Rrrriinnggg! Ah, the final bell, the signal of the end of the school day. Matt heaved a sigh of relief, it was finally over. Despite being very good at school, Matt hated it; it was so boring. Then, as he was walking out the door, he saw her. Mello, one of the prettiest girls in Wammy's house, ranked second, just above him and just below Near. Matt loved everything about her, from head to toe. The way her hair fell just above her eyes, the way it was perfectly straight from root to tip. Her eyes, the way they sparkled like the sky on a clear day. How she always smelled of the sweetest chocolate. How she always spoke her mind. The way she walked, with an air of confidence all around her. Matt loved it all. However, while she may have been one of the prettiest girls in Wammy's, she was also one of the most badass. Wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and skirt to match, she was feared for her dodgeball skills, and it was rumored that she had once hit a kid so hard that he was in the hospital for a week. She also had a reputation for beating people up when she didn't get what she wanted. But none of that scared Matt. Alright, maybe it scared him a little, but he certainly wasn't going to let that stop him, certainly not. Not when his chance was soon. That very Saturday, all the kids at Wammy's were going bowling, and that was Matt's ticket. He was going to ask her to go with him. Chances were she was going anyway, but if he asked, then that would make it a date, which was all matt really wanted. And now was his chance. He was going to do it. He took a deep breath and tapped on her shoulder.
Mello spun around to find a tall, lanky boy in a loose-fitting black-and-white striped shirt, a tan sleeveless sweatshirt worn over it, a game system poking out of the pocket, and goggles perched atop his head. "Can I help you?" she asked, her voice dripping with impatience. "Yeah. Well, kind of, it's not exactly help that I need, but, I suppose you could consider it 'help' if you analyze-" "Just spit it out already, I'm in no mood to listen to some kid ramble!" she spat. "Oh, uh, right. Hi, I'm Matt, and well, you see, I was wondering if you maybe….wanna go to the bowling alley with….me?" he finally managed to say. Mello just ogled at him. He wanted to go out with her? She was slightly amazed at this, for most boys seemed to be afraid of her. Not that she couldn't see why, but this was still odd nonetheless. She was, for once, utterly speechless. "Uh…" was all she could manage to say as she thought this over. Well, she thought, he is kinda cute…. Eh, why not? It's just one little date, what's the worst that could happen? During this time, Matt was worried he'd broken her brain, for she simply stared up at him, her mouth slightly ajar. "Uh, hello?" he asked, a slightly concerned look on his face. This seemed to snap Mello back to reality. "Um, sure…" she finally said, suddenly very shy. She felt a warm blush rising in her cheeks. The boy in front of her had the biggest grin she'd ever seen on his freckled face. "Really? You will?" he inquired happily, wondering if she was just trying to humiliate him. "Yeah, sure Matt, I'll go with you," she said, a small smile growing on her face. This boy's happiness seemed to be infectious. "Great! I'll meet you at your room and we can walk to the bus together," he said, positively beaming. "You're a perky one, aren't you?" Matt blushed a bit at this. "Heh, don't worry, it's kinda cute. My room's number three oh four, you know where it is?" Matt blushed even more at being called cute. "Y-yeah, I think so." "Great. Let's see, the busses leave at three thirty, so why don't you come by my room at around three ten, three fifteen?" Sounds good!" Matt said, giving her a thumbs up. She giggled at him. "You're pretty cute, you know." Time yet again for Matt's blush to darken. She laughed yet again. "Especially when you blush. I'll see you tomorrow then, Matt." And with that she spun around, her skirt following suit, and walked off. Matt couldn't believe that it had worked. And she had called him cute, too. At that moment, despite him parents being dead, Matt was sure that he was the luckiest boy in the world.
The next day, Matt chose his nicest, cleanest striped shirt from his closet, placing his usual hoodie over it. By the time he was dressed it was only nine thirty-two, so he went down for some breakfast in the Dining Hall, where he saw non other than his angel, Mello. She was sitting in the corner, scowling at someone, and when Matt followed her gaze he saw that it was directed at Near. Of course. Mello hated Near, that was simply common sense to anyone at the Wammy's House. Mello hated him because she was ambitious, and Near was number one, and because of that, Mello would forever loathe Near. Matt may have been smart enough to own both of them, but the thing with Matt was that he didn't have much ambition, he simply didn't try as hard. Once he thought about it, he figured that was the only reason that Mello had agreed to go out with him. He walked over to the table that Mello was seated at and plopped down on the seat next to hers, grinning stupidly. Mello gawked at him for the second time that week. No one ever sat at the same table as Mello unless they asked permission first, let alone the very seat next to her. She quickly brought herself back to reality, and how cute Matt looked with that grin plastered on his face. Why is he always so happy? She wondered. She shrugged it off and decided to greet her guest. "Hey Matt, how've you been?" It felt odd to let such friendly words pass her lips with no sarcasm behind them. "Not bad, you?" he asked around a hash brown. The stupid boy, hadn't his mother ever- nevermind, the most important thing was that Mello wasn't biting his head off about sitting next to her. "So, wanna hang out in my room later? Or maybe we could go to the playroom and-" "No. Hanging out in your room sounds great, as long as I'm no where near that albino little freak," she spat. Matt had forgotten that, despite the playroom having the only television in all of Wammy's, it was also where Near spent most all of his time. "Oh, okay then, so…" his voice trailed off. Matt had fumbled, and now things were a bit awkward. So they sat, eating in silence, until they were both done (which, thankfully, didn't take very long). They then walked back to Matt's room, talking about this and that when Matt suddenly remembered something- his room was a mess. A look of dread came across his face. What was he to do? They were almost there, should he just ask her to wait outside for a moment? Or could he run ahead and possibly get it looking decent by the time she got there? He decided the latter would be the best option, and put his plan into action, "Hey, I've gotta tidy up a bit, would you mind if I ran ahead?" he asked, desperately hoping she would say yes. "Sure, I gue-" he ran off before she could finish her sentence, muttering a quick thanks before he did so. Mello perked an eyebrow at this, wondering just how messy his room was, but she walked along anyways. Meanwhile, Matt was frantic, throwing things in his closet until it was bursting at the seams. Just as the last shirt was kicked under the bed, there was a knock at the door. Matt ran, tripped on the carpet, and ran some more when he finally reached the door- when had the room grown so large? He'd ponder that later, he hurriedly opened the door and leaned on the frame, trying to look cool, but he just ended up sliding down it, ending up on the floor. Mello giggled at him, for he'd ended up in a pose that most would consider trying to be sexy, though with his disheveled hair and lopsided goggles, Matt was anything but sexy at the moment. "Hey," he said, acting as if nothing had happened. Mello laughed again and held out her arm to help him up. "Hey," she replied once he was back to a standing position. "Come on in," Matt said, gesturing to the room behind him. She's so pretty, and here I am making a fool of myself. She must think I'm an idiot... he thought to himself. He mentally cursed himself as he slid on the rug again and bumped right into Mello, nearly knocking her down. Or so he thought. Despite her small frame, Mello was stronger than she looked, and managed to hold he ground. Matt sighed. These next few hours few going to be very long.
When three fifteen rolled around, they headed down to where the busses were waiting, and boarded with the other children. Once on the bus, they continued talking about this and that, this time talking about how Mello was the only good player on all the sports teams she was on, running faster and throwing farther than anyone else. They continued on like this for the rest of the ride, quieting when someone threw up in the back. By the time they reached the bowling alley, Matt and Mello were debating white chocolate versus dark, "How can you stand that shit? It's too fucking sweet!" Yes, Mello certainly had a mouth on her. "That's why I love it!" Matt argued, convinced he could win, "I still don't see how you can like dark chocolate. It's bitterer than tea, Mello." Mello just rolled her eyes and continued walking alongside her companion. They walked in and rented their shoes, Mello, much to the contempt of the man behind the counter, sitting on it to put hers on. It was then that the date kicked in. "Ah, allow me," Matt said, taking the shoe from her hands. She started to protest, but Matt wouldn't have it. She could kick and scream and struggle all she wanted, but eventually, Matt managed to get them on. Fortunately there was more kicking and struggling than screaming, for the latter would have attracted much more attention. She shot him an irritated glare, but they went on with their date nonetheless. Mello totally schooled Matt when it came to the actual bowling, but Matt didn't care. He was on a date with Mello, and that was all he cared about. Eventually, it was time to go home, and that was when it was Mello's turn to make a move. "Matt?" "Yeah?" he turned to look at her, as they had just gotten on the bus. That was when she did it. She kissed him. This left Matt shocked, and for a few moments he could do nothing but stare at her. She giggled at him. "You're cute. I like you, Matt," she said, and they sat in pleasant silence the rest of the way home, Matt using most of the time to figure out what she had said.