Love And Lies

Sinking his nails past the boundaries of his skin and into the flesh, Matthew felt as if the walls were closing on him, as if these were his last moments, feelings of confusion, regret and sadness all arose, despite being in no physical danger. The built up dam of tears which had burst before after his seeing his mother were long gone, and now all what was left was an empty heart and a mind full of questions. However, the catalyst for Matthew to slap back into reality was a familiar voice.

"Hey babe, sorry I took so long to get here, I'm exhausted from work. Grace got the fucking promotion as well, even after how many hours I've put into overtime...anyways, how's your day been?" A woman asked, who had just walked in, dumped her bag on the floor and started to take her earrings out. Matthew thought this must've been Theo's girlfriend, Emily. Looks like she had an office job, as Matthew quickly observed her appearance, Theo had done well, she was quite attractive. Her long locks of brown hair swayed towards him, as she revealed a gentle smile. "Come oooon, your day must have been better." She said.

Without knowing, Matthew was smiling back, as a warm rush of happiness flew through his body. 'So Theo's emotions are still out of my control?' thought Matthew, whilst saying to Emily that "Work was awful for me too, but let's not talk about it alright?" he had to pat himself on the back, he was getting good at playing Theo Banks. However, in this instance, an instinctive sense of warmth whenever Emily spoke seem to rise up. Was this what it meant to be in love?

As cringe-worthy as it sounded, Matthew didn't exactly have the most luck or experience when it came to relationships. Due to his overactive family and their hyper nature, his brief relationships weren't really the most fruitful or insightful. "Sure. Wanna watch more Fullmetal Alchemist? We didn't watch...last episode." Momentarily, Emily's face was one blended with confusion and almost panic, before clearing her throat and reverting back to her smile, tying her brown hair back, removing the last of her makeup, revealing an array of freckles.

Their watch through was fun, Matthew pretended to laugh or be in awe along with the show, despite being clueless to what was going on. However, the ambient, quiet atmosphere of hearing Emily laugh and talk about it was strangely comforting. It was almost a way to distract Matthew from his constant questions flooding in about his situation. Sad that the only way to have this feeling was being Theo. Eventually, Matthew had noticed that Emily was alseep, leaving him awake, and not tired in the slightest. Instinctively, Matthew got out of the bed, putting on a jacket that seemed to be Theo's on the floor, and left the apartment. Soaking in the moonless night of L.A, Matthew was in awe on how beautiful in looked to him, the skyscrapers, the illuminating lights, as he walked down the streets, the loud bursts of beeps and the never-ending rattle of cars being stuck in traffic. Meanwhile, this awe was matched with despair. Nothing logically could explain why one night that a boy from one of the poorest areas in London was going home from an interview to the university of Cambridge, and the next he's in a gang member who's lying about it to his girlfriend in L.A. 'Well, they did have some similarity, both are usually weird situations innit...' he thought to himself, once again trying to justify the craziness about this situation. Even with the constant google searches for Matthew Jones and Sail Away, nothing came of it, causing him to dive further into confusion and despair.

Soon, he'd come across a convenience store that didn't look sketchy. Using the sparse money he had, he bought a bottle of beer, and using the rest of his mobile data, he located a small bridge for him to drink to. Matthew had actually never drank before, but taking a swig of a bottle felt ordinary after one swig. Glancing at others who'd give him an odd look as he walked past, probably because of the shifty clothes he had on. After a while though, the footsteps started to get louder to his direction, so he turned around.

Shocked, Matthew was met with a sullen looking Emily, also clutching onto a bottleof beer. "So, you're like me." She said, without any of the emotion or even the same voice in a way from before. "You're not Theo right? You're someone else, and a fucking weirdo at that. At least try and act better." Matthew probably should've been angry at her remark, but instead a wave of relief crashed within him.

"Who the fuck are you then?" Matthew replied, narrowing his eyes. Who knows what kind of people would also be in the same predicament as him?

"I could always say vice versa, but I'm actually polite, so I'll tell you. Sasha Greene. I lived in Texas for a while...but now I'm this chick. I thought it was a dream at first but I guess not..." Her voice cracked, but as it did she quickly took a chug of her bottle. "You're also looking for Sail Away too right? And sometimes someone speaks for you when you say something that doesn't fit the role of Theo or whatever the fuck. I wonder why it's not happening right now actually."

"W-wow. No need for the remarks mate..." Matthew muttered before taking a glance of Sasha's face slowly shifting to anger and clearing his throat to speak louder. "I mean, I'm Matthew Jones, 18 and I got thrown into all this rubbish. I just want to get home, but looks like Sail Away is the only clue for that huh?"

"Rubbish? What are ya, Canadian?" She laughed, looking over the edge of the bridge like Matthew.

Matthew for the first time since this all happened let out a genuine laugh. "No you mong, it's British slang. Anyway, how the fuck did you find me?"

"I kind of pretended to sleep and followed you." Sasha stated cheekily, although it may have been under the influence of the beer.

Matthew let out more laughter, although that may have been the beer too. Though, that didn't matter in the end, all these lies had lead to something happy for him, even if it's brief.