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Chapter 26 – My Best Friend’s Boy Friend

My hands fumbled on the mobile phone Leon gave me and typed a haphazard message.

I want to tell you something. Come back soon. —Sarah            

“Hi, Sarah’s Mom. Is Sarah Home?” Matt said energetically as he stepped inside.

“I take you’re Matt Adams? Sarah’s in the living room,” Mom said with a feeble smile as he led Matt to the living room where I sat plotting his demise.

I pressed send before Matt could settle himself on the couch and eyed on him rather impassively though I could almost feel my hands trembling.

Relax, Sarah. I breathed deeply contemplating about the next hour or two I had to spend so unwillingly with him. It couldn’t be that bad. Or so I thought.

Matt brushed his fingers through his dark wavy locks that had now reached the tip of his brows. He casually shrugged off his jacket, revealing toned russet arms.

“I’ll be at the study if you need anything.” Mom threw me a meaningful look then truged lightly on the stairs, humming to herself.

“So,” Matt begun as he edged his way through the huge stack of books I had troubled myself to haul down the stairs just for the formality of predicament. “Nice place you got here.”

I projected an acerbic imitation of a smile. “Uh, not anymore, it isn’t.”

“Ow.” His hand soared to his chest as though a bullet had just hit him. “I have feelings too, you know.”

“I wouldn’t count on that. Unless I get a concrete evidence like an X-ray confirming that you have a heart. Let’s get this over with, shall we?” I muttered exasperatedly. “So in which part of Biology exactly do you need help?”

Matt shrugged and perched himself comfortably on the arm rest of the single couch where I sat. I pretended to not be affected by his presence though I so much wanted to hurl all the books I could get my hands on at him.

“Let’s see…” I leaned over to pick Ferguson’s Biology for Beginners then fixed my ever so reliable pair of spectacles on the bridge of my nose. “We’re currently about to finish Animal Biology but let’s see what you can actually understand.” I handed him the book and stacked three more on his arms.

He chuckled nonchalantly. “Someone’s a bit over enthusiastic.”

I threw him a belligerent scowl. “Someone should just go home if that certain someone couldn’t help but complain.”

“Okay, okay. I’m not complaining,” he grumbled eyeing ludicrously at the stack of books. “But could we at least thin these up a bit?”

Letting out a smug hump, I started drawing out a centimeter-thick soft bound book from the pile and flung it to him.

“It’s a workbook. You know, a book with questions and you have to answer them.” I spoke a little louder and slower than normal as though I was talking to an imbecile. I smirked hoping it annoyed him at the least.

“Now that, I can handle.” The smile on his face did not even waver as he thumbed through the pages. If he was so awfully thick or deliberately pretending to be impervious to my goading, I could not entirely be sure.

“Now go answer the exercise in the end of chapter seven in a corner or something,” I said facing my own homework with an composed façade. Finals would be coming in less than a couple of weeks and I had to work hard too if I were to keep my straight A streak; well, that exemplifies Geometry and P.E., of course. I was sure I would get a B minus at the most.

Almost unquestionably, I doubted Matt could even answer ten out of fifty correctly. Then I would get to rub it on his face and gloat about how obtuse he turned out to be. My shoulder twitched as my palm shot to my forehead.

Ugh. I cringed as though guilt was curdling in the pit of my stomach. Why would I be guilty at all? Besides, this was Matt Adams who bullied me for the last nine years of my life. He probably deserved it.

I was lost in thought for several minutes with my homework left unfinished when Matt sat back in front of me and handed back the workbook.

“Done,” he said, complacently crossing his arms on his chest.

“That was fast,” I commented skimming through the pages where I found his almost illegible writing.

The mini quiz was mainly about cellular structure, the different animal species and then the symbiotic relationships. I had to check his work twice just to make sure before my lips parted just to close again. My eyes shifted between the pages of the workbook and Matt’s indifferent smile before I could say anything.

“Well? How did I do? Did I pass?” His smile widened. I knew he already read the answer from the look on my face.

I cleared my throat.

“Forty nine out… of f-fifty,” I stuttered in disbelief. He might have cheated. That would be more plausible and realistic. But then, I did not think so.

The tutoring thing was just a big joke then. And all the reports and the homework and the term papers that I spent countless of hours to finish. Those were just a necessity to accomplish his nine year-old elaborate scheme. He was just pretending to be stupid all along.

He groaned as though he was very upset despite the malevolent smile that lingered on his lips. “Now what did I do wrong?”

“Number twenty three.” I read the item again and again. The more times I read it, the more my rage meter went up. My mind went blank. The awful gnawing feeling sunk in as I came to the realization that I was merely one of his playthings.

23. A branch of hard-shelled invertebrate arthropods are called?

He answered Sarah.

“You foul, loathsome—“ I hissed trying to hush out the edge in my voice. I shuffled to my feet and tried to haul him out of the house but I might as well be lifting a boulder.

“Hey, wait. It’s just a joke.” He stood up and caught my arms.

“You jerk! And I am not a crustacean!” My hands trembled and if not for his unyielding grip I so very much wanted to hit him on the face. “You liar!” I gritted between my teeth.

“Well, you certainly are crabby.” He sniggered.

“Ha-ha. Very funny.” I writhed and thrashed from his grip but I could not seem to loosen his hold on me. “Unhand me this second, Matt,” I threatened him with the fiercest glare I could manage.

“Or else what?” He sneered pulling me to him.

My lips twitched feeling the rolling boil of my blood, copiously fueled by sheer hatred for the dark-haired, dark-eyed boy with the blackest intentions. I breathed two lungfuls of air and stared at him in a hostile way.

“This!” I tugged on my right arm with all the effort I could muster but he kept his hold with little resistance. I bent forward until my face touched the inner aspect of his left forearm, opened my mouth and dug my teeth forcefully onto his flesh.

I knew I bit a little too hard and it was evident on the loud yelp of pain from Matt. Soon I could taste blood. I pulled away, gagged, and then spat on the carpeted floor. I could see the stain forming on the carpet but I thought better to bother worrying about Mom later.

“Are you out of your mind?” His face crumpled with pain and incredulity as his palm almost automatically covered the oval gash near his left elbow.

Mom called from the study room upstairs asking if everything was alright. I reassured her before darting outside, spitting the rusty taste from my mouth. It made me nauseous and I had to grope on the steel posts of the front porch to keep my gait steady.

Matt followed virtually staggering as he did and slouched on the steps that led to the lawn.

“You really are crabby… not to mention, violent,” he muttered with a wry smile. If he enjoyed the pain or found my act of self-defense entertaining, it was beyond me.

“You deserved it,” I grumbled parking myself two feet beside him. Guilt crept up once again as I saw the blood that trickled from the gaps of his fingers. Who would’ve thought I could bite so hard? I must have been a vampire in my previous life.

“Probably, yeah. But you needn’t be so… barbaric. Now I probably need to have shots for rabies.” A humorless chuckle left his full lips.

“You called me a crustacean.” I wasn’t angry because of that, really. My argument must have sounded really childish. And admittedly, even I thought it was silly.

I was furious because he was clearly not at all that brainless as I had presumed him to be. He simply found it amusing to terrorize me for almost a decade while I, as frightened as the wimp that I was, worked my butt off day and night to finish his school work. Ugh.

“Yeah, sorry ‘bout that. But frankly speaking, you are a crustacean.” His voice was calm and pensive as he gazed at the dark star-studded sky.

“Don’t get started with me,” I threatened through gritted teeth.

He laughed. It sounded strangely familiar to me. Unlike Leon’s laugh, it was neither melodious nor mysteriously enchanting. Matt’s laugh was gruff, immature and well… rather happy.

I fished a handkerchief from my pocket and unfolded it on my lap. Matt shied away when I leaned closer to him to see that the wound has stopped bleeding.

“I don’t bite twice. Here,” I offered the lilac-colored piece of cloth. “Tie it around.”

His dark brown eyes fixed on the handkerchief for a while then lifted intently to my face.

“What I mean is… you can sometimes be cold-blooded,” he flinched a little when I glowered at him at the mention of those words. “… hard and tough on the outside but soft and fragile on the inside. That’s what you are, Sarah.” A smile trailed on his lips as he leaned on the cold post and gazed up at the midnight blue-violet sky

“Thanks a lot. I feel like food already,” I muttered dryly.

He just replied with that same carefree laughter.

My eyes could not help but look at him as we trailed off in a stretched but pleasant silence. Neither of us had to talk but it felt good nonetheless. It was as though I was getting used to this side of Matt. The part of him that never showed to everyone else. As though I was back to kindergarten and we were five year olds once more; untroubled, full of hope and contented. He was easy and spontaneous; like the Matt who almost ten years ago, used to be my playmate, my first best friend.

“Give me your arm.” I leaned over and yanked his left upper limb with a slight force.

He winced.

“Sorry, let me see it. Please…” I asked benignly this time. He turned and bent a little to lean toward me.

I tied the piece of cloth around his arm ever so gently. All the while I could feel his eyes on me. My fingers trembled infinitesimally. Hopefully, he took no notice of it though we were just a couple of inches from each other.

The smooth hum of engines filled the breezy night but at that moment I was not at all concerned. In the back of my head, a nagging feeling reminded me that the sound was somehow familiar.

Matt cleared his throat and I felt his deep breaths pass through my hair. I lifted my gaze to him, only to find his dark chocolate eyes fixed on something else; somewhere across the street.

I scooted up stiffly, squinted against the dark and found what… no; who he was looking at.

Not very far from us, Leon stood motionless. His eyes lingered vacantly on me then to Matt.

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Thanks for reading this chapter *sighs* I'm starting to think that no one reads this anymore... But I'll keep on writing anyway. Thanks for everyone who has shown their support from the first chapter. Nerdy will soon embark on a great adventure outside her small town... and I hope you'll be there to see it :)