- 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒆, ( the movie : the book. )

chapter four - otto

they didn't talk the rest of their stay.

otto begun to wonder if the whole instagram thing had been a prank. or a fluke. perhaps awsten mistook otto for someone else, or maybe awsten decided that in proper lighting, otto hadn't been that special.

otto thought about it the rest of his shift. even when chloe came back, after awsten had been long gone from the diner, they lingered in the back of his mind. "i just don't care, you know? who dyes their hair like that?" otto cleaned a table as chloe overlooked, wiping the inside of glassware.

"you're acting like you care."

he could probably give in to the knowing glance she was offering, but that would show weakness and emotion and otto didn't want to admit to himself just how much he had cared.

he hated himself for thinking like this.

maybe he could call grace. grace would know what to do. she was a real bitch sometimes, horrible to date and even more horrible to break up with, but she could be a good friend and give good advice. sometimes. on occasion. she'd probably offer to fuck otto.

but otto didn't want to fuck her. he didn't want to have any form of sex with anyone, really. it felt like a temporary fix to even think about hooking up with some random stranger, because it definitely wouldn't be grace. knowing her, otto would get laced into another relationship, and that's the last thing he had wanted.

he had a headache. it sucked and he had it as he finished his shift and went home.

once there, all he could think about was the idiot with the highlighter on their head. again, who does that? willingly? it's like they wanted the attention.

they were weird. haunted house was so fucking weird and they were stuck in otto's thoughts and otto didn't mind them being trapped there.

"awsten," they had said when otto asked their name. they wrote it out for him.

"is that actually how you spell it, or are you messing with me?"

the individual had looked almost offended by the question.

"no. that's the actual spelling." something on their face shifted, offense turning into something else.

otto couldn't help feel bad. he leaned against his front door and shook his head at the memory.

they were probably hurt. god, did otto accidentally bully them? no. he didn't. because otto wouldn't bully them, except calling them highlighter head.

and that's funny.

and not even to their face and otto wonders if they have an instagram.

what was their friend's username again? they could find it.

jawn.

like awsten.

badly spelled names.

otto gave himself a profile photo.

it's an elderly man.

he said he was one hundred and ten.

he followed user awstenknight.

knight is a nice last name.