I opened my eyes to a room that wasn't my own. I was facing out a window towards the bright sun, filling the day. The rain had stopped and all that was left were small puddles of water here and there. My back ached and as I looked around, I discovered that I wasn't in my own bed, or any bed at all. I was on the floor.
Then it hit me. I was still in the guestroom! Memories from the night before with Jennifer flowed back to me. 'I guess we fell asleep on the floor while talking' I told myself.
But Jen wasn't in the room anymore. I found myself all alone. A thought hit me and I jumped up off the floor in a flash and headed for the door. 'What would mom and dad have thought if they'd found me in here on the floor with a girl?' I guessed that they probably wouldn't be too pleased. Had anyone seen me?
I ran back to my own room and quickly dressed. My maroon adidas shirt and jean cut-offs were my choices. I slipped them on and slowly headed out to the kitchen while making sure to act casual.
Zac was busily munching down waffles when I walked in.
"G'day Tay!" he chirped with a full mouth.
"Hi Zac," I replied blankly and searched through the cereal cabinets for something to eat. "Where's Jennifer?"
"I'm not sure, but I think she left this morning and went over to Alex's house," he replied before stuffing some more waffle into his mouth.
I sighed heavily and poured some cheerios into a plastic bowl and carried them to the table where I sat down next to Zac.
"When did she leave?" I asked.
Zac stuck down his fork. "What am I? Her mother!" he exclaimed.
"I was just asking."
We were both silent for a few minutes until Zac finished his food and brought his plate up to the sink. Instead of heading off somewhere, he headed back towards me. "Taylor, do ya wanna go rollarblading with me after you eat?" he asked.
"Um... I dunno," I said after I swallowed my cereal.
"Please? We could go get Jen on the way back! Please?" he begged.
I figured it couldn't hurt. "Alright Zac. Once around the block."
"Yes! Oh, I am the king! I rule! See ya after breakfast," he said with a grin and headed out to the living room to watch some television.
I inhaled the rest of the contents in my bowl and ran back to my room to find a pair of skates. Then I brought them out to the front of the house and tied them tight. Zac was already doing circles around the driveway.
"Hey little bro! Let's go!" I called out to him and he glanced up.
"It's about time!" he said while I skated full-speed towards him.
"I'll race you down to that tree," I yelled and pointed at a particular tree off in the distance.
I'd already skated in front of Zac while he was still looking around to where I'd pointed to. "Hey, no fair! You got a head start!" he said and tried to catch up.
He was too late. "Yes, ha ha! I won," I declared and placed my hands on the tree as if it were a safety spot in a game of tag.
"Taylor! You know, you're pretty good for a girl," he shot a wise-crack comment at me.
I made a childish face and hit him lightly on the arm. "Zac, you'd make a cute girl."
"You are one!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Not," I said and skated backwards so I was facing Zac.
He struggled to keep up.
"Too!"
"Nope!"
"Yup!"
"Shut-up Zac," I said and took off.
Pretty soon, he was skating next to me once again as we both headed down the block.
"I still say you're a girl," he whispered.
"Zac, don't start up again," I replied.
He did a quick twist and jumped up onto the sidewalk while skating backwards. He looked at me with a smirk that seemed to say he was better than me.
"I except the challenge," I mumbled and jumped twice in mid- air.
"You think you're a big-shot don't you?" Zac said stubornly with his hands placed on his hips.
I opened my mouth to say another one of my sarcastic comments, but a blow of pure pain hit me at that moment! There was screaming everywhere around us, it seemed. I covered my ears and saw that Zac had done the same.
Before I could move, we were surrounded... by girls. Teenage girls. Fans! Dang! We forgot our sunglasses! I thought, but smiled weakly at the fans.
Zac was already signing autographs when I looked back at him. He didn't seem bothered by the crowd one bit. The sudden surprise by the screams had worn off and they were actually quieter now. I took down my hands and reached into my pocket where I retrieved my EAP - emergency autograph pen. You never know when someone will come up to you and ask for one.
The small group of five or six girls handed pieces of paper and took pictures while I signed their stuff.
"Thanks, Taylor!" they squealed and ran off.
I sighed and turned to Zac. "Okay, that was weird."
"No kidding. Now let's get Jenny-poos!" he exclaimed and sped off towards Alex's house.
"Zac, why are you so interested in seeing Jennifer?" I asked.
"No reason. She's just someone different than everyone else for a change."
I skated up with Zac following behind me until we reached Alex's huge, brick house. A strong aroma hit me hard. It was the flower gardens. Alex's mom is a gardening freak so, of course, there are about a million different wild flowers on her front lawn.
My brother ran up and rang the doorbell furiously a couple hundred times before we heard footsteps from inside. Alex opened the front door with an exhausted look on her face. She managed a smile when she saw us.
"Oh, hey guys. Um.. can I talk to you for a second?" she asked without letting us in.
"Sure," Zac replied and she stepped out onto the front stoop and closed the door behind her.
"Okay, Jennifer's really upset for some reason. She was fine this morning and then somehow, I said something and she just broke down into tears. She's upstairs in my room," Alex told us and looked over at me like she new a secret.
The smile faded on my face. For some reason, I had a feeling this had to do with me. Was it because of last night? What did I do?
"Why? She was fine earlier!" Zac exclaimed in a worry.
I opened my mouth, but didn't know what to say. Zac didn't know about almost asking Jen out the night before and who knew what Alex knew!
"Taylor, you might want to talk with me in pri-" Alex began to say, but the door behind her flung open.
Jennifer stood in the doorway - a small hint of tear streaks on her face. "Hey guys," she said calmly.
I looked up and a guilty feeling washed over me. But why did she break down in tears? "Hi Jen," I said. "We came by to see if you wanted to play a game of basketball with Zac and I?" I asked.
"We did?" Zac asked and I nudged him in the ribs. I think he got the picture. "Oh, yea, soccer. Wanna play with us?"
"Sure, I guess. Is Alex coming?"
"Actually, no, I can't," Alex interupted. "I have chores I have to do."
"Okay, cool," she agreed and stepped towards me. "Well, Alley, I'll see you later, okay?"
"M'kay. Tootles," she called and Jennifer had already gotten a head start in front of us. I quickly followed.
"Jennifer, wait up!" I called. She slowed her pace. Zac followed behind me.
"Hi Taylor," she said silently while looking down at the ground.
"Jennifer, look," I began, but didn't know what to say.
"No, Taylor look. I've been a bitch lately. You probably think that it's something you did, but it's not. It's just me - it's a lot of things. Everything basically. I just couldn't take it anymore," she exclaimed with a sniffle.
"I've also been thinking, while I was talking to Alex, I shouldn't have been so... afraid last night," she continued.
"Jen, no you were right. I've been thinking about it too and, well, it's all up to you. I shouldn't have tried to kiss you," there - I actually said the word - kiss!
"Tay," she said and rubbed her eyes, "this isn't really about playing soccer, is it?" she asked with a small laugh.
I laughed. "No, I guess not."
"Oh, and, really, maybe we could... maybe it is possible-" she said and turned to me, but Zac stepped in.
"So, are we going to play soccer?" he asked in an excited tone.
"No, Zaccy, we aren't," I said in by baby voice.
"Aw, pooh!" he said with a snap of his fingers.
"You know, we should show you around town. So far, you've only seen the neighborhood," I told Jennifer.
"I'd love to. And I really wanna see the Philbrook Art Center," she said.
"Well, maybe we could get Ike to come along!" Zac suggested. "He could drive!"
"M'kay! That sounds good," we both agreed.
Once we had reached the house again, Jen said she had to go change first while Zac went to pester Isaac about the car ride. After everyone had gone back inside, I dribbled a basketball around the driveway with my shades on. The certain thought kept nagging at me. What had Jen almost said before Zac came in? Did it have to do with us? The two of us together. It made me think hopeless thoughts... was there still a chance?
Suddenly, I snapped awake from my trance at the beep of a car horn. The other three were already inside the vehicle. I smiled and got up. On the car ride into town, I sat in the front with Zac and Jen behind. And the entire time, I felt Jennifer's eyes boring into the back of my head longingly...