Chapter Text
Matthew wasn’t that good at making friends, he’s probably got four or five actual friends, one of them being his brother, Alfred. And as soon as Alfred is in the same room with him, Matthew is instantly forgotten about— like he’s invisible or something. He can’t lie, but that makes him really bitter. What does his brother have that he doesn’t?
He goes to school, studies, talks a little for a discussion or group project (if there is any), has lunch alone— sometimes with Alfred, if his friends aren’t at school— go home, and repeat. That’s school life for him! How… exciting… He wishes that more exciting things would happen in his life, but at least he has the people that notice him, right?
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Matthew was at home, in his room, watching another hockey tournament on youtube with his phone. His room was pretty simple, a queen sized bed with some posters of his favorite media and interests pasted on the wall. His desk was placed right in front of the window, decorated with some small plants and a calendar— full of birthday dates of his friends.
But will anyone ever remember his?
He was getting to one of the good parts of the video clips, when out of nowhere, Alfred barged into his room— a pile of snacks in his arms. He was grinning like an idiot, why was he so excited?
“Mattie.”
“Alfred.”
“Movie night, you promised.”
“What?” Movie night? Seriously?? The two of them haven’t had a movie night for a few months now, why the sudden change? Now Matthew was getting worried, what could possibly be coming… Why did Alfred suddenly suggest a bonding moment after a while? Why-
“You agreed last week, remember?”
Oh. Right. Haha.. Matthew and his memory! Jeez, he was freaking out over nothing, well, at least that calmed him down a little. He replied after a few minutes, “Oh yeahhh.. Okay. I’ll go to the living room in a bit.”
“Okay!” Alfred left the room, leaving Matthew alone in his room once again.
Matthew was in Alfred’s room, watching some really scary movie. Matthew would be lying if he said he wasn’t terrified as hell, he probably shed a few tears at some of the jumpscares.
In the middle of the movie, Alfred’s phone vibrated from a notification that popped up. He picked up the phone, unlocked it, and read whatever was sent. “Ugh, seriously…”
“What’s up?”
“Nothing, just Braginsky. I got paired with him for a physics project, now he’s being bitchy about it.” Braginsky? Ohhh, Ivan Braginsky, he’s in Matthews class. He and Alfred aren’t on good terms, but they don’t fully hate each other. But Matthew can’t help but wonder, why does Alfred dislike him? To Matthew’s current understanding, Ivan was pretty chill, though he is kinda intimidating… Well, who wouldn’t be scared of a tall russian man that’s built like a bear?
But now that’s got Matthew pretty intrigued, he wants to know Ivan more than what he knows about him now. He wants to find out if he really is that warm-hearted, innocent man, or if it’s all a façade. What if he’s mean? What if he’s two-faced? What if, what if, what if…
“Hellooooo? Earth to Matthew??”
“Oh, sorry. Just got… distracted.” He says. Alfred just sighs and shakes his head, then presses the play button on the remote, continuing the movie.
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The day after, Matthew came to school and went to his classroom to see a surprise waiting for him. Wow. The seating arrangements changed, and now they’re sitting in pairs rather than sitting individually. Matthew walks around, looking for the desk with his name on it. He's wondering who he’s paired with— and if it's possible to be friends with the person.
“Matthew Williams and… Ivan Braginsky?” Wait— Matthew, sitting next to Ivan? He just thought about the dude the night before, what a coincidence. Well… maybe Ivan would want to be friends with him? God, Matthew hopes he would. He’s already imagining it in his head right now, not noticing the shadow of a person creeping up behind him.
“Excuse me, friend.” The person behind him said, in a calm tone. Matthew looked back, just to see his new seatmate, so close to him he could feel his breath on his face— but too far to even feel anything.
“O-oh.. sorry.”
“No worries. You are my new seatmate, da?” The Russian tilts his head studying Matthew like he’s made a once in a lifetime discovery. Matthew couldn’t even speak, he didn’t know if it was from fear or admiration of Ivan, he just nodded and moved to the side a little, letting Ivan put down his bag on his table.
Matthew sits down, dropping his head on the table. He could feel his heart race at an ungodly speed. Why does he feel this way…? He’s never felt like this before.. He swears he saw a glimpse of Ivan smirking down at him as soon as he saw Matthew’s flushed face. Gosh. That Russian is so confusing.
“I am Ivan Braginsky, but you probably know that from the way you were staring at my desk’s nametag like you were really interested. You are?”
“... Matthew Williams. But um… you can just call me Matthew or Matt or whatever.”
“Okay, ‘whatever.’’’
“What? No! I meant—”
“I was making a joke.”
“Oh. Sorry…”
Matthew felt SO embarrassed. Why didn’t he pick up on the tone of Ivan’s voice? God! He’s so stupid…
School started, nothing interesting really happened, they just went along with their day like usual.
Now, the bell for lunch rang, and everyone left to go eat with their friends outside— But Matthew? He stayed inside and planned to eat lunch alone.
“Are you not going to go eat with friends, ‘whatever?’’’ Ivan asked. Matthew felt pretty annoyed that Ivan still called him ‘whatever,’ he already said that it’s an accident!
“Matthew. It’s Matthew.” He corrects. “And no, I prefer eating alone.” Oh gosh, Ivan’s probably gonna think he’s such a loner now. He probably doesn’t want to be his friend anymore.
“I’ll eat with you, da?”
“Huh?”
“I said I’ll stay and have lunch with you.”
“Oh.. okay.” Matthew felt a little bit happy, maybe excited? Is this a shot at making his first best friend? A best friend that’d make Matthew his first choice?
Hey, maybe this Ivan guy.. Isn’t that bad.