Plot: Vinnie meets the people you go to school with
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Ever since you became "tik tok famous" and started hanging out with Vinnie Hacker, the people at school became very passive aggressive towards you.
You were accused of trying to be better than everyone else but in reality, you were the same as you had always been.
Now summer is over and you have to go back to school. A girl that you knew of invited you to a hang out on campus. You figured you'd go since you have a reason to get out the house.
Vinnie knew he shouldn't have invited himself, but he couldn't help it. He knew that you didn't get along with a lot of those people and wanted to be by your side. Plus he'd never actually been on a college campus before except for the one time you showed him around briefly.
The girl that had invited you said that you could "bring a friend". Vinnie saw no problem in that but to you, it came across as, "we are all in relationships and we know that you're single so you can bring someone so you don't feel left out".
Vinnie figured it was a truce, like a white flag being flown in the air but you thought of it as condescending and judgmental.
Let's all laugh at Y/N.
Of course, not everyone was bad. You had your share of friends and they were the best people ever. Sure you'd laugh with the others but there was always this slight edge of judgment. Sometimes it was like they were jealous of the attention you received on social media and your relationship with Vinnie.
Right now, you and him were friends but everyone could see that the relationship lied between friends and dating.
Everything with these people were either a competition or something done to benefit themselves and you were sick of it. Everyone was an adult. Y'all weren't in high school anymore.
Vinnie was nervous about meeting these people, so when you arrived at the student center of your school, he was surprised to see a girl with pin straight brown hair sprint over, nearly knocking you down from the force.
You laughed and introduced her to Vinnie. "This is Brit."
"It's so great to meet you!" She gushed. "We've heard barely anything about you."
"Been keeping me a secret?" Vinnie furrowed his brows and nudged your shoulder.
You shrugged. "I just don't feel like there's that much to talk about."
"Alex and Mikayla just came." Brit said and grabbed your hand.
This was someone you warned Vinnie about? She seemed so nice.
Brit led the way to the indoor bowling alley where everyone was.
(Authors note: I'm in college and yes we have an indoor bowling alley at school)
Everyone was socializing when you guys arrived.
"Hey guys! Y/N is here! And she brought a friend."
Vinnie could tell his presence was unexpected as he looked at everyone's shocked expressions.
You greeted your friends and Vinnie was having trouble keeping up with all the names.
You're group of friends were Mikayla, Mia, Alex, Sasha, Josh, and Brit.
Brit was someone you've known since middle school and you met everyone else in college.
Then there was Cole, Elijah, Zach, Kyle, Keeton, Kendall, and Alexis, who were people you knew of in high school but didn't consider friends but you were friendly with each other whenever your paths crossed. Sometimes.
Everyone else in the room were many people you didn't know that also went the school. And some of those people were in your classes.
Pretty much everyone was in a relationship. And you had Vinnie.
Kind of.
"Y/N has arrived!" Alex exclaimed and pulled you into a hug. Vinnie smiled at the interaction.
"Hey bro what's up," Alex shook Vinnie's hand firmly.
"I admire this girl right here," Alex pointed to you and spoke to Vinnie. "Even with all these opportunities she's getting from social media, she's still wants to be in school and get an education. She didn't drop out the second she got offers. Sometimes she may even study too much. But she's so smart."
Vinnie smirked as you blushed. Vinnie would always see you with a textbook or notebook open and thought you were so smart. He liked how your friends could see it too.
Kendall came up to y'all. "It's nice to meet you Vinnie." She said and held out her hand. "Y/N is pretty private about her friends outside of school."
Yeah because we aren't even friends like that, you thought but let it slide.
"Not that you could relate anyway." You mumbled.
"Pity, I'm sure we would all get along." She sighed and flipped her hair over her shoulder.
"Careful Vinnie," Cole announced as he walked up also. "Kendall usually goes for guys a year or two younger."
Kendall grumbled under her breath before walking off, leaving you to smile to yourself.
The rest of the day seemed to go along well. There was some bowling going on, jokes thrown around, and your peers sharing throwback memories with Vinnie. He definitely was the center of attention for the most part.
"I'm glad you came Vinnie." Your friend Sasha told him after a while. "It's good that she has a friend like you. We were worried about her for a while. Well, some of us were. She's strong but she doesn't stand up for herself that often. People here can tear each other apart."
"Everyone seems so nice." He replied.
Sasha shrugged. "I think some people take Y/N's kindness for granted."
Had Vinnie been taking you for granted? He excused himself and went over to grab a drink where Kyle and Brit were.
"Vinnie!" Her eyes twinkled. She truly was pretty. In fact, Vinnie saw similarities between you and her.
Vinnie had lost track of where you went but found you talking to Zach, Elijah, and Alexis. He knew that these were people you knew in high school and how you didn't get along with them most of the time. Vinnie wasn't sure what to do in this situation. You didn't look upset but he still didn't know for sure.
But really, you were freaking out. You never felt comfortable around them. They still carried the same arrogant attitudes that they had in high school.
Alexis was talking about your clothes and how you needed a "change". She was talking about how when she reinvented her style, she met her current boyfriend. "I'm sure you'll meet someone in the future." She probably through she was being nice but it was patronizing.
"Maybe you could get with Vinnie. You know, since you two are so chummy." Zach added.
"Don't make this into something it's not." You rolled your eyes.
"He's good looking though." Elijah said and patted your shoulder. "You must have done something for him. Or maybe he did something for you."
"We're friends." You shot back. "This isn't a fucking business transaction."
You did like Vinnie, obviously. He was a gentleman and so caring towards everyone he met. But you thought he probably didn't like you that way and it hurt like hell.
But just knowing that you at least contributed to his everyday life and made him happy was good enough for you.
"Nah Y/N's not like that." Zach said.
"Yeah." Alexis replied sarcastically. "You're innocent and sweet. Vinnie couldn't take advantage of you if he tried."
"Not that he would." You spat. "He's a great guy."
"Does it bother you when he brings home girls?"Elijah asked.
"He doesn't do that." You said.
You had hoped that Vinnie would stay at your side this whole time with his arm slung around your shoulder or something, but instead he was with Brit as he told her something and she nearly fell out laughing.
You excused yourself and started to walk past Vinnie and Brit but she stopped you.
"Oh hey Y/N! I was just about to come find you and say that I'm gonna give Vin a tour of the school."
Vin? You've been the only person that's called him that.
You looked at Vinnie in confusion. "But you've been here before."
"You gave me the abbreviated tour." He said. "I'd like to see more."
You felt your skin get hot as you watched Brit drag Vinnie by the arm and out the bowling alley doors. You stood there for a moment, contemplating.
You felt foolish for even thinking he'd be by your side the whole time. And how could you stand up for yourself to people online who didn't even know you but couldn't even stand up for yourself around people who knew you for years?
With shaking hands, you decided it was best to join them on the tour.
You made your way through the building, trying to find where they went. You opened the door to a student lounge area but couldn't contain your scream.
Brit had her arms around Vinnie's neck, her lips pressed to his and his hands on her hips. The moment he heard your voice, his muscles clenched and he pushed her away quickly. Turning to you, he realized what it looked like. Your eyes were wide, filling with tears and you covered you mouth with your hand.
"What the fuck."
It wasn't even a yell. Or a frustrated question. Just a broken statement that you whispered.
"No no no Y/N, it's not-" Vinnie stated as he steps to you and clears his throat.
You backed up from them and went out the door. You made your way down the stairs as fast as you could, not telling your other friends bye and not wanting to cause a scene.
Vinnie and Brit went after you and called your name but you didn't care. You just stormed out.
There was an open area on the side of the school and you went there.
"Y/N please," Vinnie pleaded. "Come on. Listen."
You stopped walking. "Vinnie, I'm so done. This is ridiculous."
He stared at you as you were full on crying now. He knew he had failed you somehow, done something to set you off.
"I kissed him Y/N, I'm sorry." Brit said as she jogged to catch up.
"Oh please." You scoffed. "You've been trying to one up me since middle school. Why do you fucking try to push me down to build yourself up? You have so many things. Why can't I just have Vinnie?"
She looked down and Vinnie cleared his throat. "We can go home. I'm sorry Y/N-"
"Yeah let's go." You cut him off.
****
The drive back was silent. Vinnie had kept apologizing but you would nod and look out the window. You were slumped in your seat falling asleep and Vinnie would continuously look over at you.
He fucked up. He knew he did. He liked you but didn't wanna lose you by making a move. He tried to be his best as a friend and look how that turned out.
"I didn't even see her lean in. She just pounced, you know? She kissed me the second we walked into the room."
He shook his head and gripped the steering wheel. "God this fucks everything up. I really like you Y/N. I knew from the minute I saw you. I knew from then I wanted to be around you. I just...you scare me in a way that I'm afraid that one day I'll be left alone. I can't imagine my life without you in it."
"Yeah because who else besides Jett could help you on your car?"
His eyes snapped towards you. "You're awake...okay cool. I don't know how much of that you heard. Sorry if I overstepped a boundary."
"I'm pretty sure you overstepped a boundary when Brit shoved her tongue down your throat." You grumbled.
Jesus, Vinnie was gonna crash this car if he kept looking at you.
"I swear she-"
"I'm not mad at you." You chuckled. "She's made moves on my crushes before. She's dated like 3 guys I liked."
"Crush?" Vinnie asked.
"Read the room Vinnie."
He pulled up to a red light and came to a stop.
"Come here." You said and leaned forward.
You didn't have to tell him twice. He immediately caressed the side of your face to bring you closer to him and pressed his lips to yours.
It was simple, random, yet casual. Just kissing Vinnie at a red light. A car honked once the light turned green, causing you two to pull away and Vinnie pressed on the gas to go on.
"I didn't know." He said.
"I didn't want you to."
He sighed. "I'm sorry for not supporting you when you needed it. This is new to me but I have to learn. But, I think you should be more of the badass I know on the daily around your school acquaintances."
You shrugged. "Just wanted you by my side the whole time. I've always wondered what it would be like to have someone follow me around, you know? That what the significant others of my friends do and I'd like to have that type of attention one day."
"That's what I should have done. I'm such an idiot."
"No, I should have stood up for myself." You said. "But mistakes were made."
"Wanna go back tomorrow? Isn't there something else going on?"
"I just wanna hang out with you tomorrow."
"I'd rather have you all to myself too."
"Well here I am."
And there you were indeed.