CHAPTER FOURTEEN *ೃ༄
[ always be my best friend ]
real life + social media

˗ˏˋ real life ! 💌 'ˎ˗

KIARA KNOWS THERES NO going back once she opens the burger king door and lets herself in, instantly getting hit in the face by the smell of french fries and barbecue sauce, which she doesn't mind at all.

her heart sinks when she sees matt, who unsurprisingly, is not getting a refill. he's sitting at a random booth with his head in his hands as he looks down at the table in front of him.

kiara takes a deep breath, wanting to leave him alone, but she can't. she knows if she doesn't fix this now, things will be like this for a while. so, when she ultimately makes the brave choice of moving her feet until she's at his table, it's not a shock.

he doesn't seem to notice at first, still having his forehead rested on the palms of his hands. but that changes when kiara sits down on the seat in front of him and matt finally lifts up his head.

kiara is quick to notice how his expression changes from dead to nonchalant. "forgot my cup." he confesses as kiara crosses her arms in disbelief. "okay, i just didn't wanna be in there anymore." he shrugs as if his reasoning means nothing.

"why?" kiara questions, not understanding his switch up as if they weren't completely fine like three days ago. his lips part, clearly stuck on what to say. kiara helps him out, adding another thing he can reply to. "why wouldn't you even look at me in the car?"

"because," matt huffs, looking down at the table instead of holding eye contact. kiara furrows her eyebrows as he does so, not understanding what's going on. "i'm not in the mood to compete."

"compete with who?" kiara questions, a confused look present on her face as she tilts her head. for a split second she feels her blood rushing, thinking about what he could possibly be frustrated about.

no way.

matthew sturniolo confessing his feelings for her in a burger king at like one in the morning after all these years? her breath hitches at the thought.

it takes him a second to reply. his facial expression showing clear hesitation which makes her all the more nervous. the seconds of silence feels like hours and kiara can hear her thoughts all over the place.

"i'm just not into hockey anymore." he finally finds enough courage to vocalize, sending a shock down kiara's spine. she can't help but feel a little disappointed at his reasoning.

"oh," she tries to hide her devastation in her tone, still wanting to be there for him and his sudden lack of interest in his favorite sport. he's able to hold eye contact again, staring into her eyes as she searches for something to add. "why don't you quit?"

"chris was already upset when nick quit and i don't want him to have to play by himself." he responds without stuttering, making kiara wonder if he rehearsed that in his head as she was speaking. matt usually speaks slowly, and the fast pace in his sentence was concerning, but she ignores it.

"he wouldn't be alone, he has nate and the rest of the team. when nick quit, he was only close to a few people, but now i'm sure he would understand." kiara tells him. chris isn't the type of guy to get mad at someone for doing what's right for them.

the silence is loud, as if matt's soaking in kiara's words. needing comfort is common, so kiara almost forgets about the tension between them the whole day. she just can't understand why matt would specifically single her out and not look at her.

"yeah but it's hard to find teams outside of school and i don't wanna give up the opportunity. i'll just play another game and see if i genuinely want to quit."

"oh okay," kiara nods, pausing for a second. "uh, i just have a question. why didn't you look at me in the car?" she must have ate something weird because she would never be bold enough to ask this question on a daily.

"because," he takes a deep breath before he speaks, signaling that he has a lot to say. "you're my best friend. you'll always be my best friend. if we made eye contact you would've for sure knew that something was up." the words absolutely crush her.

she'll always be his best friend? as in that's all they'll ever be?

"i knew something was up because you didn't look at me." she tells him with her head down, staring into her lap instead of looking at him. he's right; they've been best friends for so long that he could detect what she's feeling just because of eye contact. "but i understand." she looks up at him, forcing the corner of her lips to turn upwards so he doesn't suspect anything.

"you ready to go or do you want something while we're here?" matt stands up, straightening his hoodie from the odd position it stayed in.

"we could go." she answers, copying his movements and standing up beside him. she expects him to start walking, but instead he catches her totally off guard when he goes in for a hug. he wraps his arms around her torso and she instinctively wraps her arms around his neck. she genuinely could stay like this forever, but she has to face reality. so instead of letting the hug drag out, she's the one that pulls away. "don't be scared to tell me anything. like you said, i'm your best friend." she tells him with a bit of snide in her tone.

matt nods, beginning to walk out of the burger king. he leans his back against the push door and holds it open for her as she walks past and holds it for him. he laughs at her actions, pushing her arm off the door. "i'm the man, not you." he tells her, following her into the parking lot.

"you wish you were a man." she replies instantly, throwing a sneak diss in there but covering it with a smile. his eyebrows raise in an exacting manner, almost taking that as a challenge.

he opens the back car door for her as she hops in, then closing it behind her and getting into the drivers seat. kiara can feel the demeanor in the car, as if they all stopped talking right when they got into the car.

nick is the first to exaggerate, "well, i can feel my back cramping and my dick beginning to shrink!" both kiara and matt look at him in unison, giving him the most questionable look. "..what? old people's dick's shrink."

"i'm just confused on why you chose to say that instead of literally anything else." matt states firmly, giving kiara a small glance before turning around to face the camera.

"did you just look at kiara?" elliot asks from beside nick, raising in his seat and holding the head rest in front of him. "WOO BABY, WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS!" he yells, getting a passionate yell back from chris and nick, and a snicker from jade.

matt rolls his eyes and kiara attempts to smack elliot. "nick, cut that out." matt demands, clearly sick of the fans opinions on him and kiara.

"i've decided that i'm keeping it in."

"cut it out."

"i've decided that i'm keeping it in."

"nick, cut it out."

"matt, i've decided that i'm keeping it in."

"WALLYKAZAM!!" chris exclaims from the passenger seat, bringing up a childhood show to silence both his brothers. nick and matt both send a glare his way.

"the dragon was so bad." jade admits, earning a side eye from the whole car. "OKAY, SO CHRIS CAN SAY HE WOULD SMASH GRETCHEN GRIMLOCK FROM POPTROPICA BUT I CAN'T CALL A DRAGON FINE?"

"yes bro, it's totally different." chris argues back, "a dragon is an animal, gretchen is a human."

"didn't you call the chipette, jeanette, bad?"

chris shuts his mouth at jade's words.

"i have one!" kiara yells, taking the time that jade and chris were bickering to really think about her past. "the boys aren't gonna know, but jade, have you ever played purble place?"

"YESSSSS, THATS A GOOD ONE!!" jade screams enthusiastically as the boys all share a look of confusion. "i remember i used to play it all the time on my dads old toshiba but then he got a macbook and i was never able to find it."

"what the FUCK is purple place?" matt questions.

"purble place, matt." kiara corrects him, ignoring nick's and elliot's gasps in the back and the way chris and jade widen their eyes at each other. "and it was a computer game that i don't even know exists anymore."

"hold the fuck up—"

"SHUT UP." kiara and matt yell in unison.

˗ˏˋ social media ! 💌 'ˎ˗

sturniolo.triplets

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tags: christophersturniolo, nicolassturniolo

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tags: matthew.sturniolo, elliot.h79, nicolassturniolo, christophersturniolo, jadebennett

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tags: matthew.sturniolo, kiara.lima

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tags: christophersturniolo, elliot.h79

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tags: jadebennett

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tags: matthew.sturniolo, christophersturniolo

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tags: kiara.lima, nick_sturniolo_photography

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tags: christophersturniolo, matthew.sturniolo

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tags: kiara.lima, nicolassturniolo

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tags: nicolassturniolo

liked by jadebennett, christophersturniolo, and 734,359 others

caption: NEW FRIDAY VIDEO OUT NOW WITH OUR BEST FRIENDS !! GO WATCH FOR SOME NOSTALGIA ❤️⭐️❗️

tags: nicolassturniolo, matthew.sturniolo, christophersturniolo, elliot.h79, jadebennett, kiara.lima

user: the fucking tension.

user: DID U SEE KIARA AND MATTS FACES WHEN YOGOS WERE BROUGHT UP
↳ user: LIKEEEE ARE WE MISSING SMTH

elliot.h79: comment kiaratt letter by letter if u want me back on another yt video
↳ jadebennett: boy su

christophersturniolo: WHEN MATT AND KIARA LEFT THE CAR.
↳ user: oh shit wrong acc mb guys
   ↳ user: HELLO ????

user: NOT CHRIS EXPOSING THEM LMFAOOO

user: CHRIS HAS A BURNER

kiara.lima: NICK THAT IS SUCH A GOOD PIC OF ME
↳ user: maybe it's just you 😍
↳ nicolassturniolo: what user said !

matthew.sturniolo: go watch 😁
↳ user: Buddy.
↳ user: why did u and kiara leave the car

user: WHY WOULD NICK CUT THAT PART OUT
↳ nicolassturniolo: matt scares me

jadebennett: proud to say i helped nick bury himself in sand
↳ christophersturniolo: u shouldn't be proud

_________________________________

hey..........

literally every single previous chapter cringes me out so let's just forget about that and move past it !! 🙂

i knowwww i said i was on my grind but slowburns are so slowwwww
like obviously that's the point but this is definitely not gonna be as slow as 'the way i loved you' because i physically can't
^ so get ready to see some action 😇

thank you so much for 15k reads on this book 💖💖💖 it's actually so crazy that i've only written 13 chapters and it has that many. thank you for all the support i appreciate you all more than you can imagine !! pleaseee don't be a ghost reader because i love seeing ur opinions on things, even if they're negative 🫶

don't forget to SMASHHH that vote button and follow button so u don't miss another mina update 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂❤️

- mina