Bambi (Matt Sturniolo)

22

"Here she comes!"

Alanna pulled you by the arm as the beautiful brunette walked past you, unbothered by everyone staring at her. That was Nicole- the one who lowered every other girl's confidence. She had everything- a pretty face, a perfect body.

"You know" Alanna continued, grabbing your attention. "The guys in my history class were talking about her boobs. Those perverts"

"But she's dating Matt" you furrowed your eyebrows but Alanna just laughed

"That's guys for you" she shrugged. "They don't care if you're taken. They see boobs and they drool"

You laughed and shook your head, changing the subject to the spelling bee that you was coming up. Alanna got distracted and her conversation about Nicole slipped from her mind. But you it didn't.

When you went home that day, you stood in front of the mirror and studied the features you hated about yourself. It wasn't a competition but you felt like you already lost.

What if Nicole was exactly Matt's type?

How could you ever compete with her?

~

"Morning!"

"Morning" you sighed in relief as you set down your bag and took off your jacket. You were half an hour late. Thank god, Tom wasn't here. Normally you wouldn't care about being late, but since you asked for a few days off for Alanna's wedding, you couldn't upset your boss now.

"Have the new books arrived?"

"They're in the back" Megan answered, looking up from her phone. "Matt was looking for you yesterday. Did you talk to him?"

"Yeah" you nodded, smiling. You told Megan the same thing Matt had told your dad, that you'd been sick.

"I was worried, you know? I thought you went all 'gone girl' on us"

"I'm glad you read the books I gave you"

"No" Megan shrugged. "I got bored at the first chapter, so I watched the movie"

You laughed and shook your head. To be honest, you were waiting for Megan to bring up Luke. Even though you didn't tell her about the breakup, you assumed she already knew.

"So...how did you meet him?"

"Who?" You raised both eyebrows, making Matt laugh.

"Matt. You should've seen him when he came looking for you yesterday. He was so upset"

"We were neighbours in Boston, that's all" you told her, but that wasn't convincing enough for Megan to drop her assumptions. You crossed your arms and smiled. "He called you 'Bambi' Do your neighbours have nicknames for you now?"

"Idiot" you scoffed and hit her on the arm. "I know what you're doing. Matt and I are just friends. Luke and I just..."

"Right..." Megan's smile faded and she rushed over to give you a hug, but you pulled away.

"It's okay" you let out a nervous laugh. "I'm fine, Megan"

Megan nodded along. "Is he dating Nicole?"

Her question got you tongue tied. You knew Megan changed the subject to distract you from Luke, but unfortunately, she was making it worse.

"He said he wasn't dating anyone" you said with a straight face, but Megan didn't buy it.

"What if he was lying? I mean, he's very private, isn't he?"

"Then I don't know" you shrugged. The last thing you wanted was to overthink more than you already had.