A knock on the door woke Matt.
He had dozed off after Mello had brought him back to room thirteen, then gone back to his homework and books.
Matt opened one eye as a blur of black moved past him. Mello stepped over Matt's PlayStation and walked with a scowl toward the door. Matt's vision slowly blurred into focus and he swiveled his eye around to look at the door as Mello opened it. A familiar black-haired teen stood in the door way holding a brightly wrapped box.
"Song?" Mello whispered, unaware that Matt was already awake. Song smiled and offered the gift to Mello and said quietly "Happy Birthday Mello."
"Song, we have this discussion every year!" Mello hissed and he sounded annoyed to Matt, who strained his ears to hear. Song's top lip turned up in a pout and her bottom one trembled, but it did nothing to change Mello's scowl "Return it. I don't want it."
Song looked at the floor "But I made it for you. It's homemade chocolate!"
"Shh, Matt's asleep." Mello hissed and Matt quickly shut his eyes as Mello began to turn his head to look at the red-head. Matt tried to hear what Song said next but it was to soft. The next sound was perfectly audible however. It was the slamming of the door.
Matt heard Mello curse loudly and tried not to smirk. So little miss Song just got rejected. BIG TIME!
"I know your awake Matt."
"No you don't." Matt muttered with a smile.
"I know you've been avoiding me all week."
"...No you don't."
"Matt."
Matt opened his eyes "Yeeeees?"
"Why have you been acting so strangely?"
"Mello do you care about me?" Matt asked bluntly, ignoring Mello's question.
Mello blinked "What?
"Do you care about me?"
Mello furrowed his brow. "Why are you asking?"
"I ask you all the time."
Mello narrowed his eyes. "You're... serious this time."
Matt looked down at his hands. "Song..."
"What did she do?" Mello demanded, not letting Matt finished. He scowled so darkly, Matt couldn't help but feel a bit smug.
Mello loves me and me alone. Sure, whatever Song.
Was it possible Song had been lying about Mello? She seemed just a tiny bit- OVERLY obsessed with Mello, so it wouldn't be much of a surprise...
"It's nothing. It doesn't matter anymore." Matt hugged Mello tightly.
"Um." Mello said, leaning away from the hug. Matt grinned "So do you care about me Meeeeeeeello?"
"No."
Matt smiled from ear to ear. "I care about you!"
Mello was silent as Matt squeezed the life out of him. Slowly, VERY slowly, Mello reached over a patted Matt's head. Matt smiled and purred. "I'm like a cat!"
"Whatever, Matt." Mello rolled his eyes.
"Soooooooo today's your birthday?" Matt sang.
Mello narrowed his eyes again. "Yes, and no, you're not allow to get me anything."
"I will anyway." Matt grabbed his crutches and released Mello. Mello sighed while Matt balanced on the crutches, feeling lighter than air. He sped crutched out of the room and made his way toward the kitchen. He took the time to trip Lily's roommate when he saw her running down the hall with more art supplies.
Matt felt kind of lame taking Song's idea but the cooks happily gave him coco powder and everything else to make chocolate.
Matt hummed as he limped around the kitchen wearing his flowery apron. May, one of the cook's daughters that was visiting, chipped in and soon the chocolate was in the freezer, hardening.
Next was, of course, the cake.
"What kind?" May asked, wiping a bead of sweat away from her forehead. Matt grinned "Chocolate."
"Is this a chocoholic or something?" May asked as she began to make the frosting while Matt worked on the dough. Matt laughed and threw some floured onto a wooden bored. Chocoholic was a very good description of Mello.
Matt threw some chocolate chips into the darkening liquid that was in the mixer. May put the frosting in the fridge to chill and helped Matt carefully pour the cake batter into a cake pan. They talked and joked while they waited for the cake to bake. The brown cake soon was fluffy and baked.
"So who is the cake for?" May finally asked as she and Matt put the cake out to cool.
"My roommate." Matt smiled, sliding the last inch of cake onto the cooling rack while balancing on one crutch. May stepped back to admire the cake "Well, he sure is one lucky guy."
"I'm just as lucky." Matt muttered, looking dramatically off into the distance. May punched his shoulder and Matt laughed.
They frosted the cake carefully once it had cooled and Matt wrote in white chocolate icing: Happy Birthday!
"Classic." May grinned and brought the chocolate out of the freezer. They beat the racks til the chocolate popped out and they then broke it into pieces. Matt filled a bag with chocolate. He and May took turns dipping the rest in the leftover icing.
"Delicious." May muttered, licking her brown fingers. Matt nodded in agreement and slowly and carefully him and May loaded the chocolate and cake onto a small cart.
"Good luck."
"Thanks for your help May!" Matt called as he pushed out the swinging door.
May waved to Matt from the kitchen as he half pushed half hit the cart toward room thirteen. He waved over his shoulder and smiled.
…
Mello just stared at the cake while Matt grinned broadly.
Then, so quick Matt almost missed it, Mello scooped up a finger full of icing and licked it. Matt laughed as Mello licked his finger clean.
"HIYA!" Matt cut the cake into six pieces. He gave the biggest piece to Mello and took the next biggest for himself. He plopped down on his bed and licked most of the frosting off his cake. He glanced up at Mello to see that Mello's face was almost in the cake as he shoveled it down. Matt chuckled quietly and began to devour his piece as well.
"Yum." Matt licked his plate and fork clean. Mello was eying the cake and Matt smirked "Want another-"
Mello was already fork lifting another piece of cake onto his plate.
"Like it?"
"Nooooo." Mello rolled his eyes before he dived into his cake.
"No need to be sarcastic." Matt chuckled before he threw the bag of chocolate onto Mello's bed "Save some room for that."
"What is it?" Mello paused in his gobbling of cake and looked at the bag.
"Home made chocolate. Song gave me the idea."
"Speaking of Song-"
"No I will not tell you want she said."
Mello scowled at him but Matt just grinned back, then without warning he began to sing happy birthday. Mello glared daggers at him as he sang but Matt just laughed his way through the song.
"Your an annoying little ten year old." Mello muttered.
"Eat your cake."
…
"!" Matt ughed, as he smacked himself with a math book "NUMBERS ARE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVIL!"
"Hmm." Mello replied.
January had come and gone and February had passed like a second. March taunted the students with it's warm weather and finally April was here.
Exams were coming.
Not much had changed. Mello was still his same old stubborn self and Matt was still childish and fun. The only thing that had changed was Lily. She had been acting weird ever since the fourteenth of February.
Matt smacked himself in the head with the book again. Like if he beat himself with the book enough the numbers within would stick to his brain. He had recovered from Mich's beating completely and so had Mich. Him and his gang now glared at Matt every time they saw him in the hall, and they cracked their knuckles threateningly whenever they saw Matt alone.
Studying was killing Matt.
Literally.
He hadn't eaten for twenty-four hours and hadn't slept in days. Exams were hard on Mello too and Matt barely saw the blonde anymore. Matt knew Mello's goal was to best Near so he stayed out of the way when he could, and helped if asked.
"Please stop." Mello muttered as Matt smacked the book against his head again. "It's annoying."
Matt buzzed out a breath and hung off the side of his bed, upside down.
"If I study anymore I think I'll explode!" Matt groaned as the blood rushed to his head. Mello snorted. "I'm sure you'll survive."
"Foooooooooooooooooooood." Matt wined as his stomach yowled. Mello shut his eyes and rubbed his temples. So much for staying out of his way.
"Why don't you just go eat?" Mello asked, looking over at Matt with his fingers on the bridge of his nose. Matt puffed out a breath and rolled over "Because I need to study!"
"Then shut up and study."
"Fine, sassafras!" Matt pulled a social studies toward him and stared at the page. He gave up at once when he read the same sentence four times without taking in a word.
"I'm going to get food. Want anything Mels?"
"Call me that again and your dead. And no, I don't"
Matt chuckled as he left the room and walked straight into Lily who let out a yelp and blushed scarlet.
"M-matt!" She stuttered, looking down at the floor.
"Sorry Lils." Matt smiled, stepping around her "I was just going to get lunch. Want to join me?"
"S-sure." Lily blushed even redder and followed Matt as he led her toward the dining room.
"Are you okay? Your face is all red?" Matt laid a hand on her forehead "Do you have a fever or something? Your face is kinda warm."
"I'm fine!" Lily insisted, pushing his hand away. Matt shrugged and stepped into the dining hall. The room still had some late eaters in it. Like Matt and Mello most were studying for the upcoming exams. Matt sat down and dove into his pork chop without delay. He squirted ketchup on his mash potatoes and forked some into his mouth.
He sucked his glass of water dry and threw some green beans into his already full mouth.
"Hungry?" Lily asked, watching him with wide eyes.
"Starving." Matt muttered through a mouthful of a food. It sounded more like: Shhhhmminh.
Lily cut her pork chop while Matt bite chucks off of his. His mash potatoes disappeared within seconds and so did his green beans. He splattered his chop with ketchup before he gulped it down.
"So, how is your exams studying going?" Matt asked, wiping his face with a napkin and leaning back in his chair. Lily shrugged. "My roommate keeps blasting music. I can't concentrate."
"Why don't you study in the library?"
Lily shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Because Mello's there most of the time. And Near."
"You don't like Near?" Matt asked, trying to fish out a piece of meat had become stuck in his teeth with his tongue.
"I have nothing against him, but I find him a little creepy."
Matt laughed "Yeah, he's creepy alright. I just hate how he sounds so superior even if he doesn't mean to."
Lily nodded and munched on her potatoes. Matt rocked back in his chair til only his back legs touched the ground. His stomach was starting to hurt from his speed eating.
Great, just what he need.
"Well, I'm heading back." Matt said, making a face "I don't think studying is good for the health."
"Maybe you should take a break. Stay here a bit longer."
"Nah, I really should do social studies." Matt argued half hearty.
"Then maybe you should go." Lily joked, hearing the please-argue-so-I-have-an-excuse-to-stay in Matt's voice.
Matt sighed and stood. Lily grinned and waved goodbye. Matt jogged down the hall toward the library. He needed a book on the civil war to complete his social studies.
When he entered his first thought was that no one was there. Then he saw a flash of white and Near passed between bookcases. Matt advanced with caution, he glared down at his shoes as they began to squeak.
Perfect.
Matt sighed and went toward the book searching computer. He typed in "Civil War." and he got ten pages of choices. He choose the third book on the list which was: Civil war- The life of a soldier.
It was in the back of of the library like most nonfiction books. Matt kept a look out for Near as he walked, his head bobbing from side to side. He reached the back bookcases without a problem. Then came the task of finding the book.
"Come on!" Matt groaned when he spotted it. It was six shelves up, Matt couldn't reach it. He jumped a couple of times in vain hope but all that did was shake the bookcase. As much as he need the book, it wasn't worth a crushed everything.
"Well this is just peachy." Matt grumbled, glaring up at the book like if he starred at it enough, it would surrender and fall.
"I'd say it's more pathetic than peachy."
Matt turned to face Mellow who was smirking and leaning against the bookcase behind Matt. Matt scowled. "Are you going to just sit there or are you going to help me?"
Mello's smirked broadened and he stepped toward Matt. Reaching up, he plucked the book easily from it's shelf and handed it to Matt.
"Thanks."
"Your short."
"Thanks."
Mello turned and disappeared through the waves of books and Matt trotted back toward the entrance. He scanned the book then left. He glanced back to see that both Near and Mello were hard at work at different tables.
Mello was zipping back and forth between books while Near sat there, his eyes piratically the only thing moving.
…
Matt threw the book onto his bed before he collapsed on top of it. Still only two more days until exams. Matt was confident in Computer, Math, and English. Science and Social Studies were a bit shaky, but still passable.
Matt opened the Civil War book, it's old pages crackled as he turned to the first page. The first page introduced the Civil War with a classical start. Matt lay with his head resting on his cheek and mouth crooked. The next page told of historical generals. Next was the different sides. Then uniforms and weapons after that. It was a fairly short book but Matt was yawning half way through.
He was just reading about gun powder when Mello kicked up the door, his hands to busy with books. Matt glanced up and Mello answered his unspoken question. "Tired of Near."
Matt smirked. "How are your studies going?"
"All right for now." Mello muttered, depositing the books on his bed and grabbing a chocolate bar. "But I'm going to pull an all-nighter tonight."
Matt nodded and they wordlessly returned to their studies. Matt reviewed his notes once he had finished the book and Mello researched chemistry and history.
Matt ended up staying up with Mello. Even when his eyes hurt from lack of sleep he pushed on. Mello showed no sigh of exhaustion as he concentrate on his papers. Matt finished social studied around one and glanced warily at his pile of science papers. He had tomorrow...
"Going to bed?" Mello asked without looking up as Matt moved his papers from his bed. Matt yawned and nodded. "Yeah."
Matt didn't have the energy to change so he just lay on his pillows, eyes close.
"Goodnight Mello."
"You only have one more day."
"I can-"
But a light snore interrupted him as he fell into the rainbow lined world of sleep.
…
"Hey Mello does this look natural to you?" Matt asked, staring at his swallow thumb. Mello glanced over at him as Mr. Alset took attendants.
Exam day had arrived.
Matt thought he had passed science but that was his weakest subject...
"It's from writing." Mello muttered, turning to look forward again. He toyed with a pencil between his fingers and Matt grinned "You'll be fine Mels!"
"Don't call me that, and I've done this before."
"You look nervous."
"I'm not nervous."
"All right class, shut up." Mr. Alset called causing everyone but Mello to laugh. He brought five large test booklets out from his desk draw. Matt eyed the test as Mr. Alset set one done in front of him.
'Matt' was printed on the cover and it had the date and class next to it. He picked up his pencil and gulped down a nervous laugh.
"Breathe, I did science, I can do this." Matt told himself and looked at his watch.
"Begin!"
There was a rustle of paper as everyone opened their booklets.
…
"WHOO! WERE DONE!" Matt cried, punching the air and hugging Lily tightly. She laughed, face red and hugged him back "I know! I can't believe it!"
"Ah, a month of doing nothing!" Matt sighed in satisfaction. Lily smiled "The test results should be released in about two weeks."
"I wonder how I did." Matt grinned as he jumped into the chair next to Lily at the dining table. Classes had gone on til eight because of the exams and Matt was starving.
He wolfed down some pizza while he chatted with Lily happily. Lily was worried about math but other than that she thought she had passed.
"I heard that Near and Mello have exams till almost midnight!" Lily exclaimed, catching Matt's attention. He looked up from his pizza "Are those two the only ones that take extra classes or something?"
"Yeah, they are competing to succeed L." Lily muttered before talking a long drink of cola. Matt was able to ask who L was when he received a smart whack to the back of the head. He whirled around so fast he almost fell out of his seat. Mich was standing behind him, hand extended.
"Da crap Mich?" Matt asked, glaring at the large boy while rubbing the back of his head.
"A taste of what you'll get in about two weeks." Mich smirked and his boys chuckled behind him. Matt scowled. "Care to explain?"
"You'll see, just wait till the exam results are posted." Mich chuckled and led his gang away. Matt watched as Mich shoved a boy from his seat and sat down, laughing.
"What is he talking about?" Matt asked turning back toward Lily. He was stunned to see she was as pale as a ghost. Her pizza dropped back into her plate and she stared at him in horror.
"What?" Matt asked, fear creeping up his spine.
"M-mello isn't-" Lily gulped "What I mean is- Well you see... Mello isn't very... happy when result are posted. Um... you may want to sleep somewhere else the night they are posted..."
Matt stared down at the crust of his eaten pizza "I see."
"It's worse then your probably imaging." Lily shuddered and stood "I-i'm going to bed. Just be careful Matt."
"Night." Matt muttered as she hugged him tightly before she ghosted out of the hall. Matt looked down at Mich who was currently ripping a piece of pizza in half while his gang laughed. When Percy looked over at him Matt had an odd feeling he was the pizza and Mello was Mich.