Chapter 7 & 8 : Heartbreak and Brotherhood
Matteo and Brandon were currently in a bar, they could drink legally since they were over 18, Brandon was 19, Matteo was 20 while Hailey was 16.
“Did he hit you this time?” Brandon asks sipping from the Vodka.
“No, Just said some few words” Matteo says holding his head in his hands, he really wish he could rewind time and stopped his brother from dying.
“Everything’s going to be okay” Brandon says pulling Matteo into a small bro hug.
“I Know ..I Know” Matteo muttered sniffing trying to stop his tears from pouring.
“Stay In my place tonight?” Brandon asks because he knows that after the fight between Matteo and His Dad, he loved to sneak through the window of his family house and sleep in his dead brother’s room.
“Yeah” Matteo says raising his head and sipping from his vodka also, he wanted to get drunk and free his mind from all this.
Matteo Is the 2nd Born, he has an elder brother named Matthew, the both of them were peas in a pod, They do everything together not minding how people looked at them.
Matthew died at age 20, Matteo was just 15 then, Brandon is meant to be 25 currently if he hadn’t died, Matthew was always the perfect child, his dad’s favorite and when he died, His dad took out all the hurt and anger on him maybe because he was partly responsible for the accident.
~11PM ≈ STEVENS MANSION>>
Brandon walks Drunk Matteo into the house, his eyes caught his sister who looked engrossed in a teen series, Teen Wolf.
She chewed on the popcorn , her legs folded in a Chinese manner, her expression changing at every scene until she hears the door close.
Hailey looks towards Brandon before her eyes saunters to Drunk Matteo, he looked knocked out but he wasn’t since his eyes kept fluttering open and close.
“What happened?” Hailey asks rushing to them, helping Brandon to lay Matteo on the couch.
“He’ll tell you when he wants to, it’s not my story to tell” Brandon says and Hailey grew mad.
“You’ve been saying that for the past Years Brandon, Every time he comes to our house looking drunk, you always tell me that he’ll tell me but you all decide to keep me in the dark, it’s freaking annoying” Hailey ranted angrily before looking at her brother who gave her a bored and blank look.
“Why do you care so much about him?” Brandon asks and Hailey grew speechless, Brandon steps closer to her till he got to her front, he bends to her height.
“Matteo is off limits so Carry your High School crush to someone your own level” Brandon says in a low tone which scared Hailey a bit.
“Heard me?” Brandon asks, his tone become more cold.
“Ye..s” Hailey stutters and Brandon straightened and began walking up the stairs to sleep, he was exhausted and was also pained because he couldn’t help Matteo ease that pain he feels.
Hailey let out a shaky breath Before looking to Brandon who had climbed the stairs and entered his room, Hailey flinches when she hears the door slam close.
She took the remote and turns off the Tv, She went to an extra room and grabbed a duvet before coming back to the parlor and using it to cover Matteo who was finally knocked out.
She glances at him with sad eyes before walking up the stairs to her room, she was unable to shake Brandon’s word from her head and it hurt.
She enters her room and climbs unto her bed, covering herself and letting Nature take over.
~2PM ≈ STEVENS MANSION>>
Hailey was woken up by the creaking of her door and she hears footstep, she then smelt a scent, It Was Brandon.
“Hailey” He calls out her name before sitting on her bed.
“Hmm” Hailey answers tiredly.
“I’m sorry for how I reacted when you got angry at me, I was stressed and tired and pained for not able to ease Matteo’s pain, Please don’t be mad” Brandon says with his hand on her shoulder.
Hailey turns to him with a smile on her face reassuring him that she wasn’t mad at him.
“It’s Alright….it’s not your secret to tell and I’m also sorry for how I got angry, he’s your friend and I didn’t want to see you in pain because of him, that why I reacted that way” Hailey says and Brandon smiles at her.
“So we good?” Brandon asks.
“We Good” Hailey says.
“Good night” Brandon says and lays a peck on her forehead before walking out the door, Hailey smiles and soon she hears Brandon bedroom door close.
She was awake for some minutes before deciding to sleep back, she was about to close her eye when she hears her door creaking open again
“Brandon?” She whisper out but didn’t turn to face the door, she felt a dip in her bed and soon manly arms circles her waist.
Hailey wanted to scream but she then smelt his scent, her favorite smell since they met, it was Matteo.
“Matteo what are you doing?” She whispers out knowing that Brandon would kill Matteo if he saw them in this position.
“Missing you” he mumbles in her ear.
Is he still drunk? Hailey wonders.
She was about to open her mouth to say something but it seems Matteo noticed and says.
“Sleep” He mutters bringing her closer to him.
Hailey felt her heart beating erratically, She suddenly began to feel hot under the AC, she wanted to be comfortable but how would she when his hand were directly under her b**bs and inching closer.
“M..Matteo” She stutters out and Matteo brought his hand down to her stomach region, Hailey let out a sigh before getting comfortable.
~6AM ≈ STEVENS MANSION>>
“Hailey” A knock was heard on Hailey’s room door and she squirms.
“Hailey” Brandon calls out from out the door, Hailey awoke this time and quickly sat up up, looking around and sighs in relief when she saw that Matteo was not in her room any longer.
She blushes when she remembers how they cuddled and how he almost….almost touched her……
“Hailey” She hears another knock and snaps out her thought before coming dinner bed and rushing to open the door.
“Took you long enough” Brandon says .
“What?” Hailey asks rubbing her sleepy eyes, Brandon stops her and drops his ro her side.
“Stop doing that or it’ll become an habit” He says and Hailey nods.
“Now will you tell me why you were knocking on my door” Hailey requests.
“To wake you up of course, I know if I left you, you could sleep the whole day or maybe sleep through a fire emergency” Brandon says rolling his eyes.
Hailey rolls hers also and slams the door in his face, she turns to her bed and her eyes caught a paper folded neatly on it, she doesn’t remember putting that there.
She walks to it and opens it, she smiles immediately she saw the handwriting and began to read it, it was a shirt note.
Thanks for allowing me to sleep with you, Your warmth gave me peace and I slept really well (A drawn smiley emoji), Maybe I’ll be sneaking into your room more often( A drawn wink emoji)… Matteo Hailey re-read it like 5 times before kissing it and squealing happily.
She rushes to the bathroom to get ready and immediately did so in 20 minutes, she got out and wore her uniform which was folded nicely in her wardrobe thanks to Brandon, she wouldn’t lie and say she was a neat person, she wasn’t at all or maybe she was a little bit….just a little bit
She rushes down the stairs to see Brandon and Matteo by the dining, the maids had made breakfast already which was Toast and a glass of milk.
“Good Morning” Hailey greeted generally which means she greeted both the boys, she was avoiding eye contact with Matteo who was staring at her like he won a prize.
“Bro” Brandon nudges Matteo, seeing the way he looked at Hailey, Matteo looks to Brandon who was sending him a slight glare, Matteo looks towards his food immediately.
Hailey sat in front of the 2 boy, grabbing her toast and began eating it happily, Matteo was sneakily glancing at her and smiling at intervals
Brandon got distracted and picks up his phone doing only God knows what, Hailey used this chance to Look at Matteo and immediately their eyes met, Matteo winked.
Hailey blinks twice unbelievably, she looks back slightly to see if he was winking at her and when she realized she was the one he was winking at, she blushed.
Did Matteo Just Wink at Me?
Chapter 9 & 10 : A Brother’s Protection
Hailey Got to school in a happy mood, she was currently by her locker trying to bring out her books.
She did that successfully and turns only to hit her head on something hard.
“Enjoying the close look Cupcake?” She hears a voice and quickly moves back, she looked up to see a face she has never seen before.
“Who are you?” She asks quietly.
The Unknown boy was about to talk when Harry rushes over and flings his arm around the boy’s neck.
“Jerr….Oh hey Hailey” Harry was about to say when he saw Hailey.
“Hey” Hailey says with a small eye roll.
“You must have met my Cousin.
..Jerry this is Hailey and Hailey, this douch bag over here is Jeremy, short for Jerry” Harry introduces them.
Jerry looks at Hailey and grabs her hand kissing the back gently, Hailey blinks rapidly before blood rushes to her cheeks.
“Beautiful” Jerry says scanning her body, Harry hit the back of his head, Jerry pouted and looked at Harry.
“Hi” Hailey says.
“HAILEY!” Hailey hears her voice and looks to where the voice was coming from and she saw Freya running to her, waving.
“Hey” Hailey says and Freya got to her panting as she tries to form words but couldn’t.
Jerry was looking at Freya with a stunned look on his face, he was practically drooling.
“Where did this angel drop from?” He says unconsciously and that was when Freya noticed him, she blinks cutely at him.
“Huh?” Freya says confused on who he was.
“Harry’s cousin” Hailey whispers in her ear and she mouths an Ooh.
“Hi, I’m Freya” She introduces herself.
“J…Je…” Jerry tries to form words but he kept stuttering.
“He’s Jeremy, short for Jerry” Harry says rolling his eyes.
Freya giggles seeing his reaction, she looks at Harry and a blush crept unto her cheeks, Hailey saw this and rolled her eyes.
“Senior right?” Freya asks Jeremy who shakes his head.
“No..Junior” Jeremy says and Harry hit his head one again.
“He’s a Senior, Bro what going on in your head?” Harry says to Jeremy who blushes slightly.
Hailey looks between the 3 of them and she knew a Love Triangle will be between them, she shakes her head slightly and places her hand on Freya’s shoulder before pulling her away.
“Harry was looking so cute” Freya ogles dreamingly.
“Jeremy was also looking cute” Hailey says and Freya rolls her eyes.
“Yeah Yeah but Harry is Cuter” Freya says and Hailey shakes her head before they entered the class and the bell rang, they were having Mathematics.
Hailey spots Ginnie and looks the other way not wanting ant sort of bullying this morning and ruin her happy mood.
Ginnie saw this and a smirk escaped her lips, she then turns her gaze to her phone and continued to scroll.
~LUNCH PERIOD>>
Hailey stretches tiredly, she then yawns and looks towards Freya who had her head on the table.
“Freya, It’s Lunch time” She says and Freya head lifted ina swift mode.
“Are you that hungry?” Haley laughs a bit.
“Hungry? I’m starved” Freya says and starts to pull Hailey out the class, Ginnie saw this and intentionally places her leg on the way
Freya who saw this went over the leg hoping Hailey would do the same but Hailey didn’t see Ginnie’s leg and tripped on it pulling Freya down with her.
The Remaining People in the class laughed passing them by not bothering to help them, Hailey eyes went to Ginnie who smirks.
She stood up and pulls Freya up with her, she looks down to see that her glasses had cracked since she fell face flat.
She was about to pick it when a leg slams on it, breaking it completely, Hailey gasps and looks up to see One of Ginnie’s minion laughing
“What’s wrong Blind pig?? Can’t see without your glasses?” Ginnie says laughing, Hailey could see her since she was near.
Ginnie waves a hand in front of Hailey, teasing her, She then pushes Hailey down to the ground, Freya couldn’t do anything since Hailey warned her not to interfere once they are bullying her.
“I wonder What you’re hiding, First no one here knows your house, second we only know you as Hailey but your Surname is hidden, third you always come to school wearing expensive things yet noone knows how you get them, Just who exactly are you?” Ginnie says bringing her face close to Hailey’s.
“Now that I looks clearly, you look a lot like……” Ginnie was about to talk when Daniel passed by the class,she totally lost focus and followed him immediately like a lost puppy.
“Hailey” Freya calls helping Hailey to stand up, Hailey dusted her body and looks at Freya with a light smile.
“I’m okay” she says and Freya nods before they continued their journey to the cafeteria.
They Got there and entered, thankfully they didn’t grab people attention since they were all talking and laughing with themselves.
They spotted an Empty chair at the back and Hailey went to sit there while Freya went to order their food.
Freya got back and soon they began eating, they were eating silently when 2 trays appears before them, they looks up to see Jeremy and Harry looking at themselves, they both had their trays beside Freya.
“I was here first” Jerry says not wanting to give up the seat beside Freya.
“No You weren’t” Harry says also not wanting to give up the seat, Hailey was seated on the other side of Freya so it remains the other side
“Okay Boys Boys….why don’t one of you come sit beside me?” Hailey says and they both looked at her.
“No Thanks” They both said and Hailey gasps dramatically, putting both hands on her chest.
“I want Harry to sit beside me” They all heard Freya little Voice and they turned to her, Freya was blushing slightly as she said that
Jerry looks at Harry and Hailey and She was sure she saw hurt flash in his eyes before it completely disappeared.
“Was Planning on Giving up the seat anyways, I wasn’t planning on arguing with my Cousin just because of seats” Jerry says laughing it off, Hailey knew he was hurt and she sighs.
“You can come seat here Jerry, I even wanted to seat in front of you guys” Hailey says standing up but Jerry waves it.
“Nahh” Jerry says and started to eat his food, Hailey say back down and continued to eat.
“So Freya uhmm, Can I have your number?” Harry asks and immediately he said that, Hailey and Jerry’s neck snaps to him.
When did Harry start showing interest in Freya? Hailey thought as she looked at them, Freya felt blood rush to her cheeks.
“S..Sure” She says and brought out her phone, they were allowed to bring phone to school.
Jerry was looking at them as they exchanged number, he looks at Freya to see her blushing widely and he gulps before facing his food trying to block out Their voices.
Hailey looks at the 3 three of them and then looks at Jerry with pity, if only Jerry knew how in Love Freya was with Harry.
This is so Not GoodShe says inwardly.
Chapter 11 & 12 : A Love Triangle Emerges at School
≈AFTER SCHOOL≈
Hailey Walked out of school a little bit later than her friends since she was called by the French teacher for some reasons known to her
She didn’t know how she was going to get home she was too tired to walk all the way to the bus station and no cab was passing by.
She brought out her pink colored Samsung Galaxy S30 which is one put of her numerous phone and the cheapest.
Should I call Brandon? She asks herself and looks at the time.
He’s still in lectures She groans inwardly and sat by the stairs side.
Jerry walks out the school, twirling his car keys in his hand and whistling out, Hailey hears this and turns and her face brightens seeing him
“Jerry Thank God” She says standing up and rushing to him.
“What’s Wrong? who did I kill?? I swear I’m innocent and I have no idea what you are talking about, I mean I did punch some thugs yesterday for trying to rape a girl but I did kill them, who’s asking? are the police…..” Jerry was ranting and Pacing but was soon interrupted by Hailey
“I need a ride home” She says and Jerry finally calms down as he let out a sigh of relief.
“Of course Babe, anything for you” He says throwing his arm around Hailey’s neck as they walked to his car, he is a final year student which was why he had a car but they weren’t allowed to park it in school so he parked it outside the school gate.
The walked out the school gate, Bading the Gate Man Bye, They crossed the road to where the car was and as Hailey was about to touch the car, she heard her name.
“Hailey” She turns to see Matteo, he looked like he was going home already, Seems Brandon had late lectures.
“H..Hi Matteo” Hailey says with a flushed face but then she noticed Matteo wasn’t looking at her but at the arm that Jerry had around her neck, She watched his eyes darken or Maybe she thought.
“I’ll drive you home” He says walk towards Hailey, Hailey didn’t want that, she knew how much of a nervous wreck she was around Matteo
“Uhmm I think I’mma hitch a ride with Jerry” Hailey says and Matteo stops on his feet, he looks towards Jerry who grins at him, Matteo took one more glance at Hailey before walking back to his car and driving off.
Hailey let out the breath she was holding the whole time before she got out of Jerry’s grip and enters the car.
Jerry enters also and started the car, driving off.
“You are totally whipped for that guy, aren’t you?” Jerry says with a smirk.
“Is it obvious?” Hailey asks smiling.
“Well…with the Shaky hands, loud heart beat and shaky breath, it’s well obvious” Jerry explains how and she smiles once more.
“Seems he feels the same way” Jerry says and Hailey head snaps to him immediately.
“No he doesn’t” Hailey counters what he says.
“I know a man in love when I see one” Jerry says shrugging.
“How?? Let me guess, because you are in love with My Best friend who you met just today” Hailey says rolling her eyes, Jerry blushes and uses one hand to scratch the back of his neck nervously.
“Is it obvious?” He asks.
“Well ….with the obvious Stares, quick Jealousy and loud heartbeat…it’s well obvious” Hailey says in the same way Jerry said his and they both burst out laughing.
“You’ve got a tough competition though, Freya will do anything to make Harry notice her, she’s been in love with him since the first year of junior high” Hailey says to Jerry who sighs out sadly.
“Really tough competition” Jerry says and Hailey nods.
“Back to you though” Jerry says.
“He can’t be in love with me, he knows I’m off limits and I know he’s off limits” Hailey says.
“Why?” Jerry asks.
“Well.. Because he’s my brother’s best friend” Hailey says.
“And that’s what he will forever remain as” She adds and Jerry knew he is to keep quiet at this moment when he saw the change in Hailey’s Mood.
Forever That Title Hailey says inwardly and looks out the window.
≈30 MINUTES LATER≈
“We’re here” Hailey says since she was the one giving him directions.
“Where?” Jerry says looking around.
“That’s my house” Hailey got out and pointed, Jerry also got out and his jaw dropped.
“YOU HAVE A FREAKING CASTLE FOR A HOUSE” He yells and Hailey laughs.
“How the f*cking rich are you?” Jerry asks.
“You know the Mendel’s Family right?” Hailey asks.
[I DON’T THINK I HAVE MENTIONED HER SURNAME BEFORE SO THIS IS IT AND IF I HAVE, I TOTALLY FORGOT IT😅]
“Who doesn’t know the richest family in L.A?” Jerry asks saying the obvious.
“Well My name is Hailey Alexandra Mendel” Hailey says leaving him to put 2 and 2 together.
“W..w..what..Wait, you are the daughter of Mr & Mrs Mendel, the owner of Mendel’s Corps” Jerry says staggering back.
“Bye Jerry” Hailey says running towards the mansion.
“Wait.. Don’t Leave me with this mathematics equation in my head” Jerry shouted but when he notices the eyes on him, he kept quiet and nervously smiles and waves.
“I’m friends with the daughter of the richest family in Cali” He mumbles out before running to his car and entering, slamming on the gear and driving off.
Hailey enters her house smiling happily she giggles once more remembering Jerry’s face when he discovers it.
“How was your date?” She hears a voice and looks up to see Brandon, turns out his last lecture got cancelled.
“Date?? what date??” Hailey asks confused.
“DONT PLAY GAMES WITH ME” Brandon suddenly shouts and this brought a lot of shock to Hailey.
“I..I don’t know what you’re talking about” She says honestly, stuttering a bit.
“Lying huh?? Matteo told me you went out On a date with a senior in your school, The Ming family for that matter, They are full of trouble and are f*cking playboys, play girls, get what they want and dump them by the road side” Brandon says loudly and Hailey finally notices Matteo who was behind Brandon and she glares angrily at him.
“I didn’t go out on a date with him” Hailey says.
“STOP F*CKING LYING TO ME” Brandon shouts once more, grabbing Hailey’s hand harshly, his nails pricks into her skin making her wince, Tears immediately pools her eyes as she looks at Brandon whose eyes softens immediately after he saw her tears.
“Brandon it’s okay” Matteo says laying a hand on his back, Brandon let go of Hailey with a slight push.
“You’re grounded, drop your phone on the dining table before you go upstairs, no going out, you’re only allowed to go and come back from school” Brandon says and walk out of the house, probably on his way to the frat house to prepare for a party that was Being hosted there
“Hailey I..” Before Matteo could talk, Hailey used the same wounded arm to slap him hard, Matteo takes in the pain and looks at her to see tears flowing out of her eyes already.
“I Hate You” She spat out and threw her phone to the couch before rushing upstairs.
“Hailey wait..Please” He shouted behind her and touched his hurting cheeks.
This was the first time Hailey ever raised a hand on him and said those words, Those words wasn’t mean to hurt but it did and it hurt bad.