Seven More

3. Lashing Back

"What do we have here? Sebastian Montgomery hiding in a place he shouldn't be hiding," Gabriella Jureau smirked down at me with a water gun poised, ready to fire.

"What are you gonna do? Take me as a prisoner?" I scoffed, I wasn't exactly threatened. Sure, she was one of the smarter and tougher members of Mia's girl gang, but that didn't scare me.

"I might just do that," she smirked. She smirked a suggestive smirk and I knew I was in luck, yet another girl who couldn't resist the Sebastian Montgomery charm. Of course, Gabriella was considered to be as much of a player as I was, but her flirty eyes still made me feel excited.

"You and what army?" I teased, knowing exactly how to flirt with her.

"Well, I could always shout for the guys who are currently searching for you," she raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow at me.

"But then where's the fun in that," I shot right back at her.

"You realise no matter how much you flirt with me, I'm not going to let you go, right?"

Then I realised I was actually in trouble and I was properly going to go home with eggs smashed in my underwear for revenge.

"Let the poor boy go Gabriella, he's not worth the hassle," a familiar voice came to my rescue, much to my surprise.

"You're going soft Mia," Gabriella lowered her water gun.

"No, I can just think of much better uses of our time tonight," she stated dismissivley. "Now off you skedaddle Montgomery."

I was shocked and couldn't move at first as I just stared at her in confusion. Why would she let me go? Did she have something worse planned? I didn't think about it too long before I shot off, unwilling to find out.

Mia Hastings seemed to keep on surprising me.

***

"Dude! We thought you'd been captured!" Riley exclaimed the next morning when I came down for breakfast.

"Yeah, I was captured, thank you for coming to my rescue by the way," I rolled my eyes at them. Forgotten once again.

"How did you manage to escape?" Eli asked, almost sounding concerned.

"I sweet talked my way out, obviously," I winked at him.

"You mean to say, that you were captured by girls?" Riley stared at my, trying not to let his laughter erupt.

"There are worse people to be captured by than Gabriella Juraeu," I chuckled.

"Ew. I'm trying to eat my breakfast," Peyton rolled her eyes. "You know Bash, you're just like many other guys, who don't care what a girl has going on in her head, as long as she has a great body. Its like Blake and his pathetic crush on Mia."

"Its not pathetic! One day she's going to love me back!" Blake declared, earning him a whack on the head from me.

"I do care what a girl has going on in her head, but girls like Gabriella can prove to be a lot of fun," I smirked, but Peyton didn't find it funny as she went back to shovelling cereal in her mouth.

"Enough about how much of a dirt bag Seb is, lets discuss retaliation," Silver piped up.

"Mia and her minions are going to be out for blood," Vincent pointed out.

"Which is exactly why I said we shouldn't have gotten ourselves into a prank war in the first place, now if you would excuse me, I'm going out for a run," it may have been summer vacation, but I needed to keep in top shape.

It was a lovely morning on the coast with the sun low in the sky and the waves crashes onto the beach. There's nothing quite like a morning run along the beach... that is until you're sent flying down a hill and end up with a face full of sand.

"Just thought I'd repay the favour," Mia Hastings was staring down at me from the top of the hill she had pushed me down.

"Hey! You could have seriously hurt me!" I complained, getting up and wiping sand off of myself.

"I've seen you play football Montgomery, I know you know how to take a fall," she raised an eyebrow at me. I looked at her standing there, in running shorts and a tank top, but somehow the amount of her skin on show made me lose my head.

"What are you doing out this early," I asked before I could stop myself. I mentally chastised myself, she was clearly out on a run, or a walk at least.

"The same thing you are, its just I'm a little more graceful at it and I don't go plummeting down hills," she smirked as I made my way back up the hill towards her.

"I didn't take you for the disciplined type," I commenting, perhaps foolishly. I was just surprised to see anyone else out running on vacation, especially a girl like Mia.

"So you're calling me lazy?" her hand went on her hip and she tilted her head at me, letting me know I was in trouble.

"What? No! I just-" I immediately began to grovel but she chuckled and cut me off.

"Relax, I was kidding. Running helps me to keep a clear head," she informed me.

"Mia Hastings with a clear head? That seems unlikely," I scoffed.

"Ah, so the niceties are over. You're back to your usual Montgomery shenanigans, forgive me if I don't stick around to hear it," and with that, she was off running.

I immediately felt bad, for once Mia Hastings had almost acted human towards me, and I was the one who was mean. I went chasing after her, but the girl was fast. We were back at the beach houses before I got anywhere near her and I didn't get a chance to apologise before she ran into her own house.

As I showered I thought about our encounter, about how there was maybe a lot more to her than met the eye. Our family had known her since pre-school, and I could always remember her being a brat. She was rude, vain and entitled, as far as I could tell. But a thought occurred to me, maybe she wasn't entirely to blame for our family feud. Something she had said hit home. 'Back to your usual Montgomery shenanigans'.

She was by no means an angel, but maybe we weren't angels either. Maybe her lashing out was actually her lashing back at us. Maybe she had felt just as victimised as us. I wasn't sure of the answer, and it would never be something I could share with the rest of my family. There was one thing I knew for certain though: I had to know Mia Hastings more.

***