▃▃ CHAPTER SEVEN ! .𖥔 ݁ ˖
( ♡ ) real life, social media
❛ MY STUPID FUCK. ❜
₊ ⊹ ᥫ᭡. ⁱⁿˢᵗᵃᵍʳᵃᵐ !
chrissturniolofan69
liked by frankoceansdaughter, theoriginaltriplet, aladdinsgf and 2,592 others
chrissturniolofan69 first day of school 😖😖 2nd slide is easton waking me up
tagged ; eastnotwest
user she's so me
eastnotwest it's true guys she's hopeless
user most relatable girl on earth
notanorrisnut now ik damn well u ain't crying rn...
↳ chrissturniolofan69 don't ask questions you don't wanna know 😔
↳ notanorrisnut I KNOW UR QUOTING BILLIE EILISH I HATE YOU
↳ theoriginaltriplet learned my lesson way too long ago 😔
↳ user my strange addiction >>>
↳ notanorrisnut ....
aladdinsgf if u aren't in my homeroom i'm ending it btw
↳ chrissturniolofan69 REAL
user the pinterest pics never fail to make me laugh
↳ eastnotwest buckle up bc she has an entire board of them ready at all times
↳ chrissturniolofan69 quit exposing me! 😊
frankoceansdaughter don't cry yet we don't even have our timetables
↳ chrissturniolofan69 SHUT UP VERITY
↳ chrissturniolofan69 DON'T SPEAK TO ME
↳ frankoceansdaughter girls saying this and its only her junior year 😐
user so everyone's dreading school huh
user idk why shes crying bc everyone knows sophomore year is always the worst year ❤️
↳ user FR
pepsienthusiast Don't cry Angelina!
↳ chrissturniolofan69 what the fuck
↳ pepsienthusiast sorry i channelled my inner matt i thought you'd like it 🫤
↳ chrissturniolofan69 i get the urge to change my user every time you speak btw
↳ pepsienthusiast you're dating my brother so i think we're even
↳ secretwattpadlover I BREATHED?
user only lina and matt could be dating but still actively beefing
↳ chrissturniolofan69 @secretwattpadlover awwww 💞💞💞
↳ secretwattpadlover i don't even know what to say to this
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₊ ⊹ ᥫ᭡. ⁱʳˡ !
"WHY THE FUCK IS chris so cheerful at six in the morning?" lina groans, rubbing her eyes. she's literally just stepped into the car and is already regretting it. nick and easton sit in the two middle seats, both looking equally miserable, while she's occupied the whole back row and is currently lying down flat across all three seats like it's a bed.
getting out of bed had been the most difficult thing about this morning and now she's wishing she'd just stayed under her warm blanket and not come to school. she's never skipped school in her life but she's now thinking that today would've been the perfect day to break that tradition.
chris is in the passenger seat, as always, blasting 'maneater' by nelly furtado like there's no tomorrow. lina actually loves this song, so usually she'd also be singing along as loud as possible in hopes of annoying everybody else in the car, but today is just not that day.
nobody answers her question, so lina just closes her eyes. even though it's now the first of september, it's still painfully hot, even at six in the morning.
"chris, turn that fucking music down, i swear to god," nick complains, rubbing his forehead. his brother shakes his head, beaming to himself at how much he's getting on everybody's nerves. lina allows her eyes to flutter open once more, curious as to what's going on.
her gaze lands on matt, who has been silent for the entirety of the drive. his eyes are on the road in front of him, carelessly gripping the steering wheel with one hand while the other rests on his thigh. he's not wearing any rings today, she notices.
lina tears her eyes away from his hands and her jaw drops a little when she finds matt looking at her through the rearview mirror. she's immediately embarrassed because he's just caught her staring at his hands. again. she really needs to stop doing that.
thank fucking god, the drive to school is only about five minutes, so they're practically there already. lina yawns, finally sitting upright in her seat and already grabbing her bag so that she can be the first out of the car and avoid whatever smug thing matt's going to say to her about the whole staring thing.
matt drives into the parking lot, parking right at the back like he always does. the extended walk to get to and from the school building is kind of annoying, but this way their car is always one of the first to leave when the day is over, preventing them from getting stuck in the chaotic traffic that always ensues at the end of the day. lina can't even begin to count the amount of times matt has been yelled at by the moms of freshmen for cutting in front of them to get out of the parking lot.
easton opens the back door and lina shoves past him to get out of the car first, starting to walk towards the main building of the school and praying that cody or verity are already there so she won't have to stand around like a loser.
"uh, lina?" chris' voice causes her to stop in her tracks, and she turns back around to face the car. he gives her a confused look, before gesturing to his right. "we all have to gather in the gym first period," he reminds her. right.
lina sighs, deciding to just wait for the others, who quickly grab their stuff and join her on the way to the gym. chris and easton fall into conversation about lacrosse, meanwhile nick is scavenging around for something in his backpack as he walks, completely zoned out from the rest of the group.
which leaves lina and matt. he's walking slightly behind her, and she can see his shadow move closer as he catches up, falling into step directly to her left.
"morning," he mutters, his voice laced with amusement.
"shut up," she retorts, not in the mood to deal with his bullshit this morning. matt chuckles, brushing his hair out of his eyes. it falls back down perfectly onto his forehead, parting in the middle.
"what's with the hostility?" he questions, sounding completely uninterested despite being the one to ask the question. lina turns to him, narrowing her eyes.
"it's the first day of school. and it's you," she says like it's the most obvious thing in the world. matt just shrugs, now turning away from her and looking out towards the gym, where a cluster of students are waiting outside until the doors open.
they continue walking in silence for a moment, and lina wishes he would just fuck off and go talk to nick or something, because his presence is stressing her out. the fact that he's now supposed to be her boyfriend is only really settling in. she can deal with changing his contact name on her phone or being posted to his instagram, but having to pretend to be in a relationship with someone she cannot stand is already proving to be difficult.
to make matters worse, he dislikes her just as much as she dislikes him, possibly even more so. she doesn't particularly care that he hates her, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't curious about the reason why. she wishes she could pick his brain, breaking down every wall he keeps up only to discover what it is about her that's caused matt sturniolo to hate her since he was no more than six years old.
they're the first out of the group to make it to the gym, leaving matt and lina to stand in silence while they wait for chris, nick, and easton to reach them. why do they have to walk so fucking slow? whenever she walks anywhere with her brother, lina has to practically jog to keep up with him, so the fact that he's walking so slowly today makes her blood boil.
lina looks up at matt, cursing the fact that she even has to look up at him in the first place. matt isn't even 5'9 on a good day, yet she still has to crane her neck to see his face. everyone in her family is on the taller side of average height — so she cannot comprehend what crime she must've committed in a past life to make her a midget in this one.
matt is looking at the crowd, his gaze unfocused and eyes a little glassy. lina frowns at his anxious expression, giving him a little nudge with her hand. he blinks, dazed, then looks down at her.
"you okay?" she asks quietly, not sure why she cares.
"'m fine," he mumbles in response, giving her a small nod. "...just a lot of people."
his last words are much quieter, almost like he doesn't want her to hear them. she knits her eyebrows, averting her gaze from him to the crowd they're standing in. he's right, there are a lot of people here, all far too loud for her liking. she really doesn't understand how anyone can be so chirpy on the first day of school.
"little darling, is that you?"
the voice comes from behind her, and lina turns to find reece johnson standing a few feet away. he sends her a big smile, shaggy blond hair glistening in the early morning sunlight. his tall frame towers over lina as he takes a few steps towards her, smile never leaving his lips.
"drop the nickname, reece," she says jokingly, returning his expression by smiling too. reece presses his lips together, shaking his head.
"no can do, i'm afraid," he says unapologetically, his smile curving into a smirk. "you ready for this year?" he asks.
"i'm still figuring that out," she answers truthfully, and he laughs.
lina met reece last school year on the night of the middle school play. she'd been helping out with hair and makeup as an extracurricular, while reece had gone to watch it because his little cousin was in the play and his mom forced him to go. they'd met backstage when reece had dropped off his 7th grade cousin, resulting in the two starting to talk. they'd hit it off so well that he stayed backstage with her and attempted to help the kids with their face paint.
they'd sort of starting talking after that, though lina was never properly interested. sure, reece was sweet and very good looking, but she just didn't see him like that, despite his evident interest in her. she'd made it clear to him that she wasn't interested in a relationship and he hadn't minded, allowing them to stay friends.
lina realizes how hypocritical that looks now, as she's standing here next to matt.
speaking of matt, he seems to snap out of his daze and turns to reece, who grins at him.
"hey, man," he greets, and matt nods in response, dabbing him up.
"how was your summer?" matt asks, which lina can't help but find a little odd. he's smiling at reece but simultaneously looks irritated by his presence, probably because he doesn't like the guy all that much. the two are both on the lacrosse team, with reece being the captain, but as far as lina's aware, he's a pretty shitty one. she can't even begin to count the amount of times last year easton would come home after practice and begin complaining about him.
"clearly not as good as yours!" reece replies, then gesturing to lina. "didn't know you and little darling had something going on..." he trails off.
standing between them, lina wants to sink into a hole and die. she watches the way matt's smile drops at reece's words, particularly the use of that stupid nickname she cannot bear. it's only after a moment of excruciating silence that he shifts closer to her, one arm slinking around her waist and resting there. he puts his thumb through the belt loop of her denim shorts, and lina stiffens at the touch, especially as reece's eyes follow the movement and his smile also disappears.
lina has never been more grateful for chris' loudness as he approaches them, preventing matt from responding. he's talking about how hot it is, stopping in his tracks as he notices reece standing with them and falling completely silent.
"i'll see you later, yeah?" reece says to lina, who gives him the shortest of nods possible. all she wants is for him to go away so matt can remove his hand from her waist and his thumb from her belt loop so that she can breathe properly again.
he doesn't though, even as reece disappears off into the crowd of students still hanging outside the gym. lina resists the urge to sigh, knowing matt will notice, and gazes around. there's no sign of any of their other friends anywhere, meaning she can't even escape matt's grasp to go and say hi to them.
it's only when the bell rings that matt finally removes his hand from her, and lina lets out a sigh of relief. her lungs seem to stop functioning whenever she's close to him, and for no good reason.
"freshmen up front, followed by sophomores, juniors, and then seniors!" a voice calls out. it belongs to summer st. clair, the president of the student council. lina's only spoken to her a few times, but she literally adores the girl. summer is probably the most beautiful and sweet person she's ever laid her eyes on, and lina can't help but have a massive girl-crush on her. if she were a man, summer st. clair would be her ryan reynolds for sure.
the group of them walk past summer as they enter the gym, lina next to easton as she's finally managed to move away from matt. as they walk past, summer gives lina a small wave and a smile, which she immediately reciprocates.
from next to her, easton raises his eyebrows. "how do you know summer?" he asks suspiciously. lina shrugs casually, trying to keep her composure when in reality she's honestly fangirling over the student council president a little.
"just around," she replies, turning to look at her brother now. "why? are you jealous?" she teases. easton's scoff is loud enough to catch the attention of a few people around them, including nick, who shakes his head in dismay.
"why would i be jealous?" he says, his voice a pitch too high. "i don't even know her."
"okay then," lina says, grinning to herself at how painfully easy it is to annoy him. she continues walking next to him as they slowly make their way to the back of the gym to where the juniors and seniors sit. lina is about to break off to go to her section — since she's obviously a year younger than easton and the triplets, she has to sit separately from them — when easton grabs her shoulder and stops her.
she turns around and furrows her eyebrows in confusion when she sees the sheepish look on her brother's face. he just stares at her for a moment, not even speaking.
"what?" she asks, growing impatient because she still needs to find cody so she doesn't have to sit alone like a fucking loser. easton sighs, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
"i'm... sorry," he mutters, as if the words pain him. "for being such a dick about matt."
her eyes widen, but she nods. judging how mad he was about the whole thing, an apology — and so soon — was not what she expected from easton today.
"it's okay," she says, because she understands where he's coming from. she has hated matt for years, and admittedly, she and him have treated one another like shit since they were kids. if she were in his position, she'd be confused too. the fact that this is fake is the only explanation for her and matt getting along, let alone dating. she just wishes she could tell him that.
"if he hurts you, he's fucking dead," easton adds. "just so you know."
"that mindset would've been more helpful in sixth grade when he pushed me off the swings, but okay," lina replies with a roll of her eyes, meanwhile easton just laughs.
"in fairness to matt, you'd just put gum in his hair," he shrugs, and lina's jaw drops as she pretends to be offended.
"yeah, well, he's a stupid fuck," she says, immediately clamping her mouth shut as she realizes that she can't really be saying stuff like that anymore! easton gives her a weird look.
"umm," she starts, trying to think of a way to save this. "but he's my stupid fuck, i guess."
"this is one of those times that i'm embarrassed to be related to you," he tells her with a sigh, and she nods in agreement. my stupid fuck is something she's actually ashamed to have said out loud.
"nobody blames you for that, east," matt suddenly says, coming up behind the two of them. lina jumps, praying that he didn't hear the rest of their conversation.
"CAN EVERYBODY PLEASE TAKE THEIR SEATS? THE ASSEMBLY BEGINS IN ONE MINUTE," an announcement rings over the gym, and the three of them all roll their eyes at the formalities. like lina, easton and matt aren't thrilled about it being the first day of school either. she'd be surprised to find anyone excited about being here.
"see ya, lina," easton says, turning around and walking off, leaving her alone once more. yet again, lina's lungs do that thing where they kind of just stop working properly every time she's close to matt, because she finds that her breathing quickens within a matter of seconds of being alone in his presence.
to distract herself, she looks around at the gym. all of the freshmen and sophomores have taken their seats, leaving the juniors and seniors to find their places and settle down. all of the high school teachers are positioned along the sides of the gym, while the principal is at the front of the room, ready to begin his speech. she'll never understand why they don't just have the welcome assembly in the auditorium, but she supposes the gym is more convenient for when everyone splits into their homerooms since there's much more space.
"i should go too," matt says, and lina turns back to him and nods. she becomes all too aware of how many people are surrounding them, possibly watching them interact together. she doesn't usually care about the opinions of others, but she's not used to having eyes on her like this. it's not just embarrassing to have people she knows seeing her with matt, but it's even worse to have random freshmen girls who have crushes on matt glaring at her. ever since he became the lacrosse team's main goalie, and after starting his youtube channel with his brothers, he's hugely grown in popularity with girls at their school.
"yeah," lina agrees lamely, unsure what else to say.
"i'll see you when we get our timetables, yeah?" he says, and lina nods. she stands there awkwardly, wondering what to do next. realistically, she should probably hug matt or something, since he's supposed to be her boyfriend, but she would rather die than hug matt sturniolo in front of her entire school.
they make eye contact, and she knits her eyebrows. then, matt takes her hand, before leaning forward and over her.
"stop looking like you want to kill me, dumbass," he whispers into her ear, followed by a small chuckle. "you're supposed to be obsessed with me, remember?"
"you're so full of shit," she whispers back, and matt pulls away to make eye contact with her again. he's smiling and there's a mischievous glint of amusement in his eyes, something she's never seen in him before.
"later, angelina," he says to her, giving her hand a small squeeze before dropping it. she nods in response, turning away from him. once she knows he can't see her anymore, she rolls her eyes and walks off and attempts to find cody.
the boy, however, is absolutely nowhere to be seen, and nor is jasmine. lina sighs in frustration, opting to sit down in the nearest seat to her. she crosses her arms, looking in front of her. where the fuck is cody?
she hears laughter behind her and sees the rest of her friend group all sitting together in a row. somehow, verity managed to find them in the time that she was talking to matt, so the five of them sit together and are pointing at chris and giggling. she huffs, wishing that was her, before turning back to the front.
this is going to be a long hour.
'✦ ˑ ִֶ 📨𓂃⊹
end game!matt is middle part!matt confirmed (my personal fav matt variant 😘)
omg also we r finally getting rid of annoying protective easton and getting silly cutesy easton! he's not L i sweeeeeear just give him some time to cook
summer is pegs' oc btw so give her sum love ❤️ she's so gf guys you'll se
⸺ ava ! ♡