"Ross McQueen. Sit down!"
☆
Words could not describe how excited Matty was to be going away on a school trip. It was for only just one night, one single night, but Matty was determined to make the most of it.
His mother had already written out an *essentials* list of clothes and toiletries and Matty had been diligently going down the said list, making big ticks next to each bullet point with a fat red marker he had found in a pot next to the house phone. (Probably his mother's bingo pen).
Right at the bottom of the list was the last bullet point with the single word 'Blanket?' The question mark being very poignant at the end. This was Matty's and only Matty's decision to make.
It had been just over five weeks since that kissing experience with his friend Joy. Thay had not spoken a word about it since, which was fine with Matty, it didn't mean anything to him anyway, but he just couldn't shake the weird curiosity that his blanket had somehow managed to make an appearance when he knew deep down that he had most definitely placed his blanket in the underwear drawer.
The blanket now lay relatively lifeless and harmless on the bed next to his pillow. Did he really want to take it? Matty had never slept away from home, unless visiting family, so taking his blanket was not an issue, but a school trip? Matty wouldn't be able to hide it. He would get questions, Maybe teased. He didn't want that.
Matty suddenly clears his throat and quickly flips the lid closed, hurriedly zipping up the zipper. The speed in which he took, making the decision final. Blanket would be staying at home.
***
Matty waves one last goodbye to his mother at the roadside, through the slightly tinted window as he sits next to Joy on the coach. He takes a sigh of relief as he settles back into the slightly cushioned seat.
"I've got jelly babies, do you want some?" Joy asks as she pulls her Little Mix back pack onto her knee to find her stash.
"Yeah ok and I have two fruit shoots in my bag." Matty adds now pulling his virtually identical backpack from where his feet were and doing the same.
As he rifles through, trying to find the drinks, he feels that familiar rough texture. Momentarily unsure at first, he pulls what he thinks is his blanket from the bag, staring wide eyed at it. Was this his mother's doing? Did she pack it anyway, when Matty had made the decision to leave it behind?
''Urrh, what's that?"
Matty's head now turns to see Ross staring over the top of his seat, looking down at what he was holding, with a rather amused face.
Ross McQueen... The worst person ever to witness what was currently happening to him.
"It...it's...oh, get lost Ross." Matty decides on saying. He didn't have to justify his surprising situation to him.
Ross however does anything but. "Is that a baby's blanket?" He had no shame in making his voice loud and clear as he came to his conclusion, causing everyone's attention on the coach to be drawn to the incident.
"He said get lost Ross." Joy now pipes up.
Ross, still disregarding all requests to end Matty's torture, stretches a hand forward and manages to snatch the blanket out of Matty's grasp and proceeds to wave it in the air. "Hey look everyone! Matty has a baby blanket!"
"Give it back!" Matty shouts, attempting to pull the blanket back but missing as Ross toys with him, moving it out of his reach, each and every time.
"Ross McQueen. Sit down!"
The occupants of the bus go quiet. Mr Hill, the school's head of year had spoken. Ross lets the blanket drop onto Matty's head, who quickly stuffs the item deep down into his bag. He felt mortified. How could his mother have done this? He had made the decision to leave his blanket at home and his mother had gone against it without telling him.
"Hey Matty." He turns to the whisper Joy is making. "Look." Joy's eyes direct Matty to look down in the direction of the tiny zip in the corner of her bag. Matty sees a small lilac puppy dog, looking a little worse for wear poking from the pocket. "Don't worry about your blanket. I brought my pups too." She says with a smile.
Matty smiles back, before finding his blackcurrant drinks, offering one to Joy. It was nice that his friend could see that sometimes people needed that comfort, that little reminder of home, but Matty could feel himself moving on. He didn't want to be shackled to his blanket any more. He was trying to grow up.
***
After a day of walking what felt like miles and miles up a hill, only to come down the other side again, Matty was now sat in the hostel's dining room, tucking into some chicken curry with rice. He had never tried curry before, but was so hungry that right at that moment he would have probably eaten whatever was put in front of him.
"Have you picked your dorm yet?" Mark Jackson, the most apparently 'mature' one in Matty's class asks from across the table.
"Um, yeah, I'm dorm B." Matty answers a little warily, wondering why Mark wanted to know. Mark didn't usually speak to people like Matty unless there was a hidden reason. Matty was trying to figure it out....which he soon does.
"We are not going to sleep in our dorm, we're gonna eat sweets and crisps and play games, so if you wanna be a square, I suggest you change rooms."
"Oh, ok." Matty replies, side eyeing Joy who was currently dipping bread in her curry sauce. Matty kind of wanted to just go to sleep. But now he had to contend with enjoying a party. If he swapped rooms, he'd look like a loser as well as a baby.
Right now. Matty just wanted to go home.
YOU ARE READING
Possession (boyxboy)
ParanormalSUPERNATURAL/ROMANCE From the earliest days of his childhood, Matty Stevens had never been seen without his cherished comforter, a soft and worn blanket that seemed to embody the essence of solace. It was more than just fabric; it was his steadfast...
