Cliché with a player

Chapter 18 - The new guy

A/N: The following part contains some scenes that may be disturbing to some readers. If you do not wish to read it skip the second part of the chapter after the ~~~ sign. Otherwise, enjoy.
PS: The song above is the one Sebastian plays on his guitar.

Living in the house has become a painful job to do. Every time I see Matt, walk past him or have to sit beside him, I am reminded of the hurtful look I put on his face. The worst part is he isn't looking at me with judgement or resentment, but with love. The first time I realised that, after the talk, I ran straight to the bathroom and cried.

At this point everyone noticed something isn't right. Wylan even asked me about it but I ensured him everything is as usual.

I really hate myself. I wish I could take it all back and jump into Matt's embrace, have him hug me and kiss me and love me, but knowing I threw all of that away and can't have it back makes me regret everything I said to him. I wish I could turn back time and tell him I never want to let him go.

Instead I avoid his gaze and try not to draw attention to myself so he would maybe forget I exist. It's not even that hard once we are in school.

The morning after, he insisted on driving me, even though I already talked to Nessa if her brother could pick me up on their way.

Something else, Myles is coming by the house regularly, always with some lame excuse, and then talks to Irina while her brothers are shooting murderous looks at him. And she is totally oblivious to his admiration and thinks he is just being nice.

Dan still didn't ask Nessa out. If Matt and me can't get our happy ending I'm at least going to make sure Dan and Nessa do. I know meddling with that kind of stuff doesn't usually end well, but this time it will, I have a good feeling.

I'm now at school, not paying any attention to English literature which I love and would otherwise listen carefully to, which my teacher notices. She walks over to my table and waves her hand in front of my face.

"Laken, is everything okay? You seem kinda off."

"No, I'm fine." I smile trough my teeth.

"Really? Because the whole class has already left." She gestures towards the empty seats and open doors.

"Oh, sorry."

I take my bag and, before she could say anything else, run out of the classroom. I take a right down the hallway and almost bump into Matt — again. It's like someone pays me to do this. His arm shoots forward and catches me before I would hit the floor. We both stay silent, his hand still holding my waist. I clear my throat and he immediately releases me but still keeps his eyes on me, while Dan, Jack and Myles are looking at us awkwardly.

"Well..." starts Dan and in that moment Nessa sprints around the corner, with a big smile on her lips and her cheeks a bit red.

"Laken! Come with me, right now." You can't say no to her orders so I follow after her. We go outside — I notice there, that the boys have followed us — and spot a guy, sitting under the tree near the basketball court with a guitar in his hands. He is strumming confidently, tapping his foot on the floor and singing alongside the melody his fingers were playing on the instrument. His hair is dirty blond, his eyes the colour of honey, his face features sharp, especially cheekbones and jawline. I've never seen him before, he must be new.

"Isn't he hot?" says Nessa and looks at me. "And that isn't even the half of it. He held the door for me and the other girls, he even carried a bag for one girl after he heard her complain to her friend that it's too heavy. He is such a gentleman, whoever said chivalry is dead was clearly wrong."