Chapter Text
Matt's point of view
I got home after a long day at school. Seventh grade was way harder than elementary.
“Hey Mail! How was school?” I heard from the kitchen as I kicked off my shoes.
“Could’ve been better,” I muttered.
“Oh, come on, sweetie, it couldn’t have been that bad,” my mom said, strolling into the living room.
“Mhm,” I said, just to show her how wiped I was. “Can I go to the pitch? i haven’t played soccer in forever.”
“Of course! But check this first,” she said, pointing at a small cardboard box on the table. I grabbed and opened it, and saw a bright red box inside.
“Mom… is this what I think it is?!?” I asked, grinning, and she giggled, nodding.
I tore open the box, and my eyes went wide—new kicks! The ones I’d been dreaming about forever. I couldn’t believe it. I went over to my mom, who was leaning against the kitchen door, and hugged her gently.
“Thanks so much… but… why?”
“You’ve been stressing over the new school a lot lately, so I thought I’d do something to get you out of that constant grind,” she said softly, kissing my forehead.
“Mom!” I said, gently pulling away.
“Okay, okay, I know, you’re not a little kid anymore.”
I rolled my eyes and ran to try on my new kicks. They were perfect.
“Like them?” my mom asked, leaning in the doorway again.
“Yeah!! I love them!” I could wait to show them Noel.
“Go on, then,” she said, handing me a water bottle. She must’ve noticed how hyped I was.
When I got to the field about 500 meters from my house, it was pretty empty, which was perfect. I started kicking the ball when I suddenly heard a voice behind me.
“Hey, I think you dropped this.”
I turned and saw a blond guy, a bit taller than me, shoulder-length hair, holding a small key.
“Oh, wow, thanks! My mom would’ve killed me if I lost these,” I said, taking the keys. “By the way, I’m Mail, but you can call me Matt,” I added.
“I’m Mello,” he said.
“First time here? Haven’t seen you around,” I asked shyly, breaking the awkward silence.
“Yeah, I just moved here.”
“Oh cool. Wanna play with me?”
“Sure!” he said, grinning.
We started playing, and I was impressed, he was really good. We went at it for like half an hour when I spotted a familiar figure from afar.
“Hi Matty!”
“Ello Noel, I told you not to call me that,” I said, kinda annoyed. “Meet each other. This is my friend Noel,” I said to Mello. “And this is Mello, he just moved here,” I told Noel, who didn’t look thrilled.
“Hey, nice to meet you,” Mello said, reaching out to the brunette.
“Umm, hello” Noel said, ignoring his hand.
Mello looked surprised, pulled back, and glanced at me.
I froze, not sure what to say. I gave a small smile to both and suggested we play a three way game.
I stood in goal, and the other two started shooting at me. Mello was way better than Noel, which clearly annoyed him. I tried letting a few of Noel’s shots in to chill things out, but it didn’t really help. I figured competition wasn’t the way to make a new friend.
“You know what, I’m starving. Maybe we should head to my place and grab a bite?” I suggested.
“Sure,” Noel muttered.
Mello clearly looked uneasy with Noel around.
The walk was quiet until I broke the tension by telling them about my new kicks.
When we got to my house, I introduced Mello to my mom. She told us to sit in the living room while she whipped up some snacks. I sat between Mello and Noel and grabbed the remote from the table.
I figured watching some funny Minecraft vids would loosen everyone up. After about five minutes, my mom came in with cookies and milk.
“I gotta run to the store real quick, be back in an hour. Don’t trash the place!” she laughed.
“Okay, see ya” I said.
“Bye boys” she smiled and left, shutting the door.
We sat in awkward silence for a while.
“Wanna play truth or dare?” Noel suddenly asked. I was surprised since he had seemed totally uninterested in Mello before.
“Good idea” Mello said. I noticed the mischievous grin on Noel’s face he always gets that when he’s plotting something. I knew it wasn’t gonna end well.
“Alright, I’ll go first. Truth or dare?” Noel said, looking at Mello.
“Umm… truth,” Mello said, surprised he got picked.
“Why are you so weird and why do you look like a girl?” Noel laughed.
“NOEL, WHAT THE HELL?!” I yelled. “GET OUT IF YOU’RE GONNA TALK LIKE THAT!” I hate it when someone tries to humiliate another person.
He rolled his eyes, glared at Mello, and left.
I looked at Mello, who was sitting on the couch, head down, hair covering his eyes. I couldn’t tell exactly how he felt, but I knew it hurt.
“Sorry,” I said softly, sitting next to him. “He’s lying.”
“You’re just saying that so I won’t feel bad,” he said, and I could hear him holding back tears. “Everything he said is true. Everyone says that to me.”
“Don’t say that, it’s not true!”
“Matt, you don’t know me well enough to say that.”
I didn’t know what to say. Then I remembered I had some chocolate my grandma gave me. I went to the kitchen, grabbed it, and came back. I handed it to Mello.
“Wanna some?” He lifted his head, tucked a blond strand behind his ear, and smiled.
“Are you sure I can take it?”
“If it helps, then yeah,” I smiled.
“Thanks!” He grabbed it and started eating immediately. I sat back and played more funny Minecraft clips.
About 30 minutes later, Mello turned to me.
“I should head home, my mom wants me back before 6.”
I looked at the clock, it was 5:30.
“I’ll walk you back.”
“No need,” he said.
“I insist.”
“Okay, just leave a note for your mom so she won’t worry.”
I ran to the kitchen, grabbed paper, and wrote:
Mom, I went to walk Mello home. Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon. Mail
The walk took longer than we thought. When we rang the bell, it was already 10 past 6. A medium height blond woman with an annoyed look opened the door.
“What’s going on?!” she said. “You were supposed to be here 10 minutes ago!”
“Sorry, Mom,” Mello said, lowering his head.
“And who’s this?” she asked me.
“Umm… I’m… I’m…” Wait, what exactly are we to each other?
“Mom, this is Matt, we played soccer together,” Mello said, seeing me hesitate.
“Okay, Matt, I think it’s time for you to head home,” she said.
“Alright,” I said quickly.
“Bye, Matt,” Mello said before I left.
I didn’t even get a chance to respond—his mom shut the door in my face.
“Bye, Mello,” I muttered to myself, turning back home.