🎱. . .CHAPTER 019 ! -----
( real life . . . )
❛ like a date? ❜

ᵣₑₐₗ ₗᵢfₑ !

Due to the recent kiss mikayla and chris shared only a couple days ago, their week is going great, perfect even. and since nate still isn't suspecting anything, only assuming that the most they've done is hold hands, they feel free to do anything they want. with maria and matt actually knowing that their relationship is fake, they've been secretly trying to get them together, for real.

it's currently thursday evening and the does are at the triplet's house, watching a horror movie together. chris and mikayla sit together on the couch, a blanket concealing their legs as her head rests on his shoulder. nate slyly glances at them as the movie continues, his jaw visibly ticking at the pda in front of him. for the last week, he's had so many questions as to why they started their fake relationship, but he's kept them to himself. however, as he's witnessing them grow closer, the questions continue to burden his mind.

mikayla finds so much comfort in chris' touch, melting at the feeling of his hand stroking her hair. she can't help but smile, the mental flashback of their kiss repeatedly playing through her mind. yet unfortunately, chris still denies that he has any feelings for her, and it's genuinely so stupid to matt–who is continuously trying to convince chris that he definitely likes her.

as the movie ends and the screen turns black, they all collectively raise from their positions as matt makes his way to the light switch. he flicks it, causing a radiant white light to engulf the living room, making the friends squint at the bright light surrounding them.

with the school days feeling longer than ever, they enjoy having little movie or dinner nights together, as well as with the rest of their friends, since the triplets and nate graduate at the end of the year. they're each other's rock, making the younger members of the friend group frown at the thought of not seeing nathan and the triplets around school everyday.

"soooo," chris drags out his words with a grin growing on his face. "it's miks' birthday on saturday, what's the plan?" he inquires and mikayla can't help but smile at his acknowledgement of something she hasn't mentioned all week. sure, it's the bare minimum since they've known each other for years, but with the guys mikayla's dated in the past, it means more than it should.

nathan throws his arm around mikayla–who's wrapped in a fluffy blanket with a smile on her face–pursing his lips. "party at our house," he announces and chris approvingly nods. he'll never turn down a party, and that's just a fact.

but that's what's so different with mikayla; she isn't really the party animal that chris is. not because she doesn't enjoy them, but it's always the same thing everytime: drunk teens, vomiting, people making out, and a large mess to clean if you're hosting it.

matt has a spark of excitement, but he then remembers that he's definitely going to be the designated driver since mason is 100% going to get drunk, making his shoulders drop at the continuous pattern. honestly, sometimes he wishes nick or chris can drive, and he genuinely believes that they could get their license if they weren't such 'pussies' in his exact words.

as the sun sets, a mixture of orange, pink, and blue blending together in the sky to create a pastel palette of colors, matt grabs his keys, attaching them to his belt as it's almost time to drop the does home. chris tightly embraces mikayla, feeling her rapid heartbeat reverberating before he makes his way to his bedroom to get something. however unknowingly, nate follows him and he jumps when he turns around and realizes.

"you good nate?" chris questions as he enters his bedroom. he can't lie and pretend as if he feels like this isn't about the kiss with mikayla, directly going against what he said. and there's one thing chris doesn't want to do, and that's make nathan mad. with the fact they've been best friends for years, he doesn't want to let a single kiss ruin that relationship they have.

nate leans against the wall in chris' room with folded arms after closing the door behind him. "why are you and miks, you know–'fake dating'," he says while using his fingers as air quotes. a crease appears between his eyebrows and chris' heart drops as he has genuinely been dreading a conversation like this. "i mean...you're keeping the weird guys away from her, which means less for me to worry about, but it was kinda random."

chris agreeingly nods his head as he truly understands the reason why nate is questioning his intentions. "exactly what you said, i'm keeping the weirdos away from her," he mumbles while awkwardly scratching the back of his neck, also ignoring the newly developed feelings he's gained. "my bad, i just thought it'd be easier than directly telling guys like noah to back off."

"just don't hurt her please," he mutters and chris promises he won't, before a simple and quiet 'oh' leaves nathan's mouth. he had a gut feeling setting in his stomach that chris has some sort of negative intentions with miks. but now that chris cleared everything up, he feels like a weight has been lifted off of his shoulders. they dab each other up, sharing a chuckle just as matt calls out nate's name.

          Mikayla can't stop thinking about the kiss with chris, call her obsessive or whatever, but making out to chase atlantic is not something you just forget about especially if the person you're making out with is christopher owen sturniolo. it's as if whenever her eyes close, it's all she can see and it's been happening since monday.

          it's friday. friday morning to be exact and mikayla kneels in front of her mirror, braiding her hair. just a couple hours until the day's over and she can start picking out her outfit for tomorrow. as she adds pink bows to the end of her braids, humming along to the music playing, a familiar honk comes from outside and she realizes that it's the triplets picking her and nate up for school.

          she grabs her tote bag, just as nate calls her name from downstairs, picking up her phone from the floor and switching the music off. for some reason, probably the fact that she's finally turning eighteen tomorrow, mikayla's feeling extra chipper. it's as if she's skipping around the house with the way she practically flies down the staircase and to the front door.

          nate rolls his eyes, hiding the fact that he loves seeing her happy even if it's most likely caused by her relationship with chris. they exit the house, nathan locking the door behind them, and miks waves at all of her friends. with everyone in their designated seats, nate and mikayla enter the minivan, sitting beside nick who's in the middle.

          of course chris can't hide the shit-eating grin plastered across his face as he quickly glances at the rearview mirror to stare at miks. he's glad to call her his, even if they aren't actually together.

          since matt's been able to drive, it's normalized that chris' phone is always connected to the aux cord. as matt reverses out of the driveway, carefully watching his surroundings to prevent some sort of accident, chris switches on his phone and immediately opens spotify to change the lil skies song. once he changes it, mikayla feels her heart drop at the all too familiar song that's playing.

          it's as if her cheeks heat up, causing the flushed state on her face to make chris smirk. mikayla slowly pushes her lips into a thin line, narrowing her eyes at chris as he sees from the rearview mirror. like it's some sort of inside joke, everyone in the car except for nate, nick and matt giggle quietly.

come and get it now
come and get it now

          right now, mikayla wants to strangle chris with the way he so effortlessly makes her flustered with every little thing he does. the fact that he knows exactly how he makes mikayla feel just makes this moment even better for him.

baby, show me what you're doing
come and turn around

          "this song is ass," matt mumbles from the driver's seat as he reaches a red light. "this is the type of thing you make out to, not play on your way to school," he shakes his head and mikayla's eyes widen as her eyebrows reach the top of her head.

'cause it's not just a figure of speech
you got me down on my knees
it's getting harder to breathe out

          nick agreeingly nods, "it's like you've been possessed by miks," he refers to her obsession with chase atlantic. "can we get some olivia in this bitch please?" lucille and mason are uncontrollably giggling from behind mikayla, nick and nate, savoring this moment with maria; they love seeing how clueless matt and nick are.

matt huffs as chris switches the song off. honestly, all he wanted to do was show mikayla that he also, can't stop thinking about what happened and that's exactly what he did.

          now matt's pulling into the school parking lot, the same routine he's been doing ever since he was appointed the designated driver. it honestly gets so tiring, but he sort of enjoys driving everyone around sometimes. they all exit the minivan almost in unison, yawning and sighing at the sight of the school building.

          mikayla adjusts her skirt and without even noticing, chris' eyes are glued to her. it's genuinely been like this for a while; he's had this thing where he can't stop staring at her and no matter how hard he tries he can't stop. she pats down the soft, white material, looking up and seeing abel leaning against a pole.

          as she thinks about the party tomorrow, she quickly walks towards the boy, with the intention of inviting him. mikayla honestly thinks that he's a really nice guy and she'd love to be friends with him, if only he didn't get off on the wrong foot with chris on his first day. when she appears in front of him, an ear to ear grin spreads on his face. "hey," she mutters, looking up at him.

          "hey," abel repeats as he tightens the grip on his backpack. "still kinda upset you disappeared on me at the party last week," he frowns and his tone is genuinely sincere. abel thinks that chris and mikayla are genuinely dating and he's not the type of guy to try ruin that relationship, but that doesn't mean he doesn't want to get to know her.

          mikayla laughs quietly at his comment as she reminisces on the incident in the bathroom. "long story abel, but just know i'll make it up to you tomorrow night?" she grins and abel raises his eyebrows.

          "like a date?" he's intrigued, not knowing that she's referring to the party taking place at her house. "sounds chill."

          "oh–no,no,no," mikayla stammers and she laughs to try and ease the escalating awkwardness caused by abel. "not a date, but it's my birthday tomorrow and there's a party at my house, i'll text you the address. i'm flattered that you assumed it's a date though."

abel genuinely wants the world to swallow him whole right now after slightly embarrassing himself by assuming that mikayla–who has a 'boyfriend'–was asking him out on a date. he awkwardly scratches the back of his head, nodding slowly at her offer.

          however, having both chris and abel in her house may cause some sort of issues. now there's a large part of mikayla slightly regretting inviting him because it's definitely a bad idea.

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ arianna speaks ¡
i love writing party chapters so i obviously had to make it mikayla's birthday 🥳🥳