Original chapters 2 and 3 compiled into one chapter. I also have a challenge for you guys, to get your creativity flowing. Details are at the bottom.

Enjoy.

"And when it's the end,
our lives will make sense.
We'll love, we'll bend...
let's play pretend."

- Pretend, LIGHTS.

The halls were too small.

If anyone could develop a random case of claustrophobia, Matt would be that person.

Wide, green eyes scanned the cramped corridors, overlooking each curious face as they took in the newest addition to their student body. Matt could feel the gazes on his back, hear the questions, and it was getting harder to breathe. Curling in on himself, he walked silently with his head down, towards the main office. The only indications that he was going the right way were the directional arrows painted on the floor that were much like the ones stickered onto the off beige, fake cement walls.

"Oh, he's cute!"

"What's his name?"

"Is he taken?"

"I don't know, but I'd fuck him!"

Apparently people weren't shy about their feelings here. Matt wasn't used to the attention.

"Great, just what we need, another fag."

The loosely thrown words spun past him, whirling around his head in a dizzying wave as he locked onto his destination. The office, the place that would dictate his life for the next nine months. Well, everything save for the strained relationship he had outside of this prison. A relationship with a certain blond that he hadn't found in the sea of adolescence.

"Mr. Jeevas?" a woman asked, her voice gentle.

"Yeah?"

"Good morning," she stood, pushing her chair back and extending a polite hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Matt said, staring at her as if she were diseased. The idea of shaking hands with her, or anyone for that matter, discouraged him from any future contact with the student and teacher body of his new educational learning facility.

She blinked, awkwardly looking at her hand. "Ahem, well. My name is Mrs. Myers."

Bad first impression apparently. Great job, Matt.

"I'm Moore High's principal and I expect you to follow each guideline that we've set out to ensure your safety and the safety of those around you." she spoke dryly, as if she had been rehearsing for this moment all morning.

Was she not used to fresh meat? Matt's old school was like a brothel. New faces lined up in front of the office like it was the main course.

As she continued reading from an invisible prompter somewhere behind him, he struggled to hold back a yawn. Looking around the room, he took in the plaques on the walls. Each one signified something that she'd acomplished in her life before making the oh-so wonderful jump to being a high school principal. Apparently she had graduated with a degree in psychology, he saw. That would come in handy one day.

But seriously, he found himself wondering who in their right mind would willingly throw their lives away to watch over five hundred rowdy, stubbornly annoying teenagers? Matt's brief lapse of sanity made him think that this was one of the most ridiculous things he'd ever thought about. Mainly because he was curious about someone else's life for a change and not his own.

"- understood? Also, I lined someone up to help you around until you become used to everything, but it appears that he cancelled. It looks like you're on your own."

Matt nodded, not having any idea what he was supposed to have understood, and slipped his hands into pockets of worn denim. Images of Mello swam through his mind as he pretended to listen to the bland voice of the woman in front of him; the music in his head was much more entertaning. If he weren't aware of his surrounds, he was certain that he could pull of a melbourne shuffle or do a little jumpstyle move. Matt's eyes flickered between this and that in mock curiousity as he tried to find something - anything - to latch onto so that she wouldn't have a reason to question his attention span.

Which was short. Yes, he was aware.

"Now that we've gone over the basics, here is your schedule." she said, once again shoving her hand into his bubble. This time, however, he had to accept the small offering with a nonchalant grin and quick nod. "Your homeroom is two halls down the left, then the first door on the right. I hope you have no problems locating it, and as always, welcome to school, Mail."

"Matt," he coughed.

"Excuse me?"

"Matt. My name is Matt," the young red head stated as he folded his schedule in half and pushed it into a back pocket.

She smiled, stood, and ushered him out of her office without a second thought. "Welcome then, Matt."

If she'd been anymore impolite then he would have considered pointing that out to her, but seeing that this was his first day, he didn't exactly want to return home before he was supposed to with a guilty conscience and an explanation for why he was no longer able to attend Moore High School. Matt was sure that calling her out on how rudely she shoved him out would have him expelled immediately.

The hallways looked weird. They were dead and all visible life could be seen shifting uncomfortably in chairs with bored expressions plastered on their faces. He was the only one in the halls, and it was glorious.

A faint smile crossed his lips as he caught sight of a certain someone seated near the door in the classroom next to his. He looked beyond bored, Matt noted as he stood watching Mello drum his fingers on the abused desk.

"This blows," he mouthed the moment Mello glanced up at the window, blue eyes widening upon spotting the red head standing on the other side of the plexiglas.

"I know." Mello mouthed back, a delicate smile playing on his lips and a blush painting his cheeks as his boyfriend blew him a kiss. Matt really was going to be the death of him.

Not wanting to take any longer than he had, but knowing that he had a valid excuse if questions were asked on his tardiness, Matt turned away from Mello and knocked twice on the wooden barrier in front of him. This was going to either make him or break, he decided as a man with a bright, obnoxiously pink dress shirt on opened the door. Matt thought he would die. The man's cold eyes revealed the shock that he tried to hide as he realized that he'd unfortunately gained another student.

"Your name?" he spoke hurriedly, motioning for Matt to enter and take a seat.

"Matt," he answered as he unluckily sat down in the first seat of the first row. It was abandoned by everyone else because they crowded the back corner of the room. He would be the first one out of the room, so joke's on them.

"Your schedule," he demanded, greedily fingering the air.

Arching a brow, Matt lifted himself up slightly, pulled the paper from his pocket and handed it to them man. Green eyes watching intently as the faculty member unfolded the intricate folded design Matt made on his journey to this class.

"Why does this say your name is Mail?" the man asked. A few scattered chuckles rang out.

"It's pronounced Mile," he retorted.

"Are you back talking me, Mail?"

"I'm correcting your mistake," Matt stated.

Huffing in disbelief, his teacher - whom he'd later come to know as Mr. Davis - stalked off to plop down into the swivel chair behind his desk. He cleared his throat before reciting rules and old regulations that had been around since the fifteenth century. Or, at least that's how old Matt thought this guy was.

This was truly worse than his old school. At least there he could pass out in homeroom and then proceed to go about the rest of his day mindlessly. Only, the difference this go around would be the lack of sibling to taunting him.

An annoying ringing jarred Matt from his train of thought, and he quickly noticed the trail of drool that had begun to slide out of the right side of his mouth. Afraid to move, he watched as the rest of the kids in his class filed out of the room in a messy single fashion order. They spoke of things he had no idea about, how they were stoked to not get stuck with Mr. Davis, or a curious comment about him being the new guy. He could've sworn that one girl even eye raped him as she made her exit.

Curiously he glanced down at his schedule sheet and sighed in relief when he saw that this was the last time he would see this man or his class. Well, until the middle of the year when midterm exams were to begin.

"Matt!" a voice called, its owner waving an arm in the air at the sight of the red head.

"Hey," he grinned, leaning closer to Mello as he stood beside him. "What's up?"

"How's your first day?" Mello asked, his eyes fluttering over his own time table.

"Same old," Matt answered, shoving the paper back into his pocket, his fingers itching to lace through the blonds' own, but instead finding solace in picking at a loose strand of fabric on the strap of his courier bag.

"What class do you have next?"

They slowly picked up speed as they began to mingle with the sea of teenage bodies.

"Uh... English lit," his voice fell when the blond groaned, obviously displeased.

"What teacher?"

"Berkley."

"Ms. Berkley?" Mello looked over.

"I guess?" Matt swallowed hard. Was this something he should worry about? Hell, he didn't even know who this woman was.

"Okay. I have geometry, so I'll see you later."

"Wa- What?" Matt asked incredulously.

"I have class in another wing, so I'll catch you at lunch," Mello said.

"Okay, Mel."

"Later."

Lost, confused, and unsure of what just happened, Matt stood and watched the teen clad in all black waltz down the hall like he owned it, turn the corner and disappear for the next two hours of his life. They were too long, he would later argue.

The odd way in which Mello left him wasn't the only thing he had to worry about. He had something else to fret over that completely out weighed the weird departure of his partner. Where in the hell was the English wing and who was Ms. Berkley? More importantly, why did Mello panic when he found out that Matt had this woman for a teacher?

"Good morning," the twenty something year old sang happily as Matt entered the room, late again, "you must be Mail!"

Tilting his head, he blinked at the perfect pronunciation of his name; surprised and pleased.

So this was Ms. Berkley? This woman, dressed in a slim, black dress with red maryjanes? She was definitely a looker, that Matt couldn't deny. He could understand now why his blond had become wary about him having her. It wasn't like he was going to try to get in this woman's pants or something - on the contrary, the only pants he wanted in belonged to Mello.

"It's Matt," he quietly corrected, shifting his weight between feet.

"Okay," she chimed, "I'm Ms. Berkley."

She sure was a ray of sunshine. Matt mentally stuck his his tongue out at her when she motioned to the desk in front of hers, smiling cheerfully as she did so.

"I'm not going to read over the rules and I'm not going to begin asking what you guys did over the summer," she said, pacing back and forth, twiddling her thumbs behind her, "instead we are going to jump directly into the course and start with what I deem the worst thing to verbally read, The Canterbury Tales."

"Ah, shit!" a boy groaned - "Why?" - a squeaky girl asked - "C'mon, that's not cool!" - another boy exclaimed.

Ms. Berkley shook her head, clearly amused. Slowly she began to read out her own version of the book, butchered English accent and all, as his eyes tried to follow along. Those behind him snickering as she fled over words that had missing letters. It was quite interesting, he admitted, but not as interesting as the inside of his eyelids. Matt slumped forward onto his desk and face-planted into the open book for the remainder of the hour and a half long class.

The next class was extremely unneeded. Why did he have to take a health class again? He had finished both years of the expected physical education courses, which came with health class. He didn't want to sit through this class again, especially when it came time for sex ed.

Matt was very educated in sex.

Needless to say, he zoned out and began to think about his blond lover. This took up the entire class period, and he realized that he hadn't heard anything the teacher said, nor had he gotten the information on the homework he had been instructed to complete for the next class. Who gave out homework for health?

After health was creative writing, a class he picked as an elective and the only one he happened to share with Mello.

"Hey," he muttered, taking the seat beside Mello and placing his bag on the ground.

"Mm," was his given response.

"What's up?" Matt asked, happy to be in a class where he could talk to his boyfriend.

"Nothing," the blond stated coldly, fiddling with the peeling plaster atop the desk he was seated in.

Opening his mouth to speak, Matt could feel the glare directed at him. Was Mello still upset over who his English teacher was? Oh, for the love of God, couldn't he just get over it? It wasn't like he was planning on doing anything to the woman, as he wasn't exactly into those of the female persuasion.

Mello rolled his eyes at the confusion jumping over Matt's features and put all of his focus on tearing a piece of fake wood off of the desk.

Blinking, Matt shrugged and turned around to face the front of the class, eyeing each individual person, wishing he knew why Mello was acting so cold and being so hesitant to talk to him. He hadn't done anything, right? What could he have done in the span of four hours that would make the other upset with him? This was his first day in this school; his first day in a hell hole of a place, and he didn't want to go about it wondering what he'd done wrong when he knew damn well that he hadn't done anything.

"Settle down." a deep voice resonated from the open door. All eyes turned to face it as a scraggly man appeared in the jamb with a closed book in tow.

"Ay, Cates!" several students shouted, welcoming the man back for another year of poems, short stories, and journal entries built on angst, depression, drug addiction bliss, and love.

"Hey guys," Mr. Cates smiled genuinely, dropping his book down on the table in the center of the front of the room before shifting through familiar faces and taking notice of the new.

"For those of you that are in creative writing two, you already know the way things work, so get started on your first project," he pointed at the board behind him, "and for my first years, I'm going to explain how this works."

Matt nodded along with the other first years clumped around him. The pencil on his desk slowly rolling across the baron area between his out stretched arm and his notebook.

"It's pretty simple, you write and you pass. You don't write and you fail. Got it? We start off the period with a short story, poem or whatever I have picked out for that day. Everything you write, no matter how terrible, will go into a journal that I will read every four weeks. Understood?"

"These journals count for half of your grade. Also, once things begin to move along, you will be advised to anonymously submit your work to me for class readings and discussions. The more you participate, the more you will be looked at and respected as a writer and an individual. Is that clear?"

"Now, for the first thing," Mr. Cates turned to face the blackboard, raising his hand to follow along with the words scrawled across, "this is what we're working on now. I will you give the next thirty minutes to complete this assignment, and then we'll share our experiences. I'll go first to break the ice. Good luck!"

The experience was a fond memory over the span of the last three months, or in Matt's case, his transition between homes and schools. This was going to be hard because he just couldn't pin point one particular moment. No, he had many; every moment he spent with Mello was treasured and having to decide which one was best, well, that was just unfathomable in his mind.

"Times up!"

Green eyes shot down to the blank sheet of paper on the table.

"Ah man! I'm not done!" some random kid cried.

"That's okay," Cates spoke mockingly. "I'll start first."

The readings took off, and before he knew it, the lunch bell was ringing and his fellow classmates were rushing out of the room. Luckily, the bell rang before he was to read his memory out loud. This small break would give him time to scribble something down, but he wasn't sure what to write. Matt sighed and grabbed all required tools necessary for working on this small memory.

Standing up and following the crowd, he tried to catch up to Mello as he rounded the corner and darted off towards a line at the opposite end of the café. Matt, unsure of what to do, stood still as hungry teenagers maneuvered around him, his eyes trained on the blond that had become friendly with an auburn haired boy.

What the hell was going on and why wasn't he informed?

Groaning as Mello visibly chuckled at something directed to him, Matt's fingers curled around the wiring of his notebook, clenching it tightly to his side.

Time stopped when Matt realized that Mello wanted nothing to do with him and that he would be spending lunch breaks without him. This wasn't how he dreamt of starting a new school, especially not with his boyfriend on the other side of the room.

Matt shuffled forward, looking around the extremely large space for a place to sit. The desire to sit at an empty table was pointless as he noticed that every single table had someone either sitting at it, eating, talking or sleeping.

He wanted to be alone, not that he was going to do anything other than his class work, but it was how he dealt with rejection. Matt had grown accustomed to spending his lunch periods playing his DS, or whatever hand held device he'd picked up from his floor the morning of. Only today he wasn't going to be alone and he didn't grab anything to play. Everything was still packed up.

"Matt!" a shrill voice called out, causing him to jump.

"Hi?"

Did he know her? Was he supposed to know her? She didn't look familiar.

"Hey," a small giggle erupted from her parted lips. "You don't remember me, do you?"

"Of course he doesn't remember you," another person commented, coming up beside the hyperactive blond girl standing before him.

"Awh! Why not? That's not cool," she whimpered disappointingly. She kept her eyes on him as she bounced on the heels of her feet, her hands playing with the many necklaces adorning her neck. The black contrast of the choker around her throat contrasted well with her pallid skin, he thought as he took a closer look. The girl did seem oddly familiar, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He had seen her before, that much he was sure.

Why couldn't he remember her?

"Because, between sticking his tongue Mello's throat," another female chuckled at the horror stricken expression crossing the blonde girl's face, "and getting pounded into a hotel bed, he wouldn't have time to remember you. Unless you're actually the one that was fucking him."

"I didn't have sex with him!"

"Okay... that's why he doesn't remember you," person number two stated dryly.

"Sayu," the last, brunette girl, smiled half heartedly at him, "and this is Near, he really doesn't talk much, so don't pay attention to him."

Green eyes looked over the shorter male and he nodded. Matt had totally seen them before, but putting a time and place on them was hard for him to do. They knew Mello, which automatically meant that during the summer he'd spent time with them.

"I'm Misa," the blond nearly shouted, oceans of bright blue staring directly into him as he watched her with little interest.

"How do you guys know me?"

Simple and straight forward.

"Mello?" Near coughed.

At the mention of his boyfriend's name, the red head looked to see Mello laughing it up with the same guy from five minutes before. He was awfully close to this person, Matt thought as the blond leaned against him, a daunting smile playing on his lips as azure eyes locked on endless pools of green. A shiver rode up his spine at the simple glance; a glance that held so much more than Matt would have liked to admit. It wasn't a look he was normally given by Mello.

No, it was intense and cold, a secret warning telling him to stay back. Shaking his head to rid thoughts of the auburn haired teenager slinking his arm around Mello's waist, he focused on the people in front of him.

"What about him?" Matt asked.

"We're his friends," Misa proclaimed eagerly. "Duh!"

"So am I," his voice was soft, sullen, and lacking, "but you don't see me over there with him, do you?"

"Yeah, about that..." Sayu cut in, pushing aside the small group and stalking over to a table that housed one heavily sleeping stoner. The smell of weed attacked Matt's noise viciously as he plopped down onto the circular orange seat connect to the table. Oh, how he could forget today existed if he was able to smoke as much as this passed out pot head.

"What about it?" Matt furrowed his brows and sighed, his head supported by the palms of his hands against his chin.

"Uh... well, y'see, it's like this," Sayu started, lightly nibbling on an animal cracker she acquired from Near, who was idly playing with a transformer toy. Starscream, to be exact.

Matt wasn't sure what was weirder. The fact that he knew the transformer's name or the fact that a teenage boy was publically playing with one.

"See that boy over there with Mello?" she asked, raising a hand and pointing at him. Matt slowly nodded, his gaze never faltering as he paid close attention to the two.

"That's my brother," she informed him, "his name is Light, and he's mister popular. I'd stay clear, especially when it comes to your fling with Mello."

Matt blinked in confusion, eyes fluttering between Mello, Light, and the girl he'd become acquainted with. Two questions loomed in the back of his mind.

One, for what reason did he have to keep away from his boyfriend?
Two, how the hell did she know about them?

"See, Matt, the thing is, Light is very possessive when it comes to what he likes and desires." Near stated, having been listening to their conversations. "He'll do anything in order to obtain what he wants."

"Anything," Misa reiterated.

"But, what does that have to do with me?" Matt inquired, turning around to slightly eye Mello and the douche nozzle - who was wrongfully named Light - as they laughed, his eyes not failing to miss the smirk playing on Light's lips.

"Light wants Mello," Sayu said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Mello belongs to Matty, though!" Misa squealed, throwing her two cent in.

"Exactly," the brunette said," and Light knows that. Just like he also knows that Mello's parents are against homosexuality and would flip a bitch if they learned that Mello was dating Matt."

"... they're already suspicious," he whispered, more so to the table, but they still heard.

"Ho shit, that sucks," the Japanese girl pursed her lips, watching over Matt's shoulders as her brother placed a quick kiss to Mello's cheek. What she couldn't understand was that he had been after Mello since they were freshmen, but he was still reluctant to place claim on him.

She also couldn't understand how Mello didn't bother telling Matt any of this.

"That tells me why he's been acting weird. What's his problem with Ms. Berkley though? I told him I had her for English and he looked ready to go postal," Matt explained, unaware of the kiss between his love and his enemy.

"Mello hasn't told you anything, has he?" Near asked, looking up in time to see Matt shake his head. There was more?

The pale teen opened his mouth to speak, but the first bell cried out as an indication that lunch was at its end. All twenty three minutes had flown by, but they had been the most informative twenty minutes of his life. Sighing heavily, Matt grabbed his notebook off the table.

"You'll learn eventually, Matt, that things aren't as you think they are," the quiet one said, his head hanging as he walked off in the opposite direction back towards the history wing of the school.

Sayu shrugged when Mello passed them, his arms tense as he flexed his hands in his pockets, making it seem like he was listening to Light rant about the new boy that he'd declared was a "waste of time".

"See ya," Sayu nodded and followed after Near.

Misa, however, flung her arms around Matt's neck and hugged him closely, knowing that if Mello were to witness her latched onto his boy toy, he'd be more obligated to acknowledge his existence. With a soft smile, she pulled away and muttered a simple, "we meet at the convention a few months ago."

"I remember," he shouted after her as she walked off, her hips swaying teasingly from side to side. If he didn't have it bad for Mello, he decided that he would go after Misa. She wasn't as bad as she appeared, aside from being overly hyper. He figured that the ignorant shell she presented was a guise, a mask to hide something incredibe and shockingly beautiful.

It reminded him of Mello, but his disguise was beautiful, the sudden change in attitude and personality was not. This wasn't the person that he had studied these last few months; wasn't the person he'd fallen asleep next to after nights of vigorous understanding; not the person that had become to mean more to him than anything or anyone else in the world.

Mello even triumphed over his video games, and Matt would die without those.

His first day of his junior year was shaping up to be a bad one, and he almost wished that he hadn't agreed to move with his father. Matt wondered if his mother would take him back if he wanted to go home, because that's what he really wanted to do.

It took everything in him to silently carry himself back to class after lunch. The break in between lunch and the return to class wsa too short, as he soon noticed when the second bell rang out for lunch B to begin.

Why was he stuck with lunch A? First lunch always sucked, but at least that only on even days. On odd days he wasn't sure which lunch he had; he wished it was lunch D and that Mello wouldn't be there. This way he could skip lunch and go directly to his next class, or just evade the rest of the school day altogether.

"Hurry up," Mr. Cates called out as people filed into the room. Matt being the last one.

Sitting down mindlessly beside a certain person he didn't want to see, Matt placed his notebook on the table. With a huff he realized that he hadn't written anything and would be royally screwed if he messed up talking out of his ass on this. It seriously looked like he was going to have to make something up on spot and then hope to remember it later to write down. There would be a few minor words wrong, but he figured that'd be better than telling the teacher he didn't do it. And on the first day. Not good.

Thankfully Mr. Cates called on someone else, which gave him enough time to write something down.

"Very good," the teacher took pride in the details and words used that could have been read straight from a dictionary. "Matt, go."

Coughing softly, he looked around the room at wondering eyes; some pondering over him as a new student and others curious to know what he could have done that would be considered fun and memorable in this deadbeat town.

"Okay, uh..." he nervously said.

"Neon greens, pinks, and blues marked darkened space. Tedious beats sounded from various speakers lining said crowded room. Visible, though only as entering through ajar doors. People moved about, dancing vigorously. Looking left, water coolers sprawled along empty walls, ice in liquid form to quench thirst brought by heated movements," he paused only to catch his breath and look at the tense blond beside him.

"Searching right, a talented DJ spun records for young minds enjoyment. Glow stick fused air clashed harmoniously with the shouts emitting out of happy mouths." Matt closed his eyes, trying to reword his event so that he omitted Mello's name. "Bodies collided forms upon willing force, arms flailing into vacancy before faces. Circles, figure eights, glowing balls captivated curious eyes. Raving really mattered most."

The class was silent. Stunned, most likely.

"Good, Matt," Cates spoke, praising the young man as he tapped his pen on the tan table top, "that was a perfect example of the homework I was going to give, and by default, Matt has been excused for completeing it before it was given. I'll explain later."

"Mello, you're next."

"I didn't do anything," his voice was void of all emotion.

Liar.

"Okay, but I still expect something next class."

Mello nodded. Oh, he had many things he could have read, but they all had Matt in them, and outing their romance in a room full of people that could potentionally tell Light was not a good idea. The blond decided to keep quiet, and because of that, he made Matt's mind go into paranoid overdrive.

"Guys, for next time, I want you to take what you've written today and condense it down, one hundred words and NO repetitions," a smirk was heard in the man's voice. And then the bell rang, dismissing the class until the next even day.

Slipping his notebook into his bag, and the bag over his head, Matt strolled out of the room with hopes that he could lose Mello before he tried to contact him and make up some excuse for his behavoir. He had heard - had seen - enough to understand what was going on, and he didn't need Mello trying to explain anything. Matt would play pretend and outside of school he would be the boyfriend he'd always been. The boyfriend Mello couldn't have in his double standard life.

"Matty!" Misa shouted, running up to him, yellow strands of silk dancing around her face as she wound her arm around his, pulling him with her towards their next class.

Mello eyed them, watching Matt willingly allow Misa to drag him. It hurt, he wasn't going to lie, but he was sure that the damage that had been inflicted on his red head was worse. He'd let Light touch him; let Light tell him what to do. It was with good reason, right? This way his sexuality stayed secret from his parents and he could spend all the time outside of school in the arms of his beloved.

Oh, but he was wrong. It wasn't and would never be that easy. Exchanging one freedom for another always back fires at some point.

"Uh. Where are we going?"

"Class, silly!"

"Oh." Matt paled at the prospect of having to share a class with her. Though, not even forty five minutes ago he entertained the idea of dating her instead.

Algebra two was the last class and he couldn't have been happier. It was one of the easiest classes he would take, as he had taken it the year before and was placed in it this go around by default. Matt's classes went according to year, not by whether or not they had been passed. It was going to be a breeze, he knew, as he was handed the exact book he used at his old school.

Aside from Misa prodding him every five seconds, the class went by without a hitch. It was as easy as he imagined.

The teacher talked forever - in reality it was five minutes - before the closing announcements came on. It never failed that the same things were said every morning and afternoon. Couldn't people change this stuff up? It got boring listening to the same thing.

Matt yawned, waiting to be released. He was finally able to go home and sleep. A nap that would turn onto his favorite afternoon pasttime.

The minute the bell sounded, Matt lazily grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder. The distance between his class and the parking lot was insane, but he walked it with no problem. Getting home was his top priority, and nothing was going to stop him from flopping down on his bed, curling into a ball of blankets and sleeping.

"Eh?" Matt freaked out, jumping as a pair of arms snaked around his waist and pulled him backwards. A pair of lips ghosted over the nape of his neck, warm breath washed over chilled skin.

"It's only me," the familiar voice spoke. "I hope I didn't scare you."

Matt heard the chuckle in his words as Mello rounded him and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. Forgetting his current aggravation, Matt dove in for a second kiss, his lips roughly staking claim on Mello's mouth.

"How are you?" Mello asked, reluctantly pulling away from his boyfriend.

"Been better," the other teen muttered, pulling his bag off as he came to stop at his car and tossing it in the open window. The good thing about being a junior was that he could drive to school and no longer depend on the bus or his father. If that was the case, he'd be better off dropping out.

Leaning against his red camero, emerald captured azure, holding them and silently spilling all of this insecurities he had about Mello's life.

"Matt," the blond spoke, pressing his body against the other until Matt found comfort holding him. "I know you don't like it, but... it has to be this way."

"It doesn't," his embrace tightened. "Just tell him to fuck off, Mel."

Chuckling, Mello brushed his lips across Matt's mouth briefly before leaning onto him, his head against the other's chest. What was he supposed to say? He couldn't tell Matt that this had been going on since before he entered the picture.

"I can't," he whispered, "it isn't that easy, baby."

"Why not?" conviction laced this one simple question.

"... because, it could destory us."

"It's going to destory us regardless, Mello." Matt hated to say it, but it was true.

"Not if we don't let it." Mello looked up at Matt, shifting through the confusion eyes in his eyes. "We can work around this."

"Mel, what if he wants more from you? What will you do when he comes onto you and decides that he wants you?" Matt asked, rattling off. "All of you."

That possibility scared Matt. It was something that could actually happen, however hard it was to fathom.

Breathing in, Matt closed his eyes. "You wouldn't give him what he wants, would you?"

Pausing to think of an answer, the blond shook his head. Mello placed a trail of open kisses along Matt's neck, sucking and nibbling in specific spots that would get the red head worked up and off his current train of thought. Matt lolled his head back to give Mello more access, letting the ravishing excite him more than he should allow.

"I'd never let him do anything to me," Mello whispered against brusing skin. "I love you too much to hurt you like that."

"I love you," Matt moaned loudly in response, running his hands up his partner's side, "but you're already hurting me."

"Huh?"

"Look down," he instructed, blushing and bucking his hips against Mello's own.

"Oh shit," a dark chuckle rose from Mello's throat. "Want me to fix it?"

"I would love for you to, but..." Matt trailed off, shoving Mello away from him before gripping the silver door handle in a death grip and opening it, "I'm just a dirty little secret, Mel."

"Matt, that's not true." he objected, holding onto red metal, his fingers digging into the cool leather of the door interior. "You're not a secret."

Liar. Strike two.

"It's fine," Matt told him, forcing a smile as he put the key in the ignition and nodded towards the blond. "He's coming this way. Later."

Stepping back from the car, Mello took another look at his boyfriend. A crestfallen expression flashed over his delicate features as he backed up, revved the engine and drove out of the student parking lot.

"Mello," a stern voice beckoned. "Who was that?"

"A friend," he responded quietly.

"I don't want to see you with him again."

Nodding and feigning tears as Light slipped his arm around Mello's small waist, the blond thought about how easy it would have been to get in that car and say the hell with everything. But, really, it wasn't as easy as it sounded.

This was going to be harder than he imagined, but Matt meant the world to him. He could do this.

He was Mello.

And Mello could do anything.

Challenge: write a 100 word prompt with NO REPEATING WORDS about something that happened over the summer regarding their time together. the one I like the most will be put in the chapter where Mello reads his prompt, the homework that was given in this chapter. PM them to me or post in a review, whatever works.

also, this challenge was assigned homework for me when I was a junior and Matt's story is the one I wrote back then. yes, I still have my stories/papers from years ago! ha.

yes? no?

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this box freaks me out its huge.

review?