"Passengers, I would like to welcome you all to Roanoke, Virginia. It is now 1:00 pm, 92 degrees out and one of the nicest days we've had this year. Thank you for choosing United Airlines and have a wonderful day!" the plane's flight attendant chirped into the intercom as our plane hit the runway.
As it slowed to a hault, I quickly unbuckled my seatbelt and grabbed my luggage from above to beat the traffic of people leaving at the same time. My dad, Ike, Zac, and I hurried off of the plane and into the busy airport.
"So, now all we have to do is rent an airport taxi and we'll get to Blacksurg in no time, right?" Zac asked no one in particular while struggling to carry his one measly bag of clothes.
"Yes, and I'll go do just that. Guys, go wait for me over in those blue chairs and I'll be right back," Dad told us.
I flung my red back-pack over my shoulder and lazily walked over to the row of seats. It would take forty-five minutes to get to Blacksburg, and estimate of half an hour to settle into the crumy little motel we'd reserved a room in, and then I could rollarblade on over to Jen's house and surprise her. Hopefully, school would be out for her by then.
Ike looked over at me and shook his head. "I can't believe you're dragging me all the way across the country to pick up your girlfriend," he said in amusment.
"She's not my girlfriend!" I said in protest.
"Well, you wish she was, but you're too irresponsible to handle music and dating at the same time," Zac shot me a wise-crack coment.
I didn't say anything. "Oh, chill, Tay! We're just picking on you," Isaac said and began to laugh.
"Hardy har har," I said sarcastically, "Very funny!"
"Alright, come on. Isaac, Zachary, Taylor. The taxi is waiting for us," my dad called and ran up to us.
"That was fast!" Zac said and grabbed his things.
"Blacksburg, here we come!" I said as we reached the spot in the parking lot where the van was sitting.
The driver smiled at us and asked what type of music we'd like to listen to while we were in the car.
"Hmm... how about Hanson," Zac said slyly and wondered whether the guy would notice.
"Well, you're in luck because I just happen to have a copy of Middle Of Nowhere with me today. My daughter's a big fan," he told us and slipped in the CD.
We began singing along halariously and the driver complimented us. "You three sound a lot like the band. You know, you could go pro if you wanted to." We all laughed at that.
The motel was musty and dirty, but we decided that we could live through the night. Everything in town looked so familiar. I'd seen it all before and it was all like a dream to actually be back again.
My brothers and I raced down the hall to the room to see who could reach the door first. "Ha! I won," Isaac declared in triumph.
"No fair! You had a head start!" Zac protested. Our dad came by with the key and opened the room for us. Actually, it was two rooms with doors connecting them. I grabbed the first bed and Zac grabbed the second one.
"Pooh," Isaac muttered and went into the next room.
I set my stuff on the bed, unzipped my bag, and pulled out my rollarblades. "Well, I'm off to Jen's house," I told Zac while taking my regular shoes off.
"Already?"
"Yup. I'll be back before dark so don't worry."
"Um... yea, whatever. Tootles," Zac called as I ran to the front of the motel.
It wouldn't be too far to Jennifer's house. I'd get there just as she would come home from school. My plan would work perfectly. Once my blades were on nice and tight, I sped off down the street until the bike path came into view. I'd just follow it and I'd be there in no time flat. The path leads straight behind her house. I smiled to myself and picked up speed.
Jen's white house looked different, I can tell you that. The white color was even brighter than when I last saw it and the tree smack in front of the house was now covered in green leaves and pink flowers. The grass was taller too. It wasn't as dull as I saw it in the winter. The sun's heat shown down on me and I was glad that I actually had the chance to rollarblade in warm weather without getting mobbed.
Jennifer had explained how Blacksburg wasn't exactly a "Hanson" town. We didn't have that many fans. Mostly haters and people who didn't care either way. Basically, I had no problems.
I jumped off the path and rolled over to the front of the building and scrambled up the lawn to the front door. My watch read 3:05 pm. I hope she's home I thought. Well, she probably was considering her school got out a little less than an hour ago.
Nervously, I felt myself ring the doorbell. No answer. I tried it again. Still no answer. I tried again after that. Eventually, there were footsteps from inside and a voice that called, "I'm coming."
The door squeaked open and I saw Jen's mom standing there with their parrot, PJ, on her shoulder. I saw the look of surprise on her face at the sight of me standing patiently in front of her.
"Taylor? What a surprise to see you here!" she said with a short whistle from the bird as well.
"Hi! Um, is Jennifer here?" I asked hopefully.
What came next hit me hard in the stomach. "No, actually. She went home with a boy from school to study last minute for a test."
I think my mouth fell open in shock. Boy? Study? Those two words did not go good together. Especially concerning Jennifer. Jen's mom must have seen the look of pain on my face.
"She'll be home in about half an hour though. She won't be gone that long. Would you like to come inside to wait?" she asked.
I stood up straight. "Um, sure! I'd love to," I said and stepped into the house.
The inside looked about the same as it had before. The dogs that lived here ran up to me to sniff me and find out where I'd been gone all along. "Hey doggies!" I greeted them and they licked my fingers greatfully.
"Would you like something to eat while you're here?" Jen's mom asked.
"I guess so. What do you have?" I asked while rubbing dog slobber off of my hands and onto my shorts.
"Well, we have ice cream, juice boxes, water, milk, coke, fruit, basically anything," she replied while glancing around into the fridge.
"A juice box is fine, thank you," I told her and helped myself to a seat at the dinning room table.
"Okay, Taylor. What flavor?"
"Do you have fruit punch?"
"We sure do," she said and grabbed a box.
I took small sips of the drink while waiting for 3:30 to roll around. I wished Jennifer would hurry up and get back and I just prayed that she was only there to study...
Mostly, Jen's mom tried to keep me entertained by telling me wild stories about Jennifer and how she had acted while I was away. Basically, I didn't really see any reason to pay attention, so I just stared over at the picture of fruit on the wall while glancing at the front door every now and then.
Sooner or later, I'm not exactly sure when, I caught sight of a car pulling up in front of her house and I practically scared the dog's and the parrot to death by leaping up and rushing to the front door.
A car door opened and, sure enough, the Jen I hadn't seen in what seemed the longest time, climbed out. I assumed the boy she'd gone home with was there since she had her back turned and was probably thanking them. I leaned over to try and get a small glimpse of who she had spent the afternoon with. I had no such luck because the door closed before I could look in.
With my hand pressed against the screen, I watched as Jennifer turned around and flung her back-pack over her shoulder as she headed up the lawn. I smiled for a split second before bursting open the door for a surprise.
"Jennifer!?" I yelled down at her.
Jen stopped to look up and shielded her eyes to block out the bright sun. I stepped out onto the front stoop to give her a better view of who I was when she suddenly dropped her back-pack to the ground in surprise.
"Taylor?" she asked at first in a soft whisper. Obviously, she already knew that it was really me. She was just beyond shock. "Taylor!" she said again except in the form of a statement. "Oh my God! Tay!" she yelled and ran up to me.
I let the door slam behind me. Jennifer dashed up the steps and quickly embraced me in a hug. I hugged her back and decided that I'd never felt more happier than seeing her again.
"Huh... oh... God... woah... Taylor, what are you doing here? I mean, I didn't exactly expect you to be here when I came home! Why... how... I don't understand. Why didn't you tell me?" she asked me so many questions at once.
"Just answer me one quick question first?" I told her, wanting to get something off of my mind.
"Shoot," she said, still holding onto me.
"Who'd you go home with after school?"
"Oh, no one you'd know. It's no big deal," she answered and continued to hug me still.
"Was it Tommy?"
Jennifer took a step back and looked at me as if I were a nut. Tommy was an idiotic boy who goes to school with Jen. I, unfortunetely, ran into him the last time I was in B-burg.
"Good God, no!" she cried. "What were you thinking?"
I laughed a short innocent laugh. "Just making sure you hadn't gone wacko yet," I told her and hugged her again.
We pulled away again and both of us looked sheepishly down at the ground although we weren't quite sure why.
"So, do you wanna go inside and then you can explain everything to me?" Jen asked quietly.
"Actually, I was kind of wondering if you might want to come have an early dinner with me at, let's say, McDonald's or something like that?" I asked hopefully. "I could explain then."
She smiled at me. "Sure, I'd love to. But how are we gonna get there?"
"Easy. We'll rollarblade!" I replied and pointed to my blades right inside the doorway.
Jennifer's mouth hung open. "Are you crazy? You actually want to rollarblade all the way to McDomald's? That's like, a couple of miles away."
"So? I rollarbladed from the nearest motel."
"That's even farther!"
"Oh well, we'll get lots of exercise. Besides, your dad's office is almost right next door," I insisted while pulling her inside.
"Okay, okay, just let me go get my rollarblades," she said and went down the steps towards her room.
"I'll come along," I said and followed her down.
I was anxious to see if Jennifer's room had changed any. Well, all the furniture was still in their same places, but I immediately noticed the rows and rows of mirrors that I could see my reflection in on the walls. Then I realized that they weren't mirrors at all... they were posters... of me. I thought she didn't put these things on her walls!
I looked around in confusion at the pin-ups and centerfolds of me. It looked pretty odd. Only a few of them were of all three of us. "Okey dokey, I'm ready," Jen interupted my thoughts and jumped out from under the bed with her blades.
She ran upstairs to the kitchen to where mer mother was still sitting at the table. "Mom, I'm going to go have dinner with, Tay. Is that okay?"
"Yes, that's fine sweetie," she said without looking up.
"Can I have some money?"
"Oh, I'll pay. Don't worry about that," I said and interupted their miniature conversation.
"Thanks, Taylor," her mom said.
Jennifer and I slipped out the door and onto the front stoop where we tied our rollarblades on tight and took off down the street.