"All girls are the same, Mateo."
It's the day of the Valentines Dance and Mateo Fox believes he can win a girl's heart but his friends are convinced all girls are the same. Every day, he faces humiliation and difficulties to fit in as he's an introv...
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"Love is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you'll get" - Forrest Gump.
Mateo is a 15-year-old boy who's stereotyped as a nerd because he's the smartest guy in the whole school. He's an interesting character but there's something about him that changed who he was known for, read to find out!
𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟭 ⚜
"Mateo...Mateo wake up!"
"Oh...hey."
Evelyn, the girl who sat next to me murmured in my ear because we sat in the back of the class together so no one saw me sleep, besides her. I gave her a small smile of gratitude because I didn't want to be caught by the teacher.
I was semi-sleeping but half-opened eyes will do. The scrapped textbooks and scribbled notes scattered around my desk while I slept. The class felt isolated with tranquillity but I could overhear gossips and whispers. I heard Mr Fletcher, my Maths teacher instructing orders and I glanced at him but with every blink I took, he was a step closer to me.
"Mateo! Where's your homework?"
I reached out from my backpack and inspected every pocket. I could feel the dripping sweat and prolonged breaths as he waited for my assignment. I flipped every page of each book, not expecting what to get but time was ticking and Mr Fletcher gave me a snarl of disappointment. He grovelled to the concrete floor and fetched a pile of scrunched up paper which was my homework...
"Mateo, I expected better from you. I don't want to keep collecting homework that's not being cared of." I nodded in agreement so I could take off the stares and faces from my classmates. I turned around to find Justin struggling with his homework. He never really paid attention in class so I usually do it. He noticed me in his presense then whispered. "Hey...can you do my-"
"Sure," I interrupted because I was too used to it. He quietly slipped his hand into his bag to get his homework. His bag always smelt terrible so of course, it was covered in root beer and chip stains so half of the equations were unreadable. Midway as my fingers adjoined with the sheets of paper, a familiar face appeared."
"Mateo Fox, Justin Kane, would you care to tell me what you were intended to do?" We looked at each other as we gulped down in regret and nervousness. Justin started to stutter his words.
"O-Oh, it was just some invitation to a-a party!" He smiled, hoping for the teacher to be convinced. I zipped my mouth and aggressively nodded my head.
"Ah...an invitation that looks very similar to the homework right?" Mr Flecter chuckled
"Oh yes! We were planning to have a Maths party..."
"Oh well, I'll look at that and here's an invitation to Detention." He grabbed out two pink slips of paper writing out names on them. "Here. You can go immediately."
As we packed all our textbooks and pencils, Justin scribbled on a note and rolled it next to my rusted shoes. "Sorry. :(" It said, I looked at him and smiled with grace. He grinned back but it didn't last long after we walked out of the door because it was a tough road strolling past the lockers room because it always smelt like paint and the dirty floors made a crusty sound, scraping the rims of my shoes. The alleyway carried bits of banana peels and mandarin seeds that flew across the floor because the windows were opened for the first time in forever. It was a long walk there, having to be in the sight of the school bad boys.
We finally made it to the Detention centre with a couple of bruises and pieces of chewing gum on our hair, I started getting nausea from smelling the putrid odour that swirled around my nose. The sign in front of the door had a huge heart and a message. Justin grabbed it off the door and showed me the front cover.
"Valentine's dance at the School hall this Friday, 5;00 PM - 8:00 PM? You want to go?" I questioned. He looked like he was going to burst out. I know why, it's for the popular kids to confess their love but we are just single teenagers. He must've thought I said it as a joke so he punched my shoulder and laughed.
"Valentine's dance? No! We don't have lovers, we can just play video games or hang out?" He told me but I looked back at the crippled paper but then he snatched it away from me and dunked it in the bin.
"Quit looking at it. It's just a dance" He advised me. He pushed me away.
"Do you really want to prioritise some precious gaming time to some stupid dance?! You need to think again Mateo." I thought wisely and he cracked his knuckles as if he was going to beat me to the ground next to the broken lockers.
"I want to go." I gulped. I stared at him, warning him that I was being serious. He sighed in anger.
"How are you going to get a girl if you look like a nerd? Stop playing dude." He exclaimed.
"I don't look like a nerd. Leave me alone, you never experienced a single Valentine's dance." I replied.
"And I never will, all girls are the same anyways. Why are you even trying? Don't you remember when you got rejected by Destiny Davis, the popular girl last year? You were the laughing stock of the town! Don't think about trying-"
"I'm trying again."
"You're gonna get Destiny again?" He asked with a smirk.
"No! I'll find someone else...someone who will restore the other half of my heart."
He shrugged with no problem but then he settled me down.
"Look. The qualities in one may possess others but it's just the beginning of "love." Isn't that pathetic. Girls hold personality magnets around them but it's an illusion behind that veil is a demon spawn from hell, devouring your soul with no regrets. But society pressures you to undertake the "love" experiment. I'm warning you, Mateo."
"Man, shut up," I yelled.
I took my bag and stepped into the empty detention room with Justin trudging behind me. As we entered, we saw Miss White sitting on a stool, reading a book. She always does. The room smelt like gasoline and it looked like a pigsty but she has adapted to the environment.
"Welcome Mateo and Justin, Justin, you can hand me your slip, this is the 4th time this week! And Mateo, what trouble brought you here?" Miss White greeted with shock because I rarely go to the detention room unlike Justin.
"Oh, here...read the note" I took the pink slip out of my pocket and pressed it firmly on her desk.
She blew her glasses and applied them to her eyes.
"Hm. Oh well...you can sit on the seat infront of Justin and reflect on what you did." She shrugged then carried on reading her novel. She never really cared about the students because she has to stick with the school bullies and well they give her a headache as they rummage around the room but Miss White can't do anything because she doesn't wield any power whatsoever.
I threw my bag into the seat next to me and my eyes wandered around the room, committing to watching ants feasting off mouldy half-eaten sandwiches on the ground.
We waited for hours. Meanwhile, we scrapped the gum from under the table, stared at the graffitied walls and sleeping, my personal favourite thing to do. But suddenly, I saw a spark of light coming from the entrance door. That was when everything changed.
𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟭 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗟𝗘𝗧𝗘 ⚜
-- AUTHOR'S NOTE:
- Heya! I'm Sal (Astr0qries) and I want to appreciate all of you for reading my first Wattpad story! It might be a bit rusty but it'll get better the more you read the story! You guys are amazing and have a great day <3
