opia; matty healy.

25%

On Friday I visit Matty. When the final bell rings I slowly make my way down the road towards his place. Surely his mother will be home but I have a foolproof scheme that is guaranteed to grant me access to either his living room or upstairs bedroom. When Matty texts me asking what my plan is, I tell him it's a secret and that I won't be able to tell him until I see him, to which he says /if you see me.'

'Matthew', I type, "You are doubting my breaking and entering skills.'

To be honest, the plan was never to break into his home at all, and it still isn't. I just like to scare the poor boy – and it works. His reply is something along the lines of 'BREAKING AND ENTERING?!' note the capitals and extra exclamation point on the end. I leave him hanging, laughing a little as I near his front gate.

I've come to notice that Matty's front gate is far nicer than my own. Clearly it has been restored more than once in the last 30 years, ours may well fall apart the next time I make my way up the path. Reaching Matty's home, I shove my phone into my pocket and exhale deeply, preparing myself for expected rejection but still feeling slightly confident in my master plan.

I knock once and instantly I can hear footsteps.

"Isabel!" Denise swings the door open and greets me; "I'm afraid Matty's on complete lockdown tonight."

"Oh," I frown, "I came by yesterday-"

"I know sweetie," she continues, "but he needs to learn a lesson, which is why he's not allowed to have anyone over or leave the house today."

"It's just that we got this French assignment today and Mrs. Bernard paired me with Matty and I figured that I should let him know it's due in five days because Mrs. Bernard, I tell you Denise, she has no lenience with her students," a complete lie, "I was hoping I could drop over the notes for Matthew and get a start on it?"

I instantly know that Denise is not buying any of my lies, but with a slight smirk on her face and a heavy sigh she lets me through without a word. I grin up at her, sneaking through and sliding my shoes off before running upstairs screaming.

"Matthew! Matty! I made it!" I swing his bedroom door open, "I told you I'd- well what the hell is wrong with you?"

Matty is lying face down (A/N: jesus take the wheel on this unintended sin of a pun) on his bed, his face buried in his pillow but his chest moving nonetheless to let me know he's still breathing.

"I swear to god if you're dead," I tell him, jumping onto the large bed and crossing my legs, leaning down closer to his face now, "I'll have no choice but to drag you to the woods and feed you to the wolves. Do you really want me to live with the guilt for the rest of my life?"

His head slowly turns to face me, one eye peeking out, "You'd do that for me?"

"Ah," I sigh, "the disappointment to see you alive. Can I feed you to the wolves anyway?"

"Sure," he begins to sit up as I lean away, "if you can find some."

"How are you holding up?" I frown.

"Mother's got me locked in here like it's a jail cell. I'm surprised she hasn't handcuffed me yet," he pauses, "did you really break and enter into my home?"

I shake my head, "if I had broken into your home, would I run up the stairs screaming your name?"

"You know where else you could be screaming my name," he winks, a playful and inappropriate side to Matty that I had been warned about, suddenly appearing.

I whack him in the chest, hard because I have no regrets, "You're disgusting. Get a girlfriend."

"Who's getting a girlfriend?" George's voice can be heard from the doorway, and I turn quickly to see him standing in the doorway with his schoolbag.