The past never lies

10 years ago- The sound of the Matthew's alarm clock caused him to slam his phone down harder then he meant to. First day of his last year in high school. Matt climbed out of bed and dressed quickly he ran a comb through his light brown hair, his electric blue eyes looked sleepy still. He instantly smelled bacon when he opened his door. "Hey Sarah, that smells good." Matt greeted there housekeeper who's been working for his family since he was a baby. "A special birthday breakfast for you." Sarah slid Matt a plate full of bacon, eggs and biscuits and gravy. "Do you feel 18? Sarah asked as she put more bacon on a plate. Matt laughed, "sure. Thank you for this." Matt gestured towards the food. They both knew his parents probably forgot. Sarah gave him a sympathetic look and gave his hand a squeeze. She went over by the fridge an came back with a small gift she pushed it towards Matt. "Sarah you didn't have to." Matt meant it, he loved Sarah very much she has been more of a mom to him then his own mother. Matt has fond memories of going to the zoo, and ice cream runs. And it was always Sarah face in the crowd during award ceremony when he was in elementary. Matt ripped the paper off and inside was probably the best gift he could of asked for. A small key chain with a picture of Matt and his grandpa. Matt felt a swell in his throat, going over memories with his grandpa who they buried 6 months ago. "Thank you." Matt whispered. The loud sound of a car horn broke Matt free from thinking back over memories of his grandpa. "Don't be late on your first day of senior year." Sarah said. Matt opened the front door and that Oregon weather hits you right in face. Matt cursed under his breath that he didn't grab a jacket, not that he will even need it by noon. He opened his best friend's passenger door. "Surprise!" Out popped two of his best friend's. Justin and his new girlfriend that Matt didn't even remember her name. And Jenny his cousin, these two are the most important people in his life. Jenny bounced up and down spilling a little bit of her ice coffee. "Happy f*****g birthday!" She yelled wrapping him in a hug. Matt wrapped her in hug. Jenny long brown hair smelled like home. To Matt Jenny was his sister. "Damn Matt! Your shirt is going to rip if you don't stop growing these muscles!" She joked giving his bicep a squeeze. "Gotta stay in shape, Welding schol right around the corner after graduation." Matt replied with enthusiasm. "Yeah, yeah you just can't wait to travel and get the hell out of here." Jenny pouted. She wasn't wrong Matt thought. He couldn't wait to leave here and get away and see the world. Traveling underwater Welding was exactly his ticket out plus the excitement and danger in the work was a plus too. It was fight for months with his parents to agree to Welding school, not because of the danger the job would involve but because they expected him to follow their footsteps and his older brother and become a doctor. His mom is a emergency room doctor, and his dad a orthopedic surgeon and his older brother Timothy (who's shadow couldn't have been cast any higher for Matt) was going to be doing orthodontist. Then his grandpa passed away and his parents gave in to Matt's wishes about Welding school. It was shock to everyone the car accident it happened suddenly they were told his grandpa died instantly. Matt had a feeling they were in a vulnerable place when his parents finally agreed to let him go. "Happy damn birthday!" Justin said. Matt has known Justin since kindergarten he's like the brother he actually wanted. "Yeah Happy birthday." the no-name girl said as she wrapped her arms around Justin. "Yeah thanks." Matt said. "How are you feeling?" The sympathetic tone in Jenny's voice was noticeable. Matt sighed, he was Jenny's grandpa too, she wasn't close to him the way Matt was, it was basically Sarah and their grandpa that raised Matt. His parents careers always came first and they never made that a secret. But Matt's father his temper now that was just a hidden secret hiding inside those brick walls. School felt like it dragged on, he just wanted to be on that field playing soccer. when the last bell rang Matt quickly put his stuff in his locker and went and dressed in his soccer uniform. His team put everything into practice that day, But Matt always puts everything in soccer since he's been playing at 7 years old. He knew this year was his last year playing so he was going to squeeze every last experience out of his last year playing soccer. Matt also knew this would be the first year his grandpa would not be in the stands at all his games. "Damn Alder you kicked my ass out there!" Greg said slapping Matt on the back. Sweat dripping off all the guys as they finished practice. The coach yelling at everyone to hit the showers. Matt met his friends outside the gym. Justin still had that girl wrapped around him staring at him like a puppy in love. Matt made a mental note gotta figure out her name. Jenny sat there on the bench looking impatient. "Finally we almost left your ass!" Justin said. "Pratice went long." Matt apologized. "I'm starving!" The blonde girl attached to Justin whined. "OK birthday boy, where we going you get to choose!" Jenny said looking annoyed at the blonde. They probably already knew what he was gonna say, his favorite spot that him and grandpa would go to every week. Taco shack. The best tacos in town, and the best salsa. As Matt was about to answer the sound of a motorcycle came pulling up next to them. And whoever it was had everyone's attention in the parking lot. "who's that?" There was a seductive hint to Jenny's question. The stranger hopped off his bike and took his helmet off and it was no stranger it was Ryder Cruz. His jet black hair messy from being under the helmet and his large muscles hiding under a black jacket. His dark skin flawless. "Oh s**t, thats Ryder." Jenny said staring intensely. "what's he doing here?" A bit of jealousy escaped Justin's question. " Probably worked on someone car here." the blonde girl shrugged. Ryder has been working on vehicles since Matt could remember it was his thing that everyone knew him from in town. " He can fix my car anytime," Jenny licked her bottom lip. "my Mexican dream man". Matt looked away, feeling his face heat up as he silently agreed with Jenny. "Are we f*****g going to eat or what?" Justin said annoyed. "yeah let grab my bag I'll be right back." Matt took off toward the school entrance. " where we going to eat?" Jenny yelled after her cousin. "one guess!" Matt shouted back. "I knew it!" Jenny exclaimed. she held her hand out toward Justin. A small smile crossed his face as he fished out a crisp 20 and gave it to Jenny. Matt walked toward his locker, wondering if he would cross paths with Ryder. He hasn't even seen him in a long time not since Ryder dropped out in his eleventh grade year. Matt was a year younger then Ryder and they rarely interacted due to people they both hung out with. Ryder friends were a bit hardcore for Matt and his friends. Ryder lived on the North side of town and you didn't go into the North side unless you lived there. It never mattered anyway because his crush on Ryder Cruz never faded if anything over the years it just intensified. Matt even tried dating guys a few towns over and his stupid middle school crush never disappeared and no guy ever compared to what he felt when he thought about Ryder Cruz. Maybe it didn't help that he lied about who he was when he tried dating guys he never wanted them to figure out where he lived and who he really was. Matt slammed his locker shut harder then intended annoyed by how much homework was already assigned on the first day of school he turned and slammed into someone. "s**t,!" Matt cursed. "Sorry." "Someones in a hurry" the voice was smooth and rough at the same time and. Matt knew that voice anywhere. Matt looked up into the darkest brown eyes he has ever seen, someone could argue they were even black instead. His messy hair looked good, his black leather jacket. Matt felt a lump in his throat. "Sorry, late for my birthday dinner." Why the hell did I say that? What am I 10 years old Matt said to himself. " Well you don't want to be late." A sly smile hit the corner of his lips. Matt nodded, not trusting words right now. He turned to leave, and felt a strong grip grab his arm he felt Ryder pull him closer. Ryder leaned in close and breathed in Matt's ear. "Happy birthday." Matt felt heat all over his body. Ryder was so close it would just take Matt to turn his head slightly and there lips would be so close. As quickly as it happened though Ryder let go and turned and left.