002. ━━━ ❛ NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS ❜
real life. . .

          "NOT SURE IF YOU JUST DIDN'T hear me, but i said you can wait in the car."

"i heard," matt responds, ignoring maisies rude ask and walking past her to get to the door. maisie huffs as he opens the door and steps inside the salon, her following with a frown.

"okay then," she mumbles to herself, watching as he goes to sit in one of the spare chairs while she heads for the front desk instead. when the lady working the register notices her, she gives a smile. "hi, i made an appointment online under the name maisie abrams earlier."

the lady nods and after scrolling through something on her screen, she clicks something and looks back to maisie. "of course," she says, stepping out from behind the desk. "right this way."

maisie then begins following the woman to the hair dressers, sparing a glance back at matt in the sitting area. he seems in his own world on his phone so she turns back around. she's not sure why he even came inside, or why he's sticking around until the appointment ends, when he hasn't been nice to her since they were children. she assumes he's a little freaked out over almost running her over and trying to pay his dues.

she gets seated for her appointment and opens her phone to begin mindlessly scrolling through instagram, but her eyes keep betraying her by wandering to the mirror and landing on matt's reflection. she can't help it, it's just really weird that he's here.

first, he's kind of just a background character in her life—an annoying one—but just a background character at the most. second, he's the biggest pain in her ass ever. and third, it's extra weird between them because of the last time they were together.

from where she's watching him in the mirror, it seems that his phone is getting blown up. he ignores the excessive notifications to his best ability and ends up sliding the vibrating device into his back pocket.

maisie furrows her eyebrows just slightly, and as if matt can sense it, his eyes wander over to make eye contact with her through the mirror. immediately, she clears her throat and looks elsewhere. in her mind, that did not just happen. matt sturniolo could never catch her staring at him.

she's just having a rough time coming to terms with this whole thing. she's not used to knowing things about him that were never meant for her to know, like where each of his tattoos lay on his arms that his hoodie is covering. she remembers the way the slight stubble on his jaw felt underneath her fingertips, and the single necklace he wears dangling down being the only thing she could comprehend before he'd bring his lips to hers. oh my fucking god, she has really got to stop thinking about this. she's blaming it on matts presence.

she sets her eyes downcast, focusing on the floor as she forces her mind to go anywhere but to the man in the waiting area.

after a long period of zoning out through her appointment, maisie is finally done and steps out of her chair. she takes a look at herself in the mirror and deems her appearance acceptable, seeing as she was only getting a trim anyway. she then turns to head towards the register, only slowing when she realizes the seat that matt was previously sat in is now empty.

she glances around the waiting area, finding no trace of him. she attempts to conceal her anger as she goes to the register and pays. there's no fucking way he has just left her here.

it becomes abundantly clear that he did in fact just leave her here though, when she collects her bag and makes her way outside. she crosses her arms over her chest aggressively, scanning around her surroundings with a storm brewing in her eyes. confirming he is not here with the absence of his car in the spot it was previously parked in, she clenches her jaw and pulls out her phone.

she doesn't have his number because why would she have his number? instead, in desperation, she attempts to call sunny. she's not surprised when she doesn't pick up, but she spams her with more unanswered texts before accepting her fate and taking a seat on the ground. she sighs as she sits against the buildings wall, arms crossed as she wonders why she ever trusted matt to give her transportation somewhere.

twenty minutes pass before familiar headlights pull into the parking space that's remained empty. automatically, maisie whips her head up at the noise of the car pulling in and quickly, her eyes become narrowed at the sight of a careless matt in the drivers seat. she is immediately on her feet and shoving her phone into her pocket, approaching his window instead of just heading to the other side of the car. she notices the way he is visibly annoyed by this by the roll of his eyes behind the window, but still she approaches his door and waits until he rolls down the window. he blows a breath from his lips once he takes a glance at her. "well, hey."

maisie stares at him blankly, letting a few seconds of silence pass before she responds to him. "what the fuck, matt?"

he remains nonchalant as he shrugs. "i got taco bell," he offers as an explanation.

maisie squints at him, genuinely unable to tell if he's being serious or not. "i don't see anything."

it's his turn to squint at her as if she's stupid. "maybe because i ate it?" he responds questionably, making her scoff.

"what the fuck!" she exclaims, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. "i have been waiting for you for twenty minutes."

"okay?" he responds without missing a beat, tapping along the edge of the car door with his hand. "are you gonna keep yapping about it or are you gonna get in the car, maisie?"

"oh great!" maisie responds sarcastically, now just wanting to be a pain in the ass. "so you can say my name correctly."

he chuckles dryly, looking away from her and ahead of him instead. "get in the fucking car, mason."

he begins to roll up his window during the silence before she responds so she scoffs at first, but at the tone of his voice, offers, "whatever, dickrod." she then turns and makes her way around the car to get to the passenger side.

she feels his eyes on her once she opens the door and begins to climb inside. she ignores his stare as she puts on her seatbelt. "did you just call me dickrod?" he asks.

she rolls her eyes into the back of her head without turning to him. "i don't know, matt, did i?"

she glances over to him just in time to see him also roll his eyes. she intends to look away, but he reaches for the neck of his hoodie and her eyebrows furrow, confused about what he is doing until he—oh! he begins to pull his hoodie off. okay. oh—fucking—kay. maisie abrams officially loathes matthew sturniolo.

there is seriously no way he is taking his hoodie off right now, but he is, and maisie is fully consciously making the mistake of watching him. he pulls off the extra layer of clothing, revealing a black wifebeater underneath. on instinct, her eyes jump to his arms and travel along the different endings and beginnings of his many tattoos. she also lingers when looking to the single necklace hanging between his collarbones.

he turns to throw his hoodie in the back seat, but pauses once he notices maisies lingering eyes. no, no, no. she instantly snaps out of it, a small panic creeping over her because no. no way he keeps catching her.

she's immediately on a mission to look anywhere but him, when right before she tears her gaze away, she spots the purplish spot on his neck. automatically, she pauses. a hickey. she snaps her eyes to the windshield, looking ahead of them although matt has not pulled out of the parking spot yet.

she continues to feel matt's eyes on hers despite her lack of eye contact, so she looks over to him and raises her eyebrows. "aren't beating any stereotypes anytime soon, huh?" she says mockingly, momentarily glancing back to the hickey on his neck.

matt instantly notices what she's talking about and chuckles lowly, looking away from her as he mutters a, "jealous?"

maisie scoffs as he switches gears and begins to pull out. "egotistical much?"

all he manages is a shrug, a lazy upturn to the side of his lips. "whatever you wanna call it, mason."

she rolls her eyes momentarily. "just shut up and drive," she suggests, bringing her legs to her chest and resting her arms over them.

it is clear that matt finds the authority she attempts to have over him in his own car as nothing but amusing, judging by the growing smirk on his face. "yes, ma'am," he responds sarcastically, somehow only making her even more mad. she resists a huff and instead turns to keep her focus outside her window.

BY THE TIME THAT MATT finally turns into their shared road, maisie is practically ready to hop out of the car as she feels the silence between them is unbearable. the songs playing are the only thing keeping her from losing her mind.

she plans to stay silent until he drives down the road and begins to pull into his driveway. she registers that the garage is open and frowns, glancing over to him. "why aren't we stopping at my place?"

he turns to her, giving her a raise of his eyebrows. "what? you can't cross the road without getting ran over, mason?" he challenges.

she scoffs, ignoring his question which makes her feel stupid. she hadn't considered all she has to do is walk across the road to her house. she remains frustrated though, as she looks at him. "what makes you feel the need to call me that?" she narrows her eyes at him.

he pauses for a moment before managing a shrug, turning it back around on her. "what makes you feel the need to complain so much?" he tries, throwing her for a loop when he leans forward, a slight smugness to his face. "if i remember anything at all from when we actually talked about this last, you don't hate it as near as much as you claim to," he tells her slyly, making her freeze.

maisie takes a moment to think about whatever the fuck he's saying, realizing she's screwed as she can't recall what conversation he's talking about. it probably took place, she just can't remember because she was so drunk that night that her memory goes blank at certain points. she pushes her lips together, squinting slightly before she gives in and attempts to ask, "and what was it that i said again?"

a beat of silence passes before he breaks into laughter. "you don't remember," he says as if it's the most amusing thing on planet earth, causing her to groan.

"shut up," she exclaims before insisting, "just tell me."

"nah," he shakes his head as his laughter fades out, the upturn of his lips staying prominent. "i think i'll keep this one to myself."

her eyes instantly narrow, and she opens her mouth to quickly attempt a rebuttal, but she's surprisingly cut off by a sudden outside voice. "HEY!" a voice from outside the car shouts before three loud knocks to matts window follows, capturing both maisie and matt's attention successfully. some very frustrated guy stands outside matt's car door with a storm in his eyes targeted in matt's direction specifically. "you're almost a fucking hou—"

matt interrupts his talking by opening his door without a word and beginning to step out. the angry guy crosses his arms over his chest and maisie rolls her eyes at the dramatics of this all, keeping her eyes trained on them as she gets out as well. "chill the fuck out, roddy," matt grumbles once he's on his feet, shutting his door behind him.

maisie also shuts her door and makes her way around the car to them without a second thought, wanting to know what the huge deal is here. "we've all been blowing you up this entire fucking time, you know," the guy—roddy—yells at matt. maisie stands a few feet away with her arms over her chest, just silently watching. she feels as if she's done good going unnoticed until the guys eyes slide over to her before he speaks again. "you've been missing band practice to hang out with a girl?" he scolds, looking back to matt as maisies eyebrows raise.

matt has been missing practice for her? matt's jaw clenches with visible annoyance, leading her to believe this was not something he wanted her knowing, which only makes the smirk growing on her lips more smug.

"it's not like that," matt defends, aggravation clear by the crease between his eyebrows. "chris isn't here today either. just relax."

"whatever, man," roddy eventually sighs, sparing a glance in maisie's direction once more before looking back to matt and beginning to walk off. "just know you pissed everyone off," he calls as he enters the opened garage.

she watches matt roll his eyes in response before slowly turning towards her. he walks to her with a warning look on his face, quickly speaking when he reaches her, "don't even sta—"

"missing band practice to spend time with me?" she cuts him off with a teasing grin and a tilt of her head, causing him to press his lips together. "what, have you fallen for me already, matt?" she offers a batting of her eyelashes, almost resisting a giggle.

he shakes his head just barely. "never in a million years, mason."

"you really do know the words to a girls heart," she sarcastically responds. she sighs momentarily before letting her hands fall to her sides from her previously crossed arms. "you can have fun with your..." she trails off in the midst of her attempt to make an exit, giving him a look before going on, "singing or whatever."

he gives her a knowing look along with the slight tilt of his head. "guitar, you mean," he corrects her.

"sure," she shrugs just to be a bother. he gives an unimpressed look to which she ignores and turns around without another thought. she then begins her way back to her home across the street, ignoring his eyes she continues to feel on her until she is out of his sight.

💌

this matt is gonna b so cunty guys 😘😘

<3
jaden