A/N: I'm so sorry this chapter is late! I was on vacation and I came back yesterday, and I still had to look at what my editor wrote because I didn't have a computer. Gomen! Please forgive me!
Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to the lovely Fase, who was my first reviewer. Thank you so much for your support and kind words!
Now, about the chapter itself. There aren't any spoilers, and the rating shouldn't have to be raised yet.
...Just ignore me. Roll chapter!
Game Systems and Theories of Evolution
I threw my bag down on my bed and savagely tore into the chocolate bar Matt tossed me. "Thanks," I growled. The day had been terrible; I sat next to the freakish albino every single period, and he showed me up each class more than the last. By the end of the day, I had worked my ass off for next to nothing. The only acceptable thing that had happened was Matt taking Near's regular seat next to me at lunch, forcing Near to sit on the opposite side of the room.
"Long day?" the redhead inquired, pushing up his goggles. I glared at him, and he chuckled. "Hey, don't take it out on me."
"Shut your face," I snapped. This idiot had to be the only one who ever laughed when I glared at him. He grinned and pretended to zip his mouth shut, tossing the "key" over his shoulder. I rolled my eyes and he snapped his goggles back over his eyes and began tapping away on his Gameboy.
"By the way, I'm starting classes tomorrow," he said without looking away from the mini LCD screen.
"I thought I told you to shut it." He ignored me.
"Anyway, I'm in all your classes and I sit next to you in each one."
"How did you find that out already?" I inquired.
"The computers here are surprisingly easy to hack. It only took me a minute to crack it open and then it was smooth sailing. I didn't do anything that bad, just rearranged my schedule and switched Near with me in each class. No one'll notice anything." He sounded oddly tired about this, as though he didn't really want to do it.
"Um…okay?" I really didn't know what to say to this, so I just fished a book out from under my bed and buried my nose in it. I pretended not to hear the sigh from the other bed or see the furtive glance my direction, opting to feign interest in the printed words instead.
True to his word, Matt was in every one of my classes and sat next to me in each one. The day passed extremely quickly with him by my side, especially because he presented a challenge without being overpowering. I worked extremely hard, but I still beat Matt in each class, save for two: Trigonometry I and Computer Applications III. The redhead was disturbingly proficient in each of those classes.
That night, when I pulled out my textbooks and papers from my bag to begin my homework, I found that I was missing my English textbook. "Hey, Matt," I called over my shoulder, "have you seen my English textbook?"
There was no reply.
I looked around, sure that the redhead had followed me into the bedroom, but to no avail. The boy had made himself scarce. I walked into the hallway and called out his name, but again, there was no answer. I told myself that he was just in the bathroom and would be back soon, and went back to our room to work on the History homework.
Three hours later, I found myself on my bed tugging on my blonde tresses as I stared at a trig problem that had absolutely no solution. Just as I was debating whether it would be worth it to throw my last pencil out the window, a shadow obscured my view of the textbook. "The answer is the tangent of three," came a voice from behind me.
I whirled around, and sure enough, there was Matt, standing as though he had never left the room. "Two questions," I murmured, keeping my gaze low.
Matt grinned. "Shoot."
"First, how did you figure that out so fast, and second, where the hell were you?" I wasn't worried about him or anything, I was just wondering. As his roommate, I have a right to know where he is at all times.
"Well, anything with numbers comes easily to me. Trigonometry included. And second, I was taking a walk. Why, were you worried about me~?" I threw a punch aimed at his stomach, but he caught my wrist. "Relax, Mello, it was just a joke. I went for a stroll around the backyard, that's all." He released my wrist, and I rubbed the ring where he put pressure. I took a deep breath, and looked at him straight in the eye.
"Explain the problem."
"What's the magic word?"
"Fuck you."
"Close enough." The redhead leaned in and pointed to the problem on the page, explaining each number and their role in the problem. By the end of the night, I understood each question and how to do them.
"Now, was that so hard?" Matt asked. He was across the room on his own bed, a headset pulled on over one ear and a controller balanced easily on his knee as he reclined comfortably against his pillows. I flipped him off and he laughed.
"Hey idiot, let me see your English textbook."
"How come?"
"I left mine in the classroom," I said while I stood and crossed the room, extending my hand for it. Matt pointed to the end of his bed to where a pile of books sat. I sighed and stomped over to the pile and dug out his English book and flopped back on the bed.
"Page three hundred and fifty-two," Matt said without looking away from his game. I glanced his way, then turned back to the book and began the work. It was easy enough, just spotting discrepancies in writing, so I was free to think about other things while I worked. I thought about the events of the past two days, and decided that I wasn't upset about them at all.
That night, I lay in bed and watched the lights play over Matt's face as he raced through downtown LA in some game about cars. He paused the game and noticed me watching.
"Come here and watch; you'll get a crick in your neck from lying that way," he said. I waited a moment before doing as he said to keep up the pretense that I was just doing what I wanted, not taking his advice. Matt moved over a bit to make room for me and I sat beside him; I was intrigued with the game in moments.
I awoke the next morning to my own bed without knowing how I got there. In seconds, I realized what was wrong with the picture: my alarm clock wasn't ringing and Matt was nowhere to be found.
I jumped out of bed and whirled around to look for my clock; upon seeing it, I found that I was late for breakfast and barely had time to get ready for the day before classes started. "Fuck, fuck, fuck…" I mumbled as I pulled on the nearest pair of pants and sweater, then moving on to yank a comb through my nasty tangles. It usually wasn't that bad, but without time for a shower, my hair was impossible to deal with. Finished, I chanced a glance at the clock again; it told me I had five minutes before my first class of the day, Biology, began.
I took off running through the deserted halls of the orphanage, gliding into class milliseconds before the bell. The teacher, Mr. Kolar, nodded at my seat and began the lesson. I slid into my chair and glared at Matt as I pulled out my notebook. "What the hell?" I hissed to the redhead.
"What?"
"Why didn't you wake me up?"
"You looked like you could use the sleep!"
"I would rather be on time and hygienic than well-rested!"
"Well, I'm sorry for trying to be a good roommate!"
I opened my mouth to reply, but Kolar cut me off. "Matt! Mello! Something you'd like to share?"
"No sir," we replied in unison.
"Good. Mello, please explain Lamarck's theory of use and disuse using your own words."
I stood and cleared my throat. "Lamarck believed that if an organism did not use a trait, the trait would gradually grow smaller and smaller through generations and would eventually disappear." I sat back down and Matt slid me a granola bar with chocolate chips.
"For breakfast," he whispered. I discreetly nodded and took a small bite.
"Excellent. Matt, please explain Weismann's experiment and its significance in regards to the theory of acquired characteristics."
The redhead stood with his hands in his pockets and his eyes on the teacher. "He cut the tails off of mice and bred them for twenty generations. The filial generations of the mice still were born with tails, so the theory was disproved." He sat and swung his feet up onto the table to hide his hands, which were immediately occupied with a Game-boy.
"I couldn't have done better myself. Feet down and game away, please." Matt groaned and slowly pulled his feet off the table and slid his Game-boy back into his pocket. "Thank you. Now, there were other theories as well, such as the Darwinian theory of evolution by natural selection…"
That night after dinner, I found myself in our room again, finishing up the homework. Matt had already finished, but he only did the bare minimum of everything. For example, our History teacher had asked us to write at least one page about the life of Hitler; I wrote two and a half pages, while Matt put the period of his last sentence on the edge of the front of the first page. He did all the trigonometry in his head and only wrote down answers.
While I slaved over the work, he played away on Zelda. I heard the occasional victorious shout from the general direction of the gamer, and it piqued my interest. Once again, I got up and walked to the side of Matt's bed and climbed in, shoving him aside to make room for me.
"I'm bored," I announced to him. He chuckled and continued playing his game. "Oi, fucker, I'm bored. Entertain me."
"If you watch, I'm sure you'll be entertained in no time." I scowled and fell silent. The jerk was right.
A/N: What's sad is in the biology section, all the things I'm spouting out about Lamarck and Weismann are true. And my high school Biology I teacher was Mr. Komar. *head-desk*
Be on the lookout for the next chapter~! You should be pleased with what I have planned...and you might have murderous tendencies as well. ...Don't hurt me!
Review?
