Matt

Chapter 17- The Idea

It's good to be back in the clubroom. I never thought I'd say that, but it was true. The events of last week are now a distant memory, and the FSC was once again free to meet up here. Seeing Clara dabbling in her tea and coffee hobbie completely enveloped me in absolute joy. I missed it way too much. It felt way too weird not to meet up after the end of class.

Unfortunately, Serena was true to her word that we'd be busy getting ready for our mission. Today, all five of us were using our own respective computers. For what reason? Well, our first order of business was to watch videos…every single one that contained something to do with Charlie Wilds. Serena gave a brief speech about how "it's important to learn as much as possible about the enemy before going to battle." Those are her words, not mine. I'd never say anything so idiotic.

And so, here I was constantly looking up videos about the old guy, slowly becoming more and more bored. Glancing at Serena, I could see the fiery intensity in her eyes as she continued to watch whatever was on her screen. I wished I could be that excited about this.

After about ten more minutes, I looked at Serena again, finding her now leaning on her left hand while continuing to watch whatever she was watching. See? Even you are getting bored. Do we really have to do this? How the heck is this going to help with our goal to publicly humiliate an eighty year old dude? It sure as hell isn't going to help me any. Could you at least enlighten me, just once, about the reasoning behind all this?

I then suddenly noticed her eyes divert themselves directly at me. I tried to turn my head and look at my screen as soon as possible, but it was too late.

"Stupid Matt! Keep your eyes on the screen. Quit slacking!"

Yes, your majesty. Wouldn't want to lose that precious point you awarded me that other day. I should protect it with my life. Who cares if Alex has something like a million points more than me. It's quality that counts, not quantity. Yeah, that's right. My point is better than all your points, Alex! Take that...Dammit, what the hell am I thinking? I'm so bored that even my thoughts are becoming completely incoherent.

After a few more minutes, I looked at the club leader yet again. This time, she had a look of excitement again, even to the point where she was grinning. However, I also noticed that she was clicking furiously on the mouse. In other words, it was now painfully obvious that she wasn't watching videos anymore and was probably playing a game. Hypocrite! You force us to watch these stupid videos even when you can't do it yourself. I swear that it drives me absolutely…

"You seem distracted."

I was startled by the comment, causing me to snap to my front where Alex was seated. "Huh?'

"I just noticed that you seemed a bit preoccupied," said Alex with a smile that appeared to go the extra mile to annoy the hell out of me.

I tried to ignore him but it was then that I heard Alex chuckling. I looked at him again to see that his smile had grown even more irritating than before. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing."

Liar! Something is amusing you, and it appears to involve me. What the hell was I doing to…? It then hit me like a ton of bricks. Looking back at him straight in the eyes, I then shook my head in denial. I leaned in a bit and lowered my voice.

"It's not what it looks like."

"What's not what it looks like?"

"Whatever you're thinking, you're wrong," I said, growing increasingly irritated.

"I didn't say anything," said Alex, showing a mild hint of self-satisfaction that seemed to put the annoyance level of his smile over the roof.

You didn't have to. Your face says it all. It doesn't matter what he thinks. I was only staring at Serena because I was bored, and everyone else was just sitting there watching videos. She was the only one doing something different. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.