Thanksgiving is in
a few more days,
leaving us with only
a partial week of school.
It's exciting knowing
that we will have some time
away from this horrid place,
even if that will
pass by rather quickly.
It always does, no matter
if we have two days
or two weeks off.
There is no true escape
until graduation, I guess.
In spite of our imminent
holiday break, Natalia
is insistent on continuing
her quest for the perfect boy
to be my date on her
proposed outing.
It's honestly a lot more
irritating than it sounds.
After her stunt on Monday,
she only has
two days left to
find her Prince Charming -
or mine, I guess.
Unfortunately, she and Euni
seem to have joined forces,
leaving me stuck in the middle
between two girls
with very different tastes
in boys.
It starts with me
separating myself from Euni
in the halls, purely because
a second won't pass
that she won't point out
some unsuspecting member
of the male species
to see if he catches my eye.
It's tiring,
trying to ignore her
constant fussing and
insistence that I go over
and introduce myself -
"Because that's the only way
he'll know that you exist,
right?"
I've quickly learned to
ditch her in the crowds
of classroom-bound students.
Natalia's suggestions are
a kind of confrontation
that I can't avoid, though.
She'll catch sight of me
in the hallways and
come running over,
tugging some poor boy
by the arm
to come and talk with me.
It never ends in a way
that she likes;
either we don't look
good enough standing
side by side for her taste,
or the height difference
is too drastic,
or she doesn't like the way
our names sound together.
"Matty and Brad,"
she muses on
one such occasion,
eying the poor soccer player
she had dragged to meet me.
"Brad and Matty?
Bratty?
I don't think so."
With each failed attempt,
Natalia only grows
more frustrated -
and as a result,
more determined than ever
to find me a boyfriend
before Thanksgiving break.
I've started avoiding her
when I see her coming
between classes,
in much the same way as
I avoid Eunice now.
It's strange, though -
never would I have thought
that I would be
intentionally avoiding Natalia Davis
But here I am,
dodging past other students
in hopes of reaching my classes
before she can stop me.
I really don't care
about having a boyfriend.
I appreciate her efforts,
in a way, but I
don't see the point when
I obviously don't look at
boys in the same way
as other girls do.
This all just feels
really
awkward.
On Wednesday afternoon,
I almost think that I
won't have to talk to her
or any more of her candidates.
I've done a good job
of dodging her
most of the day.
I didn't even see her
at all
between lunch and fifth period,
so I must be doing
something right.
But I forget that
we share eighth period now.
She easily
overtakes me
on my way to Mr. Barnes' room.
For once, I notice,
she's alone;
there is no football jock
or other member of
the male variety
trailing along behind her.
For a second, I think
that maybe she's
given up -
but then she starts talking.
"I have a whole long list,
you know,"
she starts cheerfully.
Seeing my blank expression,
she elaborates with,
"Of boys.
I have more that I
want you to meet.
Like, there's this
really nice one who
promised to meet us
after school -
he's a quarterback on
the football team and-"
"Natalia,"
I interrupt her,
surprisingly enough.
I hadn't even
meant to say anything, really,
but I'm getting a little
fed up with her
planning and scheming
about my love life,
even if it is only
for selfish purposes.
Maybe especially
for that reason -
but I'm so sick
of meeting
every boy in our school
in the hopes of maybe
getting along with one
well enough that Natalia
will invite him on
her stupid double date.
But she doesn't understand,
and so just
looks at me
blankly
for a moment.
"What?"
she asks at last.
"You don't have to
try and hook me up
with anyone.
Really, you don't -
this is all a
big waste of time
more than anything."
It feels good to
finally tell her the truth,
but as expected,
she still doesn't understand.
For a moment, she just
squints at me
in a way that makes me
squirm uncomfortably -
it's like she's trying
to read my mind with those
big, brown eyes of hers...
Finally, she
tilts her head
to the side
in a way that's similar
to what dogs do when
they're confused.
"Wait,"
she says,
sounding as though she's just
had a revelation.
"are you
gay?"
It's like that
whole nightmare with
Thias and those rumors
from years ago
has suddenly resurfaced.
Alarmed, I
shake my head vehemently -
but before I can say
a word in my defense,
the bell rings
right in our ears,
making Natalia howl in pain.
It might have been funny
any other time -
and I think she was
trying to make me laugh
to break the sudden tension,
or else just acting like
her normal, silly self -
but the fear that
someone may have
overheard her question
and taken it the wrong way
puts a bit of
a damper on that.
"Alright,"
she says laughingly
as the din dies down
and we make our way
to our seats inside
the classroom.
"I was just
making sure -
'cause like, if I
wasn't attracted to guys,
it'd be really weird
if someone was trying to
find me a boyfriend.
I wouldn't know
what to say."
That makes me feel
just a little bit better -
but she obviously doesn't
seem to understand that
regardless of who I
am attracted to,
I don't necessarily want her
to hunt down every boy
in our school
in the hopes that one
will catch my interest.
I've been fine so far
being single, and I
don't really plan on
changing that
any time soon.
But,
as we can clearly see,
she does.
×
Okay, some clarification/a disclaimer on this chapter: Matty hasn't really realize her sexuality, so of course she's going to deny being gay. None of this is meant to be saying being gay is wrong, and neither she nor Natalia is saying that. Both Matty's family and her school in general are really homophobic, so like, being gay is this horrible, overdramatic thing to them. It goes back to the rumors about Thias mentioned earlier in the story - someone spread rumors that he was gay and he basically was shunned for a while as a result. Yeah, really homophobic. Matty's afraid of that happening to her, that's all.
OKAY, now that that's over - I just love Natalia, okay? She's so naïve but like, not at the same time. She's an airhead. What's with the blondes in my story all being airheads? First Flory, now Nat... Maybe they're all supposed to emulate me, being that I'm blonde too;;;;; idek.
Anyway, if you guys liked this chapter, I'd love if you would vote and leave me some feedback <3 It would be verymuch appreciated, especially since I'm having a hellish day today, haha.......
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Unparalleled
Poetry[Prequel to Misalignment] A year before she and Cam meet, Matty Leopold has yet to realize most of the problems that will dominate her near future. She's still stuck in the shadow of her older siblings, as she has been for most of her life - but wit...
