Surprisingly, nothing did not stop Mateo from meeting Melody after school. Each tutoring session that comes, the more serious Mateo was, spending less time on his phone and more time doing work and getting work done. Sure when it was regular school hours and he was surrounded with other students who didn't care, Mateo would play around and never do any of his class work, but as soon as the last school bell rang, and it was also being a Tuesday or Thursday, his mode would shift as soon as he entered the library. He would work diligently with Melody during those times, occasionally asking questions regarding a problem or two he was working on. Not only did that mean that the principal was no longer on his back about doing the work curated by Mr. Frain for the semester, but he secretly liked being around Melody. Given how loud and proud his friends were, he liked how calm Melody was. Plus there were many things about Melody that he still didn't know, and her mystery was intriguing to him.

It came to the point where during times in between classes, where students usually spent getting stuff from their lockers and conversing shortly before going off to their next class, Melody would run into Mateo sometimes on her regular route to classes. As soon as they saw each other, both would smile, nodding in affirmation of each other before going on about their day. It was quick, and conceit, but neither of them minded. They were slowly developing their friendship. He enjoyed seeing something not everyone could, her smile, and he had hoped that she had enjoyed his company. Time came again for their meeting afterschool.

“God,” Mateo moaned, halfway through his packet. He tapped his pencil as he looked on at Melody for a reaction, in which she had only looked up in confusion. “You know what I’m craving?”

“What?” Melody asked, with a grin. Mateo smiled back.

“It's been forever since I had some cookies, especially peanut butter cookies with the lines in the center of them. God, they’re so good,” Mateo said, fist slammed on the table, head tilted back in dreamland. Melody chuckled.

“Peanut butter cookies huh,” Melody said, peeking at her work then back to him. “Are they really that good?”

“Yes. They. Are.” Mateo said, slamming his fist on every word, Melody looked on with eyebrows raised. “I’m willing to kill for those damn cookies.”

“Okay,” Melody said with a slight chuckle. “I get it. I like peanut butter cookies too. But, maybe not as much as you.”

“What’s yours then?” Mateo said, leaning closer and resting his head on his hand. “What’s your favorite cookie? Or dessert in general?”

“Hmm,” Melody said, eyebrows raised, eyes peering to the ceiling. “ I like butter cookies. Or shortbread cookies. I’m not really a cookie person. I really like pies.” Melody’s eyes shot out in excitement as a huge smile formed. “Or donuts!”

“Damn. Next session we sneak off to a bakery,” Mateo said, giving Melody a sneaky smile.

“We’re not sneaking off anywhere,” Melody said, grinning as she looked down at her work. “Besides, all the bakeries around here close at 5. We wouldn't make it in time.”

“What’s that, like 15 minutes? I’m pretty sure that we can rush there before they close,”

“I wouldn’t feel comfortable going to a bakery or a store when they’re about to close. It feels weird,” Melody said, her smile disappearing.

“Then,” Mateo said, resting his hands on the back of his head and leaning back on his chair. “We’ll have to schedule it for another time, like after school, not during our session or on the weekend.”

“I donno,” Melody said, looking down and slouching in her chair, crossing her arms. “Maybe. We’ll see.” Mateo observed Melody, and quickly regretted what he had last said. She was getting comfortable around him, but maybe that was a bit too much to do for her. But he understood. He felt as though he was able to finally understand her.

Then at their next session, Mateo looked on as Melody pulled out her work, before pulling out an opaque container with a green lid. He was confused as Melody slid the container over to him before going about with her homework. It made him even more confused by how casual Melody was, as though it was something that she would do just everytime that they had their tutoring sessions. 

“What’s this,” Mateo said, picking up the container and tilting it to try to see through the opaque material. He had looked at Melody, who had just given him a dumbfounded look.

“It’s yours,” Melody said as she turned a page in her book she had by her and scribbled something on an open notepad. “Open it up.” 

Mateo looked at her suspiciously then looked down at the small container. He opened to have a nice warmed baked peanut smell fill the air in the small room, the lid hiding six perfectly baked peanut butter cookies underneath. The container was coated with a layer of paper towel which was then coated with the slight grease of the peanut butter. Mateo's face beamed as he picked up a cookie to place straight into his mouth.

“You baked this?” Mateo said, looking at Melody as he munched on the cookie, his words becoming slightly muffled. “For me?”

“You said they were your favorite,” Melody said, peeking at him while doing work. “My niece and nephew wanted cookies so I made enough for them and you.”

“Damn,” Mateo said, sliding another cookie into his mouth. “These are so good. Thank you Melody.”

“No problem. I wish we had the same lunch period. I thought they would go stale or something sitting in my backpack all day,” Melody said, looking up for a brief moment at him before going back to her work.

“They’re not stale at all,” Mateo said, picking up another cookie and observing it. The imperfect fork scores made it all the more enjoyable, as he enjoyed the uniqueness of every single one of them. And the fact that Melody took a second of her time to think about him and pack him some cookies. He was feeling special. “Milk might make them better, but they're good all by themselves. Your niece and nephew have the best auntie ever.” 

“Thank you,” Melody said, smiling at his kind words, “I like to think so too.”