Down bad

19

"winter formal is in two weeks!!!" vallery jumps up and down looking at the poster in front of her.

the triplets beside her don't look too impressed.

"come on it will be so fun!! pleaseee"
she begs. nick gives in easily, chris says he will think about it and she knew matt is easy to convince.

"so ladies" charlotte smiles linking arms between her two bestfriends as they walk from lunch.
"any dates for prom yet? it's in a week"

"sam peters asked me but i said no.." i cringe. the girls look at me in shock.

"aww why? he's head over heels in love with u" nova comments

"i know but i couldn't do it. i feel bad tho..he's kinda cute.." char smiles at me.

"i dunno.. " i sigh "nova what about u?"

"well no one had asked me yet but i kinda have my eye on someone.."

"WHO?" charlotte and i yell stopping in out tracks. she avoids eye contact and starts walking again. i pull her back and  create eye contact.

"don't be mad it's kinda weird"

char and i share a look

"who?" i ask

she scrunches her nose "matt"

"oh" charlotte raises her eyebrows. my heart drops. even though i knew it was coming i immediately feel buckets of jealousy wash over me and i hate it. i have to play it cool though.

"well that's not that weird i was expecting u to say..idk...zander or something!"

"ewww" we giggle.

_______

"hey vallery?" marylou asks once everyone is home from school. we were in the kitchen making coffee while the boys went to their rooms.

"yeah?"

"has joy reached out to u in a while?"

"she tried to but i declined many times. i could tell she was mad at me." i shrug "why do u ask? oh god, u don't mind me staying here do u? because i can-"

"no sweetheart im perfectly fine with u being here" she smiles and my pulse goes back to normal
"i just know that u and ur aunt have this unmatchable bond that i know can't be broken. i really don't want u guys to argue, that's all. and i know she is not herself without u. i bumped into her at the grocery store the other day and she.." the lady takes a dead breath deciding on her words carefully.  "she wasn't herself.
all i'm trying to say honey is that it wouldn't hurt to call her up. or call over she's only a few door down"

this woman can turn mere thoughts into poetic lines of wisdom. i have always thought marylou was my guardian angel. always there when u needed her. no matter what.

"thankyou marylou" i pull her into a hug dodging the tears that were threatening to fall. i swear, if anyone shows affection (usually through words) to me i will probably want to cry. "it really helps hearing u talk so carefully. i will think about it"

"ok" she whispers and smiles back at me before continuing to stir her beverage.

i pull away from the hug and take my coffee upstairs to change out of my uniform.

______

"do u think i should make an effort with joy? this is pretty dramatic isn't it?" vallery asks laying on matts bed with her head dangling off the edge upside down.
matt couldn't understand why she thought it was pathetic after her not being able to function properly for the past few weeks because she was so sad.

"it's only dramatic if u regret it. and even then it's not dramatic because they were emotions u were feeling at the time, being expressed" he shrugs picking things from the ground and returning them back in their designated homes. she sits up (criss-cross apple-sauce)  taking a deep breath.

"true, but it's silly considering she has done everything she can to keep me alive and i'm treating her horribly. i mean for days after the fight i was just so mad. maybe i was just scared of being replaced.." matt notices the falter in her voice and sits beside her, listening carefully.

"u have a right to be jealous though val. i mean it has only been the two of u for ur whole life. and then a new guy just starts cooking in ur kitchen i mean- it isn't a nice way to find out" he speaks so softly, just like his mother.

"ya i guess u have a point. but what would u say from her point of view..?" he sighs.

"well, she was excited to show u her new boyfriend. i just think it all happened in a bad way for u to find out. i think if she had told u from the start, u would of been prepared. instead of such a new thing being sprung on u out of nowhere"

"so should i reach out to her?"

"that's completely up to u"

she doesn't respond.

matthew looks at the girl. she probably feels lonely without her bestfriend, he thinks.

his arms wraps around vallery. her head lays on his shoulder easily. they sit like that comfortable until she complains about almost peeing her pants.

......

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