21 Questions | Matt Sturniolo

04.

Matt, Lily finally had a name to put instead of only texting the random digits that Alex had given to her a few days prior. Unable to resist and despite the late hour, Lily was eager to share this with her best friend who would definitely enjoy having the latest details regarding the mystery boy as she had called him.

As Lily got up from her bed and rushed to her friend's room, she didn't wait for a response when she knocked and immediately entered – Lily knew that Alex was still awake because of the light coming from the bedroom and the fact that Alex was a hundred percent a night owl. The look on Lily's face and her tone were enough to draw Alex's attention:

"Alex!"

"Lily!" the blonde replied with the same excitement her best friend had despite not knowing yet what would follow.

"Guess who has a sort of new friend?" Lily asked with a tone that was pretty much giving the answer.

"Ooh mystery boy is back? Tell me!" Alex was absolutely involved in whatever happened between her friend and the stranger.

"Okay sooo, I have a name: it's Matt. we actually cleared the ghosting situation, he was just busy which is completely understandable like– we barely know each other so I didn't need a whole explanation to be honest." Lily shrugged as saying that – it was true, she wasn't really bothered by it.

"What else have you learnt about him?"

Alex could see how genuine the smile on her best friend's face was when talking about this potential new friendship of hers. By force of habit, Lily gave her unlocked phone to Alex for her to read the latest conversation while she replied to the question:

"I'm so happy because he is a huge Pokemon fan and I don't know, I wasn't expecting it like he's not as into the DS games as I am but he seems to adore Pokemon like in general, the universe and everything as much as I do so it's really exciting that we can bond on that! I hope we can find more stuff we have in common in the future like movies or TV shows, you know?"

While listening to Lily, Alex couldn't help but think about the only Matt she knew: Matthew Sturniolo, one of the triplets she's been following on YouTube. A bit far-stretched maybe, Alex thought as there were probably thousands of Matts on earth who love Pokemon, it's just a coincidence.

For now, Alex was just enjoying her friend having someone else in her life apart from Jade and Lucas who also worked at the café. The blonde was thinking back to middle and high school when it had always been the two of them without anyone else. Obviously, they had had a few classmates they liked talking to at school, but never has Lily ever had other friends for she wasn't very outgoing – Alex became more of an extroverted during high school and kept a couple of friends from that period but it was hard, even nowadays, for Lily to go up to people and get to know each other. Online friends was a concept that Alex always thought would correspond to Lily as speaking to people without meeting them was so much easier than being face to face with someone you absolutely don't know. She was really hoping that this friendship would help Lily grow and appreciate new beginnings as well as changes.

~~~

For the following weeks, a new routine had started for Lily. On the one hand, she was spending more time knowing Matt – she had for instance learned that he loved hiking in the mountains, while she briefly talked about her wish to travel the world. On the other hand, Alex was successfully getting her deeper into the Sturniolo fandom and twice a week when Lily would come home from work, this was what she was welcomed with:

"NEW VIDEO!!" Alex shouted when hearing Lily close the door.

"Yayy, let me just take a shower and get changed, I'll be here shortly", Lily replied, eager to watch the new video.

"Okayyy, I'll wait for you! What's twenty more minutes after an hour", Alex laughed at herself.

Since Alex had managed to convert Lily into watching the triplets with her, she decided she would now wait for her best friend to come home so that they could watch the new videos together. Before that, Alex would simply watch the Sturniolo Triplets alone in her room, but as Lily had now found interest in watching them as well – Alex was glad the Wheel of Doom video had convinced Lily that the triplets might be funny, they actually started watching them on their TV in the living room.

After Lily returned from her well-deserved shower, the two girls sprawled out on the sofa and Alex gave a snack to Lily as she looked for the latest video on the boys' channel – this had been their ritual for every Wednesday and Friday.

"I didn't see the notif on my phone, what's the title of today's video?" Lily asked.

"It's Triplets brothers lie detector test (Chris's revenge), it's gonna be so fun!" Alex replied, excited to see how it would turn out. "Remember last week it was only Chris who had to answer questions, so this time I guess he's gonna ask Matt and Nick."

"Yeah I remember, I'll remind you that most of the time I'm the one with a better memory than you!" Lily argued – honestly it was half-true because there was one time when Lily forgot what Alex said to her only two seconds later. "Last week was really funny, I loved how Chris would just smile after every question for no reason."

"Oh my god, yes he waaas", Alex – a certified Chris girl – agreed with her best friend.

As they watched the video, the girls couldn't stop laughing at the answers given by either Nick or Matt. For instance, when Nick denied that he would give a kidney to Matt – the reply being so quick but turning out to be a lie was always funny to see. Moreover, it simply ended up showing the special bond between the three brothers, something hard to understand but beautiful to look at.

Then, as Nick tried to cover the lie from John – the computer guy that somehow always does these tests, no matter the YouTuber, Lily couldn't help but feel like she was missing a piece of information.

"Wait what– Chris has a brand? Of what?" she asked the girl sitting next to her.

"Oh, it's his clothing brand. I'll show you after the video, it's honestly sick!" Alex explained. "I'd die to have something from FreshLove".

Unknown to Alex, this was something that Lily would definitely not forget as she was already planning on looking it up on her own – away from Alex's eyes – so that she could maybe find a birthday present for her best friend. This was always a very special event for the both of them as they were both gift givers that loved trying to find or make the perfect gift for the other.

On the same subject, as Matt was now the one answering questions from his brother, a relationship as pure as the girls' could be observed when Chris asked him if he ever felt jealous of his brothers. Matt's no was agreed by John to be true; and while the three boys were smiling, Matt decided to add that he only felt proud of them, thus getting an aaww from both Chris and Nick – as well as Lily and Alex.

The video nearing to an end, Alex and Lily couldn't help but burst out laughing when Chris mentioned his Pepsi addiction.

"It's honestly a wonder how this guy even survives on Pepsi like– bro fully believes that it's not crazy even when his brothers tell him it is." Lily couldn't comprehend this triplet.

"No yeah, I don't know whether to cry or keep laughing right now because I know Chris is def not making it to forty years old", Alex could only agree with the blonde.

After this simple exchange, Alex looked at her friend and couldn't help but feel overjoyed with the feeling of knowing that the person she loves the most in her life was loving the same things as she does.

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