Manipulation High

Chapter 27: Dream and dreams

George POV.

“Come on George! Destroy the bed!” Clay shouted excitedly, watching as I quickly started breaking the wool defence around the bed.
He ran over the same bridge I had just built and began attacking the other players who attempted to stop me, easily 2v1-ing them with his better gear while I quickly broke the bed.

Once I finished I turned to help Clay fight, feeling a smile grow on my face as I killed one of the pair, afterwards Clay landed the final hit and the other player disappeared before the blond let out a loud ‘let's go!’

I let out a triumphant ‘whoop’ too before we were teleported back to the main lobby. “That was fun!” I said happily as I ran next to the green character and jumped around him playfully. “I barely get the chance to play on a team with friends, it’s always people who I never even talk to.”

“Well the two of us are going to play bedwars together all of the time from now on and we are going to win every time!” Clay chuckled excitedly. “A lot of the others are also good at bedwars so we can make a dream team!”

I was currently playing minecraft while wrapped up in a blanket at 11:30 at night. Clay and I had been on a discord call for almost six hours, playing games and laughing with each other constantly. We only stopped once or twice when one of us needed to grab some food to eat or for a bathroom break.

“We probably need to get off now,” I told him with a yawn, starting to feel tired. “But today has been fun. I’ll see you tomorrow Clay.”
“See you,” I heard him respond. “Can’t wait to cook our amazing meal at the cooking club tomorrow, everyone will be so jealous of our amazing meal.”

The two of us gave each other a goodbye before hanging up and I smiled after we hung up. I smiled as I stood up and went to the bathroom across the hallway to brush my teeth before I went to bed. The last thing that I did was stop in the kitchen to put my now empty glass of water that had been sitting at my desk in the sink.

Once I climbed into my bed I felt myself settling into the bed, and I couldn’t help but feel that whenever I went to bed later the bed was almost twice as comfy as usual. I nestled myself further into the blankets and pillows which were a lot warmer since my room was cold. I felt myself falling asleep and as I did I couldn’t help but think about what happened today.

The bell rang loudly and I immediately slammed the door of my locker and began running to my classroom. It felt instinctual, I knew where I was going without actually paying attention, and watching as other students walked in the other direction looking like a blur. I ran into a classroom which I didn’t recognise and walked over to a desk and sat down.

Sitting beside me was Schlatt, the guy I met from detention and he glanced at me and from the corner of my eyes I saw him smirk. A few minutes passed before an unfamiliar female teacher walked into the class and she began a ramble about something that I couldn’t understand while also writing something on the board that seemed like just scribbles to me.

Schlatt leaned closer to me and I actually understood what he was saying. “How are you and Clay going?” He asked, and I raised an eyebrow at him at the question.
“What do you mean how are me and Clay going?” I responded. “We’re going fine, nothing is wrong with me or him. We are fine together.”

“Nothing strange?” Schlatt continued, glancing towards Clay who just seemed to be sitting at the front of the classroom, paying attention to whatever the teacher said. The blond was paying no attention towards Schlatt or myself. 
“No, nothing strange,” I reassured him.

“Well what about that book he always carries around?” He asked, and I froze, realising that I did actually find it strange and I agreed with him.
“It… is strange. Do you know anything about it? Why does he always have it on him?” I looked over to the blond and at the moment I saw him pulling the same small book out of his pocket.

When I looked back at Schlatt he was just shrugging. “I don’t know what it is for, but maybe you should ask him. You are reacting to it differently than everyone else does.”
“How am I reacting differently? I asked him. “What do you even mean? This makes no sense.”

There was no answer from Schlatt while I was still looking at Clay, but when I looked back towards him Schlatt was gone. My eyebrows furrowed for a moment from confusion before turning back towards Clay and seeing that he was the only one now sitting in the classroom, besides myself of course.

For a moment I just stared with a dazed expression on my face before realising how long I had been there and standing up. I cautiously padded over, my footsteps making a loud echo in the quiet class as I walked over to Clay. He was doing something in that book of his, but when I peered over his shoulder the pages were blank, as if he was just tracing lines instead of writing.

“What are you writing?” I muttered quietly, leaning over his shoulder as I tried to figure out the answer for myself, unsuccessfully.
“Nothing, you don’t need to worry.” Was his response as he glanced up at me before shutting the book. “I promise you.”

“Promise?” I asked, probably sounding and looking like a little kid. I couldn’t help it, but the blond gave me a small smile as he thought I understood and repeated that word.
“Promise.” He stated. I wanted to ask him something else but suddenly the bell rang, he pushed his chair back and hurried out of the classroom, leaving me alone.

At that moment I woke up, sitting up in bed and looking around as though some of the memories from my dream had trickled over into reality. It was disappointing to realise that I was just back in my boring old bedroom. However the words that Schlatt told me in the dream were still repeating crystal clear in my mind.

“You are reacting to it differently than everyone else does.”

Clay POV.

I was sitting in my class room with a female teacher I didn’t recognise. That didn’t matter though, there was always the possibility she was new so I couldn’t be too mad. However she was speaking a strange language. The words she was speaking were fast and backwards and somehow upside down.

She started writing stuff on the board and I stared intently at it but none of it made sense. To try and figure out what she was trying to write I decided to use my book. I pulled my pocketbook out and grabbed my pen, immediately starting to write in that I needed to understand my book.

The entire time I heard the sound of whispering from behind me, not that the teacher noticed, and I didn’t bother to pay attention either as I continued to try and write different things out, but none of the things I wrote seemed to work. Right in front of my eyes the words just melted away onto the page, leaving it blank.

I didn’t focus on anything else around me until I heard the sound of someone’s breath right behind me. “What are you writing?” George’s familiar voice asked, and I turned to look at him.
“Nothing, you don’t need to worry.” I reassured him as I shut my book, making sure that he couldn’t see anything inside of it. “I promise you.”

“Promise?” The brunette questioned me quietly almost as a whisper, and I couldn’t help but feel guilty as I responded with ‘promise’.
It seemed as though George wanted to ask something else but the bell rang and I stood up to leave as quickly as possible, not wanting to have to answer any more questions.

I walked for what felt like hours, just taking turns in the school corridors. Eventually it felt as though I had fallen through the floor. Suddenly I sat up with a jolt and felt nervous immediately. I didn’t want George to find out. It was past six in the morning and I figured it wasn’t worth going back to sleep, and so I woke back up.
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