Kayla felt drained from the flight. As the car pulled up in front of the Hanson house she pulled herself out and made her way up the path. She looked at Keryn and Taylor, they were talking to each other about silly little things. Keryn couldn’t stop laughing. Kayla usually joined in, but today she didn’t really seem to be herself.
"Hey, Kayla." Taylor shouted.
"Mmm.." she said, he interrupted her train of thought. "Yeah?"
"Do you want to just go in and open the door for me and then I
can get all your luggage out of the car."
"Sure" Kayla walked towards the house. Taylor followed Kayla up
the front path and after him was Keryn. She stood there holding
the door and waited for Taylor to disappear before she called
Keryn.
"Yeah?" Keryn said through her dissolving giggles.
"Now I see why you are always talking about your little Tay-babe"
"Huh?" Keryn now looked rather puzzled.
"Oh. Never mind." Kayla waved her off and went inside.
"Zac! Where’s Mom?" Taylor called into the house.
"She’s gone to the mall"
"When’s she coming back?"
"She only left five minutes ago." Now Zac was at the bottom of the
stairs. "She was going to get some stuff for the trip."
The Hanson family had planned to go to Oklahoma City to stay with Walker’s sister for a few weeks. Plans were changed because Keryn was finishing school, and with serious persuading, Isaac, Zac and Taylor were able to stay home, rest and relax before they started the tour.
"Oh, ok then"
"Guess what?"
"What?" Taylor asked.
"Mom and Dad are leaving tonight" he answered. "That’s three days
early."
"How come?"
"I think that they wanted to, and now Dad doesn’t have to go to
the meeting on Friday so they decided to get ready."
"Oh, okay then" Taylor replied. Taylor looked towards the girls
who were standing behind him. "Oh, Zac, hang on. This is Kayla"
he said pointing in her direction.
"Hi" Zac said.
"Hello, it’s nice to meet you" Kayla said with a smile
Zac returned the smile "Same". Zac went up the stairs and headed
for the bedroom that he shares with his brothers.
"Hey!" she heard someone call. She turned around to see that Zac
was standing there waving and trying to catch her attention.
"Hi!" she called back. "What are you doing?"
"Oh, nothing much, I am just doing this" He came into her view
with a skateboard.
"Cool. I have always wanted to learn how to do that."
"Wanna try?"
"Sure!"
About ten minutes later Kayla had almost mastered balancing on the
board and not rolling away and into Zac. "You’re going great!" Zac
said with a bit of sarcasm.
"Oh, come on, I am not that bad" she laughed back at him. Kayla
looked at the time, it was noon. The bright sun was starting to get
to her. "Oh well" she said jumping off the board. "I think I better
get going in now."
"Why, what’s the time?" Zac asked.
"twelve."
"Oh no."
"What?"
"There are new tenants coming in here today and they are moving in
at noon." Zac replied very unenthusiastically.
"Oh, well, do you think we had better get out of here soon?"
"Uh huh, I think that that would be a wise decision, considering it
is their house".
With that the two crossed over the yards and went back into the Hanson house.
"Ouch!" was the next word she felt coming out of her mouth. Then
there was a thump. She was now laying on the floor, it felt like
she was the little red flag that had been freshly charged by the
bull. She attempted to lift herself with her elbow as she looked at
the dark figure that stood before her. "Who is it?"
"Me"
"Me who?"
"Taylor, stupid"
"Oh," she put out her hand and he pulled her up. "What the hell are
you doing"
"I was thirsty"
"Oh. That was you" she thought for a moment to recall why she was
standing in the hall. "Can I have a drink" she said taking the water
from his hands. She walked back into her room and sat down on the
bed.
Taylor followed her into the room. "Sorry"
"What for?" she replied
"Bashing into you like that"
"Oh, no, that’s fine, I shouldn’t have been standing there."
Taylor sat down on the bed. "What are you doing?"
"Oh, nothing, I couldn’t sleep. I am awake now though." She rested
her head down on the pillow. She looked over at him. "What?" she
asked with a smile on her face.
"Oh, nothing." he moved back further on the bed and rested his head
against the wall. "So, what have you been up to over the last few
years?"
She closed her eyes again. "Ummm...I went to school. I think I got a
bit of independence, made new friends."
"Ahhhh..Kayla." he said. "She’s funny".
"Yeah" Keryn said laughing. "She is a real character!"
"So, is she your best friend?" he asked. He seemed to go a little
serious.
"Well, we are close friends."
"Oh."
"Don’t worry Tay. Don’t get like that. We are best friends and
nothing is going to ever change that."
"It’s just that we never seem to talk anymore."
"Yeah, but I am back now" she said. "That is going to change."
Taylor smiled and looked up at the roof. "What are you looking at?"
Keryn moved over on the bed and Taylor laid next to her.
"Look at that" he said laughing. The moonlight shone onto the roof
and it said ‘Keryn and Taylor’. They had done that when they painted
the room.
"I remember that." she said. "I thought we were going to get into so
much trouble!"
They both laughed together for a few hours. Talking about everything. The future, the past. Everything.
"Keryn, do you think we will ever change?"
"What do you mean?" Keryn asked, puzzled.
"Well, you and me.......Us."
"More than friends?" The words sounded weird when they came out of
her mouth. She and Taylor had never thought about it before. At that
moment they both felt some kind of connection, knowing neither
would answer the question. There was an uncomfortable silence for
about two minutes. "Taylor?"
"Yes?" he murmured.
"Kayla said she wants the jacket that you wore in the ‘Weird’
video".
He grinned, rolled over and fell asleep.