It was about half an hour before school started, and Matt was already feeling down about the day. He had commandeered Tim's desk, and was currently clutching his knees to his chest. He rested his head against his knees, and huffed. Tim, who was working on a painting, looked over to him. "You okay, babe?" he asked, concerned for his lover. "No. Take me home." Matt mumbled, and Tim walked to his side. "I can't, schatje, you know that." He put a hand on Matt's shoulder, and Matt looked up to him. "Please?" He gave his best puppy dog eyes, though he'd never do them as well as Alfred could. As soon as he had that thought, though, his pout turned real. Matt immediately spun around to face Tim and buried his face in the ends of his scarf.
Tim's hand started to stroke lovingly up and down Matt's back, but it didn't make him feel any better. Matt felt alone, despite the Dutchman that was so close to him, and it scared him. He felt like crying, but held back in fear of Alfred seeing, and having even more reason to think he wasn't man enough. "Hey, it'll be okay. This is the last week. You're getting out of here on Friday, you're going to graduate and you're going to walk, and you don't ever have to come back here again. It's 3 days. You can do it, Matt." Tim leaned down and pressed a kiss to Matt's head. Matt gripped Tim's scarf tightly, and nodded.
"3 days, you promise?" Matt asked, not looking up from where he was. He knew for a fact that Tim wasn't lying, and that Matt was definitely graduating on Friday evening. He just wanted to hear someone say it. "Unless you want to help me pack up some stuff the day after graduation," Tim laughed, and Matt nodded. "I… okay. I'll stay, for you." Matt said meekly, still pressed against Tim's stomach. "That's what I like to hear, Matt. It'll be fine, I promise. If you need to, you can come in my room, okay?" Tim said, and Matt cringed when he noticed he would have to leave the art wing, soon, and go to math class.
The cringe didn't go unnoticed by Tim. "Hey, it'll be okay. You have Kiku's class next, right?" he asked, still stroking Matt's back. Matt nodded. "Just text me if you need me, and I'll call him and make him send you down to my room." Matt wasn't exactly sure about that, but before he could protest, the bell was ringing, telling Matt he had to go to class. Tim helped him up out of his chair, and pulled him into a tight hug. "I'll be right here if you need me. Okay?" Matt couldn't do anything but say yes, and go to math class.
Though he expected to go back to Tim's class after about 5 minutes, Matt managed to stay in Mr. Honda's class the entire time. Since graduation was so close, Mr. Honda was playing movies, and there wasn't any math being done. And, luckily, Matt was in remedial math, so none of Alfred's circle of friends were in the room to laugh at him. It was actually a lot better than expected, and made Matt feel better about being at school. It wasn't that bad, and maybe Alfred didn't tell anyone about what had happened. Maybe he would be able to handle the next 3 days.
2nd period brought Matt back to Tim's room. Matt was worried about this class for one reason, and one reason only: Leon Wang. Leon was a cool dude, and one of the few people Matt actually considered a friend, but Matt was worried about what he would have to say about Mei. In fact, he got to class early so he could tell Tim to keep close to his table, in case Leon had something to say that would trigger a bout of depression in Matt.
In the end, all Leon had to say was, "Damn, Matt, looks like we're going to be brothers."
Tim let Matt stay in class nearly 10 minutes after the bell rang. He was thankful for that, considering that there would be no way to avoid Alfred, who's Russian class was right next door to Mr. Adnan's Foods class. Afterwards, Matt spent lunch in the art wing. He didn't eat, he spent his 30 minutes preparing for the hell that was sure to come in Mr. Wang's class the next two periods.
Matt was curled up next to Tim, sitting on a table, expressing his various fears. "What if he gets angry at me, and calls me out in front of the class?" Matt had his head on Tim's shoulder, and Tim had an arm placed protectively around his waist. "I really doubt he'd do that. Yao is really professional." Tim responded. His free hand held Matt's tightly. "But what if he tries to talk to me about Alfred and I freak out?" Matt's grip on Tim's hand increased. He was nervous, and didn't want to talk about Alfred with anyone but Tim. He didn't even really want to talk about him with Tim. "Then you text me, and I'll come get you right away, and we'll paint." Tim's thumb started to stroke Matt's hand reassuringly, but Matt barely even noticed it. "Don't you have a class during both periods?" Matt really didn't want to sit with a roomful of students when he was on the verge of breaking down. "Yep, both periods. I'm just letting them watch movies though. We can go to the storage room, and paint, or whatever."
The bell rang before Matt could say anything that would make him more nervous. Tim ushered him out of his room, promising him he would be fine. Matt, however, didn't feel fine. As he approached the hall where Mr. Wang's room was, he felt decidedly not fine. Luckily, he seemed to be early to class, and Mr. Wang wasn't there yet. In fact, no one was there yet, and that made Matt feel a little bit better. At least he had time to clear his head, and actually have a plan of action in case Mr. Wang decided he was going to talk to him.
Matt didn't have time to make a plan of action, though. Leon and Mr. Wang walked in about 30 seconds after Matt, causing him to groan slightly and put his head to the desk. He was sure that the lecture of his lifetime was coming up in 3, 2, 1-
But Mr. Wang didn't say anything to him, and Leon sat down next to Matt without incident. Matt lifted his head slightly, and saw that Mr. Wang was at his desk, typing at his computer, paying no mind to Matt. He lifted his head up completely, and turned to Leon, who was sketching beside him. "Is your brother not going to lecture me about my brother?" Matt asked, and Leon shrugged. "Doubt it. He got all of his lecturing out of his system last night with Mei." Leon said, and Matt breathed a short sigh of relief. He felt bad for Mei, but he was glad at least that he didn't have to deal with Mr. Wang's rants.
"How is your brother taking the whole thing?" Leon asked when Matt didn't say anything. Matt's breath caught in his chest, and his eye widened some. He didn't want to talk about Al. He really didn't want to talk about Al. "We, uh, had a bit of a falling out after he told me. And Dad kicked him out of the house." Matt decided he didn't have to say that Arthur kicked him out, too. "Oh, really? That's harsh. I guess he cut Al's phone, and that's why he hasn't been talking to Mei." Leon said offhandedly. Wait, what?
"We pay our own phone bills, Leon. And we have plenty of money to do so. Al's just… ignoring her." It didn't surprise Matt that Alfred would skip out on Mei, but it was a bit of a shock nonetheless. Leon looked confused for a moment, but suddenly his usually stoic expression turned angry. "I'll kick your brother's ass, Matt." Leon growled, and Matt nodded. "He deserves it, trust me." Matt forced out a laugh. He didn't want to be talking about Alfred.
Luckily (maybe unluckily? Matt wasn't sure) Leon stood up from the table they shared, and walked over to Mr. Wang at his desk. He started speaking to him in Mandarin, and Matt wished for once that he would have actually paid attention in class so he would have at least a slight idea about what the two were talking about. However, when he heard the names 'Alfred' and 'Mei' brought up, Matt felt like he knew enough to make judgment.
If what had happened last night would have never happened, Matt would have defended his brother and his juvenile actions. Sure, Al had fucked up, badly, but Matt wouldn't have let him get (probably) trash-talked in a different language. After last night, however, Matt was content to put his head down, and try in vain to understand what they were saying.
Turns out, Matt had no knowledge of the Mandarin language, and he didn't understand a word. But that didn't matter, because a furious looking Yao Wang was standing over Matt before he could even raise his head. "Matthew, do you know what class your brother has right now?" Mr. Wang was fuming, and Matt smirked when he realized that Alfred was boned. Matt probably should have played stupid, and claimed he didn't know, but, what could he say? He was petty. "I sure do. He's in Mrs. Jones's AP US History class." Mr. Wang nodded and left, and Matt put his head back down. Little victories.
The class, after that, was uneventful. Mr. Wang didn't come back until halfway through 5th period, and when he did, his face was red and he seemed out of breath. It made Matt smirk, and, ever the petty one, he hoped that Mr. Wang yelled Alfred into next week. Matt told himself it was because he wanted Alfred to gain responsibility, but he knew he knew Alfred probably cried because he can't handle being yelled at (which probably is the reason Matt was so soft-spoken.)
Soon, the bell rang, and thankfully, the Wang brothers didn't give Matt any trouble. Next period, Art IV, was even smoother. Tim put on an art documentary, and sat in the back of the room with Matt, subtly holding his hand under the table and reassuring him that everything would be okay. Once class was over, and all the students had exited the room, Tim went to the phone and dialed the number of Matt's English teacher.
"Hello, Mr. Anderson. This is Mr. Van der Heide, I was wondering if I could keep Matthew Kirkland for the period? We're working on his final art piece and it would be such a shame if he had to stop painting and lose his mindset." Tim asked, gripping Matt's hand still. Matt watched his face hopefully, and strained his ears to hear what his English teacher was saying. Tim paused for a moment, and Matt could hear Mr. Anderson on the other side of the line, but couldn't understand him. Tim's subsequent scowl, however, was understood, and Matt's heart dropped. "I understand you're studying for your final, but, Matt is actually taking his final for me-" Tim seemed to be cut off, and Matt was losing more and more hope as the call went on. He was going to have to go to English.
"Okay. I'll send him right down then." The anger in Tim's voice was apparent, and he nearly slammed the phone down. "Rude," was all he had to say. "So, am I staying, or…?" Matt asked, though he already knew the answer. "You've got to go down there. Studying for your final, he said. Very important, he said." Tim mocked, and Matt's face dropped. "I can't go to that class, Tim, Alfred is in that class." He said softly, and gripped Tim's hand harder than he thought he could. "Hey, it's going to be okay. Sit on a different side of the room, text me the entire time, and don't even look at him. Act like he isn't there. I'll walk with you to the class, even. I need to have a word with Mr. Anderson."
And before Matt could even protest, Tim had whisked him up and out of the room, and they headed towards the English wing.