black treacle - matt sturniolo

Chapter Four, Blood rush

"I have to go. Journalism club time." Robyn sighed, packing up her belongings off the library table. Her last periods on Mondays and Fridays every week were spent in study room 505 with her friends, sheltered from other students - the only ones who ever delved this deep into the library except for the librarians.

Although they were smothered with dust, privacy and peace were more important than breathing. Thanks to Spencer's volunteering at the library, they were privy to waste away their days hiding in the librarian-reserved rooms.

The act, Robyn realised, was less honourable when it was revealed that Spencer's motive for providing this haven wasn't out of the goodness of her heart, but instead just for the unlimited book-borrowing privilege.

Robyn was surprised she hadn't been fired yet because she had never once seen her do the job she was assigned to - in fact she was only spotted doing the opposite: pulling out textbooks and romance novels Robyn always teased her for.

How could she not? They always circulated around two generic characters who'd then realise they were in love halfway through the book just for there to be a conflict 80 pages before the ending, somehow always resolved promptly enough to squeeze in a marriage proposal in the epilogue. Well, Robyn read them too...

But worst of all, she'd never put them away.

She'd only be spotted doing one of two things during their designated library time: studying chemistry or reading her books because, as she always said, "I have to get all my rom-com reading done now before SATs start!"

"Here we go again..." sighed Spencer. Crossing her arms and watching the girl rearrange her hijab, Robyn waited impatiently for an explanation.

It certainly couldn't be about university applications, their drive and ambitions regarding college were what had initially brought them together (as well as the way both their names were alliterations). But of course, it was totally based more around their ambitions...

Rolling her eyes, Spencer scoffed at her false ignorance, "Robyn, you need to stop lying." She packed up the new material she prepared for the students she tutored. Her mantra was if chemistry didn't make them cry, she would.

Although she could have been perceived as harsh - and often was - Spencer's subtle sadism was ignored because the entire half of their cohort blessed/cursed to be her tutees turned into straight-A students (Robyn was close to calling child protective services each time one of her students cowered and fled when they saw her walking in the halls).

"Just admit the true reason you've been spending so much time in the newsroom."

"My love for journalism and writing..?" Distracted by her thoughts, Robyn realised that her best friend would be terrifying as a villain.

Her obsession with chemistry and experimenting with which combination of elements had the biggest reaction was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. It was just a matter of time until someone returned a book with dog-eared pages.

"For God's sake, Robyn. MATT!"

"Shhh!" The passing librarian scolded the girl for her outburst. While Spencer was worried about losing her job (and, more importantly, her access to the Librarian's secret romance stash), Robyn panicked over whether anyone had heard his name. "Sanders! Reagan! If you can't remember to keep the noise levels down, forget about studying here!"

The girls looked down solemnly and apologetically, knowing that her threat was empty because this was the fifth time this month this had happened. Besides, Mrs Abbott loved the gossip...

Before she was out of their sight, Mrs Abbott turned sharply, staring straight at Robyn.

"Really? The Sturniolo kid?"

They gasped at her retort and stared with eyes as wide as saucers. The older woman shrugged and turned back to her book cart she'd left unattended long enough for Spencer to dump a heavy pile of medicinal chemistry books onto it with a mischievous smile which mouthed the words thank you appreciatively.

Robyn shrugged, not comprehending what they were insinuating or where this suspicion had even rooted from, "I just share a desk with him."

"Sharing a desk doesn't mean you have to mention him all the time..." Spencer chided, "How many times this past hour? Around 28? I don't know, who's keeping count anyways, right?"

The flustered girl had no reply because joking about Matt's presence on her mind was like dunking her head into freezing water, waking her up to the possibility of her crush on him. While Spencer recalled every instance she mentioned him, Robyn reflected on the last five minutes.

There was no way because just as Mrs Abbott had asked 'really? The Sturniolo kid?', what was there to like about him? Yeah, he's funny, kind, family-orientated, responsible, ambitious, applying to MIT which is only a five-minute drive from Harvard, meaning they wouldn't have to do long distance in college-

"-I have to go." She ran out before they realised the blush that had crept onto her face.

When she arrived in the newsroom, Robyn felt a small sense of relief that Matt wasn't in his seat. She should have been, right? Her arrival to the room was solely to be able to continue with her work without the added distractions bugging her in the library.

But why did she slowly feel a sense of disappointment conjuring in her stomach having not found him there? Wasn't this what she wanted - to get away from him and the allegations being thrown at her?

The whole conversation reconstructed her perspective on him and it was horrendous because perhaps she had always felt this way about him.

Her heart did always race when their eyes met. And for every new lead she found on Spider-Man, he would be the first she'd seek out to update, even before her friends, because celebrating with him just validated her work more.

Hell, she wanted to know where he was all the time.

When she entered the cafeteria she'd turn to see where he was sitting, or, in the library, before she snuck to their room, she'd inspect the cubicles to check if he was around. Even in the newsroom, her eyes naturally seemed to gravitate towards his seat. And if he were absent, she'd check the door every time it swung open to see if it was him entering the room...

Robyn's hands flew to her face and felt its radiating heat. Spencer, after leaving her biology class feeling even more eager to spill her random science-y knowledge to everyone around her, had once explained that blushing was caused by the body releasing adrenaline in a fight-or-flight response, leading to the vasodilation of blood vessels in the muscles to increase blood flow and oxygen delivery as a response to self-conscious or embarrassed emotions and, due to veins in the cheeks being closer to the surface, the response would leave a warm reddened appearance across the face.

And Robyn didn't need a mirror to know that she was blushing.

Oh my God.

She had a crush on Matt.

Robyn had a crush on Matt Sturniolo.