CHAPTER THREE !
——real life,messages
"it's been so long"

▶︎ •၊၊||၊|။||||။‌‌‌‌‌၊|• 0:10

real life ! ❀

tae and el both ran walked stairs at the sound of the door bell. "you and chris have been getting along so far, hm?" el asked, grinning as she slid her hand down the banister.

tae scoffed, "don't seem too happy, it won't last long. how are you and matt doing?" she asked, seeming amused.

el looked at her with narrow eyes as they made their way down the stairs. "stop thinking whatever your thinking. either way, we're good. we haven't talked much yet."

tae nodded, "you guys can talk at fire pit"

"yeah" she paused for a moment, thinking of how to word what she was thinking. her and matt had always been close, eloise and tae had always been close too but not as much as them. for some reason though, this year something felt off. she brushed it off though, shaking her head. she was probably just overthinking.

eloise turned to the door, "chris, matt- their here!" she said, grabbing the door handle.

the brothers caught up to her and tae to stand behind her as she opened the door. reed, briar, theo and saoirse made their way inside as the they made their rounds saying hello and hugging each other.

briar ran to el first rapping her arms around her shoulders, quickly pulling away.
"hi briar" el smiled, "do you have a job this summer yet?"
the girl shrugged in response, "there's a video store somewhere near here and they sell a lot of horror movies. i kinda want to work there. it could be some discounts you know?"

"yess, we'll have to watch scream like you were saying,"

briar nodded , "one second i'm going to go set my purse down." she walked away, sliding her purse down from her shoulder to her hand.

theo ran and hugged el next, "gosh it's been so long. it's felt like a year."

reed came up behind them, "uh theo. it has been a year."

theo paused, "oh right. i knew that"

chris hugged reed before turning to the group, "you guys ready to go?"

the group nodded, putting the remainder of their stuff down as briar returned to the group.

they all headed outside, matt handed el his spare key to lock the door.

"alright, beach store is this way," chris said, heading down the road.

"can some of us just go in. i'm tired." theo asked.

"theo it was a 6 minute walk" saorise looked at him.

matt ignored the comment, tired of his complaining as he did this anytime they went anywhere. "yeah, ill go" he replied, looking around.

"ill go too," el said, as matt held the door open for her.

the bell rang as they walked inside. someone called from the front, "welcome in!" as they walked to the front.

the walls were covered with light blue ocean wall paper, with brown shelves filled with anything you could think of for the beach. a gift shop too, with a section of books.

two girls stood behind the counter, one blonde and one brunette as they made their way through. they both had baby blue name tags, the blonde's reading "lili" while the brunettes "iris,".

they both smiled as matt and el came into view, waving slightly. "oh it's you guys. hi! back for summer?" iris asked.

matt nodded as eloise smiled back.

"that's great, what can i get you guys?"

"one volleyball thanks" matt said, pulling a twenty dollar bill and hanging it to lili, who was working the cash register.

lili smiled, taking the bill and put it in the register, looking to iris who gave them the volleyball over the counter.

"thank you again," el said, smiling. "we'll have to hang out this summer,"

iris nodded, "of course! i'm pretty sure there's a fair some time this summer too."

el smiled at iris, thinking back to the last time they went to the fair here. she looked to to matt, to see any hint of memory on his face.

"that'll be fun to go too," he said with a quick glance in her direction.

the bell rang again, as someone came up behind them.

"we better go," matt coughed, looking away from her.

lili and iris waved, wishing them a good night as the two walked back to the exit, opening the door.

"im surprised we didn't see mads and oakley"

matt looked at her, "who?"

"the people that come here almost all the time, mads is really sweet, oakley really likes her, he just doesn't know how to say it."

matt smiled at her, "maybe you could help her?"

el thought about it for a moment, "maybe i could,".

the two found their way back to the group, matt grabbing the ball from her and throwing it to chris. most of the group had sat down on the sidewalk, their feet in the road. matt linked arms with el as they joined in on the conversation they all were having.

tae smiled knowingly in their direction before looking back at chris with narrow eyes as he tired to braid her hair. he just grinned in response, standing up.

"hey guys, what took you so long?" briar asked.

"oh we were talking to lili and iris. they told us about the fair and how we should go this summer."

"yes. i loved it last time, except when someone almost broke my arm." tae said, looking at chris.

"whatever. i thought i was going to fall so i lightly grabbed onto you."

"you did not. you were scared" reed spoke up.

"shut up"

PAST
seven year ago
. . . the summer fair
—————

"come on mattt. one more try?" el asked, looking to matt, who had already watched a good $15 go down the drain to try and get el this one stuffed rabbit she had been wanting.

"alright, one more try."

el smiled, hugging him before waiting behind him.

he looked back at her, "and if i don't get it you can have my dessert tonight"

matt walked up to the stand, handing a boy in a blue button up another five dollars.

the game was a ring toss, in which you had to make 3 rings on a bowling pin to win. every time he got two but missed the last. mostly because he was stressed he wouldn't win it for her.

the worker handed him 3 rings, as he stepped back onto a piece of tape where he had to stand in order to start.

"whenever your ready," the worker told him.

matt threw the first ring, it easily falling onto the pin. he threw the next, the end result being the same.

he looked back at el, smiling to her. hoping she wouldn't be too upset with him if he didn't win.

el gave him a reassuring smile and thumbs up, covering her face with her other hand to block her eyes from the sun.

he threw the last ring as it fell onto the last pin. el jumped for joy, running up to matt. "see that was easy" she laughed.

"it took me 4 times" he joked.

matt told the worker about the rabbit then he handed it to him. he placed the rabbit into el's hands, turning to walk with her to the next game. he didn't care what it was, he just liked the smile on her face from the stuffed toy.

"what are you going to name it?"

she thought about for a minute, "isn't stuffy a good enough name?"

he laughed, "whatever you want."

em's notes !

1,317 words 🙏🙏

i feel like these chapters are going to quick istggg

either way, love u all

dedications:

-reputationn duplicityniall1989 ffaelix Xxbittersweet_RoseXx kissmarrykilled not-americanbitch -miraclealigner  PRIMESTURNIOLO  aelinslegend -petrovaxx starsturns wearyminds

special dedications for the people that applied :

-petrovaxx itsnahiaaa_ lanasluvrr poetickisscs summerhevart_
tayl4rswift svnburnt charleysturniolo1