A Childhood Fairytale: First Impressions

(Mello is seven, Matt six; AU, Matt and Mello are not orphans)

Mihael excitedly chattered as his mother dried his hair. "I hope he's nice," the seven-year old babbled, "I hope we can be friends, too! Oh, and he better not be like Near. Nah, I'll think he'd be more friendly. Do you think so, too, mommy?"

Mrs. Keehl smiled gently, observing her child as he pulled on a shirt. "Of course, Mihael."

Mihael slipped on a pair of jeans, pulled on his socks, and put on his shoes in record time. "Do you think we'll be friends?"

"Best friends," his mother assured him.

Mihael smiled cheekily, hugging the older woman. "Let's go, let's go!" He nearly ran into his dad in his hurry to get to the bus stop.

"Why so energetic today?" Mr. Keehl asked.

"We're getting a new kid!" Mihael gushed. "And we're going to be bestest buddies!" He gave his dad a kiss on the cheek and ran out of their house with Mrs. Keehl following close behind.

|~::~|

|~::~|

Mihael was disappointed. It had been about an hour since classes started, and there was still no new kid. With a sad sigh, he took out his book about the Ugly Duckling and started to read.

"Class, can I have your attention?" His math teacher spoke up.

Mihael rolled his eyes, looking bored.

"This is your new classmate," his teacher continued.

Now Mihael noticed the redhead that stood beside the teacher, tightly clutching her pant leg. He wore weird goggles, which irked Mihael.

"His name is Mail--" the teacher was cut off when the redhead tugged on her pants. She leaned down as the kid whispered something to her. "Matt Jeevas," she amended, straightening. "Please be nice to him. His father just--" she was cut off again when Matt tugged sharply. He shook his head. "Anyway, be nice to him."

Mihael wondered what the teacher was going to say. What about Matt's father? Was he injured?

"You can take a seat next to Mello."

Mihael silently sighed in disappointment; Matt wasn't going to sit next to him. Then, he realized that he was Mello. Mello was his nickname in school.

The eight year old almost giggled out loud at his own stupidity, but refrained himself as Matt sat in the seat next to him. He had one goal in mind: befriend Matt.

|~::~|

|~::~|

Mihael was almost in tears when he stepped off the bus stop. He ran to his house and threw open the door. "Mommy!" He cried.

His mother was beside him in seconds, hugging him. "Ssh, Mihael. What happened?"

"The new kid was mean to me!" The blond wailed.

"I'm sure that wasn't true," his mother said. "What did he do?"

Mihael sniffled and rubbed his eye with a balled fist. "I tried to be nice to him at lunch and offered him a piece of chocolate, but he ignored me!"

"He'll open up. Give him time, okay?" His mother kissed the top of his head. "Want cookies?"

Mihael grinned. "Uh-huh!" Grief forgotten, he rushed to the dining room, where a plate of cookies sat. "Can I take some outside? I wanna read."

"Sure," Mrs. Keehl said, dropping a few in a Ziploc bag. "Don't stray too far."

"I won't, mommy," Mihael said, receiving the bag and going outside with his Ugly Duckling book. He made himself comfortable under the willow tree in their backyard. Once he opened up the picture book, he was lost in a world of ducks and swans.

"You're Mello, right?" A quiet voice asked a while later.

Mihael's paranoia got to him and he jerked back, eyes narrowed and teeth prepared to bite. He was surprised, though, to see that it was Matt that had spoken. The redhead was wearing a striped shirt with a cream colored hoodie. Denim jeans clothed his legs with sneakers. And he was still wearing those goggles.

"Hi, Matt!" Mihael--Mello--chirped. "Do you live here?"

Matt shook his head. "I live in the next neighborhood. Can I have a cookie?"

Mello forgot the whole Matt-ignoring-him incident at school and scooted over to make room. Matt sat down beside him and was handed a cookie. The redhead smiled and thoughtfully nibbled on his. "What are you reading?"

"The Ugly Duckling," Mello replied.

"I hate that book," Matt said.

Mello was offended. "Why?"

"Well, if I were the Ugly Duckling," Matt patiently explained, "I would have just ignored all the other ducks. That way, I wouldn't have had to go through all that crap to find the swans. I'd have waited 'til migrating season, too."

"Well, you have a point." Mello looked down thoughtfully at the book cover. "Wanna read it anyway?"

"No thank you."

"Why?!"

"I..." Matt trailed off. "...can't read."

"What?" Mello nearly fell over. "You can't?"

"My dad used to read to me all the time before he died, but he never taught me how to. My mother is drunk most of the time, so she can't teach me." Matt scratched his unruly hair. "I'm glad the teachers read aloud what they write on the board, because then I'd be totally lost."

Mello gaped. This poor kid didn't know how to read! He was missing out! And his father died, too! Mello nearly cried for the redhead.

"I'll teach you," the chocolate lover said confidently.

"Really?" Matt brightened.

"Only if you take off your goggles," Mello said.

"No!" Matt said quickly.

"Ah, come on. What harm would it do?" Mello reached over, making the other boy squeal and scoot away. However, an outstretched arm caught hold of one of the lenses and tugged down. Matt wailed as his goggles went limp around his neck. "Matt?" Mello peered down at the redhead stuffing his face into the grass. "Grass isn't for people, silly."

Matt mumbled something incoherent and stayed that way.

Mello laughed joyously and pulled his friend up. The redhead's eyes were squeezed shut.

"Aw, come on, Matty!" Mello tickled his sides.

"Wha'?" Matt's eyes widened in surprise; did Mello just call him 'Matty?'

"Whoa!" Mello froze at the sight of bright, green orbs. "They're so pretty!" He leaned in closer, ready to rip out Matt's eyes and keep them safely stored in a jar. Like the ones on those movies that kept brains.

"Noooo," Matt moaned at the loss of his secrets.

"Why do you hide them?" Mello asked as Matt sniffled and returned his goggles in their place. "They're really beautiful."

"I don't like people seeing 'em," Matt mumbled.

"Why not?"

"They say eyes are the windows to the soul."

"Oh." Mello didn't really understand, but he didn't want to sound dumb either. "So, how about we start reading."

Matt smiled. "Okay!"

Two days later, he had mastered the alphabet and was reading Shakespeare.

The End