***Ike’s View***
	Luckily, Krissy & I got the time alone that we needed. We
climbed into the treehouse & just sat for a while. The sun was
starting to go down, so we sat in silence & watched. She smelled like
peaches, it reminded me of the house one of my friends used to have
when I was little. They grew peach trees in the backyard. But I
guessed that it was only her shampoo. 
	When the sun was out of sight, I leaned over & gently kissed
her cheek. “I love this,” I whispered in her ear. “Love what?” she
asked, turning around to face me. “Being with you. Being here with
you. Just, all this. It’s so perfect,” I sighed. “Yeah. It’s just so..
peaceful.” Just as the words left her mouth, we heard a scream from
below us. I peered over the edge to see Avie sobbing on the ground.
“Oh shit,” I mumbled. Krissy quickly sprang into action. She leapt
down the ladder & was standing at Avie’s side in seconds. I swung
down by the rope & joined her. 
	“I-I fell,” Avie sobbed. “Where does it hurt?” Krissy asked.
“Uh, my foot hurts really bad. My elbows & hands hurt too,” she
gasped out. Krissy carefully inspected her arms. “Well, looks like you
scraped up your arms pretty bad. About your ankle, can you move
it?” she asked. Avie moved her ankle slightly & yelped in pain.
“Hmm, well let’s bring you inside so your mom can look at it, OK?”
she said, holding out her arms. My mom could’ve been a nurse. She
had so many kids, she practically had to. 
	Avie wrapped her arms around Krissy’s neck & she carried her
inside. “Mom!” I yelled when we got inside. “Yes?” she answered,
walking toward us. “Avie fell. She scraped up her hands & elbows &
she says her ankle really hurts.” “OK. Krissy, could you carry Avie
into the TV room?” she asked. “Sure, Diana.” 
	Krissy laid Avie down on the couch. “OK honey, which ankle is
it?” Mom asked. Avie pointed to her right ankle. “Well, it looks kind
of swollen. Can you move it?” “Yeah, but it hurts real bad.” “Hmm.
Well, I think you’re gonna have to take it easy for the next few days.
Hey, at least you’ll have the whole family waiting on you since you
can’t walk around,” she said, grinning. “Yeah! Ikey, you go get me
some water! You’re my maid now!” Avie demanded. “Here, I’ll go
get you some water. Ike, you two can go back outside,” Mom said.
“OK,” I replied. I grabbed Krissy’s hand & we walked back outside.
		***Tay’s View***
	The game of ‘Truth or Dare’ wore on until about 8:30. But I was
still a little phased from ‘the kiss’. I could tell Zac was definitely a
little shaken up from his ‘encounter’ with Tara. That got me really
depressed. Zac had gotten farther with a girl than I had. 
	The game came to a stop when Tara, Janie, Chris, & Jason had
to leave. The rest of us decided we’d been in the house too long, so
we headed downstairs to go outside. 
	The little kids had all gone home, including Kay & Troy. When
we got downstairs, I saw Mom & Dad cleaning in the kitchen. We
tried our best to sneak by them, but it didn’t work. 
	“Hold it right there, boys,” Mom commanded. “I didn’t do it!”
Zac immediately protested. Mom looked at him strangely, but
continued. “You boys left a bunch of dishes out in the TV room,” she
grumbled. “Oh, sorry,” I said, starting toward the door. “Not so fast.
Since you boys were so irresponsible, I think you should make up for
it by doing the dishes tonight,” she decided. “But Mom!” “No buts.
You’re doing the dishes & that’s final. Tell Isaac that if you see him,”
she said & walked back to the kitchen. “Dammit!” I mumbled. I
turned & followed Zac outside. 
	Everyone else was kicking a soccer ball around the backyard.
Quickly, I jumped into the game & stole the ball from Sam. “Hey!”
she exclaimed & pushed me. I tripped over the ball & landed flat on
my face. “Omigod! I’m sorry! Are you OK?” Sam asked from above
me. “Ow. I hurt,” I mumbled as I rolled onto my back. “My bad. Ha
ha,” she laughed & kicked the ball. 
	I jumped up & ran after the ball. I successfully caught up to the
ball & kicked it back. Mat got it & kicked it into what I guessed was
their goal. “Yes!” Mat exclaimed. “OK, hold on, who’s on what
team?” I asked. “Me, you, Paul, & Krissy are one team & Sam, Zac &
Ike are the other,” Mat replied. “But that’s no fair. 3 against 4,” Zac
whined. “OK, fine,” I replied & ran inside. 
	“Jessie!” I yelled. “Whatee?” “Wanna play soccer?” “Sure!” she
agreed & followed me outside. “Got ya a new teammate. Get over
there, Jess,” I said, pointing to their group. Zac groaned. “Hey, it’s
what you wanted, 4 on 4. Now stop complaining & let’s play!”

		***Sam’s View***
	We played soccer for another half hour before we were all
exhausted. I stumbled over to a red-faced sweaty Taylor & grinned. 
	“We kicked your ass,” I mumbled. “No way! We beat you, 5 to
4,” he objected. “Uh uh, we had 6, stupid. We beat your asses,” I
informed him. “Yeah, whatever. What time do you hafta get home?”
he asked. “Um, I dunno. What time is it?” He turned on the little
light on his watch. “10:30,” he told me. “Crap, I better get back to
check on the kids. And if you wake me up in any way tomorrow, I’ll
kill you. I mean it,” I warned. “Sure, OK. Bye,” he called after me.
“Bye!” I yelled back. 
	“Hey,” Mat said, running up to me. “I’ll walk ya home. It’s on
my way,” he said. “OK, cool. Where do you live anyway?” I asked.
“About 10, 11 blocks from here,” he replied. “That’s kinda far. You
can stop at my house if you want & get a drink. You look pretty hot,”
I observed. He looked over at me weird. “No, not like that, you
perv!” I yelled & pushed him away. 
	Yelling & pushing, we walked to my house. “Hey! You’re, uh,
Mat, aren’t you?” Troy asked when we got inside. “That’d be me, G,”
Mat said, holding out his hand. Troy slapped him five. “C’mon, I’ll
get some drinks,” I said, leading Mat into the kitchen. 
	“Any preferences?” I asked. “Water’ll be fine, I guess,” he
replied. I grabbed two cups & filled them with cool water. “Thanks,”
Mat said & started gulping the water down. Half the glass was gone
before he put it down. “Thirsty?” I asked, taking a sip. “Not
anymore. Ah, better,” he sighed. “What time do you hafta get
home?” I asked. “Before midnight. My ‘rents don’t really care.”
“Man, wish mine were like that,” I sighed. 
	“Yum. What about a tour of your house?” Mat asked when his
water was gone. “What about it?” I asked. “Well, can I have a tour of
your house?” “Hmm, I dunno. Lemme think...” I stood there for a
while, trying to look lost in thought. “Oh, fine then. Follow me.” 
	I led Mat around the house, showing him all the rooms. “And
now, the grand finale, the dungeon!” I announced, leading Mat down
the stairs. “Oooo...” Mat started moaning some spooky music to fit
the atmosphere. “Now, it is unveiled!” I cried, flicking on the light. 
	“Hmm,” he mumbled, walking around the room. “It appears to
be a cellar of sorts. Perhaps an ancient place where royalty sent
prisoners to be tortured. A landmark, possibly.” “Yeah, a fifteen year
old landmark,” I sighed. “Even better!”
	At about a quarter till 11, we escaped from the dungeon &
walked around outside. We decided to start walking toward Mat’s
house, since we were moving incredibly slow. “Got any siblings?” I
asked. “Yeah, two whiny-ass sisters. But I don’t see ‘em much
anymore, since I’m always at Jason’s.” “How do you get all the way
over here?” “I walk. Keeps me buff,” he smirked. “Oh yeah,” I
observed, poking him in the stomach. “Hoo hoo!” he cried & poked
me back. Surprisingly, it barely hurt. “What? Are you pokin me?” I
asked, hitting him in the shoulder. Pretty soon, it turned into an
all-out wussy fight. Mat refused to actually hit a girl, but he did a
pretty good job swatting at me. 
	I tripped & flew out towards him. He caught me just before I
hit the cement. “Thanks,” I said. When I was back on my feet, I
messed up his almost plasticy hair. “Use ‘nuf hair spray?” I asked.
“Nope. Ran out this morning. You messed up my ‘hawk!” he
exclaimed. He tied to straighten it back up, but it wouldn’t work.
“Oh, fuck it,” he sighed & smoothed his hair down the best he could.
He pulled out my scrunchie. “There, that’s for messin up my hair.”
“Hey, no fair!” I protested. “Give it back!” 
	I reached past him to grab it, but he moved. “Mat!” I whined.
“Uh uh. You can’t have it.” I turned him to face me, but he hid the
scrunchie behind his back. “Dammit Mat!” I screamed, trying to
reach behind him. “Give it to me!” I yelled. He just grinned. I looked
up at him & glared. Suddenly, there was an awkward silence. We just
looked at eachother for a few seconds. Mat broke the gaze by putting
his hair into a ponytail with my scrunchie on the top of his head. I
smacked him in the shoulder & started walking again. 
	I walked Mat to his house & then started walking back. I looked
up & gazed at the sky. It was a perfectly clear night & there was a full
moon. ‘Man, I bet it would be really pretty at the lake,’ I thought. I
rethought my destination. Go home, watch some stupid TV & go to
sleep, or go to the lake & do whatever the hell I wanted. Of course,
I’d hafta leave the lake after about an hour. But the cops wouldn’t be
around as much as they already were. Mat & I had to get off course
twice to avoid being spotted by a cop. I smiled & started walking
towards ‘Justins’. 

		***Zac’s View***
	The next day, Janie wouldn’t stop buggin me about ‘you &
Tara’s make-out session’, as she put it. She called me at about ten &
that’s when the torture began. 
	“So, Mr. Tough-tongue, whatcha wanna do today? Or do you &
Tara have something planned?” she asked. “Janie, that’s stupid. First,
I kissed her for like, a second. Second, it was a dare so it didn’t count,
& third, I still don’t know if she likes me. So we don’t have anything
planned,” I groaned. “What do you mean, you don’t know if she likes
you! She kissed you, like, with tongue!” “Like I said, it doesn’t count.
It was a dare, I had to.” “Yeah, but you still did. And she didn’t gross
out, like I would’ve,” she joked. “That’s nice. But anyway, what were
you talking about doing something today? We’ve got another day off
from recording,” I told her. “Well, only if you & Tara aren’t playin
tonsil hockey the whole time.” “Very funny. Meetcha at LaserQuest
at noon?” I asked. “Count on it,” she replied & hung up. 
	“Hey Mom, I’m gonna go with Janie to LaserQuest at noon!” I
yelled through the house. “I’m right here,” she said, emerging from
the kitchen. “OK, you can go to LaserQuest. Gee, I’ve been rethinking
this whole thing of not having lessons over the summer. It gives you
kids way too much free time.” “No, summer breaks are great! We
should do this next summer too!” I suggested. “Now that’s pushing
it, mister.” “I know,” I sighed & ran upstairs. 
	I was gargling some mouthwash in the bathroom when I heard
Ike talking to me from outside. “What, are you goin to see Tara?” he
asked. I almost choked. I spit the mouthwash into the sink & swung
the door open. “What?” I questioned. “I heard about you & Tara &
‘the dare’. Nice moves, bro,” he complemented. “Wait, how’d you
find out?” “A little birdie named Paul told me. You should know by
now that he can’t keep any secrets, especially when bribed.” He
grinned. “Ack!” I yelled & ran out of the bathroom. 
	About a half hour later, I was searching through Ike’s clothes
drawers. I was looking for some of his cologne. I wanted to look, &
smell, my best, just in case Tara was there. 
	“What the hell are you doing?” Taylor asked from the doorway.
“Do you know where Ike keeps his cologne?” I asked. “Is it an
emergency?” “Uh, yeah,” I lied. He pulled the second drawer out of
the dresser & reached behind the third drawer, pulling out a bottle.
“Is that where he always keeps it?” I asked. “No, he hides his
somewhere else to keep me from getting it. But, I stole this one from
him.” I smelled it & almost barfed. “This smells like shit!” I
exclaimed. “That’s why I don’t use it anymore,” he replied. “Then
why’d you show it to me?” “You asked where Ike’s was, you never
asked where mine was.” “Fine, where’s yours?” “Top of the dresser,
stupid.” He was right. There was a nearly full bottle of CK-Be on top
of the dresser. “Can I use some?” I asked. “Hmm, I dunno. It’ll cost
ya.” “What?” “Um, you hafta do the dishes tonight since it’s my
turn.” “No Way! Then I’ll hafta do it two nights in a row!” “That’s
the deal. Use it or lose it.” “Oh,” I hesitated. “Fine.” He grinned &
walked out of the room. 
	I spritzed the CK-Be all over me, grabbed my wallet, & walked
out of the room. “Zac, you stink!” Avie commented as she walked by.
“You smell like Tay-tay!” “I stink? Well, then don’t smell me!” I
resolved. “OK!” she agreed & plugged her nose. 
	I checked the clock when I got downstairs. 11:45. “Bye!” I yelled
as I ran out the door. I definitely didn’t want to be late, especially if
Tara was there. 
	“In a hurry to get your butt whooped?” Janie asked when I
arrived. I fell down on the curb outside of LaserQuest & tried to catch
my breath. “Hmm, I smell cologne. Sorry, Tara’s not here,” she
informed me. I sighed. “Yet.” I sat up & tried to regain my
composure. “Don’t worry, she won’t be here for another fifteen
minutes. Wanna get a drink first?” she asked. “Sure. Race ya!” I
exclaimed & shot off toward the small shop next door. 

		***Sam’s View***
	When I woke up Tuesday morning, I found Kay & Troy
standing over me. They were holding a big, pink cake, grinning.
“Omigosh!” I shrieked. “Happy birthday to you, Happy...”they
started singing, but I silenced them. “You guys know I don’t like that
dumb song, it’s so damn pointless. So, what kinda cake is it & how’d
you make it?” I asked. “Well, we woke up really early this morning,”
Troy started. “Like, five o’clock!” Kay elaborated. “Yeah, sumthin like
that. The we got your cake all ready. It’s strawberry with strawberry
frosting,” he informed me. “Sounds yummy. How ‘bout you guys go
up & fix us all some cake for breakfast while I get my contacts in?” I
asked. “OK! We get cake for breakfast!” Kay exclaimed, running
upstairs. 
	About ten minutes later, I hurried upstairs. I hadn’t eaten since
lunch the day before, so I was understandably hungry. Kay & Troy
were in the living room watching cartoons. There was a plate
containing an enormous piece of cake & a glass of milk waiting for
me on the counter. I picked them up & went out to join Kay & Troy
in the living room. 
	“Hey Sam?” Kay asked when I sat down. “Huh?” “Somebody
called just before we woke you up. They said it was an emergency &
for you to go in the backyard ASAP,” she told me. “Hmm, wonder
what it was. Well, if you guys don’t mind, I’m gonna go get dressed
& go see what this ‘emergency’ is about, OK?” I asked. “K,” they
replied. 
	I headed downstairs, grabbed my stuff, & returned upstairs. I
didn’t want to change in my room, it could be a peeping tom, looking
through the basement windows. 
	I quickly go dressed & hurried outside. “Hello?” I asked. As
soon as the words left my mouth, I was shot with a spray of freezing
water. “Ahh!” I screamed. The torture stopped, almost as suddenly
as it began. “Who’s there?” I questioned. No answer. “Whoever’s
there better get their ass out here right now! I mean it!” Still nothing.
I walked over & turned off the hose. “There, now there’s nothing left
for you to do but come out. If you don’t, I’ll follow the damn hose &
find you!” ‘This is what I hate about living here,’ I thought. ‘It’s almost
like living in a forest, the trees are so damn close to the house.’
	I jumped as I was squirted from the other side. “AHH! This
isn’t fair!” I screamed. A tall figure emerged from the trees. “John?” I
whispered, but a second later I saw who the tall figure actually was. 
	“Isaac, what the hell are you doing, trying to kill me?” “Happy
birthday to you...” The chorus filled the air. “No!” I yelled. I spun
around the yard. Taylor, Jason, Chris, Zac, Mat, Amanda, Janie &
Krissy walked out of the trees. “What the hell? Stop singing! I
command you! Shut up!” I screamed. They kept singing. 
	When they were done, I snuck back over to where the hose was
connected to the house. “Don’t ever sing that song again!” I yelled. I
noticed that Jason, Chris, Zac, & Mat each had Super Soakers while
Taylor was holding the hose. ‘Perfect,’ I thought. “What, don’t you
like it?” Zac asked innocently. “It’s kinda dumb. Why couldn’t it at
least have more words,” I complained, inching closer to the hose. “I
dunno. Guess they were dumb.” “Well, we can only stay here for a
little while, but before we leave, can we join you for some cake?”
Taylor asked. “But it’s my cake! You’ll eat it all you pig!” I exclaimed.
“Sam? Pleeease?” he pleaded. “Oh, fine,” I groaned. 
	Just then I twisted the hose on. Water squirted out onto
Taylor’s shoes a second later. “Ah!” he yelled & dropped the hose. I
turned it back off & cracked up laughing. “This sucks! These are $70
shoes!” Taylor exclaimed. “That’s what you get for sprayin me.
‘Sides, you shouldn’t buy such expensive crap, ya never know when
‘accidents’ could happen,” I replied. “Now you want some cake or
not?” “Yeah, sure.” 
	When we got to the door, I stopped. “Now, everybody can go
on inside except Taylor. He hasta take off his shoes first.” “No way!
You’ll probably do somethin else to ‘em!” he cried. “I won’t, I
promise,” I assured him. “Swear?” “I swear. Now hurry up.” 
	Taylor quickly slipped off his shoes & ran inside. The others
were receiving already cut-up pieces from Kay. “So, there was an
‘emergency’ in the backyard?” I asked Kay. She blushed. “Well, yeah!
It was a....a....a birthday emergency! Yeah, that’s it!” she answered. I
rolled my eyes. 
	We all sat down in the living room & watched TV with Kay &
Troy. “Yes!” Zac exclaimed. “It’s Anamaniacs!” Chris said & sat
down beside him. Everybody eventually settled down in front of the
TV for a wholesome viewing of Anamaniacs. 

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