A/N: Wow. XD This second chapter came out a lot quicker than I expected it to, honestly. As a note: Miguel Ramos is the name that I have chosen for Cuba, in case that didn't make sense in the first chapter. XD Also, it should be noted that Matthew DOES, in fact, have a mental disability. Once again, many thanks to my Canada for sitting through the writing of this with me. You're the most amazing person in the history of ever!

Disclaimer: Look, I know I don't own this. So... *beh* :-P

Chapter 2 - Descent

The morning came much too quickly for Matthew's liking. Then again, it always came a little too quickly for his liking mostly because he always stayed up much later than he really should. And so the poor Canadian always managed to wake up just barely in time to grab a maple-flavored Pop Tart and run out of the house before he wound up late for school.

He never took the long way to school for this very reason. Which is how he managed to run into the very same kid who had been picking on him the day before - Miguel Ramos.

Really, Matthew didn't know before then that his nose could spew quite that much blood…

It was the first time he was late to class in his entire life, despite his tendency to oversleep in the mornings, and Matthew decided that it had to be the worst day ever. After a visit to the school nurse, he finally made his way to his first period class, just in time for the bell to ring. All he could do was stare in horror as the rest of the class filed out. He had missed first period completely. That had… never happened to him before. And just as he tried to approach the teacher to find out what had happened, the man just stood up and left! As if Matthew wasn't even there!

Second period was Home Economics, which Matthew was always grateful for. Still frazzled by his morning from hell, though, he managed to burn the pancakes he was trying to make for his breakfast. They did make him feel better, however, because once you douse something with maple syrup, it doesn't matter what it is - it just tastes like maple syrup.

His recently salvaged good mood was smashed to pieces by third period Gym class. Not only did he have to see Miguel in this class, but his half-brother - who was far superior in most physical endeavors - was also in the class, despite being a year younger than him. Twice, he was in danger of having his nose smashed in again - once because of Miguel, and the second time because somebody didn't see him and nearly elbowed him in the face - and had to watch Alfred get praised continuously by the coach for his excellent catches in the game of dodge ball they were playing.

Matthew didn't like dodge ball. Sure, nobody ever threw a ball at him, but his team never won. Because even if he was the last person standing, they always decided that the game was already over…

And then fourth period arrived. This was where it had all started the day before. The note on the board asking him to talk to the teacher was still there, though this time there was no one trying to figure out who Matthew was, which was a small improvement at the very least.

The Canadian had just pulled out his new notebook and flipped to a blank page when a pair of hands slammed onto the desk in front of him. Matthew whimpered slightly and looked up. There was Miguel again. It was like a routine, honestly. Alfred always did something to piss this guy off. Why couldn't he just leave things be for once?!

"What the hell? Were you wearing make-up earlier or somethin'? Your nose didn't even look bruised in gym!"

"I'm not… I'm not Alfred!" Matthew tried to sound as loud as he could, but for some reason his voice came out just as softly as it normally did. Miguel raised his eyebrow at the nearly silent response and looked like he was about to say something scathing when the teacher walked in and asked everyone to take their seats.

A seething anger had been building in the young Canadian all day, and this latest comparison to his half-brother just made him want to tear his hair out. But that would be rather difficult to explain to his mom, so Matthew settled for quietly beating his head against his desk for the first ten minutes or so of class. When he finally felt his frustration was taken out adequately, he looked up just in time to hear Miguel accusing him of disturbing his peace with the head-beating.

'Oh, yeah, pay attention to me now, eh?' Matthew thought bitterly as the teacher chastised him. He made no move to defend himself. What was the point? He would be forgotten again in ten minutes anyway. Or less…

After that, Matthew was in no mood to pay attention to the boring lecture anymore. Something about Napoleon. He had read about it last night, anyway. Instead of taking notes, he busily began to doodle in his notebook.

At first the doodles were of little squiggles and lines that formed no actual patterns, but as he kept looking around the room and spotting Miguel sneering at him, Matthew's doodles took on a bit more purpose. He sketched a crude drawing of the bully that had been picking on him for such a long time now. Except, in his drawing, Miguel was dead, his eyes merely x's and his tongue sticking out from his mouth.

Matthew snickered quietly to himself, feeling that this was appropriate justice for what had been done to his nose, and penciled in "Miguel Ramos" at the bottom of the picture, with an arrow pointing towards the picture.

Satisfied, Matthew closed his notebook and got ready to put everything away to leave class. The sooner he got out, the sooner he could seclude himself in a corner of the cafeteria and eat his lunch in peace…

It was at this point that fate seemed to turn against him again though. Or perhaps it turned in his favor. He couldn't really tell right away. Because as Miguel went to stand up, his eyes suddenly went wide and he clutched at his arm. Instants later, he collapsed on the floor and the entire classroom descended into chaos.

It took about ten minutes for everything to calm down completely again, in which time Matthew wedged himself into a corner of the room so he wouldn't get trampled by all the people trying to make sure Miguel was alright. The teacher managed to get all the students to stay back and call the nurse's office. But by the time the nurse got to the classroom, it was already too late.

Miguel was dead.

They called the hospital then. They came with a body bag and took Miguel away. Everyone from the class was sent home after that, in order to appease parents who had gotten texts from their children about what had happened. Not a single one of them seemed to notice the teenager in the corner, staring wide-eyed at the very spot where Miguel had been lying.

"You killed him." The small voice came from Matthew's backpack and he looked back to it sharply, horrified.

"I… I didn't! I didn't mean to, I just… I…"

Matthew reached into his bag and pulled out the stuffed animal that was now talking to him, holding it close like it was his last lifeline. "You wanted him dead, so he died."

"But…!" Matthew's mind was spinning. It was just coincidence! It had to just be coincidence! "I've wanted that before! H-haven't I…?" It was the only line of defense he had left in his head. He had wanted people dead before, but they never died! So it must just be coincidence…

There were a few moments of silence, and Matthew was about to let his breath out in a sigh of relief. Then the voice came again.

"The notebook."

It was still sitting on Matthew's desk. He approached it cautiously and, with shaking hands, flipped it open to the page with the rough drawing of Miguel. "You wrote it in the notebook. So it happened."

His mouth went dry instantly, which was a good thing. Because if he had had the ability to at that moment, Matthew would have been screaming.