a pretty heavy PC to handle occasional gaming though."

"I'm guessing you're pretty in to the 'graphic' part of your degree...?" Clay doesn't even seem bothered by her questions. In fact, there's that pompous smirk across his lips again.

"Oh yeah. I would kill for even just one monitor like that to work on art and website building. Move over," she nudges his leg with her knee. Clay sits up and shifts over. Irena lets Patches jump onto his lap as she sits.

She curls into the opposite arm of the chair and presses her feet against his leg. She's already taken her shoes off. They're discarded behind the couch, next to Clay's pair of Vans.

"You're not very good at keeping yourself a secret."

"How so?"

"You know what I mean."

"I'm not sure I do." He's toying with her. Completely messing with her in his smirk and the dimples. His green eyes twinkle with mirth. Irena sighs heavily and reaches to pet Patches.

"I mean first of all, you completely gave yourself away in the grocery store. And wearing your own merch. Not that I blame you. I would wear it too if it was my entire branding on the internet."

The smile is fading from his face.

"I've also had to listen to you voice for the past few days almost nonstop. My brothers are eleven. Absolutely Minecraft obsessed. And their favorite YouTuber just happened to drop a video on Christmas Day. And speaking of Christmas...I'm assuming your friend didn't know I was in the car. Or else he wouldn't have openly called you Dream on speaker phone."

"Fuck."

"Yeah. Fuck."