Broken Hill Havoc (Broken Hill High Series 5)

I let out a sigh as the thought of yet another project seems to drown me. Nope. Not going there. I want to enjoy this burger. I can concentrate on school work later.

I look up at the sound of Brooke slurping the last of her strawberry milkshake up her straw. “Crap, that was good,” she says, sitting back and placing her hands over her bulging, filled stomach while looking as though she desperately wants to let out a huge, earth shaking burp.

“I know,” I agree, popping another fry in my mouth.

“I think this shake was even better than the ones we had over summer.”

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “It’s not possible.” Summer was incredible. We spent days upon days at Broken Hill lake where Jesse finally got to put his new boat to proper use. He was like a kid in a candy store. Everyone was water skiing, the boys were running around shirtless making all the girls drool and the jet skis were brought along. So, no matter how good Brooke’s strawberry milkshake was, it could never compare to the ones we had over summer because those shakes came with the memories of the best summer of my life.

It was bittersweet though. It marked the fact that we were moving on with our lives and some of us weren’t going to be around for much longer. Brylee was going to Yale a million miles away, Jesse was going onto his senior year with Tyson and Kaylah, Nate was starting his business, and Brooke and I were going to be killing ourselves at college. Courtney was accepted into college about an hour away, and naturally, Puck followed her there. Elle is studying dance and has finally accepted the fact that she wants to be a world class choreographer while Jackson… unfortunately, we’re still stuck with him. Jackson is now on the football team of Broken Hill University, just the way he had always wanted.

I guess, in the end, we all kind of got what we wanted, it’s just sad that for the most part, we’re all apart. I don’t get to see the same faces every single day. Though with Jesse, all I have to do is say his name and he somehow just appears. Speak of the devil and he shall appear. I’ve never heard a saying more appropriate for Jesse. He’s never far away.

I know it’s only two weeks into school but Jesse is absolutely loving senior year so far. He slipped straight into Nate’s role of being the boss man of Broken Hill High, and not that I’d ever admit it to him, but it suits him. He still doesn’t know what he wants to do with the rest of his life, but I can see him in a job where he has a whole lot of minions to boss around and kiss his feet.

“Come on,” I tell Brooke, grabbing my things off the table. “If I get back to your dorm now, I should still get an hour sleep so I don’t crash out during Political Science.”

“Ok,” she says, following my lead. “I have a bit of studying that I should get stuck into too.”

“K,” I murmur as she loops her arm through mine. We make our way back out into the fresh air, dragging our full stomachs along.

“So,” Brooke says as she excitedly drags my exhausted body along beside her. “For this guy I want to find, I was thinking of dark hair and light eyes with a rock hard body. But he has to be tall and give off that bad boy, alpha vibe, otherwise no deal.”

“You realize you just described Maxen, right?”

“No, I didn’t. If I wanted a guy like Maxen, I would have added traits like douchebaggery and unfaithful tendencies.”

I can’t help but laugh. “We’ll find you the perfect guy,” I say with a bounce of my shoulders.

“Who knows?” she says with an evil little smirk. “Maybe a guy even better than the famous Ryder brothers.”

“No,” I laugh. “That’s just unrealistic. A guy better than Nate or Jesse simply doesn’t exist.”

“Geez,” she laughs. “I think you have Stockholm Syndrome.”

I shake my head as we barge our way into Brooke’s dorm room. We come screeching to a halt when we find her bitch of a roommate staring back at us. Though, staring is probably the wrong word. It’s a disgusted glare, letting us know just how unwelcome we are, especially me as I don’t actually live here.

I roll my eyes at the bitch and release my arm from Brooke’s. “Sorry,” I grin as I begin backing out of the room. “You’re on your own with this one.”

“Oh, hell no,” Brooke laughs, stepping out of her dorm room and slamming the door behind her. “I am not in the mood to deal with that.”