lucke's Conflicts

Matew Tail part 2

Narrator's POV

Matheus stared at Ryan, and the raccoon had a wry smile plastered on his face. Matheus saw him pull away slightly when he made a sudden movement, lying face up on the bed.

Matheus looked into Ryan's amber eyes and noticed that the raccoon seemed worried about him. He didn't want to appear fragile or give Ryan too much intimacy.

Ryan saw Matheus stare at him with his piercing green eyes and took another stealthy step back, as if Matheus were a cat and he were a mouse about to be attacked at any moment.

"Ryan, I'm trying to sleep!" Matheus said, sighing.

"Then sleep," said the raccoon.

"I can't with you there," said Matheus.

"You just have to close your eyes," said the raccoon, and Matheus saw a small smile begin to form on Ryan's face.

"Ryan, you're asking for a beating, it's not possible," Matheus said, starting to lose his patience and growl.

"Ryan, I want to sleep, get out of there now!" Matheus said, losing his patience and throwing another pillow at the raccoon's face.

"Your wish is my command, sir," Ryan said, smiling, and leaving Matheus's room.

"I'll be around, sir. If you need me, just call me, sir," the raccoon said, and Matheus saw him smile and close the door.

Matheus saw Ryan open the door to his room again and appear, smiling.

"I just came to say one last goodbye, sir," the raccoon said.

"Ryan, get out of there, I want to sleep, go away," Matheus said, throwing a shoe at the raccoon but catching it on the door.

"This will be your last warning, Ryan," Matheus said, growling.

Matheus listened to Ryan sing his annoying little song, the sound getting deeper and deeper as Ryan walked away and went downstairs to the living room where Lucas was watching TV.

"He just wants to get some rest," Ryan said, sitting next to Lucas on the couch.

"He's sad because of his dad," the wolf said.

Matheus rested his head on the pillow, facing the door. He promised himself he'd smack Ryan if he ever bothered him again. He yawned and stretched his arms, then fell asleep.

Lucas and Ryan stayed in the living room, playing games or looking at things on their phones. Ryan waited for Matheus to wake up so the three of them could do something fun together. He went to Matheus's room a few times to see if he was awake, but Matheus slept like a log and purred like a cat.

Ryan flipped through channels looking bored. Lucas was watching random things on his phone. He remembered that José the cat was trying to start a YouTube channel. He subscribed to José's channel, and there were only thirteen other subscribers, including Ryan. He saw on WhatsApp that José was online. He praised José's channel, but José blocked him, and Lucas's phone screen said he could no longer send messages to that user.

"How ungrateful," Lucas thought.

Matheus woke up a few hours later to someone shaking his shoulder and calling his name in a soft voice.

"Hey, Matheus," Lucas said, rocking him. Matheus turned his back, keeping his eyes closed. It was warm and comfortable for him, and he wanted to stay lying there.

"Matheus," Ryan said in his high-pitched voice, tickling Matheus's foot pads with a feather.

Matheus moved his foot when he felt a tickle, making Ryan smile.

"Matheus, it's getting dark, I need to go," Lucas said, rocking him a little faster.

Matheus woke abruptly and saw Lucas sitting on the bed next to him. Ryan was at the head of the bed, his hands in his pockets, looking at him. Matheus felt a bad taste in his mouth. He looked around the room as he regained consciousness. An orange light came in through an upper window in his room, illuminating the white wall. He looked at Lucas, who had a serene look on his face.

"Hey, it's getting dark already, and I need to get home," the wolf said.

"I'll walk you out," Matheus said, yawning and starting to get out of bed.

He walked Ryan and Lucas out of the house.

"I'll see you tomorrow at school," Lucas told him.

"See you tomorrow, Lucas, and good night," he said.

"Good night, Matheus," Ryan said.

"Good night, trash can," Matheus said, and Ryan saw him raise his right hand in farewell.

Lucas noticed that Matheus seemed a little sad and indifferent the next day. He agreed to do his homework at Lucas's house the following day. Tests would start in two weeks. Lucas was having trouble understanding first- and second-degree equations, and Matheus was having trouble differentiating the characteristics of Baroque and Humanism. Even though he was good at history, he confused the characteristics of the two artistic movements. Matheus tried to answer Lucas's questions as patiently as possible. He didn't have the same patience with Ryan, who could barely sit still for a minute in that chair and sometimes had his mind elsewhere.

Lucas saw Matheus look deep into the raccoon's eyes while Ryan chewed gum, then made a huge bubble and popped it.

Ryan gave a weak smile and lowered his ears as if expecting a smack from Matheus, who was staring at him with his piercing green eyes.

Lucas thought Ryan was going to get a smack, but Matheus just sighed and looked at Lucas, completely ignoring Ryan.

"Any other questions?" he asked Lucas.

"Not yet," Lucas said.

"I'm going to read a book. I do that when I'm sad," Matheus said, closing his notebook and starting to get up from the table.

"Hey, wait a minute," Ryan said.

"I don't want to have to smack you, turn around, I'm not helping you anymore," Matheus said.

Matheus looked at Lucas and thought, "He's being rude because Lucas is there and he's not paying much attention to him."

"Sorry, when I'm sad sometimes I just want to be alone," Matheus said.

"It's okay, I'm here," Lucas said.

Matheus picked up a book and lay down on the couch. Lucas sat on the larger couch.

"We can go out tomorrow when I'm feeling better," Matheus said.

"Yes, we will," said the wolf.