-📰-
"word around the school is, matt sturniolo was getting cheated on by josie pomeno and melina imal knew about it."
"word around the internet is matt and melina are dating and act like they despise each other for views."
well those are just rum...
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♫question...? - taylor swift
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CHAPTER 4 "HIS CLOTHES"
[real life, instagram]
matt came back downstairs after showering to find the living room empty. he walked around the house, then finally, through the kitchen window, he saw everyone outside in the backyard.
matt went to the fridge and grabbed a root beer soda, frowning when realizing they were almost out. he turned around when he heard footsteps coming from the basement stairs. it was melina, who had also showered. she always left clothes in his house whenever she stayed over, so it wasn't unusual.
this time, though, she was wearing one of his ransom shirts, a purple one. matt stared at her, not saying anything.
feeling his gaze on her, melina looked down and realized the shirt was matt's. she tucked her hair behind her ear and blurted out, "sorry, your mom gave me a random shirt to put on. i'll, uh, burn it for you if you want."
matt chuckled quietly, "no, it's fine. i have another one just like it upstairs." he leaned on the table. melina nodded, "oh, okay, cool." then they stood there in silence awkwardly.
the silence was deafening until melina spoke up. "um, this is gonna sound weird, but do you have pajama pants i can borrow? i only have these shorts, and it's cold out. avi wants to play outside." she asked, embarrassed.
matt sipped his soda, then looked at her and pursed his lips awkwardly. "uh, yeah. i do."
melina shook her head, embarrassed. "you know what? never mind. i'm only asking you since no one else is in here, but—" matt cut her off.
"no, it's fine. um, i'll go get it for you," he said, putting his can in the recycle bin. melina gave him a small smile.
matt walked away and went upstairs.
melina let out a puff of air, her cheeks going red. "what the fuck is wrong with me?" she whispered to herself. she'd never had an 'actual conversation' with matt sturniolo. now that they kind of did, it turned out to be the awkwardest thing ever.
little did melina know matt was upstairs freaking out about the exact same thing.
matt rummaged through his drawers looking for pajama pants for melina, but his mind was doing flips. "what the hell is wrong with me?" he said out loud, running a hand through his hair.
what the hell was that? they both thought.
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outside, nick, madi, chris, izzy, and nate were sitting on chairs eating snacks. they were vlogging but were taking a break.
a few feet away from them, marylou and jimmy were talking while watching aviana run around with trevor. the lights in the yard shone a little as the sun went down.
chris sipped on his pepsi. "guys, it's quiet—too quiet," he said, leaning forward in his seat. madi raised her brow. "right? it's never this quiet." izzy nodded, playing with the string of her sweater. nate was on his phone and opened the group chat. "should i add matt back into the group chat now?" nate laughed, showing everyone the screen.
nick giggled, almost spilling his dr pepper. "oh yeah, i forgot about that. yeah, add him back." chris looked around the yard. "speaking of matt, where is he? a shower does not take more than an hour."
izzy laughed, putting on her hood. "you take hour-long showers?" chris leaned back in his chair. "yeah, i do, actually. i have priorities in there." nick snorted. "like what? have a concert while you play around in the tub." chris yelled out, "i do not play in the tub!" he shoved nick while everyone laughed.
everyone turned when they heard the backyard door creak open. it was matt and melina, both wearing matching red plaid pajama pants and drinking dr. peppers.
everyone stared at them, gawking and keeping their comments to themselves for now.
"hi guys," nick said, looking away to hide his smile. melina walked up to the group, grabbing a chair. matt did the same.
melina sat, taking the bag of takis from nate. "so what'd we miss?" she said, eating takis. she felt matt reach over to grab some, but she held the bag closed with her arm.
matt furrowed his eyebrows. "could you, like, maybe move your arm?" he grabbed melina's arm, trying to move it, but she wouldn't budge. "i would, but you never leave any for the rest of us," she mumbled, looking at matt, who frowned.
"what? i never do that!" he exclaimed, looking around. everyone looked away, proving that they believed he did finish bags. melina chuckled, rolling her eyes. "yeah, you do. all the time." matt looked at her and narrowed his eyes.
"alright, i get it. so you're the bag hogger," he said, crossing his arms. melina looked at him, confused. "what the hell does that mean?"
"i miss when it was quiet a couple of minutes ago," nate said as everyone else held in their laughs.
ignoring everyone, matt laughed dryly. "it means you never give up the bag. you always make people grab the chips from the bag as you hold it and keep it to yourself the whole time." melina gave him a bored look as he talked.
matt was right, but melina was not about to admit that to him. she lifted her other arm, holding the bag with both arms now. "what's your point?" she said blankly.
everyone else looked at each other, staying silent, knowing not to intervene. matt reached over, trying to grab the bag, but melina held it tightly.
matt grabbed her arm again, holding it. "seriously. let go," he said, looking melina in the eye. melina stared back at him, almost like in a trance.
his eyes were so blue.
she decided to ignore that thought.
"they've clearly forgotten that we have mini bags in the cabinet." chris mumbled as izzy shushed him.
melina shook her head at matt. "no, i'm not letting go," she scoffed. "fine." matt sighed and rolled his eyes, giving up.
"you make me want to run myself over repeatedly with my car." melina smiled sarcastically. "aw, how sweet. guys, isn't he so nice?" she laughed. matt silently sat back in his seat. as if nothing happened, everyone went back to talking.
