SOMETHING IN THE ORANGE | VINNIE HACKER

5

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵
something over nothing

⍣ ೋ OF COURSE, VINNIE said yes to her offer, and they dated up until summer of before senior year.

but, there was just one small problem. nora had to move.

and it was urgent.

as i mentioned, noras mom has her own bakery in los angeles, and it's been far too long since the willingtons have been officially in la, besides their occasional three day trips they took every now and then.

so now, on such short notice, the willingtons are packing up to move and they have only four days to be already out washington and in los angeles.

at first, noras first worry was how she was going to get all of her stuff to los angeles. once her dad assured her movers and organizers would cover that, the next she realized was vinnie.

it was all thrown at her in the short, short time of only a few hours. she had a boyfriend waiting for her tonight, probably with roses and all. in about fifty minutes, nora should've been picked up by vinnie for a fun night out. instead, she'd be texting him they have to break up.

v the 🐐

im sorry, i can't make it tn

whyy what happened :(

we can reschedule

no

we have to break up

el what r you saying

why

im moving

its not going to work

im sorry

wait no please call me el j

el j

this isn't fair you can't just say that

is this a joke

block "v the 🐐" ?
yes or no

nora knew her actions were stupid, unfair, and selfish. they could've worked it out. long distance could've worked. but there are five things -more like problems- that will not support nora and vinnies love story.

fear.

confusion.

jealousy

leon.

need.

five things nora had known very well, and still does. fear being her biggest one. she fears others leaving her, so its best to remove them first. a common thing a lot of people are scared of.

for a while after vinnie realized he was blocked, he was reasonably sad. he was cold turkey out of an almost year long relationship, and no idea why besides "im moving". like what kind of an excuse was that? he was very hesitant to tell his parents due to their strong love for nora, but they of course ended up on their son's side.
months had gone by without a word from nora or her family, despite their extensive history. the willingtons really edged the hacker family.

unfortunately for vinnie, this wasn't just a sad break up phase that lasted maybe a month like his friends had, it'd turned into a full blown depression. days blurred, life felt robotic, and there was no girl to come home to. everyone in vinnies life noticed the shadow change; it was like a computer and killed vinnie, ripped his skin off and wore it as it's own. nothing about this new person resembled old vinnie- his laughable, nerdy self.

vinnies day consisted of waking up, going to school, coming home, shower, sleep at six pm all the way until seven when he was forced to school again. on weekends, he stayed in bed all day and if he was occasionally feeling like a human for a bit, would play a game or two with some friends. nothing exciting happened to him, partly because nothing excited him in the first place, and mostly because he didn't want to be excited. any twinge of joy he immediately shut down, because once that joy that he felt with nora came back, he would be too afraid to lose it again. vinnie even quit baseball because it took too much energy he didn't have.

at school, he avoided mr. woolys classroom so he wouldn't be ambushed by his disappointment, or so there'd be no questioning about his academics that weren't doing so hot anyways.

vinnies blame for his lifeless life was mostly on nora for leaving him so unexpectedly, but he never will forget the moment when he left old vinnie behind. it was like he could feel his soul leaving him, and at that point all he wanted was to hate himself and nora. he knew he couldn't trust himself to keep people in his life, and sure as hell could never trust nora again.

one time, during first semester final week, he was having a fine day. so, he decided to open youtube for the first time in months, and to his disappointment, a video with four millions views titled, Los Angeles w/ Leon and Brynlei! had to be the first thing he noticed. nora made the video, and it went viral. massively viral. something she didn't deserve, because she was a cheap, lying, abandoning ex girlfriend.

vinnie got curious, more curious than he should have. he knew he was going to get hurt, and by this point nothing could hurt that numb heart of his. so, he clicked her channel. he was met with around a dozen videos, most of them being vlogs and her daily life, and one of them showcased her time in a studio, he guessed for music, something she told him she was ready to pursue. but the one tht caught his eye the most was her first ever video from three months ago titled, travel vlog from seattle to la, and that was her second most popular video, amassing over three million views.

so, he watched it. he needed answers, questions he asked months ago might have answers in this video. it was heart wrenching to see her face again after so long. it was a face he knew so well, like the patterns of her moles, the way her nose scrunched at cute animals, the softness of her lips, and the warmth of her jaw he'd held a million times before.

she started explaining how her dad had movers already picking things up from the house, but she had multiple items she wanted to personally travel with on the plane for comfort of them not getting lost. the items included a prize vinnie had won her at the state fair- it was a gigantic alligator stuff animal they both decided to name fred, after the guy who ran the stand they won the prize at.

everything else on that list he couldnt care less about, the fact she cared about losing the stuffed animal he got her was ridiculous. was she lying to the camera about caring in case he watched this? it was like he wanted complete custody of fred like he was their kid, and he would probably never get him back.

he finished the video with tears in his eyes. he couldn't tell if they were out of anger, hate, or a longing for nora that he couldn't fulfill. but, this feeling was one of the first emotion he felt in a long time, so he let it wash over his lifeless body until it fully transformed him into an emotional animal. this felt better than nothing, and for him that was a win. although his heart completely ached and his stomach was tight, it was something.

so, for the next hour and a half, he cried to the rest of her videos, listening to her voice and watching the movement of those lips, he looped one and fell asleep for the night. it was desperate, but it was something.

he didnt make it to school the next day, and had to retake his practice finals. how embarrassing.

idk what this is buts its ok i guess...

i feel terrible for vincent 😞 ׂׂૢ

   lovely, bia ⍣ ೋ