The Secret (Boston's Best 1)

Chapter Twenty-One

Maddie

"Guys! Focus up! I know we lost the semi-finals but that doesn't mean we can start slacking. Nick and I won't be here next year so it's up to you all to win the championship by yourselves." Evelyn scolds the maths team for talking too much.

"Yes, captain." Jadyn salutes her.

Nick rolls his eyes. "Oh shut it Jadyn. Listen to Ev, cause whether you want to believe it or not me and them won't be here next year, and it'll either be you or Dicky or both of you captaining the team."

Evelyn smiles at him. "Yes. Thank you, Nick. Now let's start with-" They spot me creeping at the door. "Maddie! Yay! I wasn't sure if you were gonna show up."

I walk into the room and feel the eyes of 15 people on me.

I stick my hand up in an awkward wave. "Hello."

Everyone mumbles a greeting at me.

Evelyn pulls me up to the front of the room. "Everyone this is Madeleine O'Brien, she has joined us all the way from the Emerald Isle. Please be kind to her because I have to live with her for 2 more months and it'll be awkward if you turn her against me."

They turn me around and say, "Obviously you met Nick, Jadyn, and Dicky at the party."

"William or Will. Not once have I ever approved of Dicky." Will interrupts.

They stick their hand up in the air. "Shush, Dicky." They introduce me to everyone else and the whole team is actually very nice.

Nick smiles at me. "Not that we don't appreciate your presence Maddie, but why are you here?"

"Ev cornered me and convinced me to come and observe a session. She wants me to join." Which is silly because there are only 2 months left of the year.

He nods like that's a normal thing for Evelyn to do.

Ev claps their hands together. "Right then, let's get started."

For the next hour I observe the fastest maths I've ever seen.

I'm mesmerised by it.

A few times Evelyn throws me a question to try and catch me off guard, but not to brag, I still got them right.

Everyone except for Evelyn and Nick leave and we all walk out of the Maths and Science Hall together just talking and laughing.

"And she doesn't like pistachio ice-cream, Nick! I mean pistachio is the best flavour!" Evelyn shouts pointing at me.

I raise my hands in surrender. "It's not my fault vanilla is just the superior flavour. If you can't accept that then that's your problem."

"Personally, I like chocolate." Nick says.

We both stop walking and stare at him.

He keeps on walking until he notices we stopped. "What?"

"Chocolate?!" We both shout.

"Yes?" He says looking a lot more scared than he just did. Good. He should be.

"Saying chocolate flavoured ice-cream is the best flavour is like saying Kanye was right at the 2009 VMAs. Because neither of those statements are correct. They are both ass." I explain.

"Also, it's just disgusting!" Ev adds.

He backs away from us. "Alright crazy people. You're right I'm wrong. It's actually butter pecan!" He shouts as he runs away from us.

We shout after him about how butter pecan is even worse and how he's a disgrace to humanity and blah blah blah.

"We alright out here, ladies?" A deep voice says from behind us.

I turn around and come face to face with Matt's shoulders.

"Yep." I say to him, "Just reminding our friend that he has no taste in ice-cream. He says chocolate or butter pecan when obviously it's vanilla-"

"Mint chocolate chip." He says at the same time as me.

I smile at the memory of us discussing this on the plane.

"That is also an acceptable answer, I suppose."

Evelyn coughs from beside me. "I still think pistachio is the only right answer."

I pat their shoulder. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Ev."

They roll their eyes at me. "Anyway, I got to go. I'll be back at the dorm. Love ya."

"Love ya." I say as they walk away from us.

As I look back at Matt and see his hair is a mess and he's dripping with sweat in tracksuit pants and a t-shirt that clings to his muscles and a gym bag slung across his shoulders.

Wow.

No. Maddie, stop it.

"How come you're still here? School ended nearly two hours ago." I ask him.

He holds up the gym bag. "Football practice. We train after school Monday, Wednesday, and sometimes Thursday, and also on Sunday. Games are on Friday."

"Wow. That's pretty intense."

He shrugs. "Eh. I'm used to it by now. Didn't you say you were on a team back home?"

"Yeah, I guess. Just the school soccer team which was pretty shit, and the local Gaelic football team. I was asked to go to trials for the Louth under 18 county team and if I was on that, that would have been a lot more vigorous, but like I said I just didn't have the time."

"Yeah, that's understandable." He rubs a hand through his hair. "Listen, you know how you practically begged me to let you tutor me?"

"If I recall correctly, you said, and I quote, 'Madeleine. I will get down on my hands and knees to beg you for this.' So, I'd fact check first before you talk again."

"Like I said. Begged." He grins at me. "But either way you did agree to tutor me. So, when we gonna get down and dirty?"

I roll my eyes at him. "You can get down and dirty with yourself. But regarding me tutoring you. You said you have practice or a game every day but Tuesday and Saturday, and no offence but I don't want to give up my Saturday to you. So are you free after school tomorrow?"

He pulls out his phone and scrolls on it for a second. "I don't know. I'll have to try and pencil you in. I'm a busy man you see, Madeleine."

Is he serious right now?

I blink at him and he doubles over laughing. "Oh my god, your face! No, I'm sorry. Of course I'm free tomorrow, that's what i was going to suggest actually."

"You should forget about football and just be a stand-up comedian. It would suit you really well."

"You think?"

"Oh, of course."

"I'll give it a thought."

I smile at him. "Okay, so 4:20 after school in the library or your dorm or where are you thinking?"

"Ehm, Alex and all the guys would probably be over in our dorm and we'd get no work done so I'd say the library."

"Okay, well I guess I should probably get your number now so that I can contact you then, yeah?"

"Yeah definitely." He says as he takes my phone and puts his number in it.

"Call me." He winks as he walks away from me and towards his building.

It's much later that night while I'm doing my calculus homework when I get a text from Matt asking if he should bring anything tomorrow and we talk for a while, that I realise he texted me first.

But I never gave him my number.