Mr. Melancholy (Gus x Matt)

27. Lapidary

⚠️TW! BULLYING!!⚠️

Matt:

As Matt walked into school the next day, he was excited. He was excited for his construction class and when he'd be able to show his professor what he made the previous day.

He clutched the crystal statue in his hands as he walked from class to class, doing his best not to pay attention to the looks he was getting. He couldn't tell if they were good or bad, and he didn't want them to be bad, so he just decided to tune out all of them.

(The thought of someone looking at his statue and thinking it was cool did make him blush a little, though)

Matt walked into his illusions class and saw Gus smiling cheerfully at him as he entered. When Matt made his way to the seat behind Gus, Gus asked, "Has anyone complimented your statue yet??"

"No. I've kinda just kept it in my bag. I don't want it to fall and break," Matt responded.

"Ah, fair enough," Gus admitted.

The bell rang, and the professor started the lesson for the day. Matt tried to create the illusion they were supposed to, but still couldn't get it right. Gus, of course, got it right on his first try.

After a while, the bell rang, signaling the end of class. The two boys made their way to the cafeteria, where they sat down with the rest of their friends.

Matt wouldn't go as far as to call them his friends... but he had to admit, they were starting to grow on him just a bit. Luz and Amity were fangirling over the newest book of "The Good Witch Azura," and Matt, Gus, and Willow were all talking about their courses.

Gus brought up Matt's statue, and Willow obviously asked to see it. "Pleeaasse," she asked. A light blush dusted Matt's cheeks as he got out the statue and set it down on the table, slightly embarrassed. "I-It's not as good as Gus is making it out to be -"

"Are you kidding??!" Willow interrupted, "That's amazing, Matt!"

Matt smiled. If Willow thought it was good, then it probably actually was. He knew that Willow wasn't one to sugarcoat things but always gave constructive criticism instead. He actually didn't mind that, in all honesty.

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Matt groaned, realizing that he'd have to go to his construction class next. Don't get him wrong, he loves that class - it's just that the people there are... not very pleasant, to put it lightly.

Matt waved bye to Gus and made his way to his class. His stomach did a somersault when he walked in: Everyone was staring at his statue. He looked down at his shoes and swiftly walked to his seat.

Matt set his bag down and placed his statue on his desk, bringing his knees up to his chest and shrinking into himself. He knew that it would take his professor almost all class to grade the statues, and he didn't really mind. He just figured he could use this time to practice illusions.

Matt thought of something vague, a sunflower, and pictured it in his mind. He drew a circle and slowly opened his eyes. In front of him was a hazy image of a sunflower!

It was better than his previous attempts, but it still wasn't very good, which caught the eye of the kid who had bullied him. As soon as Matt looked across the room to read the time, he made eye contact with that kid. The kid glared daggers at Matt, which reminded him all too much of the face his mom had made all those times.

The kid whispered to his friend next to him, and he whispered to his friend, and she whispered to her friend, until the whole class was catching glances at Matt and sniggering. The kid behind Matt poked him rather hard on his shoulder and said, "If you're going to suck at one thing, you might as well suck at everything." And reached over Matt and knocked over his statue.

The statue fell to the ground with a deafening crash, and the beautiful blue gemstone broke and scattered all over the ground. Matt rushed to try and clean it up. "Nonononono," he whispered, trying desperately to get the pieces to fit back together.

At this point, no one in the class was trying to hide their laughter anymore. Matt heard an awful symphony of laughs erupting from the corners of the room.

With tears streaming out of his eyes, he picked up as many fragments of the statue as he could, grabbed his things, and ran out of the class.

He ran to the auditorium, the only place he knew he could get some peace. He flung open the doors and sat as far away from them as he could.

Matt sat down in the chair and huddled against himself. He held the fragments in his shaking hands, trying to will them back together. "Nononono..." he whispered again, "this was supposed to be for Gus..."

Matt sobbed into his hands, staring at his crushed work of art. He felt sick. He was going to give it to Gus to try and give something back to him.

Gus.

Matt got out his scroll and texted Gus.

Matt: "Can we leave school now? I'm not feeling good."

Gus immediately responded.

Gus: "Do you feel sick?"

Matt: "Kinda"

Gus: "Alright, I'll see if my dad can pick us up. He might be at work, tho"

Matt: "Does he have to pick us up? I just really want to go home now."

Gus: "Okay, let me see what I can do. Just hang in there, alright?"

Matt: "Alright"

Matt turned off his phone as he waited for a reply from Gus. He stuffed the shattered pieces of his former statue into a pocket in his bag, zipping it up so nine of the pieces fell out.

He got a reply from Gus just then.

Gus: "Okay, I told the nurse that you feel unwell and have to go home, I told her that my dad can't pick us up and that I have to walk you back, is that okay with you?"

Matt: "Yes. I'll meet you outside at the front doors."

Gus: "See you soon, hang in there Matt <3"

Matt smiled slightly. He was lucky to have Gus. He picked up his stuff and walked as quickly as he could to the front doors, trying to wipe the tears from his eyes.

When he got to the doors, he saw Gus waiting for him, a worried expression shown on his face. When Gus saw him, he relaxed slightly but still looked worried. "Let's get you home, Matt," Gus said sweetly, grabbing Matt's hand and leading him out of the school.

Gus took Matt's bag and slung it over his other shoulder, "Just take it easy, we'll be home soon, promise."

(End scene)
Give me name ideas for the random bully kid(s). Something laughable and uncool, so it matches their shitty personalities.

Love you all so much! ❤️❤️❤️