The next morning, I found myself in Jen's room even before she had woken up. I sat beside the bed, facing her. She was turned on her side and facing me. I smiled and gently rubbed her cheek.
Then an idea popped up into my mind as I stood up and laughed quietly to myself about what I was about to do.
"Jennifer! Wake up! Tommy's in the same bed as you!" I yelled at the top of the lungs and watched as the poor girl shot up from her sleep and fell off the bed.
"Woah, what? Huh?" she mumbled and searched around for the idiot before she squinted up at me. "Taylor, you idiot! Don't scare me like that! Besides, I need my beauty sleep."
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," I scolded. "You shouldn't be calling your boyfriend stupid!"
"That's what boyfriends are for, Stupid!" she laughed.
"Well, just thought I'd wake you up," I said and left the room with a huge grin plastered across my face.
I wandered into the hallway and met Isaac halfway. He gave me a strange look as I muffled my giggles.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
"Nothing," I said and passed him.
Zac showed up once I'd wandered towards the couch and switched on the television. "Hey Blondie! You've got a phone call!" he said and handed out the phone.
Slowly, I got up off my comfortable seat and picked it up.
"Hello?" I asked out breathlessly into the phone.
There was silence on the other end. "Hello?" I asked again with a little confusion in my voice. There still wasn't an answer. "Uh... hello?" I asked again. Then I heard soft giggles. "Who is this?"
I could barely make out someone whispering. "Oh my God! It's really him!" someone exclaimed with a squeal from the background.
"Look, if you don't speak up, I'm hanging up!"
I finally got an answer. "Hi! Taylor? Well, hi! My name is Susan," a girl said nervously. What are you supposed to say to something like that?
"Are you a fan?" I asked, guessing the answer.
"Yes! I'm your number 1 fan and I absolutely love you Taylor. Hey, do you think you could come visit me in Florida? I sure would love that. I know it seems strange that I'm calling, but I really would like to get to know you better," the girl went on and on.
I stopped the rambling, one-sided conversation. "Um, I'm sorry. I can't. Love to, but can't. I'm afraid I'm just too busy."
"Oh, that's a bummer."
"Look, I have to go," I said as I saw Jennifer walk into the room while brushing her hair.
"Oh, okay. Call me, okay? My number is-"
"Bye!" I said quickly and hung up before Susan got a chance to tell me her phone number.
A few seconds later, the phone rang again. I'm sorry, but when fans get a hold of our number, it annoys to heck out of me.
"Hello?" I said with an annoyed tone.
"Hi Tay. It's me again. Why'd you hang up on me? I was just in the middle of giving you my-"
I hung up without any questioning. "Who was that?" Jen asked me and put her brush down on the couch.
"Nobody special."
She nodded. "Oh, so what's are schedule for today?" she asked eagerly.
"Well, I was thinking we could hit the movie theatres straight after lunch because the evenings are when the big crowds come."
"Sounds cool. Now what's for breakfast?"
"Good, old fashioned, homemade pancakes," said Zac as he came into the room, licking his fingers. "My treat!"
"Cool! Thanks Zac!" I said. "That was nice of you to cook."
"Alright guys, tell me when the pancakes are ready. I'm going to call Jessica, okay? I haven't talked to her in ages and she'll probably go crazy if she doesn't hear from me soon. I think I'll also give Emily a ring," Jennifer said.
"Ooo! Tell Jessie 'hi' for me, okay? And tell her I'm looking foward to seeing her again soon," Zac smiled. Jen nodded her head and left the room.
I looked over at Zac with a sly grin. "Does Zaccy have a crush?" I teased.
"Nope, just a really cool friend," he said and blushed.
But it made me wonder if he was really telling the truth about that. As I headed for the dinning room table, my mind drifted back to Blacksburg - back to the concert where I'd met Jennifer's friends. I focused on Emily and smiled with a silent laugh.
She was stuck in my mind as the little happy girl who was in love with me. It was strange how she's acted so love sick when she'd met me and I signed her shirt for her. I wondered if I'd get to see Emily soon. Or all of Jen's other girl friends too!
Speaking of Jen, where was she? How long had it been already? I was sitting alone at the table and had been for at least five minutes. I was about to get up and find her, when Jennifer entered the room again, carrying the portable phone and chatting with her friend. She sat down across from me.
"Yea, hold on a second, Emily, okay?" she asked and put down the phone. "She wants to know if you can talk to her?" she asked.
The last thing I needed was another phone call from a fan, but what the heck - I've met this one and I know what to expect!
"Alrighty," I agreed.
Jennifer put the phone back up to her ear. "He'll talk," she said and I barely made out a muffled squeal from the phone. She handed it out to me.
"You know," I said and grabbed it from Jen, "maybe we could stop by Blacksburg," I said. "I know your friends there would love it!"
"That would be so cool! We could throw a party or something!" Jennifer suggested.
I nodded and focused on the phone again. "Hello?"
"Taylor?" Emily asked breathlessly into the telephone.
"Yup, it's me!"
"Cool! How's it going?" she asked.
"Fine, thanks. How's everything where you are?"
"It's all cool. Are you going to visit me, Tayles?" she pleaded in a sarcastic tone.
"Funny you should ask that," I hinted. "Maybe I could work that into my schedule."
The answer she gave was surprised. "Uh... really?" There was a relieved giggle. "That's... that's awsome.. wow. I hope you can, Tay," she said.
"Don't worry, you'll hear from me soon. So, what's up?"
"Nothing much. I'm just doodling in a notebook of mine and trying to get my sister to stop bugging me. She wants to use the phone. Why aren't you coming to Blacksburg on the tour?"
"I don't have any control over the dates. You should know that! Besides, Mercury Records considers it too small of a town."
"Yea, but still! Give the small towns a chance! Ugh! You know what, I have to go. My mom wants me off... but I don't want to leave!"
"That's okay. I have to go too. Breakfast is ready," I said when I noticed Zac carrying out a plate of pancakes.
"I hope the kitchen's all in one piece," Jen laughed.
"So, I guess I'll talk to you later, right?" Emily sighed into the phone.
"Okey dokey," I said. "Bye!"
"Bye! Call me!"
"Okay!" I agreed and hung up the phone. I handed the portable back to Jen and saw that she and my brother were already munching down on the food.
I grabbed myself a pancake and tried a bite. It was pretty good considering that Zac was the chef behind them! He wasn't known for being a great cook, that's for sure.
Zac grabbed the phone and began dialing a number. "Who are ya calling?" Jen asked.
"Jessica," he replied simply and put the phone up to his ear.
The two of us exchanged looks and shrugged. "Someone's in love," Jen whispered to me.
"No kidding... or at least it looks that way. He told me she's just a friend."
"Yo! Peace, love, and Bullet-Proof Marshmallows!... yup, it's me, Jessie... what's up? How's it going... cool... so, do ya miss me... of course.. uh-huh... Tay and Jen are planning to visit you I think.... Yea, they're here..." the conversation went on as I got up to put my dish away.
Jennifer did the same. I grabbed her hand and pulled her off to my room. "Jen," I said once we were alone, "What movie do you want to see?"
"Oh, I don't care really. What do you want to see?"
"I don't know... that's why I asked you!"
"Hmm... how about a comedy. I'm in the mood for that!" she decided.
I grabbed the movie listing, which I'd brought in last night to look at, and read off the titles. Finallly, the two of us decided on a feature. Ike was going to drive us to the theatre and walk around the mall with Alex while we were there.
"You know, Tay, this will form a huge problem if someone spots us," Jen stated.
She did have a point. "Well... we can wear sunglasses and I'll put my hair up under a hat."
Jennifer sighed. "I hope that works because who knows what people will assume. Rumors spread faster than you even realize that they've formed to begin with!"
"Well, we'll just have to be extra careful," I said and stuffed some money into my pockets.
Jennifer and I ran back out to the living room and found Zac, who was still on the phone, happily, with Jessica.
"And how much is this call costing?" Jennifer asked me.
I shrugged. "Zac, get off the phone! And have you seen Ike anywhere?"
"Out back," Zac said quickly and went back to his one-sided conversation.
In our backyard, the two of us discovered Isaac and Alex kicking around a soccer ball to pass time by. Ike looked up when we walked in.
"So, can you take us?" Jen asked and put on a sweet smile.
"Uh-huh, sure. No problem," he said and Alex walked over while holding the black and white ball.
"Hey guys," she chirped.
"Hey Alley," Jennifer and I said in unison.
Ike, Alex, Jen and I climbed into the van. I leaned back to relax as Isaac drove us off to the mall.
I found the theatre entrance in the mall and quickly bought tickets. Jennifer was already over at the snack area buying popcorn and drinks for the two of us. I hurried over to her and grabbed her so we could just make the previews.