Inner Beauty

-Chapter 2-

Matthew's POV:
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"Do I have to go?" I whined.

"Yes Matt, I already told you that, like, 6 times in the last 20 minutes! There is no way you are going to miss this." My father sighed exasperatedly.

"Your father is right Matty. Since we are new to the city, we have to meet people and get to know them and I was told that everyone goes to this New Years Eve party. Oh and you should get ready soon, I heard that it is a black and white themed ball-type dance thing." Mom said as she maneuvered her way through the sea of boxes that covered every inch of our new home.

No. Way. I'd rather bang my head against a wall for 2 hours straight....
"First of all, you know that I hate that stupid nickname, Mom! Second of all, I don't even know where my suit is!" I retorted, while giving her a pretty nasty glare if I do say so myself.

She flashed me a victorious smirk as she held up a zippered dress bag. "I rented you a tux so that you couldn't wiggle your way out of this."

I scowled as I snatched the bag from her and sprinted towards the back door. "I'm gonna shoot around for a few minutes!" I called over my shoulder as I slammed the door shut before my parents could react.

For me ball is life. And I'm not just saying this lightly, as every hash-tagger does. I practice practically 24/7, as my dad and my coaches believe that my talent and hard work are going to get me a full scholarship. I was the team captain, the first sophomore ever, and I was dubbed by the local newspaper, "The best high school point guard in Austin, Texas in 40 years." My teammates and I are really bummed about me moving to Chicago, as we were in the middle of our best season ever.

I shivered as I zipped up my brand new jacket against the frigid gusts of the "Windy City's" winter wind. Grabbing my ball off of the pavement, I sunk a perfect 3 pointer and silently cursed my dad for moving us to this icebox-of-a-town.

Dad got a job offer to be the head coach of the basketball team at the local university, and apparently they got some serious game. Now, don't get me wrong, I am happy for my dad that he got the job, I just wish that it could have been closer to my hometown or at least at a place where winter wasn't expected to be -20 degrees every day. (Okay, so I may be exaggerating a little, but you get the point, it's pretty dang cold!)
Mom was happy because Dad's new salary meant that she could start her own out-of-home pastry business, Un Crepe, or something French like that.

For me, the only thing good about moving and transferring to a different school was that I could finally forget about the girl who...

"Get your butt upstairs and into that shower before I drag you up by your ear lobes!" Mom hollered from the kitchen window, interrupting my thoughts.

I inwardly sighed as I called back, "Whatever, I'm going now!"

I picked up the tux from the driveway and jogged into the post apocalyptic war-zone-like house. I tripped over some boxes and somehow made my way to my bedroom, which thankfully had an adjoining bathroom.

After taking my shower, I changed into my tux and knotted my silver tie around my neck. I slapped on some cologne and and shoved my feet into the boring dress shoes that my mom made me get. Glancing at my appearance in the mirror, I ran a hand through my untamable chestnut curls and rolled my eyes at, well, my piercing blue eyes.

Unfortunately, due to my appearance and jock status, I had girls chasing me wherever I went. I'm not vain, or whatever but it's the truth. I honestly don't care about the popularity and my choice of any girl. I made a pact to myself about six months ago, that I wouldn't fall in love with just any girl and that I wouldn't be broken down again. I was in love once, at least before what I call the incident.

I suppressed the memories that threatened to take over my mind and dug up a duffel bag out of one of the many boxes that were haphazardly thrown around my new room. (Since we hadn't had much time to make the house livable, or at least sleepable, the three of us decided to sleep at the hotel that the New Years party was being held.)
I threw some random articles of clothing and my basketball into my bag and hopped into the car as my dad was turning in the ignition.

This is going to be a long night.
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Hey everybody! So you just met Matthew, what do you think?
Don't forget to vote please!
-Natalie