Two Halves (Dreamnotfound)

Chapter Twelve

As the week progressed, Dream grew more and more exhausted. He had tried multiple times to tell Nick what happened but got choked up after the first couple of words. Thankfully, Nick understood and let him take his time.

He and Darryl spoke more often, mostly during lunch and Study Hall. Darryl tried his best to comfort Dream, but he always seemed down no matter what Darryl did.

"It's hard not talking to him, especially since he was the first one I would go to for everything. Now, he actively avoids me and refuses to even glance my way," Dream mumbled.

Darryl nodded, pitying his friend. "I wish he were less stubborn, but he's got his reasons. I don't think trying to talk to him again is a good idea."

Dream groaned, burying his head into his arms.

"Give him some time, I'm sure he'll come around. I bet a lot is going through his mind right now," Darryl assured him, reaching over to rub his back.

"Okay..."
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Before he knew it, presentation day had arrived. Dream was on edge, but he had his friends to calm him down, despite two out of the three not knowing what was happening. The four boys shared a hug right before the end of lunch bell rang.

It was time.

No matter how much he tried to distract himself, his hands were shaking violently at his side as he stepped into art class. Though things were tense between them, George had kept his end of the project and glued the mask and goggles to the sculpture.

As Dream looked at the completed sculpture, a small burst of warmth melted a bit of the anxiety bubbling within him.

The feeling was short-lived though. Ms. Hazel loudly clapped her hands, startling Dream and a few other students.

"Alright everyone, today's the day your projects are due! I'll call you up by group to give a short presentation on what you've created. For now, you guys can discuss how to present."

Dream chewed harshly on the inside of his cheek, debating on how to talk to George. He sighed, deciding to just go for it.

"Any ideas on how we're going to do this?"

George turned to face opposite of him. "All we have to do is explain what it is and how we made it, easy enough."

Dream frowned. It wasn't much to go off of, but he could make it work. He just hoped they wouldn't talk over each other by mistake.

One by one, each group was called up until inevitably, it was their turn. Dream glanced wearily at George, whose face was void of any emotion.

"Are you going to grab it or not?" George snapped.

Dream gulped, grabbing the figure and placing it onto a desk. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed George glaring at him expectantly. He twitched as a sharp chill shot down his spine.

"George and...and I decided to combine our features to cre-create one person." Dream stumbled over his words, attempting to find the right things to say.

He tried to form his next sentence but found himself incapable as several pairs of eyes were glued to him, watching and judging each mistake he made.

George quickly got irritated from the silence and took over.

"It took some debating, but we separated whose features we would use for what and began making the actual figure. Dream made a wire base for the outline and squashed the clay onto it, while I made the gloves and mask and carved all the minor details. We chose oven-bake clay to work with, so it wouldn't dry out."