"No!!" he screamed.
   Tay sat up.  He looked around and realized that it was 
only a dream.  His breathing was quite irregular, very quick.  
Drenched in cold sweat.
   "Tay! Tay, whats wrong?" Isaac's voice could be heard 
from above.
   "I, uh, I just had a really horrible dream," he 
answered and with that he stood up and looked at his 
brother.
   "Lets go downstairs," Issac suggested.
   "OK."  Taylor put on his sweat-pants and went down-
stairs.  He sat down at the kitchen counter and looked 
around.  He didn't see anyone.  Just then Zac walked in.
   "Where is everyone?" Taylor asked.
   "Mom and Dad took Jess, Avie, and Mackie to the store, 
and Ike is still upstairs."
   "No I'm not," Isaac's voice called from the bottom of 
the stairs.
   "Whatever," Zac said as he walked into the living room 
and ploped down infront of the TV.
   "Tay, at 10:00 I'm taking Zac over to Tristan's."
   
*           *           *           *           *           *
 
   Later, at 10:00:
   "Hurry up Ike!" Zac called up the stairwell.
   "I'm coming!" he yelled as he picked up his shoe and put
it on.  "Geez," he muttered to himself.
   "Later!" Taylor called as his two brothers jumped into 
their Dad's pickup.
   I'll just sit and relax, maybe watch a little TV,
Taylor thought.  He sat down on the couch.  Realizing that
he didn't have the remote, he looked around.  Ah, there
it is.
   *CLICK*  The TV turned on.  He flipped through the
channels, but nothing really seemed to satisfy him.  He
turned it to MTV.
   "And up next after the break, we have Prodigy, with 
Brethe," Matt Pinfield said.  
   Taylor made a face and turned off the TV.  *DING DONG* 
I wonder whos at the door.
   He got up and answered the door, it was Veronica.  "Hey,
Veronica."
   "Hi Tay.  Can I come in?" she smiled.
   "Um, actually, how 'bout we go in the back yard?  Its
a really nice day out."
   "Sure."
   She followed him through the kitchen, into the living 
room, and out the sliding glass door.
   "Wanna see our tree house?"  He stopped and looked at 
her.
   "OK, cool."
   They climed up the tree and sat down.  Taylor dangled his
feet of the side while Veronica sat beside him, cross-leged.
   "Veronica," he began.
   "Yeah?"
   "I gotta tell you this really strange dream I had last
night," he paused and then stopped when he saw the look on
her face.  "Whats wrong?"
   "Um," she took a deep breath and began talking a little,
but not much, faster,"Tay, I really have to tell you some-
thing."
   "What, what is it?" his face had turned from somewhat
cheerful to worried.
   "Well," she sighed, "I really like you."  Talking faster
she just spit the rest out, "And I know I've only known you
for like a couple of days and all," she stopped right there.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't force herslef
to look him in the eyes.
   Taylor could sence that she was about to turn red.  He
looked at her.  Her hair fell at the sides of her face, 
almost as though it were shielding her from the world.  He
put his arm around her in comfort; she looked up and faced
him.
   He tried to tell her that he liked her, too, but it was
as if he'd lost his voice, for every time he tried to speak,
somthing kept him from getting anything out.  
   He stared into her eyes; she stared back.  He didn't
know why the sudden brush of confidence had hit him so hard;
and before he knew it, he had kissed her.  Just a peck on 
the lips that lasted no more than a moment or two, but to
him it was the world.  
   Veronica kissed him back a little, but after she realized 
what had just happened, she jumped out of the tree and took 
off running.
   "Veronica!!  Wait!!" he called after her and then, too, 
jumped down and took off running.