CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
[ real life + imessage + instagram ]
❝ WISH ❞
ʳᵉᵃˡ ˡⁱᶠᵉ
i had woken up to my alarm ringing. i set one the night before because i knew sleeping late would mean i'd wake up after 12 and i wanted to have more time to get ready.
i had just finished showering and was brushing my wet hair out. i looked at myself in the mirror, seeing drops of water splash all over it as the bristles flowed through my strands of hair.
i hadn't changed into my dress yet, i didn't want to ruin it with water or stain it with any makeup. i dried my hair before contemplating about straightening it. i loved my waves, but i liked my hair straight better. i decided to just be myself today, swimming would make my waves come back anyways so there really was no point.
i did my makeup, just a little so it wasn't so over the top. i put on my dress, dusting off some fluff and straightening it out at the bottom.
i turned on my phone after hearing a notification. i then saw many more unopened texts from other people.
ⁱᵐᵉˢˢᵃᵍᵉ
best people ever + chris
members:
chris 🧡
nick 🤞
matt ❔
aria 💗
nick 🤞
HAPPT BIRTHDAY ARIAAA !! LOVE YOU SO MUCH 💗
matt ❔
HAPPY BIRTHDAYYY ARIII LOVE YAA
sent today at 12:00 am
chris 🧡
happy birthday :)
sent just now
aria 💗
THANKS SO MUCH GUYSS
LOVE YOU
❤️hearted by nick🤞& matt❔
ⁱⁿˢᵗᵃᵍʳᵃᵐ
dm request from: coramiles
- accepted ✅
coramiles:
happy birthday aria !!
you:
thank you cora ❤️
ʳᵉᵃˡ ˡⁱᶠᵉ
i got 100s of other texts too, from fans, old friends, family, and more. everyone was being so sweet, it made my heart melt a little. while looking through texts from family, matt texted me letting me know he'd be here in 5 minutes. i ran downstairs, slipping on my converses. i couldn't wear heels for the life of me, especially to the beach. i grabbed a bag that contained my swim suit, snacks and warmer clothes since it'll probably be windy when it gets late.
i had just gotten to my door when i heard familiar honking outside. i walked outside towards matt, hopping into the passenger seat and dropping my bag in the backseat next to nick. nick had promised me shotgun since it was my birthday and i drove them everywhere on theirs.
"heyyy!" i said, stretching the Y before getting comfortable and strapping my seatbelt on.
"hiii, happy birthdayyy!!" nick said, mirroring my habits. then matt did the same.
i laughed, thanking him and matt. i looked around, realizing how empty the car had looked.
"where's chris?" i asked, convinced he was going to pop up out and scare me or something. matt started reversing out the drive way before sighing.
"he was being a bitch, saying he had something to do and wouldn't come so we left him, sorry he isn't here." matt said, looking at me for a split second before moving his eyes back to the road.
"oh," i said, looking at nick behind me. "it's okay, i get it." i added, trying to hide the fact that i was a little bummed.
"to make it up to you, he said he'll see us at this amusement park if we come after the beach." nick said. it was obvious chris didn't say that, but i nodded since i wanted to go to one for a while now.
"yes, ofcourse. we'll be there." i said, looking from nick to matt as they both nodded.
we got to the beach, parking in the closest open parking near the sand. matt and nick hopped out before i did, snickering to eachother for whatever reason. i shook my head, giggling at their childish behavior.
nick picked up my bag from the seat as i put my hand out to grab it from him. before i could reach it, he moved away, putting my bag on his shoulder and walking away. i rolled my eyes at his stubbornness before following behind him.
matt and nick suspiciously led me to a certain spot on the beach, the whole beach looked the same so it was weird that they were taking us to the farthest spot from us.
matt slowed down, letting me walk in front of him before basically attacking me and putting his hands in front of my eyes.
"what are you doing?" i said, in between laughs.
"shh, just follow our lead." matt said as nick grabbed my hand and started leading me farther into the sand. i couldn't see anything besides a small glare of light seeping through matt's fingers.
"are you readyyyy?" nick said, stopping me and holding both my arms to keep me from falling.
"yes!" i said, itching to see what was happening.
matt moved his hand off my eyes, "SURPRISE!!!" they both said at the same time with some familiar other voices.
there were a bunch of people i knew sitting at this long table covered in plates, snacks and decor. there were balloons at each corner, as well as a sign that read 'happy 19th birthday aria!' in front of me.
i covered my mouth in surprise, definitely not expecting all this. "thank you guys so much, this is literally amazing!" i said, turning around to see matt smiling behind me and hugging him tightly. he smiled even bigger before nick came and gave me a hug too. i went to greet everyone else there. old friends that i grew up with from new york were there, as well as new friends i made in LA not too long ago.
madi, heaven, and a ton more people came. "how did you guys manage to do this?" i asked nick and matt, realizing that i never introduced them to my old friends.
"welll, matt and i found out you had some childhood friends from nyc that you still talk to and flew them out for today, we couldn't get everyone but we got majority." nick said, laughing.
"you're joking. are you guys stalkers or something?" i said, jokingly. matt and nick both laughed even though they most likely are stalkers.
before swimming, we took pictures and got changed into swim suits. i immediately ran to the water, splashing it all over matt who was still in clothes and on the shore.
"what the fuck?" matt said, turning around to see me stunned and scared for what he was about to do.
"i'm sorry!" i yelled before he took his shirt off and ran into the water, splashing water all over me and dunking me under water.
i bopped my head out, seeing matt smiling at me as i tried getting the water off my face so i could see.
"you bitch!" i yelled at him, splashing him more before dunking him too. he grabbed my shoulders from under the water, taking me down with him. we both popped up, soaked and struggling to breath. we didn't know if that was because we were just underwater or because of how much we were laughing.
nick just laughed at us, calling us children before joining in.
after a while of swimming, laughing, eating, and just having fun, nick had called everyone to come and have cake.
"pleaseeee let us sing!!" nick begged after i said i'd be embarrassed.
"fine, but only because it's weird without it." i said, laughing and walking over to where the cake was. there was a little table stuck into the sand with a beautiful cake on it. i kneeled down behind it, sticking candles into the top of the cake.
matt lit the candles, smiling at me before starting to sing happy birthday. everyone sang along, all with bright smiles on their face.
once everyone was done singing, i made a wish and blew out the candles. my wish was different than it had been any year before. i'd always wish for new friends, better people in my life, and just overall a good friend group but now that i already had that, i wished for something completely different.
authors note:
matt may be my new favorite now that chris is a big baby and it's obvious
anyways how are yall feeling???
next chap is going to be amusement park w chris so get ready for some fun stuff (i don't even know what imma do yet)