★ . ꜝꜞ ᳝ ࣪ CHAPTER 020! ☁️ׂ ɞ˚₊
❝ doomed from the start ❞
( real life + imessage )

✶ IRL!

destiny follows chris' lead into their homeroom class after knocking on the locked door and awaiting it's opening. the class' eyes go to the door at the sound of it opening, as expected, but a few stares linger at the sight of the two showing up late together.

destiny shifts on her feet uncomfortably, keeping her face downcast when she tries to quickly scan the crowd for if jordan has noticed them or not, when she suddenly finds him and their eyes lock. the corners of his lips are twinged downwards and destiny guiltily looks away. he doesn't even know know yet and she already feels the urge to puke.

once chris begins walking to his seat like normal, destiny peers over to the teacher who has seemingly decided to stay silent about their tardiness. her lips are pursed as she sits down, so destiny turns and begins taking a seat as well.

she feels like she's walking to her death sentence—being in a class with chris and jordan—as she begins making her way past the first couple rows. when she gets to jordan's row, she takes in a shallow breath before having the courage to continue walking past his seat, despite the feeling of his eyes watching her do so.

she feels like she's making the final decision to seal her fate and she can't even overthink it, because it seems so right when she catches the corner of chris' lips turn upwards from his seat at the sight of her not stopping for jordan. she truly feels like a girl at the way her stomach jumps at him visibly relaxing and leaning further back in the seat he's taken. she resists from smiling as she walks to the seat in front of him, finding it the most convenient choice so that she can turn around for them to talk.

she approaches the desk and sets her stuff down first, then taking her seat and turning around to face him. he lights up at the sight of her, leaning forward and crossing his arms over the surface of his desk as she stares at him. his eyes slide past her, lingering wherever for a prolonged moment, before looking back to her and amusedly mumbling, "your guys shooting me looks, des."

destiny's eyebrows raise at his words, instantly beginning to look in jordan's direction before catching herself before she does so. she doesn't want anymore unwanted awkward eye contact, so she'll not do that. she instead blinks repeatedly, recomposing herself when she purses her lips, "he's not my guy."

chris' teasing manor still manages to surprise her when a slick smile takes over his face at her response. "damn straight," he replies nonchalantly, spreading a redness over her cheeks before he knows it. he ultimately only seems more pleased at the sight, beginning to mess with the hem of his hoodie strings as destiny leans closer to the front of his desk. "i left last night smelling like you, you know?" he asks through his smile.

destiny uncontrollably smiles at his playful expression. "you did not," she denies, resting her hands over the surface of his desk as he readjusts in his seat.

"i did," he argues with a lopsided grin and a shrug. "thought i was tripping smelling my hoodie and everything," he adds before going on to explain, "your perfume definitely rubbed off on me. i recognized it."

destiny doesn't want to be cheesing like a fool, but she is, so what can she do? she amusedly responds, "yeah, i'm sure you hated that."

"nope, no complaints here," he tells her with a knowing upturn to his lips. "i love it actually."

destiny resists from laughing when she asks, "you're a fan of pumpkin pecan waffles?"

chris' jaw visibly drops at her words, and destiny openly laughs at his exaggerated reaction. "no way that's an actual name," he says in disbelief, chuckling as well.

"my usual scent actually," she tells him with a grin, finding his expression amusing. after the laughter between them dies down though, she purses her lips as the silence brings an opportunity for her to bring up something she knows will just continue bothering her. she debates with herself internally before taking in a sharp breath and locking eyes with chris, "could i ask you something?"

chris' eyebrows raise microscopically, and he nods his head. "go for it."

destiny nods her head, appreciating the go ahead and taking another breath. chris silently watches her, glancing down to her hands resting on his desk and reaching forward to mess with the hem of one of her bracelets. her breath hitches momentarily, and she looks from his touch to his face to find a small, reassuring smile, before trying to go forth with her question, "so." she stops for a short few seconds of struggling before starting again, "last night."

the corner of chris' lips visibly turn upwards with amusement. "last night," he repeats, his voice low enough for destiny's face to begin growing red at the mix of the topic and his tone. "mhm."

destiny attempts to not get unfocused. "right, so—" she ends up cutting herself off, frustrated with herself for still not knowing how to get her words out correctly. the smugness of chris' expression only grows the longer she takes to compose herself before trying again, "i was just wondering..."

"you were just wondering..." chris repeats her words yet again during their hushed conversation, playful eyes trailing from her face to the bracelet of hers he's still toying with.

she glances over the features of his nonchalant, yet still so smug face, before sighing frustratedly, "i just—" she stops herself when chris looks directly back into her eyes and she realizes that this just isn't going to work when he's doing that. she presses her lips together. "okay."

chris raises his eyebrows slightly before deciding to replay her words back to her for the third time. "you just," he says teasingly.

destiny only shakes her head now. "yeah, you have to stop doing that," she tells him sternly.

chris' eyes clearly swirl with amusement as he looks at her. "doing what?"

"that!" she says pointedly, whispering shouting so no unwanted attention is cast their way. chris obviously resists from chuckling and she fumes at the sight. "how am i supposed to get a word out?"

chris decides to play dumb now, managing a mocking tilt of his head. "i don't know what you're talking about," he lies with a shit-eating grin, making the girl want to groan. "use your words, des," he encourages as if he isn't the reason she can not.

she narrows her eyes at the smug piece of shit across from her before aggressively snatching her hand from the one of his fidgeting with her bracelet. he scoffs playfully and she stubbornly crosses her arms. "fine," she says, deciding she can finally ask now. just do it. she takes in a breath and forces it out: "all that shit about practice you said last night," she starts, chris' face changing at the mention, "did you mean that?"

chris' face washes over with something she's not fully sure of, his eyebrows scrunching together just slightly at her question. he expectantly opens his mouth to respond, but he's surprisingly interrupted before he has the chance.

"sturniolo?" the teacher surprisingly cuts him off, destiny and chris instantly spinning around to see her with a school phone in hand. "the counselor needs you."

destiny then confusedly looks back to chris as recognition takes over his features. "shit," he mutters, standing up from his seat with a sigh. "must be the schedule changes i requested."

"oh," destiny hums, blinking as she processes his sudden exit and silently watching as he gathers his stuff.

once he has everything, he pauses to turn to her. "talk later, des," he says, offering a small smile that doesn't reassure her as much as she'd wish.

"talk later," she responds with the same smile, watching him leave and frowning once he's past her.

✶ IMSG!

matthew 👴😘 ; matt
chris 🙄😣 ; chris

chris 🙄😣
mattbro
i'm gonna shit myself
i'm so dead

matthew 👴😘
????
how many times do i have to tell u ab giving context

chris 🙄😣
sorry
IM SO DEAD BRUH

matthew 👴😘
😐
okay... so what did you do now
besides kissing des yk

chris 🙄😣
no it's exactly that
nate's been shooting me looks all morning
bro has not uttered a WORD to me 😭
and i just got to our shared class

matthew 👴😘
OH SHIT
yea ur fuckedddd

chris 🙄😣
MATT ???
where is my support system don't let me down rn

matthew 👴😘
sigh
i don't think destiny would've told him tho

chris 🙄😣
no she definitely didn't she was way too happy for that
but it's nate.
he knows me he knows des
he KNOWS he prob sniffed that shit out bro idfk 😭😭😭😭😭

matthew 👴😘
i think you're going crazy
he probably thinks there's something up because of your obvious ass spam post but
he doesn't know u kissed chillll

chris 🙄😣
don't tell me to chill u haven't been the one getting death glared at all morning
i'm telling u i'm cooked
i'm gonna lose her n i haven't even fully got her yet

matthew 👴😘
okay stop what
what are you saying ?? think logically
u just kissed the girl i'm preeetty sure she isn't going anywhere if u don't let her

chris 🙄😣
it's not that easy
nate's a factor i wasn't thinking ab when i kissed her and now i'm gonna have to face him
u think he's gonna give me his blessing? 🤣🤣 nahhhhh
disliked by matthew 👴😘
and des could act like that wouldn't bother her but it's des. it would

matthew 👴😘
but you're the one making this a big deal rn
not her
she doesn't even know how ur feeling
you're the bothered one

chris 🙄😣
i am bothered he's my best friend and he's gonna be pissed at me
but that's not even the point 😭
destiny can't be w someone her brother doesn't approve of he's too important to her
and it doesn't matter anyways because nate definitely knows and he's definitely going to confront me about it and i'm gonna look stupid trying to deny it

matthew 👴😘
sooo are you rlly starting this bs

chris 🙄😣
idk i'm just starting to see how the odds are against it
like something that's doomed from the start yk

matthew 👴😘
now i'm starting to feel like this is more of ur commitment issues kicking in at the possibility of an out already...
just keep in mind that hurting her (which you'll do if u keep thinking like this👍) is the last thing nate would want when ur talking to him

chris 🙄😣
thank you
liked by matthew 👴😘

✶ IRL!

chris airily sighs from his seat in the back of the classroom, his hair messily drawn over his forehead as his head is leant against his hand. his eyes stay on the classroom door, watching who passes by in the small window.

nate's currently late for their class, and it's not out of the usual for him so it shouldn't give chris any extra anxiety, but since he's been shooting him deathly looks since he got in the car this morning, he feels like he's awaiting meeting his opponent.

he's zoned out stuck replaying last night's events in his head since due to recent thoughts corrupting his mind, he's not so sure he'll be able to reminisce freely for as long as he wishes—when nate finally makes his entrance.

chris' eyes widen at the sight of him walking to their shared table, nate's line of vision avoiding his when he sets his stuff down. chris accepts his fate as the air around them feels especially tense once nate sits down.

chris takes in a sharp breath, opening his mouth to speak, when nate beats him to it: "we need to talk."

"girl, what took so damn long?" ruben scolds adora as she approaches him and destiny, taking a seat in between the pair on the floor just five minutes after the bell has rang.

she only rolls her eyes at the looks she's receiving from both sides of her. "the fiends stopped me," she offers as an explanation, giving a shrug when ruben blinks at her.

"you're not even fried," destiny states knowingly, narrowing her eyes at adora's vaguely normal pupils.

"oh, give me a break!" adora ultimately exclaims, throwing her hands out at their abundant questions. ruben and destiny both raise their eyebrows before sharing a laugh. adora scoots away from them and mutters, "just hand me a sharpie."

"yeah, yeah, here you go, crazy woman," ruben says after reaching into the package of sharpies on the floor and handing her one.

the trio is currently all sat out in the hallway outside of their history class, working on some group project that the teacher assigned for them to work on while they have a substitute. the substitute willingly sent adora, ruben, and destiny out into the hallway for privacy; it's not their fault for failing to realize chaos ensues wherever they go.

ruben and adora begin discussing their hot takes on music artists as destiny readjusts to where she is laid on her stomach, and reaches for her phone. she shuffles through her spotify playlist until she deems normal girl by sza a classic choice and goes to turn the device off.

she's stopped, however, by a vibration. her eyes instantly jump to the top of her screen, her face lighting up at the contact linked to the imessage notification.

chris 🤮🤮!!!!
hey
about what you asked earlier
i did mean it
so i thought we could just go back to normal
now

the same subconscious smile that's been taking up destiny's face since she so much as woke up this morning, is wiped off of her face in an instant. time freezes—just like it always seems to when you feel your own heart break in its chest—and her overthinking turns out to be correct just when she needs to be wrong the most.

talk about song choice.

💌

the beginning of ww1

<3
jaden