𝐁𝐀𝐃 𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐀 𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓, matt sturniolo

𝟎𝟎𝟗. . . kisses at parties

he needed to stick to his original plan though and not go out of his way to find thalia thompson, instead deciding that he would let fate bring her to him. running round an unfamiliar house like a headless chicken in search of a girl was pretty embarrassing after all.

chris and nick were hot on matt's tail, all three of them arriving at the front door at the same time. plastered in the centre of the oak was a handwritten sign reading 'use the door round the back!!' and the triplets simultaneously groaned. over to their right, as if by magic, a gate had appeared, propped open by a brick. matt frowned; that gate had most definitely not been there when him and his brothers had been stood on the front lawn gawking up at the house a mere two minutes ago.

so, with a huge amount of effort, the triplets were making their way over to the gate leading the side door of the mansion, joining the back of a group of giggling girls, who, the more matt frowned at them, were definitely not on the invite list. this party was going to be a lot busier than originally anticipated, made evident as they walked through the side door into what matt was positive was the most crowded kitchen he'd ever seen.

admist it all was angel amaro, looking rather flustered, her plastic tiara slightly wonky on the top of her dark hair as she shoved through the bodies in the direction of the new group of people who'd just emerged into the room. she was wearing a birthday sash across her white dress, a fake smile plastered across her face. matt's frown deepened; she didn't seem very happy for someone who was turning 21.

angel finally stopped by the triplets and the girls, shouting over the unnecessarily loud music. "okay, rules! quickies upstairs, puke in the downstairs bathroom, joints smoked outside. any drinks put them on the island."

so that's what she'd come over to tell them, not to kick the uninvited girls out. judging by the sheer number of people crammed into the kitchen, maybe so many had already gatecrashed that she'd given up sending them away. the girls beside the triplets nodded, giggling one final time before disbanding, leaving the three boys face to face with angel amaro.

"big party!" chris yelled to the girl over the music, and she nodded in response, a scowl residing on her glossy lips.

"yeah, the invite list kinda spiralled!"

the triplets hummed, silence resting over the four of them briefly before nick spoke up again. or, more accurately, shouted again. the music being so horrendously loud was really starting to piss matt off. "happy birthday, by the way!"

"oh, thank you!" angel flashed nick a genuine smile, their conversation suddenly interrupted by a loud crash from over angel's shoulder, someone having just fallen to the floor with a bang after a failed crow surfing attempt. angel turned back, sighing. "guess i'll have to go deal with that... i'll see you round!"

nick, matt and chris all gave her single fingered waves, their smiles tight as they watched her become engulfed by the crowd, the dim lighting morphing her into a shadow almost instantly. once the birthday girl was gone, chris turned to nick and matt, his voice still loud over the music.  "i'm going to get a drink."

nick nodded in agreement, smoothing out his jumper before following chris over to the drinks table without hesitation, leaving matt alone with his thoughts. matt kissed his teeth, suddenly very aware that he was lingering by the entrance to the party and was slightly concerned that he would be trampled by another group of girls with high pitched laughs. so, matt made the smart decision to check out the rest of the house, leaving the jam packed kitchen behind him as he pushed his way through to the open plan living room.