The Multiverse

(I) Matt

*Picture above is Mrs. Gaul.*

Matt found himself looking at an equation on the board that was simply too hard for him to comprehend.

2x-16x^2*-29=-3.76

Really? Matt thought to himself as he slumped back in his chair. He groaned softly to himself.

Matthew Pullos was a bit short for his age, standing at a height of 4' 9". His irises were multicolored, always changing to respond to his feelings (he always had to convince people that he wasn't wearing contacts). When his irises changed color, it was as though someone had put colored lens over his eyes. He always had his guard up, always ready for anything, always suspicious of out of place things. Most of the time, his irises were gray, lost deep in thought and just generally bored during the school days. There were always those moments, however, when his irises would flash pink or red when he saw a girl, or even more embarrassing, a boy. Whenever it would flash a shade of red, he would try to convince people, and fail, that he wasn't bi or gay.

It was hard to convince people if he could barely convince himself.

He was trying to control his emotions though, and he was doing pretty well. He could keep his eye color at a gray, and even if his irises were to flash a shade of red, it would fade to gray as quickly as it had changed to a different color.

Matt was white. He had a little tan, but he refused to take a bigger risk and have orange skin. He never completely understood what made people look 'cute' or 'handsome.'

At Pearlwood High, about 98 percent of the teens there only cared about looks. The 2 percent, including Matt, cared about their looks, but more about their personality.

Matt was athletic, being a part of the school soccer team, the Pearlwoods (so creative), was known by the entire school. Being the youngest there by about 1 month, he hardly expected to be noticed. But he had risen to the top of the team, being the star athlete and always winning their games. He had close cropped hair, but the sides were trimmed and the part of his that wasn't trimmed was a bright green (long story).

The dare was pretty cool, though, Matt thought to himself.

He groaned again, and passed his paper to his right, to the snitch, John.

He took the paper from his left, from the girl that he had a crush on, Jenny Flynn.

Jenny's long, blonde hair were always a distraction to Matt. Her warm smile and bright blue eyes (she too had to convince people that she wasn't wearing contacts; Matt could easily relate) were always enough to make Matt feel warm inside. She was taller than him, standing at 5 feet, and so Matt always found himself looking up to her, quite literally.

"Here you go," she said.

Matt laughed nervously. "Yeah. Thanks."

He quickly took her paper and quickly turned forward, already blushing. She had that affect on him. She always managed to take his guard down, way too easily. Matt hated himself for it, but he never really tried to work against it.

He glanced to his right and flinched when he noticed that John was already raising his hand and shouting, "Mrs. Lyre! Mrs. Lyre!"

The class groaned. Someone shouted, "John is fat!" Everyone in the class looked towards the back left of the class, to where a fist was raised. Matt knew it belonged to no other than Jacob Weazman.

Matt felt bad for him, especially because John was such a vulnerable person. He could barely talk to anyone, and he cried easily. His appearance didn't help him either, being super thin, but with a large nose and ears. He had nerdy glasses, and he was frequently pushing it up to the bridge of his nose. He had large, dark brown eyes, and the rumors about him weren't helping, either.