{irl. social media}

sharpest tool - sabrina carpenter

"A huge part of working together is knowing who you are working with. Today I want to focus on team building rather than physical gain. You can be strong and coordinated all you want, but if you don't work well with your teammates, you've got nothing going for you" Coach announces to the team after blowing his whistle loudly "Organize yourselves into pairs of two for a round of trust falls"

Nick and Nate decided to team together, while Monica and Matt paired up.
Shit, AJ thought. She didn't know how she got so unlucky to be left with Chris. They exchange awkward and annoyed looks with each other before Chris walks to a different group of people. AJ lets out a scoff of disbelief.

A figure appears beside AJ with an unfamiliar scent. She looks up and is met with Wes Johnson.
In this moment she didn't know who was worse.

"Looks like you're stuck with me, sweetheart" He sarcastically laughs "Don't be afraid to get handsy"

A rush of nausea rushes over AJ. She definitely did not want to be paired with him, but even more she did not want his hands on her.

"You're crazy if you think i'm gonna partner with you. I'd rather go home right now" AJ scoffs once more, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. She knew very little about Wes, but she knew that the triplets did not like him. There must be history there, but she didn't know exactly what. She couldn't help wonder what happened that caused this rivalry. Either way, she knew she would trust their opinion, even Chris's. Something about him felt trustworthy.

"Don't be like that" Wes winks playfully, slowly wrapping his arm around her waist and bringing her closer. AJ pushes him away, causing anger to brew in his eyes. If looks could kill, she'd be long gone.

Chris reappears beside AJ, staring at Wes in the eyes without breaking contact. Neither of them liked each other, something serious definitely happened. But AJ knew this wasn't the moment to figure it out. Just as Wes did moments earlier, Chris wraps his arm around her waist and brings her closer. AJ expected to be disturbed but instead it felt...nice? The way he moved was in an almost protective manner, as if he could put away his hate for one moment.

"Trying to steal my partner, are we?" Chris says in a monotone manner, not losing his locked gaze on Wes. Reading his face let AJ know that Chris was angry. Question is, who was he angry at? Wes or AJ? Who did he hate more?

"Partner? Your ass was just over there. In your dreams" Wes scoffs, taking a step closer

"Sorry" AJ sarcastically shrugs towards the blonded boy, now merging her arm around Chris to confirm the pair. She decided it was much easier to be with him than with Wes.

"Fuck you both" Wes spits through his teeth, walking away to the group Chris was previously with. AJ let out a sigh of relief watching him leave and finally brought her arms back to her side, but it took Chris a moment to do the same.

This was the second time Chris had defended her from Wes.

"Thank you, Chris" AJ makes out her words, gazing up at him.

She expected a snarky remark, or a rude response. She expected him to at least scoff or walk away. This was Chris, her enemy. A part of AJ expected Chris to make a biased judgement again, just as he did yesterday. But instead, he looked down at her with curious eyes and a simple sentence, "You're welcome"

Coach blows his whistle loudly, indicating that it is time to get started. AJ watched as Nick joked with Nate that he was going to drop him, and then proceeded to accidentally live out his humor. Nate fell to the group and turned around to give Nick (who was gasping and holding back his laughter with his hands) a death stare. Meanwhile, Matt was gracefully catching Monica and visa versa. Each time, they would exchange smiles. They both had rosy cheeks and soft eyes. AJ softly chuckles at her best friend, she sure knew how to pick them. There's nothing Monica loves more than a cute boy.

AJ turns to Chris, who was already staring at her, and fiddles with her fingers.

"Do you want me to uh.....Would you rather go first?" AJ asks awkwardly. She was curious to how he was feeling. Despite every eye roll and scoff, he still always came to her rescue.

"I'll catch you" He responds, opening his arms in a spoon manner to indicate his position

"Don't fucking drop me, Chris" AJ says, furrowing her eyebrows. He rolls his eyes (typical) and lets out a huff of air.

"But if I drop you, it would be so funny" He says sarcastically. AJ looks at him unamused with her arms crossed. Chris laughs and opens his mouth to speak, "Kidding. Line up"

AJ positions herself in front of Chris, crossing her arms in a casket-like motion. She takes one look back at him with a 'drop me and you're dead' expression. Letting her feet slant away from the group, she fully expected to hit the hard ice and embarrass herself. She expected for Chris to erupt in a sarcastic laughter. But, she never hit the ground.

His fingers were ice against her skin, and sent tingles flooding throughout her body. He held her as if the world was slipping away and his arms were the only safe space available.

It felt...nice.

AJ removed herself from his grip and turns around to face him. Maybe he felt the same thing she did, because his cheeks were flushed red and his eyes spoke a confused story.

"Your turn" AJ breaks the tension, hopping behind him and doing the same spoon gesture Chris did earlier

"Are you going to be able to catch me? Don't drop me" Chris says

"But it would be so funny" AJ mocks Chris, restating his earlier comment. Chris rolls his eyes and gets in front of her, proceeding to trade motions and do the casket emote. "Here we go"

Chris allows his feet to leave the ground, putting full trust in the girl behind him to not embarrass him in the moment. After what felt like forever, his time of being in the air ended when her arms wrap around his back from behind. She stumbled slightly, adjusting to his new weight, but caught him fully. Chris lets out a sigh of relief.

Unlike his own, AJs hands were warm instead of icy. They were comforting and dainty. He didn't mind the presence of Avarie June.

Practice continued with more trust activities. AJ eventually got to practice with the rest of her friends: Monica, Nate, Matt, and Nick. At the end everyone walked over to the dorms and said goodnight, finding comfort in the peace that they would see each other the next day.

Monica and AJ separately shower and lay down, closing their curtains to prevent light from getting in, and setting early alarms.

"Chris is kind of like spider-man right?" Monica randomly blurts out after enjoying the silence for a total of only five minutes. Her ADHD brain never let her sit still for longer than five minutes. "Or maybe Captain America... How do you feel about Thor?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" AJ questions

"He could be Ant-Man" Monica continues to ramble on, not paying attention to her best friend

"Moni. I'm trying real hard to remember that you took your medicine. Focus" AJ jokes playfully, turning to her side to face her best friend. The room was too dark to make out her features, but the volume of her voice indicated she was also pointed face forward

"I'm talking about the way he has saved you from Wes twice now. It's kinda hot, right? He is like your real life marvel superhero!" Monica laughs. AJ was thanking God that the walls were thick, certain in the fact that she would die if Chris were to hear this conversation. AJ would actually curl up and die if he knew that she thought he was attractive.

She couldn't shake the fact that in the midst of his hurtful words from days earlier, assuming everything about her, he called her a pretty girl. AJ knew she picked up on the wrong focus of his statement, but deep down it felt nice to know Chris thought she was pretty. She had been called pretty before, but never in the midst of anger. Something about it felt more...authentic.

"Go to sleep. I've maxed out on my Monica time today" AJ shakes her head "You are insane, kid"

Monica remains still and lets the room fill with silence before speaking, "Iron Man?"

"Goodnight!" AJ groans before rolling over to face the wall, shaking her head. She drifts off to sleep thinking about her interactions with Chris today.

But more importantly, how good his touch felt.

@avyoung made a new post!

@avyoung: took this while waiting a decade for @monihayes to grab our coffees
liked by @matthew.sturniolo, @christophersturniolo, and 51 others
view all 9 comments 

@user: love love love

@nicolassturniolo: no invite?
↳avyoung: we knocked at ur door and got no response ):

@monihayes: long line!
↳avyoung: i'll forgive u bc u paid

@user2: i may or may not have a crush on u

@user3: so stunning oh my

@matthew.sturniolo: is this why you were late to practice?
↳avyoung: no paparazzi pls