A/N: This is the first time I've really hated Horowitz… Matt's diary entries are so explanatory.
Disclaimer: I think AH is taller than me. He should really be, seeing as he's a fully grown adult male and I'm a short teenage girl…
10 Things You Didn't Know About….
Matthew Freeman
10) When he was seven, he'd always wanted a world where there were magical creatures and he could save the world – be Matthew Freeman, the boy who saved the world. Now that that had happened, he was Matthew Freeman who would save the world (or lose miserably and die) he just wanted to be seven.
9) Christmas puddings. How he loathed them. His mum (excellent cook though she was) took pleasure in making hundreds of Christmas puddings and all failed ones went to him and his dad. His mum, of course, was slimming. And Matt really didn't have the heart to tell her he loathed them. He ate them up, and when Mum turned her back, he drank as much orange juice as he could. The amount of orange juice they got through at Christmas time…
8) Matt wanted to ride a motorbike. He'd always wanted to, mainly because his father kept telling him how dangerous it was and the sort of injuries you could get, and Matt had always thought it sounded cool – hardcore. And now he knew that London traffic was shit, and motorbikes were the only way to get around. Plus they looked cool.
7) He preferred Jamie to Scott. Ok, that was obvious. But he just found Jamie a whole lot more reliable, and he never knew what Scott was thinking. Jamie's feelings were quite often written on his face and he either couldn't hide them or just didn't. But Scott… Scott would hide them as best he could, which was quite well. Although it was ever so easy to tell when Scott was angry. That he didn't hide.
6) He would not have made it this far if it were not for Richard. Richard had been the best adult in his life, except, maybe, his parents. Richard was both the fun and supportive model of a friend and the protective and loving role of parent. He was neither and both, and Matt realised that was for the best. A parent would get in the way too much, the way a friend wouldn't. And he didn't act like he was responsible for Matt; his concern was high but he knew better than to stop Matt. He was the best of both.
5) Matt knew he had always thought Kelvin to be a bit of a twat. With his up-himself and cocky attitude, his stupid spiky haircut, big thuggish swagger, he did appear very much an arsehole. Yet, somehow, he was roped into Kelvin's gang and, by this careful flattery, he overlooked the twat-ness of Kelvin's nature and thought him a friend. But he was still a dick-head.
4) He'd never liked smoking. Never. It made him feel sick and his fitness rapidly decreased after he started. But Kelvin and his friends all smoked and him, being a few years younger than almost all of them, couldn't afford to not do what they did else he would be ostracised from their group of friends. And he needed these friends. He needed people to reassure him he was normal, just by treating him as they treated each other.
3) Matt always wondered what would have happened did he prevent his parents from leaving, that day back when he was eight. Would his parents still have died? They probably would have… if not he'd never go with Gwenda and Brian and then get arrested and then get to York or met the witches and Mrs Deveril and Richard (not that he'd really lump them in the same category) and then finally found his way to Peru and met all of the Gatekeepers and become the leader of the Five. Now, much as he loved his friends (and almost dying and having to kill weirdo creatures) he knew which life he'd have preferred.
2) Matt thought Scarlett was pretty and all, but he didn't fancy her. He wouldn't let himself. He had to focus on the war. And focus he would. He ignored all that his hormones were telling him.
1) His favourite ever show, was BBC's Outnumbered. Richard said he'd loved it and so one day they'd all watched it, sitting in their house in Peru. Pedro hadn't really understood all that much, and the twins weren't that sure about British humour, but Matt, Richard and Professor Chambers all loved it.