Intertwined

Hidden Depths

Matt had been the first to arrive to the classroom that he and the other five shared. They were probably too caught up in laughing at silly stuff to catch up with him so he just walked in. To his (un)pleasant surprise depending on factors he cannot name now, he found his deskmate Evan already seated. The boy did not seem to notice Matt so the latter just sat beside him.

Just then, Evan turned to see him. "Oh hi Matt, haven't seen you in a while. How are you?"

Matt slowly turned to face Evan. "Oh yes, I've been good, what about you?"

"Good good. I hear you've gotten really lucky" Evan smiled sincerely. Matt raised a brow at that.

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone's talking about Evelyn picking you. Congrats, she's such a nice girl" Evan explained, still smiling. Though Matt raised a brow still.

"Thanks but, I don't get why everyone makes a big deal out of that. Like it's some sort of competition"

Evan actually looked at Matt in shock. "Well, I believe that Evelyn Miller is quite the popular girl in the school. Anybody would be lucky to have her, you know"

Matt let the words sink in. Obviously everyone wanted a chance with the girl he's with.

Well, technically, I didn't want it. I'm just playing along with it, right? But everyone thinks it's true and I...

The boy's train of thoughts stopped right there as he came to a realization.

I can't keep lying to her, her dad, everyone like this. I don't like her like that. Sure she's cute, nice and actually one of the few people I care about but that doesn't mean I...

A genuine color of red made its way up Matt's face.

Oh no...

He was brought out of reality when Evan spoke up again. "Anyways, I saw you with some other people earlier. Who are they?"

Matt looked up at Evan. "Oh. They are..my friends. My new friends, yeah..."

Evan's eyes lit up. "Oh cool, tell me about them"

"Okay, there's Mike, you already know him. There's also Mara, Asher and Jordi. Mara is actually Mike's friend but she became my friend as well. The other two are Evelyn's friends so, we all sorta...came together and formed a group unofficially"

Evan nodded at the response. Before another word was spoken, a third voice came into the conversation.

"That Mara girl is pretty weird, isn't she?"

Matt and Evan turned around to see Aaron sitting alone behind them. It took a moment for his words to catch up to the two.

"W-why's that?" Evan inquired, kinda nervous.

"Well, she looks like the kind of person who doesn't talk much" Aaron replied in a monotone manner.

Matt flashbacked to the day he called Mara to arrange a meeting for her with Mike. There was yelling in the background...Maybe...

"Yeah, maybe she has trouble at home" Matt suggested. Frankly, he wasn't in a position to assume but still.

"Yeah, trouble at home...Like me. My parents divorced, my sister's whiny, my brother's useless...I just don't know where I went wrong..." Aaron mumbled emotionlessly. The other two boys were starting to feel freaked out.

"H-hey, it's okay, man..." Evan tried to comfort him, but Aaron already lied his head on the table and ignored them. Matt and Evan turned back around, feeling too awkward to say anything.

Just then, Mike, Evelyn, Jordi, Asher and Mara walked in. Matt didn't say anything to them and just watched them walk in, still too disturbed to say anything.

What the hell was that?...