Runaways: Chapter 7
Matt's Disagreement.
_MATT's Point of View_
I don't think I've ever been this furious since the time that I got dragged away from Mello's house. Sure, we've been on the run for two years now and we've enrolled in many schools – only to leave a few months later and move on – so this shouldn't be any different. But it feels wrong. It's like – it's almost as if this is the last straw for me.
I hate school, I detest it so badly. Mello's ok with it though, but if he had the option to go to school or not – I really don't know where he'd stand. He would probably actually debate the pros and cons of going to school, and no doubt end up victorious. Mello excels at all things school. Academics are his forte and physicals are just as much a strong point. He's willing to do everything he can to get the high grades, even if it means staying after school – that's what he'd said. Why on Earth would anyone want to stay after school?! Mello's brainy enough as he is, he can get A's on everything he does without even trying – he's exceptional! And unlike me, he enjoys this fact. He takes the teachers praise humbly and continues to do his best until we move on. He would make many friends if he tried, but we tend to stick together us two.
There's no point in making friends, it's just more people that'll know about us to report to people. Mello tries to tell me that I'm smart too, he says it often to remind me that I could enjoy learning if I wanted to. But it's like habit now, to hate school I mean. I've been doing it for the majority of my life, even before I met Mello.
I hate being constricted in those rooms, being told what I already know and being thrust into stereotypes and stupid 'cliques' that I don't even want to be a part of. I found out very quickly that my very first school wasn't going to nurture my apparent intelligence, not like Mello's had done with his, so I found, just as quickly, something else to occupy my time with, because school was just a waste of it.
Since then, attending school as a 'cover' for our plans was something that I have always been opposed to, but Mel thinks it's necessary so we go. We are going.
That stupid enrollment thing with those two fucking teachers made sure of that.
Mello made sure of that.
I turn to glare at him again, for the thirteenth time on our walk back to the motel.
"Don't be like that Matt, it's not gonna' be that hard" Mello tries, reaching for my hand. But I won't let him. "Matt…"
"We don't even have any equipment" I say after a while. "It's just more things to spend money on – money which we need"
"I know, but in the long run it'll be beneficial"
"It's just another pain in the ass" I fold my arms over my chest and huff. Mello unlocks the motel door as we approach it and lets me in first. "Long-run my ass, we'll only be here for a couple o' months, tops" I flop on the bed grab a pillow, hugging it to my chest as Mello locks the door behind us and sets the keys in his pocket.
"Why the hell did you have to say we were twins? Could've gotten away with something else, then you coulda' gone to school n' I coulda' worked n' it'd all be fine" Seconds later he's stood in front of me, crouched down so that his knees are by my legs – hanging over the end of the bed, and his head is just below mine.
He takes my jaw lightly in both his hands and lets his thumbs trace my lips from the middle outwards, leaning forwards to kiss me – his thumbs moving away as he does so. I don't respond (and it takes all my willpower) and he pulls away with a rejected sigh, moving over to the small kitchen area with the stove.
"Matt, are you hungry?" He asks, searching for something in the cupboards. "We can actually have lunch – we have soup…so…ah" I glance over as he pulls out a pan from the cupboard, and then goes to pick the two cans of soup off the shelf. I assume they're the same, because he puts them both in the one pan and starts up the hob. "Chicken and Veg should do..." He says absentmindedly, turning back to me. I turn my head away. He turns back to the hob and starts stirring. "I know you were staring at my ass, really" Shuttup.
I turn away from him completely, distracting myself with the curtains and the wall. I find it easy for my thoughts to wander elsewhere, even just thinking about nothing. I'll be doing this most of the time in school, better think of a game or something I can play. Spot the damp patch, ok – one in the top corner there. One near the edge of the window – must need sealing or something—
"Matt" I hear the soup bowls being placed on the crappy and probably un-sturdy table in the small kitchen area. "Lunch's ready" I hear the clatter of two spoons being laid down, and inhale the smell of the tinned soups that Mello's cooked. Im not even hungry any more, I think I'm too mad to be hungry – actually, I probably wasn't even hungry in the first place.
"Matt…please" Mello shuffles over to me, bending himself to my height with his hands either side of my thighs.
"Im not hungry" I shimmy myself away from him and lie on the bed, the pillow still clutched to my chest and me knees brought up as far as they can be.
"You need to eat something – it's been days"
"No thanks" I feel the bed shift as Mello, silently, moves over to the kitchen area again and starts to eat his soup. I glance at the clock on the alarm sitting on the bedside table, it's quarter past one already. I close my eyes and listen to Mello eat his soup, the soft and rhythmic 'clink' becoming a game for me – to count how many spoonfuls it takes for Mello to eat his soup.
I get to three hundred and twenty nine before his chair scrapes back and the dish is abandoned in the sink with a clunk. He washes his hands as usual and I turn over to my other side, so I can see him, as he walks into the bathroom and quickly brushes his teeth. I blink as he comes closer to me, expecting a speech, a rant or something, but instead, he places a hand on my shoulder and leans down, kissing my head, right on the temple.
"I have to go to work, for two o'clock" I give him a nod to show I'd heard. "I won't be back till six, and the shops will be closed by then. Do you reckon you'll have enough to go and buy school equipment?" I sigh and close my eyes, ignoring him. "Matt, don't ignore me – hey" Mello sighs and clamps his hand over my mouth with one hand. It takes me a moment to register what he's about to do, but when I do, my eyes snap open just in time to catch his other hand moving dangerously close to my face, his fingers ready to pinch my nose. I swat it away and he moves his hands away, setting them in his lap as he perches on the end of the bed.
"I don't want to risk losing us" He says softly. "Losing you"
"You sound like a sappy romantic" I breathe, his thumbs moving over each other as I spoke. "You should do it more often…"
"I don't care. It's true" He smiles a little. "I know you hate school Matt, and I'm not doing this to annoy you. We need to blend in and stay out of trouble – which means we need to behave and not draw any attention to ourselves. We'll be doing just that if we don't have any equipment, so I need you to go and get it" I say nothing. "Matt, if we're caught, I'll lose you. I don't, want, to lose you"
"I don't wanna' lose you either Mel" I whisper, reaching a hand forwards and taking his own in mine.
"Then don't make it hard, ok?" I bite my lip. "Matt"
"I can't help it" Mello sighs and flicks my hand away, agitated. "I'd rather be working Mel, I'd rather work all the time than go to school"
"Yeah, but a better education means more money later in life"
"Later wont do, Mel" I snap, sitting up on my elbows with a frown. The pillow flops from my chest down to my legs. "We need it now. Waiting is a waste of time. School is a waste of time"
"I don't care" Mello stands up in finality. "Good education leads to better job prospects in the future, and if we're to support ourselves that's exactly what we need to get, not waste our time"
"Yeah?" I challenge.
"Yeah" Mello nods.
"Well if you really think that, you should've thought twice about wasting your two years with me then, eh?"
Mello's eyes shone brilliantly with emotion as he clamps his gaping mouth shut, furious at what I'd said. His eyes are wide and emotional, his hands dead at his side. I raise an eyebrow, as if daring him to lash out. He sucks in a breath and storms out with the next, the door slamming behind him. As soon as he's gone, I flop back onto my back and put my hands behind my head. I don't like fighting with Mello, but sometimes it's the only way to get my point across – he's still a fifteen year old when it comes to disagreements.
My body relaxes from the tensed state that I hadn't realized I'd become; I let out a sigh and rub my eyes with my arm. From work, I had just over thirty pounds earned from my first day – ten pounds of that had gone on rent, so I only had twenty to spend on equipment. I bit my lip. Was I really considering this? I didn't go shopping, Mello went shopping.
Going outdoors is annoying, it considers exercise and talking to people and smiling at people, people seeing you and expecting you to do these things – it's total vulnerability. It's shit. I scowl at the ceiling. Mello would be even more furious if I didn't go. Maybe I could get away with just buying him things. No, then he'd be mad at me for 'drawing attention to ourselves'. I turn my head and face the bedside table again, our pieces of paper – enrollment papers, ooh, la-di-da, still need to be signed by our guardian, Marie Jeel. Eugh. I practice a signature on a scrap piece of paper and decide on an easyish one that Mello could pick up too, signing both of them before making sure I had everything for my shopping trip. Once satisfied, I head outside, only Mello has taken the keys with him and I can't lock the door from the outside. I take the lock pick out of out bag and head outside with it, locking the door (and checking it was locked) before putting the kit in my pocket and heading out to the shops.
I manage to find two bag packs for a fiver on the market, and there is a sale on in the stationary store near by. I buy a pack of pencils, a pack of blue and black pens, one eraser and ruler for Mel and two pads of paper. It totals to an ok amount, and I'm satisfied. I realize that I've forgotten the pencil case though, to put all our stationary in, so I head back in and pay a full price for two basic clear pencil cases, because the stupid fucks aren't in the damn sale.
Mel had better be happy with this shit. I check my phone in case he's rung or left me a text, but he hasn't. I pretend that I'm not disappointed. I manage to make it back to the motel alive, having kept my head down and walked vigorously fast to anywhere, avoiding at all costs any social interaction. When I get back at quarter to four, Mello still isn't back – he only finishes at six, I empty the shopping out on the bed and separate them into two piles. Once I've split everything accordingly, I put it all into our bags – mine black and red and Mello's black and blue, along with our 'enrollment papers'. I put them to the side and went to glare at my soup, still sitting disgustingly on the table. I daren't heat it up and eat it, so I shove it in the bin and find something else to do. It will probably include getting those TV channels to work.
