Vengeance Is a Syn

The group got together for the night and we were all sitting in some of the café’s outside tables. I was sitting next to Brian; Jimmy and Leana –who still hadn’t admitted there was something going on between them two – were sitting by my right; Matt and Val were next to Brian and Zacky, Jason, Emma, Johnny and Lacey were in the opposite chairs from us. Michelle and Matt Berry had gone away for a walk a while ago and said goodbye to us.

The girls were discussing their dresses for tomorrow’s night and the boys were listening to them and giving their opinion sometimes. I could tell that Val was the one who was more excited about the evening, while Zacky was the one with the most bored expression. Brian called for my attention, and when I looked at him he pointed at Zacky, who was supporting his head in his hand and almost falling asleep. I laughed at him and he opened his eyes, looking in our direction. Once he saw us laughing he smiled and rubbed his eyes, sitting properly in his chair.

“Looks like someone’s waking up just now!”, Jimmy laughed, looking at Zacky.

“Were you sleeping?”, Val asked, surprised. “You should be excited about tomorrow!”

“Excited!? Me!?”, he asked, looking at her with wide eyes.

“Yeah! Aren’t you thrilled about taking your girl out?”, she asked, with a smile. That smile usually meant that she’d stop paying attention within the next few seconds and start daydreaming.

Zacky scoffed and took a sip from his drink.

“I think that means he isn’t happy about it…”, Brian chuckled.

“Tomorrow night is going to be such a nightmare…”, he shook his head disapprovingly.

“Don’t worry about it!”, I laughed. “We’re going to be there to save you!”

“Yeah!”, Jimmy laughed. “Cheer up, bro!”

Zacky smiled and Lacey and Val kept talking about their dresses.

Brian wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kissed my temple. I smiled and snuggled closer to him.

“What about you?”, he asked. “You don’t look as excited as the rest of girls.”

“I am.”, I smiled at him. “I’m really looking forward it!”

“She’s just not as noisy about it as the others!”, Jimmy chuckled, earning a slap on his chest by Leana.

“It’s not that!”, I laughed. “I’m really happy about it, I just don’t see why I should be talking about my dress when it’s supposed to be a surprise!”

“Hum… A surprise?”, Zacky asked, smirking.

“Yes. A surprise!”, I smiled.

“She didn’t even tell me how the dress looks like!”, Brian pouted.

“I know how it is!”, Emma sang, teasingly.

“Me too!”, Val laughed.

“You girls are no fun!”, Matt whined, making us laugh.

“Speaking about tomorrow…”, Johnny said. “Have you guys already decided if you want to go somewhere else after, or just go home?”

“We could go somewhere else…”, Jimmy said.

“Yeah, I agree.”, Matt said.

“Well, we won’t go.”, Brian said, looking at me.

“We won’t?”, I asked, looking up at him.

“Yup. I’m going to steal you for the weekend, so you’ll be crashing in my house until Monday.”, he said, making me smile.

“Why didn’t I know about that?”, Matt asked, suspiciously. Overly-protective brother mood: on.

“I didn’t know either, so don’t blame me!”, I said.

“Give them a break, Matt.”, Jimmy helped Brian. “The guy has to enjoy the time he has with the house all for himself!”

“What about throwing a party for us? No?”, Zacky joked.

“Next time, bro.”, Brian smiled. “For now I just want to spend some quality time with my girl.”
I smiled and kissed his cheek.

“Wait, you said he’ll have the house all for himself?”, Leana asked Jimmy.

“Yeah. Well, Brent will be there too.”, Jimmy answered.

“That guy doesn’t sleep home for some days now, I doubt he’ll stay there for these days.”, Brian said.

“Where’s the rest of the people then?”, I asked, confused.

“Oh, my dad’s going on tour, and Suzy’s going with him. And since McKenna is still too young to stay here she’s going with them too.”, Brian explained.

“Oh, that makes sense now!”, I laughed.

“So, is it okay for you, Shadz? Her staying with me?”, Brian asked my brother.

“Yeah, it is.”, Matt smiled, making me roll my eyes.

“Even if it wasn’t okay for you, I would go.”, I said, making him mutter something under his breath about being the older brother and knowing what was right or wrong.

---

“So, we’ll meet later at school?”, I asked Brian when we were out of the sea, after an amazing morning of surfing.

“Unfortunately…”, he pouted, placing his board down on the sand.

“Why so sad?”, I asked, tilting my head to the side.

“Because I’ll only see you in some hours.”, he said, making me smirk.

“And then you’ll have my attention entirely given to you until the weekend is over.”, he smiled.

“That’s good.”, he said, hugging me and pressing his lips against mine.

I sighed and looked at him, with a smile tugging in the corner of my lips.

“I love you, Bri.”

“I love you too, Hay.”, he smiled, pecking my lips.

Suddenly, my phone started ringing, which made both of us groan.

I searched for it in my backpack and smiled triumphantly when I found it. I took it to my ear without even bothering to look at the caller ID.

“Hello!”, I said.

“Hailey, where are you?”, Michelle asked.

“At the beach?”, I answered.

“Where is she?”, I heard Val’s voice in the background.

“At the beach.”, Michelle whispered.

“What!?”, Val asked. “She should be arriving here!”

“Hum… Maybe it’s better if you start getting ready and come here… My sister is kinda freaking out right now…”, Michelle said.

“Why?”, I asked.

“I don’t know, really…”, Michelle sighed. “She woke up with too much enthusiasm today!”, I chuckled.

“But I still have to eat something and take a shower before I can get there…”

“Hey, Val!”, Michelle blocked her phone’s microphone with her hand but I could still listen to what she was saying. “Hailey says she still has to get something to eat and take a shower before she gets here.”

Suddenly, Val took the phone out of Michelle’s hold and started talking.

“You! Hurry up and get here!”, she said. “Emma’s already here!”

“But we only decided to get together by 4!”, I replied, looking at Brian, who was sitting on top of his surfboard, smoking a cigar.

“We need more time to get ready!”, she whined.

“No, you need more time to get ready, I don’t!”, I snapped at her.

“Hailey, come on!”

“No, I’ll be there as soon as I get ready. I won’t be rushing things up just to get there and be ready hours before we have to leave!”

“Then have lunch, get your stuff and come here. You’ll take your shower here!”, she said. I sighed and nodded.

“Okay. But don’t worry about me unless I’m not there after the time we agreed on getting together, okay?”, she scoffed and I laughed at her reaction.

“Whatever you want!”, she said. “I’ll see you later.”

“Later!”, I put the phone back to his place and sat beside Brian.

“What’s up?”, he asked.

“Val’s freaking out with everything, already!”, I said, making him laugh. “We should go get lunch now, and then I have to leave to her house…”

“Oh…”, Brian whined, snaking his arms around my waist and pulling me to sit between his legs.

“I know… But hey, we’ll be together for 48 hours straight then!”, I grinned.

He chuckled and kissed me. We stood up and gathered out stuff, dressed up and left the beach.

After I took the shower in the twins’ house, I dressed some shorts and a t-shirt and towel-dried my hair.

“Hailey!!!”, Lacey called from outside the room.

“Yeah?”, I asked, opening the door and getting out of the bathroom.

“You want some help with your hair?”, she asked.

“Yes, please!”, I smiled.

We went to the bathroom again and she helped me styling my hair, so that it fell into small waves by my shoulders. When we decided it looked perfect, I proceeded to the make-up. I put some eyeliner and some dark lavender eye shadow that matched with the dress and applied some foundation. As soon as I put my things away I heard Val calling my name.

“I’m coming!”, I said.

“Hailey!!”, she shouted.

“Wait a second!”, I shouted back, putting everything in its correct place before getting out of the bathroom again. “What is it!?”, I asked once I reached the bedroom.

She glanced at me and I cocked my eyebrow at her.

“What!?”

“Oh my god!”, she yelled, running in my direction.

“What’s wrong!?”, I asked, concerned.

“Oh god, your make-up!”, she kept yelling.

“What’s wrong with it!?”, I was now yelling with her, wondering why she was reacting that way.

“It’s perfect!”, she yelled.

“Thank you!!”, I yelled back. “But why did you call me!?”

“Oh you have no idea!!!”, she cried.

“Exactly, so you have to tell me what happened!”, I said in a calmer tone of voice, grabbing her shoulders so she would stop jumping up and down.

“I need your help!”, she said. “Help me with the make-up, because I can’t make it match the dress!”, she said, a little bit lower than the other times she’d been talking.

“Okay, but stop yelling!”

“I’m sorry, I’m just overly ecstatic with everything!”, she kept saying.

“I’ve noticed that! Now just take a deep breath and calm down!”, I said and she nodded.

A couple of hours later we were ready to leave. When we arrived at school, Matt and the Berry’s were the only ones who were already there. Matt had chosen a black simple suit that fit him really well and he couldn’t take his eyes off of Val when he looked at her. I admit it, I’d done a hell of a good job with her make-up!

At first we all sat down in some chairs outside and talked. The time was passing and everyone started arriving.

Johnny arrived and left with Lacey, Matt and Val also disappeared and after some time there were only Jimmy, Leana, Jason and Zacky left with me.

“Guys… I know I asked you this before… But do you know where Brian is?”, I asked.

I was starting to get worried with him. Everyone was already there but him. He didn’t answer my calls or texts and I was starting to freak out if I didn’t receive any kind of news from him in the next moments.

“Calm down, Hay.”, Zacky said. “I’m sure he’s just late.”

“Then why doesn’t he answer my calls?”, I asked, looking at my phone again. There were still no notifications.

“Maybe he left his mobile phone home…”, Jimmy suggested.

“If something bad happened I’m sure we’d already know by now!”, Jason said.

“Yeah”, Zacky nodded. “Bad news usually come to us fast.”

“I don’t understand how you can be so calm about this!”, I cried. “If any of you were disappearing like this I’d be freaking out too!”

“I’m sure nothing happened, Hay!”, Jimmy smiled at me.

I still don’t get it how they’re not freaking out! I won’t calm down until I get some news from him.

I heard some footsteps approaching us and quickly turned around in my chair. I frowned when I saw it wasn’t Brian, but Matt, who was joining us again.

“What’s gotten into her?”, he asked Zacky.

“She’s freaking out because Syn didn’t answer her calls.”, Zacky explained.

“He doesn’t say a thing and he’s not here! It’s suspicious!”, I said, looking at them. “Something bad can have happened to him!”

“Nah, he’s probably just late!”, Matt shrugged, sitting by my side.

I grumbled and stood up.

“Where are you going?”, Zacky asked.

“Outside. I’ll try to see if he’s already here.”