Alex and Matthew had a more active than usual study session at the library that evening. Every other student in their grade who came in stopped by their table to see if the rumours they had heard about a fight were true. Edward Knoll wasn't the only one of their PE classmates prone to exaggeration. According to various eyewitness accounts, Matthew had suffered a broken arm, hand, leg, and jaw. Alex usually only suffered a broken nose in the very true tales, but sometimes he walked away with a concussion or a couple of lost teeth.
The cause of the fight also varied wildly. Some people even heard such mutated rumours they thought Emilio and Matthew had teamed against Alex. Those who did have the fact that it was Emilio versus Matthew right all had different explanations of the inciting incident. A football dispute. A lover's spat. Matthew's favourite was that it was over a girl.
"I can't believe it's finally happened," he said as he recalled that last rumour to their friends at dinner. "Almost made it sixteen years, but someone finally accused me of being straight. It was a good run while it lasted, though I guess it was criminal of me to deprive women of my splendour for so long."
"I think they'll manage to survive if you stay fixed in your ways," Jack said, earning a chuckle from Ellie.
"Afraid of a little competition, Farrow?"
"From you? Please."
"Rude. Hey, Ellie, which of us would you rather-"
"Finish that sentence," Ellie said slowly, "and I'll break your arm."
Matthew looked at Mikayla, who was vaguely paying attention to their conversation and the one on the other side of her. Their dining table was still filled with some of the scholarship students who had grown tired of Emilio, though not all of them. Alex noticed some more had moved to Warren and Connor's table, and some had even joined Mary Somers and her friends. Mostly the younger ones, probably in Charlotte's year. They looked a little awkward but friendly.
"Mikayla?" Matthew asked.
"Why do I have to pick either of you?" Mikayla asked, sounding pained by the very thought of the choice.
"Fuck it, girls are too mean," Matthew said. "I'm switching back."
"You know who's cute?" Mikayla said. "That old family boy Connor hangs out with. What's his name?"
"Warren?" Jack asked.
"Yeah. What's his deal?"
"Pretty sure right now it's Connor," Ellie muttered.
"Really? You think?"
Alex pushed around his food while Jack and the girls kept gossiping. He hadn't eaten much. His stomach kept churning at the memory of his uncle's words. His thinly veiled way of warning Alex away from looking into the truth of Baptiste's death. How it only strengthened his suspicion over his family's role in obscuring that truth in the first place.
"You know generally speaking you gotta put the food in your mouth to get anything out of it," Matthew whispered when he noticed how little Alex had eaten. "But if you've figured out how to photosynthesize, I guess that's cool too."
"Want some?" Alex said, noticing that Matthew's plate had been devoured within ten minutes of him getting it.
"Tempting, but I feel like I shouldn't be enabling. Something's gotta power your giraffe body."
"I'm not that tall, you know."
"You're like, 6'2."
Alex did the rough math to convert that to centimetres in his head. "That's... almost exactly right," he said. "Did you measure me in my sleep or something?"
"I'm big enough to admit I may have a complex about my height. And as a result may have developed a very accurate eye for calculating the heights of others to compare myself to them."
"... Small enough, you mean," Alex said, barely able to keep a straight face.
Matthew stared at him blankly for a second before turning to interrupt Jack and the girls. "Boys are mean too," he said, feigning offence. "I'm switching back again."
"Maybe the problem is just you," Jack suggested at the same time Ellie said, "We don't want you," Matthew responded to both by flinging cherry tomatoes from the salad Alex wasn't eating. Alex barely managed to stop Jack from retaliating with a spoonful of mashed potatoes.
When Alex and Matthew got back to their flat that night, there were two messages on the answering machine. One was from Dr. Bayer, letting Alex know she needed to postpone his first regular session to the next Friday. She needed to help plan for the vigil on Sunday. The second was from Matthew's mother, chewing him out in Spanish for getting into a fight.
"You understand all that?" Matthew asked when it ended, looking a little sheepish.
"Most of it," Alex admitted. "Some words were not in my vocabulary, but I think I got the general meaning."
"I should call her back."
"I can give you some privacy."
"If you don't mind, I could use some backup. A second eyewitness."
"Sure... Am I meant to lie to cover for you this time?"
Matthew gave Alex a crooked smile as he dialled his mother's number and hit the speakerphone button. "Duh. You're my friend now ."
Matthew's mother answered the phone in English, but the second Matthew answered her greeting, she tore into him in Spanish a lot like she had in her message.
"Jesus, ma," Matthew said once she took a second to pause. "Watch your language, Allie is listening."
"Allie?"
"Yeah. Say hi, dude."
"Hello, Mrs. Montoya," Alex said in a small voice. "I hope you've been well."
Mrs. Montoya was silent for a second before she let out an exasperated sigh. "Why do you have me on speaker?" she asked slowly, sounding embarrassed.
"So I could have someone vouching for me on the witness stand," Matthew said. "Since you're ready to give me five to twenty for something that wasn't even my fault."
"You always try to tell me these things aren't your fault."
"Well, this time it wasn't."
"He's right," Alex chimed in. "It only happened because he wanted to stand up for me."
"You don't need to lie to get on his good side, Alex," Mrs. Montoya said. "Though I hope your willingness to will finally improve his behaviour."
"Hey, we're friends now," Matthew said. "I haven't done anything to annoy him in like a week. By the way, ma, can you believe this guy doesn't know who Kermit the Frog is?"
"I feel like you're trying to change the subject," Alex said. "Though that little doll you made him was very nice, Mrs. Montoya."
"It's not a doll," Matthew muttered as Mrs. Montoya chuckled.
"He showed that to you?" she said.
"Yes. He always keeps it in his-"
"Thank you, Alex," Matthew said quickly, putting his hand over Alex's mouth. "Thank you very much."
Mrs Montoya laughed again, and Alex was struck by how similar it sounded to Matthew's laugh. He also couldn't help but compare the sound to his mother's laugh. When was the last time he had heard it tinged with anything other than condescension? Had he ever?
"So, the fight was my son protecting you, then?" Mrs. Montoya said.
"Yes, it was," Alex said once Matthew removed his hand from his face. "I'm sorry he got in trouble because of me."
"My son got in trouble because he doesn't know of any other way to solve problems. But... I'm glad his motivation was a bit more selfless this time."
"Does that mean I'm not in trouble?" Matthew asked hopefully.
"No. No, it does not. Hm, how to punish you from so far away is the real question."
"Come on, ma, I already have a month of detention with my English teacher. That guy is the worst, tell her Alex."
"He is the most intimidating professor," Alex said. "His detention sessions are pretty infamous."
"... Fine," Mrs. Montoya said. "But I'm going to come up with something to have ready if you're stupid enough to do something like this again. ¿Entiendes?"
"Yes, ma."
"Good. How... How have you two been? I heard what the police said, about your classmate."
"It's... it's been," Matthew said, glancing at Alex. "We're having a vigil on Sunday. My friend Eloise is taking the lead in planning it. I'm trying to think of a way to do something to help."
"Puedes tocar una canción," Mrs. Montoya suggested in a gentle tone. "Something that reminds you of him or meant something to him."
"Yeah, maybe... Thanks, Mom."
"And you, Alex? How have you been?"
"I'm alright," Alex said, still caught off guard that she was asking. "Thank you for asking."
"Of course," she said as if the thought of her not asking was ridiculous. "Thank you, for being so forgiving of my son."
"He was never that bad. And besides, he's made up for it by now."
"Try not to encourage his brash bravado. He does that enough on his own."
"Right. Sorry. I'll try."
Matthew kept his mother on the line for a little longer to catch up with news about his family. Alex excused himself to his room to give them some privacy. Thanks to the help Matthew had given him earlier at the library, he was able to finish the ridiculous amount of chemistry problems from Baxter. Matthew wasn't the worst tutor when he decided to focus on the subject. As Alex was writing his last formula, Matthew popped his head around Alex's doorframe. Alex noticed he wasn't using his crutches, instead dragging his bum foot behind him like it was made of lead.
"I'm making Mexican hot chocolate," he said. "Want some?"
"Sure," Alex said, still not exactly sure what that meant. "Do you need help?"
"Nah, I'm good. The swelling's already gone done a ton... You've made up for it too, by the way."
"What?"
"If I've made up for my mistakes, then you've made up for yours too."
"I've hardly done anything."
"You just talked my mom into not doling out a transcontinental prison sentence. And you tried to get Emilio to stop dragging my name through his conspiracy shit."
"I don't think I made him listen."
"But you tried. That's what counts. Plus, with a guy like that, trying to talk to him takes a whole lot more guts than trying to fight him."
"I don't know if I agree with that. He is five times your size after all."
Matthew frowned. "Oh, it's five times now?"
"Hm. Maybe even six."
"Fuck off, I'm not making you hot chocolate anymore."
"Wait-"
"Nope. You're out of my good graces. Goodnight."
Matthew ducked away again before Alex could apologize. He stayed in his room to finish up his French assignment, worried at first that he had offended Matthew. But he came back after thirty minutes and placed a mug of warm milky chocolate on Alex's desk.
"It's three times at most, by the way," he said, taking Alex's finished French work. "And I'm copying your answers."
"Make sure to change them a bit," Alex called after him.
"I'm not an amateur, Allie, thank you very much."
Alex grabbed the mug once he was gone, smelling something a little bit more than chocolate in it. He took a small sip, a little surprised that it was spicier than he was expecting. He was sure he had never had anything like it before, but it still tasted familiar somehow. He finished it all by the time Matthew came back to return the stolen homework.
"I take it you liked it," he said, swapping out the paper for the empty mug.
"What was in it?"
"A little cinnamon. A little chilli powder. A little Montoya family secret ingredient. You finish those chemistry problems?"
"Yes. Thank you for the help, by the way. You're a good teacher when you try."
"I'm good at anything when I try."
"Want to try to help me with my Spanish work?"
"You're still not done with it? How much did your tutor give you?"
"I want to get a bit of a jump on the next lesson. I'm starting with a Japanese tutor on Saturday. My uncle told me earlier."
Matthew raised an eyebrow and leaned against Alex's desk. "What, your mother couldn't bother to call you herself?"
"It's honestly a miracle she did that much. I didn't learn about my Korean tutor until she showed up here one day."
"What... what else did your uncle tell you earlier?" Alex didn't answer right away, but he waited so long that Matthew started backtracking. "Sorry. I, uh, guess I shouldn't have asked that."
"No, it's fine. He just... He could tell the fight was about more than we were saying. He wanted to know why I was lying for you."
"He not understand the concept of covering for your friends?"
"That's not really what I was meant to do, I guess. Be your friend."
Matthew smirked. "If they wanted to sick an attack dog on me, they shouldn't have sent in a golden retriever," he said. "I'll help you with your Spanish but only if you let me finish telling you the rest of Rocky III, we didn't even get to the good part yet."
"That's what you said about the first two, but you never got to their good parts either."
"... You sure love thinning the ice, don't you?"