The Railroad

Chapter 15

For once, they had an uneventful day. They simply walked and talked, learning more details about the other as they went. For example, Dream had expressed how he'd wanted to be a botanist when he was younger. His father owned a flower shop and he'd work in it on the weekends, and for some reason really enjoyed it.

"I'd even be okay with mowing people's yards," he was saying. "I already did that for the elderly folks in my neighborhood who couldn't. The cash was good, and it wasn't that bad."

"You're insane. I've only mowed the yard once. We had people who took care of it for us, but one time Wilbur and I went out to my grandpa's farm and for whatever reason, he decided he was gonna teach us how to mow," George chuckled. He smiled, thinking back to that day. It sucked at the time, but now it was just something he and Wilbur looked back at and laughed over. "It took us three hours to do it. Granted, his lot was like four acres or something ridiculous like that, but we didn't even do the whole thing. We just kept messing around, so eventually, my mom told us to get back inside and get some lemonade."

"You don't talk about Wilbur much," Dream commented. "I'd love to hear some stories, seeing as he's the reason we met in the first place."

George nodded and thought about a story to tell. "Well, one time we were dog sitting for one of our family friends. It was winter and at the time we were somewhere in Colorado, so it was positively freezing. Our friend's house was huge, as was their backyard... and they had a pool. It was heated, but it was like negative something degrees outside so the heating didn't do much. We decided to be smart and go swimming in our boxers that night; it was fun but the next day we both got the flu. Luckily the dog was okay."

Dream wheezed loudly. "That sounds like something my old best friend and I would've done. His name was Nick. We're natives of Florida, so of course we were gonna do stupid things. It was sort of what we became known for, getting into trouble in one way or another. Nothing serious, though."

"Do you wanna talk about him?" George asked. He subconsciously began rubbing his thumb over Dream's knuckles as they walked.

"Not really; like I said we grew apart. I'm interested in knowing more about Wilbur, good to know the competition."

George snorted. "It's not like that with Wilbur, Dream. You have absolutely no competition, from him or anyone else. Now, you wanna hear about our time in New York?" Dream simply nodded, a curious glint in his green eye. "Well, we were there for my mom's work. As I'm sure you know, she was a pretty popular writer, so we were there for a signing and some other things. It was basically all just popularity stuff, not really important.

"Anyway, one night Wilbur convinced me to come to the Metropolitan Museum with him. We were having a good time, although neither of us knew anything about art and we were fifteen so we weren't appreciative of it either. We were in the gift shop, about to leave, when this seventeen-year-old girl started flirting with Wil. She recognized him from this old interview his politician father did when he was trying to become a presidential candidate. She started talking with him and all this stuff, but Wil was clearly not into it. She asked for his number, and he declined her. The look on her face was the funniest thing I've ever seen."

"Desperate fans. The worst," Dream chuckled. "No secret admirer for you, princess?"

"Oh, there were a few. That same trip, actually, I met Alexis Quackity."

"Wait, that dude whose dad is like the most successful casino owner of all time? Him, really?"

"That's the one. We ran into each other at a party for rich people that my parents dragged me to. Luckily, Wil was there, but he got caught up talking to the other adults who were interested in, like, everything about him. Everyone's always impressed by Wil: I assume it's his charisma. Anyway, Alex and his plus one approached me when they saw me sitting at a table all alone, and came and sat with me.