star | matt champion

three

Kelsey's POV:
after being late four days in a row, i was determined to not be late today. i woke up half an hour earlier than usual and got dressed for school, had breakfast and even had time to catch up on The 100.

i arrived to school 25 minutes early, the earliest i've ever been in fact. i messaged jack asking where he was, hoping he'd be here early too so that i'm not alone. with my luck, he wasn't. he told me he'd be there in 10 minutes. i looked around, seeing if i could sit anywhere while i waited for him.

i saw matt sitting by himself and decided to walk over to him to thank him for yesterday. as i walked towards him, i could tell that he noticed me from the corner of his eye. he was trying to avoid communication. it was obvious, but it wasn't going to stop me from thanking him.

"hey matt" i smiled. he looked up at me and looked back down at his phone. "i just wanted to say thanks for helping me out yesterday in detention" i continued.

"just cause i helped you once doesn't mean that we're friends. leave me alone" he said, rolling his eyes.

"i'm just trying to be nice" i said, crossing my arms.

"and i couldn't care le-" matt was saying as he got cut off.

"who's this matt?" i heard someone say. i looked towards my right and saw a group of guys walk towards us. "i'm Ian" one of the guys said. "this is dom, merlyn, ciarán, joba and romil" he continued, pointing towards each one as he said their name.

"i'm Kelsey. i'm thanking matt for him helping me with math homework yesterday in detention" i said.

"woah matt helped you? he doesn't even help me out" romil laughed.

"i was forced to" matt said. "now piss off kelsey" he continued.

"jerk" i said as i waved goodbye to the boys and walked off.

i decided to call jack to see where he was. "jack where are you?".

"plans changed. i'm not coming today, i'm really sick i'm about to die" he said, sneezing and coughing in between each word.

"yeah i can tell, well i hope you get better soon. i'll miss you" i said. "i'll miss you too kels" he replied.

a day without my only friend. not the best feeling. thinking about being alone all day sucked, but i'll get through it.

———

it was lunch and i had no one to sit with. i lined up to get food which usually takes about ten minutes, but today it went by so quick. i looked around the cafeteria, looking for spare seats. thankfully, there was one table left and i decided to sit there. i didn't feel like eating. the cafeteria food is disgusting, i only got it to spare time but it barely worked.

i played around with my food until i saw a group of guys approach me from the corner of my eye. it was the same guys from this morning. "hey kelsey! can we sit here?" Dom asked. i nodded my head and moved over so we could all fit.

"don't worry matt's coming, he's just getting water" merlyn said. perfect. the guy who clearly doesn't like me is going to sit with me.

i looked up and saw matt. he looked shocked, confused and angry. he walked over to our table and whispered into Joba's ear, probably asking if they can move away from me. Joba grabbed matt's arm and pulled him down so he could sit with us. matt began to stare at me, making me feel uncomfortable. i needed to break the awkwardness.

"so um, i'm not trying to sound rude but why are you guys sitting with me?" i asked.

"yeah, why are we?" matt said, raising his voice on the why.

"you were alone and we wanted to keep you company" Ciarán said.

"great" matt sighed, rolling his eyes. he stood up and left the cafeteria, with Joba and Dom rushing after him.

"don't worry about matt. he's just very... introverted. he doesn't do well with new people but he'll eventually open up" Ian said.

"yeah. if he didn't want to be friends he wouldn't have helped you with your homework, even if he was told to" Ciarán added.

"thanks but i don't think matt and i could ever be friends or ever get along" i said, still playing around with my food.

"well we all think you'll be good for matt. like, bring out something good in him. i know that sounds odd since we all just met, but everyone at school tries sucking up to matt and you don't. you tell him how it is" Romil said.

"there's just something about you, i don't know how to explain it" Merlyn smiled.

"oh also, we're having a party this saturday at my house. you can come if you want and you can invite whoever you'd like" ian said, handing me his address on a piece of paper.

"i'll think about it" i said, standing up to throw away my food. "thanks guys, i'm gonna go. i'll see you around" i said as i walked off.