The Confrontation

MATTHEW'S POV

School had finally ended and I changed back into my school uniform, the red button still inside my pocket.

It was 5:00 in the evening did mister Jacob let us go. I was cleaning the bleachers because someone lazy enough to throw their trash outside. I may not have revealed myself as an elite now, but with their reputation, I figured I should go along with it. Also because I couldn't stand a dirty place.

Cleaning the bleachers made my mind calm enough to think. As I picked a candy wrapper up, I thought of Samantha when she gave me a candy to reduce my stress. And as Samuel and Samantha were siblings, that meant Samantha also had it bad two years ago.  Whatever happened to their sibling obviously wasn't good as it affected Samuel to be this depressed.

I felt Zed has been dropping some hints so I could be aware of Samuel's situation. He couldn't just say it straight away as - as he said - it wasn't his place to say it. I would talk to Samuel about it, but with him ignoring me in every way possible, it was rather hard to do so.

I put the last trash in the garbage bag, which was a water bottle. The only ones in the gym were me, mister Jacob, and a couple of girls who wanted the gym teacher to take an interest in them. I didn't know who I should pity - the girls who mister Jacob didn't even bat an eye to, or the gym teacher that was completely oblivious to what was happening.

I pushed through the number of girls to get to mister Jacob. "I'm done cleaning up. Can I go now?"

The gym teacher beamed at me, which I received glares from the girls. "Thanks for your hard work, Matthew! There seemed to be no more trash left." He said as his eyes roamed the bleachers. "You can go."

I waved goodbye to the teacher. As I was looking back, I bumped into someone.

"I'm sorry." A voice so gentle said. I closed my eyes as I smiled. "No, it was my fault. I didn't watch where I was going."

"Wait, Matthew?"

I was surprised the person knew my name. When I opened my eyes to see who it was, I almost stumbled back at the familiar green eyes. The very same eyes that once captivated me.

"Sasha?"

The girl in front of me nodded. Then, she stretched her arms out to hug me. "I missed you."

My cheeks warmed at what she said and at her actions. My hands trembled as I think about whether to hug her back or not. Since it would be rude not to - and that I also missed her - my arms wrapped around her back and I buried my head on her hair.

We swayed back and forth, her embrace getting tighter. Sasha pulled away after a minute. She looked up at me and smiled brightly. "How have you been?"

I chuckled at the conversation starter. "I'm fine. Just busy nowadays."

I didn't want to drop hints about being an elite. And since my mouth was evil, it betrayed me again.

The girl tilted her head and I waited for the question to come. "Doing what?"

I held back a sigh. "You know, school stuff. I'm way behind school works."

Sasha giggled. "It's not your fault anyway." She paused. She looked like she was rummaging in her brain for something else to say.

She eyed me suspiciously and squinted. "I wanna ask you something."

I hummed, indicating for her to continue. As her mouth opened, another voice intervened. "Matthew?"

Now, this voice was someone I couldn't forget. His voice was deep and smooth, unlike Sasha's which was high-pitched and girly.

I braced myself to face him, inhaling and exhaling deeply to slow down my heartbeat that was accelerating bit by bit. Slowly, I turned around and my brown orbs struck with black round ones.

Elijah stood there with his hands in his pockets. Upon closer inspection, there were eyebags underneath his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept for days.

I resisted the urge to ask him why he hasn't been sleeping and greeted him as casually as possible. "Hey, Elijah. Fancy meeting you here." I smiled like it was my first time meeting him, even though I collided with him when we were situated in our classes.

Elijah had a frown on his face, which added up to his eyebags and generally the dark circles around his eyes, almost as dark as his eye color.

Elijah leaned a bit to the side and saw Sasha. Elijah turned back to look at me and whispered. "Can I talk to you? Privately?"

Sasha heard what Elijah had said and pouted. "What about me?"

The frown on Elijah's face turned into a small smile. "You can have a turn with Matthew. I just need to talk to him," His gaze flitted to me. "Alone."

Sasha backed away at Elijah's sudden change of tone. I gulped nervously. If you first met this guy, he was all fun and games. But he could be scary if he wanted to.

Elijah swiveled around and started walking. This meant I should follow him. I ran to keep up with him, as he was walking strangely fast. I glanced back to Sasha. Seeing her worried expression made me scared for my life.

I kept my head down while we walked to wherever Elijah had in mind. My gaze sometimes flickered to my left foot. I noticed the bandages were slowly coming off. I should ask Zed for a new one or to see if I didn't need it anymore.

Aside from that, my nervousness and panic grew as silence filled the atmosphere. Our footsteps clicking on the ground were the only source of sound. My mind was in shambles as I hurriedly tried to come up with answers to what Elijah could presumably question me with.

I was so in my head that I didn't notice Elijah had stopped. When I only heard my footsteps, I looked up to face Elijah's back on me. I was confused on why he stopped, but my voice seemed to be lost as I didn't have the courage to speak.

Then, he spoke. "Look beside you."

I blinked before turning my head deliberately. Once I perceived the red building with a scanner on the side of the door, I immediately shut down.

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. I couldn't hear anything. My surroundings seemed to dim. All of my senses had given up on me. My eyes widened as I stared at the elite building.

'How did he know? Did I do something to give it away?'

It wasn't too late, I could turn his attention away. "W-What are we doing here, Elijah? Shouldn't w-we head to the dorms?" My voice cracked and I stammered.

My body went rigid as Elijah shot me a glare, something that would make anyone freeze on the spot. I always thought of Elijah as one of those guys who are all smiles and jokes. I didn't know he was even capable of doing such a thing.

Elijah stomped closer to me and gritted his teeth. His eyes were glassy as they glinted with sadness, anger, and betrayal.

"Drop the act, Matthew." He said. "Don't think I'm dumb enough to not notice anything!" His voice boomed with so many emotions, and it made me start to wonder if lying was worth it at this point.

I pursed my lips in guilt and shame. It was happening, everything was backfiring. I knew that this day would come, I just didn't know it would be this soon.

Just as Elijah said, I didn't bother to hide anything. "How did you know?" I said barely in a whisper.

Elijah sucked in a breath, trying to control his rage. "The guy that you said was your cousin..." He crossed his arms. "I met him before."

I took a step back at the words he said. Elijah met Samuel already? Why wasn't I informed? Samuel didn't recognize him?

"How do you know him?"

"You know that I'm new in this school, right?" I nodded slowly, not knowing where this was going.

"I accidentally bumped into him, right in front of this building." His black orbs reflected the structure of the elite building.

"I honestly thought this was the Grade 11 building for some reason. I didn't know what the scanner was for though." His hands grazed the scanner that stuck to the side of the building.

"Suddenly, your 'cousin' appeared from the other side." Elijah quoted. "He told me where the Grade 11 building was, not before assuming I was trying to break in." He chuckled humorlessly.

"That's how I knew he's an elite. Also because of the red button, he wore that day."

I breathed deeply as his story came to an end. "What does it have to do with me?"

Elijah's expression turned sour. "Didn't I tell you to drop the act?"

I was at fault here. I knew. But why was I annoyed by the tone of his voice? I tried to calm my nerves, my lower back was aching again, making it harder to be in the right mind.

"I really don't know why I'm involved. Please, Enlighten me." My mouth spat the words out. Elijah wrinkled his nose up and scoffed.

"Fine, then. Your cousin is an elite. Aren't you one too?"

I stood up to his glare. He flinched when he saw that I had one of my own too.

"Just because my cousin's an elite doesn't mean I'm one too! Cousins may be related by blood, but they could also have different personalities. Samuel could be smart, hardworking, kind, and thoughtful while I have none of those traits!"

I said all of those with the intent to lie, but why does it feel like some of them were true? It hurts to know that I wasn't half lying to Elijah anymore, but rather talking to myself, even if my gaze stuck to Elijah. My breath was shaky, and so were my hands balled into fists. My knuckles were turning white as I tried not to let my emotions control me. My lower back seemed to hurt even more.

Suddenly, Elijah laughed. I raised an eyebrow at what could be so funny. Soon, I realized his laugh didn't sound like he heard a joke or was happy. Rather, it sounded like he was laughing to keep the hurt and anger hidden.

When he stopped, he was still smiling, but his eyes told me otherwise. "You won't really stop playing dumb, huh? It's getting irritating."

"How about this..." He walked even closer, his eyes pierced into mine. Both of us weren't backing down. There was no space between us anymore. His eye bags were very visible in our close proximity.

"You know about Sasha's sister being in the hospital, right?"

An image of Stacey flashed in my mind. She wouldn't be proud of me and my attitude right now.

"What does Stacey have to do with this?" The volume of my voice slightly increased, and so did the pain in my back. I didn't like the thought that Stacey was in a coma in the hospital and we were talking about it like it was nothing.

"After Sasha ran outside when she heard the news, I ran after her. Only to find you already got to her before me." Elijah's stare darkened. "What shocked me, aside from how you got to her so fast, was the red button attached to your sleeve."

Both of our eyes trailed to my sleeve. When Elijah saw there was nothing on it, he shook his head. "If that wasn't enough, I saw the both of you - you and your cousin - enter this very building..." He pointed to the elite building using his thumb.

He leaned forward. Now, I couldn't see anything but his face. He towered over me, funny enough since we were the same height. " ... With my own two eyes. How can you explain that, then, Matthew?"

I went quiet. I didn't have any excuses for that. Elijah knew that he finally backed me in a corner and that he won.

"Hm? Matthew? I'm waiting for your answer."

Sighing, I looked away. "Okay, you got me. I'm an elite." I wasn't proud when I said that. It was the opposite. I was ashamed I got caught.

Elijah took a step back once he heard the words come out of my mouth. He wore a satisfied smirk on his face. Then, it turned into a sad one. "Why didn't you tell me?"

That was it. That was the question I dreaded to answer. I didn't mind that saying that I was an elite. I didn't want to say what was happening behind those walls of the elite building, and what unfolds at night. Karma knew that and threw it at me.

"I-I... Can't tell you." I closed my eyes tightly. It hurts me not to tell him. But sometimes, some secrets just couldn't be revealed.

Elijah clicked his tongue. He seemed angrier than ever. "Really? You still don't want to tell me?"

I didn't reply. I was too guilty to find my voice.

Then, Elijah kicked a small pebble away out of anger. I held my breath at the action.

"Not only did you lie, but you can't even tell me the reason for it?"

"I want to tell you, Elijah!" I said. "It's just... I can't."

His eyebrows furrowed. "You can't? Or you won't?"

"I. Can't." I firmly said.

Elijah sighed heavily. He used his hands to rake the hair out of his face. "I really don't get you, Matthew." He grunted. "You hold so many secrets. And you can't spare me at least one detail of it."

Elijah's voice dropped lowly. "Do you not trust me?"

'I do, Elijah. Even so, this secret can't be known to anyone. If you were an elite, I would've broken it to you a long time ago.'

"It's a bit complicated, Elijah." I shifted my left foot to the side. "And you're one of the people I trust the most! I just don't think you'll be believe anything I'll say about it, let alone handle the secret."

"Try me." He pressured. "I've heard weird things throughout my life, Matthew. Whatever you'll say wouldn't compare to it."

'I doubt it.'

"It's still a no, Elijah." I clutched the hem of my uniform jacket. I needed to protect the secret. I wouldn't be the one to spill it out. That would be... Disgraceful and disappointing. Not to mention the wrath of the other elites.

Elijah groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine, be like that. If you can't even tell me one little secret..." He stopped. I waited in nervousness at what would come next. "... Then I guess there's no need for this friendship."

I think I heard something shatter. Was it my heart? Or was it the bond Elijah and I had? Either way, it broke into a million pieces. I looked up to see Elijah's face sullen and pained. There wasn't a trace of him joking.

My mouth closed and opened, desperate to get any word out. Anything. "Y-You're not serious are you?" I hiccuped. The strain in my voice made it hard to talk. "I mean... I-It's just a secret, Elijah! This shouldn't c-change anything."

"It's more than that, Matthew!" His voice boomed, louder than the gunshots that I grew accustomed to. "I gave you so many chances to just tell me the truth! But you still tried to hide it. It's about trust, Matthew. What's a friendship without trust? And what kind of friendship is it when there's no honesty and it's just filled with lies? I don't think it's called friendship anymore. And you don't ever spend time with us anymore." His voice faltered into a whisper. "You're always with them."

"Elijah. Don't do this, please. I'm sorry." Since I didn't have much pride to begin with, I was begging for him not to go, not caring for egos and all that.

The guy I once called a friend turned his back on me. Nothing hurts more than seeing a friend with their back facing you. That was the sign they didn't want to do anything with you. Everything the both of you have been through had ended. Just like what was currently happening.

As Elijah started to walk away, my vision blurred. A tear had flowed its way down to my cheek. Then, another one followed. And another one. Soon, it was like a dam had been fractured.

My lower back hurts more than ever. All I wanted to do right now was scream out to Elijah and let the truth pour out. But alas, I couldn't do that to repair our friendship.

I sniffed and wiped a tear from my face, although it was useless as they kept coming. I heard footsteps from behind me. I didn't turn around as I was ashamed at the state I was in - a bawling mess.

Sasha had appeared beside me, looking back and forth between the walking Elijah and the crying me. With a short side-hug and a pat on my shoulder, the green-eyed girl chased after the guy who was now no more than someone I knew.