I'm almost done religion summer school. I'm almost there. I've been telling myself this all day. Thank you guys for the votes again : )

If you guys could, i would appreciate it if you checked out @Very_Alive 's book 'A Breath of Fresh Air' where she speaks about her journey. Thank you.

Twitter: @_nikkiofficialw

Chapter Thirty: "You're A Pig."

I DIDN'T EVEN BOTHER fixing my hair that morning. It was a Saturday and it was too early for me to be awake. My mom had dropped me off at the Cahill house and if I thought I hated mornings, Lucas was way worse.

He was the first person I saw when I walked into the Cahill house and he looked tired and as if he didn't want to put up with anyone's shit today. "I hate this." He muttered.

"You hate weddings?" I asked him.

"No. I hate waking up early." He let out a loud yawn, fully stretching with his arms up before squinting at the light in the center of the corridor.

"You and me both." I muttered before he grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me into the living room. Most of the brothers were sitting down there including Joey and Kim was sprawled out on one of the couches.

Joey looked amused when he saw me and I gave him a tight smile which I quickly dropped to show him that I wasn't in the mood to talk to him today.

That didn't stop him.

"Someone's not a morning person." He said with a wide, taunting, grin.

I stared at him, no one had noticed the comment but when I made sure no one but him was looking I gave him my middle finger to look at. He looked shocked for half a second before scowling at me.

I heard the deep chuckle behind me from Lucas and Natasha came into the room, her hair in rollers and a set of people were behind her. She shooed them away, sighing. "I feel like I have to remind everyone that the wedding doesn't start until twelve."

"Do you realize how long it takes for people to actually start getting ready?" Kim asked her cousin, making room for her to sit on the couch. "You should be happy that everyone's getting here at seven."

"She's not wrong." Greg said, holding a clipboard in his hand and giving it to Natasha.

"Where's Ivan?" A guy I most definitely did not recognize asked from the couch.

I don't know if it was something about the Cahill's in general but they knew really attractive people, I thought trying not to stare at the person who had just spoken.

"That's Austin." Lucas said into my ear. "Toby's boyfriend."

Oh. It didn't matter if he was gay, he was really attractive and I had to urge myself to stop staring at him.

"Yeah he's at his friend's house." Natasha asked, texting someone on her phone.

Kim leaped up and snatched Natasha's phone right out of her hand. "That also means for you to not have any contact with him until you've made your way down the altar to him." Kim glanced at the screen and immediately cringed, turning the phone off and pocketing it.

Natasha sighed but I could see her anticipation and nervousness radiating off her face before someone handed her something. Natasha looked over to me and smiled. "My favorite seventeen year old."

I heard a loud hey come from somewhere else and watch as Caleb walked into the room, sitting down next to Phillip. "Who are you calling your favorite seventeen year old?"

"Sydney." Phillip said giving me an enthusiastic wave before returning to some game on his iPad.

Caleb looked over at me and narrowed his eyes. "It's you. The-I pour cereal first- lover." He said dramatically.

I couldn't help but laugh at the way he said it. He had that personality that made me feel comfortable around him. Natasha rolled her eyes, walking over to me and handing me a flat iron. "Caleb you're turning eighteen in a couple of days."

It didn't stop him from acting like a child and crossing his arms, looking over at the game Phillip was playing. "I'm probably Ivan's favorite seventeen year old."

"That's questionable." She said, walking out of the room.

"What? What do you mean by that? I don't like that you said that Natasha!" Caleb asked, yelling and running after her.

I turned around and Lucas looked down at the flat iron in my hand. "You can use my bathroom." He said.

I nodded at his offer and I followed him back to the front where we started walking up the stairs to his room. "How long does it take you to do that?" He pointed at the flat iron again.

I shrugged. "Depends."

"What if I did it?" He suddenly asked.

I raised my eyebrows at that. "You? Straightening my hair? That would probably take all day."

"I could do it." He said once we were at the top. He leaned against the railings beside the stairs where we had a view of some people entering the house, probably the rest of the bridal and groom party, I thought seeing Jon Ming walk in.

"No. No I doubt you could."

"Because I'm a guy?" He asked, looking offended.

I rolled my eyes. "No. That has nothing to do with anything. It's because you're Lucas."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked and I was confirmed that he was now completely offended by now.

"Even Devin said it. You're uncoordinated."

"No I'm not. He was just kidding."

I shot Lucas a look. "You knocked down a chair yesterday in Math class...just by standing."

"That chair was really light. Maybe gravity didn't have a strong hold on it."

"Yeah gravity didn't have a strong hold on it," I repeated, giving him the 'are you dumb look'. "That chair definitely was one of the only things in the world that didn't have the force of gravity acting upon it. Thank you scientist Lucas." I said dryly.

Why do I still like him again? I asked myself, looking him right in the eyes.

"Glad to have your input on it, logical Sydney." He shot back. 

When he fights my sarcasm with sarcasm. It literally just made him more attractive.

I didn't bother saying anything because before I could even I turned my head to the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs and someone bumped into Lucas.

"Oh shoot sorry-Lucas?"

The girl that bumped into him was tall. I thought I was tall for my age but she surpassed me by like four inches. She had some lean muscle which let me know she did some kind for sport but I didn't think she was technically a dancer. Her long brown hir was tied up in a ponytail and she wore a sweatshirt and Nike sweatpants. One of her hands was on the camera that hung around her neck. Her brown-practically hazel eyes looked down at Lucas and I.

She was pretty too but just by looking at her she acted like she didn't know it.

"Macy." Lucas said in surprise giving her a hug that she returned.

"Whoa...you grew too." She said in equal surprise.

Her height was the thing that surprised me the most of all. I knew some tall girls in my life and they carried themselves kind of awkwardly. She on the other hand, embraced it and I kind of admired that. 

Lucas laughed a little, the same type of laugh that I couldn't help but bite back a smile at. Macy's eyes shifted towards me and she gave me a smile. "Hey I'm Macy."

"Macy this is Canada girl." Lucas said and my jaw dropped. Did he actually introduce me to someone like that without hesitation? 

I couldn't stop myself from hitting him in the stomach with the back of my hand. "You're an idiot Turtle."

I turned back to Macy and she was looking at the both of us with a grin on her face now, showing that she was amused and intrigued by our interaction.

"I, uh, I'm Sydney." I tried not to stutter in meeting a new person. I was trying so hard not be awkward around her. 

"Nice to meet you Sydney." She said to me, her eyes bright.

"Are you going to see Sam?" Lucas asked her. I'm pretty sure Sam was the only other brother of the Cahill family that I didn't meet yet. Just when I was thinking that I realized that Macy was the girlfriend of Sam.

Ohhhhh, I thought to myself. 

"Yeah, is he still in his room?" She asked him, looking a bit happier with the sound of her boyfriend's name. It was so clear in her eyes that she obviously was in love with him. 

"Last I checked." Lucas said.

She nodded, saying bye to us before walking away and opening the door to another room, closing it behind her.

"That's Macy," Lucas told me as we walked into his room. "She's my brother, Sam's girlfriend."

"Is she the one that likes to read that you mentioned before?"

Lucas nodded, closing the door behind him. "Yeah. That's her."

"Does she play basketball or something? She looks really athletic." I said by my observation.

"Soccer. Her and Sam play soccer-football- in England now for university."

"That's cool."

"They want to get scouted and play professional," He said, looking at me over his shoulder when he opened the door to his bathroom. "Like how you want to be a professional dancer."

When I followed him inside, he closed the door too and I took a deep breath, being in this small room (it was actually a really big bathroom) with Lucas. He brought out a stool before snatching the flat iron out of my hand. "Can I do it now?"

He has got to be kidding me.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My phone was held up in one hand and I couldn't help but take a video of whatever was going on here.

By whatever is going on here, I mean Lucas standing beside me with the flat iron in his hand.

Yes, Lucas was straightening my hair.

"If you burn me or my hair I swear to God-"

"That you will kill me. You've said the same thing like twenty times Canada girl. I understand your empty threat. Now stop taking videos of me." He said with a smile on his face.

"No." I fought back, struggling to not move my head along to the beat of a song playing from my phone.

I kept the iPhone. I wasn't stupid not to. But I wasn't going to move back.

I ended up singing it loudly and getting really into it as Lucas stared at me with amusement because of my hand gestures at myself in the mirror. "What?" I asked him, laughing. The relationship between Lucas and I was so comfortable I think I felt more comfortable around him than anybody else.

"Like I said your taste in music is horrible."

"Shut up, your taste in music is horrible." I told him as I felt him hold a lock of my hair and carefully ran the flat iron through it. 

"It's not but I'll admit it once that this song isn't bad."

I gave him a smile through the mirror of his bathroom before taking a video of him straightening my hair and sending it to Octavia. "You nervous for tonight?" he asked me.

"No, not really," I admitted. "I really just want Phillip to do a good job on his solo. But I personally don't think dancing is a passion for him."

"You don't?"

"No, he seems more like the type to be in gymnastics. You know? That's just my opinion but the other day he was doing all these tricks in front of me and I can just picture him in the Olympics one day. His passion is in that, not dancing. I mean, he's just a kid but I can tell."

"What about you? What's going on with Julliard?" he suddenly asked.

I looked at him through the mirror getting off of my phone and feeling happy that he had remembered where I wanted to go. "I don't have to send my application in until December but I plan on applying to other dance schools if Julliard doesn't work out."

"It's good to have back up plans." Lucas mumbled continuing his job with the last lock.

There was a brief moment of silence between the both of us before he had pulled away. "Done."

"Wow you did a pretty good job." I told him, looking at myself in the mirror.

"I'd say I did a rather perfect job but if you want to be modest go ahead."

I stood up, slapping him lightly on the chest before exiting his bathroom. "Am I going to be able to see you in your dress?" he asked.

"Maybe." I told him. "Am I going to be able to see you in a tux?"

"Maybe." He said the exact same way giving me a smile that showed his dimples and I felt like I was theoretically melting into a puddle.

Just as I thought we were looking at each other longer then I thought we should, the door to his room opened and Kim came in looking at us with amused eyes. Oh God. "So...Natasha said we should meet in this room. We have to get ready and Lucas needs to drive Phillip to the other house where Ivan is because everyone's already left and-"

Lucas reached out for something and sighed. "And he needs my iPad because he wanted to play a certain game right? That's what he said?"

"Yeah." Kim said, glancing at me. 

She winked at me before she left. She left so fast I was practically glaring at the door and Lucas chuckled deeply. I looked at him, crossing my arms because he was laughing like I didn't know something. "What?"

"Nothing. Your friends are just so interesting." He shrugged as we walked out of the room.

"Yeah. Interesting." I muttered and he gave me a grin when we walked down the stairs and I saw Kim waiting for me through a different hallway.

"I'll see you later." He said, walking towards the direction of the living room.

I walked over to Kim who had a sneaky smile on her face. "I'll see you later." She mocked exaggerating the wink on her face.

"Shut up." I groaned.

"Wait till I tell Mary Anne about that." She started laughing as we walked down the hallway. "And I saw the video you sent Octavia with him doing your hair. It's on the group chat now."

It's going to be a long day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Someone was putting on my makeup and Kim was telling me stuff that Sarah sent her about some party Friday night.

"Okay, so you know Ken in your English class?"

"Yeah." I told her as the commotion around the room settled down a little.

"Well he was there right? At the party? Not even five minutes later and apparently no alcohol involved, he was making out with Mikayla."

"Wait? Mikayla? The one in your Improv class?" I asked her.

"Yeah."

"But isn't she-"

"Dating Wendell?" We both said at the same time. Kim touched the tight braids on her head before flickering her eyes back down to her phone. "Yeah, but the thing is Ken is dating-"

"Spencer." We both said at the same time again and my jaw almost dropped.

I thought my old school had drama back in Toronto but nothing compared to what happens between people at Hamilton Academy of the arts. It was crazy and the best person to get information about anything and anyone was our very own friend Sarah Ortega.

"Holy crap." I said in surprise.

"But the drama isn't even over yet because guess what?"

"What?" I laughed at how deep she was into all this and I felt like I was hearing about a new reality show.

No seriously. It was that good.

"It turned out Ken had a side girl."

"He was talking to another girl?"

"Not just talking. He was doing shit with another girl while he had another girl. You and I have to sit down one day and go over all this drama because I can't keep up with all of this myself." I laughed at her as she went across the room.

I didn't think I would actually be close to Kim considering she kind of caught in her own life to my perspective but since Thursday I didn't realize how great of a friend she actually was. She was a great talker too and made you seem like a part of any conversation even with her random use of abbreviations. 

While Kim was asking her cousins about something and I looked through my phone. I saw a message from Lucas, asking what was happening from his end. He had sent me a picture of Phillip who looked completely agitated.

I don't know why but that one message made feel conflicted about Lucas himself. I've clearly convinced myself that I am okay with just being friends with him. And I'm not sure that convincing has mentally worked in my mind.

Does rejection really make a girl think so much? I asked myself, wondering what the hell was wrong with me.  

"Hey Sydney." A voice said beside me.

I turned to face Macy, feeling nervous already. "Yeah?"

She had already finished her own hair. It was in long curls that framed her face and her she was looking at me with question in her eyes. "What's up with you?

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking down at my fingers because I felt like she was trying to pierce through my soul. 

"You okay?" She asked me.

"Yeah, it's just..." I exhaled and pushed my hair out of my eyes, feeling like I wanted to kick a wall or myself for feeling like this.

"Is it boy trouble?" Another girl asked. Her name from what Kim had told me was Jasmine. From my perspective of how things went in this room I figured that she was Macy's best friend. They were alike but they were physically different. Macy was super tall while Jasmine was around my height. There was also that Macy was white and Jasmine was black but I liked that that clearly did not matter and they didn't even acknowledge it. The same way Kim did with Octavia or me with Wesley.

I didn't even notice Natasha enter the room when she asked. "It's my idiot soon to be brother in law right?" Natasha asked, looking at the clock in the room.

"Which one?" One of Natasha's cousins' asked. 

"Lucas. Glasses." The bride to be said. I looked at her closely and even though she looked nervous as hell she was glowing. 

"What did a Cahill do now?" the blonde girl I had met the other night, Stevie asked. She took a seat in front of the dresser I was in front of blocking the mirror and asking me as if she's had experience. She has. She's dating a Cahill. That Cedric guy.  

I bit back a rant because I didn't even know most of the people in the room, my eyes flickering around the room nervously. "He didn't really do anything."

"He likes you but isn't bothering to tell you even though you already confessed to him." Kim spoke up in the silence. 

I sighed, giving her a look for saying accurate and inaccurate things. "Thanks Kim for summarizing it up for everyone even though that is not what I think." 

"It's Lucas," Macy said beside me. "I know that he probably and still used to talk to only one girl."

"Yeah, Jane." I told her just when my phone buzzed again and I glanced at the screen to see a video notification pop up from the exact guy. 

"Than if he's talking to you Sydney after only talking to one girl whose relationship with him seems completely platonic that I think we all know the reason." Macy told me and I sighed not wanting to get others involved in this...whatever it was-situation or something.

Telling Macy about it was okay. She looked like she wanted to be friends with me and didn't just want to get adjusted to my company.

"Yeah it's not friendship!" Kim exclaimed, exiting the room with some other people. 

Natasha gave me a look to follow her out of the room with mostly everybody else. I looked at her as she led me away from everyone else, near the back of the house. She stood near the patio doors and through the large backyard I could see where everything was set up and people putting finishing touches on decorations.

"Who's your maid of honor?" I asked her.

"My best friend Kayla," she responded with a faint smile.

"Is she from Manhattan like you are?"

"No she's actually from here. I used to come around every summer and she's one of the greatest friends that I've made here and in my entire life."

"What about your friends from New York?"

Natasha bit her lip, leaning against the wall. "Being friends with different people from different places made me learn that knowing someone for the longest doesn't make that person your greatest friend or strongest relationship. It the ones that understand you, stand by you, listen to you while you listen to them and love you who are the ones you can call a great or best friend. That's why I chose her to be my maid of honor."

I nodded in understanding. It was like Mary Anne who I had only met months ago and she literally just texted me a message as Natasha spoke. I felt as close to her as I felt with Wesley.

"Are you nervous?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

Natasha let out a small loud breath. "Extremely. But I know something would be wrong if I wasn't."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"More than you've already asked?" She said and I gave her a dry look that she laughed at. "Yeah sure."

"Why did you pick me to be a part of your bridal party?"

Natasha gave me a smile. "I knew you would ask that one day. I don't know. I do a lot of things out of instinct. I had a good feeling about you. I have a good feeling about a lot of things to be honest."

She laughed, looking out to the window. "Did you have a good feeling about Ivan when you first met him?"

"Honestly, I never even thought I would fall in love with Ivan. I didn't think I would fall for someone like him at all. I find it hard to believe everyday but I'm happy I did."

Someone called out for her and she followed the voice, pulling me along with her and ending our conversation as everyone got ready.

Hours later, I was by the side, talking to Kim and Greg as everyone settled in. I noticed other people taking pictures near the front but we were sat down on the stairs when Christian joined us. All the guys were wearing matching tuxes and black bowties while the girls wore long cerulean blue dresses.

All I could honestly think about was how cold everyone was going to be out there standing while the ceremony would take place.

Natasha looked nervous as hell and her best friend, the girl next to her Kayla was giving her a well deserved pep talk.

"Honestly I can't wait for the reception." Christian grumbled.

"Why?" Kim asked.

"Because of the food."He said. "Lucas has planned so much food. I can't wait."

Greg rolled his eyes at him, looking disgusted at his appetite and I couldn't help but laugh at his expression. "You're a pig." Greg muttered.

I watched Joey walk into the house, rubbing his hands furiously together and staring at the piano that was now located near the front. He stared at it before walking over to us. Someone please get this guy away.

"Why is there a piano?" He asked Christian.

"Mom. Something about pictures and stuff." Christian said, not really concentrating on his brother and looking down at his phone.

Joey glanced at me. "I didn't even notice you."

"I didn't want to be noticed by anyone, especially by you." I told him, getting up and walking past him.

I thought Joey Cahill was bad enough but the person I bumped into was even worse and I felt like pulling my hair out. "Lydia." I said, biting back my emotions at the sight of her. "You're here."

Yay.

She looked at me up and down. "I think there's something wrong."

"With what?" I asked her.

"Your dress," she said, holding a hand on her clutch. "Are you sure you're wearing this at a wedding? I think I saw it at Wal-mart or was it Macy's. No this definitely isn't from Macy's...it's too tacky."

She ended off her sentence with a bright fake smile and I opened my mouth to say something when someone had already beaten me to it. "Are you actually trying to insult an Elizabeth Cahill dress?"

Macy stood next me, one hand on the camera around her neck and the other looking like it was about to clench into a fist. Lydia stood still and I watched Macy get in her face, bending down to her height. "Are you?"

I held back a laugh as Lydia tried to match her glare and I think she was failing. "Who are you?"

"Depends. Who are you?" Lydia opened her mouth to speak but Macy beat her. "Whoops don't care."

Oh shit. I let out a little laugh at that and Lydia shifted her glare onto me which I held even though I tried to stop laughing.

She walked away and Macy rolled her eyes. "There are girls like her everywhere."

"I know." I mumbled, sighing and crossing my arms.

Macy looked down at me a amused smile when I felt someone poke me from behind. I swatted at the hand, knowing who it was before I turned around. "Lucas I swear to God..." I trailed off and he was already laughing.

"I'd say I'm sorry but you were right there I had to." He said, pocketing his phone before standing beside me.

"I'll leave you guys to it." Macy said with a smile, walking over to her best friend Jasmine.

I smiled at that and Lucas looked down at me. "You ready to walk down the aisle with me?"

"I am...will you be able to walk without falling?"

"Shut up," He grumbled and I laughed. "I come over here to compliment you only to get insulted.

I was about to reply to you when I noticed a guy walk over to Macy and she looked really happy to see him, hugging him. "Oh yeah that's Drake. Jasmine's brother." Lucas said. "You've met a lot of people today huh?"

"Yeah...the names are going to be hard to stick in my brain." I thought looking at everyone in the large corridor.

The wedding planner who had a Bluetooth in his ear and everything was practically screaming at everybody to get to their places. Everyone moved to the back of the house and I could see Natasha looking the most nervous I had ever seen her today as she held onto the arm of the man I think was her father.

When we reached the doors standing in the line, I looked over at Lucas to find him already staring at me. "Sydney?"

"Yeah?" I asked, trying to avoid his intense eyes.

"Uh, can we talk after all this?" he asked quietly, bringing his hands out of his pocket.

"Y-yeah-yeah we can." I mustered out, wondering what he really did want to talk about.

"Also? You look beautiful." He whispered in my ear before leaning back.

My eyes widened at the words that came out of his mouth and I couldn't even form the words thank you with my lips.

I kind of hated how he just stood there, looking ahead, not even knowing how good looking he was.

I kind of hated how even a couple of words that he says had a huge affect on me with him even trying.

I kind of hated that I liked him so much and realized I couldn't accept just friendship with him.