Mirage (ON HOLD for revision)

Chapter 25: The Anatomy of Silence

The minute they all got into the car, it was like the TV was put on mute. Cedric knew there was no way he was getting out of the situation without being asked question. And he knew some sort of public hanging was about to take place.

“What’s with that ‘old graves’ bit?” Matt asked without so much as warming up first, going straight for the kill.

Cedric knew better than to expect assistance from Julius who was enjoying his misery from the sidelines. He opened his mouth to speak, intending to explain, but the words got stuck in his throat. Before they could make it out, the moment to speak has already passed.

“You really shouldn’t have hit him no matter how annoying he was,” Matt said disinterestedly as he settled on the back seat, lying down.

He doesn’t seem angry, Cedric thought as he glanced at Julius who only shrugged.

“What if he expels you?”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Cedric asked, turning in his seat to look at Matt in disbelief. Again, pretending like it was none of his business.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“He said he went there because you were there, so why are we talking about me?”

“Because you’re the one who was stupid enough to hit a professor?” Matt replied simply, sitting up grudgingly. “What the hell?”

“You’re seriously still going to pretend nothing’s going on?” Cedric asked.

“What is going on?” Matt returned, but this time, to Julius, suspecting that Cedric was not in the right frame of mind to answer questions.

“Beats me,” Julius replied.

“I don’t care what he does, and if I have a problem with him, I’ll deal with it,” Matt said after a considerable pause, “I do not need your protection, in case you have been dragging me along under the impression that I do.”

Julius didn’t have to look to see what face Cedric could be making. If he had been running around for the last week finding out what really happened to his friend, Julius would also be pissed.

“Fine, I don’t give a rat’s ass what’s wrong with you anymore.”

The rest of the drive passed in silence. And despite some misgivings, they all ended up at school since they all had the first class together, with the same professor they should really be avoiding for the moment. Cedric all but stormed out of the car and walked on ahead while Matt took his time, walking in that same zombie pace of his. Julius parked the car and followed except, Matt, who was directly in front of him, passed by their room and went on walking straight ahead.

“We’re not following him?” Julius asked Cedric, who was basically hiding behind the door to prevent himself from doing exactly that.

“Why the hell should I?” Cedric asked.

Matt passed by the rooms one by one, allowing his feet to do as it pleases as he fiddled with the cell phone in his pocket.

It’s that time of year again, Mari, he thought as he passed by the faculty room, and headed straight until, for some reason, he ended up at Cedric’s ‘personal space’.

He sat on one of the broken chairs and sank low, leaning his head so far back that he was staring at the sky again. He took the cell phone out of his pocket and turned it on, surprised for a moment that it did since it has been almost a year since it was last used. In fact, Matt only uses it one a year, for that phone call that comes like clockwork.