A.N
It's been so lonnnnnng
Hope you're enjoying your summer!
Disclaimer: I do not own Death note
Matt
The days passed unceremoniously after that. Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing I could put my finger on and yet the air remained cumbersome and heavy. A weight sat on my chest crushing my ribs and left me lounging in bed most days rather than deal with the hassle of school.
The school said I was having a hard time dealing with how sudden Professor Adams had died, and under such unusual circumstances and are you sure you wouldn't like to speak to the school councillor Mail? I naturally turned them down, how on earth could I admit what I thought I had seen. They would have me locked away faster than you could clap and I quite like being on this side of the fence thank you very much.
And yet that shrivelled face plagued me wherever I went. I could see the dried cracking skin, the remnants of mucus becoming crusty from what used to be eyeballs, the dark grey of his lips and the foul smell that invaded my nostrils like an unwelcomed guest. I desperately wanted a friend that I could speak with, but my lack of social skill left me in a dark void where the only person I could speak to was Mello and yet, he was the person that I couldn't bear to see.
Mello had distanced himself since he had brought me home. He had kept me company overnight until the fear of a concussion had passed, picked up his jacket, told me to watch where I fall next time and left. I hadn't really spoken to him since. I had seen him on the rare occasion I had gone to class but he turned his back to me, incredibly tense, like a dog with its hackles raised. I found myself feeling sluggish around him, my energy dissipating from my body at a rapid pace. I couldn't stand it, the way it felt but I always found myself drawn back to him, watching from a distance or trying to find an excuse to talk. Anything that would allow me to half the weight bearing down upon my shoulders.
I knew my behaviour was downright creepy, other students had begun to avoid me as I tended to trail behind Mello hiding around corners, behind bushes, even tailing him in my car. And when I wasn't doing that I was asleep at a table often waking up mid nightmare drenched in sweat with wild eyes and I tried to orient myself again much to the disturbed look of my classmates. Although they looked at Mello almost the same way now. Their cheeks would flush a delicate shade of red, eyes transfixed to his swaying hips as their pupils dilated to an extraordinary size, wetting their lips with a quick flick of their tongue.
Okay so maybe they weren't looking at me in exactly the same way.
But it was still odd. He just passed them as if they were nothing to him. Less than bugs, no less than dirt that he could trample all over. Of course I have no doubt that they would just lay back and accept it, clamouring to kiss his boots and thank him after he was done with them. But he wasn't interested. Sometimes he picked one of the lucky girls or guys and brought them god knows where only to return the next day. The person he had taken looking pallid with sunken skin and huge bags under their eyes whereas Mello, well he would look so glowing. Like he had rolled around in glitter and wanted to shimmer down on the rest of us mere mortals.
It wasn't until a full two months of the death of Professor Adams that Mello spoke to me again. His cheeks were gaunt and a heavy air of don't fuck with me dripped from him. I was sat at a quiet table, a group of third years were chatting about their Friday night plans besides me as I inhaled the wrap I had bought for lunch when Mello tapped my shoulder. I turned around and blanched choking on a piece of lettuce that I had breathed in, coughing manically.
Clearing my airway I took a few grateful gulps of air, face burning red partly from embarrassment and partly from, you know, choking. Mello dropped into the seat beside me, completely ignoring my plight. He was quiet for a few moments before he faced me, a gleam in his eyes.
"Hey Matt, you wanna see something cool?"
"I…guess?" I replied. I was a little uncertain about how he was behaving, two months of no contact and suddenly he was being buddy buddy as if he spoken to me during our last lecture.
"Great. Swing by my place tonight okay? Can't show you here, too many nosy bastard and that." He said, scribbling onto a scrap of paper he had pulled from his pocket. His writing was messy, too many flourishes and loops making it barely decipherable. "I'm free after seven so any time after then." He pushed the paper towards me and walked off without a second glance.
I pocketed the paper which I learned had his address on it and finished my lunch. I was a little worried. It wasn't like Mello to be so…well friendly. It was a little scary if I'm honest, but I said nothing, picked up my bag and headed out to my car. I wanted to go home, shower and be presentable for tonight and maybe, grab a weapon.
Hey nothing screams crazy like carrying a knife in case you start to get dried out right?
Right.
