"WHY AM I HERE again?" shakira asks casie, as they pull up to the hype house. "because, i have to get something from jack's room that i left. i promise we'll be in and out, you don't even have to come in." casie tells her slightly annoyed best friend.

shakira didn't want to be here. she knew her ex lived here, and she was trying avoid him at all costs. they hadn't seen each other in person in almost two years, and she wanted to keep it that way. how they managed to avoid each other, even though they lived in the same city was unknown, but neither parties would question it, because it's exactly what they wanted. at least that's what they thought they wanted.

"no, it's fine. plus, jack will probably crucify me if don't come say hey to him." she dismisses. "okay then." casie nods her head, hopping out of the car.

they walk up to the door, shakira's nerves slowly setting it. before they could knock, the door swings open, showing thomas.

shakira didn't like thomas that much, but she would try and be cordial, only because they wouldn't be here long.

"hey guys, come on in." he smiles, letting them in, then walking out of the door himself.

they walk into the house, spotting jack on the couch. "go ahead, i'll go get my stuff and i'll be back." casie says, as the two split ways.

"what's up twin number 1." shakira says, getting jack's attention. "hey kira." He smiles, watching her flop down on the couch beside him. "is case here?" he asks, curious of his girlfriends whereabouts.

"why else would i be here?" she answers, raising her eyebrows at the blonde. jack rolls his eyes at his best friends sarcastic comment, making her laugh. "yeah, she went to get something from your room that she left here." shakira finally answers jack's question.

it had been about five minutes, and casie still hadn't come out yet. "i'm gonna go see what she's doing, maybe she can't find something." jack says, getting up.

shakira began to grow bored waiting for Casie and Jack, so she walked to the kitchen, being greeted by a guy she learned was named ryland.

"hey, you're a friend of jack and casie right? shakira?" he asks. she nods her head, smiling knowing that the two talked about her.

"yeah, i watch your videos on youtube, you're funny." he compliments her. "thank you." she accepts the compliment, feeling way too flattered.

meanwhile , upstairs at the end of the hall, vinnie sat in his room, with his girlfriend sofia.

he was sat in his gaming chair, playing his favorite game, valorant, while sofia sat on his bed, scrolling through her phone. what vinnie wasn't aware of, was that she was on instagram, scrolling through shakira's feed.

she huffs, having had enough of searching through his exes instagram. she sits up, sighing because vinnie was so into his game.

"vinnie." she calls his name. he hums, letting her know that he had heard her. "i'm bored, wanna go do something? like go get food." she suggests.

"there's food downstairs." he says, partly as a joke. sofia rolls her eyes, hating his attitude. "would just get off of the game for two seconds, I've been here for two hours and we haven't done anything." she says.

vinnie pauses his game, knowing that this would probably end up being bigger than it should. it always was with her.

"well didn't i ask if you wanted to do anything when you first got here? and what did you say?" he asks her, recalling when sofia first arrived.

"i don't know." She mutters, repeating her words from earlier. "exactly, so you can't be mad at me, now that i've found something to do." he says, leaning back in his chair.

sofia rolls her eyes at her boyfriend, her already sour attitude, growing even worse. vinnie sighs, feeling slightly bad about the mood he put his girlfriend in.

"we can go get food if you want. but i'm choosing." he suggests, making sofia'a eyes light up.

she nods her head, agreeing with him. "okay, i'll go wait downstairs." he says, knowing she'd probably want to touch up her make up, like she always did before they went out.

as he exited his room, he was surprised to see his ex girlfriend, walking down the hallway.

he curses under his breath, looking for a place to hide. his room was too far away to run back to, so it was just his luck that she spotted him.

shakira's eyes widen, as she sees her ex at the end of the hall. she walks closer to him, not wanting to make it look like his presence effected her.

she was looking for jack's room, having gotten tired of waiting for her friends. she didn't intend on running into her ex at all, but here they were.

she stops in front of him, taking in his appearance. unknown to the two parties, they were both doing the same thing.

seeing each other on instagram and in person were two completely different things. it was no secret that shakira was a beautiful girl, hell vinnie used to tell her how gorgeous she was nonstop, and as of right now, vinnie couldn't get that out of head as he was staring down at her.

"hey"

"do you know the way to jacks room?"

they had both spoken at the same time, making their situation ten times more awkward. both of their fold their lips into thin lines, shakira bouncing up and down on her heels, something she did when she was nervous.

vinnie, subconsciously, took notice of this, something inside of him sort of happy that it was clear that he still had an effect on his ex.

little did he know, he had his hand in his hair, which happened to be his nervous tell. shakira trained her eyes on the tattooed hand that was roaming through his hair, smiling to herself, happy that she still made him nervous.

"vinnie?" shakira spoke his name, dragging him out of his slight daze.

he hummed, letting her know that he was listening. "i asked if you knew where jacks room was." she repeats her question.

"and i said hey." he teases, making shakira roll her eyes. he had always this stubborn, loving to tease her into having a conversation with him. he did it all the time whenever they would argue.

"hi vinnie. now where is jacks room?" she deadpans. he lets out a hearty laugh, catching shakira by surprise.

she hadn't heard him laugh in a long time, and it used to be one of her favorite sounds. unsurprisingly, it still had the same effect on her two years later.

"what's funny?" she asks, attitude clear in her tone. she was frustrated with herself. she was frustrated that he still gave her butterflies, and that he still had any sort of effect on her.

his laughter dies down and he looks down at her smaller figure. "nothing, kira, i'm just messing with you. go back down that hall, third door to the left." he says, giving her the directions to jacks room finally.

"thanks." she says, spinning on her heels and walking away.

"hey, kira." vinnie calls after her, a ghost of a smile on his face. she stops her walking, turning her body around the face the blonde. she raises her eyebrows as in indication that she was waiting for him to talk.

"it was nice seeing you." he smiles at her.

there it was. that award winning smile that made shakira's knees weak. she stood there for a second, trying to collect her jumbled up thoughts.

after recollecting herself, she shook her butterflies away, titling her head at vinnie. "yeah okay." she playfully rolls her eyes at him before turning the corner.

vinnie let out a small chuckle, shaking his head at his ex girlfriend's same old attitude.

"who were you talking to?" sofia asks, coming out of vinnie's room, ready to go. vinnie turns his head to look at her. he clears his throat, also recollecting himself from the interaction with shakira.

"sorry, someone called me."

ᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴀʟᴋ
sooo the first encounter how we feeling??

things are just gonna get messier from here loll this is literally the calm before the storm so enjoy the next few chapters of silence while it lasts😘.