Getting Over Matt

9 - "He doesn't care enough."

Chapter 9 - "He doesn't care enough."

For the next few days, Matt ate with us at lunch. The only time he ever did this was when he was making up for something that he felt guilty about. It didn't exactly deter Nathan, but he sat beside Katrina, talking to her instead. Something small had changed between the two of us and I knew it was to do with Matt but I just couldn't work out what. He was still being civil with me, but the joking had taken a back seat and he wasn't quite as full on as he had been previously.  

Then, on Thursday, when Matt had football practice, I felt like I'd interrupted a private chat when I sat down at our table for lunch. Nathan and Kat had been deep in conversation but stopped talking immediately when I took my seat.  

I tried to make a joke out of it, but I'm pretty sure my voice came out as worried rather than light-hearted.  

"Wow. Obvious much?" 

"What's obvious?" Kat asked me lightly, with a small smile.  

I shook my head. Things were good between Matt and me; I didn't want Kat's interference. If her and Nathan wanted to gossip, then I'd let them. It made a welcome change from them both lecturing me to my face.  

"Where's the boyfriend?" Nathan asked me, noticing that I was alone for the first time this week. 

"Football," I replied.  

"He's detached himself from your hip then. That's nice for you. Or not. Whichever." 

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Is there a problem, Nathan?" 

"No problem at all," he smiled sweetly.  

"Okay, the thing is," Kat began slowly, "Matt has been...I don't know...he's doing that thing where he majorly sucks up to you after an argument." 

"He feels bad and is trying to make up for it," I said. 

"And next week, it will be back to normal," Kat told me. "Because that's how it always is. He makes sure he doesn't lose you and then he slips back into his normal routine of not giving a shit." 

I flinched, her words hurting me despite having heard them many times before. "Kat, please..." 

"No, Izzy. I'm fed up of it. I'm fed up of you getting upset. I know we argue about this a lot but it's just because I care and because I can see what he's doing and how he's playing you—" 

"He cares about me, okay?" I snapped. "I know you supposedly care, but so does he." 

"He doesn't care enough." 

I turned my gaze onto Nathan. "And I suppose you agree?" 

He held up his hands in defence. "Don't drag me into your cat-fight." 

"Don't give me that," I scowled. "You've given me the cold shoulder ever since Matt and I made up." 

"Cold shoulder?" He quirked a brow. "Excuse me, Bella, but you were the one who made it clear you didn't want me pestering you so much." 

"There's a difference between pestering and simply being friendly." I shook my head. "I thought we'd turned a corner on Saturday and we were now on the same page." 

"We're not on the same page, Bella. We're not even on the same chapter." He scraped a hand over the lower half of his face, and then rose from his seat. "I've got a paper to write. I'll see you both later."

After he'd left, I looked to Kat in disbelief, unsure of what I'd just witnessed. "What's his problem?"

"Like it's not obvious." She scoffed. "He's just hurt, okay? He really thought he'd made progress on Saturday—"