Bambi (Matt Sturniolo)

5.

Once upon a time, there was a boy and a girl, and no one else...

These hot summer days had turned Boston into a heated oven. Everyone would rather stay indoors with fans, but two kids, you and Matt refused to abandon the treehouse for a day.

It was a hot Wednesday afternoon. In the treehouse, your voice was a lullaby, sending Matt into dreamland. With his eyes closing, you said, "don't fall asleep"

"I'm not" he tried to open your eyes.

"Liar" you scoffed. "Is my story boring you?"

You closed the notebook, crossing your arms.

"No" Matt said, folding his arms behind his head. "But I want to hear the good stuff, like sword battles or something"

"It's only chapter one"

Matt thought before he asked. "I thought it was just them and no one else?"

"They're best friends. In their eyes, they're the only people in the world" you furrowed your eyebrows, shaking your head at him.

"Is the girl you?"

You nodded.

"Is the boy me?"

"No, it's a very handsome guy"

"Fine" Matt huffed, looking back at the ceiling, telling you to carry on. Even if you lied and said it wasn't true, Matt was the guy in your story.

~

You quickly closed the pink notebook on your lap when your phone started to ring. The call was from Alanna, the girl you'd been waiting to hear from. Alanna and Jess were busy with work and exams, so you couldn't describe how happy you were to hear her call.

"Alanna, I miss you! How's California?"

"Boring. I'm at work, but I missed you. How are you?"

You looked around your messy bedroom, at the papers and clothes lying on the chair, table and floor. You were hopeless.

"I'm struggling with my work. I'm rereading my old stories for inspiration" you looked at the time and realised you'd been sitting in front of your computer for an hour now without writing anything. "I miss my imagination back then"

"Adulthood kills creativity"

"True" you agreed, rolling your eyes. "How's Jess?"

"She's good. Maybe we'll video call you tomorrow night. We missed you" the next thing Alanna asked was what you'd been expecting. "Hey, how's the hot photographer?"

"You know..." you clicked your tongue. "We're just...flirting back and forth"

"Good! Take things slow, but please let yourself have fun"

Alanna's advice put a smile on your face and you nodded, soon remembering you were on the phone and she couldn't see you.

"Got it" you said, biting your lip.

"When are you seeing him again?"

"Tonight. He invited me to an exhibition"

"I thought he just took pictures for fun?"

"That's what I thought! Turns out he's really famous, he shoots for magazines and shit. That's so intimidating"

"That's hot! If I wasn't gay or your friend or taken, I'd eat him up already"

Both of you laughed at Alanna's comment.

"Crap, I have to go. Any more updates?"

The first thing that came to your mind was Matt. You hadn't told your two best friends about you being friends with him again yet, because they knew too much about your history with Matt.