The New Guy

Thinking About It

Mattie's POV

"Kill me, Tino." I slumped down in my seat in the cafeteria. I basically had to run to lunch due to my need to finish a drawing. Tino didn't look too concerned though, he was used to it actually.

"Why?"

"You remember that time I spent three weeks trying to put together a time line for that one game franchise?"

"Yeah."

"That's how I'm feeling at the moment."

"Why?"

"That Gilbert guy, he's insane!" I ran a hand through my hair in frustration, pulling harder than I should have. "He's so weird and he's definitely got some issues but he's so vague about everything. And he reads like he's never going to read again and he's got all these weird scars-I noticed he had this weird scar around his neck and a bunch of them on his arms and it's intriguing and concerning. I mean, what had to happen for him to get them-"

"Matt, you're adorable." I froze completely, looking Tino straight in the face. More surprised by the fact that he was smirking, something so rare that I'm surprised scientist haven't been looking for it.

"What?"

"I think it's best you go to Lovi for this."

"What? Why?" I was so confused, he wasn't making a lick of sense. "I don't even know where Lovi is!"

"He's at the library, he's a student aid there."

"Since when?"

"Freshman year, you dingus."

"He never mentioned it."

"Because he doesn't want to look like nerd in front of you."

"What, why?"

"Just go talk to him next period."

I sighed, "Fine."

~

I took what Tino said and headed for the library. The library wasn't all that much to look at, honestly. It was old but it had two floors which made the school look expensive. Not sure why that matters though since the wood was so old that the creaking made up more sound that talking normally. It's basically screaming compared to my voice. The blue carpeting does quiet most of it but there are blind spots everywhere so it's like walking through a mine field. And that about sums up the reason I use the public library instead.

Anyway, it was due to the creaky floor that Lovi caught me. He froze and looked at me like I just caught him jerking off. (As if that hasn't happened before.) He relaxed at least four minutes later with a groan.

"What do you want?" He whisper-yelled, leaning back in his chair behind the counter.

"I was talking to Tino and he said to come to you for some reason." For a moment, I appreciated my small voice solely for the fact that I didn't have to whisper.

"What were you guys talking about?"

"Well, I was rambling about that Gilbert-guy." His face went sour at the mention of Gilbert.

"What were you saying?" His eyes narrowed in a way I've only seen once before. The memory of that night was starting to come back to me. God.

"How weird and interesting he is."

"I see..."

"What?"

"Don't even bother with that guy."

"Why?" I'm starting to sound like a broken record with the amount of questions I'm asking. It's just that no one's being all that clear. It's giving me a real head ache.

"Because I said so. C'mon, you know me and my judgement."

"Your judgement isn't justified without evidence, Lovi." I knew that really angered him.

"You want evidence? Fine." He leaned over the counter. His face mere inches away from mine. It was a bit terrifying. "I've known him for most of my life and I can tell you that I absolutely hate him. He's the worst human being I have ever met."

"What the hell did he do?"

"He's a fucked up guy, Mattie."

"I know that-kind of."

"No, no, no, you're only scratching the surface."

"Well," I backed up a step. "I think you're over exaggerating." Lovi grabbed me by the collar and pulled me back to where I was.

"Look, meet my at the front of the school, you're going to my house so I can actually tell you because it isn't exactly school friendly."

"Alright." I nodded. As soon as he let me go the bell rang for the next period.

~

I may have been staring at Gilbert for longer than I should've during art. He was just a distraction honestly. He was weirdly happy today and with what I'm finding out I'm not really sure what to believe about him. He's an enigma. A puzzle I want to play it together to see the bigger picture.

He caught me staring, though. It was super embarrassing. He was on the other side of the room and he laughed to himself at first as I froze. He winked at me and I forced myself to look away then. I looked down to my notebook, finding the page blank. The blank page helped me clear my head a little from the embarrassment. I'm not even sure if I was embarrassed or it was this other feeling but it made me anxious.

A saw a shadow over my paper and I looked to see who it was. I near fell off my chair to see Gilbert suddenly in front of me. Yet another thing to embarrass myself.

"What's the matter Matthew?" He sat in a stool on the other side of the long table. "You look like you just saw a ghost."  Because I basically did. I'm not sure if my heart is really racing or not. I'm not even sure what's real anymore. He's making me go insane.

"No, I'm fine." I managed to choke out. The fact that I managed words was amazing in it of itself. My mind was going nuts.

"Anyway, you never told me what you did to distract yourself."

"Oh, I usually blast music, draw, or go up on a roof, sadly the last one isn't so accessable." I relaxed somewhat at the sudden change in topic.

"Ah, that's no good." He shook his head. "You need what can be accessable at all times, like a book."

"Are you just an advertisement for books now?"

"More people need to read so I don't see why I shouldn't advertise."

"You're insane."

"I plan to rule the world through books so of course I'm insane. I'm only really insane because I'm doing it alone at the moment. Mind joining me in my quest?" He laughed. I was ready to die though. Partly because I wasn't breathing and partly because I realized how cute his smile is.

Fuck.

~

"Lovi, you're overreacting." I looked down to the side walk as we walked.

"I'm not."

"He doesn't look like he'd hurt anyone."

"Except he has and I'm afraid of what he'll do to you."

"What?"

"I've seen him beat the shit out of a lot of people, he's terrifying when he's angry."

"He looks too thin for that."

"So?"

"Lovi, you're insane."

"I'm insane for caring now?"

"What? No-" I lifted my head to look at him.

"God, you're driving me insane."

"Honestly, I'm driving myself insane."

"I hate you." Lovi laughed.

"Hate you too, buddy." I laughed too.