Day Dreaming (DreamNotFound)

13. Confession

"What-? Why are you here? How are you here?" I stuttered.

Clay's pale face was wet from the rain. He looked shaken, which confused me. I knew he could get emotional, but fear was not one of the ones I've seen.

"George, I-"

"Inside," my mom barked, hastily grabbing some groceries from the trunk. 

Following orders, Clay stepped in with me and moved toward the kitchen. My dad seemed to already know what was going on and didn't ask questions; instead, he moved some of his papers off a chair so Clay could sit down. A tense silence filled the air as we waited for my mom to finish grabbing everything from the car.

As my mom set down the bags of groceries, she sighed. "I... found him at the store. He was getting out of the rain because he had run away."

Clay spoke up. "She was going to kick me out anyway. I just left before-"

My mom looked shocked, which was unlike her. "But she didn't say so? Your parents are probably worried sick about you-"

Clay quickly corrected her. "My phone's been on this entire time. I haven't been anywhere with no reception. The first thing they would have done would have been to call me... if they cared."

"Clay..." I began, but my mom cut me off.

"We'll keep you for now while George's father and I discuss what we're going to do. Why don't you two go upstairs to George's room?" she said, looking a little stressed.

I nodded at Clay. Together, we set off up the stairs and to my room, where we shut the door and took a seat on my bed. We looked at each other awkwardly, our gazes meeting at each other's eyes. He quickly looked toward the window, hiding his face.

After a moment, I spoke up again. "Um... do you want to play Mario Kart? Or..."

"Yeah, Mario Kart is fine." He seemed out of it somehow, as if he were hiding something.

I turned on my Switch and booted up Mario Kart. We held a small conversation as we played reservedly. I was worried about Clay. He wasn't nearly as talkative as usual and his tone was dry. It reminded me of that day on the trip, except this time wasn't out of anger.

"So, um... how are you?" I asked, nervously.

Clay shook his head. "I'm... not really great at the moment. But I like being here with you."

I blushed a little. I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but him saying that meant so much to me.

"Why'd you leave? It's really raining out there."

He took a shaky breath. "Yeah. I should have thought about the rain, but... I just needed to get out of my house."

I hesitated for a moment, thinking. He hated talking about stuff like this. And yet... 

"...Do you want to talk about it?"

"You don't need to listen to me," he said quickly, but I insisted.

"I want to help you, Clay. Please."

"Are you sure? It's a lot..." he sighed, dejectedly.

"Tell me."

He took a second. "Well, um... my mom's pissed at the whole thing. Like I said, she really hates you and is 'disappointed' that I stood up for you. And then... well, I kinda told her to shut up. She snapped and started charging at me, but I ran out the door and... well, now I'm here."

I winced. "I'm so sorry, Clay... That's awful."

He smiled sadly. "Don't be. You didn't do anything."