black treacle - matt sturniolo

Chapter Seventeen, Fool Me Twice

There's nothing better than watching high school students recite the words of the bard. Who wouldn't want to spend their money and their entire evening watching teenagers prance around the stage speaking archaically that most parents and unfortunate siblings didn't understand?

Please. Even Matt had trouble believing his lie.

He begged Nick and Chris to go with him and offered to do all their chores for a month. On his knees and sobbing, Matt tugged on the pyjama pants of his brothers reminding them they're triplets who promised to be with him through thick and thin.

Let's just say he's fortunate their patience was invincible or their reply would've been a curt kick to his face.

But alas, no burden will compare to hours wasted in the auditorium. Instead, he was met with slammed doors and exasperated sighs, judging Matt for the lengths he would go to for New York's safety.

After bringing his begs and pleas in the junior journalism group chat, Robyn was the only one who agreed to go with him. But she made it explicitly clear that Ashley expected her presence in the front row, reserved for family, friends and in her case, foe.

If that weren't the case, she would've mocked him endlessly for being forced to watch the production for the sake of the news. It stung worse knowing Robyn 'I'll do anything for Harvard' Reagan was questioning his life choices.

Sadie conveniently had a dentist appointment and Bryan said his brother was sick so he was stuck at home. Before you ask, Kevin wasn't invited to their chat and they couldn't force this assignment to become his responsibility. Matt made a suggestion to their head editor and was met with laughter.

The Midtown Tech drama club wasn't always cursed with this infamous reputation. In fact, they once used to be good. Great even. After the leads had been given to the younger students, their standards had drastically dropped and having lines memorised was considered miraculous.

He had to admit there were a few astounding students who he had no doubt would survive the battlefield of Broadway if only they were given the lead roles instead of Ashley and Frank.

On the bright side, that Matt sought forever so desperately, he'd be attending with Robyn.

"Just think of it as us going to a movie."

Groaning, Robyn buried her face deeper into her palms. "The day Ashley fucking Simmons is in a movie is the day the world hears trumpets because the apocalypse has started."

The pair were having lunch after finishing up their session at the newsroom. Bryan declined his invitation to join because Sadie was off sick and he wanted to make sure she was eating more than just chicken nuggets. Matt wished Bryan was with them. He'd do a better job at consoling Robyn because Matt was having trouble coming up with more blatant lies.

Being alone with her no longer sent Matt into a panic fit and he started finding comfort in her company. There was no more struggle in starting a conversation, like being able to start a fire with a flint and steel and there was no more awkwardness lingering in the air after their topic had run dry as there'd always be something else they haven't discussed to death.

It felt weirder to not be with Robyn most of the time. And he knew she felt the same way after the flurry of text messages he received after staying back in the labs for a while longer after class.

"How about I go alone and tell you about it after?" They needed only one journalist and if they were really the king and queen of Spades, it might be safer for her to stay away.

"Seriously? You'd do that for me?" Robyn poked her head up, eyes wide in disbelief. The same shock she exhibited when she found out he didn't like ketchup.