52. (BoyxBoy)

52. Page 15.

I have a feeling you'll like this chapter. ;)

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Chapter 10
 
 
The next morning was a Thursday, but Matt couldn’t face school. He took the coward’s way out and told his mum he was ill. She had been slightly doubtful, but let him stay home anyway. She set off to work earlier and Matt stayed in bed and slept for a bit longer,

 Matt finally awoke around midday. His head hurt: maybe he'd been thinking too much. So, he sat up and thought some more. His mind raced as he went over the previous night a million times, but he still had no answers. Still thinking, he stared at his phone.
Sitting, waiting for hours, Matt wanted Aiden to be the first one to make contact. They had to resolve it before Monday, otherwise it'd be weird. Honestly! He'd only been at that school for three weeks. Matt was glad he'd made friends, but if he had Aiden as a friend, too, he sensed that the others might not be so keen on him anymore.
 
At 6pm, Matt gave up hope, and phoned Aiden. He let it ring 6 times,
but he didn't pick up. Exactly 10 minutes later, he tried again. 8
rings, this time. 52 minutes 4 seconds later, he rang again, only to
reach voicemail.
 
Matt went down for dinner at 7, and left his room for the first time
that day.
"He's alive! Feeling better?" His mother shouted, as Matt entered the kitchen, making
a face.
"Dinner in 5."
"Yeah," Matt sighed.
"That Adrian seems very nice. Your new friend?"
"Aiden," Matt corrected her.
"Very polite," she continued. "Does he live near? I offered him a
lift, last night, but he refused. I don't like young boys going out at night, it
was dark, y'know. I hope he got home OK. Stay friends with him. He's
very nice. Very, very nice."
"Very nice," Matt whispered to himself.
After a very nice serving of roast dinner (on a Thursday?) and apple pie for afters, Matt returned to his dungeon.
 
He glided into his room, immediately looking at his phone. Pleasantly surprised, he found a missed call . . . from Aiden.
Without taking a breath, phoned him back up. He picked up after 5 rings.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Aiden, it's Matt,"
"I know."
"Huh? How?"
"Caller ID? Your voice?"
"Yeah," Matt felt stupid, "Sorry I didn't pick up earlier, I was
having dinner,"
"That's all right. Sorry I didn't answer either. I was . . . out."
"Oh, where?" Matt unintentionally asked.
"Hospital," Aiden admitted.
"Why?!" Matt gasped,
"Err. I broke my arm."
"What?! How?"
"Listen, I’ve got to go, bye."'
"No, wait.”
The line went dead.
 
 
Hospital? What? Matt was confused, how had Aiden broken his arm? Maybe
he did it on purpose, so he wouldn't have to face school tomorrow, after the night before. But then, he could still go into school with a broken arm, couldn't he? He thought of all the possible situations Aiden could have gotten himself into, but he knew there was only one like one – but he didn’t really want to think about that.
Matt was sick with worry. He tossed and turned, lying on his new bed. The bed sheets were getting creased, which annoyed him. They had to be straight. He liked things straight.

The worry continued. It was emotional turmoil, until he asked himself why.

Why did he give a damn about some boy, who'd broken his arm?

The answer was obvious, and ate away at Matt for the rest of the night. So he lay back on his bed, and questioned himself.
"1 in 10 people, Matt," he told himself. It had to be. Why would he have held Aiden's hand last night?
It didn't mean anything. Maybe, it didn't. But what if he'd wanted to do more?
“Oh, God,” he needed Aiden, this was so confusing.
 
 
The next day came early. Matt awoke at 6am and was entirely ready an hour before he needed to leave for school. He couldn't leave early, but he didn't want to wait any longer. He started the day full of excitement, mixed with confusion, anxiety and nerves.