Vengeance Is a Syn

“Hey, honey.”, Val said. “Me and the girls are planning on holding pajama party tonight, wanna come?”

“Yeah, sure!”, I smiled.

“Great!”, she cheered. “When the classes end we can all go to my house and start the party!”

“I have to go to my house first and pick my stuff.”, I said as I turned on the water tap and washed my hands.

“Oh, right.”, Val nodded. “But that won’t take long.”

“Yeah. Who’s coming?”, I asked.

“You, Leana, Lacey and Emma.”, Val answered as I cleaned my hands.

“Sounds great!”, I smiled and picked up my backpack.

We left the bathroom and walked to our classroom since the bell was ringing.

It was Friday, so that meant it was the day when we left school later and the day before I’d go out with Brian.

All of the classes seemed to pass pretty fast and by six o’clock I was already packing my things and getting ready to head towards the twins’ house.

I knocked on Matt’s bedroom door and peeked inside. He turned back and smiled at me.
“Hey, Mattie!”, I said in a sweet voice.

“What do you want?”, he asked already knowing I would ask him for a favor.

“Hum… Could you give me a ride to the twins’ house?”, I asked hopefully.

He frowned and I shown him my puppy eyes.

“Come on, don’t you want to be with your girlfriend?”

“I just have to wait for tomorrow to be with her again.”, he shrugged.

“When I get a boyfriend remember me not to choose one like you!”, I scoffed and turned away ready to walk out of his room.

He groaned and stood up from his chair. I smirked because I knew I was close to convince him giving me a ride.

“Wait… Why don’t you call Gates or Jimmy?”, he suggested. “They can give you a ride too.”

“Yeah, and I’m going to make them come out of their houses just to drive me to another one.”, I turned away. “Never mind, I’ll walk.”, I sighed desperately.

“Come on, drama queen.”, Matt groaned once again. “You better be ready already!”

I smiled and kissed his cheek. “Thanks, Mattie! You’re the best brother!”

“Yeah, yeah. You were hating on me a few minutes ago!”, he said pushing me away.

“Ouh, come on Matt. I was fooling you!”, I said seriously. “You know I love you.”

He chuckled and pulled me into a tight hug. “I love you too, Hay.”

“But let’s go, now. I don’t want to keep them waiting for me!”

We walked to Matt’s car and got in. About 7 minutes later he was parking in front of the twins’ house. I got out and knocked on the door, followed by Matt.

Lacey opened it and greeted us.

“Hey, guys!”, she said. “VAL! MATT’S HERE!”

Val appeared quickly and the rest of the girls showed up as well.

“Hey, baby!”, she said as she hugged Matt. “What’re you doing here?”

“Okay, girls. I think it’s better if we leave!”, Emma suggested and we laughed.

We walked to the living room and left the two of them by the door.

“Okay, what are we going to do tonight?”, I asked.

“Oh you know… Watch some movies, talk, get to know the news…”, Leana answered.

“Yeah, something like that!”, Emma agreed.

“Sounds fun!”, I smiled wide and put my bag on the floor.

I dressed my pajamas and put on Brian’s hoodie that I still had since he borrowed it to me on that day. It’s funny how it still smells like him even if he doesn’t wear it for a week. We set everything for the night, picked some movies, made some popcorn and sat on the couch, enjoying the party.

Lacey yawned and stood up from the couch.

“I think I’m gonna go to sleep…”, she said.

“Yeah, me too.”, Michelle nodded.

“Okay, we’ll all go.”, Val said. “I’m going to the beach with Matt on the morning, I can’t be sleepy!”

I laughed and shook my head. “You can sleep on the beach, you idiot!”

“It’s not the same thing!”, she said.

“Well, I think it’s better if you two shut up and get some sleep!”, Lacey mumbled from the couch.

I sighed and raised my arms defensively. “I give up! Good night!”

They all settled on the places they wanted to sleep and I sat on the armchair with my legs crossed. At first I tried to watch some TV but since it couldn’t have any sound - because the girls wanted to sleep - I gave up on it as well. I stood up and walked to the kitchen to drink a glass of water.

When I returned to the living room, I picked up my phone and saw it had an event on the calendar: date with Brian.

I smiled and put my phone on the coffee table. I heard someone clearing her throat and looked at the place where the sound had come from.

“What?”, I moved my lips.

“Who was that on the phone?”, Val whispered.

“Oh, no one.”, I whispered back.

She narrowed her eyes at me and grabbed my phone. I stood up and tried to take it off her hands but she started running towards her bedroom.

“What the fuck, Val? Give me the fucking phone!”, I growled taking it off her hold.

“Whoa, calm down!”, she said surprised.

“I-… Sorry!”, I mumbled. “Just… Don’t do that again, okay?”

She sat on the bed and nodded.

“You could at least tell me what’s happening…”

I sighed and sat next to her. “I don’t really have a choice, do I?”

She laughed and shook her head. “No. I’m your friend, you’ve gotta tell me things!”

“Fine… It was an event I put on my phone…”

“What’s so surprising about that?”

“It’s… Hum… You know, I’m going out with Brian… Like… On a date.”

“A date like a real date?”, she squealed.

“Yeah… A date-date.”, I nodded.

“Oh my god, you two are going out together!”, she sang jumping up and down.

“Calm down, you don’t want to wake them up, do you?”

“But finally, Hailey!”, Val sighed.

“Shut up!”, I giggled. “You talk as if it wasn’t the same thing with you and Matt!”

“That doesn’t matter!”, she smirked. “Just so you know, you’ve gotta tell me everything that happens tomorrow.”

I laughed and nodded my head. “Now let’s go back to sleep.”

“Okay, but I’m really mad at you!”, she crossed her arms against her chest. “You only told me you were going out with him today!”

I chuckled and shook my head. “I’m sorry, okay? I just didn’t want to jinx it by talking about it before it happened…”

She laughed and I looked at her confused. “You’re not normal at all, are you?”

I chuckled and stood up. She smiled and we returned to the living room where the girls were still sleeping.



“Wake up, sleepyhead!”, Emma shouted at my ear.

“Fuck off, dude!”, I mumbled hiding under the covers.

“It’s already 10, Hay!”, Michelle said. “We’ve gotta get going!”

“I need to sleep, for god’s sake!”, I groaned.

“You sleep on the beach. Now move your ass!”, Emma said.

“Are we going to the beach? I don’t have a bikini.”

“Shut up. We took your clothes from your backpack and got a bikini for you!”, Lacey said.

“What the fuck?”, I raised my head to look at them suspiciously.

“Don’t complain! Dress up!”, Emma said pushing me so I’d stand up.

“And you better not argue with us!”, Leana added. “We have a lot of work to do today, with clothes and make-up and making you look even more pretty for your date with Brian!”, she sang the last part.

“I’m going to fucking kill you, Val!”, I grumbled walking furiously in Val’s direction. “I can’t tell you anything that you spread it to the world!”

“Hey! I only did that now!”, Val excused herself. “And you know you’ll like our help!”

“Yeah, with our help you’re gonna make that poor boy fall to his knees!”, Emma chuckled.
“I fucking hate you all.”, I said. “All of you!”

They laughed and I walked to the bathroom so I could dress up and leave for the beach – that way I could sleep a little more.

“Good morning, good morning!”, I said as we arrived. I hugged Jimmy, Matt and Zacky and set my towel on the sand. I plopped down on it, laying on my belly and with my face buried in it.

“Wooo, so much enthusiasm!”, Jimmy chuckled. “What did you girls do to her?”

The girls looked at each other and giggled.

“We did nothing.”, Emma explained. “Hailey is just a lazy ass who only wants to sleep!”

“Don’t you talk about my baby sister like that!”, Jimmy said making me chuckle.

“Thanks, Jimmy!”, I smiled as I hugged him.

The girls sighed and sat down in the sand next to me.

I lied down again and closed my eyes but soon I felt someone lying on top of me. I opened my eyes and looked up, smiling as Brian grinned at me.

“Good morning!”, I said happily.

“Morning!”, he lazily smiled and rested his head on my back.

“Are you seriously going to stay like that for the rest of the morning?”

“Uhm-uhm.”, he nodded against my back.

“Don’t tease her today, Syn!”, Zacky chuckled. “She’s dangerous!”

“Shut up, Baker!”, I laughed.

“Oh, yeah? What happened?”, Brian asked, supporting himself with his hands and looking at me and Zacky – who was lying right next to me.

“Nothing.”, I giggled. “Those girls are just annoying as fuck!”

Brian eyed them curiously and glared at Zacky who just burst into laughing.

“Come on, dude. Baseball practice!”, Zacky stood up after trying to contain his laughter.

“Oh, yeah. I nearly forgot it!”, Brian said.

I leaned up and pecked his cheek, which only made him smirk.

“I’ll see you later.”, he blinked an eye at me and left with Zack.

“And we’re going too, Hailey darling.”, Leana added. “Hop, hop. Let’s go!”

“I seriously hope you’re taking me to a restaurant! I haven’t eaten anything since I woke up, thanks to you.”

“We were planning on finding somewhere to eat on the strip, so you’re lucky!”, Michelle grinned.

“Okay, let’s go then!”

“Matt, sweetie, you coming?”, Michelle asked Matt.

“What about you, Shadz?”, I asked my brother.

“Come all of you! “, Lacey said.

We walked until we found a good place to eat and left the place at 2p.m.

“Hailey!”, Matt called.

“’Sup?”, I asked.

“We’re going home.”, he said pointing at Jimmy. “Want to come with us?”

“No, we’ll have to walk there…”, I sighed.

“Why?”, he asked, seeming genuinely confused.

“Because the girls also want to come and there’s not enough space on your car for all of us.”, I chuckled.

“Oh, okay. Then I’ll see you later.”

“Bye.”, I smiled.

“Let’s start walking?”, I asked as I approached Val.

“Yeah, yeah! Michelle, Leana! Let’s go!”

15 minutes later we were already by the front door. I opened it and we headed towards my room, where they all sat on my bed.

“Go take a shower, girl! We’ll be waiting for you here!”, Emma said.

“Huh?”, I asked confused.

Val sighed and Lacey explained. “We’re going to help you getting ready for your date. But you need to take a shower first!”

“Riiiiiight.”, I nodded. “Do I really need to?”

“YES!”, Leana sighed deeply and dragged me to the bathroom.

“Kill me now!”, I shouted from the inside of the bathroom.

“Oh, shut up, drama queen!”

I took the shower and decided I wouldn’t fight with them anymore because it would be impossible for them to let me decide what to wear by myself. I got out and they had everything already set.

“Did you rummage my room to find all those things?”

“Yes, but it’s gonna be worth it, honey!”, Val said.

“Now sit. We got this!”, Emma said.

I sat down on my desk’s chair and let them do their job. Emma did my hair, Leana my nails, Lacey and Val decided which clothes I’d wear and Michelle applied some sort of lotion on my face, arms and legs.

“Here, now dress this.”, Val said.

I bit my lip and put on what they gave me.

I looked at the mirror and actually liked what they did to me. My hair was straightened and it had two small braids on each side that met on the back of my head and the dress clung on the right places.

I smiled and hugged them.

“Thanks girls. I’m sorry for being so bitchy before…”, I admitted. “Is this really me?”

“Yes, you are, sweety!”, Val said.

“You’re beautiful!”, Emma smiled.

“What time is it!?”, Leana said.

“7:15! Brian’s almost arriving!”, Michelle answered.

“Good luck, girl!”, Leana said.

“Thanks!”, I grinned.

I left the room and when I was passing through the corridor Zacky came out of the kitchen.
He whistled and I blushed a little.

“Damn, who’s taking you out!?”, he asked.

“Doesn’t matter!”, I answered smiling.

“That lucky bastard!”, he said making me laugh. “I wanna know the details tomorrow!”

“Jeeezz, you look like the Val right now!”, I giggled. “Why are you here?”

“Practice ended and I came here.”, he shrugged.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang and I rushed to it, but Matt opened it before I could do it.

“Hey, dude!”, they greeted each other.

“Haile-…”

“I’m here!”, I cut Matt’s speech.

“Bring her home safely.”, Matt said seriously. “Have fun.”, he smiled at me.

I smiled back and Brian led me out of the house.

“You look amazing, you know that?”, he said.

“Thanks!”, I smiled sheepishly. “You look great too!”

He opened the car’s door and I got inside. He rushed to the other side, got in and started driving.

---

“Table for two?”, the waitress asked as we entered the restaurant.

“Yes, please.”, Brian nodded.

He put his hand on my lower back and led me to the table where the waitress was waiting with the menus.

We both sat on the table and I looked around. It was a really nice restaurant, with a cozy atmosphere and definitely a place where you wouldn’t find Brian in any other day.

“Bri, you didn’t need to choose this place…”, I said looking him in the eyes.

“But I did.”, he smiled. “Don’t you like it?”

“That’s exactly the problem! I like it to much!”, I said making him chuckle.

He held my hand and kissed it softly, keeping the hold in it as he opened the menu to pick his food. I did the same with my free hand.

“We were really lucky to have this table free of people.”, I said looking through the window. It was right in front of the beach and you could see the vast ocean and its waves breaking on the rocks.

Brian chuckled and I eyed him curiously.

“The table wasn’t free of people, Hay. I rented it.”

“B-but… How?”

“Sometimes it pays to have the same name as my father!”

“I’m so not used to this!”, I said making him chuckle.

“Can I take your orders now?”, the waitress asked after a while.

“Yes. I want the…”, Brian said looking down at the menu. “… the spaghetti Bolognese.”

“What about you, miss?”

“I think I’ll go for the lasagna.”

“Okay. I’ll bring them to you in some minutes.”, he said before leaving.

We spent the whole dinner talking and laughing. It’s surprising how naturally the conversation flows between the two of us. Two hours later with lots of talking and silences that were never uncomfortable or awkward we finished dinning. It’s like I’m a different person next to him.

Brian held his credit card to the employee but I grabbed his arm.

“Wait, we’ll split the bill.”, I said.

“No, we won’t. I pay.”, he said nodding at him.

“I won’t let you pay this whole dinner!”, I said. “I’m not comfortable with that!”

“Shh!”, he said holding my hand and rubbing circles with his thumb. “I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable with it, Hay… But I want to pay our first date.”

I smiled and shook my head. “You guys are so proud.”

He chuckled and we stood up. The waitress returned him his card and we left the restaurant.
“What shall we do next?”, I asked.

“Let’s go to that fair next to the park, does it sound good?”, Brian suggested. I was crazy about fairs, all those little games and amusements, so I’d obviously find that a good idea.
“Yes!”, I smiled. “Let’s go, let’s go!”

Brian chuckled and we walked hand in hand there.

We played those little games and laughed a lot at the things we saw. We stopped to watch the man who was spitting fire; the ones who were dancing; some that were doing gymnastics… It was being an awesome evening, and including the fact that I was next to Brian the whole time, holding his hand, I was definitely going to remember it in the future!

“Come girls and boys!”, a man announced. “Pop three balloons and you can win any of these prizes!”

Everyone gathered around the little stand and tried to pop the three balloons. They threw the darts but most of them could only explode one balloon.

“What a bunch of pussies!”, Brian chuckled. “I’m gonna burst those balloons at the first try!”

I laughed and we walked to the front of the stand. Brian reached for his pocket and paid the dollar to the man so he could try.

He grabbed one of the darts and threw it. *Plop*

“One balloon! Very good!”, the man announced. “Two down! Can you hit the third? Can you?”

“Of course I can!”, Brian laughed. He grabbed the dart but it hit right next to the balloon.

“Ouh, bad luck!”, the man said. “Try again, young man!”

Brian paid again and hit the first two balloons again.

“You’re gonna hit the third, don’t worry!”, I smiled at him.

“Pop the last balloon and win a prize to offer it to the girl you like!”, the man said smiling at me. I smiled back and blushed.

“I surely will!”, Brian mumbled and threw the dart. *Plop*

“Congratulations, young man! You were the first one to hit the three balloons!”, the man cheered. He picked a rasta man plush and gave it to Brian, who laughed.

“Yay! You hit the three balloons!”, I sang happily as we left the booth.

He chuckled and nodded. “Yeah! And I won this Bob Marley!”

“What are you going to do with it?”, I asked, laughing.

“I don’t know. I think I’ll do what the man suggested and give it to the girl I like.”, he said looking at it.

I nodded and looked down. He turned to me and raised my chin with his fingers. “Hey, what happened?”

Nothing, nothing at all! “Hum? Nothing happened!”, I chuckled.

“Anyways, here, it’s for you!”, he said as he handed me the ‘Bob Marley’. A huge smile went to my face and I felt my cheeks burning, which meant they should be really red. Way to go, Hailey!

I was cut by my mobile phone ringing. I picked it up and opened the message.

‘You still didn’t tell me who’s taking you out! I want you to spit those details out soon! :P’
I laughed and shook my head. Zacky’s definitely someone else!

“Who’s that?”, Brian asked trying to peek on my phone.

“It’s just Zacky.”, I answered.

Brian’s smile fell and he looked up at me. “You wanna get back to him?”

“No, of cour-…”

“After what he did to you, you’re getting back to him!?”

“No, I’m not!”, I raised my voice so he would hear me, but he just laughed sarcastically. Why was he acting like this now!? He was a complete sweetheart seconds ago… “You know what? I’m going home!”

“Sorry if I don’t want you to hurt yourself again!”

“Argh! You’re an asshole!”, I said not really meaning it. “I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I ha-…”

Brian gave two giant steps in my direction and cupped my face, crashing his lips with mines and cutting what I was saying. At first I didn’t really realize what was happening. I was just standing there motionless, trying to figure out what he was doing. Then I became conscious that he was kissing me. I finally had his lips pressed with mines. His thin but yet so freaking kissable lips were finally kissing me. After a while I started responding by wrapping my arms around his neck and his hand that wasn’t caressing my cheek travelled to my waist, keeping me close to him.

We pulled away smiling but his lips stayed close. None of us moved, his arms wrapped around my waist. We just stood there looking at each other and smiling.

“Why did you do that!?”, I tried to look serious but I couldn’t help the grin that was plastered all over my face.

“Because I like you!”, he smiled. “And I’ll do it again…”, he said and pecked my lips. “And again… And again…”

“Stop it!”, I laughed.

“Why?”, he pouted.

“Because I told you so.”, I said as I stood on my tip toes and kissed him softly.

“So I can’t kiss you but you can kiss me!?”, he asked playfully. I bit my lip and nodded, and he started tickling me. “That’s not fair!”

I started laughing and pushing him away. “Stop it!”

He wrapped his arms tightly around my waist so I couldn’t move and smirked. He bent down and kissed me again, this time the kiss lasting longer. Oh god, can I kiss him forever?
“We should probably go home…”, I muttered when he pulled away.

“I know… But I don’t feel like leaving you…”

“You’re too sweet, you know?”, I smiled, looking at him. He held my hand and we walked to his car.

When we arrived at my house he accompanied me to the front door and before I opened it I turned around.

“I… I guess I’ll see you tomorrow… right?”, I asked.

“Yeah. I can come and pick you up after lunch.”, Brian answered.

“Okay…”, I smiled. We stood there awkwardly for some time before I grabbed my keys.

“Do I get a goodbye kiss?”, I asked and bit my lip, waiting for his response.

He approached and put his hands on my hips, pushing me closer to him. He pretended he was thinking. “I don’t know if you deserve it…”

I giggled and he gave me a long, sweet kiss, asking for permission to deepen it some moments later.

We broke the kiss panting and he chuckled.

“You can’t keep kissing me like that!”, I giggled, making him smirk.

He kissed the corner of my mouth and slapped my ass. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I opened the door and entered my house. Once inside I couldn’t help but let the happiness come out of my body as I started to squeak and smile like a mad person.

“Hailey?”, Matt said.

“Oh, Mattie…”, I said as I climbed the stairs. “I think I’m falling in love!”