"no, what you did was wrong." cassie quietly laughed and scribbled in her sketchbook.
"okay, okay, i get it. can we talk about something else now?" tyler whined over the phone.
she was in the coffee shop at the moment, not knowing what else to do. her homework was finished, cheerleading practice too and she didn't feel like working.
during the practice, cassie and matt did small talk a bit. even if it was dry and short, it was still something. she apologized for being so rude to him that other day, twice.
"okay. i finally watched the new jungle book movie." she smiled and rolled the pen between her fingers.
"about time. what did you think?"
"i liked it a lot, it was cool." she shrugged and began drawing again.
"you used to look like mowgli for a while. remember that?" he chuckled and probably grinned like a fool.
"oh, shut up." she muttered and looked up at melissa who approached her.
"what? it's true."
cassie smiled at her friend and watched the chai latte she got. when melissa slyly smiled and then strutted away, cassie frowned and very, very slowly removed the top.
she had her suspicion of course, considering the last letter was a k, spelling i like. pursing her lips, she looked down at the liquid and swallowed hard. there was a capital u, with two dots above — as if being a smiley and a letter at the same time.
"oh, shit." she whispered and began biting on her thumbnail. "i need to go, ty. talk to you later." she added as she hung up the phone.
cassie quickly pushed the half-finished drawing down her bag and stood up from her chair. just as she was about to leave the place, matt entered and bumped his body into hers accidentally.
"cass, hi. i wanted to– to talk, if you've got some time." matt said and moved his hand as he spoke. cassie's bag fell down her arm and to the floor, so she kneeled down and tried to gather the papers again. "what's that?"
"nothing, please don't look." she mumbled and pulled a hand through her hair out of frustration.
"cassie, is that me?" he asked stubbornly and kneeled down too, only to have his question answered. there were more than one drawing of him, and she closed her eyes and bit on her lip harshly.
"i'm sorry, i know this seems so, so weird, i just can't really help it..." she started rambling while standing up and nervously looked to the sides.
matt listened in the beginning, but then just stopped. he glanced at the papers and then back at her face, twitching the corners of his mouth outwards. after a few seconds, he just shook his head. as much as he wanted to shut her up and admire the beautiful drawings, he had something else in mind.
"screw it." he said quietly before grabbing her head with such dominance and pressing his lips against hers.
cassie widened her eyes and raised her eyebrows over his act, barely lifting a hand beside her body. when she finished being in the shock state, she put a hand against his chest and finally kissed him back with closed eyes.
matt softly placed his hands around the side of her neck instead, caressing her jaw with his thumb. she pulled him closer if that was even possible and had to stand on her toes due to his height.
when he pulled back to look at her, she leaned in briefly because she honestly wanted more. however, she opened her eyes too and stared at him until he kissed her again, this time with tongue.
she suddenly remembered his drunken moment outside the house with her, and how he said that one day he'd finally get the guts to kiss her. and how it was going to be amazing. at the time, she just figured he was utterly wasted and didn't know what he was talking about. but he finally did it, and it was rather amazing if you'd ask her. bold and out of the blue maybe, but that only made it better.
the two stood there for a moment until simultaneously pulling back, gazing at each other. they heard melissa squeal from behind the counter, and the brunette rolled her eyes stupidly.
"i, uh– i've definitely got some time to talk." she nodded and dropped her hands slowly. "and that was a very... creative way to drop it." she added while motioning back to her table with her thumb.
"okay." he whispered with a wide grin and helped her pick up the rest of her things.
cassie put them back in the bag and licked her lips as she exited the shop with matt beside her. the two automatically returned to the college and decided to go to her dorm room.
she awkwardly put her bag on the desk and emptied it with a sigh, moving the paintings to the not ok drawer, closing it with a slightly flushed face.
"i'm just gonna' change quickly, if that's okay." she murmured and looked at him. "and sorry about the drawings."
"of course." he shrugged and sat down on the bed. "why are you sorry? they were amazing."
"but... it's weird, isn't it? i don't know why i've been drawing you. you were just always there, so i drew. i'd be creeped out." she partly joked by the end and cracked a smile.
matt laughed quietly and frowned with his lips carelessly. cassie smiled again before opening her little closet and grabbing a pair of sweatpants and a big t-shirt.
she changed very quickly while he just scrolled down his phone aimlessly. she tucked some hair behind her ear as she placed herself beside him, one leg bent under the other one.
"hey." he smiled and put his phone away.
"hey." there was a short, but somehow comfortable silence, as if they needed it to completely melt what had happened. "do you really mean that? the chai latte message."
"yeah, i do." he answered without hesitation and gazed at her. "i've fancied you for quite a while now. which feels weird in a way."
"o–okay." she mumbled and scratched the back of her neck. "i'm not going to lie to you, i made a confession to your sister a few days ago."
"really? what was that?" he asked with barely raised eyebrows.
"i like you too." she admitted and then made a face after saying it. don't get her wrong, she meant it, but it just felt odd to say it in that way, and actually mean it whole-heartedly.
"your face begs to differ." he chuckled and cocked his head to the side.
"i wouldn't have kissed you back if i didn't." she stated and locked her hands together between her legs. "and by the way, 'screw it'?"
"can you blame me? i was about to chicken out." he laughed and she snorted.
"well, i'm glad you didn't." she said truthfully and fiddled with her fingernails. "so what happens now?"
"you tell me. you're the one who's had more than one relationship." he shrugged and licked his lips.
"barely serious ones. but i guess we're dating, if people still do that, until you ask me to be your girlfriend. or we just continue this friendship without making things complicated. with a few kisses here and there maybe." she scrunched up her nose and moved her head side to side a few times.
"the last option sounds more natural, and less complicated. i like our friendship."
"yeah, me too." she nodded with a smile and bit on the insides of her cheeks.
"but, how is this going to affect your view on stereotypes?" he asked with a smirk and raised one eyebrow questioningly.
"you and i are still major stereotypes." she laughed and folded her arms together.
"so, if you're the typical, beautiful girl who doesn't particularly stand out — although you are very gorgeous — then who am i?" he asked, even if she did stand out.
but he meant it in a different way; she didn't stand out like supermodel steffy who knew literally everyone and talked a lot. not that they disliked steffy, but she stood out and not a soul doesn't know her.
"you're the obnoxious jock whom a girl like me would never even imagine dating. fortunately, you're not so obnoxious." she answered and fixed his fringe quickly.
"good to know." he said and kept his eyes fixed on her. "so we just continue being like we are, but now we can kiss?"
"something like that. unless you want to take me on awkward dates and then awkwardly ask me the question." she shrugged and bit on her bottom lip.
"i think we could skip that." he agreed and sat a bit further up on her bed.
"by the way, i need some help." she smiled and jumped off the bed, strutting over the drawer. "the school wants to put some student's drawings on the art performance this year, and i have a few sketches here..."
cassie rummaged through her drawer and seized three pieces of paper. she then returned to him and sat cross-legged, showing him the current options.
"i'm the worst at deciding." he remarked and studied the sketches.
"yeah, but just give me an opinion. i'll probably end up with ten new choices but still. i don't even know what theme i want." she said quietly while biting on her thumbnail.
"stop." he laughed and pushed away her hand, receiving a weak glare from her. "and i think you should go with this one. it seems a bit... i don't know, deeper?" he then added, pointing at sketch number three. "it says a lot."
"yeah? what does it say to you?" she asked and pulled her legs up against her chest.
"to me it says... that there's another story." he said slowly, scanning the sketch. "i mean, you don't notice it at first, but there's a silhouette behind the happy face. and even if you've seen similar paintings, it's still pretty and cool."
"okay, thanks." she smiled and put everything back in her drawer.
cassie pulled her fingers through her hair before turning around and leaning her body against the wall, arms crossed. matt looked at her with a half smile and intertwined his hands together against his lap.
"where's alex, by the way?" he asked out of the blue after glancing around in the room.
"i think she's with vanessa. honestly, i have no idea because i went to that coffee shop really early." she laughed and glimpsed down at the floor.
"ah, okay. that girl is everywhere anyway." he chuckled and watched as she dropped her arms and sauntered over to him.
"true. sort of." she smiled and nodded her head to the sides again, carefully straddling him. "i mean, she's mostly in the caféteria."
"okay, you're right." he pursed his lips and rested his hands against her sides. "how's that astronomy assignment going?"
"you're gonna' talk about school with me?" she snorted and raised her eyebrows amused. "but since you're asking, it's going well. you?"
"yes, i am." he giggled and licked his lips to stop doing that. "great. then you can help me?"
matt slightly pouted while gazing at her, and cassie exhaled with a smile and looked down before nodding.
"yeah, of course. just not right now." she answered and pushed some hair away from her face.
"okay, thank you." he smiled cutely and drummed on her waist with his fingers.
"anytime."
"can we do that thing again? where our lips pucker and then smooches against each oth–"
cassie stupidly rolled her eyes over his choice of words and kissed him softly. matt grinned for a short moment before resting a hand against her head and kissing her back. she wrapped her arms around his neck and felt his hand drop down to her back instead, causing her to slowly pull away.
"you're so good with words." she chuckled and slightly raised her eyebrows.
"yeah, especially around you." he snorted and played with the ends of her hair.
"okay cheeseball, let's do something instead." she grinned and stood up again. he whined and held onto her hand until she took another step back, making it impossible for him to still hold it.
"like what?" he asked and folded his arms together against his lap.
"like... we could play some football. or study, or watch a movie. there's a lot of things to do." she suggested, gesturing with her hands.
"i think we can scratch the study part instantly." he smirked and rolled his thumbs.
"of course." she laughed and nodded slowly. "have you ever seen a musical? like, a movie musical?"
"no, not really. why?" he asked suspiciously and squinted with his eyes at her. she cracked a sly smile and gazed at him with amused eyes. "no thanks, cass. i'm not a musical kind of guy."
"oh, come on! just one. it has a great plot." she pouted a bit and tilted her head to the side.
matt stared at her for a moment and shook his head in defeat. in the end, he shrugged and allowed her to choose the activity. cassie happily clasped her hands together and grabbed her laptop, placing herself on the bed with him again.
"if it honestly sucks, you owe me two hours of your time." he warned her with a severe expression and she just blankly looked at him before smiling widely.
"right. i'll owe you two hours of my time."
"do you promise?" he asked with a skeptical look.
cassie exhaled through her nose before grabbing his cheeks and pecking his nose, then his lips. she searched for the phantom of the opera as if kissing him wasn't a big deal — unlike matt, who still froze a bit when it happened — and licked her bottom lip inside her mouth.
matt didn't really need a vocal answer. he just smiled satisfied and leaned his back against the wall. she tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ear and glanced up at him momentarily before starting the movie.
"you know what's a bit bothering about this film?" she uttered after the music of the night song, which would be about almost after half the movie. "emmy rossum was seventeen when she filmed it."
"why is that bothering?" he asked with a frown, not understanding the problem.
"gerard butler was around thirty two. patrick wilson was twenty eight, i think. the age differences are bothering."
"oh." he made a face and then grimaced out of slight disgust. "oh, ew. yeah, that's... not very nice."
cassie snorted and fiddled with her pillow. she rested her head against his shoulder, and the two continued watching the movie until the end.
alex entered the room before the movie ended though, sending her roommate a tired face when hearing the song from the computer.
"please don't tell me you forced him to watch it too." she sighed and put her hair up in a ponytail.
"i didn't force him, i just suggested it." cassie objected and crossed her arms together.
"sure you did. i mean, i like the movie, but it's the kind you only see once. unless you're an opera freak."
"mhm." cassie hummed and bit on her thumbnail for a while.
"stop." the two siblings said in unison and focused their eyes on cassie.
"oh, like you're perfectly flawless." cassie scoffed and glared at them both.
"nobody said that. we're just trying to get you out of your bad habits." alex smiled innocently and entered the bathroom to brush her teeth.
"i'm so lucky to you have you two by my side then." the brown eyed girl mumbled sarcastically and stood up.
"yeah, you are." alex chuckled as if it was obvious and looked at her brother.
"truly." matt chimed in and playfully winked at cassie.
"screw you guys."
"name the place and time." he joked and made a movement with his arms.
"oh lord."
-
a/n
I CANT END CHAPTERS FOR SHIT BUT IT FINALLY HAPPENED YAY
dunno what more to say. im tired af, gnyte