✧˚ ༘ ⋆｡˚ PAPER RINGS⋆⁺₊ ✧˚ ████████
████████ by @dearest_em . 2024  ᥫ᭡.
chapter nine , "no. you've lost it"

real life ! ❀

lights filled lili's house, purple and blue led lights were placed all around the house, as american wedding was all that could be heard in people's ears.

the group had split up as soon as they arrived, matt going straight to the kitchen for a soda. tae had practically ran to get away from chris and his talking. leaving el by herself, which she didn't mind much. she sat on a couch by the front door, a clear view of the kitchen. she sipped on a dr. pepper as she scrolled through pinterest and looked around at her surroundings.

theo and saoirse were walking past her, laughing at a joke theo had made. with briar and reed standing next to them, briar rolled her eyes as reed stared at her. he mouthed excuse me, before existing the main room. as the two walked away, theo noticed saorise being uptight. he turned to her, linking a arm through hers, "you know, you can loosen up a bit. no one's judging you,"

a smile appeared on her face, as they continued to leave the room. the interaction earning a knowing look from el.

with her friends out of sight, she leaned back into the couch, looking into the kitchen.

the lights seemed more calm in there, a certain warmth coming from it. el looked around at all the people in there, her eyes landing on matt.

a smile appeared on el's face, but faded as a girl sat next to him, laughing as matt seemed uncomfortable. she placed a hand on his arm, smiling at him.

at the same moment, his eyes turned, suddenly catching hers. she stared for a moment, before looking away.

el's expression turned into something she couldn't describe. she wasn't jealous. she shook her head and got up, looking for briar or someone with a right mind.

briar walked off from theo and saorise, shaking her head. she left the room, into a hallway until the music was barely hear able.

she heard talking from a distance, in which she followed it. briar found herself standing in front a dark brown door, open just enough for her to look inside.

she looked into the room, her eyes met with reed. he walked around the room, talking to someone out of her sight. he ran a hand through his hair, which for some reason briar couldn't look away from. she found herself smiling until the person talking to him came closer to him. darlene and her voice came into view.

"darlene get away from me, you've been saying for months your not over matt."

"what if i am? still wouldn't be interested?" she asked, a angered expression on her face. she tapped her heel on the ground, impatiently. "unless your interested in someone else?"

reed stared at her for a moment, like she knew something he couldn't grasp. he finally opened his mouth to respond.

"no. you've lost it," he scoffed.

darlene stepped closer, her shoes clicking on the wood flooring. she looked up at him, pulling him into a short kiss.

briar's face dropped, pushing herself away from the door, missing reed shove darlene off him. darlene looked away from the door, as briar shadow had left. her eyes darted back to his.

"you're awful." he said, getting away from her.

briar quickly walked down the hall, music coming into ear shot. she suddenly felt betrayed, like he had been lying to her. she shoved the thought of her head, as he was never hers anyway.

briar turned as footsteps came up next to her, after noticing she had been playing with her charm bracket. "jeez, briar there you are. where have you been?"

she looked back at el, putting a fake smile. "no where. what's up?"

"i'm not sure how to say this, i saw matt with some girl in the kitchen. and my reaction to it was weird"

briar nodded, relieved that she hadn't asked what was wrong and also that she was starting to figure out what the rest of friend group already had, "i have only one way to tell you this, el. a way that everyone but you two have figured out. you like him."

el scoffed, "you're crazy,"

briar rolled her eyes, "i'm not sure how you don't see it. you two are always together, random hugs and you understand every small thing about each other."

el thought about it for a while, putting some pieces together. "i just thought that was normal things that friends do. friends. that's all we've ever said we were."

briar looked at her, sighing, her arms crossed, "just friends', come on, el. just friends don't act like that."

el sat in thought. the same memory of late night drives repeating in her mind. she smiled at the thought, how he always knew just what to say.

"what do i do about it, then?"

"telling him how you feel would be a good place to start"

"and you're sure about this?"

"yep."

el walked out of the hallway, quickly turning the corner. frank ocean still played through a pair of speakers in the living room as she passed.

she made her way into the crowed kitchen, saying 'excuse me' to every person in her path. she began to get nervous, shoving her way through.

she set her dr. pepper down on a counter, getting around the crowd of people. she found matt, who had not seen her yet.

she started to walk over as the same girl from earlier, pulled him into a kiss. matt's eyes winded, as she pulled away.

el had said something, yet it was lost in the loud talking in the background.

"can we help you?" the girl said, looking towards el. her blonde hair sat neatly on her shoulders, as a annoyed expression was across her face.

he turned towards el, opening his mouth to say something before closing it.

el hadn't noticed how close she had gotten to them, her eyes still on matt. "no, sorry. forget it." she replied, turning on her heels and walking out of the kitchen quickly.

em's notes !

hiii

i finally have a direction for this book to go, meaning that i won't lose motivation + stop writing it

dedications:

matt-enthusiast starz4niall grimessdoll -petrovaxx -reputationn tayl4rswift 
aelinslegend valbearluvsjade starsturns duplicityniall1989 ffaelix Xxbittersweet_RoseXx kissmarrykilled not-americanbitch -miraclealigner  PRIMESTURNIOLO wearyminds

special dedications for the people that applied :

-petrovaxx itsnahiaaa_ lanasluvrr poetickisscs summerhevart_
tayl4rswift svnburnt charleysturniolo1