Losing Grip

Chapter 22➷ I Always Considered Inigo the Main Character

The sun hadn't completely risen yet and the hesitant rays swept over the sidewalk as I headed to the park. The entire way, my heart swelled with the excitement of catching a glimpse of Matthew's life that he didn't readily reveal.

When my exhausted legs finally made it to the park, Matthew and a little boy were already there, waiting for me at the entrance of the park. He waved when he noticed me and the mini version of him, who seemed to be around ten years old, hesitantly stared at me.

"Thanks for coming," he said to me when I reached them, then he turned to mini-Matthew and knelt to ruffle his hair. "I'll be back later. You just have to watch over my friend, Ava, for a few hours. She's lonely, you see, and she begged me to let her hang out with you."

The boy scoffed and shook his head, clearly not buying it. He had Matthew's dark hair and his freckles, but as they both turned and smiled at me, only his was genuine.

Matthew looked beyond exhausted and his eyes didn't conceal it well.

"This is Marveen," he said, standing up straight, "though he'd much rather go by Inigo after the school's spring play. Want to act out your catchphrase for Ava?"

Color highlighted Marveen's round chubby cheeks and he looked down. "No," he mumbled.

His brother laughed, throwing his head back though he looked anything but relaxed. "I thought you wanted to impress the girl."

I came to Marveen's rescue when I noticed his ears tinge red. "Do you have somewhere to be, Matthew?"

"Oh, right," he said, suddenly serious again. "I'll leave you two to it, then." He waved as he walked to the green car.

Marveen looked up to make sure his brother was gone and breathed out a sigh of relief.

"He hasn't dropped it since the play last month. It's nice to meet you, Ava," he said and politely extended his hand to me.

I bent down and shook his hand, an uncontrollable smile spreading on my lips. "Nice to meet you too, Marveen."

We walked together and he sat by me at the rusty picnic table under the shade of an oak tree. The park was much more crowded than usual. Children and teens ran across the large field, playing all sorts of pick-up games.

"Did Matthew force you to do the play?" I asked.

"No." He looked down again. "He wasn't even supposed to know about it, but Uncle Ben couldn't keep a secret." He shook his head in disappointment. "But anyway, I got myself into that mess all by myself this time."

"How?"

He looked up at me with narrowed eyes, as if to make sure that he could trust me with the information. "There's this girl," he started and I bit my lip to hide a grin so I wouldn't scare him away. "She got the role of the princess, so I auditioned as well because I— because she's, uh, she's kind of cool. I wanted to play Westley, but I got stuck as Inigo."

I could no longer hide my smile. The exasperation on his face was simply adorable

"They said I didn't look cool enough to be Westley," he added with a small huff.

"I'll let you in on a secret," I told him, and he leaned in across the table to hear it. "I always considered Inigo the main character. He was much cooler than Westley."

"Really?" His gray eyes scintillated, pleased by the news.

"Absolutely. I'm sure Buttercup would have fallen in love with Inigo if he was nearly as smart and handsome as you."

He giggled and revealed a small chip in one of his front teeth. When he noticed that I was looking at him, he brushed his hair over his eyes, as to hide them completely.