Vengeance Is a Syn

I turned my head around and saw Matt and Jimmy walking through the bushes that led to the beach. I sighed in relief as I realized they were not some crazy psycho who was following us and that they had avoided the talk I was about to have with Brian. I honestly didn’t know what I could tell him. I didn’t even know why I had pulled away from him!

Was I scared? I thought I wasn’t, but something inside of me was telling me not to let that happen. I didn’t want our friendship to come to an end thanks to that mistake. It was a mistake, right? Friends don’t get that close to each other, do they? Best friends included. It was the second time in a short period of time that something like this happened. It was the second time we nearly kissed each other, but this time I’d stop it by myself.

Would something really happen if I hadn’t turn my head around? No, surely that’s not true. And besides, why would Brian, a good-looking and amazing guy be interested in someone like me? His best friend. No, Hailey. Stop thinking about that. It makes no sense at all! I’m not interested in him either, so I have nothing to worry about.

I was done with relationships. I always got out of them hurt – always. I was done with that. The only thing I wanted to focus myself on now was my friends and getting better at my skills to succeed in my future career.

“What the fuck are you two doing here?”, Matt asked as he slapped the branches from the trees away.

“We -”, I said before Jimmy cut me.

“Were you guys fucking each other?”, Jimmy yelled making Matt burst into laughing.
“No!”, I shouted back. “Of course not, silly! I’m gonna be a nun!”

They all laughed, Brian included and I smiled just as I realized he wasn’t mad at me. The disappointment I previously felt on him was no longer there. Instead, I saw a beautiful grin that made me smile.

“You what?”, Brian chuckled surprised.

“Why?”, Jimmy asked, confusion evident in his voice.

I started laughing at their reactions and stood up. They were still with the confused look on their faces and I shook my head, trying not to laugh anymore.

“Anyways, why did you come here?”, I asked looking at Matt and Jimmy.

“Mom was looking for you and didn’t find you so she asked me if I knew where you were.”, Matt answered.

“Since we didn’t find you back there at your house we went looking for you here outside.”, Jimmy completed.

I nodded and smiled.

“Let’s go back now?”, I asked and they nodded.

When everyone left I was tired and wanted to rest, so I walked to my bedroom.

I opened the door and entered the room but when I turned back to close it I squealed and put my hand over my heart, breathless.

“What the fuck, Matt? You scared the shit out of me!”, I gasped.

“Sorry!”, Matt chuckled. “Can I come in?”

I took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, yeah. Just don’t scare me anymore!”, I chuckled.

Matt sat on the couch and glared at me. I looked back at him and arched my eyebrow in a suspiciously way. “What?”

“I saw what happened.”, Matt smirked.

I looked the other way and felt my cheeks reddening. “I don’t know what you’re talking about…”, I mumbled.

“I saw what happened back there at the beach. Between you and Gates.”, Matt explained.

“Nothing happened!”, I answered shuffling through my stuff trying to avoid the talking.

“Why did you pull away?”, Matt asked not expecting an answer.

I sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed.

“I don’t know…”, I answered looking down.

“I’m telling you… You two are gonna end up together!”

“Shut up!”, I hissed. “I don’t even like him!”

“You sure?”

“A-ham.”, I nodded but he kept staring at me. “Okay, I think I don’t like him…”

Matt’s lips formed a smile and I groaned, throwing a pillow in his direction. He chuckled and caught the pillow right on time before it hit his face.

“So, maybe, you want to have something with him, right?”

“No, Matt… I’m not ready for a relationship…”

“Let me say in with other words… You’re willing to give him a try when you feel ready.”

“I don’t know…”, I looked down.

Matt sighed as he stood up from the couch and walked over me. He caressed my cheek and walked to the door.

“I just want you to know that if you want to talk I’m here, okay?”

I nodded and he went to his room. I pulled the sheets of the bed and laid down on it.



“Matt!”, I yelled from downstairs. “Hurry up!”

“I’m coming!”, Matt replied from his room.

I looked at my watch and waited for him to come downstairs.

“I’m here!”, Matt said picking his backpack from the floor.

“Finally!”, I sighed and opened the door.

It was the end of February and the weather was extremely nice so we all decided going to the beach since we hadn’t been there all together since Summer holidays. We had to pass by the twins’ house so we’d walk to the beach with them. By now the rest of the guys should be already arriving at the beach and Matt and I were still leaving home.

“Jesus Christ, Hailey! Chill out!”, Matt chuckled.

“Come on! Let’s go or we’ll keep them waiting for us.”

We walked to the twins’ house and they were already waiting for us. Val wrapped her arms around Matt’s middle and didn’t let him go and me and Michelle walked in front of them, taken up by our conversation.

When we saw the sand and the sea in front of our eyes, we walked to our usual spot on the beach, not too far from the water and not too close to other people.

“Why did you take so fucking long?”, Jimmy asked greeting me with a hug.

“Thank the beauty queen over here!”, I chuckled pointing at Matt who growled and smacked my arm playfully. “Ouch, you idiot!”, I pretended being hurt.

I greeted everyone in there and sat close to Michelle. She was always looking at her phone and tapping her fingers nervously.

“’Chelle, what the fuck is going on?”, I asked raising my sunglasses and looking up at her.
“Hum… Are Matt and Jason coming?”, she asked.

“I don’t know.”, I shrugged. “Text them or call them.”

I put my sunglasses back on and shut my eyes, enjoying the sun hitting against my skin. Since it wasn’t very hot I didn’t need to go to the water to refresh myself.

Moments later I heard people arriving. I opened my eyes and saw Jason and Matt. I greeted them and they both sat next to Michelle. Since she was so interested in the talking she was having with Matt, I moved next to Brian and Johnny.

“Where’s everybody else?”, I asked.

“Matt and Val are gone for awhile, God knows doing what!, and Jimmy and Jason are on the water.”, Johnny answered.

I nodded. “So we’re left alone?”

“No, Matt and-…“, Brian was saying before he looked at Michelle and Matt’s direction. “Yes, we’re left alone.”

Johnny and I laughed and we lay down on our towels.

Johnny kept stirring in his towel and then stood up.

“Where are you going short shit?”, Brian asked.

“To the water. It’s fucking hot in here!”, he said and started running to where Jimmy and Jason were.

“You wanna go get an ice cream or something?”, Brian asked.

“Yeah, that seems a great idea!”, I smiled.

He helped me getting up and I put on my shorts.

“Hey, Mat, Michelle!”, I said. “We’re gonna go get an ice cream, okay?”

They stopped giggling and nodded their heads.

“I’m telling you, they have something going on!”, I whispered to Brian who just chuckled.
We walked to the ice cream store in silence and when we got there I searched the flavors they had.

“Do you already know what you want?”, Brian asked, leaning against the counter.

“No…”, I shook my head. “They all look so damn delicious!”

Brian chuckled and approached me. “What if we share the ice cream and you pick the three flavors?”

“That actually sounds like a great idea!”, I smiled. “But I won’t pick the three flavors. You pick one, I pick another and then we both choose the third.”

“Fair enough!”, Brian chuckled. “I want the chocolate one.”

“Chocolate? Really?”, I asked placing my hands on my hips. “That’s no fun!”

“What? You want me pick another?”, Brian asked amused. “Okay, what about the walnut one?”

“Oooh, that’s delicious!”, I smiled. “I want the mint one! What about the third?”

“Hum… What about… the caramel one?”

“I hate caramel…”, I replied.

“Oh, right… Cheesecake one?”, Brian asked.

“Yeah!”

We asked the employee for the ice cream and Brian prepared to pay it.

“Wait! I’ll pay my part!”, I said.

“No, I asked you to come out with me so I pay it.”, Brian replied.

I tried to pay my part but he refused and nodded to the cashier to assure it was him who was paying it.

“I should have paid my part…”, I mumbled when we were outside the store, using the spoon to take some ice cream.

“Like I told you, I asked you out, I pay it.”

“You asked me out?”, I asked amused. “So is this some kind of date?”

“Well, huh…”, Brian mumbled rubbing the back of his neck. “That’s not what I meant…”

“I was kidding, you fool.”, I laughed.

“But if you want to we can go out on a date.”, Brian smirked leaning in my direction.

“Yeah, keep dreaming!”, I chuckled softly pushing him away.

We finished our ice cream and returned to the beach, but everybody was still gone and Michelle and Matt were sleeping next to each other.

“I swear that I don’t get them!”, I mumbled. “They want to come to the beach to spend some time together and then they disappear without a warning!”

Brian chuckled and sat down.

“I actually feel like sleeping right now, too.”, he said glancing at Matt and Michelle.

He lied on his towel, his back on the sand and closed his eyes.

I sat down Indian mode and just watched him sleeping. Or else that’s what I thought he was doing! He looked so peaceful I could watch him forever.

“Stop staring at me, Hay.”, he mumbled.

“What!?”, I asked ashamed. “I was not staring at you!”

“Yes, you were. I could feel your eyes on me the whole time.”

“How could you feel my eyes on you if you had your eyes closed?”, I asked.

“See? You were watching me!”, Brian smirked opening his eyes. “I know I’m a good-looking guy and all of that, but there’s no need to drool because of my bare chest!”

“Oh my god! I can’t believe you just said that!”, I said incredulous. “You’re so fucking full of yourself!”

I wrapped my arms around my torso. “Now it’s starting to get cold… And they don’t appear!”
“Come closer.”, Brian said patting the spot next to him in his towel.

I hesitated but lied down next to him, my back facing him. He put his arm around my own and rubbed it up and down. “Just to warm you up a bit.”, he whispered.

I rolled to the other side and was facing him now. He pushed me closer and rested my head on his chest. I put my arm around his middle and he used the tip of his fingers to trace paths up and down on my arm.

I was feeling so calm and peaceful I could fall asleep right there in the middle of the beach.
“If you keep doing that I’m gonna fall asleep…”, I mumbled not opening my eyes.

“Then I guess I’ll keep doing it.”, he chuckled softly in my ear.

I looked up at him and smiled. He reached my cheek to kiss it and I rested my head on his hard chest again, sighing.

“I lov-like you…”, I got tense in his arms and wished he didn’t notice my little mistake.

“I love you too.”, Brian smiled stroking my hair.

I don’t remember much about what happened next since I woke up with a loud noise.

I looked up and saw that everybody had arrived. I glanced at Brian and he was awoken.

“You could have told me you were awake!”, I said rubbing my eyes.

“I didn’t want to wake you up… You looked so cute lying there.”, he smirked.

“Oooh, were you comfortable, Hailey?”, Jimmy teased and Johnny laughed.

“Shut the fuck up!”, I said standing up. “And where the fuck have you two been hiding the whole day?”, I asked Matt and Val.

Val’s cheeks flushed red and Matt smirked. Oh, god… I don’t even want to imagine what they were doing!

“We were busy…”, Matt answered.

“Doing what?”, Zacky smirked.

“Stuff…”, Val answered.

“Were you two… Oh god! I don’t want any details about that!”, I said hiding my face behind my hands making them laugh.

“Oh, you have no idea of how good your brother is! He’s hug-…”

“STOP IT! For god’s sake stop it! I don’t want any fucking detail about how he is!”

“Okay, then we were just walking on the beach.”, Val smiled.

We gathered our stuff and walked to my house. We left the twins and the Berry’s on their homes and headed towards mine and Matt’s house.

They rehearsed for a couple of hours while I took a shower, dressed up and went to the living room where they were preparing dinner. They had the pizza boxes on the coffee table and were setting the rest of the stuff.

“Oh, hey Hay!”, Johnny smiled from the couch.

“Hey guys!”, I said. “What have you got there, I’m hungry!”

“You have to wait!”, Zacky said. “We’re missing the chips and the drinks.”

I nodded and rested my arms on the head of the couch. I felt two arms wrapping around me from behind and someone biting my ear and smirking.

“Why did you do that?”, I asked turning around.

Brian smirked. “I just did what your shirt says.”

I laughed and sat on the head of the couch since his arms were trapping me. “You’re such an idiot.”

“But you like me.”, he smirked.

I bit my lip and pretended I was thinking about what he said. “Yeah, I do.”, I laughed.
He pecked my cheek and Matt cleared his throat.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your… whatever the fuck you were doing… But Hailey, can you please go to the grocery store and buy some more stuff to eat and drinks?”

“Yeah, sure!”, I smiled getting down to the floor. “Hey, Short Shit, come with me!”

Johnny growled but stood up and walked with me to the store.

“Hum…I didn’t ask Matt what you were missing… What kind of food was he referring to?”, I asked.

“Just some chips, beer and candy for Zacky and Matt.”, Johnny said and I laughed. Those two could eat a whole candy store in one day!

We walked through the corridors picking the food when we hear a loud noise that seemed like a gunshot.

I dropped everything I was holding and held Johnny’s hand. My breath hitched on my throat and my heart started beating extremely fast. We heard people screaming and running and two loud and thick voices echoing in the air.

“What was this, Johnny?”, I whispered with fear showing in my voice.

“I’m not sure…”, Johnny whispered, pushing me behind his back. “Stay here, I’m gonna check what’s going on.”

“No! You’re not going there!”

“Then keep being this close to me, okay?”, he whispered. Even though I knew he was as much scared as I was he was acting pretty still and trying to calm me down.

I nodded and held his hand tightly again.

He walked further and sneaked through the food shelf.

“Oh, shit…”, he whispered.

“What’s going on, Johnny?”, I felt tears forming in the back of my eyes.

“There are two men dressed in black and with their faces covered…”, Johnny explained and gulped. “One of them has a gun…”

My breath caught up on my throat again and I hugged Johnny as tightly as I could. “Please don’t leave without me. I’m so scared, Johnny.”, I let a few tears escape. I’d never felt this scared in my life.

“I won’t leave. I’ll always be here with you, I promise. Nothing will happen to us… Nothing will happen…”, Johnny whispered rubbing my back.

We heard steps coming closer and I looked over Johnny’s shoulder.

“Hey, T! There are two more in here!”, a muffled voice said.

“Bring them here!”, the one I suppose was T said.

The other guy approached us and pointed a knife in our direction. “Look what we have here… Such a cute girl… And her boyfriend, is it?”

I gulped and he grabbed my arm. I felt more tears daring to fall down my cheeks and the man laughed. “Aw, don’t be scared.”

“Don’t touch her!”, Johnny growled.

“Is the boyfriend jealous?”, the man smirked. Unlike anyone else, he had a disgusting smirk on his face. He laughed and pulled me to where the other people were. Johnny hugged me tightly and never let me go.

“J, hurry up!”, T shouted.

“They’re here. Looks like we’ll have a lot of fun today.”, J replied.

T stopped pointing the gun to the cashier and laughed at the few people who were there. Johnny and I were next to the shelves, an old couple was hugging each other and sitting next to T and a mother was rocking her baby so he would stop crying. I was feeling more terrified than ever.

“Yes it does, J. Yes, it does.”, T smirked.