Search For The Truth (On Hold)

Matthew

Matthew

Many times I had dreams of people that I knew. Other times I had dreams of people that I didn't know. But the one strange figure that kept popping up in nearly all of my dreams was a fifteen-year-old boy who looked like he could be my brother. Same light brown hair, same sharp blue eyes (only a more solid blue), same contemplative expression.

I had never met him in my life as far as I knew. It seemed odd, then, that I would see him in my dreams so often.

It was the morning of another normal day. I sat in my bed, arms behind my head, staring up at my ceiling. The thoughts of the fifteen-year-old were fresh in my mind since I'd just woken up from a dream about him. It was seven a.m. on a typical school morning and I was just waiting for my alarm to signal my wake up.

"Matthew! Shouldn't you be getting ready?"

Or my mom could wake me up.

My phone lit up on my dresser, warning me of an incoming text. I reached over and picked up.

Waiting outside. Hurry up.

That was my best friend, Lee Anton. Always impatient for me to come outside and meet him before school.

Give me a minute. I'm not even out of bed yet! :-[ I typed back. Swinging my legs over the edge of my bed, I grabbed my homework from the day before and stuffed it into my backpack. The smell of my mom's delicious breakfast wafted through air.

Another text from Lee arrived. Disgusting. Get up! ⏰ is ticking!

A grin forced its way onto my lips. Lee was an expert at being creative with emojis. Sometimes he had even made complete sentences with them.

My reply was to go downstairs and open my front door. Lee was there on the porch, sitting comfortably on one of the steps.

"Hey," I greeted, my breath billowing in the air. It was mid-December and days were getting colder. "Are you going to sit out there until you freeze, or do you want to come in?"

My friend turned to face me. "Whoa, look who it is. Did you actually manage to get out of bed?"

This was normal conversation between Lee and me. I knew he was teasing.

I raised an eyebrow. "You're the one who's up at four in the morning, not me. I'm normal."

Lee returned the look. "Oh, yeah? Define normal."

"Normal, as in doing what most other kids do, which in this case is getting up at a decent time and not freezing themselves by sitting outside for twenty minutes in ten degree weather."

"Ouch." Lee stood and moved over to me. "Sad, but unfortunately accurate."

"Come inside. Maybe then we can have a civil conversation."

*

"So, back in the Middle Ages, people didn't value the present day as is commonly seen today. Rather, they all looked forward to the day when they would go to a place that most people term 'heaven'."

Lee rolled his eyes at me and muttered, Boring. I discreetly nodded in agreement. History had been voted the least popular subject by Maplewood High's eleventh grade class. As if we hadn't learned most of this two years before.

Mr. Lexington droned on. In this class I usually got about two minutes away from falling asleep. It happened again. My eyes were beginning to close, and my head nodded forward.

"Mr. Wiles? Perhaps you could tell us."

When I heard my name, I jerked. The teacher was gazing at me curiously, a knowing look on his face. Oh no. I hated it when Mr. Lexington pulled a trick like that and caught a kid who wasn't paying attention... especially if that kid was me.

I blinked. "Um... What did you want me to talk about?"

An annoying giggle ran around the room. Only Lee and my close friend Jacob frowned.

Mr. Lexington crossed his arms. "We were planning to discuss castles in the Middle Ages, but since certain people don't seem to be listening, perhaps I should just explain everything instead."

He moved on, leaving me with a guilty feeling and the resolve to stay awake through the rest of class no matter how boring it got. I supposed in some ways he was a good teacher in the fact that he made sure his students listened. That way there would be fewer bad grades.

Jacob shook his head at me. Denied, he mouthed, pointing at me, then the teacher. We both laughed silently.

Twenty more minutes of sitting through the class and I was free. Jacob and Lee met me outside our English room.

"He sure got your attention," Lee muttered. "And the way everyone laughed, as if they had been paying attention more than you had."

I smiled at him. "It's fine, Lee. It's not the first time he's done this. He just happened to catch me this time."

Jacob grinned at Lee. "Maybe you'll be next."

Lee snorted. "That'll be the day. I'll see you slowpokes in the next class."

Jacob and I smirked as he walked off.

"Sometimes I wonder why I have such crazy friends," Jacob laughed.

"Because you're just as crazy as we are," I replied, teasing. "That's why we're besties."

We leaned forward and hugged each other. Jacob was a good friend. He was one of the few people left in the school that actually didn't mind my tight hugs.

There was a tap on my shoulder and I pulled back from Jacob. The face of a newer staff member was next to mine. Her name tag read "Rochelle."

"Are you Matthew Wiles?" she asked politely.

What? What did she want? "Um, yeah. I'm Matthew."

Rochelle pointed down the hallway. "Your history teacher, Mr. Lexington, is asking for you. Says he wants to talk to you about something."

I wanted to scream. Mr. Lexington had already humiliated me in class; what did he want now?

"Uh..." Jacob shifted uncomfortably. "I think I'll go." He left.

"Thank you, Rochelle," I muttered. "I'll go right away."