Being Watched

Chapter 20

I lift my eyes and observe the building in front of me. The white building is still the same way I remember it. The front door is decorated with a green and red 'Merry Christmas' and on all the windows on both floors there are pictures of Santa Claus or Christmas trees.

I rub my hands against each other as I shiver in the cold. Even though I'm wearing a thick jacket, boots, gloves, and a beanie hat, I'm still freezing.

I lower my gaze to the front yard and stare at the few spots of snow on the damp grass.

I finally take a deep breath and walk up to the front door.

I lift my hand and ring the doorbell.

I then retreat my hand and wait patiently, staring at the red 'C' of the 'Merry Christmas' that is hanging on the door.

I snap back to reality when the door opens.

"Stephany," George's voice says as if he were expecting me. "Long time no talk."

I stare at him. He didn't change one bit since the last time I saw him. He still had the same short dark hair, same intense grayish eyes, same big round glasses, same height, and same creepy smile.

"George," I say with a blank voice as I nod once.

"No hug or 'I missed you'?" He says, his eyebrows rising slightly. I'm not sure if he's joking or being serious but that's how it's always been with George.

"There are more important things than 'hugs' and 'I miss you's we have to discuss," I reply, watching his features closely.

I am here for one visit and that one visit will give me the answers I need, at least that's what I hope.

"Yeah, probably," he says, his eyes watching me just as closely as mine are watching him. "Come in."

He moves aside and I step in, enjoying the warmth inside his house. Without waiting for him to lead the way, I walk to the stairs at the end of the hallway. I run my fingers over the brown railing as I walk upstairs to where I know his room is.

I hear his footsteps behind me but I don't look back at him. I just keep walking till I reach the familiar white door of his bedroom. Without asking for permission, I open the door and walk in.

I quickly scan the room, searching for anything different but it's still the same. His bed is to the far right of the room with a window on the wall next to it. He has a TV facing the bed and under it a desk with papers and his computer and electronic devices on it.

The shelves on the left of the room are still stacked with all kinds of books.

I walked over to the blue chair beside his desk and sat on it.

"Smiling a bit won't hurt," he comments as he sits on his bed and stares straight at me.

"Stopping the creepiness a bit won't hurt either," I snap back.

He smirks and I shiver slightly. He's so creepy. I shouldn't have been friends with him in the first place. Ever since the day I started talking to George I had known that he was a creep but I thought that maybe he wasn't as bad as I thought.

He turned out to be worse.

But I decided to stay friends with him because even though he could get really weird and creepy, we did have some fun times together.

"You know that's not possible," he says. "That's who I am."

"Why?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.

"It's my personality," he says, rolling his eyes at me.

"I'm not talking about that," I say, shooting him a glare.

"Then what are you talking about?" He asks, raising one eyebrow at me.

"Why did you put that screen in my room three years ago?" I ask.

He sighs. "It's been three years and you don't have it anymore, just let it go."

"I don't want to let it go!" I snap at him. "I want answers right now."

"That won't happen," he replies calmly.

"I have the right to know! How do you even know Jeremy in the first place?" I say angrily. This time I won't let it slide. I won't leave till I have my answers. Things are serious now.

"Calm down a bit Stephany," he says to me but it only makes me angrier.

"Did you meet him when you were on that vacation with your parents?" I ask.

"I put up the camera in his room during that vacation," George says.

"So do you know him or no?" I ask. Jeremy didn't say anything about knowing George when I spoke about him.

George just shrugs. "Why don't you ask him?" He then says.

"Why don't you answer me?" I ask, clenching my jaw.

"Look Stephany, I put that up in your room, yes, but you could've told me to take it down. You didn't, though, and it stayed there for years. That was your decision, not mine. I don't know what happened when you two met but don't blame things on me."

"I'm not blaming you for anything! I just want answers!"

"I told you that I won't be giving you answers," he replies coolly. He is right. He had always told me that he would tell me when the time was right.

"When will the time be right for you to finally give me my answers?" I ask, narrowing my eyes at him.

"I don't know," he says. "Maybe never."

"Never?" I screech. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Can we just drop it?" He says, getting annoyed with me.

"No," I reply, clenching my fists. "I came here for answers, George."

"I'm not the one to give you the answers you want," he replies.

I blink at him. "Yes, yes you are George!"

"You're angry. You're having problems with Jeremy, not me, so talk to him," he says.

"How do you know that I have problems with Jeremy? And you were the start of those problems! You hold the answers."

"If you didn't have problems with him then you wouldn't have come for answers now, after three years. And I won't be giving any answers or explanations. It's for you and Jeremy to figure them out together."

"And how are we supposed to figure them out?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.

"You will," he says confidently. "I know that things will eventually work out, Stephany, trust me."

"Why should I trust you? You have never been really honest to me," I retort.

"That's who I am, Stephany. I have secrets and I'm not comfortable with sharing them," he says, looking away from me.

"I've been your friend for like five years and you still can't share secrets, not even the ones that involve me?" I say.

"You're one of my very few friends. I don't want to lose you when you find out my secrets," he says, surprising me.

I was not expecting him to say that at all. It's not a 'George' thing to say.

"Is it that bad?" I ask quietly when I get over the initial shock.

"It's not bad it's just..."

"Creepy?" I suggest and he nods.

I sigh. "Ever since day one, I knew you were a creep and I didn't stop being your friend so why would I stop if you told me the secrets?"

"Just... Please," he begs and for the first time I feel that George is not just a creep, like I had always thought of him. He looks vulnerable and sad.

I stare at him and he looks away from me. He watches as the snowflakes gently fall outside and cover the streets.

So I stare at the nature outside as well.

We both sit in silence. We're both sad but because of different things. I'm sad because I couldn't get any answers that might fix things with Jeremy and I'm sad because I had never known that George was capable of such emotions, which was just stupid because everyone gets sad.

I always thought of George as just a creep who did really weird stuff. I never really saw the other side of George which was the normal human part.

He was right when he said that I shouldn't blame it all on him. Sure he did have the answers as to why and how that camera reached Jeremy's room but he wasn't the one who forced me to watch Jeremy for three years. He gave me a choice and I could've said no but I didn't and now I have to deal with the consequences.

I want to know the answers but now that I think of it, how much will they help? I can find the reason and I can tell Jeremy that reason but that wouldn't mean that I didn't spy on him. Things will still be the same and the past won't be changed.

It is all up to me to fix things with Jeremy and I will. We won't avoid the topic anymore. As soon as we go back to school, I'll bring up the topic and we'll talk about it.

"I'm sorry."

I snap back to reality when I hear George's voice. I give him a confused look.

"There are things that you won't really grasp and I don't want to throw you into the complicated things," he continues, confusing me even more but when didn't he confuse me.

"You're just confusing me, George," I say to him.

He chuckles. "And I haven't even told you anything yet."

"Does that mean that you will tell me?" I ask hopefully.

"Nope," he replies, rolling his eyes at me and I sigh in defeat.

"You'll make things work," he says to me, giving me a smile that wasn't as creepy as his usual smiles. Maybe not all his smiles were creepy but I just never wanted to see the real ones because I assumed that they will always be creepy.

"I hope so," I mutter, my thoughts going to Jeremy.

He gives me a reassuring look and I wish at that moment that he is right.

"I guess I'll get going, then," I say as I stand up from the chair. George stands up from his bed. I give him a hug, thinking of him as a friend and not as the creepy guy that held the answers to my problems with Jeremy.

"Thank you," he murmurs as he lets go of me.

I smile at him. "Merry Christmas, George."

"Merry Christmas," He replies, a smile on his face too.

With that, I grab my hat and put it on my head as I jog down the stairs. I open the front door and walk out.

I shiver slightly as the cold wind hits me yet I can't help but enjoy the snow as it falls around me. I feel my phone vibrate once in my pocket when I'm halfway home but I don't take it out because I would have to take off my gloves to use it and I really don't want my fingers to freeze.

When I arrive to my house, I pause-just like every other time I get there.

Thoughts about my life here before I moved away clouded my mind. I wonder if we never moved away, how things would be now.

As I stare at the door now, I get a warm feeling. This is home.

No matter where I go now and no matter how many times I move, when I come here and stand in front of this white building I would always feel at home.

I smile as I unlock the door and step in. I immediately feel the change in the temperature. I take off my beanie hat and gloves.

I run my hand through my hair once before taking out my cell phone and then taking off my jacket.

I press the home button and my phone lights up immediately, displaying Emma's name and part of her message underneath it.

I smile and reply to her message. We text for a bit then around fifteen minutes later, my doorbell rings.

I open the door and find Martha and Carla standing there with smiles on their faces.

"Christmas shopping!" They yell excitedly and I laugh.

I tell them to come in for a bit. They step in and immediately walk into the TV room that they're very familiar with.

I head to my parents' room to tell them that I'm going to the mall with Carla and Martha.

"Have fun!" My mom says, smiling at me.

I can tell that they're happy that I'm having a nice time here. And I know that they are having a good time as well. We all missed our home here.

I took my purse and put back on my jacket, gloves, and beanie hat.

"Ready," I say as I walked into the TV room where my two best friends are.

They beam at me and stand up from the couch. They put on their hats and scarves and then we go to the mall just like we have so many times before.

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Hey! :)

I know this upload is late and I'm sorry for that. I didn't have time to write at all! I have a really busy schedule now especially since exams are starting next week.

On a happier note, I completed the NaNoWriMo challenge! xD I will start posting the novel I wrote at some point.

Happy Birthday to mintyqaz. Have a wonderful year! :)

DECEMBER IS HERE :D SOOOO CHRISTMAS IS COMING SOON! :D Anyone else as excited as I am? xD

Next Upload: The weekend or some time next week.

Aim for this chapter: 200 votes.

Have a wonderful day/night everyone! <3