polaroid | georgenotfound

18

george and devyn sat at the edge of the bed. george fidgets with his fingers, while dev sits with her arms and legs crossed. 

"you lied to me, george. i thought we were working on our communication. i would've understood that you needed alone time. but you lied to me, AND dream. and you know he's absolutely heartbroken that you would lie to him."

"i thought you would be upset," he speaks gently as if any volume louder than his whisper would shatter him like stained glass.

"i am, even more so. but mostly, i'm confused. do you want to explain?"

george flops back on the bed, staring at the crown molding of his ceiling. 

"i didn't think you were going to tell dream. i mean i did say not to contact him."

"don't pin this on me, george," dev stands abruptly, causing him to lean back. "what has gotten into you lately? you ignore my messages, you lied to me, i thought we were best friends. did i do something wrong?" she sits again, frustrated. 

george was distracted, watching the sunbeams of the sunset reflect from the window onto her hair. she looked like an angel, set down to guide, yet torment him. he hadn't decided which one it was yet.

"george!" he blinks, dazed.

"sorry, i'm just... not feeling well. i'm sorry for lying, i really am. i just didn't feel like i could express how i feel in words, i needed time to think and be alone."

dev turns to face him, searching his eyes for an answer. the longer she looked, the more she realized that he didn't have it. it was obvious that he was struggling with something, that had been clear the moment devyn walked into his room. it was a mess, his usual kept room was littered with dirty plates, socks were strewn throughout the room, and the smell was definitely pungent. 

"i'm gonna use the bathroom," dev whispers as she trudges across the messy room. 

she enters the bathroom, finding it much cleaner than his bedroom, but the walls were adorned with a variety of colored sticky notes, covering almost his entire mirror. they all contained cryptic messages and phrases that didn't make any sense to her. dev reads one on a pink post-it, that said, love? her. and another on a blue post-it that said can't tell.

feeling intrusive and not wanting george to feel any more uncomfortable than he already was, she looks away quickly, trying to avert her eyes from any other potentially personal messages. 

turning the tap on to wash her hands, she looks up to see her own face in the mirror, in a polaroid instead of the reflection. drying her hands on the towel nearby, she reaches up to pluck the photo off the glass, its tape leaving a sticky residue on the mirror, slippery from the steam of previous showers. it was a polaroid of her holding her juul on the sidewalk, the glow from the vape still emitting light onto her face. looking around, she saw the myriad of pictures littered in between the sticky notes. they were all photos of her, presumably taken on her own polaroid when she wasn't looking. george must've taken them and kept them for himself. dev collects them all from the mirror and walks out into the bedroom.

"george? did you take these of me?"

he rises abruptly, striding across the room to grab them out of her hand.

"oh, you're uh- not supposed to see those..."

she pulls away from his grasp, sifting through them.

"did you take these on my polaroid? i didn't even notice."

"are you mad?" george sheepishly asks.

"no, why would i be mad? except for this one, i look bad in it," she laughs breathlessly.

"you never look bad," george mutters, holding the picture she'd been talking about. "i just thought," he continues, "that you're always taking pictures of other people, there's never any of you. and i put them up because they always remind me of the good, that's you, even when things are rough. you know, with the whole online thing, you help me stay grounded and not let it all get to my head."

"george," dev grins, "come with me, i have to show you something." she grabs his hand and rushes out the door. 

HEY GUYS 
are we mad like i know i was gone for a month but like,,, heyyyyy :] love y'allll don't be mad ha ha ha .......