𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐒, 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨

₃₄. 𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒏'𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆

"𝐢'𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮,
𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢'𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧,
𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫."

♫ rolling in the deep - adele

———

CHAPTER 34
"IVAN'S HERE!"

[real life]

melina walks through the crowd of people looking for izzy. seth had basically left her alone because his friend showed up. well, he didn't exactly ditch her—he asked if she wanted to meet his friend, but she declined, saying she needed to go to the bathroom.

she didn't know why she didn't just go with them, but it was too late now, and she squeezed into the sea of people. thankfully, she hadn't seen matt since that stunt he pulled earlier.

melina heads toward the front door, but then she bumps into someone. "oh, sorry!" she exclaims without looking up. "it's all good, don't worry," the guy says. immediately, melina recognizes his voice. her eyes widen.

ivan.

melina doesn't dare to look up at him. what the fuck is he doing here?! she backs up and quickly scatters out the door, letting out a loud breath. as she stands there, wondering why her ex-boyfriend was there, she also feels offended that he didn't recognize her.

once she realizes izzy isn't outside, she dumbly goes back into the house, feeling like a total loser.

while making sure not to run into ivan, she walks quickly, letting out a sigh of relief when she finally finds izzy, madi, and layla talking in the hall. "guys!" melina yells, running over to them. layla runs over, hugging her. "where have you been?" she asks over the loud music. melina hugs her back, looking around like a lunatic. izzy furrows her brows. "wait, what's wrong? you're like freaking out." she laughs shortly, giving her friend a concerned look.

melina blinks back at her. "uh, yeah, sorry. it's just that ivan is here, and i ran into him like 2 minutes ago, and i'm trying to avoid him," she rushes out, while madi's eyes widen. "he's here too?! holy shit, luck is not on you or matt's side," she says, crossing her arms. melina frowns. "what do you mean?" she asks with a sigh.

what does matt have to do with ivan being here?

izzy and layla don't give melina a response, waiting for her to put two and two together. madi puckers her lips, looking down. they all stand there for a second, and then a look of realization hits melina's face. "oh, right..." she says quietly as her friends shake their heads. "see, this is all matt's fault. if he didn't open his mouth, josie and ivan wouldn't be here right now! and we'd all be enjoying the party!" melina exclaims, crossing her arms aggressively.