Kisses after midnight (WICKED #0) | ✓

23

MATEO HAD JUMPED OUT of bed Friday, but when he had put his hand on the windowsill, ready to climb over, the memories of their fight came back. So he pulled his hand back, as if burned, and walked to his bathroom. The shower he took was so cold he had to bite his lip, but it did him good.

Gabriela had been right. He was broken and self-destructing, it was all too obvious from his bruised knuckles and blue skin. She had told him and he had done exactly that, so there was no way he was going to pull her down with him. Not her, never her.

Before he left he quickly sent her mother a text asking if the car was available today, because he couldn't bring her. She replied immediately with a worried message, asking him if he was sick and if so, that she was bringing soup over. It brought a smile to his lips.

The ride to school he went way too fast, but it was the only way to get all those damned thoughts out of his head. It didn't take him long to get there and when he set foot in the halls, Chase practically tackled him.

"Hey man," he grinned," excited for the weekend?"

"Uh-huh," Mateo said, his voice sounding a bit off.

He swallowed and shook his head, flashing a smile more like him then. "You have any plans?"

"Not yet," Chase said as he threw his arm around Mateo's shoulders," but we can make some."

Jay rounded the corner then and Chase froze. Their fight at the party had made the dynamic between them more awkward than ever, but still Mateo didn't hesitate in calling out to his friend.

"Hey," Mateo smiled," get a lot of sleep?"

"What do you think?" Jay yawned, before stiffly nodding at Chase.

Chase watched him hesitantly, like a tiger assessing the danger. He was close to drawing a conclusion when Mateo pulled both of them closer, his arms around their shoulders.

"Come on now," he said," it's behind us, alright? We're all friends here."

"Who would listen to that?" Jay scowled.

"Okay, you're right," Chase said, his troubled eyes clearing up.

Jay looked at him with wide eyes, perplexed, but Chase had already moved on to a new subject. "By the way, do any of you have answers ready for carreer counseling today?"

"Oh shit," Mateo sighed, his hand rubbing his temple," I forgot about that. Do you think Clarkson will mind?"

Their principal was the one who insisted on having a chat with all the seniors about their future carreer choices. He had a personal file for each of them and evaluated the options based on their characters. It was a time-consuming process, which started Monday with the first class and ended Friday, but Mateo had never heard him complain about it.

"With you?" Chase said," certainly not. The man loves you to death." He peeked at Jay then. "What about you, edgy boy? Do you know what you want to do?"

"Go to an Ivy League," Jay said, no emotion in his voice," and study economics and politics."

Chase whistled. "Two studies at the same time? And an Ivy League? Wouldn't expect less from the son of an ambassador."

Jay just shrugged.

The atmosphere in class was busy and a bit stressed as people talked about possible carreer choices. There weren't many teachers who could have made them take this so seriously, but they all either adored or feared the principal, so no one wanted to show up empty-handed. Mateo was glad he wasn't the only one who had forgotten, but his distractions flew away as soon as he saw Gabriela.