The classmates were all shuffling through their lockers and hurrying off to join with friends. Lunch time was always hectic for people who had it before the younger grades. It gives you some time to think. Time to review something important or study for a quiz on the scientific method. It was almost time for the review quiz on the tragic novel this boy read. He was so anxious to take it right away that he was chewing his nail beds as he read the last chapters. Dark circles were shadowing under his eyes. He yawned within each paragraph his eyes landed on. His acquaintances pitied him. Matthew was better than that. If Mr. Bonnefoy found out he had been sneaking off to hang out with his old friend the night before, he'd never let him live freely. He could do something like put him in a private school. Or even homeschooled! No, Matty told everyone who knew Francis that well to not say one word. It was a solid secret. What a glorious day to waste reading the remaining parts of a book he could've done last night. He studied the cliques of little boys and girls lurking around outside the building, laughing and playfully punching each other in the arms. The blonde-haired girl was walking over to the Ladies' bathroom right next to where the boy said when she noticed how unsatisfied he was. She walked over to him and sat right next to the chair beside him.
"Hey, why are you sitting here by yourself?" she asked him. "It's lunchtime, and everyone's hanging out of class." Williams was way too caught up in his project to think about why he was rushing himself to complete it. The girl moved in closer to his face to shake him out of his gaze.
"Hellooo?" she purred. Her soft voice threw him off his conscience.
"Oh, I'm-I'm sorry…I was just so busy that I…"
"It's okay, it happens," she says. "Why are you hurrying up to finish that book?" The Canadian shifted his eyes from her face to the dog-eared pages. Then he closed it and set it on his lap.
"Didn't you already finish it last night like we were all supposed to?" The girl giggled at his ridiculous sentence. She flipped her hair back and sighed.
"Of course not," she said. "I don't think any of us got that whole thing done in only two days. Those words are too smart for us to remember on the quiz." Okay, so Williams misjudged this woman a little bit. But in these classrooms, she's different; outside of school, not so much.
"Well, if my…foster parent found out about it, he'd kill me." She looked at him with her green, cat-like eyes.
"You're in foster care?"
"Well, not exactly," Matt says. "I'm kind of…adopted in a way. This guy, Francis, has full custody of me, but he'd not my real father."
"Oh, well good luck to you if he ever figures you out," she said. "Keep in mind that you can never keep secrets forever. Especially towards the ones who really care about you." That tiny speech was haunting. Each word hung onto the boy's ears and chilled his spine. He'd remember that quote for all times. He just wondered when he would ever need it. The girl's boyfriend was calling her out in front. She stood up.
"Well, I got to go," she said. "My name's Bella by the way."
"Matthew." The boy said. The blonde-haired woman left him alone. Then he sighed real quietly and opened the book again to read. The loud, piercing sound of the school bell almost put him in a stroke and he nearly fell off the chair he was sitting on listening to it. Now he knew he was in for trouble. The score on his quiz would be the lowest of the low and the worst he's ever gotten. He'd die of humiliation. He'd die of being killed. The universe would come after him, one way or another. He prayed to the Lord to forgive him of his mistake and heal whatever the wounds he had laid in His heart. Yes, it was that bad and he was very religious. Lots of his relatives and loved ones praised him for that. Francis, Arthur, and even his own brother felt lucky to have known this boy. But the Canadian would never know if his wishes have been answered the way he'd wanted them to later on that day. While sitting in his English class, he chewed his pencil and not his nails and stared at the other classmates. One of them looked to be unprepared as well. A little Italian boy, sophomore, hung out with this German who was a senior. The Italian had his head down and shaking legs crossed. It was such a coincidence how Matthew had ended up in a school with students from all around the world. He had five different people in his class: a German, an Italian, an American, a Belgian, and a Netherlander. None of which he had much things in common with. The educator entered the doorway and the classmates immediately sat up and had their sharpened pencils in their hands.
This is it, thought the dramatic Matthew. This is the day of my death. Francis isn't going to be very happy with me. I'll never make it past today. I'm going to die a virgin. Why did I say that? It's a SIGN!
"Good morning, class," the teacher said. "So, how many of you actually finished your books in the last two days?" Half the class raised their hands. The other side looked exactly like the small boy did. The teacher sighed loudly.
"I'd expect that of you all," he said. "Well, the good news is that it was a test all along. I was trying to see if any of you would actually do the assignment right as soon as I asked you to do it. The bad news is that you'll have homework on Friday to read the rest of it – or the whole thing." The class groaned as loud as they could. The little Italian perked his head up and grinned. He tapped on the German sitting next to him.
"Ve~ we get to study together all weekend!" he said, making his friend smirk. That damn American dude was so relieved; he had to slide down in his chair and exclaim to everyone how good he had it.
"Dude, I'm so freaking glad we don't have a test today!" he said. "I would've got an F minus on that thing!" Bella looked at him.
"Your score probably wouldn't be any different if you actually read it and we did have a small quiz today." she says.
People were so out of control at the moment. It almost made Williams and the teacher change their minds and want to give these rowdy kids a quiz to shut them up. Anyways, down the hallway everyone went as another Thursday afternoon shined through the windows. The air felt good on their skin. There was a soft breeze blowing through Matty's golden hair and made him smile the whole trip down. He just got a text during his last class from you-know-who reminding him to secretly meet him after school. When the Canadian actually had the time to read the text in his mind and know what it had to say, he paused and bit his lip. His right thumb was lifted right on top of the "SEND" button. Should he tell Francis where he was going? If he really wanted his guardian to know he was safe, he would tell him the truth. Because of the way he was, Francis wouldn't mind at all about what he was about to do. Besides, he knew Gilbert his whole teenage and college years. There was no way he couldn't keep his trust in his old friend and his little boy. But there was some way the Frenchman would suspect something bad happening. Matthew decided to type in a text to let Francis know he was okay.
Matty 3: Hi, Francis. I'm staying after school to get some homework done. Don't know why we have so much homework. See you in 2 and half hours.
~ (^_^) ~
He hit that send button and walked with quieter steps to their "private" alleyway. That's when Williams remembered to watch the path he was going. Come to think of it, he hasn't seen that tanned guy in a while. Well, it was only two days since their last meeting, Matthew was sure that guy would come around soon. And when he did, Williams would be ready to take him down before he was hit again. The thought of the tanned guy didn't leave his mind. It kept him occupied for the long road. It also made him realize that Francis had to take more responsibility and teach him to drive so he wouldn't be walking all the time and he wouldn't be so thin. Sure, cars are a main source of pollution, but it was worth it to drive an hour-long trip to shorten it up. Just remember this one, Matthew: Some people lived for more than nineteen years without a car or some vehicle to take them places. They didn't have much to complain about. The same thing went for cell phones and laptops. Williams was starting to feel bad about all that time he'd spend on his laptop emailing that guy and writing the last adventures of his one story. He just considered that to be the reason why his eyes were so dark and his energy was so low. The only things that went in his mind were the date, the book, the story, and the time he wanted to talk to this guy. Matty wanted Gilbert to be his first lover, but he knew he had to wait and see who would make the first move. It probably wouldn't be him; he was one of those guys who were meant to be on the bottom in a relationship. The boy cringed at the feeling of always being on the bottom and never topping the date. There were worse things to be feeling unsure of and disgusted at. He just didn't know all of them yet.
The alley wasn't as deserted as Matthew had hoped, but it was nicer in the daytime. It didn't look as rusty. They should've really got rid of that graffiti though. Sadly the only small shop next to them was a café that went out of business a week ago. There weren't any romantic places they would go to other than this spot. The Canadian looked for his friend out in the parking space next to the alley.
"Hey! What's up, yo?" he heard a loud voice pop up out of nowhere. Matthew turned to see Gilbert and that stupid yellow bird floating above his head. His cheeks hurt from the large grin he smacked on his face, until he saw another girl walking with another guy along with him. Williams recognized her as one of the individuals who dropped out of high school just one month before graduating to be with her lame-ass Austrian boyfriend. He was already dropped out before she was. Those two were struggling, the boy knew. But he didn't mention one word on that day of the visit. The girl introduced herself as Elizaveta Hérderváry. What a wonderful name that was. Bella once told Matty in one of her conversations that she wished her name was that rare and "weird". The other guy addressed himself as Roderich Edelstein, a more common name in the European continent. All day long, the Williams boy had to pinch himself to keep his mouth shut about if those two would leave them alone for a while. When the white-haired guy said he had something he wanted to ask the Canadian, he thought it would be more personal and not in this noisy area. He had to admit, the talks that he and the other two had were pretty mysterious. Matthew was just waiting for Gilbert to pull him aside and talk to him right about…now.
"Hey, Williams," he said. "Wasn't that the dumbass lady that came up to you and started talking to you?"
"…n-no, it wasn't," the boy said. "To be honest, I think she's a really intelligent blonde."
"Oh, you think she's "intelligent"?" Gilbert said. "Well, she's not. Lizzy told me she was the dumbest kid in your whole school."
You're saying that smart blonde is stupid based on what a high school drop-out said to you? Matthew thought.
"You may think you know her," Gil continued. "But you really don't."
"Have you ever hung out with her?"
"Of course I have!" Gilbert shouted. "That's why I know this about her! And I bet that tan dude that hit you is just as dumb!" His loud speech echoed in the room and a few people turned their heads to stare at the two. This boy had entirely forgotten about that guy that hit him. Until he brought it up, obviously. He shouldn't be worried about that now.
"Oh yeah, that guy…" They both sighed. That tanned man was forming a wall in between those two boys. There was never going to be a first move from either of them. Wait, he said they were in a committed relationship this very moment. If he said it, then it must've been official. There wasn't much to be said from Williams. This date went a little bit down the drain after the other two had left to solve their own problems. Matthew was getting a little impatient and wanted to end this date and leave already. He looked at his watch. Unfortunately, it had been only thirty minutes in the date and he had over an hour left to stay. The boy sipped through his large class of soda as his mind repetitively thought about how they were going to go through this in life.
"Hey, do you like other sports besides hockey?" Gilbert asked.
"What? Oh, yeah," Williams says. "I like…baseball too."
"That's awesome!" the white-haired guy says. "I love baseball. I also love boxing other people. You know my brother used to fight me all the time. Of course I always lost, but I don't see what the big deal is."
"Well, when I was ten, my half-brother called me up to play a game of catch," says Matty. "I was happy to play some ball with that guy, but all he did was hit me in the face and the balls multiple times. Winning is for losers"
"Oh, wow," Gilbert said. "He doesn't sound very smart, dude."
"He isn't."
And as they spoke about random things, The Canadian barely noticed that he had so much in common with this guy. They loved the same subjects, books, music, sports and miscellaneous activities. He scooted his chair closer to the guy and his hand was suddenly lying on top of Gilbert's hand. Gilbert looked at the smaller, pale hand on top of his and his smile was soft. He took the boy's hand and locked their fingers together. The next thing they knew, those two were staring into each other's eyes, with the Canadian taking in the details of his red rubies and pink-streaked face. A couple of kids passed by the window and stopped to stare at them. Their lips were pressed against each other in a smooth kiss. Matthew's face had blushed again as he felt the other breathe against him. Then they kissed with a lot of feeling and passion – open-mouthed to be exact. They were totally unaware of how uncomfortable they were making the others feel. The boys were pleased as they made another couple feel so lame. A girl and a boy just sitting there with little action to be proud of made them kiss with the same rhythm. Gilbert squeezed the boy's shoulder as he let him go. Both of them panted inaudibly and grinned at each other. Matthew's first kiss was something he'll remember always. It was something very, very special to him as it was to anyone who had it too. It was a thing he thought he wouldn't have until he was spontaneous enough for it. Won't Francis be proud of him, if only he knew? He'd gloat to everyone in this world about how much his acts were brushing upon this little boy. Another thing was that who would want Matthew to be as perverted and ill-minded as his guardian? After his first kiss, he and his "boyfriend" went outside the shop to spend some more time in his car.
~ (^_^) ~
The Canadian felt both pleased and awkward to have his first love be another man. He knew he was blessed to even have been a couple with anyone at all. The air was getting colder around him. He'd forgotten his jacket in his boyfriend's car the night before. All he had was a thin, short scarf wrapped as tight as it could be around his little neck. The metal of his glasses chilled his skin. He looked as if he hasn't seen the sun in years. It'll all pass once he gets in that car to ride with his boyfriend for the same routine he'd had for the past couple of days.
They've been dating for a while. Almost a month had gone by since these two had their first kiss in history. Mr. Bonnefoy hadn't the slightest clue about why Matthew had been staying after school to finish his homework. What an airhead he was. Williams didn't blame him, however, he had to work from 6 am to 3 pm straight without any breaks and it was starting to fracture his way of thinking. Bella has come to chat with the boy at times. She was a lot gloomier than she had been before. Her eyes were always sad and she didn't look at him in the eye.
"Hey, Bella like, what's wrong…with your face?" Feliks asked her that day.
"Oh, it's nothing," she said. "You wouldn't understand."
"Oh, c'mon," Feliks says. "Like, you at least got to say something to me." Her face lit up.
"First of all, you keep pissing me off with your "likes" all the time," she said. "And second, my boyfriend and I really haven't been…getting along that well." Ivan overheard her and sat closer to her at the table.
"Why not?" he asked. "I thought you two were doing fine, da?"
"Well, it's not just us," Bella reminds him. "It's my brother." They all grimaced at her comment. There had to be one thing connected to her sex life and it had to be the one that shielded her from living it.
"I really think that guy should leave you alone in a relationship." Tony the Spaniard said as he walked by her. Williams was sitting right in the corner, hearing every word of his friend's disgrace. Could he have given her advice, he thought he should've. His imagination took flight that day. His own mind would brag to himself about how better off he was in his dating process aside from her.
As he gently glided through the path, he let his breath out in a sigh. It was always the same whenever he drove with Gilbert. First they'd ignore each other, then they'd get into a small argument about all the people he's already talked to other than him, and then they'd do something to make it up like kissing or cuddling together. Williams would have to figure out a way to get them to do something completely out of the ordinary. He had some planning to do. And suddenly, his plot was interrupted by a deep, strong voice calling to him away in the far corner in the neighborhood he's forbidden himself to see anymore.
