When Opposites Attract - Chapter 19

Okay, first of all, in answer to Lina, I know I've made two people fall down the stairs in Definitely Not Average and When Opposites Attract, but that's the way I imagined things. I have other ideas, but if they don't fit, then they don't fit. And this chapter is dedicated to, dun, dun, dun! Phoebe and Ciriat!
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I didn’t know what to expect from school on Monday. I wondered how people would take my and Mateo being together, and then I thought that it probably wouldn’t even make a difference to them, considering the way we were always around eachother. But then again, I could have guessed that Dew-Cross High was just starved for gossip. The only ‘exciting’ thing that had happened lately was the rugby quarterback star breaking his leg. And I didn’t even get a thrill from that.

I had asked Mateo how he thought people would take it at school, as we were walking to the very place.

‘I don’t care,’ he said, while holding my hand and spinning me in circles, earning a few odd looks from passers-by. ‘I love you – that’s the only thing that matters to me.’

His words had warmed me, and we had carried on walking to school.
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I should have known that Dan wouldn’t be happy about me and Mateo. Actually, he expressed his dislike as soon as he had me on his own in Geography.

‘Why were you and That Guy holding hands on the way to school?’ He asked me as we took our regular seats next to each other.

I raised and eyebrow as I took my seat and plopped my bag down on the floor. ‘And who is That Guy?’

Dan scowled - and it did nothing for him, made him look childish and spoilt. ‘You know who I mean.’ And then added, reluctantly. ‘Gianni.’

I rolled my eyes. ‘I take it you mean Mateo.’

He mumbled a short, ‘Whatever,’ under his breath.

‘Well, answering your question,’ I said, deciding it would be mean of me to tease him further. ‘Mateo and I were holding hands because he is now my boyfriend.’

‘WHAT?!’ Dan shouted, and it was a good thing that Mrs. Shelton was getting spare books from a different classroom, because it was a guarantee that Dan would have got a one-way ticket to detention.

I pursed my lips. ’Really. Did you have to shout? Yeah, anyway, we’re going out.’

Many people were starting to peer curiously over at us, and a couple of people near us tried to surreptitiously edge closer in order to get bigger chunks of our conversation. ‘What?!’ Dan spluttered. ‘Since when?!’

I though about that for a moment. ‘Since yesterday.’

His face turned sour. ‘Where did you two go together yesterday?’ To other girls, Dan’s jealousy might be considered appealing, but it was only annoying me. What me and Mateo did in our spare time was private.

I frowned. ‘That’s really none of your business, Dan.’

He huffed and did not speak to me for the rest of the lesson.
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Matt met me outside my Geography class, and he raised an eyebrow at me when Dan stormed angrily past us.

‘What’s wrong with him?’ Matt asked as he took my hand and led us down the stairs, people staring at us with wide eyes as we passed.

I rolled my eyes. ‘Oh you know. He’s just being Dan.’ then I added for his benefit, ‘He doesn’t like the fact that you’re my boyfriend now.’

His eyes darkened, and for a moment, he looked every bit the predator that he was. ‘Want me to go straighten him out?’

I laughed nervously. It may have been just me, but I had a sneaking suspicion that Mateo’s method of ‘straightening someone out’ might not be entirely verbal. ‘Oh, it’s Okay. He’ll come around.’

Mateo harrumphed. I rolled my eyes. I should have known better - Mateo didn’t want Dan to come around.

I cuffed him over the ear, and we sat on a lunch bench. ‘You’re going to have to get used to Dan - whether it be sooner or later.’

He pouted, made me want to kiss him, and said stubbornly, ‘What if I don’t want to get used to him?’

I gazed at him sternly. ‘Then you can forget about there being an us.’ Even as I said the words, I knew I could never bring myself to break things off with Mateo. He already meant too much to me- I couldn’t lose him.

He swooped in to kiss me, and a gaggle of girls sitting near us broke into fits of giggles. ‘Okay, Okay,’ he murmured against my lips. ‘I promise I’ll try to get used to him.’

I grinned, satisfied, and proceeded to kiss him some more. I would never get enough of the taste of his lips, the slight indent in his lower-lip, or the way he would capture my mouth with his.

He pulled away from me after several moments of lip-locking, and I pouted, trying to pull him back to me.

‘Nuh-uh,’ he teased, pressing a finger to his lips. ‘I want to know something first.’

I sighed and gave in. ‘Okay. What is it?’

Mateo hesitated, and his eyes darted from side to side as if he was carefully choosing the right words. ‘Why...’ he started slowly. ‘Why does Dan mean so much to me?’

He didn’t sound bitter, just confused. A very, very adorable type of confused. ‘Well,’ I said, thinking through my answer. I decided to tell the truth. ‘Dan…Dan is human – something normal in my life. Something I can be sure is real. Something I can hold on to.’

He pouted, looking suddenly like a sulky child. ‘You can hold on to me.’

I giggled and crept forward so that I was sitting in his lap, facing him, and I circled my arms around his neck. ‘I know that, Mr. Green-Eyes.’

He smiled, that smile I loved where his left cheek dimpled. ‘Okay.’ And then he turned mock-serious. ‘As long as you don’t hold onto him to much.’

Before I got a chance to come out with a witty retort, that familiar click-clack noise sounded louder near us, and we both turned our heads at the same time to see Jenna Thompson strutting towards us. I groaned inwardly. Not again.

When she reached us, she took in our intimate position and I could practically hear the slow clogs of her mind reeling.

‘So, Matt,’ She turned to my boyfriend (I loved saying that!), making sure to throw me a dirty look first, and said in a fake-chirpy voice, ‘I was wondering if you wanted to do something on Saturday?’

I had to stop my mouth from dropping open. Was she blind? Could she not see that I was with Mateo now? The green-eyes monster was starting to show itself.

‘No,’ Mateo said in a cold voice. ‘In case you haven’t noticed yet, I’m with Kaia,’ She looked…shell-shocked. Ha! I wanted to laugh in her face. I could practically imagine taunting her; ‘Na na na na na! I’ve got him and you haven’t! Na na na na na!’ But of course I didn’t say that. I was way too mature for that. I think

‘But – but I thought-’ she spluttered, wildly flinging hair away from her eyes. ‘I thought you and…and HER…were just…were just - just friends!’

‘That was before.’ Mateo murmured, and then, just for good measure, he pulled me into his arms and kissed me, and it had to have been the most sweetest one he had ever planted on my lips. I stroked his cheeks and smiled against his mouth.

He kissed me until we heard the clear sound of her click-clacking away.

‘She is pretty hot,’ Mateo whispered in my ear; I could tell he was trying to rile me up.

I smiled sweetly. ‘So is Dan.’

He growled and crushed his lips to mine.
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‘Dippadeedoodaaa! Dippaadeeedaaaayy! My, oh my, what a wonderful day! Plenty of sunshine heading my way! Yipppaadeeedooodaaa! Dippaaaddeeddaaaayy!’ I sang, swinging my hand linked with Mateo’s up and down, up and down.

He laughed at me, and then slung me over onto his shoulder, fireman-style. I squealed and batted my arms against his back. ‘Put me down!’

He laughed and kept me where I was, walking to The Park. I realised that there were some advantages to this, however, those being that I could very clearly see Mateo’s very fine behind. Mmmm, nice…

‘Kaia?’ Mateo’s voice startled me, and I realised that we had reached the Park. A blush crept onto my cheeks when I realised what I had only previously been doing. But he was my boyfriend…so I could do that! I think…

‘Oooh, put me down! Put me down!’ I wanted badly to go on the swings, and Mateo laughed and obliged.

‘Push me!’ I said once I was sat down.

Mateo might have been behind me, but that did not mean I didn’t miss the very obvious eye roll. ‘Enough of that, Mister!’ I scolded.

He pushed me higher and higher. I had always loved the feel of the swings, something about the way you could go higher and higher, and no one could stop you. The freedom, the feeling...It was all amazing.

And then the swing stopped, and I was very slowly brought down to his level. I scowled at nothing in particular.

Afterwards, we sat on the field that was separated from the park by a metal gate, and just picked daisies from the grass.

I don’t know what made me do it, but I said softly, ‘Will you tell me about your mother?’

He didn’t seem surprised by my asking this question, just a bit hesitant. I waited. He said finally, ‘She was beautiful. Everything about her was beautiful - inside and out. She used to take me on walks in rainy days and spin around with me in fields,’ he smiled at the memory, and his eyes looked like they were a million miles from the small playground-like thing we were reminiscing on. ‘She would make cakes. "Just for you," she would whisper to me. "Just for you". We would wander for hours and hours by Rhont Lake, just watching the water and the view,’

I smiled sadly at how happy he looked. But then his smile faded. ‘And then when my father came home, the fun would end. But I thought it would stop. She told me it would stop. She told me…’ he gulped and trailed off, and when he looked at me his eyes were big and pleading. ‘She would sing a song to me when it was time for me to go to bed. It was her promise. Her promise that everything would end soon.’ He opened his eyes that he had briefly closed. ‘It never stopped.’

My eye filled with tears and I reached out for him, and as my hand clasped his, he began to sing, very, very softly.

It’s time to fade away,
To a place where only we can go,
A place where only you and I know,
It’s time to fade away,
Save the tick-tock for another day,
A day where we can play,
In the field of flowers where we lay
Let’s turn our tears into rain,
Turn back the way we came,
And maybe another day,
In case it’s not our time to stay,
You and I could go to that place,
That place where we could fade away
Save the tick-tock for another day…