Neighbors (a Hayes Grier fanfic)

Chapter 14- first day

*Jack's POV*
Too much has happened in the past 24 hours, for my liking. First, I kiss Brooke. Then, she doesn't want to tell Hayes. Oh, and that's not the worst part. William is dying, and here's the real knee-slapper, Brooke just told Hayes what happened at the carnival. Call me crazy, but it just doesn't seem right for two people to both cheat. We are currently sitting in the car, driving home. The plan was for us all to hang out at the Grier's, after William left, but I have a feeling that won't be happening. I was sitting in between Hayes and Brooke, who both had their foreheads pressed against the windows. All of the sudden, Hayes turned and hissed, "I cheated on you too, Meredith wanted me back, and I let her have me." He shrugged, and Nash slammed on the brakes. "YOU DID WHAT?" His voice boomed, and Hayes rolled his eyes, "A few days after we started dating, I saw her at the store, we got to talking, and we ended up making out." Brooke's eyes brimmed with tears, "How could you?" She whimpered, looking into his eyes. "You cheated too," he added, and Brooke's eyes filled with anger, "YOU LITTLE BITCH, IT WAS A ONE TIME THING, AND JACK CAME ONTO ME," she screeched, beginning to lose her cool. "YOU'RE RIGHT, I LOVED MEREDITH, SO I WENT BACK TO HER," he paused, "SHE MAKES ME HAPPY, OKAY? SHE ASKED ME OUT, AND YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO FIND OUT, I WAS GOING TO BREAK IT OFF SOONER OR LATER!" The car went silent, and Nash started the engine back up. "Get out," he said, "Excuse you?" Hayes scoffed, "I said get out of the damn car," Hayes opened the door, "You're picking her over your own brother." Nash's knuckles turned white, gripping the steering wheel, "My brother wouldn't do this to a girl."

*Brooke's POV*
How did such a great day become so crappy? Nash parked the car in front of my house, and I sat there, silent, with tears streaming down my face. Mack unbuckled my seat belt, "It's time to go, hun," I nodded, and the rest of the group wished me goodbye. "You relax, okay? Sooner or later, you two will talk, and this will all be over. I'm not saying what you did was okay, but what Hayes did was worse." I nodded numbly to Nash, and Mack guided me through the doorway. "How was the-" Nick stopped, and his eyes softened, "Are you okay?" I shook my head, and collapsed in a heap in his arms. I told him the whole story, and he kissed my head, rocking me back and forth in his lap. Mack stood in the doorway with Matt, who shook with anger, and walked out of the front door, slamming it behind him. Nick carefully sat me down on the couch next to where we'd been sitting, and followed Matt out of the door. Mack and I stared at each other, and nodded. We both knew I needed to forget about Hayes Grier.

*Hayes' POV*
I'm glad she found out, she was starting to get freaking annoying. I'm not really mad at her for cheating, she would be better with another guy. I'm good with Meredith, we work well together. I guess everything happens for a reason, it was fun while it lasted.

*1 WEEK LATER*
*Brooke's POV*
I slammed my hand, hard against my phone that blared 5 Seconds of Summer. It was the first day of school, and I turned over and shook Mack awake. Yes, she slept over. Along with the Griers, our parents are all best friends. The Griers. Nash and Skylynn have come over and visited, and they made sure not to mention Hayes. Well, except for when Sky started asking why I only came over, when Hayes was gone.  I cried for a few days, but then started my quest to forgetting Hayes. I stood in front of the mirror, and let out a puff of air. My once chestnut  hair, has since been dyed a dark chocolate color. It didn't reach my hips anymore, and it only fell to below my elbows, so I guess it's still pretty long. I didn't want to look in the mirror anymore, and see myself as the girl who got played. So, I changed things, I guess. Mack eventually woke up, and we both got ready. I settled on wearing a striped t-shirt dress, with my red Converse high tops. I curled my hair, careful not to burn myself and met Mack downstairs. "You girls look beautiful," my mom squealed, clapping her hands together. We sat down at the table, and scarfed down the huge breakfast that had been placed in front of us. "G is picking us up, and I think we're all hanging out after school," I nodded towards Mack, and she gave me a thumbs up, too busy looking down at her phone. "You have to talk to Hayes, he's going to be in the car this morning, and he'll probably be there after school." I looked up, and sighed, Mack was right. "Let's brush our teeth, the boys are almost here." We rushed to get everything done, and hurriedly grabbed our lunch bags, "Have a good day girls!" I hopped into the big, white Jeep. "Heyo, beautiful," a grin slid onto his face, and he placed a kiss on my cheek. We weren't really together, but I mean it was clear that we both liked each other. "Hiya, handsome," I giggled, resting my hand on his knee. "IS EVERYBODY IN THE CAR?!" He shouted, causing me to jump up, and hit my head. A chorus of replies sounded, and he stopped in the Grier driveway. Meredith, Hayes, and Nash walked out of the front door, and made their way to the car. They all clambered into the back seat, and we began driving. Jack J, Mack, Nash, Meredith, Hayes, and Cameron all remained squished together in the back, and it was a dead quiet, when they all settled in. I switched on the radio, and Wild Life came on. "JACK, ITS YOUR SONG, JOHNSON DO YOU HEAR THIS?!" Everybody cheered, except for Hayes, who rolled his eyes. "Dude, seriously, be happy for them," I pleaded, and he just shook his head, staring down at his phone. Meredith shook her head, and mouthed 'sorry'. I don't hate Meredith, she was the first girl friend I made here. We talked since the incident, and she cried, saying she had no idea we were together. I believe her, she's a pretty bad liar according to Nash. I'm trying to put it in the past, but I'm not going to make an effort to talk to Hayes. "Here, I'll walk you to your class," Jack suggested, opening the door for me. We all got out, and Jack intertwined our fingers."Welcome to the hell, we like to call high school," he flashed his signature smile in my direction, and I playfully rolled my eyes. He walked me to AP History, and spun me around to face him, "Be safe, make good choices." He kissed my forehead, and I pulled away, "Whatever you say, dad," I giggled. I struggled to kiss his cheek, due to the fact that he's a giant, and walked in the room. Lauren wildly waved her arms in the air, and I chuckled, making my way over to her. I sat down and she began chattering away a mile a minute. She was in the middle of a sentence about the new Sephora they opened, when she was cut off, "Are you G's girl?" I turned around, and my eyes cut to a tan, brunette boy. "That's one word for it..." I drifted off, trying to get a name from the new boy. "Grayson," he shyly smiled, "My name is Grayson." I felt my dimples poking out in my cheeks, "I'm Brooke, but you can call me B." He tilted his head back, lightly laughing, "B and G, that's cute," I grew red, I like him. He's cool, and he hasn't said anything about Hayes yet. "How about you, are you single?" I teased him, "As a Pringle," he cheesed hard, and we quickly exchanged numbers. A muscular boy strolled in, carrying himself with too much pride. His eyes scanned the room until they landed on me, he looked me up and down, and then pulled out the chair next to me. "Try anything, and you'll have Gilinsky to answer to," I heard Grayson's voice pipe up. The boy brushed off his warning, and smirked at me, "I'm Chris, and you're hot." My eyes grew wide at how he introduced himself, and I rolled my eyes, getting annoyed. "No, I'm Brooke, and you're a tool," I said sarcastically, "Stay in your lane Chris, you know we don't hang out with you," Lauren let out a hiss from behind me. The teacher walked in and we were forced to quiet down, and we had no choice but to let him sit with us. After a long 45 minutes, the bell rang and I jumped out of my seat. I looked at my schedule and saw that I had art next, "Hello beautiful, where to?" I heard my favorite voice croon, and I smiled wide. "Take me to art, Finnegan," he groaned, "I'm not sitting next to you, if you say it again." I snorted, "Okay, I'll just sit with some other guy," I ran my tongue over my lips, and clicked my nails along the wall. "Of course not, baby," he wrapped his arm around my waist, and we entered the room. Jack was a junior, so I only have lunch and art with him. "Aren't Cam and Nash in this class too?" He asked, and I nodded, trying to find a good table for us. "Here," I tugged him towards a table in the back of the room, and we waited for the other boys to arrive. We made our way back to the table, and I noticed that the other boys had made it. "HEY CUTIE!" Nash yelled in my direction, and I reached out to hug him. I saw someone move out of the corner of my eye and I turned to look, "Hey, Grayson!" The boy's forehead creased, and a look of confusion took over. "Ohhhh, no I think you have it wrong, I'm Ethan," I blinked, "Grayson, dude, I literally just sat next to you for a whole class period." I frowned, why is he trying to trick me? "No, I mean I'm Ethan, his twin," I face palmed. "Oh, I'm so sorry, come sit with us," I stuttered, embarrassed. I heard Jack laughing, and I turned around, "Babe, it's not funny," I whined, "Of course not, I'm sorry," he stifled his laughter. I huffed, and tried to move my stuff away, "No, no, no," he muttered, and pulled me onto his lap. He leaned into kiss me when all of the sudden, I heard my best friend's obnoxious voice, "PDA!" I chuckled, "Aw, there's my favorite seventh grader," I cooed, sarcastically. She plopped on top of me and Jack, and he let out a groan. "Is this really hurting you," she scoffed, "Nope, our close proximity just makes me feel sick." Mack laughed, "Your boyfriend is weak," she teased, "We aren't dating," I quickly added, and Jack frowned, and then became quiet. I felt Jack's grip grow tighter around me, "We need to have a talk later," he whispered in my ear. The teacher finally came in ten minutes late, and we began going over the syllabus. I guess summer is over.