"Why do you always avoid my questions?"
"I'm not, it's just that there's nothing to say. Who would ever want to date someone they can't even talk to? It's not rocket science. My eyes are weird, and people get tired of me eventually. There's your on...
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Mathias | Dallas
AFTER BEING AWOL FROM THE CLUB AND SCHOOL for a day, Mathias showed up to class the very next day.
He sat in his usual chair at the back, studiously listening to Mrs. Troublefield as she went on and on about contraceptives. Looking from the PowerPoint on the whiteboard to his notebook, taking notes, his cheeks and ears became impossibly hot as the teacher went on and on about condoms, even going as far as showing the class how to put on one. The whole class seemed either amused or impassive about the subject from their youthful days of immaturity or as a result of their years and years of experience with their boyfriend or girlfriend.
Maybe Mathias was the weird one, pulling the hood of his red hoodie over his head in an attempt to hide his flushing neck and the reddened shell of his ears.
Unfortunately, the class wasn't the only thing on his mind. As he glanced up from his notebook one more time and looked to the front of the class, his eyes locked onto the sight of Dallas sitting at the front, her legs crossed beneath the table and her left hand shifting as she took notes too. Mathias pulled under his lower lip, trying but failing to block a thought from entering his mind.
Dallas, being as cool and impassive as she was then as usual, perhaps she didn't need any lessons on sex, STDs, or contraceptives. She had a boyfriend, and besides being overwhelmingly well-known throughout the school, there was the glaringly obvious fact that Sebastian was easy on the eyes, even to Mathias. They made a cute couple. Maybe they were already intimately involved? Somewhere beyond kissing? Even-
-holding hands?
"Mr. Starr at the back!" A chirpy voice sounded, and Mathias stiffened at the sound of his name. He desperately prayed that his red face wasn't too obvious in the beaming light of day as he lifted his head and looked at Mrs. Troublefield through the tinted screen of his glasses. "You've been so quiet today. Are you okay?"
He bobbed his head in agreement and shot the teacher a wonky thumbs-up. Beneath the table, he had his fingers crossed on his lap as his prayers intensified.
However, God didn't answer this one prayer of his.
"Excellent!" Mrs. Troublefield grinned. The slide on the board changed as she tapped her keyboard. This one spoke of pills. "Now then, Mathias darling, tell me which contraceptive is the most effective and why. Or, in other words, which would be your favored choice for you and your girl or boyfriend?"
There were pros and cons of being a mute, but at that moment when some girls snickered at Mrs. Trouble field's nudge at Mathias's supposed sexuality, he desperately wished he could blurt out something in his defense.
The whole class looked at him. Now wasn't the time to, one, make a fool of himself, nor two, reveal that he had no clue because he'd never even gotten to nor beyond kissing anyone.
