You're Known //DNF\\

The Devil's Trance

Clay tried to get in contact with George again, the next morning. He ultimately failed, George was still not picking up any calls, wasn't replying to any texts, and wasn't even checking his phone as all his social medias said he hadn't been on. Clay was still distressed over the situation; he could only pray George was at school.

He drove to the school, the sun no longer shown bright. Instead, many grey clouds hovered over and threatened a storm as light raindrops began to fall. Clay couldn't get George out of his head. He only wanted to see George. He only wanted George to be safe. He wanted to bring George close and hug him tightly again. He wanted to have another water fight and act like children again.

When he entered the school full of teenagers, he was met by no one. No George, no friends. No one. It pained him to see no one so, he walked to his locker, grabbed whatever he needed, and waited for his first class to start.

While waiting in front of his classroom, he was met by a familiar face. He hoped it was George, but as the boy came closer it was just Nick. "Hey, Clay!" he greeted happily, "What are you up to?"

Clay shrugged and looked past Nick, still hoping to see his boyfriend walk through the doors and come running to him. Nick looked behind him, seeing no one of interest.

"You alright, man?"

"Yeah, um-Yeah, I'm fine." Clay passed off that he was fine but Nick clearly didn't believe him as he stared at Clay with a confused look, "Well, no. I guess maybe I'm a little upset, but I will be fine."

"Is it about George or something?"

Clay nodded.

"Oh, did something happen between you guys?"

Clay looked at Nick and shook his head no.

"No, nothing happened between us, um- I don't really know what happened. I went into the bathroom yesterday, before we left school, then he was just gone and not answering calls or anything. I don't even think he's coming to school today." Clay let out a frustrated groan, fidgeting with his backpack strap.

Nick patted his sad friend's back, "I'm sure he'll be okay. George has always been strong. For goodness sakes he beat Clarance up." Nick let out a lighthearted laugh. Clay forced out a few chuckles and then sighed. He wasn't very good at hiding his feelings since he was an overall pretty emotional person, but today he kept it together, hiding every thought or emotion that could make someone worry.

Soon, the bell rang and the two separated into their own classes, waving goodbye and saying it too.

Clay spent the whole school day, trying to figure out what happened to George, where he could have disappeared to. He felt stuck, drowning in an ocean. The waves would push him down deeper every time he thought he made progress. It was a repetitive action. Swim up, be pushed down. Find something out, lose all hope.

———————————————

George ignored his alarm that morning, slapping his phone to keep quiet every time it rung to get him up. He didn't even get out of his bed to use the restroom until early afternoon. He spent his day in bed, barely moving and just thinking.

His phone throughout the morning buzzed with Clay's texts, calls, even DMs, but George ignored every single one of them like he did with his alarm. He didn't even pick it up to check them, he didn't want to even feel tempted to message Clay or call him.

His mind was blank, yet he felt like he could write a full novel about what was going on. Each page filled to the brim with emotions and negativity. The book would end with a "..." to signify whatever would happen in the sequel (if there was one).