Special

Coffee and Homework

"Hey!"

Daniel immediately froze. It was early in the morning and usually none of the people in his class arrived at school before him, giving him that daily routine of standing in the boy's restroom for at least fifteen minutes before going to class. But not today, apparently. He had just crossed the street in front of the school when he heard Matt's familiar voice coming from the gates to the school grounds in front of him. What wasn't familiar though was the shy smile on Matt's lips that Daniel caught a glimpse of out of the corner of his eye. Of course he didn't dare to just look at Matt directly so he just stood there on the brink of the pavement noticing the few stains on Matt's white running shoes.

"Eh... it's Daniel, right?"

Daniel furrowed his brows that were hidden behind his fringe again. "Nerd or loser works, too though", he said and instantly wished he hadn't.

Matt kicked a little stone onto the street and laughed nervously. At least it sounded like that to Daniel, but why would Matt be nervous? Maybe it was insecurity provoked by the unusually nice words that he had greeted him with?

"Uhm, I wanted to ask you if maybe you could help me with my homework?"

"Sure," Daniel said and swallowed hard, the bitter aftertaste of yesterday still lingering in his insides. "Just give it to me. I'll do it during the first period. It's no problem."

Again Matt laughed in away that Daniel found hard to interpret properly.

"Actually... I was wondering if you could help me with it. Like, I don't want you to do it for me. I thought maybe you could explain it to me and then I can try to do it myself?"

"What?" Daniel exclaimed and looked at Matt with big eyes, the unexpected request for a favour made him throw all usual caution out of the window. Now it was Matt who lowered his gaze to the ground and Daniel wasn't sureif there were different emotions hiding underneath Matt's bored and disinterested expression. He didn't know what to answer. Did he really have a choice? Was it a trap? Was it just another scheme they were playing on him? After a moment of biting his lips, anxiously thinking about Matt's possible motivations, he cleared his throat. Maybe Matt had realised that they were only in school for two more years and it was about time to get his grades on track.

"Okay, I guess. When do you want me to explain it?" he asked and, deciding to not test his luck any further, he averted his eyes and looked at the gate just behind Matt. The gate consisted of an array of metal bars shining brightly in the morning sun which bestowed a feeling of prison on to the school. Just two more years.

"If you have the time we could go to a café together after school?" Matt suggested. Again Daniel swallowed hard. He wasn't sure if the excitement that caused his heart to beat faster was of a positive or negative nature. Or maybe both? Hadn't it been just yesterday that he had wished to go back to the simpler times where Matt had been his friend?

"I will have to call my parents and tell them that I'll be home later but I'm sure it won't be a problem for them," Daniel reassured and fished his phone out of the pocket of his jeans.

"Cool," Matt said and without anything else he turned around and walked through the gates towards the school leaving Daniel behind with a puzzled expression on his face.

What had just happened? Daniel rubbed his forehead. He had expected a lot of things but not this. Not only had Matt bothered to remember his name but also he wanted to learn from him?

"Well... okay," he murmured and dialled his mother's number. Just like he had said his parents didn't have any objections, they actually sounded quite happy as in their minds he was probably making friends right now. He sighed and finally entered the school himself, too.