My Brother's Best Friend • Prucan

On the Hunt

It had been a week since Alfred and Matthew had come out to their parents and everything seemed to be sailing pretty smoothy. Matthew had explained why he had been ignoring Gilbert the day after the Skype call with his parents. Gilbert had been a little angry at first, but as soon as Matthew explained the situation he was elated. He was so excited, in fact, that he immediately tackled Matthew to the ground when he heard the news. 

Now that all of Matthew's "coming-out" drama had been resolved, it felt like old news. Finally he didn't feel compelled to act certain ways around certain people. He could finally be himself, and he could finally hold hands with Gilbert in the hallway without fear of someone finding out he's gay. Their chemistry teacher who had previously teased them about their "chemistry" was now constantly teasing them with no remorse, knowing that the two were finally dating. 

It was nearing winter break, and everyone was getting excited for the winter formal. It was in less than a week, and it seemed to be all that anyone could talk about. It was making Matthew's head spin. He hated the dance and he didn't even want to go, yet it was all anyone could talk about at lunch. 

"Lovino, are you going?" Matthew asked the Italian across from him, before taking a sip of his orange juice.

"Yes" Lovino responded curtly, seeming as though he didn't want to talk about it as he played with the food on his tray with a fork.

"Ooooo with who?" Arthur asked, causing Lovino's cheek to turn bright red.

"No one! Why do you guys always assume I'm going with someone?! I can go to the dance by myself you idiots" Lovino defended, not sounding very convincing as he dug his face into the sleeves of his sweatshirt. 

"When did Antonio change his name to No one?" Matthew teased, eliciting a snort from Arthur. 

"You two are the worst" Lovino shot back, his face red as he stood up from the table and stormed away, throwing his tray away before walking out of the cafeteria. Matthew and Arthur continued laughing as they watched Lovino walk away. The Italian stormed out of lunch at least 3 times a week, but they both knew he loved them, so it had turned into a joke at this point. 

"Speaking of formal, are you going with Al-" Matthew began, before looking over at Arthur, who was staring dissaprovingly above Matthew's head. Matthew's brow furrowed in confusion before he spun around and nearly screamed in surprise. Directly above him was Francis, staring down at Matthew with a cheeky smile on his face. 

"Uh- Francis?" Matthew muttered.

"Matthew, mon ami, I was directed to give this envelope to you" Francis spoke, holding up a little white envelope in his hand with the number 1 written on it in orange pen.

"What's in it?" Matthew asked, squinting his eyes in an attempt to get a better look at the envelope in Francis's hand. 

"I don't know. I promised not to open it" Francis replied before handing the envelope to Matthew, who curiously flipped it over and ripped it open. Inside the envelope was an index card, which had the words "Clue #1" written at the top of it. Matthew looked down and read the rest of the card for a moment before Arthur and Francis tried to snatch it out of his hand. 

"What does it say?" Arthur questioned curiously, trying to lean over the table and read the notecard upside down. 

"This first clue should lead you to your favorite room in the school, which we all think is lame but you seem to find pretty cool" Matthew read out loud before picking his head up and staring at his friends in confusion. It took the 3 of them a moment of processing before Francis's eyes lit up in excitement. 

"It's a scavenger hunt!" Francis said, beaming as he looked down at the handwritten note in Matthew's hand. 

"Oh? That's... strange" Matthew commented, "Where is it leading me? What room could possibly be lame to all of you but cool to me?"