Chapter Text
Tick, tick, tick
Stupid clock.
Dream bounced his leg impatiently, eyes glued to the minute hand that seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace. Slower than a snail’s pace.
‘What’s slower than a snail?’ He asked himself. ‘Probably my Chromebook when I have more than three tabs open.’
Okay, so the clock was moving at a Chromebook’s pace between numbers, time being the only thing between him and freedom. Well, time and his Stat teacher.
“-I hope you don’t forget any of this information over the summer. Your college professors aren’t going to review any high school material; Chi Squared distributions should be second nature by now-” His teacher said with much more enthusiasm than AP Statistics deserved. Dream leaned back in his chair and stretched his arms over his head, a small grunt escaping his lips when his shoulder popped.
It wasn’t like he had to actually listen or pay attention to any of this: he wasn’t going to college anyways.
There were five minutes until the final bell of the year- the final bell of Dream’s high school career. Maybe he should’ve been more sad about it, but… well he didn’t exactly enjoy high school. After his second and final senior night three months ago, he basically stopped giving a fuck about what happened in that hellhole. He liked being on the football and swim teams, he liked fucking up George’s hair between classes, and listening to Wilbur play guitar in the music hall whenever he cut class, but he hated the structure of it all. High school was built to stifle creativity and individuality, which were two of his main values. It was no wonder why he skipped school weekly: the only thing keeping him in was the football coach’s begging and his exceptionally high grades.
“Clay!” A voice pulled him out of his thoughts and back into reality. The teacher was giving him a dirty look, and some of the other people in the room were glancing at him curiously.
“Hm?” She tutted disappointedly, folding her arms over her chest. Mrs. Keller was a nice enough lady, just far too strict.
“Can you answer the question please?” Dream stared at her blankly for a moment, the gears whirring in his ADHD addled brain.
“Uh-”
“Do you need me to repeat the question, Clay?”
“...yes.” Some of his classmates giggled. He glanced at the clock again; there were literally two minutes left until summer break. Mrs. Keller rolled her eyes, the slightest ghost of a smile on her face.
“You know what? You’re off the hook for this one.” Dream let out a breath, relief flowing through his body as she went and turned off the smartboard, the stupid problems that had been plaguing him for a semester finally disappearing once and for all. With any luck, he’d never see another statistics problem for the rest of his life. “Alright everyone, the rest of class is yours. Enjoy your break for underclassmen, and for seniors, good luck in your future plans!”
The class began to chat amongst themselves, math already forgotten in the excitement of summer break about to begin. Dream leaned over to put his school issued Chromebook in his backpack- he wouldn’t be missing that piece of shit when he turned it in. He wiped away a small drip of sweat that rolled down the side of his face: Florida in June was the beginning of wet, heavy, humid all day summer days and nights. There was a tap on his shoulder, causing him to turn around and meet a bright smile.
“Are you ready to be out of this place forever?” Sam asked. The guy looked like he was glowing- that’s what happens when you’re salutatorian, Dream supposed. The taller pushed a lock of wavy green hair from his eyes, staring down his friend for an answer.
“I’m never coming back, ever. This school is my personal hell-” Suddenly there was the chime of the bell, and a loud collective scream of joy echoed through the halls of Manberg High.
“Well it looks like we’ve just escaped hell.” Sam got to his feet as Dream did the same, hiking up his shorts and pulling backpack straps onto his shoulders. “Like in Percy Jackson when Percy and Annabeth get out of Tartarus-”
“You’re such a nerd.” Dream said, his voice laced with affection. He knew full well that Sam remembered the giant crush he’d had on Annabeth in middle school, because they’d fight over her during lunch, trying to decide who would be a better match and who had what godly parent. (Sapnap had settled it once and for all: Dream was Zeus, Sam was Hephaestus, and he himself was Ares. Then George had wanted to be included, so he was labelled the son of Aphrodite because “ You’re just so beautiful, Gogy .” And it was decided quickly that none of them were good enough for Annabeth.)
“You’re just as much of a nerd as I am, Mr. Straight A Student.” Sam teased. Dream pushed him halfheartedly, launching his chuckling friend out the open doorway and into the crowd.
“Shut up, you’ll blow my cover!” He called, but before Dream could join Sam, there was a hand on his shoulder holding him back from the other students exiting the classroom. He turned around curiously to be met by Mrs. Keller as she looked up at him.
“Can we discuss something before you leave, Clay?” She asked kindly. Dream glanced at the door, calculating how much time he had before George, Sapnap, and Karl would start to walk to their spot without him. Probably not enough to have a conversation, but it must’ve been urgent if he was being stopped on the last day of school.
“Yeah, okay.” He replied with a shrug, walking to take a seat on his recently vacated desk. “Is there something wrong?” Mrs. Keller shook her head and leaned casually against the wall.
“Nothing’s wrong, I just wanted to ask you about your future plans.” Dream rolled his eyes.
Here we go again .
“Look, I appreciate your concern, but I’ve got it figured out.” He tried to shut her down, but the woman obviously had a goal in mind that she wanted to get across.
“Clay, I’m going to level with you-” He quirked an eyebrow at her serious tone. “I think you’re making a mistake not going to college.”
“Mrs. Keller-”
“Just listen to me, please.” Dream clamped his mouth closed, but allowed his eyes to drift from the pencil-skirt wearing teacher to the window, the world outside calling to him. He was already regretting agreeing to the conversation. Mrs. Keller stepped away from the wall in favor of sitting in the desk next to Dream’s, and leaning her arms on top. “You are an incredibly bright student, one of the brightest that I’ve had in my classroom in the past few years, and I hate to see wasted potential. I know that four-year universities aren’t for everyone, but I know that if you were to apply yourself, hell, if you had applied to a school, you would be so incredibly successful.” She emphasized. Dream looked down at his hand, picking at the tiny gray spot he had on the back of his palm from George stabbing him with a pencil in eighth grade. “College isn’t like high school, Clay. You’re in charge of what your life looks like there. You have the freedom to do whatever you want-”
“I didn’t not apply to college because I didn’t think I would have freedom.” He said, a bit of an edge in his voice as he crossed his arms. “I chose not to apply because I don’t need more school to tell me what I’m worth-”
“Your counselor asked me about your unfinished Duke application.” Mrs. Keller interrupted. Dream looked at her, the older woman’s eyes full of support. “She asked if I was going to be writing you a letter of recommendation. Why didn’t you finish it?” She asked. He shrugged.
“I dunno, I just didn’t.” He glanced at the clock. 3:20 already. “Hey I really appreciate the concern, but I really have to go before my friends decide to leave me here for the summer.” Dream joked, trying to get the idea of that stupid Duke application that was still sitting open on his PC back home out of his head. Mrs. Keller looked a bit taken aback at the suddenness, but nodded all the same and watched as her student once more got to his feet and walked to the door.
“Just think about what I said, Clay. Take a gap year if you need, but don’t discount applying next year. If you need anything, I’m only an email away.” She said, a kind smile on her face as Dream thanked her and finally made his way out of the math wing for the last time.
He booked it to his locker to clean out the few belongings he hadn’t already taken home, the conversation he’d just had replaying in his mind as he turned the combination lock.
He didn’t need to go to college to be successful- his mom told him that every day. Just because all three of his best friends were going to be leaving him to go to big name schools all across the country didn’t mean he had to go into debt for more education. He could use those hundreds of thousands of dollars on plane tickets to go visit them instead.
Crumpled tests with big As written on them were shoved into his bag, along with a rancid sweatband from football season and a completely crushed granola bar. The last thing to go into the white backpack was George’s NYU shirt: he’d had to borrow it for a drylands practice during swim season back in January or something. Dream stared at the fabric for a moment before shoving it in and slamming the door shut.
New York was so far away.
He walked through the quickly emptying hallways, stopping briefly to stand in line at the library to turn in his computer. The day before, Karl had helped him peel off the stickers that had been accumulating on the cheap plastic case the past four years. It had been kind of sad to see his sticker collection containing the pride flag that Sapnap had put on when he’d come out the year before tear in half while they scraped the gunk off, but unfortunately, it had to be done. (He’d promised Sap that he could put a new one on his Macbook when it came in the mail, and that had satisfied the brunette enough to stop complaining about it.)
Eventually Dream reached the front of the line, turned in his laptop, and was on his way again. He knew exactly where his friends were: the oak tree in the back of the school. They’d adopted it as their hangout spot Sophomore year after their friend Darryl invited them to hang out with him and Skeppy, who Dream hesitated to say was Darryl’s friend because there was obviously something more between them. George had met him through chess club, and the senior had been part of their little group up until he graduated and left for trade school. That was the same year Karl had moved to town from North Carolina and instantly meshed into their circle, inviting Dream, George, and Sapnap to his art shows while simultaneously being Dream and Sapnap’s biggest supporters in the stands at football games with George, and refusing to miss a single one of Sap’s basketball games. Sometimes he would catch a ride with George to a swim meet, but he explained that the stifling air in the indoor pools was a bit too much for him to handle.
Still though, no matter the season they could be found out by that tree after school. It didn’t matter if one of them had practice, a club meeting, or rehearsal: they always met up first to talk about their days and hype each other up for whatever was coming next. Dream loved his friends, probably more than he loved himself.
He was really going to miss them when they left.
The blonde made his way to the back door to the school, revelling in the sunshine that passed through the glass. Florida was a shithole, but Dream was basically a lizard in the way he soaked up vitamin D. A wave of humidity hit him when he pushed the door open, the sound of car horns and chatter from the pickup line and student lot drifting over the school on the light breeze offered to him by the cloudless day.
“Oh Dreeeaaaaam !” He heard George’s voice coming from his left and instantly a smile came to his lips, his heart giving a light flutter. Dream turned his head to see his three best friends piled onto their bench, backpacks thrown haphazardly around them.
“Oh Geeooooorge !” He called back, looking at the ground carefully so that he wouldn’t get mud on his AirForce 1’s. He took his phone out of his pocket and quickly took a picture of his friends on their bench, under their tree. Last day of senior year memories.
“He’s gonna do it guys, he’s finally gonna get his precious shoes dirty!” Sapnap gasped as he received a jab to the ribs from Karl. “Ow! Dream, Karl just fucking hit me, can I kill him?” Dream shrugged, feigning indifference as he placed his bag on top of George’s to keep it from getting dirty.
“Go nuts, just don’t get blood on the shoes.” Dream sat down next to George as he spoke, shoving the shorter lightly with his shoulder in greeting while Sapnap continued to be assaulted by Karl.
“What’re you gonna do about it, Pandas?” Karl teased, continuing to poke at the protesting brunette.
“Karl, you can’t nickname a nickname. That’s not how it works.” George scoffed, though he was looking onto the scene with a contented grin.
“Last I checked it was a free country, Gogy. Oh wait, you wouldn’t know that because you’re, uh, pip pip cheerio BRITISH !” Karl finished with a yell that turned into a laugh when Sapnap grabbed his wrists and held them in a vice grip.
“Jesus Christ I’ve been here since seventh grade, you’re more foreign than I am, Jacobs.”
“Yeah come on Karl, don’t tease the old man.” Dream said. The leaves of the tree above them rustled from the wind as George slapped his arm, the freckled blonde erupting in a fit of giggles intermixed with wheezes.
“I’m only a year older, shut up.” He said.
“Imagine getting held back in Kindergarten .” Sapnap said, finally releasing Karl’s hands cautiously.
“Technically it was Year 1, but whatever.” George grumbled.
“God George, you’re so old !” Karl laughed. George pretended to pout, sticking out his bottom lip and crossing his arms over his chest like a child.
“That’s it, you guys are never allowed to visit me. You’re officially banned from the George and Callahan zone .” Sapnap responded quickly over Dream and Karl’s laughter, a pretend fear in his eye as he grasped dramatically at his chest.
“But you just can’t , Gogy!” He cried. “We need you for the plan to work!” He got to his feet and cleared his throat. “We’ve talked about this, guys. You come to Texas for fall break, we do part of winter break in New York because hello , New York City at Christmas? Sign me the fuck up.” Karl was giggling at the display while George was just rolling his eyes. “And then we visit Karl during spring break and go to the beach by UCLA! It’s a perfect plan, and George being a meanie isn’t gonna ruin it.”
“You guys are the ones bullying me here!” He exclaimed, then turned quickly to the side to meet emerald green eyes (ones that he saw as yellow). “Dream, please back me up here?”
“Lay off George and I’ll buy milkshakes today.” He said. That move always worked without fail, and that day was obviously no exception.
“All I’m saying is that we have the perfect setup of colleges across the country to have fucking perfect breaks in.” Sapnap conceded, slouching down to let Karl try to braid his fairly short hair for the fifth time that day.
“And then of course you guys are stuck home with me the whole summer.” Dream said with an evil grin, rubbing his hands together maniacally.
“Who would ever want to be in Florida with icky Dream?” Karl asked.
“Certainly not me.” George said, though he looked at his aforementioned friend with a fond grin. Dream found himself returning it automatically: he had developed this weird thing recently where he’d get lost in those honey brown eyes, and found that he didn’t mind it one bit.
“It isn’t fair. Dream can visit us whenever he wants, but we can’t see him. Absolutely unacceptable!” Karl said, slamming his hand on the empty bit of bench between him and George. The action caused the pair to break eye contact, Dream finding heat crawling up the back of his neck.
“Uh, no, Dream is gonna be with me the whole time.” Sapnap obliviously sent the blonde a toothy grin, who immediately started to giggle. “You can live in my closet, I’m sure my roommate won’t even notice!”
“Woah there, why would he want to stay in hot redneck Texas when he could be in New York with me?” George asked, throwing an arm around a wheezing Dream’s shoulders.
“Texas is fucking superb you little gremlin.” Sapnap shot back, taking a seat on the grass in front of his three best friends.
“Aww guys, you don’t have to fight over me-”
“Shut up green boy.” Sapnap reached over to give George a high five. God, you wear a morph-suit once and suddenly you have a nickname for life.
Karl cleared his throat and raised a hand for silence. “I think you two are missing the point-“ Karl stood up and walked in front of where Sapnap sat criss-crossed in the grass to stand in front of Dream and grab him by the shoulders. “UCLA is like, number one in the whole country for campus. I’m just saying-“ He continued over Sapnap and George’s disagreeing comments “-I think you should stay with me instead.” Dream brought a hand to his chin, feigning thought on the subject.
“Hmmmm, ya know this is a hard choice for me. Very very difficult.” He said. “I can’t exactly make an educated decision on the subject without actually experiencing the campuses for myself.” He concluded with a shrug. Karl sat down next to Sapnap, leaving Dream and George as the only occupants on the bench under the tree. The sun was scorching, but thankfully the old oak tree provided enough shade to keep Dream from breaking out into even more freckles.
“Well, why don’t we visit all the campuses? Settle it once and for all?” Sapnap suggested, flicking Karl in the side of the head.
“Ow!”
“I mean…” George started. “I actually kind of like that idea.” Sapnap visibly perked up despite Karl rubbing the side of his face next to him.
“What do you mean, like… a road trip?” Dream asked.
“I guess, not like we have the money to fly everywhere right now.”
“I think it’s a great idea.” Karl threw in. He was picking grass out of the ground and flinging it off to the side, somehow a few blades managed to make their way into dark blonde waves. Sapnap was watching with an enamored grin.
That was how their friend group worked: an idea was introduced, and suddenly everyone was on board.
“We can take my car. I’m sure we could find a way to sleep in it if we did some tactical maneuvering.” Dream was already picturing in his head what he’d have to pack and how he was going to break it to his mom that he was going to be gone for an indeterminable amount of time.
“I can make an itinerary!” George said excitedly. Fuckin nerd.
“Guys, are we really gonna do this?” Karl asked, excitement dripping from his voice.
“Hell yeah we are.” Sapnap got to his feet, dusting off his pants. “Shall we discuss the logistics over milkshakes, gentlemen?” He questioned. The brunette held out a hand to Karl, who took it with a muttered ‘thank you’ when he was pulled up. George wiped the back of his hand across his brow, trying to clean the sweat from it.
“Sounds good to me, this heat is a bitch.”
“Pussy.”
“You are what you eat.”
“Last I checked you weren’t getting any of that either.”
“...shut up.” George snarked to a once again wheezing Dream. There was never any bite behind the insults- everything was in good fun. Dream and George had been inseparable ever since the Brit came to Florida, quickly becoming as close to him as Sapnap, if not closer. There was something about him that drew Dream in, and was still drawing him in as he scooped the shorter up into a hug, lifting him completely off the ground causing him to let out a high pitched squeak.
“Put me down, nimrod!” George yelled, slapping at the top of Dream’s head as the younger wheezed and squeezed tighter.
“Stop flirting and start walking!” Karl exclaimed. He’d already pulled on his backpack and was watching Sapnap do the same while chaos erupted next to them. Dream finally out George back on the ground, a punch in the arm being his payment.
“We’ll meet you lovebirds at Dream’s car. You’re driving and buying today.” Sapnap grinned, him and Karl taking off for the student lot before Dream and George had even gotten their backpacks on. The taller just chuckled lightly as they walked to join the others ahead.
“Hey, can I ask you something?” George questioned suddenly. Dream nodded.
“Go for it.”
“I know college is kind of a sore subject for you, so if you want us to lay off talking about it let me know. We don’t have to visit everywhere on a road trip if you don’t actually want to-“ George started to ramble before he was promptly cut off.
“George, I promise nothing about college is a sore subject. You know I’m so proud of you guys!” The gravel crunched under their shoes as they walked the path around the school, voices getting louder as they approached the courtyard. “I pulled out because I didn’t wanna leave my mom alone with Drista. I’ve actually been thinking about going to a community college.”
‘No I haven’t.’
George’s face lit up at the words though. “That’s awesome Dream, what the fuck?” He laughed. “I still think you would’ve for sure gotten into any school you applied to.” They’d had that conversation about a million times since decisions started to come out. Dream never told his friends about the Duke application; he didn’t want them to get his hopes up.
“Yeah well, no school was up to my standards I guess.” He shrugged off. The pair walked across the crosswalk into the student lot, careful to not get run over my juniors and seniors who were desperate to get the fuck out of there.
“LET’S GO IT’S HOT AS BALLS!” Sapnap’s voice carried over the crowd, a few people nearby laughing or rolling their eyes.
“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” Someone yelled in reply- it was a familiar voice, probably Alex or something.
“Sappy nappy is so impatient!” George tutted, picking up his walking pace a bit. Dream’s shoulders relaxed a bit at the subject change.
“I’ll take an extra long time taking out my keys.” He joked as they approached the minivan. Karl was sitting on the pavement in the car’s shadow, and Sapnap was drawing dicks in the dirt buildup on the dented hood.
“If I don’t have a strawberry milkshake and fries in my hand in five minutes I think I’m going to die.” Karl said, jumping to his feet.
“I never said I was buying fries.” Dream replied, digging his car keys out of his backpack’s front pocket.
“Aww don’t worry Karly-poo, I’ll buy you fries.” Sapnap said. When Dream looked up, Karl’s face was a bright red- poor guy had probably been in the sun too long already. He always forgot to put suncreen on.
“Will you buy me fries?” George walked around to the passenger’s seat, hand resting on the handle to pull the door open and promptly run away like a little bitch when the wave of heat came out.
“No Gogy, you’re mean to me.” Dream chuckled at George’s pained gasp as he unlocked and opened the driver’s side door, the stale heat being no match for him as he took down his Star Wars sunshade and threw it in the back, then put the key into the ignition to turn the AC up to full blast.
The sun on his back heated up the black t-shirt he was wearing to an almost unbearable level, but as soon as the car was cool enough to be occupied everyone piled in, backpacks disappearing into the third row. Dream put it into reverse and looked around before he backed out and pulled around the corner. The rest of his friends rolled down the windows and shouted goodbyes to the school, but Dream himself didn’t spare the building a second glance. That place had done nothing for him.
Well, on second thought, the school system had given him Sapnap, Karl, and George.
“Okay, so this road trip…” George started, struggling to plug the AUX into his phone.
“Ah ah! We’re talking about it over milkshakes .” Sapnap emphasized. Dream rolled his eyes, the AC blasting from the dash drying his sweat as they pulled onto the main road lined with houses. People sat on their porches while kids played in sprinklers under palm trees and the hot summer sun.
A road trip out of Florida. It would be a nice change of pace.
George finally got the music working, and soon enough everyone in the vehicle was singing along to some dumb surf rock band that Karl introduced them to the year before.
“ Sit back and get comfy,
You’re the one that’s gonna love me,
From the weekend, to the weekday”
“THERE’S LOADS OF TIME LEFT, LET’S STAY YOUNG FOREVER; IT’S COLD OUTSIDE HERE’S MY SWEATER!!” Karl and Sapnap screeched the lyrics. Dream found himself laughing and singing along, and a glance across the center console confirmed that George was doing the same.
His smile was easy and relaxed, pink lips spread over straight white teeth, eyes crinkled in the corner from happiness as he ran a hand through straight brown hair.
Dream wished he could stay there forever.
They pulled up to the diner not five minutes later, Sapnap and Karl throwing the doors open before the car had even fully stopped. George shook his head, the smile not leaving his face as he unbuckled his seat belt and turned to face Dream.
“Looks like we’ve got a lot of planning to do.” He said. Dream nodded, determined.
“I’m up for it if you are.”
“Well then you best get ready for the summer to end all summers.” George opened the door and got out of his seat, slamming it closed once again to walk into the diner along with Sapnap and Karl. Dream grinned as he went to join them, all thoughts of Duke completely out of his mind.
The summer to end all summers.