Friends? / A Romeo Beckham Fanfic

chapter 16

I held the small Walter's bag in my left hand and fumbled for my phone in my jeans pocket. I slumped into one of the seats at McDonald's and dialled Brooklyn's number, waiting for him to answer.

"Hello?" a muffled voice appeared on the other end of the line.

"Brook! Where the heck are you? It's 12:05, man."

"Woah, Jayde, it's only been 5 minutes. No need to worry. We'll be up in a sec. Bye."

The other end broke up and I wasn't bothered to wait a second longer. Did those boys know what 'efficiency' meant? I instantly went back to reading on my phone, rolling my eyes at how stupid these boys could be. Recently, my favourite book has been 'I Was Here' by Gayle Forman. It's sad that Meg died, but I understand Cody's broken state. It was like me and my father, their relationship, and when someone's gone, it really does feel like you've lost a part of yourself. I got quite absorbed into the book that I didn't even bother to check the time. Suddenly, my phone buzzed and Brooklyn's face came up. I quickly swiped to answer.

"Jayde! Cruz! Kidnapped! Outside Rebel!" his words were in quick phrases and he seemed rather short-breathed. Wait, what? Cruz had been kidnapped? I wondered if he was just kidding, trying to get me back for all my pranks. But judged by his tone of voice, I guessed he was being serious.

"Help!" I heard a loud scream from the level below, and now I know Brook wasn't kidding. Most people had gathered over to see the whole commotion. I ran down the escalator, pushing people past on my way.

"Get some manners, girl!"

"Don't push!"

"Don't be so rude!"

I usually would have apologized, but now wasn't the time to have a heart-to-heart. Cruz was being kidnapped and I needed to help get him back.

I turned the right corner to Rebel, and found Brooklyn there, trying to get a man in a black suit off his little brother.

"Jayde!"

I quickly ran over to Brooklyn and tried to help him with the man. I kicked him in the leg, but he didn't seem to emotionally react at all. We both tried to grab him off Cruz, but still no reaction.

"Oh Brooklyn! Are you okay?"

Oh great. Of course it's blonde bimbo, clueless blonde bimbo. She always has to wreck everything. She tried to help us with the man, but really, she wasn't doing any help. She was literally holding onto the man's leg as if it was a delicate masterpiece; carefully and softly.

The man grunted and stowed Cruz away with 4 other men. I ran after them, but they turned the right corner and were gone. My eyes started to water. I could have helped save Cruz, but I did nothing. I just gave up. Be tough, Jayde, I said to myself, trying to calm down. You'll find Cruz soon enough.

I walked back to Rebel, slumped shoulders and all. Brooklyn was sitting on the ground, resting his head on his leg. I wiped my eyes clean and took a long, deep breath before approaching him.

"Brooklyn? I'm so sor-"

"Jayde, you don't understand."

"Yes I'm pretty sure I know what just happened. Brook-"

"No, you have no idea what happened."

I wasn't bothered to pick an argument with an older brother who just lost their younger brother. He's just lost someone he loves, and I didn't want to be the one who made it worse.

"Jayde?"

"What?"

Brooklyn's head was still rested on his leg. He then looked at me, laughing.

"I'm just kidding."

"What?" I said, clearly pissed off. "You set this up all for me to realise that it was just a prank? And both you and Cruz?"

"Yeah... those security guards were the best. And those people on the second level were all actors. They knew everything that was going on, except you. But Blondie wasn't planned. She was more clueless than you were."

I looked at him with an extremely annoyed look.

"OK, Jayde, sorry. I wasn't meant to hurt y-"

"What are you talking about? That was the best prank ever!"