star | matt champion

two

Kelsey's POV:
i felt my phone begin to vibrate in my hand as i headed towards the library. it was a call from Jack. contemplating whether i'd have enough time to talk before i entered the library, i still decided to accept the call, walking slowly so i'd have time.

"come and get frozen yogurt with me kels!" jack said with excitement in his voice.

"i can't, i have detention for being late four times this week" i replied. i felt bad for not going, i usually always go through with jack's plans and i really wanted frozen yogurt now that he mentioned it. "do you want to go tomorrow?" i asked.

"sure, you better not be late again and cancel on froyo plans" he laughed.

"i would never" i giggled. "i have to go now, going to be the worst hour of my life. pray for me jack, i'll need it" i sighed.

"you'll get through it. good luck!" jack said, hanging up on the call.

i put my phone in the pocket of my jacket and entered the library, being welcomed by the librarian. "here for detention?" she asked. i nodded my head. "sign next to your name and take a seat. i'll be checking on you every 20 minutes to see if you're working" she said and walked off to place returned books back on the shelf.

as i walked further into the library to sit where the detention area was held, i realised it was only me and one other person. that person being matt champion.

i've known matt since primary school. he lives directly across from my house but we've never talked. in primary school, he used to get bullied. all of the "cool kids" hated him. it made him isolate himself from everyone except for his very close friends.

once high school came around and everyone started going through puberty, matt became the hottest guy at school and everyone wanted to be friends with him. the cool kids from primary were now begging to be his friend. matt was the cool kid now. although, from the past bullying, he continued to keep to himself. he only talked to his close friends and never let anyone new in.

i took a seat behind him and grabbed my math book and calculator out of my bag. i started working on equations but knew nothing. i took a peek at what matt was working on, and surprisingly it was also math. he seemed to know what he was doing and the only way i'd understand the work in front of me was if i asked him. it was risky. i didn't know whether he'd be kind and help or kill me for asking.

after ten minutes of going back and forth about asking matt, i finally built up the confidence. "hey matt, can i ask you something?" i whispered, hoping he'd hear me. he turned around and glared at me. my heart began to race.

"um i was wondering if you could help me, i- i don't understand this" i asked, fiddling with my pen.

"ask someone who cares" his deep voice let out as he turned his back towards me.

"you could've just said no, didn't need to be a dick about it" i mumbled under my breath.

"care to say that any louder?" he stood up from his chair, facing me. i was petrified, i didn't know what was going to happen.

"what's going on?" the librarian asked as she saw matt suddenly stand up.

"nothing" he glanced over at her, then back at me.

"if she wants help with her homework then help her. you both have 40 more minutes left so you might as well help each other out" the librarian said as she crossed both of her arms.

matt sighed, "fine".

———

after 20 minutes of matt unwillingly helping me with math homework, i decided to start up a conversation with him.

"are you okay?" i asked.

he nodded his head. "why wouldn't i be?"

"because in primary school, when those peop-" matt cut me off.

"that was in the past and it stays in the past. don't bring it up again or else" he said, keeping his head faced down at his books.

"i'm sorry" i apologised. i felt horrible for bringing it up. it was now silent. an awkward silence. i needed to change the topic. "so um, why're you in detention?"

"punched a guy. he made fun of this kid in my english class" matt said, writing down his math answers.

i could tell he didn't really want to talk. he looked at his book every time i initiated a conversation and had dull expressions. "i'm here cause i've been late a lot this week" i said without him asking.

"i don't care" he immediately followed.

"it's cool that you stood up for that guy in your class" i said.

"can we just focus on math? i don't want to talk to you" he said, beginning to become infuriated.

i nodded my head, "sure".