⟡ ݁₊ . 💒. 𝓛ET 𝓣HE 𝓛IGHT 𝓘N. . . ୨ৎ .ᐟ
( 003. ) ━━ ❛ hey stalker. ❜

and now, it don't mean a thing
god, love's fucking embarrassing
💌
𝓛OVE 𝓘S 𝓔MBARRASSING, olivia rodrigo.

𝓐 𝓕EW days later, viola is sitting on a park bench and writing in her journal. she tries to come here almost every day, allowing herself a peaceful break from reality to reflect on what's been going on in her life recently. her handwriting isn't pretty or neat, and her journal is full of scribbles and crossed-out words, but viola admires the little notebook all the same.

in the past two weeks, she must've spent at least an hour a day here, watching the river lazily flow past in front of her. it makes sense though, since viola doesn't think she's ever had so much to write about before. her journal entries lately have been mostly rants and angry confessions that have her mind whirring faster than she can physically write.

today's entry has, unsurprisingly, been all about matt. viola still can't really wrap her head around the whole fake-dating thing, and journaling is the only way she can properly process things.

she's crossing the two t's in matt's name when her peace is very abruptly disturbed — by none other than her best friend, honey, sitting down on the bench next to her. viola slams the book shut, embarrassed, and takes out an airpod as she turns to face the girl.

"dylan!" honey exclaims, referring to viola by her middle name, as she always does. her pearly white teeth are on full show as she smiles. "where the fuck have you been?"

"i've only been down here for an hour," viola replies, tucking her journal and pen into her tote bag. honey rolls her eyes, sinking down on the bench and resting her head on viola's shoulder.

"i only got up an hour ago," she replies. "why are you always awake so goddamn early?"

"i don't go to sleep at three in the morning every night binge watching the vampire diaries," viola quips, and honey laughs, her body vibrating against viola's shoulder.

the pair sit in silence for a moment, staring out at the river. viola loves how close they are — that they can sit in silence like this without any awkwardness. it only lasts for a few fleeting moments though, because honey suddenly sits up straight, turning to face viola so quickly that her boho braids fly over her shoulder, landing on her back.

"so, when exactly were you going to tell me that you're dating matt sturniolo?" she demands. "the last time i saw you, you were still crying over that scumbag julian... and that was only three days ago!"

viola grimaces, looking away to hide her reddening cheeks from honey. she doesn't entirely know how to approach this conversation, and in her mind contemplates what would be best. honey's not the type to judge, but she definitely will about this. it's fair enough honestly, since viola's made her distaste for matt known to honey more than anyone. again, she's never hated matt — he's just annoying, and she hates that.

"uhhh," viola starts, but closes her mouth shortly after. she doesn't know what to do, or say.

honey's face twists into an expression that resembles confusion, yet viola doesn't fail to notice the way the girl's eyes are sparkling slightly. "so you're telling me that you, viola dylan harlow, are now dating matthew bernard sturniolo? the boy next door who's driven you crazy since you were seven?" she questions.

"the full government name is cra— wait, did you say his middle name is bernard?" viola barks out a laugh, unable to contain herself. she would've never expected matt to have a middle name that's more suited to a grandpa than a ninteen-year-old boy.

"i feel like we're focusing too much on matt's middle name and not enough on the fact that he's your boyfriend," honey deadpans.

while she thought that the whole thing with her striking up a mutually-beneficial deal with her infuriating next-door neighbor was going to a whole lot more embarrassing than actually dating matt, this conversation is most definitely proving her wrong. viola contemplates what to do — she has no idea whether or not matt has told anyone that their relationship is fake, like his brothers for instance. but honey's been her best friend since the day she moved to somerville, and she's not the type to share viola's secrets.

viola takes a deep breath, causing honey's brown eyes to glaze over with concern. "you good?" her best friend asks her then, and viola nods rapidly, most definitely not playing this off in the way she would've liked.

"yeah, um... you see, the thing is—" she rambles, heartbeat quickening. "well, actually, matt and i aren't dating."

honey's mouth falls open, her eyebrows raising to the top of her forehead. she twiddles with the end of one of her braids, the brown and black hair woven together tightly.

"what? but my mom heard from mrs rodriguez who heard from—"

"jesus, who doesn't know about this?" viola cuts her off, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. she places her head in her hands, before running her fingers through her hair, which has become tangled due to the strong breeze that's been flowing through it for the past hour.

"probably julian," honey shrugs in response. "he's a total dumbass."

"he's not that dumb," viola is quick to argue, though she's honestly unsure why exactly she's defending him. she knows she shouldn't after everything he did to her, yet deep down viola still holds a place in her heart for him.

"he really is," honey says, grinning like the fact amuses her, which viola knows for certain that it does. "he only got into boston university because of his stupid basketball scholarship, but i've heard he's been slacking, 'cause he's always with kirby now."

viola doesn't even notice the way her smile falls at her words, but honey does and immediately closes her mouth to shut herself up. "i'm sorry, dylan," she says. "i didn't mean to like, remind you of everything. i was trying to, y'know... yeah."

"i know," viola nods, because she knows honey wasn't intentionally trying to make her upset. it's just the way she gets whenever julian is brought up. it's humiliating, and she wishes she could finally get over it.

honey wraps an arm around viola, pulling her into a side hug. she smiles, which immediately makes viola feel a hundred times better. her best friend leans back a moment later, brown eyes shimmering in the light as she crosses her arms over her chest assertively.

"so... what's all this fake dating stuff about?" she giggles, and viola is thankful for the subject change, until she realizes she's going to confess about everything that went down at the carnival, when matt showed up at her house, and the party. everything about this is so embarrassing.

viola shrugs her shoulders, and it's shocking to her that she's so embarrassed by this. she's never been ashamed to tell honey anything before, so she's not sure what's so different now. whether it's what she's done, or the fact that it's resulted in her being stuck with matt — it's mortifying either way, and viola wishes she could turn back time and skip the carnival so none of this would've ever happened.

"it's a long story," she says finally, blowing out a huff of air.

honey shrugs, "i've got time."

𝓐FTER 𝓐N hour of viola filling honey in on everything — which resulted in numerous disgusted faces and hands slapped over mouths in shock — she's finally back at home. an episode of rick and morty plays on the tv, and viola laughs as the cartoon family sit in a therapist's office after their grandpa turned himself into a pickle.

the enjoyment of watching her favorite show in peace is abruptly brought to an end when her mom strides into the living room. her face twists upwards in delight when she spots viola.

"oh, there you are!" she exclaims, and viola pauses netflix. she's suddenly filled with a pit of dread in her stomach, because the last time her mom was this excited, it was to tell her that they were going to julian's birthday party — which was obviously not a good thing.

"hey," viola replies quietly, sitting there and expressionlessly watching as her mom sits down next to her on the couch.

"i have great news," she says excitedly, immediately leading viola to believe that she really doesn't. despite the dread looming over her, viola forces a happy face. she doesn't want her parents to continue worrying about her, as that's all they've been doing since the breakup. she technically is still sad about it, but, well, her parents don't need to know about that.

"what is it?" viola asks, curiosity getting the better of her. she goes to fidget with her necklace, expression falling when she notices its absence.

right. julian bought that necklace for her, and when they broke up, she gave it back to him. viola wonders if kirby now wears the golden heart locket that was around her neck for two years. she just hopes that julian took out the photo of them before giving it to his new girlfriend.

placing her hands back down in her lap, viola looks at her mom, who just smiles.

"so, i know you probably weren't ready for me to find out, which is why you didn't tell me, but i know," she begins, and viola furrows her eyebrows, having no idea what's going on. "but i found out you're dating matt sturniolo, from next door!" she exclaims then, and viola's heart genuinely drops to the floor. it then begins to race, feeling like it's going to burst out of her chest at any moment.

she has the feeling she knows where this is going.

"mom—" she starts, but is immediately cut off.

"i'm not upset that you didn't tell me, sweetie," her mom answers. "i'm so excited for you!"

viola stiffens. "um, mom..."

"this is great news," she goes on. "you having a boyfriend means you can go back to your original plans for the summer."

viola swears she could die in this moment. this genuinely cannot be happening to her right now.

"i've signed you up to be a debutante again!"

and there it comes, confirming that each and every one of viola's worst nightmares has come true in the span of forty-eight hours. she can't believe it, the fact that she's now forced to do something that requires a guy willing to escort you, which he definitely does not. this was supposed to be her thing with julian, and she was allowed to drop it once they broke up. this was never supposed to happen, this wasn't part of the deal. even worse, kirby could now also have signed up to be a debutante, and julian would escort her, like he was supposed to do for viola.

she feels sick.

viola's mom gives her one last smile, before getting up. "i'll let you get back to your show," she beams, before walking off into the kitchen.

viola sighs deeply, sinking down into the couch.

👻
Matt Sturniolo added you!
ACCEPT | IGNORE

viola 🦥

Matt Sturniolo

viola 🦥
| that's CRAZY coming from you

Matt Sturniolo
| Wdym

viola 🦥
| bro
| you literally said i "attacked you" at the carnival and that i was "desperate to make out with you" 🤨🤨

Matt Sturniolo
| Well yeah
| It's true isn't it?

viola 🦥
| omg you're insufferable

Matt Sturniolo
| You love it

viola 🦥
| SHUT UPPPP

Matt Sturniolo
| Make me

viola 🦥
| BRO
| EW
| you're actually disgusting
| what's wrong with you

Matt Sturniolo
| Hahaha
| You really overreact about things

viola 🦥
| choosing to ignore you now for my own sanity!!!

Matt Sturniolo
| Alr Viola
| Wyd

viola 🦥
| watching rick and morty wbu

Matt Sturniolo
| Banger show
| Idk nothing
| I'm bored

viola 🦥
| is that why you added me?

Matt Sturniolo
| Chill you're not that interesting

viola 🦥
| 😐

Matt Sturniolo
| Hahaha
| I'm kidding
| You're actually quite interesting ngl

viola 🦥
| is that supposed to be a compliment?

Matt Sturniolo
| Obviously

viola 🦥
| alr...
| did you think i was boring before orrrr

Matt Sturniolo
| Yeah pretty much

viola 🦥
| kys

Matt Sturniolo
| Woahhh there
| I was kidding 😁
| I meant more like I've never really gotten to know you
| Never knew you were the type of person to randomly kiss a stranger

viola 🦥
| never knew you were the type of guy to use tongue on the first kiss
| which was also with a stranger might i add 🤔

Matt Sturniolo
| Alrighttt
| It had been a while let a man live

viola 🦥
| 🤨
| you're crazy

Matt Sturniolo
| Just being honest 🤷‍♂️

viola 🦥
| you're the worst

Matt Sturniolo
| Riiiight

viola 🦥
| bruh
| oh alsooo

Matt Sturniolo
| Yeah?

viola 🦥
| ummm sooo my mom kinda signed me up to be a debutante and she's expecting you to escort me
not sent!
| so theoretically how would you feel about escorting a girl to the deb ball...... that girl being me 😅
not sent!
| heyy haha so would you mind extending the fake dating deadline to after the deb ball? so you could um take me haha
not sent!

Matt Sturniolo
| Uhh
| You good?

viola 🦥
| YUP
| forgot what i was gonna say

Matt Sturniolo
| Ok

viola 🦥
| oh btw
| we never talked about this earlier but
| are we allowed to tell people? about the relationship

Matt Sturniolo
| Wasn't that the whole point?

viola 🦥
| well duh
| i meant are we allowed to tell people that it's fake 😭

Matt Sturniolo
| Oh right
| Umm
| Well it's up to you ig
| I'm not going to personally

viola 🦥
| not even your brothers?

Matt Sturniolo
| Nah it's not worth the hassle of explaining
| They wouldn't get it anyway since they both actually went to college lmfao

viola 🦥
| oh
| okay fair enough
| well uhhh i told my best friend, honey
| she won't tell anyone tho i swear

Matt Sturniolo
| Yeah ik Honey's chill
| She's not the type to expose us or wtv

viola 🦥
| you know honey?

Matt Sturniolo
| Not everyone in this town has a one sided issue with me Nebraska
| That's just you

viola 🦥
| i do NOT have a one sided issue with you wtf?

Matt Sturniolo
| Whatever you say

viola 🦥
| ANYWAY
| how do you know honey again?

Matt Sturniolo
| She was in my creative writing class in senior year
| We sat together

viola 🦥
| WHAT
| she never told me

Matt Sturniolo
| Lmaooo
| Honey's smart

viola 🦥
| rolling my eyes at you btw

Matt Sturniolo
| I'm used to it

viola 🦥
| ???

Matt Sturniolo
| You used to do that to me every time I accidentally kicked my soccer ball into your backyard

viola 🦥
| "accidentally"

Matt Sturniolo
| I guess we'll never know 😁
| Anyway have you remembered what you were gonna say now?

viola 🦥
| what?

Matt Sturniolo
| You were gonna say smth
| Before

viola 🦥
| ohhh
| right THAT
| haha no i still forgot
| umm anywayyyyy
| i'm gonna go back to watching my show now
| bye matt!!!

Matt Sturniolo
| Later Viola

💌 ⋆✴︎˚。⋆ ━━ ava speaks !

you knew i was gonna sneak some MINOR enemies to lovers in there uuuugh i just can't help myself it's the superior trope (and fake dating obvs)