AHhhhh school. No… you didn’t read that right. Not a sigh of relief “Ahh” or a Pepsi commercial “AHHh” more like a horror movie scream “AHHH” type of deal. In other words, Mateo Perez was not looking forward to this very moment. The first day of school. Okay… I know what you’re thinking. But Mateooooo, school started 3 months ago. Yes… well… sorry? It wasn’t his fault he didn’t know that. It’s not like anyone told him… let’s just… ignore the fact that school starts in August every year and just move on. And… well that’s why he was here - waiting in the secretary’s office for Dean Klein to “talk” to him because of something about registration and missing the deadline and failing… or something like that. Who knows really, he wasn’t exactly paying attention on the phone.
“Mateo,” there were no pleasant greetings as the Dean exited the room to look at him with an iron clad frown - how did he get his face to so… perfectly smile upside down like that? It was a talent. Either way, after giving Matty that look, the deal simply walk back inside - possibly trying to get him to follow? Come on man, HE WAS BACK, at least have a little celebration. In either case, Matty followed, leaning against the wall casually as he played with the dean’s “sighed baseball” by a famous player or another . “Deeeaaannn Klein, how’s it going? Miss me? I know I miss me. I don’t really miss school, but hey, I’m here now so let’s get this party on the roa…”
“Mateo Perez, sit down… and put that away immediately,” there was a look in the man’s eyes that told Mateo unless he wanted another 3 months of detention like he got freshman… and sophomore… and junior year… he should obey and with a soft frown - mostly for being cut off on his train of thought- the man obeyed, jumping into the chair with his feet sitting on the man’s desk. “Feet. Off.,”
“Okay okay donnnn’ttttt be such a buzzkill. I thought you’d be more excited I’m back. I mean I"m like your favorite student,” with those words, Mateo let his legs fall to the floor before tapping on his chair excessively. What? He liked moving around and being forced to be in a chair that, let’s be honest, is a torture device wasn’t the sh!t.
“Let me… I just… I don’t understand how you just accidentally missed three months of school, Mateo. We start in August every year. What did you think all your friends were doing for the last few months?.,”
“WEllllllll someone sent me an email that school was pushed back this year because of a bee infestation. It sounded very official and I don’t know… I just thought my buddies were taking summer school or something and I was like ‘good for them - education matters’ while I, as the famous song says, took a pill… many pills in Ibiza.”
Oh the frustration that could be seen on the dean’s face. Let me paint you a picture. Imagine someone who is both suppppeprrrr annoyed but at the same time p!ssed off, but also disappointed. You got
that mentally drawn? Well throw it all away because nothing could compare to how p!ssed the dean looked. “Mateo… first of all… I am your dean and I don’t want to know what you were doing during the summer… and bee infestation? Really? You didn’t think to… I don’t know… read the mailing information we sent with no indication of any closures? And on the topic of summer school, you were supposed to be there after failing last year so why weren’t you?”
“Wasn’t that optional? You told me I have no other choice besides summer school and so I was like… let me go find other choices and I did… there was this flyer I saw that said “Your choices are yours” and I was like, yeah man they are. So I booked a flight and traveled and you know, enjoyed myself. Honestly, 10/10 recommend it Klein-io. You seem like you need the break.”
WELL. You can pretty much guess how the rest of that conversation went. Mateo showed the dean the email he got which, apparently was about needing volunteers for the school spelling bee, and not a bee infestation? Who would have known? Then the dean said he’d have to retake the year, and last year. Then Matty called his dad who donated another library to the school, and then Dean Klein let him out of the office with a “on probation” slip with the sentiment that he needed to “bring his grades up” or he wouldn’t like “graduate” even if his parents donated more “money”. Wait… was money supposed to be in quotes… oh fck it.
Stuffing his new schedule in his bag, Matty finally left the office after HOURS of talking to that dude who clearly had a stick up his ass. Though soon enough, Matty had thankfully forgotten the entire incident when he saw Elio at his locker. With a smile, Mateo started full on screaming “AHHH” as he jokingly attempted to tackle his friend, but his ahh kind of gave him away so soon enough Elio knew he was there. “You know, I’m kind of upset that they didn’t send a parade for me on my first day back” he told the man, with a grin on his features after not seeing his friend for months.