three

I waltz into the kitchen, hungry as heck. I had training later, so I had to eat a good meal.

For some odd reason, I felt more energised than ever. I had a pretty good sleep, even if I don't remember how I got into bed after the movie.

I glide around the kitchen, looking for a good breakfast.

I decided on some fruits and yogurt; it was one of my favourites.

I slide to the right and bump into someone, almost falling. I miscalculated the amount of force I needed to get to the refrigerator. He grabs my arm hard, preventing the fall.

I looked up at Hayden; his face was like stone, and I yanked my arm from his hold. "Sorry." I apologise softly, and I open the fridge.

My eyes scan for berries and yogurt, and I wonder why he was always the one in the kitchen. I guess it was because he was comfortable in my house; it was his second home, but why did I run into him every time?

Hayden moves around me, looking for something. Whatever it was, it wasn't my problem.

I assemble my bowl and spin around, getting a spoon. Hayden stares at me, and I blush, slightly embarrassed. I liked spinning and sliding on the kitchen tiles; it helped me with balance and practice. Plus, it was fun.

I step back, increasing the space between us, in contrast to how close we were last night. I tap the counter, waiting. We stare at each other for a few seconds until he speaks. Two words.

"Energy drinks."

I reply with two more, keeping our conversation minimal: "Bottom cupboard."

He opens it and finds the drinks. Hayden grabs the whole pack, his arm flexing, and goes down to the basement.

I sit down at the island and eat my breakfast, shivering at the sudden cold that Hayden left.

I scroll on my phone, checking stories on Instagram. I click Ian's and watch Dylan steal my brother's phone, filming everyone and introducing them to Ian's followers.

He turns left and right, showing the two boys on his sides, "Finn and Blaze, my boys."

Then he flips the camera, showing himself, does the peace sign, and flips it to Ian. "This is Ian, but you guys already know the guy." Ian smiles, despite his fear of the movie in the background, and the camera pans to me. I was fast asleep on Hayden, but it didn't show his face. I knew it wouldn't be like that for long after I heard Dylan's evil giggle. Dylan put the camera on Hayden, and he flipped off the camera, looking at me.

"Then we have the two lovebirds." Hayden gives Dylan a death glare, making him take the camera off of us. "Just kidding, they don't like each other?" He tries to play off his earlier comment, knowing he would be screwed if he didn't fix it. Hayden wasn't a fan of his jokes.

I feel a pang of embarrassment. At least it was just a story; it would be gone by this time tomorrow. I hope no one sees it. I didn't feel like hijacking Ian's phone today.

I scroll past more stories, catching up on everything that I missed.

I hear a key jingle at the door, along with some laughter. I glanced nervously at the door, checking to see who it was.

My mom's friends start entering the house, being loud as ever.

I rush my dishes to the sink and try to escape before they start a conversation, but I fail.

"Julianna, hi! Oh, you're so pretty." One of the ladies says, pinching my cheeks, and I cringe at the use of my first name. Everyone used my middle name, and I liked it that way. This lady just didn't get the memo; none of my mom's friends did. "Have you got yourself a boyfriend?"

"Or two!" Another one adds, thinking she was being cool.

I ditch my shocked expression and plaster a fake smile on my face, backing up to the basement door and turning the knob. "Not yet," I replied.

I didn't want to be harassed about my love life right now.

"Bye," I say and wave, ducking into the basement before any other awkward questions could be asked.

I bump into Finn on the way down. He was going up the stairs.

"Sorry," I laughed quietly and warned him, "you don't want to go up there."

"I gotta go." He signals his need to use the bathroom.

"Either you trust me and use the one downstairs or you walk up there to your doom." I give him his options, hoping he will listen, but none of my brother's friends do.

"Thanks, but no thanks!" the boy laughs and sprints up the stairs.

I shake my head and continue going down the stairs, sighing. I'm so glad I escaped.

As if right on cue, my brother's friends all start cheering, making me question if I really made the right decision.

Hayden was focused on the game as everyone put pressure on him to score a goal. They all played Hockey 21, the video game that was literally a virtual version of what they did on ice.

They all passed to each other, celebrating a goal and cheering again. The loud noise hurt my ears.

Ian turns around, somehow hearing me despite the quiet carpet floors.

"Hey!" He greets me, his expression asking me why I came down.

I look at his friends and back at him. "Mom brought her girly friends over, and they keep talking about boys."

"That bad, huh?"

"I'm only going up when they leave," I say, crossing my arms. Ian laughs, he knew the pain of conversations with them.

That earned me a glare from Hayden, which annoyed me. If anyone should be getting a glare, it was him. This was my house, I could go anywhere I wanted.

Finn runs down the stairs, trying to catch his breath. "You were right," he tells me, his face red. I shake my head at him; he should've listened.

"I'm going to chill in your room," I tell Ian and head down the hall.

"Alright, don't shut the door." He calls after me.

I turn, "Why not?"

"The lock is broken; it'll lock you inside." He explains, and I nod.

I step into his room and leave the door ajar. I didn't want to get trapped.

I sit on his spinning chair and turn on his computer. I have a few hours until practice, so I'll just watch a show.

My eyes follow the main character as she does cool tricks on the ice, spinning and skating around. I replay the scene, thinking about how I could do it when someone walks in.

Hayden stood in the doorway, his shirt hugging his body. He was soaked.

I turn my chair back around, ignoring him and playing my show.

"Dylan spilled water on me," he says, closing the door behind him. "And I need to change."

"I can see that." I put my legs up on the desk, not moving.

He walks to my brother's closet, looking for something to wear. "So can you leave for a sec?" He asks.

"Fine." I roll my eyes and head to the door.

I try to turn the knob, but it doesn't let me.

"Hayden," I say, panicked.

He looks at me, confused. "What?"

"The door won't open."

He walks over to me, and I move out of the way. He tries the door, rattling the doorknob a few times, but it doesn't budge. We look at each other for a few seconds, taking in the situation. He was the last person I wanted to be stuck in a room with.

I start banging on the door, trying to get my brother's attention, as does Hayden.

"Ian!" I yell; if he could hear me come down the stairs, he could definitely hear this.