The Square Root

“You got nothing to say now, do you, Hazelyn DeLuca?” she smirked. “Wouldn’t it just devastate your dear Ryan to hear about what you’ve been hiding from him? Considering he’s your bestfriend and you didn’t tell him?” she smiled sweetly at me, which turned into a grimace. “Well, if you want to keep him from hating your lying ass, then stay away from him,” she sneered and stalked off with her flock of bitches.

What am I gonna do?!

I drove home, and plopped down on the couch, groaning out loud. “What the fudge am I gonna do now?!”

“Tough day?” a voice asked making me jump out of my skin. “Damn, you look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Ryan chuckled.

“What the fuck are you doing here?!” I shouted.

He looked taken aback. “I was just checking if you were home,” he shrugged. “And if you had any plans tonight.”

I thought about it for a minute. I’m going to have to do what Trisha wants while I find a way to tell Ryan about Tristan. “Yeah, I do,” I lied. He eyed me carefully.

“With whom? Your boyfriend?” he spat venomously.

The way he said it made me flinch. “Yes,” I said confidently. “Now, if you don’t mind, you may leave so I can go get ready for my date,” I growled and stomped up the stairs.

“Have fun,” he called out sarcastically before I heard the front door slam.

“Damn you Hazelyn,” I mumbled to myself and started doing my homework.



Ryan and I have been avoiding each other all week and it seemed to work out fine. It was Stephanie, Kyle, Heath, Daniel and I in our usual table, while Ryan was at cheerleader/jock table.

“Okay, spill it girly. What happened between you two?” Stephanie demanded.

“What?” I asked innocently.

“Cut the crap,” Heath told me.

“I didn’t do anything. I just kicked him out of my house Monday after school because I had a date,” I shrugged and took a bite of my cookie.

“And did you have a date?” Daniel glared.

“Maybe,” I shrugged.

“What the fuck?” Kyle spoke.

“Guys, relax, its not big deal,” I shrugged.

“Uhh, no big deal? My brother has Trisha on his fucking lap. You both steal glances at each other ever other minute. You both look like crap, and as if you haven’t slept for days, so I think it is a big deal,” Stephanie said to me.

“Okay. I guess we’re hanging out tonight,” Kyle said. “My house. 8pm, be there,” he said and the bell rang.



Stephanie and Tristan dragged me out of the house that night, and I was forced to go even though I was still a little bit paranoid about seeing Gabriel again. We arrived at the Andrew’s residence, and it wasn't like the last time. Now, it was clean and quiet. We walked up to the front door, and Kyle let us in leading us to some kind of game room.

Heath and Daniel were already on the couch talking, but they both smiled at me when I entered the room. I walked over to them and gave them hugs. “Well, looks like Stephanie got you out of the house,” Heath chuckled. I groaned and sat between them. Tristan glared at Heath when he put his arms around my shoulder but I just gave him a stern look back, telling him to back off.

“So, what are we doing tonight?” I asked putting my legs up on Daniel’s lap and leaning all my weight onto Heath.

“We are going to watch sappy chick flicks,” Kyle smiled at me.

“No more! I think I’ve watched all the chick flicks that has ever been made!” I groaned throwing my hands up in the air.

“Just kidding, we’re watching Friday the 13th ,” Kyle smirked and turned on the TV.

“Where’s the food?!” I called out and stood up.

“Kitchen. Just grab a whole bunch of whatever,” Kyle mumbled.

I walked over to leave and Tristan followed after me. “Hazelyn Mae!” he whispered loudly.

“You should go back in there before they start thinking stuff,” I told him.

“I don’t care, damn it. You should be that close to guys, you don’t know what goes on in men’s minds,” he scolded as we entered the kitchen.

“Will you relax? They see me like how you see me,” I shrugged going through cupboards, looking for the food. “Can you check the other cupboards?” I asked him. He nodded and went onto with his search.

“But still, you can't just let guys put their arms around you like that. Seriously.”

“You and Nate do that,” I shrugged without looking at him.

“It’s different, we’re your brothers.”

“But I see them as my brothers too. You guys don’t have to be so damn protective,” I argued.

“How can we not worry about you Lyn? You’re a girl! Plus, we’re biological siblings,” he argued with me. “There’s a difference,” he said.

“Oh good god! You guys are siblings?!” Kyle almost shouted from the doorway.

Holy shit.

“I uhh…,” I looked at Tristan for help, but he jus shrugged. “Please don’t tell Ryan,” I pleaded.

“I wont, but damn, how?” Kyle asked, not being able to grasp onto the information he had just found out about.

“Uhhh… I think they teach us that in family life?” I chuckled.

“Smart ass, not like that. You’re…,” his eyes widened. “You’re the Hazelyn Macintosh,” he stated.

“I guess,” I shrugged slowly with an innocent look on my face.

“Oh damn,” he said and took a deep breath. “Give me a second,” he said and leaned on the counter. A few seconds passed, Tristan and I exchanged glances, and then back to Kyle. “So, why do you not want Ryan to find out about this?” he asked me.

“It was about this whole conversation we had the first couple weeks of school when there was a story about me in the media and all that drama back in London and he started gong on and on about stuff and fuck. It would mess everything up if I don’t tell him at the right time in the right way,” I mumbled.

“You know not telling him and him finding out on his own would most likely mess up whatever you guys have, than you just coming out with the truth right?” he asked me.

“I will, I promise. Soon,” I sighed heavily. “Now, where’s the food?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Here,” Kyle said reaching into a cupboard on the other side of the room, filled with junk food. “I’ll grab the soda since its heavy,” he said and went over to the gigantic refrigerator and grabbed a 24 pack of Dr. Pepper. I followed him back into the room and put down all the food onto the table, and sat between Kyle and Tristan.



Awhile into the movie, where all the suspense was building, I was covering behind a plush pillow, with a bag of Snyder’s sourdough honey mustard & onion pretzels, when the door flew open making me scream like a little girl, cowering behind my brother. He immediately put his arms around me, soothing me, just like whenever we watch scary movies.

The lights snapped open, and in the doorway stood Ryan which I guessed Tristan saw since he retracted his arms from me, and reached into the bag of pretzels, taking some then shoving them into his mouth.

“What was that?” Ryan mumbled.

“We were watching Friday the 13th,” Kyle explained. “You’re late man,” he said and stood up, being a good host and welcoming his guests.

I wanted to hide behind my brother, like I always did when I was younger whenever I was scared or embarrassed, in this case, both. I always felt safe with my brothers around. They’ve proven numerous times how much they’d sacrifice for me, and how they’d do everything they can to protect me from any harm that I may encounter. But as of now, I can’t, and I hate it. I could only partially hide myself behind him, but it still wasn't enough. So I decided to completely hide behind Kyle.

“Sorry, I had to pick up somebody,” I heard Ryan say, so I pulled out my phone, quickly texting somebody, just to get my mind off whatever they were talking about. I texted Luke.

Luke! Oh my gosh, I’m such in an awkward position right now =\

I just kept fiddling around with whatever apps I could open, then went to check on my facebook if anybody had updated. My phone rang a few seconds after, indicating a new text message, which I quickly opened.

Haha. Are you okay? What’s up?

I was typing back a reply, when I heard an unfamiliar voice, making my head snap up towards the direction from which it came from. I saw a girl, probably my height, her hair a light shade of brown, so light it looked almost blonde. She had nice long legs, which she was flaunting with her denim mini skirt, she was very feminine, girly, and she was undeniably beautiful. It made me jealous. Another thing? She was holding Ryan’s hand. My breath caught in my throat. I caught Kyle’s eyes that were filled with sympathy. I now realized who she was. She was the girl at the pier.

No, can you come into town tomorrow? :( I replied to Luke.

“Well, Uhh. This is Stephanie, that’s Tristan, her boyfriend. That’s Hazelyn, Heath and Daniel,” Kyle introduced us in order. “Guys, this is,” he paused, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

“Samantha, my girlfriend,” Ryan said. I refused to look straight at him, because at the moment, I wanted to punch him and kiss him at the same time.

“Yeah, Samantha,” Kyle mumbled awkwardly. “Well, make yourself at home. We’re just watching a movie right now,” he said to her. She just smiled her dashing smile at him, and he sat back down awkwardly next to me. They stepped into the room, making the atmosphere even more awkward. My phone rang, which made everyone look at me. I looked down at the caller I.D. “Nate”.

I pulled on Tristan’s shirt, making him lean over to me. “Can I borrow the keys?” I whispered. He reached into his pocket and gave me the key to the Mercedes that we took. “Excuse me,” I mumbled softly, I reluctantly let go of a handful of Tristan’s shirt that I was gripping tightly the entire time, and stood up - dashing for the exit, holding back the tears that were trying to escape. I got to the car, hurriedly opening the doors, and drove out of the compound.

My phone has stopped ringing, but when I was at a safe distance, I dialed his number. I was so glad for the Bluetooth integration “Hello?” I heard his voice instead of the usual music I blast in the car.

“Nate?” I whimpered.

“Are you okay?” he asked worriedly.

“Can you meet me somewhere” I whispered softly.

“Yeah, where do you wanna meet up?” he asked.

“Actually, meet me at the mansion,” I said and went towards the mansion. It wasn't far.

“Okay, I’ll be there in 10,” he said and hung up.

I was still holding down the tears, afraid it would blur my vision, and wouldn’t get anywhere. I got to the house in maybe 15 minutes, and drove into the driveway, where I saw my brother pacing nervously. When he heard the car, his head snapped up. I got out and ran to him, hugging him tightly and letting the tears go.

“Lyn, what happened? Oh God,” he whispered. “Just let it all out,” he said again. Several minutes, we were on the concrete floor of the driveway, I was sobbing in my brother’s arms. I finally calmed down into just sniffles. “Let’s go inside, it’s getting cold,” he said softly and I nodded, as he lead me inside to the kitchen, sitting me down on one of the stools and gave me a glass of water. He sat in front of me, just observing me drink the glass of water he gave me.

I looked at him. “Thanks,” I said.

He gave me a nod. “Now, tell me what was bothering you, that you actually called me up,” he smirked. “We all know that you only talk to me about things when it’s really serious,” he said in a more serious tone this time.

“I would’ve talked to Tristan, but he was there with me, and-“

“Tristan was there, and he let you go, crying?!” he snapped.

“Tristan was there; we were hanging out with friends. I think people would start thinking that he disappears after I disappear,” I told him.

“Okay, go on,” he said calming down.

“Well, its not much of a big deal,” I squirmed, realizing it would be bad to talk about guy problems with an overprotective brother.

“Hazelyn, don’t you dare hold back on me. You know you can talk to me about anything,” he said soothingly.

“Even guy problems?” I asked innocently.

His jaw tightened. “Even guy problems,” he nodded.

I sighed. “Okay, so you know Ryan?” I asked.

“Yeah I know Ryan.” he asked me with an amused look. I just nodded. “Go on,”

“Well, I uhhh” I said looking at him and blushing.

“You like him,” he said. “I was filled in on that already.”

“Yeah,” I said lamely.

“And the problem?”

“He has a girlfriend,” I sighed and burying my face into my hands. “So pathetic,” I sighed.

“Sis, relax. It’s not pathetic. You cannot control who you’d have feelings for, it just happens. You don’t know, maybe you just think you like him because you spend so much time with him, and you’re so close to him. Its not over yet. He’s not married, is he? So you still have a chance. Maybe you should tell him about your family first, tell him the truth. Let him know about you. I know you Lyn. You have walls built up, and I don’t blame you. After what you’ve been through, I know it’s tough to make friends,” he paused and brushing my hair off my face.

“You shouldn’t fuss about it, because if he doesn’t realize that the best girl out there for him is his bestfriend, then he isn’t worth it. We all know that somehow, the best person for you to end up with is your bestfriend. Somebody that knows you better than you know yourself. Somebody that knows you inside and out. Somebody that has seen the worst in you, but still accepts you for who you are,” he told me.

“Nate, the thing is, he already tore down my walls from the first few weeks that I’ve known him,” I confessed.

“That’s a start. But you also need to trust him,” he told me.

“How do I know he won’t take advantage of that?” I asked him.

“You take a chance,” he told me.



After my conversation with my brother, he told me to stay at the mansion and he’d go back to go get Stephanie and Tristan. I forgot that I left my phone in my car, so I just let it be. I laid on my bed, falling into a dreamless sleep.