Chapter 40 - Famous, Tired, Shitty Year

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Georgie's POV

These past few weeks, Sheldon and I have been busy with our respective 'jobs'. Sheldon has been tasked with providing data about the school's football games to George.

Meanwhile, I've been helping Fenley and Rosie prepare for my song's launch. It's exhausting because we're a new company with a very tight budget, barely able to afford a small team of employees.

I buried my face in the table and groaned, "Damn..." I muttered, glancing at Sheldon, who was still studying in the library. "How about you?" I asked, drawing his attention.

"What about me?" Sheldon looked at me and set down his pencil.

"Are you tired? You can take a break if you're feeling worn out from Dad's work."

"…It's okay. I can still manage it, but…" He paused for a moment, fixing me with a sharp look.

"Since I've been making them win all the time, my status at school has changed drastically. I hate being touched by other people, but now I keep getting patted, hugged, and—my least favorite—picked up and spun around. It's a nightmare!"

I laughed at his rant, watching as his small frame trembled with frustration. Just as I was about to respond, I heard voices behind me.

"Hey, Sheldon." a girl's voice greeted him but didn't acknowledge me.

I smirked and mimicked Sheldon, saying, "Hello."

The girl smacked me lightly on the head where it rested lazily on the table.

"Ouch!" I protested, looking up to see Veronica already sitting beside me.

"Hey, Sheldon, I've been looking everywhere for you." Tam said as he sat down next to Sheldon. "Do you know how popular we are now?!"

"We?" Sheldon replied, continuing their conversation.

I ignored them and turned to Veronica, who was unwrapping her sandwich.

"What?" she asked, noticing my gaze.

"Nothing... I just like looking at your face." I replied with a sigh.

"What's wrong? Are you that tired from your work?" Veronica asked, her eyes filled with concern.

"…I'm really tired..." I muttered, burying my face in the table again with another groan.

"Do you need my help?" Veronica offered, her voice laced with worry.

"It's okay. I can still handle it." I said with a small smile.

She nodded, then hesitated before asking softly, "…Are you coming to the party tonight?"

Even though she spoke quietly, the people across from us heard her.

"What party?" Tam asked quickly.

"Um... it's a football party. Georgie and I were invited." Veronica explained, looking at me with hopeful eyes.

"…Fine." I replied tiredly.

"Alright!" Veronica said enthusiastically.

"Can I come too?" Tam asked her.

"Hmm, I don't know. It's not my party." Veronica replied hesitantly.

"Maybe if I come with you guys, they'll let me in." Tam suggested, looking between the two of us hopefully.

Veronica sighed. "Alright…"

"Thanks!" Tam exclaimed, then turned to Sheldon. "Do you want to come, Sheldon?"

"No, Sheldon has to sleep." I said, closing my eyes.

"Yes, I don't want to go with you guys. I need my full eight hours of sleep." Sheldon confirmed.

"Alright." Tam agreed.

"…I feel like skipping the next class." I muttered, looking at Sheldon. "I just want to sleep."

With that, I got up and left them behind. Sheldon watched me go, and I knew he'd tattle to Mom and Dad, but I didn't care. I just wanted a few hours of sleep.

Veronica followed me. "...Where are you going to sleep?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I just need a quiet place."

I thought about Sheldon's secret hideout for studying and skipping classes.

The broom closet! Here I come… with a book pillow.

I made my way to the back of the library and found the broom closet.

"Hey... Can you grab me a cloth or something?" I asked Veronica, who grumbled in response.

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*3rd POV

{After helping my dad compile football statistics, my status obviously changed—because in Texas, football is their sport. My brother too... I remember him turning a broom closet into his sleeping space. Hehe, during that time, we were both very busy with our respective jobs.} – Adult Sheldon chuckling.

"I'm going to tell Dad." Sheldon said, standing up from his seat. But Veronica blocked his way.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm going to tell Dad that Georgie skipped class." Sheldon replied, trying to sidestep her.

"Please don't tell him… You wouldn't want Georgie to get sick from lack of sleep, would you?"

Veronica didn't want to wake Georgie, knowing that if he didn't rest now, he might be too exhausted to attend the party later that night.

"…I don't want Georgie to get sick. That would be a disaster since I live in the same house as him… Alright, I won't tell Dad. But what should I say to the teacher later?" Sheldon asked.

"…How about saying Georgie isn't feeling well and needs to rest?" Veronica suggested, looking at Sheldon's expressionless face.

"…That's pretty convincing. He really did look tired earlier. Alright." Sheldon said before walking away.

Veronica turned to Tam. "...Make sure he doesn't say anything other than that, okay." she instructed coldly. Tam gulped and nodded.

But she didn't know Sheldon and Tam have different classes. She just instruct him to keep an eye on sheldon and no tattle to his dad.

Satisfied with his response, Veronica smiled and left Tam to head to the broom closet. Inside, she found Georgie already asleep, using a book as his pillow. It looked uncomfortable, but he made do with what was available.

Veronica lay down beside Georgie, staring at his face.

"….." She didn't say anything for a while.

"…I like you, Georgie." she whispered softly, closing her eyes.

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When the school bell rang to signal the end of classes, students began leaving their classrooms. Georgie, now awake, noticed Veronica sleeping beside him.

He couldn't leave her there alone, especially since she seemed to need rest more than he did.

Veronica was dressed like she was in Young Sheldon—a good Christian girl. Georgie preferred this look over her previous style. She really was a good girl.

In the show, Georgie didn't know much about Veronica's home life, but he did know things weren't great there. Just the fact that her sister was in jail hinted at how chaotic things were at her home.

"…What happened to you…" Georgie murmured softly, brushing her messy bangs away from her face.

The touch made Veronica's eyelids flutter, and she slowly opened her eyes to see Georgie smiling at her.

"…Hi." Georgie greeted her, still smiling as his hand lingered on her forehead. "You look more tired than me."

"…Hmm… Watching you sleep so soundly made me sleepy too." Veronica replied with a smile. She didn't push his hand away as he played with her hair.

"….." Georgie leaned closer and kissed Veronica.

"….." Veronica didn't say anything, accepting his kiss.

Their lips meet each other, but there is no deep kiss and no tongue. Just a casual peck but it felt very beautiful to both of them.

They close their eyes and feel the touch of their lips. That moment was beautiful for them and especially for Veronica.

"…I'm sorry for kissing you so suddenly." Georgie said after pulling away.

"…It's okay…" Veronica replied, sitting up.

"…I think we should go now." Georgie said, standing up and heading toward the closet door.

"Georgie…" Veronica called, stopping him.

"Yeah?"

"It's… okay… to kiss me more." Veronica said softly, though her voice was loud enough for Georgie to hear—because she wanted him to hear it.

"…Alright…" Georgie said, helping her to her feet. Veronica tried to tidy her messy hair after sleeping.

As they left the closet, they found George waiting outside, watching them.

"What the hell were you doing in there?!" George asked, clearly annoyed.

Blushing, Veronica hid behind Georgie, who sighed. "…We just took a nap, Dad…" Georgie said, bracing himself for the inevitable argument.

But instead of arguing, George simply said, "Alright." and walked away.

"….." Georgie was stunned but didn't want to risk pushing his luck.

"…I'll see you tonight?" Georgie asked Veronica.

"Um." Veronica hummed in agreement but didn't let go of his hand.

"…You're really cute." Georgie said with a grin, making Veronica blush furiously.

"Shut up." Veronica snapped, letting go of his hand and walking away, her face red as a tomato.

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*3rd POV

After school, she headed straight to the Studio with Miss Fenley. She didn't have a driver's license and didn't have a car, so currently she could only rely on Miss Fenley to get to Houston where their studio was located.

In 1989 was not an easy year as it is in the digital age. Studios spent a lot of money just making a song, and it involved a lot of manual editing and mixing.

Georgie had to learn it all over again one by one.

Music was in his head but how to produce it was another question.

So he had to learn it again, redo it again and make it more perfect. He did a demo of his instrument first before recording it on tape to reduce the useless budget due to repetitive takes.

But Georgie is not a perfect person, he still has to repeat to get the tone he wants but he doesn't repeat more than 3 times.

"…Damn, Fenley wasn't kidding… You really are a diamond in the rough!" Rosie said after hearing the song Georgie had created.

They were so poor at the moment that they couldn't afford to hire a band or other musicians to help Georgie compose his songs.

For now, it was just Fenley and Georgie playing the instruments and recording with Fenley's equipment.

"Even without anyone's help, you managed to create this song…" Rosie remarked, replaying the track.

"Well, the song's already in my head. I just needed to let it out." Georgie said, taking a sip of water.

"This song is great… I can feel it—these songs will top the charts." Fenley said beside Georgie.

So far, they had recorded "Love You Anyway." "The Man I Want to Be." and "Little Sister." Fenley had only listened to "Love You Anyway." but not the other two.

"Oh yeah, Miss Fenley—" Georgie began, only to be interrupted.

"Call me Fenley from now on. I'm not your high school teacher anymore." Fenley said with a smile.

"…Alright. Can you drive me home now? I have a party to attend tonight." Georgie said.

"What party?" Rosie asked.

"Just a high school party… My high school football team keeps winning thanks to my genius brother. One of the football players are throwing a party to celebrate… It's just an excuse, though." Georgie said, waving his hand dismissively.

Rosie nodded. Well, Georgie wasn't famous yet, so he didn't have to worry about maintaining an image for now.

"Alright… Let's go." Fenley said. The two left Rosie and headed for Fenley's car.

"…Is Veronica going to be there?" Fenley asked, avoiding eye contact with Georgie.

"She's the one who invited me." Georgie replied, sensing the jealousy radiating from Fenley.

"Oh." Fenley said nothing more and got into the car. Georgie shrugged and climbed in as well.

What Georgie didn't expect was for Fenley to suddenly "attack" him in the car—very passionately.

Only sounds of gasps and sighs filled the car. Whether Georgie would make it to the party on time or not remained uncertain, but… it seemed he'd be a little late.