"Taylor, sweetie, will you please take these clothes to your room," my mom stopped me in the hallway and handed me some laundry.
"Okay, mom. I will," I said and tried to make my way past her.
"Oh, and I have to remind you, you'll have to start packing soon, maybe today. Remember, you leave for Europe in three days," she said and looked down at me.
"Um, okay. That's plenty of time. Don't worry, I'll pack," I said and began to head down the hall.
"Oh, and Taylor," she said and I froze in my tracks. "Make sure Jennifer gets help with packing as well," she reminded me.
"Yes, mom," I said and dashed towards my room.
I quickly stuck the clothes into my dresser drawers and grabbed my friendship necklace. I'd noticed that Jennifer was still wearing hers and hadn't even taken it off yet.
We had just gotten back from a drive around Tulsa, or at least what we could fit into an hour. We still hadn't seen that much. Basically we showed Jen the best ice cream parlors and toy stores. Actually, Zac was the one who had fun showing her that stuff, until we got kicked out of most of them. Zac had a habit of making messes of places.
I had something planned first. I had gathered up my guts - I was going to ask Jennifer out. I hadn't really asked her before. I'd just tried to kiss her and I wasn't clear on what her answer would be. I just knew that I really wanted it to be 'yes'.
I'd grown attached to the thought of having a girlfriend and I had decided that I liked Jen enough, despite what I'd told her before. Maybe, just maybe, a long distance relationship could work out.
No one but my journal knew what I'd been thinking about these past few days. Sure, Zac and Ike were guessing, but they would be surprised if I suddenly had a girlfriend.
Jennifer was stretched out on the couch next to Isaac in the living room when I walked in. The TV was on with another one of those game shows with messed up hosts. My lap-top was set near Jen and she had the internet running.
I went over at sat on the floor in front of her.
"Hey Jen, can I talk to you for a second?" I asked.
"Sure, Tay," she said and got off the couch.
I took her by the arm, back to my room and set her down on my bunk. She looked at me questionably before I began.
"Alright, Jennifer. This might seem weird since I'm asking you now, after what happened, but I just want to say that it's up to you," I began.
"Taylor, what are you talking about?" she asked but I held my finger up to tell her I was about to explain.
"Okay, what I'm trying to say is... well... I've thought about it and I wanted to know if... uh.... Jennifer, would you be my girlfriend?" I asked with and innocent giggle. I crossed my fingers.
Jennifer began playing with her blue shirt and she looked down at it. I closed my eyes and waited for an answer.
"Tay, I've thought about this a lot too, and... what would you say if I told you that I'd be happy to," she replied.
I swear, I almost died then. I looked around in surprise. "Oh my God," I mumbled and looked up at Jennifer.
She was laughing at me. "Oh my God," I said again. "You want to? You really want to?" I asked.
She nodded. "Of course, I do, silly! I like you a lot!" she said and stood up. I stood up too and hugged her tightly.
"Oh, Jen, I never ever want to let go," I whispered and felt her hug me again.
"I'm sorry if I sounded like I didn't want to last night. I just hadn't completely decided yet on if I was ready," she said in the same tone. "But, Taylor, what are you going to tell the fans?" she asked and took a step back.
"We don't have to tell them anything," I said with a mixture of excitment and shock. "We can keep it a secret and no one would ever know."
She looked at me thoughtfully. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"I hope so," I said. "So, I know that going to see movies is getting old, but do you wanna see one with me tonight?" I asked her.
"I'd love to," Jen replied. "Oh, Taylor," she said and hugged me again.
I can't even begin to tell you how good I felt then. I suddenly had that small tinge of excitment knowing that I belonged to someone, someone was there.
I put my arm around Jen's waist and walked back down the hall to the living room where Ike was still sitting watching television. He stopped for a minute to glance at us and he gave me a quick look of confusment.
"Okay," he said. "What happened here? Are you two serious or are you just trying to mess my brain up?"
I felt Jennifer laugh and look over at me.
"Isaac," I said in a proud voice. "I'd like you to meet my girlfriend."
I burst into laughter along with Jen at how corny I sounded. There was silence from Ike as he looked from me, to Jen, and back to me. I guessed that he was still trying to figure out whether we were serious or not.
Finally, he blinked out of his trance. "It's about time! Congrats!" he said as we smiled. "Have you told Zac?"
"No, not yet," we said in unison.
"Well, he'd probably be surprised!"
"I am surprised," said a voice behind us. "Way to go guys!!"
It was Zac. He was eating patato chips with a huge grin on his face. "I told you guys that you were lovebirds!"
"Now we are, Zaccy," Jen said with her arm around me as well.
Zac continued to stand and smile. I looked over at Jennifer.
"We aren't telling anyone about this, okay? We're just going to be the same single guys," I said and looked at my brothers. They nodded.
"Okay, Tay. If that's what you want," Ike agreed and went to watching tv again.
"Taylor," I heard Jen say beside me. "Now can you give me that kiss?"
I smiled and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
"Musy, mushy, mushy," Zac commented and went to sit on the couch.
I looked over at Jennifer and smiled. Nothing could go wrong and I was happy. At that moment, I didn't care what the fans thought... Jen meant a lot. Hopefully the band would stay the same. Besides, I had a date to look foward to. Jen was my first girlfriend and I didn't want to screw things up!
"Taylor," she said and looked over at me.
"Hmm?"
"It's rude to stare!"
We all cracked up at that! Everything is going to be okay. I've got Jennifer and my brothers. What could go wrong? I spent the rest of the time surfing the net with Jen until mom called us for dinner.