This Is Bonkers

I went to school the next day, despite Mary trying to keep me home. No one really noticed my cast, since it fit pretty well under my blazer and I kinda tried to keep it hidden. I didnt have PE everyday, so I wouldnt have to worry about it too often, but the cast would probably be seen eventually.
Mary also insisted on picking me up from school, even though she'd have to cut work. But I told her I was fine, and walked home as per usual.
I was opening the door to my house, unlocked as usual, when I got a text. I stepped into the house and dropped my schoolbag, which was only another tote bag. I stepped out of my shoes, and then I checked my text. It was from Sam.
"Comin down to the studio?"
"Should I?" I texted back quickly, leaning against the kitchen counter.
"You should."
"Alright, I'll see you in a little while then."
I headed upstairs to change out of my school uniform. Realizing it didnt matter if I wore clothes to dance in or not, I decided to wear a regular outfit. I got my very tight blue jeans with the rips, and my grey midriff t-shirt, which only showed a couple of inches of my stomache. I also wore a hot pink bando since my shirt was a v-neck. My hair was somewhat straight today, resulting in nice smooth waves. I grabbed Sam's hat off my dresser and put it on, tilting the rim back so it stuck up.
When I went downstairs, I slipped my LovePastry shoes on and grabbed what I might need that day and stuffed it in my tote bag. I grabbed my tote bag and walked out the door and down the path to DanceWorks that I'd become very familiar with.
When I turned the corner, I saw Sam outside the studio, playing with his phone. Deciding to stay where I was and text him, I quickly typed a message.
"I see you." I texted.
I stood where I was and observed him until he got the message. He read it, and looked up, attempting to find me. He smiled when he finally saw me, and started typing a reply.
"Get over here, you div." it said.
I laughed. Seemed Sam's new favourite word was 'div'. Well, he enjoyed calling me that atleast. I walked down towards him, stashing my phone in my bag.
"Hi." I greeted.
"Heyy. How's your wrist?" He asked, opening the door.
"Ehh, it's fine." I said, stepping inside as he indicated. "Cast's a little itchy, but I'll get used to it."
"Get any sympathy at school?" He asked, opening the actual studio door.
"Not really, it's kinda hidden under my blazer. But I dont think anyone would care anyway. Hello boys." I said once I was in the studio room.
"Hi Hannah!"
"Hi Pel." I said, as the enthusiastic boy walked over to me.
"I wasnt sure if you were coming down today or not."
"Neither was I." I said, taking my phone out of my bag and throwing the bag against the wall. "I probably wont stick around too long, not like I can do anything."
"You can do house." Perri pointed out.
"I think if I do any dance right now, Mary'll kill me. She doesnt even know I'm here right now." I laughed.
"So you're just gunna sit and be boring?"
"We'll see." I said.
"Is that Sam's hat?" Perri noticed.
"Yes." I smiled. "I took it from him on Sunday, and he told me to keep it yesterday. For now atleast."
Mitchell walked up, probably to talk to Perri, and I swear he looked me up and down.
"Hi Mitch." I smiled.
"Hey, Haz." he said. Perri made a face, as this was probably the first time he'd heard my nickname. "Pel, we're supposed to be doing combos."
"Right, right. Do you wanna watch Hannah?" Perri asked.
"Sure, I'd love to." I followed them over to the mat, where they jumped on.
Dissapointedly, I sat on the floor cross legged, my arms supporting me although I was careful of my wrist.
"Mi-itch." I said, stretching out his name.
He landed a back tuck and looked at me expectantly.
"Yes, Haz?"
"Do you have my shirt?" I asked, remembering I hadnt gotten it back yesterday.
Once again, Perri made a confused face. First I had given Mitch his jumper yesterday, now I was asking for my shirt back. He was probably wondering exactly what kind of relationship Mitch and I had.
"I think Sam's got it." he said.
"K." I stood up, ready to find Sam.
Not that it'd be that hard, the studio's not very big.
I spotted him pretty quickly, sitting against the mirror where he and I had been yesterday, and the other day with Mitch.
"Yo." I said, plunking down beside him. "Have you got my shirt?"
"Isnt that your shirt?" He joked, pointing to the shirt I was wearing.
"You know what I mean, the shirt I left at your place on Sunday." I said.
"Woah! You left your shirt at his place? What was happening on Sunday?" Ike asked, looking down at us.
"Woahh." I said. "Dont start assuming things."
"We went minigolfing, and then there were these things called bumper boats." Sam started.
"And we all got soaked. And then Mitch gave me his shirt to wear cuz I was drenched and freezing. And then I suggested we go to the mall." I continued.
"And we wanted to change before we went, so we took Hannah to our house."
"And I didnt wanna wear Mitch's button-up cuz I looked stupid in it. So I borrowed his jumper and left my shirt there since I didnt wanna carry around a soaking shirt with me all day." I finished.
"You guys just finished eachother's sentences. That's kinda creepy." Ike said.
"Nahh. We're just good friends." I smiled. "Now gimme my shirt Samuel. I quite like it, and I want it back."
Ike walked away, leaving us to the stupid conversations we had.
"What if I gave it to Ellie?" He asked, a cheeky smile on his face.
"I dont think she likes me." I said, remembering when we'd first met.
"Well, she did meet you for the first time just randomly in our kitchen wearing Mitchell's shirt. That's a bit of an odd first meeting."
"I didnt choose when to meet her." I said back.
"Oh, so you're gunna blame this on me then, hmm?" He said, mock-fighting with me.
"You did take me to your house to change."
"You didnt have to come in." He pointed out.
Not entirely able to think of a witty retort, I opened my mouth before closing it again in defeat.
"I win." He smiled.
"Yeah, yeah. You win. Can I have my shirt?" I asked.
"It's actually sitting over there on top of your bag." he said, pointing to where I'd left my bag.
I blinked, seeing what he'd said was true. I wondered how I hadnt noticed it earlier when I was looking for him.
"Well." I said quietly. "I'm going back over to them then." I pointed to the two boys still practicing combos. "And you should start dancing, didnt important rehearsals start?" I asked, getting to my feet.
"Yeah, yeah. Stop nagging me." he said, standing up.
He gave me a gentle push towards the tumbling mat, and walked over to Jordan to practice some routine.
"Jeeze. I'm so bored." I whined. I slipped out of my shoes and hopped onto the tumbling mat, not caring that my wrist was broken and if I made it worse Mary would kill me. "I love you guys an' all. But there's really not much I can do when I have a broken wrist and you guys are doing important rehearsals."
"You can technically still do tucks and stuff." Perri said.
"She probably shouldnt be on the mat at all." Mitch said.
I sat there for a second, dumbfounded as to why Mitchell was being the sensible one. But then I remembered he blamed himself for my broken wrist, and that was probably why, he wanted to make sure I didnt get hurt more.
"I'm fine." I said. "But I wont be doing any tucks, Pel."
"Yo, Haz." I turned to the voice calling me, which belonged to Sam.
It was pretty obvious, since only he and Mitch called me Haz. And I loved that.
"What?"
"C'mere. I've got something to tell you."
I laughed a little. That sounded odd. Ike had already thought there was something going on between us, I'd hate to see where the rumours could go.
I jumped off the mat and slipped into my shoes before jogging over to him.
"What's up?" I asked, looking up at him.
"It's a secret." he said.
"So tell me." I winked.
Suddenly he grabbed my right wrist and pulled me into the entrance room of Diversity. When we stopped abruptly, I stumbled into him a little. A small blush appeared on my cheeks, but he made no deal out of it.
"Alright, what is it?" I asked, noticing he was still holding my wrist.
He leaned towards me a little, and my face heated up a little more. He was whispering his secret into my ear.
"I've got a girlfriend." He whispered.
I was a little shocked to hear that. Not that I was expecting something weird or romantic, but I just wasnt expecting that.
"Well who?" I asked as he pulled away from me, dropping my wrist.
"I dunno if I should say, we're not exactly public yet."
"Tell me. You cant tell me you have a girlfriend and not say who. C'mon, we're like, bestfriends." I blurted out before realizing calling us best friends sounded a little pushy, as it'd never been decided.
"True. But I'm not sure."
He agreed. Guess that means we really are best friends.
"C'monnn." I whined, giving him my best puppy-dog pout face.
He blinked, trying to resist my pout. But after a few seconds, he cracked.
"Alright, alright. I'll tell you. Stop the face."
"Yay!" I said, returning to a normal smile.
"Ohk, so I'm dating . . ." He said, trailing off and being suspenseful. It reminded me of Ant and Dec's long pauses on Britain's Got Talent. "Jade. From Little Mix."
"You're what?!" I squealed.
I was a fan of Little Mix, and Jade was even my favourite member.
"Dont be so loud, you div."
There was that word he loved so much.
"I cant believe it. I love Little Mix."
"Didnt you know Jordan's dating Jesy?" He asked.
"I dont know." I said, making a thinking face.
"How do you not know?" He laughed.
"I just dont okay?" I laughed too. "Now let's go back into the studio before they start asking questions."
Sam nodded his head in agreement, and we stepped back into the studio. We got a couple weird looks, but we shook them off.
I clicked the off button on my phone, since it actually worked to turn it on too, and checked the time. It was only about four fourty-five. I was usually at the studio until six. But I wasnt sure if I'd stay that long today, since I couldnt actually do anything.
"What's up?" Perri asked as I walked back over to the tumbling mat.
"Oh, not much." I said.
"I meant with Sam."
"I know. Not much." I said, trying to keep the whole Sam and Jade thing under wraps.
"What exactly is your relationship with Sam?" Perri asked.
"Dude." I laughed. "We're just friends."
"Friends. . . with benefits?" He asked, although I think he was joking.
"Gross, Pel. That's my brother you're talking about." Mitch said.
"What's wrong, Mitch? You jealous?" Perri asked, a cheeky twinkle in his eye.
"No. He's just like, six years older than her."
"So you guys are the same age then?" Perri asked.
"Mitch is a few months older than me." I said. "But yeah, pretty much."
"I see." Perri said. And for some reason I had a weird feeling he was plotting something.
I started to wonder if not even Mitch knew Sam had a girlfriend, or if he was only trying to keep it quiet like I was.
"So, how many people in Diversity think there's something going on with Sam and I?" I asked.
"Has it come up before?" Perri asked.
"Well, Ike asked about it earlier. When I asked Sam for my shirt back. He started to make assumptions as to why my shirt was at his house."
"And why was it?" Perri asked.
"Jeeze. Do I have to explain the whole thing again?" I sighed. "Sam, Mitch and I went minigolfing, and they had bumper boats. So we did bumperboats. And we got really wet. And I was freezing." I said, not bothering to make my sentences sound interesting since I just wanted to get my point across. "So Mitch offered me his button up to wear. Then I suggested we went to the mall, and the boys wanted to change first so we stopped by their house. I asked to borrow something other than the button up, since it looked terrible on me, and Mitch gave me his jumper. Which is why I had it yesterday. So I borrowed that, and left my shirt at their house since I didnt wanna carry around a soaking shirt all day."
"Is that true?" Perri asked, looking at Mitchell.
"Yes." he said simply.
I sighed.
"I wonder if any Diversity fans think we're together too?"
"I dont know, rumours can start really fast when you're famous." Perri said.
"Do you consider yourselves famous?" I asked.
"Not really, but I think most of the UK does." He said.
"You guys've been featured in magazines, right?"
"Sometimes." Perri said, idly bouncing since the two werent doing anything.
"Then I think you count as famous." I smiled. "And I'm distracting you two, get working on your combos, k?" I said, giving a quick wink before walking away from the mat again.
I was off to find Sam, I had questions to ask him. This time when I looked around, he was no where to be seen. I saw eight boys, and the two on the mat made ten. That meant only Sam was missing.
"Ash, where's Sam?" I asked, since he was currently closest to me.
"Upstairs." He said, not flinching in his choreography.
"Thankyou." I said, heading for the stairs and up them.
"Hey, Haz." Sam said, sitting on the little black couch.
Being up here, and sitting next to Sam on the small couch brought back a few memories. It wasnt like they were memories from forever ago, but they felt like a long tme ago.
I had sat here, the first day I'd met Diversity. Ashley was sitting at his computer, and Sam had gone downstairs to give me the chance to calm down. It was about a week ago, but it felt so much longer. It was hard to believe I'd become such good friends with these boys in only a week.
"I've got a couple questions." I said.
"Shoot."
"Who else knows?" I asked, not bothering to specify since I figured he'd know what I meant.
"Mitch."
"Just Mitch?" I asked, a little shocked.
"And Jordan. Since he sorta set us up. But I'll probably tell the boys soon."
"Alright. And, are you sure I should be wearing your hat? Isnt that kind of a boyfriend-girlfriend thing?" I asked, even though I didnt want to give him his hat back.
"Mm, sort of. But you can keep the hat, I dont mind. She's not gunna mind."
"Are you aware Perri also thought there was something going on between us? You might wanna go public like, soon." I said.
"You said a couple questions Haz, not a full on quiz. No, I didnt know. And, we can deal with that. It's just Perri."
"Are you sure, I wouldnt be surprised if we end up in a magazine, we have been seen around town a couple times now."
"Why would I bring my younger brother on a date? Third wheeler much?" Sam said, making a good point.
"Good point. And, I guess this is my last question," I paused, trying to work up the courage even though it was a simple question. "Can I meet her?" I asked, a little more quietly.
Before he had the chance to say anything, I gave him my pouty face, just to ensure the answer. I knew I was being sort of selfish, but I wanted to meet Jade.
"Dont give me that face, I was already going to say yes."
"Really?" I asked, a little unbelieving.
"'Course. I dont know when, but we can totally set something up. We're like, best friends Haz."
Hearing him flat out say we were best friends, felt pretty awesome.
"Yay!" I said, giving him a small hug but being careful not to hit him in the face with my cast or anything.
Some people thought it was weird that I always hugged people the so called 'romantic' way. I always wrapped my arms around their neck, and they would obviously wrap theirs around my waist. As long as I was tall enough to reach around their neck, that's how I'd hug them. I hated that weird hug where one arm is around their neck and one is around their waist. And I thought it looked weird if I wrapped my arms around a guy's waist. But I hugged girls the same way too.
"And this is why the boys think we're together." Sam said, despite hugging me tight.
"Pfft." I said, unwrapping my arms and sitting back. "I hug everyone like that. I like hugs. And I cant help it if I'm naturally flirty. So are you, Samuel."
It was true, I flirted pretty naturally. I mean, I dont literally flirt with everyone, but if I'm friends with a guy, and he's pretty attractive, I just kinda flirted without thinking about it. I didnt flirt super obviously, as I would never since I thought it was creepy. But I definitely flirted. It didnt matter if Sam was six years older than me, we were best friends, and I flirted. And he couldnt deny that he flirted too.
"I cant deny that." He said after awhile.
"See?" I asked.
I clicked the button on my phone again, checking the time. It was about five twenty by now.
"Should I stay until six? I havent got much to do." I asked, unsure if it was worth it to stay.
"If you do stay, we'll take you out for dinner after." Sam said, giving a small wink.
"Oh really?" I asked. "Where to?"
"Nandos." He said a little sheepishly.
"Well," I laughed. "I'm up for it. But now I've got to waste another fourty minutes."
"Go dance with Pel. Get 'im to teach you a house routine."
"And why arent you dancing?" I asked.
"I was going to nap, but I was rudely interrupted." He joked. "But I'm going down now."
"Alright." I said, running down the stairs.
I ran up to the mat, and jumped onto it carefully.
"Mitch, Sam offered to take me to Nandos with you two tonight, is that alright?"
"Yeah." he agreed simply.
"Okay. Perri, I've got nothing to do, teach me a house routine?" I asked.
"In those jeans?"
"I'll manage." I said, hopping back off the mat.
"Alright."
Within the next fourty minutes, the entire routine had been broken down for me and I was pretty good at it. It didnt take me very long to learn it, but we stuck to polishing the same routine since I couldnt do much else in these jeans. For the last ten minutes before it'd be time to leave, I asked to work on a tutting routine. Perri agreed, and we ran through one of the routines I'd been taught quickly.
"Haz." Sam called. "It's time to go!"
"Alright." I said, running over to grab my bag and stuffing my shirt into it.
"Have fun you two." Ike called. He was staying a little late with Ashley for extra work.
"And Mitch." I said. "That makes three. And we're just friends." I called back as we stepped into the entrance room. Once it was just us three, stepping onto the streets, I spoke up. "Go public. Like, now."
"She knows?" Mitch asked as we walked towards Sam's car, down the street again.
"Yeah, I told her earlier when I called her over and then we went into the entrance room. And we'll go public in time."
"People think we're together." I said. I was cold, but I was sticking towards Mitch more than Sam, since he had a girlfriend.
"Then why dont you just get a boyfriend?" he winked.
"Why would I get a boyfriend to prove we're not together when you already have a girlfriend?" I asked.
"She's got a point." Mitch said.
"Yeah, see?" I said as we reached the car and all got in.
"Maybe I shouldn't've told you. I have a feeling you're going to expose us." Sam said, starting the car and pulling away from the curb.
"You know I wouldnt do that." I said.
"The boys are just being annoying anyway. Chances are, they dont actually think we're together."
"Yeah that's true. Boys'll be boys."
"Perri's always annoying." Mitch said.
"That's kind." I laughed.
I knew Mitch and Perri were friends, they just had that sort of relationship where they insulted eachother a lot.
Most of the drive to Nandos was quiet. I mostly spent it observing my cast and reading the messages written on it. I loved most of the messages, especially Sam's. But I honestly didnt really like Mitchell's. It annoyed me that he blamed himself for this.
"We've arrived." Sam announced as the car stopped.
I opened my door, prepared for the cold. The boys followed, and we stepped into Nandos.
"I'm gunna have a caesar salad again."
"Alright, that's you outta the way. Now we gotta decide what we want. Go sit."
"Jeeze, okay Sam." I said before turning from the counter and finding a table to sit at.
Last time we were here, I had barely known these two. I had poisoned Sam's drink, he drank all of mine, and I had had a little of Mitchell's. I had sat alone on my side, with Sam across from me and Mitch on his left.
I remembered I had never told Mary where I was, and she would probably be home soon. She would worry, and so I decided to text her.
"Hey Mar, I went down to the studio today. Sorry I didnt tell you before, we're at Nandos now. I'll be home after dinner." I sent just as the boys sat down with all our food and drinks. They had even carried mine over.
"Is this special treatment since my wrist is broken?" I asked, taking my salad and drink from them.
"Maybe." Mitch said.
"It's not necessary." I said. "But thankyou."
I was determined to make Mitch realize this wasnt his fault before I got this cast off. I had about four weeks to do it, although I probably wouldnt see them everyday like I had been.
"So, since my wrist is broken and you guys're doing important rehearsals and crap, how often should I go down to the studio, or whatever, to see you guys?" I asked, munching my salad but being careful not to talk with my mouth full.
"I dont know. Two, three times a week?" Sam suggested.
"Ugh. I'm gunna have nothing to do the other four days of the week." I said.
"Get a job, practice your routines at home, make a friend, get a boyfriend, learn an instrument, take up a sport. That last one might not work with a broken wrist." Sam said, giving me a semi-sarcastic list of ideas.
"Will you lay off telling me to get a boyfriend?" I asked, despite laughing.
"I dont know. You seem lonely." he joked.
"I have two amazing guyfriends, I dont need a boyfriend."
"And who might they be?" Sam asked, looking cocky.
"Ashley and Jordan." I winked. "No, seriously. It's you two obviously."
"Pfft. Of course it's us, we're awesome. Well I am atleast." Sam said.
"Dont listen to him. I'm better." Mitch said.
"So just to be sure, who else in Diversity's got a girlfriend?" I asked.
"Taking up my suggestion to get a boyfriend?" Sam joked. "Me an' Jade. Jordan an' Jesy. Ash an' Francesca. Everyone else is single and ready to mingle." He said, giving me a joking wink.
"I forgot Ashley is dating Francesca. From Out Of The Shadows, right?"
"So you can remember that, but you dont know if you knew Jordan's dating Jesy." he made a face, not entirely sure if his sentence made sense.
"What." Mitch said.
"Yeah, I hardly understood that either. And I know what he's talking about." I laughed.
"Sorry, there was no better way to say it." Sam said.
"Why do you guys always make me sit alone?" I asked.
I sat alone on one side, with Sam across from me and Mitch on his right this time.
"It's just how it works. We're brothers, we kinda naturally sit next to eachother." Sam said, sipping his drink.
"Well stop it, I need love too." I joked.
Mitch pushed his food across the table and stood up from his chair. He walked around the table to my side of it, and sat on my left.
"Better?" he asked.
"Yeah." I said, a little surprised Mitch had switched sides. "I'm tired." I sighed.
"Why?" Mitch asked.
"Well, I never sleep particularly well as I'm more awake at night, but my cast is a little uncomfortable to sleep with too."
"Sorry."
"Stop. It's not your fault. Seriously, Mitch." I said.
He continued to eat in silence. He still felt bad about my wrist, and he wouldnt stop until I got the cast off.
We ate mostly in a content silence. We all finished our food around the same time, and now we were heading to Sam's car.
I stepped into his car on the driver's side as always, and buckled myself in while the boys got in their regular seats.
We drove home fairly silently, since I was feeling too tired to start a conversation.
"Home sweet home." Sam said as he pulled into my driveway.
"Thankyou Sam."
"Text me if you're going down to the studio tomorrow, or if you're not." he said.
"Alright, bye Sam. Bye Mitch." I said, getting out of the car and closing the door.
I went into my house, greeted Mary, went up to bed and changed into pajamas, and spent a few hours on my laptop before drifting to sleep.