GET HIM BACK! , c. sturniolo ✓

eight.

after school, jamie waited for maya outside by the doors to the senior parking lot so that they could go home. she couldn't help but notice the boy standing near her, also waiting for his brothers. after eighth period, matt realized he had left something in his class so he had to run back and grab it, leaving chris and jamie alone once again. 

jamie was having second thoughts again. she didn't want to be friendly with chris anymore, however she did feel bad about earlier. and she was unsure if she actually wanted operation: get him back! to start for real. once her and matt started, they could never go back. chris and matt's brother bond would be broken.

"chris," jamie started. chris looked up from his phone and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "i didn't know matt was coming to class today." she tried to explain. chris scoffed. 

"why did he, anyway, jamie? you know, after we talked earlier i would've thought you could at least tell me if you're fucking around with my brother." jamie's jaw fell open. 

"what? chris, i am not fucking around with matt. and weren't you just apologizing to me earlier and saying that my relationship with matt isn't your business?"

"so you are dating matt?"

"i never said that."

"well, you didn't exactly deny it either." chris shot back. the two were looking each other in the eyes, both expressions filled with anger and hurt. 

"you have no right to talk, chris." jamie started. "you went and started dating my best friend. why is it so different if i do the same?"

"it's not the same because he's my brother, jamie." chris replied, bitterly. jamie fell silent. chris was right, wasn't he? it wasn't the same. it will never be the same. suddenly, his eyes caught on someone behind her. "speak of the devil." he muttered.

"hi chris! hey j!" matt greeted cheerfully and cluelessly. he gave the girl a quick hug. "what's going on?" chris shook his head and let out a cold laugh.

"i can't believe this." he said before turning around. "i'm waiting by the car."

"what's going on..." matt started, but jamie shook her head. 

"you don't want to know." 

"does he think we're together?" matt asked her. jamie shrugged her shoulders. 

"he definitely suspects it. and when he accused us of dating, i didn't deny it." she admitted. matt sighed and nodded.

"well, this was what we signed up for, wasn't it? we can't really get mad at him for getting upset when we're literally instigating it."

"yeah." jamie agreed. "i'm not sure if i really want to do it anymore, though."

"what?" matt looked surprised. "why not? what happened?"

"when he got mad, it didn't feel as good as i thought it would. i don't want you to lose your brother, matt. if chris gets mad about this, he's going to feel even worse than i did, which while it sounds tempting, it's wrong. and he's not only losing his bond with you, you're losing your bond with him. and i don't want to be the reason for you guys falling out." jamie explained her conflicted thoughts to matt, who wore a soft smile on his face. after jamie finished, he gave her a long hug. 

"you're so nice, jamie. i love you."

"i love you, too." jamie hugged him back. "so are we done with the 'plan?'"

"yeah, we're done with it." matt assured her. jamie let out a sigh of relief. 

"good because i was getting sick of fake dating you." she joked, making matt roll his eyes. 

"hey, we didn't even start fake dating yet. and i would be a great fake boyfriend, thank you very much."

"sure." jamie laughed. the two fell into a comfortable silence as matt looked toward the car. chris was, in fact, standing by the passenger side door. the two would catch him looking up at them every now and then. 

"i should probably go talk to him." matt said. 

"you should." jamie agreed. before anyone could say anything else, maya and nick appeared at their side.

"god, what took you so long?" jamie asked maya, who shook her head. 

"we were waiting for you guys by the library before realizing that this year's meeting spot is the parking lot."

"waited for a solid ten minutes, too." nick sighed. "where's chris?"

"he's by the car." matt pointed out to him. "also, guys, we need to talk." he and jamie explained to the group what they had just talked about. 

"that's a relief." nick replied. "i was so worried i would get stuck in between you two."

"you guys made the right choice." maya said. "it probably sucks to have someone so close to you get with someone you love so much and it's good that you didn't project your hurt onto chris."

"yeah." jamie nodded. "but i still feel like shit. there's nothing i can do about chris and paris except just deal with it and get over it."

"you have a right to feel mad about it, jamie." matt assured her. "eight months since ending a four year relationship is not a long time, i promise."

"and who knows, maybe you'll meet a really great guy later on." nick suggested. "don't let this one thing ruin the whole rest of your senior year."

"i love you guys." jamie replied, giving each of her friends and her sister a hug. "i'll see you guys tomorrow?"

"yeah! and i'll tell carol and isaiah about everything." matt said. "love you, jamie!" he waved as they went their seperate ways to their respective cars.

"love you too, matt!"

maha speaks :)

im sorry this was so short BUT this is not the last time we see matt & jamie's "plan" bc it will rise up again super super soon

theres gonna be like a month's timeskip between this and the next chapter btw!