THE MATCHMAKER ➢ JB MZ

six

MADDIE WALKED INTO THE cafeteria. she was so focused on joey and vanessa, that she forget about steph's existence.

she went over to her usual lunch table where she sat with steph, but steph was no where to be found. that's odd. she thought.

maddie looked around for steph, all she had to find was a girl with red hair and considering all of the blondes and brunettes in this school, it wasn't that hard.

she walked up to steph, confused as to why she moved tables. "steph, what are you doing over here?"

steph groaned. "same reason as to why you've been hanging with vanessa this whole week."

dang. harsh, maddie thought to herself. she was surprised to see steph hanging out with ashley, who wasn't even steph's friend to begin with. she was one of maddie's other best friends that she also hadn't checked up on in days.

"wow," maddie said. "so i guess you two are best friends now?"

"i guess you could say that," ashley said. "we've gotten closer!"

maddie rolled her eyes. "seriously guys, i know you can't stand me for hanging with vanessa but if you were in my position-"

"i would still talk to the friends who've been here since the beginning," steph cut her off. "you're literally just like olivia now."

maddie was insulted. being compared to olivia? now that was what really upset her. "thanks steph, greatly appreciated."

"no problem," steph laughed, rudely and not the way someone should laugh. "now look, the plastics are taking their seats. you should go meet up with them, since they're your besties now."

"shut up steph, this isn't mean girls. are you going to tell me why you are acting like this or?"

"acting like what?" steph asked. "acting the same way you've treated me for the past week?"

maddie grumbled. "just stop okay, you're my best frie-"

"well not anymore. go sit with vanessa, your real best friend," steph cut maddie off again. maddie frowned and started to walk off. there was no point in fighting it, she just left the two. but who needed steph when she was friends with the most popular girl in school? who needed steph when she was friends with the most popular guy in school?

of course she was bothered by steph acting like a total jerk, but she wasn't about to let it get to her. she had a matchmaking plan ahead of her! steph was not going to ruin her day, neither was ashley.

she went up to vanessa's table and took her seat, also known as luna's old seat that she was forced out of.

"hey girls," maddie said.

"hi maddie!" luna and loren said excitedly in unison. it was weird how they always said things at the same time, however maddie was the only one who noticed that.

"hey mads!" vanessa said. mads? was that like a new nickname for her? i'm really starting to fit in! maddie smiled to herself. "so, did you convince joey yet?"

maddie didn't really know what to say. she was almost there, well not really but she was trying her hardest. "well i might've told him that someone had a crush on him, that someone being you, and i made it seem like you said these nice things about him. so maybe if he finds out it's you, he'll want to date you."

vanessa beamed, luna not knowing what was going on since she gave up following what maddie was saying. loren was just as happy as vanessa.

"thank you maddie!" vanessa cheered, thanking her new friend out of joy. "but are you going to tell him it's me?"

"well yeah-"

"okay!" vanessa said. she was going to tell maddie how vanessa had already made it clearly obvious that she had a crush on joey. she wanted to tell maddie the part about how joey had no interest in her whatsoever, but she didn't want to interfere with her master plan.

maddie finally felt apart of the group.

"when are you going to talk to joey?" loren asked.

"i said lunch so i guess i should go find him, right?"

"yes, of course. go, go!" vanessa urged the brunette girl. maddie smiled and then left he table. she went to go find joey, who was at his table with greg, lucas, and charles. she didn't want to interrupt their conversation but she already did when they noticed her presence.

"hey guys," maddie greeted. "hey joey."

"maddie! hey," he said a little too excitedly. maddie didn't really notice since she was excited herself, but the others knew something was up.

"can we talk now?" maddie asked him.

"yeah, sure," joey smiled.

"oooh! she wants to talk!" greg made a huge thing out of it, completely embarrassing them. joey motioned for him to stop and then he did. charles was about to chime in, except for lucas who was secretly emo.

maddie and joey left the lunch room and out into the hallway, it was deserted so nobody could hear them.

"so, are you finally going to tell me who likes me?" joey asked, trying to pretend like he didn't already know.

"yeah," maddie smiled.

"who is it?" he was desperate to know, well he was trying to sound that way, so maddie wouldn't suspect anything.

"vanessa," she admitted. joey's heart sunk.

what? it wasn't maddie...it was vanessa. joey internally frowned at his thoughts, which was weird. why was he feeling upset over this?

"i already knew vanessa liked me, haha," he tried laughing it off, but it still stuck with him. he felt like an idiot for believing greg. greg lied about it! why would greg lie?

"really?"

"yeah..." he trailed off. "she's obsessed."

maddie's eyes widened. "wait, what?"

"the girl texts me everyday, with hearts and everything." joey looked down.

"oh boy," maddie said. "but don't you like her back?"

"i mean i tried," joey replied. "but she scares me."

maddie thought for a minute. "how is it scary?"

"i don't know! but like it's just weird and i don't know if would ever date her," joey admitted to maddie.

"well can't you give her a chance?"

"i've tried," said joey.

"can't you try another time?" maddie asked.

"i guess i could," joey responded. he felt uneasy about the situation. he didn't want to like vanessa, it was weird. with that, he couldn't stop thinking about him thinking maddie had a thing for him. and the thing was, he enjoyed that feeling.

he tried to get it off his mind, but he just couldn't.

"that's a relief," maddie laughed. "i always shipped you guys."

"really?"

"of course."

a/n

omg hey long time no see! i finally updated after a while. i forgot about watt for a bit but that's okay!

also,

JUST ANOTHER REMINDER THAT I LOVE GREG MARKS IN THIS FANFIC.

but i wonder why joey thinks the situation was weird?! 🤐😳

okay please leave a vote and some comments i beg!