Tuesday.
Day 21.
George.
I knew when I opened my eyes I would be back inside my room at the house again.
It always happened after I got dizzy or passed out, and it happened so much now, that it wasn't hard to catch on that I would be back. After Issa left me yesterday, I felt off almost immediately but didn't think much of it until later when I ended up fainting on my way to my room. But I was so used to it I wasn't really even phased.
I was still laying in bed with my eyes open not wanting to move, or do anything for the rest of the day. I once again had to deal with Issa hating me at the school again, because I didn't learn. I knew she was saying some things she didn't truly mean and we might still have a chance, but now I was here and had to face the real her and what she and Cam did together at the party.
I had almost forgotten completely that Issa and Cam slept together, and that Cam sent me pictures of her in bed. I know I could use that against him to get her back, but that would also mean losing my friend, and I didn't want that. It wasn't any of my business since Issa and I weren't together anymore, so I would just have to leave it alone.
Ready to rip off the bandaid that was opening my eyes, I peak open one to see blurry blue lights surrounding my vision. From what I could see, it was my room, that was obvious, but both of my rooms from the school and here looked pretty much the exact same, so I wasn't for sure yet if I was really back.
"Just open them already." It felt weird to be talking to myself alone in my room, but I needed it to be able to finally open my eyes and look around the room. As soon as I open them all the way, there was a loud scream coming from next door. Cam's room. I knew immediately it was Issas voice.
Shooting up from my bed not caring a bit that I was only wearing my boxers, I sprint to my door and move out into the hallway to also see Issa bolting from Cam's room, still yelling with all her might. She was wearing the shirt I had let her borrow the night she basically dumped me. Just behind her was a half naked Cam following her, looking just as alarmed.
"Issa! What's wrong?" Cam sees me first and his face falls to dismay instantaneously. Then was Issas turn to find me.
"Fuck!" The instant her eyes find mine she was yelling so clearly the whole house could have heard her too. Just further down the hall, a door swings open and out strolls Lectra, looking as afraid as the rest of us.
"Why are you guys yelling so much? Did someone break in or something-" Lectra sees Issa standing in the hallway leaning against the wall like she could faint second and was briskly dashing over to her.
"Woah, are you-what are you wearing Iss?" Issa looks down at her clothes then throws her head back with a grunt, clearly forgetting she was wearing a shirt that almost showed off her chest, and underneath was a thong, exposing a little too much.
"Great." Her words come out much more calm this time but her demeanor said otherwise. Cam finally breaks his silence and begins walking over to her slowly with raised hands.
"Hey? Is this about last night? Because if you regret-" Issa throws her hands up to silence him then shouts;
"No! I was just-surprised. I'm better now." Cam nods then looks back at me. I knew the look he was giving me was for me to keep my mouth shut about the photo the instant I see it. I roll my eyes at him then Lectra was butting in again asking;
"Do you want to get something to eat? And-maybe to wear?" Issa finally let's out a light giggle then nods her head yes at her. Lectra takes Issa by the waste then helps her walk down the hall to Issas room, ultimately making their way past my room, past me.
As they walk by, Issa stares at me like I was a total stranger, then she exhales, shakes her head and continued down the hall. When they finally get inside, Cam quickly jogs up to me with a concerned look spread across his face.
"I know what you're going to say. And I already know okay? I was a complete idiot last night. I don't know why I did it, I was drinking and-shit it's no excuse. I don't know what to do. She'll hate me-" I begin laughing dryly and he stops talking instantly.
"What's so funny?"
"You're worried about how Issa will feel about you, but what about me? She and I were just broken up and you went and screwed her Cam!" Cam takes me by the shoulders and was pushing me back inside my room so suddenly and roughly I almost fell halfway there.
"Keep your voice down." Whispering to me now, Cam closes the door and I finally catch my reflection in my mirror, remembering what I was wearing again. Feeling exposed now, I turn to my closet and find some clothes and put them on.
"You told me she was coming upstairs. I don't know, I thought that meant you were-okay with it? I see now that was not the case." Feeling close to punching Cam straight in the face, I step away and instead push away my gaming chair, causing my trash bin to fall over along the way. Cam moves over to my door, out of reach from me in a second.
"She also wanted me just as much, George. I don't know what else to tell you. I'm sorry dude." All I wanted to do was hit Cam. My head hurt and I couldn't think clearly. I didn't know what mattered and what didn't. I couldn't hit Cam because him and I were together at the school, but here we weren't. Who was I kidding, I couldn't hurt him even if my life depended on it.
"I wish I could tell you I could leave Issa alone for you to have her again George, but I really like her. I'm going to find a way to apologize about the picture. Just please-don't tell her first." Something set off inside me then, and I couldn't control it for even a second, it just exploded instantly.
"You should've thought about that last night when you sent me the picture. So, you know what? I think I'll decide if I want to tell her whether you like it or not." Cam looks like he was also itching to lunge me now as well as he stared back at me. He doesn't hurt me at all though, all he does is turn and open my door to leave.
Just before he does, he doesn't bother turning around when he states;
"Fuck you George." Then he was out the door, slamming it hard enough to knock off a picture from my wall. I walk over to pick it up and almost throw it across the room when I realized what it was. It was ironically a painting that me and Cam had gotten done together at a fair a couple summers ago.
It was one of those corny Renaissance style portrait of us both, and the longer I stared at it, the more I didn't feel as angry anymore. If Cam really liked Issa, maybe it was better for her to have him rather than me. All I ever did was hurt her. She would be better off that way. With Cam.
I shake the thought away, immediately hating the idea.
I go to reposition the painting back onto the wall when there are several rapid knocks on my door suddenly, making me drop the picture anyway. Great.
"It's me Leah. Open the damn door-please?" Why was Lectra knocking at my door? Feeling extremely off put and like I was about to be ambushed somehow, I open the door and there she was, looking awkwardly up at me.
"Uh hi. Issa wants to talk to you downstairs in the kitchen. It's urgent. Like really, really urgent." Oh no. About a million things flooded my mind about what it could be that she would want to talk to me about then, but I still had no idea what she could actually want from me.
"Oh, okay. I'll be there." Lectra stares at me a second longer like I could start flying any minute then she finally nods and leaves. I don't hesitate to leave and start heading downstairs to the kitchen to find Issa, whatever it is she wanted from me. I knew it couldn't be good.
With my luck, it never was.
*Issa*
Day 21.
I wake up and immediately roll over, not wanting to be awake yet, I felt so peaceful and happy in my bed. But now that I think about it, my bed back at the house felt strangely alot more comfortable than usual. Was this even my bed at all?
I twitch and open my eyes, and see, laying beside me already on his phone, was Cam, wide awake, now watching me with a grin as I stared back at him.
"Good morning beautiful." Cam talks with his admittedly sexy morning voice and my first reaction was to geniusly scream like I was being murdered, then promptly run from his room like a madwoman.
I shouldn't have been surprised to see him next to me, but I had totally forgotten I was with him last time I was here. I mean, we had just had lots of sex after George and I broke up. Wow Issa.
"Issa! What's wrong?" He was following close behind me as I ran out into the hallway, almost slipping on my way out of avoiding him. Now all I felt was embarrassed as I turned around, not wanting to face him or my humiliation at all right now. I just wanted to be alone and peaceful. Clearly that was not the plan for today.
I look at him and am surprised to see he wasn't even looking at me anymore, but instead straight down the hall. I follow his eyes knowing it couldn't be anything good and was displeased to see I was very right. It was even worse than I expected. It was George in his boxers, matching with Cam.
If it were any other circumstance, I would be in heaven right now.
"Fuck!" The word leaves my lips louder than I wanted it to. Honestly, I had only wanted to say it in my head, but apparently that wasn't going to happen. I hear a bang from behind me and then another voice was booming down the hall, sounding sleepy and irritated.
"Why are you guys yelling so much? Did someone break in or something-" I was feeling out of breath and far too anxious from everything happening so I quickly leaned myself against the wall, just wanting to go back to sleep again. This time by myself.
Lectra sees me, then ignoring the guys, she hurries over to me and puts her arms around me, holding me up.
"Woah, are you-what are you wearing Iss?" I see the troubled look on her face and already don't want to look. When I finally do all I can do is throw my head back, feeling unbelievably miserable. I was still wearing just Cam's shirt and a thong underneath it. This day was going just amazingly already.
"Great." Lectra beside me let's out a giggle sensing that I was giving up at this point. Not letting up on my crap start to the day, Cam approaches me, looking at me like I was insane then asks in a shakey voice;
"Hey? Is this about last night? Because if you regret-" Not wanting him to finish his sentence for George to hear, I abruptly interrupt;
"No! I was just-surprised. I'm better now." He only nods then looks at George with an expression I can't pinpoint, then beside me, Lectra was breaking the awkward silence building;
"Do you want to get something to eat? And-maybe to wear?" The sound that was supposed to be a laugh comes out awkwardly but Lectra takes it anyways. I shake a yes at her then she was taking me and walking us over to my room finally away from Cam.
I don't realize until we are right next to George that we would have to walk right past him and I can't help but stare him down, already wanting him to hug me and tell me everything will be okay. But I knew he had no idea what I was really going through. I was pathetic.
Lectra and I stroll past him and finally get to my room, then she was slamming the door and demanding;
"I have some shit to tell, but you first! Go, go, go!" Her pure excitement was enough to make me smile once more and almost forget how stressed I really was.
"I don't even know where to start."
"Well how about last night when you and George broke up and you went to see Cam?" It felt just like last night to her, but for me it was felt like almost a week, since that's how long I was at the school. My brain hurt.
"For me that was almost a week ago, actually. So I don't really remember it much." Lectra eyes me trying to figure out what I meant. When she finally understands me, her mouth drags open and a long 'oh' comes out.
"You went back to the dream world didn't you?"
"Yeah. Alot of bad crap went down too." I finally begin looking for some clothes to put on as Lectra looks at me excitedly, waiting for me to explain.
"Um, well. I got back together with George briefly. Kinda. It was just hooking up. But still."
"Shit Iss! And what about me? Did I do any cool stuff?" Uh oh. How was I supposed to tell her that Wes and her were basically dunzo and no longer friends?
"Not much really. You made a new close friend I guess." I was referring to Blake, knowing she would have no idea who I meant and was about to explain more when she quickly asks;
"Ooh, is he cute?" I snap my eyes at her curiously;
"How do you just know it's a guy?" She gives me an attractive smirk then gives me a little shrug as she says;
"I just know me. I'm a guy kinda gal." I let out a chuckle then finish getting dressed when suddenly my stomach gurgles at me loudly. I didn't notice until then but my stomach felt like it was eating my insides. I was hungry as hell.
"Hey, can we get something to eat? We can continue this conversation downstairs. I just need some food asap."
"How do pancakes sound?" I barely even open my mouth when she interrupts me again stating;
"Don't answer that, I already know it's a big yes. You're crazy for pancakes."
"You know me so well. Let's go, before I starve." As we make our way downstairs, Lectra continued pelting me with questions to which I simply shook my head and demanded;
"Nope. Not until we get those pancakes." Each time she ignored me and just began spewing them again. When we finally got into the kitchen, I sprinted over to the cabinets, unable to wait another minute for food. I pull out the pancake mix that was ironically blueberry flavored like what was served at the school.
"Okay can you answer some questions now?" I look over at Lectra already raiding the fridge and taking out syrup and some butter.
"Yeah, sure. Hit me."
"Did you and Cam really-you know?" Oh great.
"Mhm. We sure did. And George knows all about it too. So that's gonna be fun to deal with later." So much fun.
"I take it you two aren't together anymore then. So what are you and Cam then?" I hadn't thought about that yet. I wasn't even sure if me and George were still together or not, although I was leaning towards not. I had zero clue if Cam even wanted an actual relationship with me, or just a bootycall.
"Couldn't tell you. Anything else you want to know?" She slowly nods then begins helping me with the pancakes. I was so grateful that Lectra was here and I was able to at least talk to someone about all of this. Even if she wasn't totally pinned in on absolutely everything.
"I'm so glad I can talk to you about this stuff Lectra. Otherwise I would have nobody here to vent to. I'd definitely go even more insane than I already am." Lectra looks around the room like she was thinking long and hard, then her face falls into seriousness.
"About that-I'm not sure that's as true as we originally believed." I stop pouring the pancake batter into the small plastic bowl I found and crane around to gawk at her, totally confused.
"Lectra. What do you mean by that?" She scratches her head then exhales loudly.
"Last night, well last night for me, after you left, George kinda said something to me."
"Please get to the point before I start to overthink whatever it is he said." She nods then finally speaks.
"He called me Lectra, Iss. He never knew about my nickname. Unless you said something?" I hadn't used her nickname around either Cam or George once, just her real name Leah. According to Lectra, nobody ever regularly caller her that here either. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"You're being serious? Don't mess with me about this. Are you sure you didn't say something to him?" She repeatedly shakes her head multiple times before ultimately pausing and saying sincerely;
"Dead serious, I never said anything. We barely talk. I just know he called me Lectra, Iss. How would he know it?" I don't hesitate the answer her;
"Only way to know for sure is to ask him, I guess." I pour some of the pancake mix I hadn't even realized I had made until now into the frying pan with a small sizzle, then sit back, unsure what to think.
Did George actually remember Lectra from the dream world? Or better yet, me? How was that even possible? I guess me even being there shouldn't be possible, but it was somehow.
I simply couldn't believe it. George might remember me too.
"You wait here and make those-already burning pancakes-and I'll go get him." I glance down and see they were indeed turning black already. In a second I was removing it from the stove and throwing it away. I really did suck at cooking.
"Wait-what did you just say?" I rewind and finally actually hear what she said.
"I'm gonna go get George so we can interrogate his ass. It'll be fun." Before I can even reiterate to tell her I wasn't up for talking to him just yet, she juts in.
"No-I'll go get him, and you try not to burn the rest of the food." She was already halfway to the stairs shouting back at me, giving little chance to argue with her.
What was I expected to say to him? 'Oh, do you also go into a dream type of world every once in awhile to live a totally different life?' Yeah, that would work real well.
Trying to distract myself from just how panicky I truly was, I start attempting to fry up another pancake.
This time I tried buttering up the pan a little bit more than the last one had been. The pancake once again sizzles as it touches the pan and not much longer later the edge began bubbling. I wasn't a master chef at all, clearly, but I knew that meant it was ready to flip. I flip it successfully and I was happy to see it look perfect somehow. Well, somewhat perfect.
"Nice job. You didn't burn that one." I almost drop the pan at the sound of Lectra speaking up from the doorway again. I jump and turn to see her standing right beside George.
"Uh, yeah. I got a hang of it now." I see George smile my way as he watched the pancake sizzle away then he offers;
"You might wanna flip it again real quick." I do as he says and was pleased to find it done. I take it from the pan and toss it onto a plate. Soon after I pour some more batter onto the pan, Lectra was speeding forward to take the spatula from me.
"I'll take it from here Chef Burnsalot." She eyes me then winks signaling I should talk to George now, but I wasn't sure what to say at all. Quickly, feeling panicked again, I whisper to her;
"You'll still be here to help me right?"
"Hell yeah. I wanna hear this. It's juicy stuff." I narrow my eyes at her so she smiles and adds;
"And of course I've also got your back. Now go-" Suddenly I was being shoved by Lectra over to the door, exactly where George was still standing awkwardly. I look up at him and clear my throat, readying myself to say something incredibly stupid to him.
"So what did you need that was so urgent?" He didn't sound pissed at me from my night with Cam, but simply entertained by my obvious nervousness.
"Uh, well. We-I mean I-um-"
"So George, buddy. What's with calling me Lectra 'last night'?" Lectra was quickly helping me by interrupting my nervous babbling and asking him straight up what we were both wondering. I loved this girl.
"Oh." George responds like he was totally caught off guard and forgot he even said it at all, but clearly he said it. His uneasiness was building my confidence by the second, so it wasn't hard to speak this time;
"Why do you know about her nickname George? Nobody told you about it. I know that for a fact." He was looking from me to Lectra over by the stove, still cooking the pancakes, which looked fantastic by the way.
"I don't know how to answer that."
"It's pretty simple actually. Just tell us where you heard it. Who told you?" Lectra was firing back at him like she had done it many times before by the way she was working her words.
"You did." George avoided eye contact as he spoke to Lectra this time, like he was afraid of what he just said.
"Well that's bullshit because I never did tell you. At least here I didn't." When Georges eyes move up to study Lectra again, he looks motivated to talk to her, more engaged this time.
"What do you mean by that?" Quickly Lectra was hitting him back with;
"What do you think I mean by that?" I roll my eyes at them both, unable to take these games anymore. Before I blurt out what I've been scared of asking, I take in a deep breath then blow it out, then I was going for it.
Here it goes-
"George. Just answer me this. Did you know me before we met here at the house, up in your room? Somewhere-else?" All he does is nod. Lectra, still cooking the pancakes, let's out a breathy gasp, then soon after a little yelp. I glance over and see she had accidentally burned herself on the pan. She was shoving her finger in her mouth to help the pain when she wavers another finger from her other hand, gesturing to keep going.
I wasn't quite sure what to say to him now. There was still a chance he just knew me from somewhere else instead of the school so I had to be clever. I had to think of something that happened at the school and not here. Then I had it, I knew exactly what to say. I still wasn't entirely sure if I'd sound insane, but it was worth a shot.
"Um, about the Boss-he's gonna let me stream soon-if that means anything at all to-"
"It-it does. It really means something. Um-What the hell?" George doesn't hesitate to walk closer to me and cup my face with both hands, staring me dead in the eyes, looking at me equally as stunned as I was. Then when he begins smiling joyously at me, I can't help but mirror off of him with an even bigger smile.
He knew.
"Yeah, what the hell-" My arms fly up and wrap around him into a hug, still in disbelief. George and I sit there staring into eachothers eyes, still trying to make sense of what we just discovered. George also knew about the dream world. He had this whole time. That meant everything we did there together, he still remembered too.
More importantly, he remembered me.