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₊❏❜ ⋮ ᶠᵒᵒˡ'ˢ ᵍᵒˡᵈ ⌒
𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝖿𝗈𝗎𝗋
ʳᵉᵃˡ ˡⁱᶠᵉ
❝ 𝗀𝖾𝗍 𝗂𝗇, 𝗐𝖾'𝗋𝖾 𝗅𝖺𝗍𝖾. ❞
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𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐀 𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐄𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊 home from bianca's residence, chris finally arrives back in his. immediately, he is treated by the joyful barks from their family dog, trevor - his tail wagging out of excitement as another member of the family comes home, two front paws constantly reaching out by lightly, yet excitedly, scratching chris' legs for him to crouch down and notice him.
"hi, trevor," he crouched down, scratching trevor just under his ears and giving him a light peck on the top of his head before walking down the corridor and into the kitchen. "d'you eat, kid?" trevor whimpers. "no?" and again. with that, chris goes to give him some food. all was well until he hears the loud footsteps of his two brothers - ready to interrogate the boy and butt into his business.
"sooooooo, chris."
"don't start."
"whatcha doin'."
"minding my business."
"so, where were you? you were gone for a long time."
"out."
"out? or inside someone's house?"
"what are you talking about?"
nick shrugs, "you have like a eucalyptus scent you brought home with you. . . and you don't smell that good, y'know?"
"thanks for that, nick."
"so, who's the girl?"
"not you too, matt."
"the people wanna know."
"i was out with river."
"yeah, right," matt snorts, crossing his arms as he doesn't believe a single word coming from his brother. chris, however, gets defensive and drags out the lie to convince them. "i was! ask river, yourself."
"river was here an hour ago, you stupid fuck. he ate dinner with us and was even asking where you were, so nice try."
"i was just out, okay?" chris mumbles, crouching down to give trevor the food he has been anticipating before the boy walks away to his room. the two brothers follow him like little mice looking for food all over the premises. "can you stop following me?"
"not until you answer our questions."
the boy groans, stopping in the middle of the corridor to his room, turning around to face them both. "i was with a girl. there? happy now?" matt and nick didn't get a chance to answer due to the bedroom door being slammed at their faces.
"well, who took a piss in his cereal?"
"probably trevor."
"i can still hear you, stupid fuck!"
nick turns to matt, mumbling, "might as well go barge in his room. he's already mad enough." matt agrees, opening chris' door. the boy is lying flat on his stomach, his head turned to the side for him to mindlessly scroll on whatever app he's on. though, he locks his phone as soon as the two boys barged in. chris turns his head to the other side so he's facing away from them, face squished against the pillow and all. "you should knock sometimes, it's a fun thing to do."
"yeah, no. we're not done with this conversation."
"i am."
"and we're not."
"okay."
"sooooooooo, what's the girl's name?"
"nick, of all people, i'm not telling you."
"what the fuck? why!" at this point, nick is extremely offended-he knows everything about everyone, duh. "you're shit at keeping secrets." nick's mouth went slack, eyes widening at chris' blunt statement. "half of the shit you tell us aren't even secrets, chris."
matt watches as the two go for each other's throat before interrupting them. "chris! are you gonna tell us her name or what?" chris doesn't utter a word - instead, he gives matt a blank stare, blinking rather slowly with an emotionless expression. "no."
"was it maxine?"
chris shakes his head.
"xolani?"
and again.
"athena?"
and again.
"was it the new girl?" matt asks, half-meant as he heard about her from people gossiping in the hallways. see, chris really tried to not blow his cover but he couldn't help but freeze and tense up at the mention of the 'new girl', bianca. unfortunately for him, nick noticed his tense reaction, gasping and pointing his finger at chris.
"oh my god! it is!"
"can you shut the fuck up?"
matt laughs, combing his hair back with his hand before shaking his head. "good luck," he snorts. "river was talking about her today, m'pretty sure he has a fat crush on her." chris scoffs, finding it a bit ridiculous that river likes the girl he has yet to speak to, let alone introduce himself to. though, the boy didn't know why he scoffed either. only someone who likes her as well would scoff like that, so why did he? he doesn't even know the girl enough to react that way. the only thing he knows is that she's intelligent and carries an attitude with her everywhere she goes.
"river hasn't even said a single word to her."
"you jealous already?"
"you're funny, matt." with that, chris throws a pillow at matt, or at least try to because he completely missed him and hit nick instead. "get outta my room, bruh." the duo didn't protest and made their way out of chris' space, but of course, matt hits him with a quick remark.
"yeah, okay... wouldn't wanna interrupt you stalking the new girl."
"get out!"
with an exasperated sigh, chris unlocks his phone and goes back to scrolling on his social media feed. it comes to a halt when he stumbles upon a recent post from his ex-girlfriend. the boy is quite unsure as to why he is still reminiscent over a girl who left him for dead and walks past him in the hallways like they're two strangers who have never met, interacted or even smiled at each other as they pass by one another. almost every person at the school that knows chris or knows of him know that his past relationship with his ex-girlfriend was wanted by many and girls were envious of her.
though it's been over a year, turning two, since their relationship ended, it is still a connection that chris mourns because she was his first love. to see her walk around the school with her friends, laughing and beaming so brightly, or with a boy, looking up at him with her doe, mesmerizing eyes, pains chris so deeply even if he doesn't show his emotions to anyone. he just wishes that someone someday will come into his life to help him heal the old wound that has been untreated for months on end.
someday.
"kenny, can you just tell me what happened with you two?"
for ten minutes straight, bianca has been begging kendall to tell her what caused so much tension between her and serenity. just from their longing stares alone today, bianca could tell there was something going on and like a nosy person she is, she wants to know.
"why do you wanna know so bad?"
"because!" she exclaims, falling back on kendall's bed, staring at the ceiling with her hands over her stomach. "you guys were literally having a staring contest all of lunch and then the next minute, you guys avoid eye contact with each other... like? you tell me everything, why is this any different?"
kendall sighs, laying down next to bianca, staring ahead as well. silence filled the air for a while as bianca closes her eyes, waiting for kendall to start talking.
"we kissed!" she suddenly blurts out, "once and many more times after that."
bianca sits up with her eyes widened and mouth agape. her cousin has always been so secretive when it comes to her love life or crushes, so this one really took her by surprise.
"i'm sorry, what?"
"yeah."
"what!"
"oh! and i've liked her years before that."
"and you've kept this from me for how long?"
"so, can we talk about you now? your life is more interesting." bianca's face went from shocked to grimaced. the thought of her life being 'interesting' seemed like a joke. she lives half of her life caved inside her own room, finding that to be her sacred space.
"what's interesting about tutoring a boy on my first day of school?"
"see, i didn't mention anything about that boy but we are gonna talk about it now," kendall says with a devilish grin, already wanting to know everything that happened today. bianca, on the other hand, groans while laying back down beside kendall. "so did he flirt with you? asked you out? start talking, bruh!"
"no and no. i was literally dead asleep in my room while he was ringing the doorbell for god knows how long. he barely even said a word."
kendall hums, going on her phone to watch tiktoks most likely. "that's odd, he's always so talkative around anyone. well, i mean, last year he was... i guess he's a bit quieter nowadays."
"oh."
"i guess that's what happens when you get broken up with; you get quieter."
bianca's head perks up at the mention of a break up. she doesn't ask kendall any further questions regarding chris' personal life but it did got her thinking for the rest of the night.
chris? dating someone? no, that's impossible. he's a player, that's just crazy. a plethora of unanswerable questions run around her head, growing dizzy at the overwhelming questions she's asking herself.
"who was he dating?"
kendall sits up and smirks, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at bianca. "what's it to you?" bianca groans in annoyance, covering her face with her hands. now that she asked that question, her cousin will be more convinced that she is interested in him, which she is not. "i'm just curious, kenny. y'know i love hearing about people's business."
"okay," kendall chuckles, "he dated amyra vu and they were together for a while. she's the 'it' girl of somerville high, i mean no one has the heart to hate her. she's the nicest most loveliest person anyone could meet. when i spilt coffee on my white shirt two weeks ago, she saw me in the bathroom trying to wash it out with fucking water but then she literally took a spare shirt from her bag and gave it to me. i still have it in my closet."
bianca's eyes widen in surprise and amazement, "so why did they break up?" kendall sighs, shrugging her shoulders while picking at her nails. "well, from what i heard from other people, apparently they broke up because he wanted to be more serious and exclusive with her but she wanted it to be hidden or 'private' or whatever the fuck. people talk a lot in the bathroom, i'm telling you."
"oh."
the loud noise coming from bianca's phone startles her, waking her up from a wonderful sleep. she groans as she tells herself that she can sleep for five more minutes as she snuggles deeper in her bed. everything was fine until the door bursts open, startling bianca as she wakes up alerted and clueless af the same time. sitting up, she looks around frantically, thinking there's an intruder in the house but really, it's just a redhead in front of her with her arms crossed in her business casual attire. bianca groans, reclining back in her bed as she covers her entire body with her white duvet. "what's up, nat?"
"bee! it's 10:40 in the morning! your first period already ended!" bianca's eyes snap open, widening as she hurriedly gets out of bed. she has never been late to class before, and it's even worse now that it's her second day at her new school. though, she did remember it being eight o'clock when her alarm went off. how did five minutes end up being an hour and a half?
the girl does her morning routine; brush her teeth, floss, wash her face with a cleanser, moisturize with a lot of moisturizer, put on a bit of concelear on her blemishes and under eyes to brighten up her face, set her eyebrows with some brow gel, place mascara onto her long eyelashes, add highlighter on the bridge and tip of her nose and the inner corner of her eyes, and lastly, put on lip gloss. when that was finished, she goes in with her hair; rapidly taking the velcro rollers out of her hair individually, not caring if she pulls out strands of her hair. she then drowns herself in hairspray to keep it together before going to her closet to pick an outfit for her to wear. usually she would put on a few sets of jewelry to set her entire look but today isn't the day.
she grabs her backpack by the vanity desk, swinging it over her shoulder as she rushes downstairs to get to school. "nat! can you drive me to school?" natasha keeps her eyes focused on her laptop atop the dining table, "sorry, bee, i have a lot to research for the case i'm working on." sighing, bianca nods as she understands her aunt works tirelessly to survive.
"okay, i'm gonna speed walk to school because running is just crazy."
natasha chuckles, patting her heart then blowing bianca a kiss. this has always been a thing between the three girls, it's how they say they love each other without having to actually say it. "try not to get hit by a car while doing that."
"i'll try my best."
bianca exits the house, actually speed walking to school that's twenty minutes away on foot. it was fine, truly. she loves to walk and think about her life while doing so; it keeps her at peace and sane. however, she's not sane when she's rushing to school knowing she's already late enough.
a honk startles her, a hand over her chest as she lets out a vulgar word. furrowing her brows, she turns around to see who has the audacity to honk their car at her at this hour. she stops walking, squinting her eyes to take a glimpse of the person behind the wheel. the black car, however, slowly rolls until the passenger window aligns with her. rolling down the window, chris speaks, "you need a ride?" bianca's mouth opens to speak but closes, "no, it's fine. i can walk from here, it's- it's not that far. i'm almost there, kinda, not really." she curses at herself for stumbling on her words as if she's talking to a celebrity.
chris clenches his jaw, closing his eyes momentarily before he turns his head to look at bianca once more, "get in, we're late."
the girl reluctantly grabs the door handle to open it. she places her bag on the floor, sitting back as she waits for chris to drive off. "are we not gonna go or?" chris diverts his eyes from the road to her, blinking whilst staring blankly. he then unbuckles his seatbelt to reach for something behind her; the seatbelt. he grabs it to buckle her in before doing the same to himself afterwards. "you forgot your seatbelt."
"oh, sorry, i don't ever wear one," she looks at chris to see him give her a weird look, "yeah, it's weird but i just..." she looks down to play with her fingers whilst smiling slightly, "i just don't." chris doesn't utter a word, instead he hums in response before finally driving off. bianca purses her lips as she looks outside the window, trying to move past the awkward tension lingering in the air whilst the song plays softly at a low volume.
"so, your house again? for tutoring?"
bianca glances at chris, whose eyes are focused on the road with his jaw clenched and stern glare. "um," she clears her throat, "yeah sure." chris nods his head, pursing his lips as silence takes over once again. fortunately, he enters the school parking lot, parking smoothly with one hand and not even looking back to see if he's going to hit any cars around him.
"thanks for the ride." bianca cringes at herself for stuttering, acting like a fool. she just can't help but find it strange that just yesterday she was hearing stories about this boy and next thing you know he was at her house after school yesterday and now sitting in his car. she turns to open the door in a hurry, "why are you rushing? it's just mr. calder, he won't care," chris tells her whilst shrugging.
"yeah, but people are gonna see us walk in together. doesn't that bother you?"
"no?" he shrugs once more, "they probably won't even care."
sighing, she then exits the car, shutting it and then waits for chris. shortly after, he evacuates his vehicle with his backpack and presses the button on his car key twice to hear the sound that indicates it's locked. the two walk towards the building side by side in silence, though bianca is asking the lord above why he would torture her like this.
once inside the school, she notices how quiet it is which means classes are in session. the last thing she wants to deal with right now is judgeful stares from every single person in their english class, it's only her second day. rumors and whispers are the two things she prayed to avoid prior to starting school here.
chris walks ahead of her a little until he approaches the door towards the classroom, waiting for her. he then opens the door for the both of them, walking in together to meet with intrigued eyes and silence from the students and the teacher. mouths of popular girls, jocks, two of the three triplets and bianca's friends are agape as they see the duo walk in together.
"would you look at that... sturniolo, sinclair, go sit, you guys are gonna make my students' eyes pop out of their sockets."
both chris and bianca make their way to their designated table, separating from one another without a word. the mouths of kendall, serenity and adalynn remain agaped as they turn their heads to look at the caramel-highlight haired girl. "what," she mouths to them, to which kendall gives her a knowing, pointed look.
"what the fuck was that?" kendall mouths back. bianca shrugs, breaking eye contact with her to get her things out of her bag. while doing so, she couldn't help but sneak a glimpse at the boy she came to school with, only to see him already gazing at her.
ੈ✩‧₊˚ chat with gian! *ੈ✩‧₊˚
SEPT 2023 - made some changes but i will be back
to properly edit it :)