***Tay’s View*** I chased Sam around for about five minutes before she got to tired because of carrying Mackie. So I let her go for the time being, but I would get her back later. We went back to Sam’s to wash up since it was only 1:30 & Krissy was still over with Ike. “Sam! Mom called & said you hafta clean house!” Troy yelled when we walked through the door. He was playing Sega while Kay, Jessie & Avie were playing tea party. Jessie jumped up & ran over to us. “Hi! Tayles can we go over to Lexi’s house? Kay said we can come with her?” she asked me. “Tayles?” Sam asked me, smiling. I punched her in the arm & told Jessie, “I guess you can go if you bring Mac & Avie.” I wanted to get rid of the little kids because we’d been with them all day. “OK! C’mon Avie! Here Mackie!” she said, taking Mackie from Sam. “So, Tayles, are you gonna help me clean?” Sam asked me. “Don’t call me that,” I said. “Why can’t I call you Tayles, Tayles?” she asked, grinning. “Is this why your name is Tayles?” she said, twirling my braid. “Listen, do you just want me to cut this thing off & give it to you?” I asked her, pointing to my rat tail. “Cuz I will if you don’t leave it alone.” “No, don’t do that. It looks better on you. Plus, it wouldn’t be so easy to bug you,” she said, hitting me in the face with it. “Bye bye!” Mackie said, walking out the door. Sam & I waved. “So, Troy, what’re you gonna do? You don’t wanna stay here with me & Tayles all day, do you?” she asked. “Don’t call me that!” I said again. “No! I’m gonna go over to David’s house. Me, him & Zac are gonna party!” Troy said, turning off the Sega. “I’ll be back at 9. Mom & Dad won’t get home tonight. They said they’ll be back tomorrow morning around 9 & leave again at 10,” he said & walked out the door. “Wow. Are they always gone that much?” I asked Sam. “No. Usually they’re gone for 2 days at a time. They’re only home about a total of 5 days a month. You know, when you like, combine all the hours, or whatever.” That was weird. Oh well, maybe they had very demanding jobs. I knew my Dad did. We’d had to travel to South America because of my father’s job. “Let’s see what all we have to do,” Sam said, walking over to the phone where a note was laying. There, in the worst writing I’d every seen, was written ‘fans, dishes, clothes, vacuum, bathrooms.’ “Well, we have our work cut out for us,” I sighed. “You wanna work separately or together?” Sam asked. “Hmm, let’s work together. I don’t know where all the cleaning crap is,” I told her. “Let’s start on the fans. I’ll go get the ‘cleaning crap’ & you clean off the kitchen table. We hafta stand on it to clean that fan. Put the stuff on the counter,” she said & walked down the hall. I started on the table. There was a vase on it containing a dozen real red & white flowers. I finished cleaning off the table & just stood there looking at the flowers. “Like ‘em?” Sam asked. “Oh! Uh, yeah, the flowers? Yea, they’re cool,” I said. “It was my parent’s anniversary a week ago. Pretty, huh?” she asked, standing up on the chair. “Yep. Hey, you need help on that?” I asked. She was kinda wobbling around. “Yea. I don’t really trust the table. It’s so old.” “OK. What do ya want me to do?” I asked. “Well, why don’t you go over in the closet by the front door & get out the vacuum? We hafta vacuum after we clean off the table,” she asked. “OK.” I went over across the living room & opened the closet. ***Sam’s View*** I couldn’t believe Taylor actually agreed to help me clean house. Man, was he nice. But this fan was definitely a pain in the butt thing to clean. Especially if you’re trying to clean it at a weird angle, like standing on a chair & reaching across the table. Better than falling through the table though. Taylor was over getting out the vacuum. Then suddenly the cushion on the chair started to slip. My feet went along with it. “Taylor!!” I yelled. I heard the vacuum fall. A second later, hands grabbed me by the waist. “Knew you shouldn’t do that,” he said. I messed up his hair. “Hey, don’t tell me what to do. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m about 2 feet taller than you right now,” I said. I noticed that he still had his hands on my waist. He saw me glance at his hands & he released me. We just stood there in silence for a few moments. Then he broke it. “So, you sure you don’t need help on that?” “Uh, I think I’ll need help. Mentally too,” I said. He grinned & pulled himself up onto the table. He stood there for a minute & started jumping around. “Be careful!” I warned him. He stopped. “Don’t worry! It’s sturdy. C’mon,” he said, extending his hand. I grabbed his hand & pulled myself up. “OK,. let’s get this thing clean,” he said.
***Tay’s View*** About 2 hours later, we finally got everything done. It was a quarter to 4, so we headed back to my house. “Wait a sec! Shouldn’t we go over & check if the kids are still over at Lexi’s house? I’d think your parents would be mad if we lost the kids,” Sam said. “Well, yeah. I have a feeling they wouldn’t be happy if the kids were missing. This way,” I said, running down the street. About 10 minutes later, we were back on our way to my house, plus 3 kids. “I hope your parents won’t be mad that Zac won’t be home till 9,” Sam said. “Me too. Oh well, it isn’t our fault. It’s Ike’s. He supposed to be the ‘responsible one’. Yeah right,” I replied. By the time we got back, Sam ended up carrying Mac again. “I think he’s really gotten attached to you,” I said, referring to Mackie. “Well, I think I’m getting attached to him too!” she said, grinning. Just as we got home, Krissy was leaving. “Hey Krissy!” I yelled. She waved. “You comin back soon?” I asked. “Yeah. I’m comin in to listen to them record tomorrow!” she said. “Cool! Me too!” Sam said. “Well, see ya tomorrow then,” she said. “Bye!” I said. “See ya,” said Sam. When we got home, I started in on Ike. “Hey Ikey-poo. I noticed Krissy’s lipstick was smeared!” I yelled down the hall. “Shut up Tay, that’s not funny,” he yelled back. “I know it’s not. Tell her next time she’d better check her makeup before she leaves. Her parents’ll get mad,” I said. Sam started laughing. Ike flipped us off. I shrugged & walked off. “Well, Mom & Dad’ll be home any time now,” I said. “Daddy! Mommy!” Mackie yelled. “Yep. You wanna go watch TV?” Sam asked. She knew he needed a nap & the easiest way to do that was sit him in front of the TV. “Yeah!” Mackie squeaked. Jess & Avie were already sitting in the living room watching a cartoon. “Here Mac, lay down,” Sam told him. He obeyed, stretching out on the couch. Avie & Jessie were each taking up a chair with all their coloring books, so Sam & I sat on the floor in front of the couch. When the cartoon was over, Jess & Avie left, but Mackie wouldn’t let Sam leave, so we stayed on the floor. It was 4 & my parents still weren’t home, so we kept watching cartoons with Mac. After about 5 minutes, he fell asleep. “C’mon, we gotta put him to bed,” I told Sam. “No, let’s just leave him here. He’ll only sleep for a half hour, right? And he looks so comfortable....” she objected. “OK, fine. But let’s at least find something decent do watch,” I said, grabbing the remote. We just surfed channels for a while before Sam made me stop at some movie. “What is this?” I asked. “It’s ‘The Shining’ by Stephen King. Ever heard of it?” she asked. The name sounded familiar, probably one of my mom’s books. “I think so. Is it scary?” I asked. “Just shut up & watch,” she said. So I did. “Taylor!!!” Ike yelled from the kitchen. “Whatcha want?” I asked, annoyed. I was just getting into the movie. “Dad said the car’s stalled & they won’t get home till least 5:30” he yelled back. “Nice. Now shut up,” I said. 45 minutes later, Mac woke up. “Vood,” he whined. “OK, OK, I’ll getcha somethin to eat,” I said, hurrying to the kitchen. “No, you stay here & watch the rest of the movie,” Sam said, pushing me back down. “I’ve seen it a dozen times,” she explained. The movie was really getting good too. Even though I’d missed about the first hour of it, it was really cool. I’d tried to read one of my mom’s Stephen King books once, but I guess I didn’t really get into it. It was much easier to just see the movie. Sam came back a few minutes later & sat Mac in her lap. The movie ended a few minutes later. “The book is so much better than the movie,” Sam complained. “But it takes so much longer to finish” I argued. “Yeah, but it’s worth it,” she defended. I nodded, seeing no reason to argue about it. “Did you like it?” she asked. “Well duh! I mean, Jack Nicholson is so cool & he did a great job. It was... interesting. Like, it’s fiction, but it’s possible. Like, the unthinkable happens,” I said, trying to describe it. She nodded, somehow understanding what I was talking about. Just as we finished feeding Mackie, Mom & Dad got home. “Sorry ‘bout that kids,” Dad explained. “Were you guys all OK?” he asked. “Yeah. Zac’s over at David’s. You might wanna call. Oh yeah, & Sam’s here,” I said, even though they’d already seen her. “So we see. Dear, are you sure your parents won’t mind? You’re over here almost every day,” Mom said. Sam shook her head. “They won’t be back until tomorrow.” Mom nodded & went into the kitchen. I grabbed Mackie & Sam & I went in to join them. “Taylor? We’re going to eat dinner. David’s phone’s busy. Do you think you & Sam could walk down there & pick him up? The could you please drop Sam off? We need to leave after dinner,” Mom said, hanging up the phone. “Sure. C’mon,” I said, walking back into the living room to the door. Sam followed.
***Sam’s View*** We walked as slowly as we could to David’s house. “So, do you think you could get out again tonight? Or, will you be like, too tired tomorrow, or whatever,” I asked, hopeful. “Yeah, sure I can get out. I don’t sleep much anyway. I don’t know why, sleep is just impossible I guess. It’s weird,” he explained. “Cool. So, what time do we hafta leave tomorrow?” I asked. “Well, they said probably about 10. So looks like you’ll have to wake up early again tomorrow,” he said with the sneakiest look on his face. “You had better not call me tomorrow at 8 in the morning or I swear I’ll march right over there & slit your throat,” I threatened. “Ohh, I’m scared now,” he said. I punched him. When we got to David’s house, we could hear yelling from inside. Taylor was just about to ring the bell when a little girl, about 7 or 8, ran out of the house, nearly colliding with me. Then Troy came out, then David, then Zac. When Zac ran by, Taylor stuck out his foot, sending him flying onto the grass. “Man Tay! I just got grass stains on my new shirt! You asshole!” Zac yelled. “No you did not. All it is is dirt you moron. C’mon, we hafta go drop Sam off,” he said. Zac pulled him self up & trudged with us to my house. “Zac, why so blue?” I asked. “Well, it’s about this girl. But I can’t talk about it cuz TAY’S here,” he said loudly. “Do you think you could call me & talk about it? Cuz I think I could help you with it,” I said. “Well...” he hesitated. “I guess so. I just hafta make sure TAY’S not on the line,” he said. Taylor gave him an evil eye. Zac stuck his tongue out. Finally, we were at my front porch. Then I remembered. “Oh yeah! Tay, wait a sec! I’ll go get your shirt. I completely forgot about it!” I said, opening the door. “No. It’s OK, keep it. It looks better on you,” he said. “Are you sure?” I asked. “Yep. I have plenty of shirts, I don’t need that one. Keep it,” he assured me. “OK, thanks! Bye!” I said, going inside. “Bye!” Taylor & Zac said simultaneously. I sat down on my bed after I get downstairs. I was soo glad my father wasn’t home. He would’ve been mad that I was gone all day. I definitely didn’t want that. I decided I’d just tell my parents that I was going over to Taylor’s tomorrow & going to be there all day. They didn’t really need to know the details, the never really cared. I got up & went back upstairs. I got something to eat out of the fridge & sat down. There was a note by the phone. It read: ‘Went to Tiffany’s, be back at 9. K’ It was amazing. My sister seemed to be at a different person’s house everyday. She made friends so easily. I, on the other hand, was so damn shy, it was hard for me to even open up to my friends. Troy kind of had my problem, but not as bad. He made a few good friends in the first few days, easy. But being shy wasn’t my fault. It was my father’s. I opened my yogurt & turned on the TV. Infomercial, talk show, cartoon, Real World, square-dancing. Nothing good was ever on TV. I finished my yogurt & flicked off the TV. Just then, the phone rang. “Yep?” I answered. “Uh, hi, Sam?” someone asked. “Got her,” I said. “Hi, it’s Zac,” they said. “Oh, hi Zaccy,” I said. “Did Tay tell you to call me that? Anyway, No we’re not talking about you! Sorry, Tay’s tryin to listen. Um, you said you would help me?” he asked in a whisper. “Yeah, sure. What’s up?” I asked. “Well, see, I kinda like this girl. I like try to talk to her, but she hates me. But I’m friends with like her best friend or something. What do I do?” he asked. “Oh, ouch,” I said. “OK, well, how often do you talk to her?” I asked. “Well, just about everyday, I think,” he answered. “OK. And what do you mean, kinda like? You either like her or you don’t,” I said. “Well, OK, I like her,” he said. “But, I like talk to her a lot. But she never talks back. She just ignores me,” he whined. “Well, give her some space. She’s probably scared cuz you’re always talking to her. Just give her some time, she’ll come along. Who wouldn’t like you Zaccy?” I said in a baby voice. “Oh, shut up. But yeah, I’ll back off. Thanks. Oh, one more thing. Don’t call me Zaccy. I hate that name,” he said. “OK, fine. Would you let the girl call you Zaccy?” I asked. “Well, guess.... if she wanted to,” he said. “But only her.” “OK, thanks fine I guess. Bye!” I said. “Bye! Oh, hold on, Tay wants to talk to you,” he said. “Fine, put the fartknocker on,” I moaned. “OK fartknocker! She said she’ll talk to you!” Zac yelled. There was silence for a few seconds before Taylor came on. “Fartknocker speaking. Who may I ask has interrupted my peaceful rest?” he said. “No, you may not ask. What do you want?” I asked. “Oh, yeah. I had to tell you that Ike wants to talk to you,” he said & yelled “IKE! Sam’s on the phone!” A few seconds passed before Ike answered. “Huh?” he asked. “Tay said you wanted to talk to me,” I told him. “Erg. They dragged me into their phone game again. GUYS! Ike yelled. Then suddenly I heard 2 clicks. “Hi Sam!” Zac said. “Hi Samantha,” Taylor said. “Shut up. What’s going on?” I asked. “Nothin. Just wanted to say BYE!” Taylor said & hung up. Zac did the same. “Bye Sam,” Ike said & put down the phone. I sat there a second before I hung up. “Weird,” I mumbled. The phone rang again. “What do you want fartknocker?” I asked. “Uh, Sam?” the person asked. “Oh, sorry! May I ask who’s speaking?” I asked. “It’s Jason, not fartknocker,” he said. “Oh, my bad! See, Taylor just hung up on me. He kept callin himself fartknocker,” I explained. “Oh, OK. Well, are you goin out tonight?” he asked. “Yeah, me & Tay are. You?” I asked. “Yeah, sure. When? I already have a bump on my head from last night,” he said. “Um, at midnight. That OK?” I asked. “Sure. I’ll bring some stuff,” he said. “OK,” I said. “Oh yeah, Mat’s stayin the night. Mind if he joins us?” he asked. “No, he can come. This’ll be cool,” I said. “Well, I gotta go. I hafta go find Chris,” he said. “OK. Bye!” I said. “See ya,” & then he hung up. I dialed Taylor’s number to tell him Mat was coming, but the line was busy. So I went to my computer. I hadn’t checked my email since we moved & I wanted to check out the guy’s page. What was it, hansononline? No, it was hansonline. Now I remembered. So I logged on & checked my email first. I had 25 new messages. Ten were the Leo newsletters I’d joined. Four were chainletters. I had a few small messages from people at the messageboard I was usually at. I had an email each from some guys I’d met on a chatroom. Then, I had 2 emails from a girl in Australia nicknamed Snazzy. We’d been talking for about 4 months now. She always kept me up with the latest thing down in Oz & I told her what was goin on in the states. I read the first message. It read- ‘Hey Cookie what’s goin down? So boring here. Everyone’s either on vacation or something. I have the flu or something. I’m sneezing my damn head off. Well, not much else here. Haven’t seen ya chattin lately. Well mail me back. 4eva weird, Snazzy’ She nicknamed me Cookie because once I accidentally messed up & sent her a picture of the Cookie monster instead of Beavis & Butthead. She called me ‘Cookie’ & it just stuck. I scanned down the page to find her next message. This was a tad bit more interesting. ‘Hey Cook. Haven’t heard from ya for a while! Get stuck swimmin in the potty? j/k anyway, I have cool news! There’s a new group over here called ‘Savage Garden’. My friend’s cousin’s cousin knows someone who works for Columbia & she says she heard that they’re releasing an album. She sent me an exclusive preview soundclip thing of what they’re going to release as their first single. So, I sent it to you. Mail me back & tell me whatcha think. Byez! Snazz’ I downloaded the clip she sent me. The ticker-thing said it would be about 5 more minutes, so I checked the rest of my e-mail. First I checked from a guy, Brian. All it basically said was that he wanted to chat & that he missed me. We’d chatted once & he missed me. Pathetic. Finally, it was done downloading, so I opened it. Some beautiful instrumental started, then a man’s voice started singing. “She’s takin her time, makin up the reasons to justify all the hurt inside guess she knows from the smiles & the look in their eyes Everyone’s got a theory bout the bitter one” It went on for another minute or so, then stopped. Apparently, she hadn’t gotten the whole thing. I immediately e-mailed her back. ‘Snazz-girl, wuzzup? Sorry 4 the lack of communication. We moved! We moved all the way to Oklahoma. In Tulsa, you know, the place where my friend used 2 live & where I got that excellent album? Well, I met the guys who made the album. They’re cool. Their names are Zac Taylor & Isaac. They have 2 lil sis’s Jessie & Avie & a bro, Mackie. They live right down the street. About the sound clip, cool!!! Man, as soon as they release an album there, you HAFTA send it to me! You know how slooow we get Oz stuff here! Well, gotta go! Manager of Bill’s Chicken (AN- loong story!) Cookie’ I logged off the Internet. It was already 6:30. I looked at the schedule for the volleyball tryouts at the Y. They were in a week., on Tuesday. I’d played on a volleyball team since I was in 3rd grade. My birthday was in about 2 weeks, on Aug. 4th. Basketball season wouldn’t start for a few months & Taylor said he’d tell me when soccer tryouts were. I was bored out of my mind, so I turned on the TV & tried to pay attention to a rerun of ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos’.
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