The Square Root

“Hello?”

“Oh my god! It’s Stephanie’s birthday!” he shouted, making me pull the phone away from my ears.

“What? Today?!” I gasped.

“No, next week,” he said.

“Damn it. You gave me an almost heart attack,” I said clutching my chest.

“You okay?” Ryan asked me softly, hugging me from behind.

“Who’s that?” Tristan asked.

“Talk to you later. Bye,” I hurriedly said and hung up on him, turning to Ryan. “Just fine,” I smiled at him. “So, uhm. You should get going, its getting awefully late, isn’t it?” I said walking out of the room.

“Uhhh… Yeah,” he said uneasily rubbing the back of his neck.

“Goodnight,” I smiled at him.

“Why are you suddenly kicking me out?” he pouted.

“Pfft. Kicking you out? Not at all,” I denied, but held the door wide open.

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Okay then, I’ll leave. I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” he smiled at me and walked out.

“Tomorrow morning?” I asked him.

“New York,” he called back and got into his car, speeding off.

I grabbed my keys and wallet then got into my Maserati and sped off towards the mansion. I rushed to the living room where Tristan was pacing and sat on the couch.

“So, what are we gonna do?” I asked him.

He looked at me. “What do you think I am? A genius?” he asked incredulously.

I rolled my eyes at him. “There’s no time for fucking sarcasm brother.”

He huffed and glared at me. “Well, help me out then bitch.”

I shrugged. “You know what? You deal with it. Your girlfriend. Both are my bestfriends, so it doesn’t really matter,” I shrugged and got up.

He scoffed. “Yeah right, I know you were just panicking when you thought their birthday was today,” he smirked. I glared at him. “Oh yeah, I know you like him. You think your brother wouldn’t know?” he smirked.

“I’m gonna punch that smirk off your face one day,” I mumbled crossing my arms and plopping back down on the couch. “So, what do you have in mind?” I asked him.

“I was thinking. You go ask Stephanie what she wants and stuff,” he suggested.

“And what do I get in return?” I asked, my eyebrow raised.

“I’ll ask Jason what Ryan likes, simple,” he shrugged.

“I can just ask Jason myself,” I told him.

“Please do this for me? If you don’t, I’ll tell Nate you like Ryan!” he laughed.

“Who likes Ryan?” Nate asked from behind me.

“Hazelyn,” Tristan said simply.

“What the fuck?” I growled at him. “You don’t have anything to blackmail me with now, so bye!” I said and attempted to walk off but both brothers took possession of each of my arms.

“You like Ryan?” Nate asked quite surprised and a smile tugged at his lips. I blushed and covered my face with my hands. Nate busted out laughing. I glared at him. “It’s quite obvious, little sister,” he chuckled and sat on the couch. I plopped down beside him and he pinched my cheeks. “That’s so adorable!” he cooed at me, and I slapped his arms away.

“And uh-uh. You are not getting away,” Tristan said. “Please Lyn? Please?” he begged.

“Fine,” I mumbled. He smiled triumphantly at me. “But wait, when’s their birthday?” I asked.

“Saturday,” Tristan told me.

“Damn it,” I mumbled taking out my phone, texting Stephanie. “Tell me what he wants by Wednesday because I’ll take Stephanie with me to hang out tomorrow,” I said while typing away on the keyboard.

“Why not tomorrow?” Tristan asked.

“Going to New York,” I said.

“What?” he asked as if he heard the wrong thing.

“I’m going to New York,” I shrugged.

“For what?”

“Abercrombie stuff that Ryan has to take care of,” I shrugged. “Plus, I wanna go see those tall hot 8 packed Abercrombie models,” I grinned evilly.

Nate and Tristan looked at each other and shook their heads. “Girls,” they mumbled.

“I heard mom and dad are gonna be in New York tomorrow too,” Nate said.

“What? You’re kidding,” I grumbled.

“Nope, they have some meeting with Uncle Will,” he said.

“What? No!” I groaned. “I might see him there if they’re…. ugh! Fuck!”

“Good luck,” Tristan chuckled.

“Shut the fuck up. You’re no help,” I mumbled and laid down on the couch. “I’m gonna go, I’m sure Ryan would drag me out for breakfast then keep me up all day,” I mumbled.

“No funny business,” Nate warned. I looked at him wide eyed.

“Oh my gosh, not even!” I screeched.

“Just making sure,” he glared at me and I rolled my eyes and drove home.



“What the fuck was that?” I asked Ryan tiredly after the meeting.

“That was a business meeting, if you didn’t notice,” he rolled his eyes.

“Ugh! It was so boring! There weren’t even hot guys!” I complained and linked arms with him, leaning my weight on his side while we were walking down downtown New York.

“Well sorry if my business associates weren’t your type,” he mumbled.

“Just get me food,” I whined. He just chuckled at me, removing his arm form my grasp and wrapped it around me.

This morning, Ryan dragged me out of bed, took me to ihop for breakfast, and then we flew to New York. He didn’t let me sleep during the flight since he said he was bored without talking to anyone, so I had to stay up the whole entire time talking to him, and used the time to make fun of me and talk about that pretty bitch he met up with.

We got to some office somewhere in New York and people had mistaken me to be his fiancé? The fuck I am. He just apologized and introduced me to the other stock holders and whatnot. Then they started discussing stuff that I found boring, yet understood because of my parents’ business that I’ve learned to deal with throughout the years. It was amazing how Ryan managed to look formal in such an informal attire considering that he was in just jeans and a plaid button up shirt.

We ended up in front of an Italian restaurant to eat lunch, and then continued our venture around New York City. We were in front of the apple store, which I had to argue with Ryan not to go in there (since they knew me).

“Hazelyn Mae?” I heard a voice say. I turned towards it and I squealed loudly.

“Jeremy!” I squealed and tackled him in a hug.

“Hazelyn Mae!” he chuckled and hugged me tight too, then put me down. “How have you been?” he asked me. “Oh my, you’re even more gorgeous since the last time I’ve seen you!” He said spinning me around.

“Awww, I’m flattered Jeremy. Thank you,” I chuckled. Ryan cleared his throat from behind me, and I totally forgot he was there. “I uhm… this is Ryan,” I introduced. “Ry, this is Jeremy,” I said awkwardly. Ryan wrapped an arm around my waist, and extending his right hand for a handshake.

“Nice to meet you,” Ryan said in a low voice.

“Likewise,” Jeremy grinned. “So, is this your…?” Jeremy trailed off.

My eyes widened. “Uhh.. No, my bestfriend,” I smiled, and gave him a sheepish grin.

He gave me an understanding look and flashed a smile at me. “Right,” he chuckled. “Well Lynie. You’ve been MIA for so long, and I haven’t seen you in awhile so it’s necessary that you give me your number so we can hang out sometime,” he said and handed me his phone. I walked towards it and typed in my number. “I’d hack the systems, but-” I cut him off and glared. He knew that some people don’t know about me, so he just nodded. “Well, say hello to your brothers for me. I gotta get going. You know your mother,” he muttered. I nodded and made a ‘shhh’ gesture at him, meaning I didn’t want my mother to know that I was in town, or else she’d come looking for me. I then waved at him as he retreated.

“Who was that?” Ryan asked me after a few minutes of silence.

What was I supposed to say? “Old friend,” I smiled.

“So, you’ve known him for quite awhile?” he asked.

“Yeah?” I answered uneasily.

“You see him often?”

“No, just sometimes. I haven’t seen him since last summer,” I said.

“Ahh… He knows your mom?”

“Yeah.”

“Is he like an ex boyfriend?”

I busted out laughing. “Ex-what?” I asked disbelievingly.

“Exboyfriend,” he said to me more clearly, his face full off confusion.

“He’s gay,” I told him. His face turned into a look that said ‘I’m so dumb’

“Oh,” he said dumbly. “Well,” he said and blushed.

I stopped and he just kept walking, and when he realized I wasn't following, he turned back to me. He raised an eyebrow and I raised one back at him. “Were you jealous?” I asked him playfully.

He hesitated then smirked. “Well duh! I mean, he knows your family and you’ve known him for a long time, of course I’d be worried,” he smiled at me. “Remember? I’m a jealous bestfriend?”

“Right,” I chuckled and pinched his cheeks. “You’re so adorable! Oh my goodness!” I cooed and he took my fists and brought it down. He then looked me in the eye and I didn’t know what was going on. Next thing I knew, we were running back to the car - soaked because of rain and snow.

“That was fun,” he panted.

“Uhuh,” I chuckled and buckled my seatbelt.



Sunday morning, I dragged Stephanie out of their house. “Where are we going?” she asked me.

“Around,” I shrugged. We ended up hanging out at the mall and watching hot guys pass by. Some would wink at us, and some would just smile. We’d quietly rate them from 1-10. 10 being the highest.

“This is so cheating,” Stephanie said guiltily.

“No it’s not, plus my brother isn’t that jealous,” I shrugged. She gave me a ‘you’re kidding right?’ look. “Okay, maybe he is, but I can do something about it,” I smiled at him.

“Speaking of brothers. You and my brother,” she brought up and raised an eyebrow at me.

I looked away and sipped on my drink. “What about your brother?” I asked trying to hide the blush on my cheeks.

“You’re blushing!” she gasped. “Spill it!” she demanded.

“Spill what?” I asked innocently.

“You went to New York with him yesterday, didn’t you?” she accused. I didn’t say anything, because there was nothing to deny. “Do you like my brother?” she asked. I looked at her and bit my lip. “Don’t even lie to me Hazelyn,” she glared.

“Okay, fine. Yes I do,” I sighed and buried my face in my hands.

“Does he know?” she asked. I gave her an ‘are you dumb?’ look and she sheepishly smiled. “Right, stupid question,” she said. “Why don’t you let him know?” she asked.

“It’s not that easy,” I complained.

“Sure it is. Plus, my brother is very oblivious to such facts,” she said.

“Tell me about it,” I muttered.

“So, are you gonna tell him?” she asked me, eyes wide.

“No,” I said firmly.

She then pouted. “Why not?”

“I told you, it’s not that easy. He likes somebody,” I sighed.

“No he doesn’t,” she said her eyes squinted in confusion. “Because if he did..” she looked at me then stopped. “I just know he doesn’t,” she shrugged.

“I saw her at the pier with him. He looked like he was in love with her, it hurt,” I sighed.

“Who was it?” she asked

I shrugged. “I didn’t see her face, but she seemed to be really really pretty,” I said to her.

She sighed. “Well, I don’t know, but you’re gonna have to tell him sooner or later,” she said.

“I pick later,” I smirked. She rolled her eyes at me. “Anyways, what do you think your brother would like for your birthday?” I asked her.

“A girlfriend,” she chuckled.

“Something I can give to him without killing me inside,” I sighed. She mumbled some incoherent words then looked at me.

“Anything, really. He’s very appreciative,” she told me. I sighed.

“You are no help, Stephanie Dolciani,” I sighed. “What about you, huh? What do you want?” I asked.

“Don’t even think about it, Hazelyn,” she warned. I gave her an innocent look. “Just don’t go overboard like my dad’s pen!” she almost shouted. My eyes widened. “Ryan was asking me where the hell you would get 26 grand for a pen,” she crossed her arms. I did a facepalm. “You’re lucky my brother’s stupid when it comes to girls and people,” she chuckled.

“Be nicer,” I laughed.

“Seriously, don’t go overboard, okay?” she warned.

“Maybe,” I grinned.

“And no parties! Damn it,” she mumbled. I nodded.

“Parties aren’t my thing, so no. I wouldn’t throw one for you just to save myself from partying,” I chuckled.



I got home and ordered the gifts, and as promised, I didn’t go up to the 26 thousand dollar pen. The rest of the week was fine until Thursday night, when Ryan was hanging out my house after his basketball practice. He was complaining about how sore he was and begged me for a massage. I begrudgingly complied and told him that he owed me big time.

After an hour of massaging his aching muscles, he decided to put on a horror movie and I begged him to turn it off, but he said he was there and the zombies wouldn’t get me. I just rolled my eyes.

When one of them jumped on screen, Ryan jumped higher than a frog. He was cowering behind a throw pillow on the couch and turned off the movie, leaving us in the dark. He started denying that he jumped, and I was laughing hysterically, letting him know that I’d never let him live that down.

“So, Saturday night still up?” he asked after my hysterics.

“Yeah sure,” I smiled at him.

“Okay…,” he said then paused. He then continued with words that made me want to curl up in a ball and bawl my eyes out. “I think I’m in love with her.”