✓ | tampons ( GATEN MATARAZZO. )

xxi. DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER

TAMPONS!
( chapter twenty-one )

THREE MONTHS LATER

ANGELINA PALAZA takes a deep breath. as she smooths down her frilly blue dress, she closes her eyes.

this is called her zen mode. angelina is never calm, for shes always fidgety. but now, she's as calm as ever.

as angelina blocks out all negative thoughts and people, gaten matarazzo is running down the long halls of the westport high school. tonight was an important night, and he knew better than to miss a minute of the show.

when angelina opens her eyes once more, she just nearly misses her cue to go on stage. hurrying on, she begins to act her part, believing the crowd in front of her was not there.

but it was. and gaten matarazzo was a part of it. he had just barely made it in, only with the exception of getting a selfie from the security guard and a few other staff members after the show.

as gaten settled in his seat, he watched the show intently. he knew angelina was a good actress and singer, but not this good. he was wowed by her melodic tone and the tragedy in her voice.

he was wowed by the girl he loved. 

as angelina finished her part and walked off stage, she sighed, getting handed a bottle of water. she believed it was one of the best performances of her life. although, to make matters worse, she hadn't seen her boyfriend anywhere in the theatre. not that she was looking of course, but he told her he'd be front row.

peeking out behind the curtains, angelina scans the theatre once more. she looks at every row, and every face, but no sign of the boy she loved.

gaten, seeing the girls small head peeking out the curtains, flails his arms to catch her attention. this indeed, does catch her attention, and all he could see from then on was her bright smile lighting up the stage.

gazing out the curtains, angelina once again almost misses her cue. when she gets to the stage, she fumbles one or two lines, and gaten chuckles lightly each time.

once the show ended and the audience stood with a standing ovation, angelina kept a lookout for gaten. unfortunately, she didn't see him which made her smile falter. did he leave? she knew he was a busy kid, places to go and paparazzi to avoid, but he promised her they'd go out after this.

after what happened three months ago, after angelina forgave gaten, she'd reconnected their relationship and it's been strong since.

since they were wrapping up season three of stranger things, gaten was going from washington to visit angelina to atlanta for filming. while it was a hassle, everyone was alright with it. they all adored angelina and even offered her a small role in show. while angelina declined, she was still promised an audition for the next season.

walking back to the dressing room, the lights in the theatre suddenly turned off. panicked screams rang through the auditorium, but suddenly a light source came through. a single candle was lit, and the one behind it was gaten matarazzo.

angelina's face lit up and she rushed forward, the air blowing out the candle. before angelina could hug gaten, he held a hand up.

"you can uh, turn the lights back on now," he whispered to the stage hand. soon all the lights were turned back on and gaten faced his gorlfriend with a huge smile. "okay, now you can."

angelina laughed, wrapping his arms around his neck while gaten's went around her waist.

"i missed you." angelina whispered into his hair, tears of joy trickling into his curls.

"me too angel. me too." gaten smiled, not ever wanting to let go.

except they did.

a girl, one of the stepsisters, tapped her shoulder furiously. "angelina, hurry up, i want to leave and you know we can't once everything's put away."

angelina turns around to face the girl, an angry look on her face. "fuck off janet, im trying to have a happy ending here, my god."

janet rolls her eyes, walking away from the pair. angelina turns back to gaten, who's smiling at her.

"have i ever told you that i love you?" he asks.

"no, i don't recall you doing so. maybe you should, so it can come back to me."
angelina smiles, her cheeks burning as their faces become closer.

"i love you," he mutters, their mouths only inches away.

"and i you." angelina says, closing the distance between the two.

did you really think that'd happen? well, don't judge by its cover 😤

ANGELINA PALAZA awoke with a start. it'd only been about two weeks and she was regretting everything.

this was about the fifth dream she'd had in the course of these two weeks, the same each time, all ending at the same part.

she doesn't know why they happen, but she feels bad after it occurs each time.

lucky for her, gaten matarazzo feels the same. wiping the beads of sweat off his forehead, he picks up his phone, scrolling to their last few messages together.

the two were so happy. happy to tell each other they liked each other. happy to tell their friends. and it all disappeared, and as angelina said, it was his fault.

gaten didn't take the situation lightly. after the last text from angelina, he threw his phone across the room in anger, letting out an unruly yell. since he was on set, he got multiple stares, and sympathy from his friends. when they were shooting scenes for the day, he tried his best to get his act together but he couldn't get his mind off of her.

angelina was the same way. once she sent her last text, she threw her phone on the ground, letting out a barbaric yell, earning one from her mother. while her mother was already stressed enough, angelina just made matters worse. the worst part about angelina's situation was she had nobody to talk about it to. her friends, who were apparently the stranger things cast were off shooting and comforting their real friend and nobody at school seemed to care.

so instead, she cried. for hours at end.

all because of a silly boy and a silly conversation that started with needing tampons.

___
KATIE SPEAKS!
lol hi

welcome to act two! and yes, ik i spooked y'all in the last chapter but that's what i do!1!1!

also this is like +1000 words love me thanks

and ty for 9k and all the frantic comments in the last chapter ahah