lover boy & dollar store girl ♬ matt sturniolo

VII

CHAPTER VII
[ matt and minnie sitting in a tree... ]
♬

when matt was little, he had a crush on a girl in his kindergarten class. her name was allie. allie was a firecracker, with little misshapen freckles detailing her ruby cheeks and a missing front tooth. matt and allie were desk partners, and whenever lunch came, she always shared half of her dunkaroos with the little boy. that was what made him love her, at first. then it was because when they had nap time, allie always wanted to be next to matt on the carpet, no one else. she wouldn't sleep unless she was laying on top of the school bus stitched into the classroom carpet, because matt always laid on the forest to the side of the road.
when he was that little, he didn't really know what love meant. he just knew that when his mom said she loved his dad, it meant that she would eat all of his broccoli, because his father didn't like broccoli. and he knew that when brock said he was in love with another one of the nurses from the pokémon center in every episode of indigo league, the cartoon trainer smiled whenever he was with her. and matt knew allie made him want to smile.
one day, as she handed him a cookie from the dunkaroo package, matt told her, "i love you, allie!"

"ew! matt, you have cooties!" the girl answered incredulously, her eyes wide with disgust. she took the rest of the cookies back, and ate them quietly, hiding her blushing cheeks behind her hands.

matt never felt so dejected before. he told allie that he loved her, and she took her cookies back. she took her love back. what was he supposed to do with that?
the little boy began to cry, and when the teacher noticed, he told her that it was because allie hit him. which wasn't a total lie- her rejection was like a blow to a stomach, or at least to him it was.
matt's kindergarten teacher moved his seat next to his two brothers, and they were the only three who were allowed to share a desk. every other desk was just two kids. allie replaced him with olivia, and matt was heartbroken for the rest of the day.

matt had forgotten about allie until his mother brought her up at the breakfast table.

"her mother posted some photos of her on facebook," she said, "she's grown up so beautiful!"

matt felt bitter even thinking about her, remembering how badly she hurt his feelings. then, when he realized how ridiculous it was to be upset over a kindergarten crush, he smiled to himself. sometimes he surprises himself by how well he can hold a grudge. even 13 years later, he's still mad over his first breakup.

     "matt's first girlfriend," chris teased, and it earned him a smack on the arm.

     "shut up, chris."

     "you've got a new one now, move on!"

     the color in matt's face dropped so quickly it almost looked like he had died right then in there. nick smacked a hand over his mouth, trying to muffle the surprised giggles; matt shot chris a look that screamed, in front of mom?!

     "what's he talking about?" their mother grew a cheeky smile, her eyes glittering with interest.

     matt wished an asteroid would hit, or someone would just fucking kill him, so he wouldn't have to answer this question.

     "she's- she's not my girlfriend, just a new friend i made, mom," matt replied, the embarrassment causing his throat to close up, "not a big deal."

     "is she pretty?" she prodded. 

     "very!" chris interrupted.

     matt had to be restrained by nick as he lunged for chris. "chill, matt! chill! come on, chris, stop teasing him,"

     their mother and chris were giggling like kids as nick pulled matt back into his seat and patted his shoulder in that way only nick can. matt took a deep breath and rubbed his cheeks hard, hoping it would stop the burning.

      "you must really like her, huh?" chris wondered aloud.

     "can we please just drop this?" matt clenched his jaw and fists, and tried to just let nick's pats calm him down rather than set him off. nick once told him that he lets his anger get in the way too often, and matt's been trying to keep track of that.
matt got up and collected everyone's plates from the counter, placing them in the sink and scrubbing them off hurriedly. not even his mother could get him to sit back down- the boy rushed off to his room, knowing that the second he locked his door, he could breathe out.

matt always hated it when he had a crush. his brothers saw right through him every time, especially chris, and they never let him live it down. every second is "matt likes a girl!" and "matt and some girl sitting in a tree!", even at the grown age of eighteen. it's exhausting.
matt doesn't want them to do this around minnie. the last thing he wants is to look like an idiot in front of her. for any other girl he could brush it off, or manage the emotions without wanting to beat chris into oblivion, but not minnie. he wants her to see him differently.

the boy was tired, but he picked out some clothes nonetheless and slipped his sneakers onto his feet. a few deep breaths brought him back down to normal, and then he barreled out of his bedroom, picking up his bag and the car keys and kissing his mother on the cheek in one broad swoop. matt called out, "let's go, i'm getting in the car!" and scurried down the steps, not in the mood to let nick and chris slow him down.
matt turned the key in the ignition and sighed as the van rumbled to life. his radio clicked on automatically, and the volume was so loud it nearly blew his eardrums out; he forgot to turn it down before he shut the car off last night. he remembered driving minnie home a few days prior, listening to her music picks, blasting them down her street and certainly waking up some neighbors. he couldn't control the urge to smile.
     she hadn't spoken to him in a few days, not since they'd gone to mcdonald's. he wondered if she was thinking about him.

matt plugged his phone into the aux cord and played one of the songs she showed him a few nights ago, waiting patiently for his brothers to get to the car. matt played the song on a loop two times more before they showed up, then he switched the music over to his car playlist for nick and chris. as they drove off to school, matt realized he'd rather be listening to her playlist; but he didn't want his brothers to know that. he wanted to keep her to himself.