The Square Root

“You got yourself in this mess, remember?” he laughed and plopped himself next to me, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulled me to him, flipping me onto my back.

“This sucks,” I groaned.

“You wanna go somewhere today?” he murmured in my hair.

“What do you have in mind?” I asked, burying my face into the crook of his neck.

“Anaheim?”

I looked at him. “Seriously?”

He gave me an innocent look. “What? I like Disneyland,” he defended.

“Seriously?” I repeated.

“You wanna go or not?”

“Hell yeah!” I screamed and got up.

“Alright. I’ll go take a shower then we’ll leave,” he said with a laugh and left the room. I walked out and went back to Stephanie’s room.

“So your plan backfires,” Tristan chuckled.

“Fuck you,” I mumbled and sat next to him on the bed.

“So, what’re you and my brother doing today?” Stephanie giggled.

“Disneyland,” I sheepishly grinned. They both rolled their eyes.

“What? No lunch date?” Tristan smirked. I smacked him behind the head. “Damn. I was kidding,” he mumbled, rubbing his head.

“We’re just hanging out,” I shrugged.

“And tell me, why isn’t he hanging out with the girl he likes?” Stephanie raised an eyebrow.

“Maybe because he doesn’t have the guts to ask her to hang out?” I guessed. “I don’t know. Ask him,” I shrugged and laid on the bed.

“Maybe the girl doesn’t exist?” Tristan suggested. I looked at him. “I mean come on. A guy that likes somebody would take every chance he gets to spend time with the girl. It’s a guy thing,” he shrugged.

“I agree,” Stephanie shrugged.

“Can you guys just drop it? Not helping my situation,” I mumbled and hugged a teddy bear that was next to me on the bed.

“Just saying, Lyn. Seriously. You may have a chance with this guy,” Tristan said to me seriously. “And this guy, I actually approve of.”

“You approve of my brother?” Stephanie asked like he was crazy.

He shrugged. “I’ve seen him take care of Hazelyn, and how he worries about her. I mean, we can all see it,” he said. “Even the way he acts around you and how he responds to every little move that you make gives me the chills.”

Stephanie nodded “I guess, but you know, I’m really wondering who that girl is,” she said. “I feel like I know her,” she paused. “What if its you?” she asked me. I scoffed.

“Negative,” I told her. “He talks about her with me. And it would be obvious if it was me,” I shrugged. “And I told you, I saw them together.”

She looked like she was concentrating for a moment. “I don’t get it,” I heard her mumble.

“What’s the last thing that he said about her?” Tristan asked.

I frowned, and sighed. “He said he might be in love with her,” I mumbled.

“Whoa, what?” Stephanie asked incredulously.

“Your brother? In love?” I said.

“No way,” she gasped. “I knew it!” she whispered. I gave her a weird look. “He’s been acting so depressed and moody lately, and I don’t know, he hasn’t really been himself,” she told me. I just shrugged.

“Well, I’m gonna go check if he’s done showering,” I said. “Oh, and about that Paris trip,” I started.

“You’re not getting out of it,” Tristan beamed. “Cut the crap. You know you’d just love to go to the city of love with your bestfriend,” he chuckled, whom was shortly joined by Stephanie. I rolled my eyes and left the room, slamming the door behind me.

I walked over to Ryan’s room and stopped in front of his door. I opened it and saw Ryan just in his basketball shorts. He just slipped on his shirt and turned to me. He still had his lip ring on. “You know, you should wear that more often,” I pointed out.

He raised an eyebrow. “This?” he asked biting on the lip ring. I nodded. “Why?”

“You look hot with it,” I shrugged and walked over to his couch.

“Was that a compliment?” he smiled at me.

“I guess,” I mumbled and checked my phone.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I gave him a soft smile. “Should we go?” I asked.

“What about breakfast?” he frowned.

“Ihop,” I shrugged and grabbed the cake from his side table and walking to the kitchen and put it in the fridge.

“Hey Hazelyn,” I heard Jason’s voice say.

“Sup Jase?” I smiled and hugged him.

“Nothing, going for a run. You going on a date with my brother today?” he winked at me and Ryan smacked the back of his head. “Just kidding, damn. You guys are just always together that I don’t know if you guys are just bestfriends,” he defended “Maybe friends with benefits?” he wiggled his eyebrows at us, earning another smack from Ryan. “Could’ve just said no,” he mumbled, rubbing the spot where Ryan smacked him and walked out of the room.

“You know sometimes, I don’t know if he’s really older,” Ryan said shaking his head.

“Tell me about it,” I grumbled. He gave me a look. “Let’s go,” I smiled and walked out of the house.

“Are we taking your car?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said and got into the driver’s seat. My door opened and I was pulled out of it. “What the?” I protested.

“You’re not driving ME around,” he scoffed. “Get in,” he said motioning towards the passenger’s seat and I crossed my arms, but got in anyway.



“Are you not tired yet?” I asked Ryan once we got off the tower of terror. We already had 5 pictures. The first one - we were both pointing at the camera, the second one - we both looked bored, the third - we were smiling the idiots, the fourth - we both looked asleep and the last one - we were both on our cell phones. We bought each picture and laughed hysterically after each one of them.

“Nope,” he said popping the P. I rolled my eyes. “I need to go to the bathroom,” I said. “All that dropping’s making me wanna piss,” I mumbled he just chuckled and we walked to the bathroom.

“Are you having fun?” he asked me.

“Yeah, why do you ask?”

“I don’t know, I just wanted to make sure I'm not boring,” he said laughing nervously.

“You aren’t. I wouldn’t hang out with you if you were,” I laughed. “I’ll be right back. My bladder’s about to burst!” I chuckled and ran for the bathroom.

When I finished, I washed my hands, and fixed my hair. When I looked up at the mirror, I almost jumped. “What did I tell you about staying away from him?” Trisha asked me.

“You said to stay away from your boyfriend, and as far as I know, you don’t have one,” I retorted, turning to her so that we were face to face.

“Stay away from Ryan. You’re not supposed to be the one that’s here with him. It’s supposed to me me not you, bitch,” she screeched.

“You know, I could go back to him right now, tell him what you just said and make him hate you forever,” I shrugged.

“But you wont,” she said, her voice breaking.

I smirked. “I won’t. Because I fight my own battles,” I shrugged.

“So, you do like him,” she concluded with a leer.

I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter,” I said and walked away from her. I stopped for a second, looking back at her. “You’re threatening the wrong person. He’s in love with somebody else,” I said and walked out of there, leaving her dumbfounded.

“Ice cream?” he asked handing me a Mickey mouse ice cream. I smiled and took it from him.

“Thanks,” I smiled, then looked back at the bathroom.

“What do you wanna do next?” he asked me.

“Uhhh… I don’t know?” I chuckled. He rolled his eyes.

“Are we watching world of colors later?” he asked.

“Do you want to?”

“Do you?”

“Sure,” I shrugged and took a bite of my ice cream. He laughed. I gave him a look, and he stepped towards me and wiped the corner of my lip, and licked his thumb. “Ew,” I said giving him a disgusted look and kept walking. He caught up to me and put an arm around me.

“Wanna go shopping?” he asked.

“Are you serious?” I chuckled.

“Want to?”

“Let’s go!” I smiled and we ran out of the park, and into downtown Disney. I dragged him into World Of Disney first, and we started looking at all the Disney accessories and everything. There would be constant “Oh my gosh, so adorable!” from me, and some “this looks cool,” from Ryan.

We finished up there, not even buying a thing and went straight to Basin, where they sold those cool soaps. “Look at this!” Ryan called out. I walked over to him and he held it in front of my face, making me back away a little. I smelled it, and smiled.

“Smells good,” I told him.

We then made our way to Build A Bear (Don’t judge!) and made a bear for me, which he demanded that he pay for. We after went to Compass books & Café, and went around looking for books, while Ryan followed me and groaned because of the headache he said he was getting from seeing so much books.

I gave him a break, and left and we decided to eat. We went to the rainforest café, and it let out an intimate, dark setting, which made it a bit awkward for me, despite the fact that we’re here as bestfriends. Ryan was pretty relaxed and I hoped he didn’t notice my slight discomfort. I mean, I have been in dinner dates with him.

But that was different. You didn’t like him then. Once I thought of that I wanted to slam my head against the pillar next to me.

“You okay?” Ryan asked after we ordered.

“Yeah, fine,” I chuckled nervously.

“Why do you seem so nervous?” he asked.

“I do? I didn’t notice,” I said innocently. He just raised an eyebrow at me. We started to talk about stuff, random stuff mostly. He’d crack some jokes and would tell me about things that happened to him before. He told me about his most embarrassing moments, and I’d tell him mine. We shared about our favorite stuff, and basically, just got to know eachother even better.

“You’re so mysterious,” he said to me out of nowhere.

“What?” I laughed.

“You’re so mysterious,” he repeated. “What are your secrets, Haze?”

I stiffened and chuckled nervously. “Wanna know something about me?” I asked him.

“I wanna know everything about you,” he said with a smirk. I rolled my eyes at him.

“Nevermind.”

“No. I do wanna know something about you!” he said quickly.

“Nobody knows about this yet. Not even my brothers,” I told him.

“Are you pregnant or something?” he asked with wide eyes. “Did you kill somebody?” he gasped

I laughed out loud and pouted at him. “You wouldn’t think I’d do that, would you?”

“With you, it’s unpredictable,” he mumbled.

I smiled at him and rolled my eyes. “This might be freaky, but it’s the only place I could hide it,” I warned him. He gave me an uneasy look as I bit my lip, and pulled it down to expose the inside of my lips.

“OH god, I thought you were gonna flash me or something,” he said, letting out his breath. I glared at him and rolled my eyes. “Wait, what does that say?”

“L’amour,” I told him.

“Love,” he said softly.

After we finished eating lunch, we decided to get on rides. He’s been more physically affectionate – hell he’s been way too affectionate lately- I realize. He’d put his arms around me or put his arms around my waist, and I was clinging onto him as well, having our arms linked together. I didn’t think it was a big deal, since we’re bestfriends and all and he didn’t really say anything about it.

We were standing in line to pay for some souvenirs, and we were facing each other, his hand on the small of my back. “Blonde chick, checking you out, 12 o’clock. My 12,” I whispered to him. He pulled back to look at me and smirked.

“Play along,” he whispered and kissed the corner of my mouth, making it look like he just kissed my lips. My tummy started doing back flips. “Pissed off?” he whispered.

“You bet,” I chuckled and I turned to the cashier and paid for my stuff. We walked outside into the California heat. It was still Winter, almost Spring, but I gotta say, California has weird weather. “I told you that you could pick up so much more girls with that lip ring on,” I winked at him.

“Would that include you?” he asked me with a smirk.

“Maybe,” I decided to play along and linked my arms with him once again.

We went on with our day, taking various pictures together, and some, he decided to fool around with and made us look like a couple. It was funny. We went on tower of terror once again, and the picture that was taken had him, kissing my cheek, and both his arms wrapped around me, while I had my arms wrapped around his neck. I was still screaming despite we’ve been on this ride several times.

“Uhhh, what are we doing here?” I asked when we were in front of California Screamin’, after we came out of the toy story ride. Yes! I love that ride! Now hush!

“Roller coaster,” he shrugged and kept walking. I just stayed in my spot. He turned towards me and cocked an eyebrow. “Are you just gonna stand there?” he asked.

“Uhm, yeah, I guess. I’ll just wait,” I said and walking over to the rails to take a seat. I was almost there when I felt arms wrap around my waist and pull me towards the line.

“You’re not staying here,” he told me.

“But! I’m scared!” I whined and we got to the front, taking our seats.

“You can hold my hand,” he offered, holding his hand out. I raised an eyebrow at him. “I don’t have cooties,” he chuckled, grabbing my hand and intertwined our fingers together. I took a deep breath, and the car started moving. I gripped the handle and tightened my grip on Ryan’s hand. He didn’t seem to mind, so I didn’t loosen it one bit.

The ride started and I couldn’t even find my voice to scream. Ryan squeezed my hand, probably to make sure I was still alive and I squeezed back to ensure him I was still breathing. The end of the ride, I was stunned. I didn’t even find the courage to open my mouth. My eyes were just wide and I was really quiet, adrenaline rushing through my veins.

“Are you okay?” Ryan asked a when the car was taxiing back to where we got on. The whole time, I didn’t let go of his hand and he didn’t speak up. The protection thing got released, and he helped me get off the ride. I was leaning on him for support, because of the lightheaded feeling that I had. “Haze?”

“That was….,” I whimpered. “Wow,” I said.

“Did you like it?” he asked.

“I felt like I was about to die,” I told him.

“We’ll go get the picture, then uhh, we’ll talk about your near death experience,” he said, holding back a chuckle. I smacked the back of his head. “Ow!” he grumbled, pulling me towards where they sold the pictures. He pointed out which one was ours and paid for it, letting go of my hand for a split second, then putting my hand back in his.

We took a look at the picture. My face was expressionless, as if I was daydreaming and Ryan was looking at me, in the same state, but more worried. I’d say it looked romantic. Except for the fact that we were on a rollercoaster.

It was getting dark, and after going around shopping for another hour or two, we went back to the place where they were holding the World Of Colors. Ryan bought me those Mickey mouse ears that lit up. He said “So I don’t lose you in the crowd.”

I rolled my eyes at him. We were one of the first ones that got there, and we just sat on the ground, talking about random stuff. Ryan was laying back on his palms - leaving his chest wide open, so I leaned against him for support and he immediately put an arm around my waist.

“Are you having fun?” I asked him.

“Didn’t I ask you that earlier?” he chuckled.

“Yeah, but its your birthday,” I said, looking at him. “So naturally, I’d ask about it,” I smirked, looking at him. He looked down at me and raised an eyebrow.

“I’m having fun,” he said, smiling tenderly at me. I expected him to add something, but he just looked straight ahead, his eyes once again a mix of blue and green. Teal almost. The color was electrifying.

“I'm really confused,” I spoke. He raised an eyebrow at me. “Do you seriously not wear contacts?” I asked him.

He rolled his perfectly electrifying orbs. “Yes, I’m sure.”

“They were blue this morning,” I pointed out.

“And not did I once leave your side to give me time putting on contacts,” he told me. He had a point.

“So, what mood are you in since your eyes are bluish green?” I asked him.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” he smirked at me. I pinched his cheek. “Ow!” he whined.

“Tell me,” I pouted.

“Ever heard of the phrase ‘the eyes are the windows to the soul’?” he asked me. I gave him a ‘duh’ look. “Well, I like to keep my windows just slightly open,” he smirked.

“What does that mean?”

“It means, I like to keep a mystery going. You’ve got your secrets, and I’ve got mine,” he smiled at me.