Adoration [m.s]

EIGHT

real life !

Today was the day.

Ezailah Rhodes was going to meet Matt Sturniolo for the first time—as her homecoming date, of all things! Although she had seemed confident to her friends about getting Matt to agree to come, deep down she thought she didn't stand a chance. When he agreed, she couldn't believe it, and she wasn't completely convinced it was truly real; it seemed too good to be true.

As she prepared for Matt's arrival, Ezailah felt nervous butterflies floating around her stomach. Even though Matt wouldn't be at her house for very long, she had gone around the house cleaning everything she could, much to her parents' surprise. She was never really one to go much further than doing her mandatory chores.

When it came to getting ready, trying to ignore her nerves and focus on doing her hair and make-up had proved impossible, wanting everything to go perfectly. It took her twice as long to finish her look, so it was no surprise that as soon as she had put her hairbrush down, a resounding ping came from her phone. Her heart raced even quicker as she darted across the room to pick it up, already having a feeling she knew what the notification would be. And, of course, she was right.

Matt was here.

Rushing downstairs, she paused by the front door, smoothing her dress down while simultaneously checking her perfected reflection in the hallway mirror. Taking a deep breath, she swung the door open, attempting a calm smile that did anything but reflect how she was feeling inside.

As Ezailah's eyes met Matt's gaze, she realised that no amount of preparation could have prepared her for this. Seeing Matt, someone who she had idolised for a long period of time, standing in front of her, made her speechless. In fact, she wasn't sure how long the two of them stood there in silence, just taking each other in. However, it didn't entirely feel awkward.

"Hey, Matt." Ezailah finally found the courage to acknowledge him. "Do you want to come in?"
"Hi, Ezailah," he responded, pronouncing her name correctly—a feat that, surprisingly, not many people managed. Ezailah thought the pronunciation was pretty straight forward herself, but it still made her glow inside that he had gotten it straight away.

As she ushered him through the door, she took another deep breath in an attempt to calm her nerves. If she wanted this to go well, she needed to pull herself together—and fast.

"How was the drive?" Ezailah asked, leading Matt into the dining room, where she had already laid out two glasses of water.
"It was fine, thank you. It wasn't as long as I was expecting it to be; you live quite close, in fairness." He smiled at her, seeming a little nervous himself, giving Ezailah the extra push to calm herself to make them both more comfortable.

The two conversed a bit longer, their words slowly becoming more natural the more they spoke.

Suddenly noticing the time, Ezailah's eyes widened. "We should probably make a move. We don't want to be late."
"Yeah," Matt laughed. "I don't think it would make a very good first impression with your friends."
Ezailah batted the air with her hands, as if to say he shouldn't worry about that. "I'm always late to things, so they're used to it. They would definitely blame me."
"Still, I wouldn't like to risk it." Matt shrugged, a small smile upon his features.

As they went out to Matt's car, her parents waving from the door, Ezailah's heart warmed at the thought of Matt wanting to make a good impression. The fact he was even coming to her homecoming was more than enough to please her, let alone to make the effort he seemed to intend to make.

The drive to the venue went quickly, the two again slipping into easy conversation. It was beginning to feel like they'd known each other a lot longer than they had. Neither of them would have imagined that they'd be getting on as well as they did within an hour of meeting each other for the first time.

Pulling into the car park, Ezailah pointed out the huddle of her friends to Matt. They were stood by the venue sign, slung with ribbons, creating a cheap look compared to the extravagant building behind. Ezailah's school hall was having work done to it, but one of the many rich students' parents of her LA school had volunteered their event venue to ensure homecoming would still go ahead.

"The girl is my best friend, Elsie. She's got the purest heart I know. The boy who won't leave her alone is Jake; he's always been very open about his crush on Elsie. And that leaves Monty, the one on the left, looking as if he'd rather be anywhere else in the world." Ezailah chuckled, smiling at the sight of her favourite people.

Turning to Matt, she noticed he was smiling at her, his eyes twinkling. "They're important to you, aren't they?"
"Yeah. I don't know what I'd do without them, even when they annoy the hell out of me." She laughs again, Matt's smile widening in response.
"I can tell. You started glowing as soon as you spotted them." He looked down, almost embarrassed to have voiced his observation out loud.

Without thinking twice, Ezailah reached over and gently placed her hand atop Matt's. "That's how you are with your brothers, you know."
Matt met her eyes, the two sharing a knowing smile. The connection between them really did feel stronger than one between two near-strangers should.

Ezailah knew tonight was going to be a good night, starting with the absolute disbelief she expected to see on her friends' faces. And after that? Well, she was definitely going to make the most of having Matt's company, making the night enjoyable for both of them. With the way it was going already, she didn't think it would be very difficult to have the best night possible.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
hiii!!
thank u for 100 reads!!
i appreciate it🫶🫶

also sorry if this ending is a bit bad
and sorry you didn't get too much of the hoco action oops

hope you enjoyed !
and
thank you sm for reading <33
- mia💌