Manage Me, I'm a mess

The next morning, I woke up with my head on Jack’s chest, his arm slung around my waist. Zack and Rian were both facing us sleeping on their sides next to Jack, and very close together. Alex had his back to me, his legs touching mine. I sat up slowly, preparing myself for the throbbing head. It came, but not as bad as I thought it would. So, I got out of bed and walked to the bathroom. I glanced over my shoulder and saw all of the boys sleeping peacefully. I grabbed my camera and snapped a couple pictures of them, knowing the opportunity was too good to pass up.

I showered, got dressed determined not to let the minor hangover ruin my day again. I slipped on some jeans and a random t-shirt, sliding a headband into my hair. When I got out of the bathroom, I saw all the guys awake and watching TV.

“I’m hungry. Breakfast?” I asked.

“Yeah, let’s go. We’re staying here another night so there’s no rush.” Alex said, switching off the TV. We ended up at Denny’s, Cobra and Metro were joining us as well.

“So what did you guys do last night?” I asked Trace.

“Hung around, got drunk again.” He shrugged. “You?” This time I shrugged.

“Hung around, got drunk,” I laughed. “We were watching Shrek 2 and all I remember was calling Charming an asshole,” Trace laughed. The waiter came then. He was cute, in his early twenties with shaggy brown hair.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he said, smoothly. I giggled.

“Good morning,”

“What can I get you?”

“Pancakes please,” I said, sweetly.

“Good choice. What kind of syrup?”

“Maple, of course.”

“Of course,” he mimicked.

“Tell me, is there anything I can get that isn’t on the menu?” I leaned my elbow on the table and rested my chin in my palm. He smiled.

“We’ll what did you have in mind?” he obviously knew what I was getting at. Or thought I was getting at anyways…

“We’ll, you know what I really really want?” I said, leaning forward.

“What?” he leaned forward too so we weren’t too far apart.

“Turkey sausages.” I turned back to my menu abruptly, my hair swishing in his face. “It only has beef here…and I really want turkey.” His face fell. I could see Trace cracking up out of the corner of my eye. We’ll honestly, I’m sitting at a table with like fifteen guys, what did he expect? And he was just so cocky, he deserved it.

“No, we don’t have them.” He said, flatly and turned away. He started to take everyone else’s order as Trace turned to me.

“You like to tease, don’t you?” he asked. I shrugged.

“He was cocky; he should’ve seen it coming.” I said, simply.

“Serena?” I turned to Gabe sitting a couple seats away. Beside him was the one and only, Victoria Asher.

“Yeah?”

“This is Victoria. Vic, this is Serena,” he said, gesturing to us.

“Hi, I’m a huge fan; it’s great to meet you!” I said. She smiled.

“Thank you, it’s good to meet you too. You know, we need to hang out, I need some female interaction!” She joked, gesturing to the boys around her. I laughed as Gabe glared at her.

“Definitely. I’d love to.” I said. She smiled sweetly and I turned back to Trace.

“Trace?”

“Hmm?”

“What’s it like having Hannah Montana as a sister?” I asked, randomly. His head snapped up and he smile as if thinking of her made him happy.

“Why?” he asked, still smiling.

“Just wondering.”

“It’s…different. Were really close, I love her to death. And it can be annoying. I’m not a big
fan of Disney…”

“Okay, I hate your sister’s music, I gotta say, but how can you hate Disney? It’s like a sacred part of childhood! I love the Disney movies!” I protested.

“I don’t know. It just gives everyone a false hope that everything is going to be okay, when it might not be.” He said, looking down. I leaned down slightly to see his face.

“Trace, what is it?”

“Nothing,” he shook his head.

“C’mon, tell me. I’m not going to stop asking you until you do.” I said. He took a deep breath.

“There’s this girl. Do you have someone who you just know you’re going to end up with?” he asked. For some reason, I thought of Alex. I shook my head quickly, shaking the image from my mind.

“Yeah, I do.” I said, though I wasn’t sure if I was lying or not.

“We’ll, this girl, Hayley, I love her so much. I mean, she didn’t even know I existed until I had the guts to ask her out…but I messed up.”

“What happened?”

“She caught me cheating on her with her sister,” my mouth dropped open.

“Oh my God! You jerk!” I yelled. Everyone turned to look at me. “Oh, turn around, there is nothing to see,” I said to them, waving my hand. “And you’re upset that she broke up with you? What the hell is wrong with you? Have you gone nut-“

“Hold on! You didn’t let me finish. That’s not how it happened!”

“We’ll, please elaborate. Because I am so ready to call Hayley and sympathize with her for having SUCH A PRICK FOR A BOYFRIEND! AND A BITCH FOR A SISTER!” Everyone looked at me again. “I SAID THERE IS NOTHING TO SEE!” I banged my palms on the table, making a loud bang.

“LET ME FINISH!” he yelled. “She saw us at the mall together, and it looked like our hands were touching. But really she was helping me find a Valentine’s gift for her. I asked her for her advice and she offered to come to the mall with me to look for something. I saw Hayley at the entrance of the store. I told her to stop and listen to me but she just took off running telling me she never wanted to see me again…”

“Okay, sorry. But honestly, you don’t seem like the romantic type. I could see where she’d get doubtful.” I said.

“I guess. But the bottom line is, she’s there and I’m here and we’re not even talking
anymore.”

“Trace, everything is going to work out. Because she is going to realize that you would never do that to her and she is going to come back, or rather, you’re going to go there and she is going to apologize and beg you to take her back.”

“Things aren’t like that in real life,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m going to go out for a smoke...” he said.

“Those death sticks are going to kill you,” I noted. He smiled.

“I know. Miley tells me all the time.” He rolled his eyes then walked outside and lit his cigarette. I noticed his cell phone on the table. Getting an idea, I picked it up, slipped it into my pocket and went to the washroom.

As soon as I got there, I went into his contacts and looked for the number I was looking for. I pressed it and waited for someone to answer.

“Hello?” someone answered.

“Is this Hayley?”