Christmas 2002

Matt sidled behind Mello the instant that Ann and Patricia walked around the corner. The housekeeper and the librarian were both in their coats, hats and scarves. They inspected the small group of waiting teenagers with a stern gaze. "Salvo, do your jacket up properly, you look like no-one owns you. Hollow, it's far too cold to be wondering around outside with a split up your skirt like that and you have got a coat. Go and swop that shawl for it. Matt, you're twelve. Sorry, it's thirteen years olds and over."



"Ann!" Mello rushed forward. "Please? He's nearly thirteen and it's not his fault that he was born thirty-nine days too late. He's not going to get any more mature in that time. Trust me. It's unlikely. Plus we are playing this by the book. We could have sneaked out, but this is us being good." He pawed Ann's arm, peering into her eyes. "Please Ann. I promised you that I'd be good."



"Sorry, Mello. It's against House rules. If we allow Matt to come, then what about the other twelve year olds? Then we'd only hear mithering from the eleven year olds. I'm sorry, no."



Matt nodded. He and Mello had anticipated this. He was supposed to move straight into Plan B and Mello cast him a sharp look to see if he was going. Matt smiled at him and turned around, but he had a Plan A and a half, which Mello didn't know about. It still meant that Mello wouldn't get in trouble, thus risking the loss of his Mass adventure. Unfortunately, it also meant that Matt was going to have to take on Roger on his own. With the blond boy's gaze burning into his back, Matt jogged to Roger's office door, knocked quickly and entered it. He surprised Roger in the act of coming out to say a few words to those leaving for the city. "Roger, Roger."



"Yes, It Matters?"



Matt inwardly bristled at the use of his full pseudonym, but closed the door behind him. "Ann won't let me go shopping because I'm not thirteen."



"That's correct."



"How do we know I'm not thirteen? You said that my papers were a bit of a mess. I feel thirteen. I think that February 1st is wrong."



Roger took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "I want you to be straight with me, It Matters." He replaced his glasses. "If I forbid this, are you going to climb over the wall?"



Matt smirked. "Of course not, the wall is way too high." He watched Roger click his teeth. The warden must think him stupid. If he admitted to anything, he was likely to be locked in his room until Mello returned. "Can I go?"



"I'm sorry, Matt. Next year."



Matt nodded. Roger had called him Matt, that meant that the old man was weakening. "That's fine. It will give me some peace and quiet to get on with hacking the mainframe of Wammy's House. We had fun last time, didn't we? I'm sorry that I'm going to use up your afternoon in you having to answer firewall alerts. I'm sure you had a lot to do."



"It's not beyond the realms of possibility for me to confiscate your computer, It Matters."



"That's ok. I'm brilliant at picking locks. It would be too hard for you to hide every computer in the House and then to have to guard their location." Matt grinned. "Please can I go into the city with Mello?"



"Are you threatening me, It Matters?"



"No, I'm pointing out some facts and then asking if I can go into the city with Mello." Matt frowned. "It's not my fault if you arrive at some conclusions all on your own."



Roger stared. His demeanour became more defeated as his contemplations continued. "I'm sorry, I cannot, in fairness to the other children, allow you to go with Mello. I do have a duty to warn you that any chaos ensuing from that decision, on your part, will involve you spending Christmas Day alone in your room."



Matt grinned. "Yes!" He turned back towards the door, but clarification was clearly required. "And banned from being in the Revue? But I will still get my present and Christmas money."



"It Matters, you will be on that stage tomorrow if it kills the pair of us. Have you got a game in your pocket?"



Matt blew his cheeks out and evaluated what Roger was asking. He could see no harm in responding. "Yes."



"Good." Roger pointed to his settee. "Sit down there and play it. You can spend the afternoon in my office, where I can keep my eye on you." Roger lunged surprisingly quickly for his age and prised Matt's fingers off the doorhandle. Roger took the redhead's arm and propelled him towards the settee. "I will be right back."



The warden didn't shut the door behind him. Matt could hear Roger laying down the law out there about what was and wasn't to be expected from young gentlemen and ladies from this establishment. Matt judged that he had no more than a minute or so to come up with a plan and enact it. The simple solution would be to dash out now, using the element of surprise to get out of reach before Roger or Ann could catch him. However, that ran the risk of being caught and might spark Mello into action. His best friend would never arrive at midnight with a clean record then. Instead, Matt ran the long way around the room and opened the window. The drop wasn't insurmountable, but again ran the risk of his being caught midway through or at the bottom. Matt darted back across the room and crawled into the small gap between the base of the settee and the wall. The pipes were hot there, but they weren't burning him. Within seconds, he heard Roger rush in and so held his breath. There was a soft expletive, then Roger was back out, calling Ann's name. He had left his office door open.



Matt listened until he heard Roger's voice outside the window, then crawled out again. He sauntered out of the door into an empty reception area and smirked. He had all the time in the world now. He had a rendezvous with Mello, in Games World, in half an hour's time. Neither Ann or Patricia would be able to say a word if they were already in the city. It would be a fait accompli. Mello had promised him the new Digimon Battle Spirit game. Matt grinned, looking forward to a whole twenty-four hours to play it tomorrow, while he was locked in his room. He had already hidden his Gameboy Advanced in anticipation of Roger confiscating his games station in that event. He patted his pocket to ensure that his money, handed out by Roger after the meeting in the common room, was still there. Then Matt wandered on out of the front gate, secure in the knowledge that they would be searching for him around the back.