Shortcomings | Alejandro Rosario

Chapter 6: Mattia

I followed Kairi through the crowd of students, grabbing the strap of his bag. He had just came out of the changeroom where I was waiting for him, his bowtie still in my hand.

Pep rallies were one of the most chaotic times in the school year. There were students nearly everywhere, teachers directing them into the large gym just to watch some cheerleaders dance, the principal give a speech no one was going to listen too, and the soccer team be glorified for the 50th time.

Spinning Kairi around, I grabbed his shoulders, in effort to calm the bouncy, excited boy.

"Can you stay still?" I grumbled, putting the bowtie around his neck. He stretched his head, trying to look above the crowd for his friends, with fail.

Slumping, he sighed, putting his hands on his hips. "Can you hurry up woman? Seriously. How long does it take to tie a bow?"

"You clearly don't know, so how about you just stay still and let me do what I'm doing." I replied, tightening it.

He let out a choking noise, coughing, before I loosened it. "There. You were just being a big baby for no reason at all. As usual."

He rolled his eyes at my remark, before his face lit up, smiling. "Ale! Alvaro!" He called, grabbing the attention of the two boys behind his. I turned to greet them, my breath catching in my throat.

Alejandro was dressed in a black button up, with a pair of light grey, form fitting dress pants. They highlighted him perfectly.

His hair was done up well, and his hands had rings and a watch on them. I clenched my teeth, holding myself back from slapping myself.

I fully am not thinking about how attractive he is right now.

"You good?" He spoke, breaking me from my thoughts. My head snapped up as I noticed he had come to me when I was daydreaming.

"Yeah, sorry." I smiled. Reaching up, I brushed off his shoulders, before resting a hand on it, squeezing. "You ready?"

He gave me a nod, a sweet smile appearing on his face. "Always. Shall we?" He murmured, guiding me into the gym, his hand on the small of my back.

I felt my heart twist in my chest, as I gathered my hair to the back of my neck. Alejandro ducked, coming up beside me, instead of behind me. "Where do you want to sit?"

My eyes scanned the bleachers, the colours flashing in my eyes. Playing with the straps of my hoodie, my gaze fell on a certain boy sitting by the back.

He straightened the collar of his white shirt, tucked into a pair of black dress pants. His shirt was unbuttonned from the top, exposing his neck.

No.

I turned, looking for more spots, but unfortunately, there was only a row empty beside Mattia.

Sighing, I began to jog up the steps, Alejandro, Kairi and Alvaro in tow. He caught my eye as I was coming up, but nothing changed in his expression. Instead, he looked the other way.

Ouch.

As I reached the top, I moved to sit by him, but I was cut off by a flurry of hair flying in my face. Squinting my eyes, I noticef Lexa, who had plopped herself beside Mattia.

She looked up at me, raising a brow, before Mattia's hand moved onto her leg. Giving a satisfied smile, she scooted a little, before Mattia leaned into her ear, whispering something that made her laugh.

"Keep moving Iz." Ale's voice motioned from beside me, as I sat down beside Lexa, Ale sitting beside me.

"Why did she want to sit here?" I heard Lexa say, as Mattia shrugged. "I don't know her. She, I've never ever seen her before." He stuttered.

Excuse me?!?

I was about to get up and say something when Alejandro grabbed me by the waist, pulling me back down. "What do you think your doing?" He hissed.

I spun my head to glare at him. "Didn't you just hear that?" I exclaimed, the disbelief clear in my voice. "What he just said! He was begging me to stay with him just yesterday."

Alejandro let out a huff, his hands on his knees. "Just let it go? Please? Let's try to have a good time today? We can talk about this later." He pleaded.

There was an unidentifiable emotion in his eyes, something I had never seen before. Yet my subconscious told me to listen to him.

I turned back to the front, directing my attention to the cheerleaders.

"Stupid fucking boys." I muttered, under my breath.

Drowning out the voices, I zoned out, pulling out my phone.

I had one unread text message from last night.

Mattia Polibio: What has gotten into you?

Huh?

Unlocking my phone, I clicked on the messages app, opening it. My eyes flickered to the top messages, as jaw fell open.

"Alejandro."

I looked up, at my best friend who currently had a bright smile on his face. He was focusing on his girlfriend, who was currently cheering.

"Ale."

"Hold on." He muttered, brushing me off.

Leaning forward, I grabbed his chin, pulling it to the side, my phone in my hand, in front of his face.

Hi eyes scanned over it, guilt clouded them. "Oh shit." He muttered, clenching his jaw. "Im sorry-"

I stood up abruptly, cutting him off. Grabbing my bag, I ran down the steps, trying to ignore the sound of his shoes pattering on the ground as he ran after me.

"Izzy!" He yelled, but I didn't listen.

Entering the hallway, I spun around, facing him. He stood there with his arms outstretched, a helpless look on his face. "Izzy, I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Sorry! Are you fucking kidding me Ale? What is this? Who told you you could do this?" I yelled, as he lowered his hands, telling me to lower my voice.

"I did it for your own good! That guy is nothing but trouble Izzy!" He spoke, his voice calm and collected.

Anger bubbled in my chest, all I saw was red. The only thing I wanted to at the moment was slap this boy.

"What's going on? You okay Ale- Izzy?" Another voice spoke. I looked up, seeing him hang by the doorway.

"Mattia."

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hehe im glad u guys actually like this wtf