Chapter 9

In science class, I tell Mr. Callahan I joined Matthew with the presentation, which he's super thrilled about.

"That's the spirit I was looking for," he tells me and grabs my shoulder. Ew. "You'll see, your grades will soon be on top again."

When where my grade ever on top? But that's not what I say. Instead, I smile and nod. "Yes, thank you Mr. Callahan. I'll work hard."

Mr. Callahan opens his mouth, as if to add something I'm definitely not keen on, so I discretely turn away and shuffle through my bag, adding a not so quiet "oh wow, I'm really late for math tutoring". Then, I'm practically running out of the room.

There is no math tutoring.

"Come on, club meeting," Carlos calls right as I pass through the door, apparently waiting for me with none other than Matthew, who's leaning against the wall with an amused smile and ruffled hair. I do not stare.

"We're going to send out the flyers today to get them printed, so arts crew is presenting all their drafts to us. Should be a highlight."

Matthew raises an eyebrow. "Um, yeah? This year's drafts are all great. Agatha and I worked really hard."

"Whatever you say, dude."

I somehow find myself walking in their middle, with is more than a little uncomfortable.

"Oh, look," I randomly point across the hall, desperate to not let any awkward silence come up, "There's Liling – with Duncan. They're close, aren't they?"

"Don't tell them," Carlos exchanges a grin with Matthew, "There's actually a whole betting pool running on who's going to ask out whom first – you can join if you want. Stakes are 1:2 Duncan makes the first move, and 1:3 Liling."

"Really?" I raise an eyebrow, "1:2 Duncan seems generous. You think there's still time for me to join?"

"I'm pretty sure it's going to happen during the junior's field trip, so you better join before that," Carlos says, "Matty here thinks Duncan won't make the first move until prom, which – never."

"I don't know, I feel like he needs the time," Matthew says, "Don't stress him."

"Yeah, but it's not like Dunan's capable of it ever," Carlos says, "It's going to be Liling. I can feel it. She's going to ask him out during the field trip, all romantic over some museum exhibitions. This is like, her thing."

Matthew laughs and I follow suit.

The clubroom's miraculously almost empty when we come in. There's only Liling sitting at her desk, working on what looks like her math homework. No Vivian, no Logan, thank God.

Liling apparently turned all the desk lamps on, and there's a nice, warm light all over the room. It looks comfortable and inviting, and I feel myself smiling while arranging my stuff all over our double desk.

"Hi guys," Liling smiles at us, "Great to see you. I'm really excited for the flyer presentation."

"Where's Duncan?" Carlos asks and furrows his brows, "Didn't he come with you?"

"Duncan's buying snacks," Liling makes a face, "He said the presentation is going to be uber boring, so he needs snacks to survive. That's so mean, right?"

"Better not let Agatha hear it," Matthew says and drops his backpack on their desk, "She's already pretty stressed out about the whole thing."

Johnny enters the room right after us, dark hair carefully gelled as usual, dressed in a white button up and neat blue jeans. He looks just like one of those prep school boys and the fact he's carrying a black leather bag isn't helping.

"Any job interviews scheduled later on?" Carlos asks.

Johnny rolls his eyes and steps over to his desk, fixing a few strands of his hair. "Where is everyone?"

"Duncan will be here soon," Liling says and rolls around on her chair, "I also met the VPs, they're on their way. Agatha should be here soon –"

"Hi guys," Agatha sounds breathless, arms clutched around a huge folder, "Am I late?"

Matthew smiles and gestures her towards him, and I hear them whisper over their drafts.

"And where is Kaia?" Johnny asks, "Is she sick?"

"No, she'll be here soon," I glance at my phone, "Two minutes?"

The door opens right then and Duncan strolls inside, arms full of snacks and looking already bored out of his mind.

"Did someone make coffee?" he asks, "I need some to stay awake during this."

"Duncan, please don't touch the coffee machine," Liling declares and grimaces, "We don't want a repeat of last time."

"Whoa chill, I didn't plan on making the coffee myself anyway," Duncan raises his arms, "What with all the girls in here–"

Liling reaches out and throws a Snickers at his head.

"You have a coffee machine?" I ask curiously and open a cereal bar.

"And an electric kettle," Liling tells me excitedly, "Johnny bought it last year with the money we earned at our cake sell. It's super useful, especially in winter."

I follow her to the back of the room, where a small, pastel pink coffee machine sits next to a just as pink electric kettle on a table, lots of different colored cups around them.

"Cute, right?" Liling takes the water kettle, "I'll refill it – do you like tea, June?"

"Sure," I say and start looking through the tea box.

"Choose a tea for everyone. They drink too much coffee anyway."

"Aw Lil why are you so hard on me," Carlos pouts and slings an arm around her shoulder, "It's not like coffee's bad for your health."

"Um, it actually is?"

"Seriously? Seriously? What have I been drinking –"

Liling carefully pours hot water in the cups I prepared as Kaia materializes next to us literally out of nowhere.

"Oh, you made tea? Carlos told me you have a really fancy coffee machine."

"Yeah, not today," Liling says, "Kaia can you help us? Give one cup to Johnny and two on the VPS desk, hopefully they'll be here soon."

Which means no relaxed club meeting for me. I'm grimacing inside but try to not to show it, carefully balancing four cups of tea in my hands.

"Thank you," Agatha smiles at me, immediately wrapping her hands around the warm cup.

"What is this?" Matthew asks curiously, "Herbal tea?"

"Uh, hibiscus," I say and stop in front of his seat, "It's my favorite actually."

Matthew takes a careful sip and hums. "I like it."

My eyes wander over to the others, Carlos now complaining to Liling about the lack of caffeine in his veins, the awfulness that is tea, plus any and everything in general. Meanwhile, Kaia hands Johnny a cup of tea with a sweet smile and he looks at her like she's some sort of angel sent from heaven.

"Johnny likes Kaia, doesn't he?" Matthew mumbles and tilts his head.

"Looks like it, right?" I nod and take another sip of my tea.

It's no surprise, definitely not, since Kaia is totally the type of girl boys like Johnny – or boys in general – like.

"They'd look good together," Agatha says, fingers still tightly wrapped around her cup, "I think Johnny waited for a girl like her."

"Are you guys up for another bet or what is this you're talking about?" Carlos calls, spinning around on his chair, "I'd say they hook up during the green & gold cleaning. Over some pancakes maybe."

"Too early," Matthew shakes his head, "Remember, Johnny is an old man. He likes to take his time."

"Maybe if he asks her out for Christmas prom?" I say, "Kaia really likes that, a boy being all classy and formal while asking her out, with flowers and maybe a band."

"Oh my god, they're freaking made for each other," Carlos says, "Johnny is so the type to do that. I feel like by Christmas prom the whole council will be dating, what with Logan and Vivian, Liling and Duncan, Kaia and Johnny, Matty and –"

I kick Carlos hard under the table.

"Shit," Carlos curses and reaches out to hold his knee, "What on earth is up with your shoes?"

"What about me?" Matthew asks confused.

"Nothing," Carlos groans and gives me a look, "I mean, there's literally nothing about you. When was your last girlfriend anyway – in kindergarten?"

Matthew doesn't seem offended. "I think so."

"Hello people."

Vivian takes the moment to strut inside the room, chin high and hair tied up to a high pony tail. Logan is right behind her, their hands casually interlaced, and his eyes linger a little longer on where I'm sitting next to Matthew.

"We're here, let's start," Vivian says and places her bag on the desk.

She takes the tea, whispers something in Logan's direction and they both laugh. I already feel murderous.

I get up and mumble something that could be interpreted as a good-bye in Matthew's direction, before going back to our desk. Kaia is already sitting on her chair with huge, expectant eyes, a box of cookies in front of her. I take one with pink frosting.

"So, shut up now," Johnny says and lifts his hand, "This is really important, I want everyone to pay attention. We'll mail the flyers to the printing shop right after we're done here, so the sooner, the better."

Everyone straightens, tea cups in our hands which makes us look like we're at a classy British business meeting. Liling even has her pinky raised.

"Okay guys," Matthew stands up and pulls Agatha with him, hand wrapped around her wrist, "We have several drafts for you – Agatha created three designs and I came up with matching slogans. Just vote for the one you like best, it's as simple as this."

Agatha clears her throat, shifting her weight awkwardly while she holds the sheets in her hands. She takes a deep breath and glances at Matthew. He smiles back encouragingly.

"So," Agatha manages a weak smile, "This is the first draft – I used pastel colors for all of them. I want them to look nice and inviting, especially for the freshmen."

"We should just host a sole freshmen event then," Duncan says.

"Uh, why not," Agatha says, "Anyway, so this is our first draft. I did a simple sketch, in green and gold colors. The slogan is: Come and join the cleaning of the green & gold room!"

The drawing looks nice, soft lines illustrating the green & gold room with the slogan in neat handwriting on top. There are green and golden lines highlighting it and Agatha added small brooms and feather dusters in the corners.

"This is cute!" Kaia says.

Liling nods. "I like it. Great work, you guys!"

"Boring," Duncan says and Liling glares at him, "What? It's my honest opinion. You want people to notice the flyer? They'll throw it away."

"Sorry Aggs," Carlos says, "It's not really exciting."

"It's okay," Agatha says quickly, "We have two more. I guess they're more exciting?"

I notice Vivian taking rapid notes on her notebooks, for what I'm not sure. Logan watches her adoringly and takes her free hand to kiss it. She rolls her eyes but smiles.

"So here is the second one," Agatha shows us the next sheet, "I used different colors and Matthew created this really cool slogan."

Carlos coughs something that sounds suspiciously like "dust puns".

It's the draft Agatha showed me before – different colors highlighting a detailed drawing of the green & gold room, with small drawings of students, dressed in cute uniforms and holding broomsticks in their hands. Agatha added a soft red blush to their cheeks and cartoon-ish bright smiles. On top, this time in a bubbly handwriting, is "Fresh up your dusty life – start now with the cleaning of the green & gold room!"

"I like this one," Johnny points out and nods, "It's funny – even though comparing the freshmen's life to dust is still quite –"

"The truth?" Duncan helps.

"All I did in freshman year was hanging around and sleeping," Carlos says, "I also set a high score on Candy Crush. I played more than my mum, I was this bored."

"I watched Netflix all the time," I say.

"You still watch Netflix all the time," Kaia says.

"Well, my freshman year was fun," Vivian says and looks up from her oh so important notes, "I made lots of friends and joined a couple of clubs. It was great."

Oh, how surprised we all are.

"And now, the third draft," Matthew takes over the lead and holds up the last sheet, "I actually think this is Agatha's best drawing."

He walks over and shows it to our desk first, which makes it a little hard for me to solely focus on the draft. It looks good though – several stick figures in front of a pastel-ish green & gold room. They all raise their hands in the air, broomsticks and feather dusters adorning the corners. On top is written "Another one fights the dust! Come and clean the green & gold room with us!"

"Oh," I say and look up at Matthew, "I mean. I like it."

"Yeah?" Matthew grins and goes to show it to the rest, "I also tried to add Me Dusta, but it didn't really fit."

"Nah, it's still a nice pun," Carlos winks at me, "I mean, if June thinks it's good –"

"What matters," Vivian speaks up, "Is everyone's opinion. I think it's best if we start voting now."

"Right," Johnny nods and raises a pen, "Write down the number you like, then I'll go and collect it."

"Why can't we just raise our hands?" Kaia asks and leans over, trying to get a look on my paper.

"Ah, we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, do we?" Carlos says quietly from his desk and nods in Agatha's direction.

I definitely don't want to hurt Agatha's feelings again, but I don't think I will either way. All drawings are nice, and I start to feel like the arts team are the ones putting by far the most work into this club – if you don't count Johnny.

Kaia bites down on the end of her pen and takes another glance at my paper. She giggles quietly when I scribble down a "3".

"What," I whisper and furrow my brows, "The third one is definitely the best, isn't it?"

"Sure, sure."

I could kill her.

Johnny stops in front of our desk with a cap in his hands and points at it.

"Put your votes in here."

"Does the voting for the president work like this, too?" I ask.

"Hmm? Of course," Johnny nods.

"Well, officially at least," Matthew says and rolls over on his chair, "But no one wants to be president besides Johnny anyway, so we never had to do it so far."

"And vice president?" I ask quietly and look in a very different direction than the VPs.

"Vivian offered to help Johnny with his work and so did Logan. Johnny asked us if anyone disagrees with it and that was it," Matthew explains and shrugs, "VP's actually just a title around here, the ones we can blame when Johnny isn't around."

"Why, thank you Matthew," Vivian says.

Matthew laughs and throws a paper ball at her, a level of comfortable I'm a little in awe of. Vivian even smiles at him. I can't think of myself ever being this chill with Vivian, not like I want to.

"So, I'm done," Johnny announces from his desk and lifts a sheet, "With five out of nine votes, we have a clear winner – the third draft."

Matthew laughs and goes to pat Agatha's shoulder. "Good work, good work!"

Carlos declares he knew it, and Duncan says he's glad the boring one didn't win. Agatha doesn't even look bothered by this but giggles and accepts Johnny's handshake. Matthew also shakes his hand and then looks up, and for a brief seconds, his eyes meet mine.

My first instinct isto look away. My second instinct is to make an awkward face and blush like anidiot. But my third instinct, and all I seem to be able to do right now, issmile at him – and immerse in the moment of Matthew smiling right back at me.