I yawned. Tomorrow I start school. Ugh. Today was moving day. All our furniture was going to finally arrive. I heard a knock on my door.

"What?" I whined.

"Robinson?" somebody asked.

I got out of bed. It had to be Ike, Tay, or Zac, unless my mother had taken to calling me by my last name. I opened the door.

"Zac?"

"You woke me up early yesterday, and so I returned the favor."

"Thanks," I grumbled.

"My mom said we should come over to help you guys move in, you know, do the grunt work," he explained.

"Cool. Let me get changed, and I'll be out in a minute."

I quickly yanked on a pair of cheap, worn jeans and an old t-shirt because I knew Mom wasn't going to let me get away with watching Tay, Ike, and Zac and not helping.

I opened my door again and walked down the stairs with Zac. My mom was in the kitchen, eating cereal with Ike and Tay. After I ate, I went upstairs to the bathroom, brushed my teeth and pulled my hair into a ponytail.

"The truck should arrive in about forty-five minutes," Mom explained, picking up her book and reading.

"You guys wanna go upstairs?" I asked.

"Sure," Ike nodded.

I led them up to my room. I scooped up some dirty laundry and chucked it in my laundry basket. I sat on my bed, stretched, and yawned.

"Pull up a… floor," I laughed because the only pieces of furniture in my room were my bed and my laundry basket.

"I like what you've done with the place," Tay said, leaning up against the wall.

I stuck my tongue out at him.

"So," I shrugged.

"So," Zac repeated.

"I have to go to school tomorrow," I frowned.

"Ha ha," Ike taunted.

"What time does it end?" Zac wondered.

"I should be home about three or quarter after."

"Cool."

"No, not cool, I hate school," I whined. There was a silence. "So do you guys want a tour of my house?" I asked, feeling silly.

They all shrugged.

"Okay, this is my closet, it holds all those clothes that I brought from New York, because I don't have a dresser yet," I said, opening the door to my closet and displaying its contents.

"Wow," Tay said uninterestedly.

"Shut up and be happy," I commanded. Zac began to sort through my clothes. "Unless you feel like finding a few things that you don't really need to see, I wouldn't do that," I laughed, referring to the box of underwear that Zac was about to look through.

"I'll take your word for it," Zac said, closing the closet door.

I led them out into the hall. "This is the hallway. It's very slippery when you walk on the floor without socks."

"That's great," Tay said again, in a very bored tone.

"Excuse me? Did I not tell you to shut up and be happy?"

"You did, but what if I don't want to?" he said, stepping closer to me.

"Excuse me?" I said, putting my hand by my ear.

"You heard me," he said, getting all up in my face.

I reached out and put my hands on his shoulders. I pushed him backwards, causing him to trip over Ike's foot and almost fall down.

Zac laughed, "Oh, Tay got dissed!"

"Now, as I was saying," I began, looking smugly at Tay who had a surprised look on his face, "this is the hallway."

I showed them my mom's room, and then led them downstairs, through the kitchen, and out the back door.

"This concludes our tour. Please come again soon."

"Wow, Robinson, that was really cool, but could we do something interesting now?" Ike said extra-politely.

"Okay," I shrugged.

"Let's play tag!" Zac said, running circles around Tay.

"Um, okay, can I be It?" I asked.

"You actually want to be It?" Tay asked.

"Only because I might get the chance to touch you, Tay," I placed my hand on his shoulder and rolled my eyes.

"Shut up," Tay whined. I took a step closer to him, glaring menacingly. "You're not going to push me again are you?" he asked in a small voice.

"Not if you're a good boy. Now go run," I commanded.

I began to chase Zac, who was the closest to me. He let out a whooping yell and took off around the other side of my house. I chased him all the way around but then gave up the pursuit when I saw Ike standing not far away. I shot after him. He bolted across the street. I followed him, and tagged him after he'd tripped over a rock.

"I got you!" I panted.

"That's not fair," he grumbled.

"Don't be a baby," I shook my head at him.

As he got up, I ran back across the street and hid behind a tree in my backyard. Ike got Tay next. Tay began tracking Zac. I peeked out from behind the tree as they passed, tripping Zac with the toe of my sneaker, causing him to fall and Tay to get him.

"Robinson!" Zac yelled angrily.

"Uh-oh," I gasped, running out of my yard and down the street.

Zac took off after me, howling and screeching, "I'm going to get you!"

I turned around and stopped. Zac stopped, too. I faked him out, pretending I was going to run right, but ran left, and ran back in the direction of my house. I ran behind my house, hoping that Zac would give up pursuing me and go for Ike or Tay who were just standing there, but he didn't. I was running around one side of my house when Zac came at me from the front. He leapt onto me, causing me to topple over and slide backwards. "Ow!" I yelped. Not only had he elbowed me somewhere I didn't want to be elbowed, I'd also heard a frightening rrrip.

"Ha!" Zac panted. His face was flushed red.

Tay came around the corner, "What is it with you two? Zac, why are you always on top of her?"

Zac kind of looked embarassed and climbed off me. I crossed my arms over my sore chest and sat up. I was about to stand up, but I noticed that I could actually feel the grass through my pants. I put two and two together and realized that Zac must have ripped a hole in my pants. I just sat there, trying to figure out what to do.

"Are you okay?" Ike asked, who had come over with Tay.

"Um, can you guys, like, um, go away?"

"What?" Ike asked.

"Go home!" I whined.

"Did I hurt you?" Zac asked, sounding either worried or guilty or both.

"Well, um," I stuttered, "Just go home."

"The moving van is going to be here in a little bit," Ike explained.

I knew I was going to have to make a run for it. There was no way they were going to budge. "Okay fine, I'm It. Go! Run!"

"Are you okay?" Tay said, looking at me strangely.

"Um," I said, biting my lip.

I sat on my hand, feeling the back of my pants. The rip was not too big, and it was located around my upper thigh. Maybe I could just get up and let Zac, who was standing behind me, tell me I'd ripped my jeans. I decided to just make a run for it. I got up really quickly and ran about a step when Zac ran up behind me, probably to tell me about the rip. He grabbed me by my back pocket, which, as my luck would have it, ripped off itself.

"Uh," Zac said, holding the pocket in his hand.

"Zac?" Tay asked, "Why did you just-"

I interrupted, "Tay, do me a favor, just shut up."

"But, Robinson, he just-"

"I know."

Zac was still standing behind me. "Robinson, I was just going to tell you that you had-"

"Zac, I know, that's why I think that you should do me a favor by taking your brothers for a little walk across the street."

Zac obliged, leading a confused Ike and Tay into my backyard and aorund the side of my house.

When they were out of sight, I ran up to my room and put on a different pair of jeans. I quickly jogged outside. Tay and Ike were trying to get some information out of Zac.

"I'm back," I smiled.

"Robinson, what was that all about?" Ike wondered.

"Well, um, I ripped a hole in my jeans when I fell, and then Zac kind of ripped off my pocket."

"Sorry about that," Zac bit his lip.

"It's okay."

"So, why were you like, crossing your arms and like, looking like you were in pain?" Ike asked.

Why did he have to be so observant? "Um, well, he also kind of slammed into me with his elbows…"

"Where did I hit you?" Zac asked.

"Um…" I looked down.

This sudden look of realization passed over Zac and he blushed. Tay and Ike started to laugh.

"Shut up, it really hurts!" I said, smacking Ike's arm.

They were about to make fun of me and Zac even more, but the moving van pulled up. Ike and Tay still had amused looks on their faces when the moving van guy was talking to my mom about something.

We began to unload the truck, putting our couch in the living room, a table and chairs in the kitchen, and a bunch of more things. After about two hours, we took a break.

My mom ate her sandwich inside. The guys and I ate ours outside.

"Guess what?" Zac laughed as he stuffed ham and cheese in his mouth.

"What?" Tay responded.

"Robinson is wearing white underwear with little flowers on them!" he laughed,

"Zac!" I slapped him.

"Stop!" he giggled.

I plopped my sanwich down on the front stoop and said, "If I were you Zac, I'd watch myself."

Zac put down his sandwich as well. I took a step toward him. Once again, we took off running.

"I'm going to get you, Zacky!" I yelled. I chased him around the front yard. He pushed me and I fell. I stayed on the ground because I already knew what I was about to do. He went over to the front stoop where Tay and Ike were eating. He gave a triumphant grin. I crept up behing him and pulled on the back of his pants, causing them to fall almost to his knees, revealing Zac's Looney Tunes boxers. Frantically, he yanked his pants back up. It was too late. Tay and Ike were so hysterically laughing that Ike choked on his sandwich.

"That's what you get!" I rolled on the front lawn.

Zac blushed.

"She got you good, Zac!" Tay laughed.

"Zac got pantsed!" Ike joined in.

I stood up and put my arm on Zac's shoulder, "All right guys, now, we've had our fun, but leave Zac alone."

Tay and Ike took deep breaths. They tried to stop laughing, but they almost turned purple doing it.

"I mean it, seriously," I said, wiping the grin off my face.

"Okay, okay," Ike said, trying to cover up his smile.

My mom walked out of the house. "Ready to get started again?"

"Sure," Tay said.

Ike, Tay, and my mom walked over to the truck again. I gave Zac, who was still blushing, a little hug around the neck. "I'm sorry," I confessed.

"Yea, I'm sorry about before, you know, the whole, pocket thing," he admitted.

"It's okay," I said, squeezing him once more. We went over to the moving van and helped bring more stuff in the house.

That night, my mother wanted to go to the Hanson's house. Because we now had a TV and VCR, Ike, Tay, and Zac stayed over and we watched Scream and Carrie. They went home kind of late. I took a shower and got my clothes ready for school. I woke up early to be prepared. I got the books that Mom had picked up for me earlier in the week and went to the bus stop which was all the way at the end of my street, which was long considering in NYC the bus stops are at just about every corner. Waiting there were a guy and a girl.

"Hi," the girl smiled.

"Hi," I replied.

"Is your name Tayler?" she wondered.

"Yea," I said, not quite knowing how she would know my name.

"I'm Odessa," she smiled, "I think we may have met at Genevieve's party.

"Oh."

"Can I see your schedule?" she asked. I handed over the piece of paper. "Oh, cool," she smiled. "You're in my French, English, and Geometry classes."

"Good, at least I'll know someone," I smiled.

"I think you're in my friend Brixella's classes, too. She's great, you'll love her."

"Cool," I smiled again.

"The bus should be here soon, because it's later in the year the bus driver, his name's Enrique, by the way, he comes later," she explained.

I nodded. The bus came a few minutes later, and blah blah blah. Some person showed me to my homeroom and I go to my locker number and junk. First period I had French with Odessa, and second period I met Brixella. Odessa was right, Brixella was cool. She was friendly, but not one of those outgoing overly loud people who get annoying after about five minutes.

Anyway, I met a few more people who I had met at the party, but it wasn't necessarily a great day, I mean, I had a ton of homework (some teachers were going to attempt to make me make up the work from the first marking period) and all kinds of forms to fill out. I got off the bus at the end of the day and walked home quickly, chucking my book bag on the floor. Mom, who had gotten a job interview over the phone and started work, was not home yet. Deciding against doing homework, I picked up the phone and dialed the number that my mom had jotted down that said "Diana" above it. "Hello?" someone asked.

"Hi, this is Tayler," I said, realizing I didn't know who I was talking to and for that matter, I didn't know who I wanted to speak with, Ike, Tay or Zac.

"Oh, hi, Robinson, this is Tay," he said.

Good. Now I didn't have to make any decisions. "Hi, Tay," I said.

"How was school?" he wondered.

"It was okay. I met two girls named Odessa and Brixella. They're cool," I commented.

"Oh yea, I think I've met them a couple of times, they're pretty cool, I think."

"So, what are you boys doing today?" I asked.

"Well, I'm not sure, but do you want to come over?" he invited.

"Sure, but can I bring my homework? Maybe Ike can help me," I inquired.

"Sure, and I might be able to help you too," he offered.

"Okay, cool, I'll be over in a few."

"Ok, bye," he said.

"Bye."

I got al of my books together and went across the woods to their house. Diana answered the door and showed me to where the boys were. They were in the living room, playing Playstation.

"Hi," I smiled.

"Hi," they all chorused.

Zac was playing a snowboarding game called Snowboarders 2. I loved that game. It was one of the only games I had ever played on Playstation.

"Want me to help you with your homework?" Ike asked.

"Sure, I need help in Chemistry and Geometry."

"Okay," Ike nodded.

I took out the book and showed Ike the problems. "You see, I kind of get this, but I need to find the electron configuration for copper."

Ike helped me a bit and I did my chemistry homework. Then I did my French homework in like, a minute, and Ike began to help me with Geometry.

"Ew," I complained as I saw the algebra review sheet my teacher had given me.

"What?" Ike wondered.

"I hate algebra," I groaned.

"I'll help!" Zac offered. He put down his controller and came over to where Ike and I were sitting.

"You like algebra?" I said astonished.

"Yea."

"Okay, what do I do with this p?" I wondered.

"Um, you divide," Zac assured me.

Anyway, so we did my homework and then I took hold of Zac's game controller.

"Can I go next?" I asked Tay who was playing the board park on the game. "I guess," he grumbled.

When he was done, I went to "Titan's Toe" which was a jump. In the air, I made my little guy do a 540 shifty to mute grab.

"Not bad," acknowledged Tay.

"I know," I smirked.

We took turns playing for a while, and then we got bored.

"I've still got about and hour before I have to go home," I stated.

"Let's do something," Ike said.

"Halloween is next week," Zac mentioned.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Tay asked.

"Well, if we go to the swamp and gather herbs, we can brew a potion to put in the candy and give it to the children, and then we can take over the world," Zac said in a flourish.

"Zac?" I asked.

"Yea?"

"Get a grip."

"Ok," he said, grabbing Ike's arm. I rolled my eyes.

"Let's do something," I whined.

"Okay, let's play truth or dare," Ike suggested.

"Let's play outside," I suggested.

We all agreed. I grabbed my bookbag and slung it over my shoulder. We went up to the treehouse.

"Okay, who goes first?" I asked.

"The minority," Tay said, looking straight at me.

"Thanks," I said sarcastically.

"Okay, truth or dare?" Zac asked.

"Truth," I said.

"What do you think of our music?" he asked.

"What kind of lame question is that?" Ike burst out. "Can I ask you a better one?"

"Sure."

"Okay, if you were on a deserted island, and you had to only bring two people, who would you bring?"

"Martha Stewart because she can make anything out of anything, and I guess my mom or dad." I paused. "Tay," I stared at him, "truth or dare?"

He blushed, "Truth."

"Okay," I looked at Ike and Zac's faces to see if they had a good question.

Zac blurted out, "If there were two girls left on the Earth, one being Robinson, and the other being Tiffany, who would you procreate with and why?" He meant Tiffany the cheerleader, the snob, that girl who Tay claimed he didn't like.

Tay looked heartily embarassed. I shook my head, "Don't worry Tay, I won't beat you up if you don't say me. It's not like I pine for you or anything," I shook my head. As a matter of fact, it would have been less uncomfortable for me if he said Tiffany.

"Um," he thought, "Uh… I guess…"

"Come on," Zac prodded.

Ike hummed the Jeopardy song.

"I guess Tiffany," he paused to breathe, which I don't think he'd been doing, "because otherwise I wouldn't have a chance with her."

"And you're saying you have a chance with me?" I questioned.

"Well, I… um," Tay stammered.

Pretending to cry, I hid my face in Ike's shoulder. "You could have just said she was prettier than me."

"It's okay Robinson," Zac put his hand on my shoulder, "I would've said you, and not that mean old Tiffany."

I had meant to keep up my little charade for a while, but I broke into laughter. "Are you kidding Zac?"

"What?"

"That's a really big lie!"

"Not that big," Zac tried to assure me.

"Whatever," I laughed.

Tay asked Ike next. "Ike, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"Yea, Ike!" I yelled, patting im on the back.

"Ok," Tay paused to think for a minute, "I dare you to-" he took a fleeting glance at me.

I interrupted him, "No way, Tay, if it has anything to do with me, then no way. It's not fair that I'm the only girl here, and every question should not have to do with me."

Tay frowned, "Fine fine, I'll think of something else."

"I've got one, Ike. Come with me," I smirked.

We all climbed down from the tree house. I led them into the street. "Ike, I dare you to moon the next car that drives by."

"But I know everyone tat drives down this street," he contested.

"Fine," I shrugged, and we walked down the street and went over a few streets.

"Ike, don't do it, we could get in trouble," Tay scolded.

"I'll do it from the woods where no one can see my face," he explained.

Ike took position in the woods. As soon as a car drove by he mooned it. The people beeped the horn, but kept on driving. Ike had insisted that we hid in the woods, especially me, so that we wouldn't see. We emered from the trees laughing.

"Yea, Ike!" Zac laughed.

"Zac, truth or dare?" Ike asked.

"Um… dare!" he yelled.

We walked back to the Hanson's house. Ike wouldn't tell any of us what he had in store for Zac. He jogged into the house and told us to wait on the patio.

"Zac, you're gonna get it good," Tay laughed.

"Oh, yea, you just wait, Tay, you just wait until I pick you," Zac said devilishly. "Or, I could pick Robinson," Zac said tauntingly.

"Yea, pick Robinson," Tay urged.

I crossed my arms over my chest and turned my head away from Taylor. "I'm not talking to you anymore, Tay."

"I was only kidding," he shook his head.

"You weren't when you said you'd pick Tiffany over me," I pouted.

"Aw, jeez, Robinson," he whined, "Look, I'm sorry okay?"

I sniffled like I was crying and wiped fake teears from my eyes. "Yea, well now you've made me feel just terrible." I walked over to Zac and hid my face in his shoulder.

"It's okay, Robinson," Zac put his arms around me, "I still love you."

"I know, but I feel just torn apart that the Almighty Taylor doesn't want me," I cried louder.

"Aw, shut up," Tay growled.

I laughed and removed myself from Zac's arms. I stuck my tongue out at Tay. He wrinkled his nose at me.

Ike came out of the house carrying a dress that was pink and yellow striped. It was really ugly, probabl some old maternity dress or something.

"Ew, no, Ike," Zac frowned.

"Oh yea, Zac" Ike smirked.

"Fine," Zac complained. He wriggled into the dress. It looked hilarious. It was so long that it covered all of his boyish looking clothes.

"Hey guys," I interrupted the teasing that Tay and Ike were doing, "I should probably go home, I have school tomorrow."

"Okay, we'll come with you. Zac's dare is that he has to go in your house with you and talk to your mom… in the dress."

"Okay," I laughed. I picked up my bookbag from the treehouse. We walked to my house. Tay, Ike, and Zac entered throught the back door with me. Mom was in there, making dinner.

"I was just about to call you, Tayler," she said.

"Hi, Mrs. Robinson," Zac smiled. Ike pushed him forward.

"Oh, hello, Zac. That's quite a lovely dress," she said, looking at him like he was from Mars.

"Oh, thank you," Zac said, smoothing the skirt. "It's one of my favorites," he said seriously. The way he said it sent Ike, Tay, and me into laughter.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow," I rolled my eyes at them and led them out the door.

I helped Mom make dinner. We ate and watched a movie. I took a shower and then went to bed. *********************************************************************

"You guys," I whined. We were all sitting in my living room after I got out of school two days after the truth or dare experience. "I don't want you to leave."

"We have to," Ike shrugged.

"But who am I going to talk to?" I complained.

"Odessa and Brix," Zac answered, "They're your friends."

"I know."

"When will you be back?"

"Ike's birthday, November seventeenth, but we'll only be staying for two days," Tay stated.

I groaned.

"We're sorry, Robinson, but duty calls," Ike consoled.

"Yea, I know, but just don't come back and not remember me," I pouted.

Zac jumped into my lap from the floor where he'd been sitting, "Don't be silly, Tay, we'll never forget you. You're too much of a nut!"

"Me, a nut? Who's the one sitting in someone's lap?" I giggled.

"Who's the one not pushing me off her lap?" Zac shot back. I wrinkled my nose at him and stuck out my tongue.

"Let's have some fun, guys," Tay suggested.

"What do you want to do?" I asked with equal enthusiasm.

Ike chimed in, "Let's play soccer."

"Where?" I asked.

"We can go to a field, you know, like somewhere in town," Ike shrugged.

"Okay, sounds good to me," I shrugged. We all agreed that that was a good idea. I rolled Zacky off my lap and went upstairs to get a sweatshirt and a jacket.

"Do you guys want to borrow some jackets or something?" I asked them as I jogged back down the stairs.

"Nah, we're gonna stop back at our house to get a couple soccer balls anyway," Ike explained.

We left my house and walked to the Hansons'. We picked up sweatshirts and two soccer balls. Ike drove us over to a field in a park that was deserted. We climbed out of the car.

"Let's pick teams," I suggested.

"I'm with Ike," Tay said, taking a ball and teaming up with Ike.

"Fine, Tay," I said, disgusted, "Now I know you really don't want me. You won't even be on my team for soccer!"

Zac put his hand on my shoulder, "Save it for the field," he smirked at Tay and whispered in my ear, "If you make him feel guilty enough, he won't be able to deny you anything."

"I don't need his pity," I squinted in Tay's direction. We started the game. We were playing for a few minutes when Tay made the first shot on our goal (Zac saved it).

"Zac! Pass!" I yelled from almost half the field away. Zac passed the ball to me. I stoped it and began to dribble when Ike came at me.

"Watch out, Robinson," he taunted.

"I don't think so, Ike!" I yelled and laughed. I kicked him in the shin and moved the ball through his legs.

"Ow!" he yelped.

"Gotcha!" I screamed as I ran toward the goal.

"You may have gotten through him, but not me!" Tay yelled as I ran toward him.

"Oh yea?" I continues running toward him. When we were just about to slam into each other, I passed the ball to Zac who had been running up the sideline. Tay and I smashed into each other and fell to the ground.

"Ow!" Tay yelled (it must have sounded funny because we both yelled it at the same exact time). I sat up to see Zacky land a goal.

“Yea Zac!” I screeched. Tay sat up next to me and shook his head.

“Jeez, Robinson,” he whined, rubbing his head, “You’re a pretty hard hitter.”

I ignored him and attempted to get up.

“Have you ever considered a career in football?”

“Aw, did I hurt you?” I said in the way that people talk to puppies and babies. I put my hand on his head.

“Yea, kinda,” he said rudely.

I stood up and offered my hand to him. He reached out for it. I rocked back on my heels and tugged him up. Zac came jogging over.

“Zac!” I cheered. I offered my high five for him to slap.

He did, “Nice fake out, Robinson!”

We decided to play to three goals (Zac and I won, three to one). Then we switched teams. I was with Ike.

“Yes!” he exclaimed. “You’re going down, boys!”

We played again. I managed to trip Zac. “Foul!” he screeched from the ground as I sped past him with the ball.

“You jumped in front of me!” I laughed as I sped toward the goal. I passed to Ike, who made it in. I also managed to trip Tay a couple of times.

Anyway, after we tied that game, Tay insisted that I be on his team because I’d already beat him up two games in a row. A few minutes into that game, I was traveling down the field with the ball towards Tay who was waiting by the goal. Somehow, Ike managed to steal the ball from me and score a goal.

“Robinson!” Tay yelled from down the field.

“Sorry!” I called back. Tay trotted down the field to our goal, where I was about to kick it long. “Okay, listen, I’m gonna pretend to kick it downfield, but instead I’m gonna pass it to you, run up the sideline, take out Zac, and be ready for the pass,” I whispered into Tay’s ear.

Breathing heavily, Tay wiped his nose and nodded. We caried out the whole plan and we managed to trick Ike and Zac easily. I didn’t quite trip Zac enough to shake him, but I passed the ball back to Tay and he scored it.

“Yea, Tay!” I yelled, slapping both his hands.

“You guys, I’m really hungry,” Zac whined.

“Ok, let’s go to eat,” Ike shrugged.

We found a Burger King and we pulled up to the drive through. We had a nice little screaming contest about what we wanted, until Ike smacked Tay in the head, and said, “Shut the f$%# up, I’m trying to order!” I though it was funny, because I’d never really heard him curse before, and so Zac and I in the backseat did our best to cover up our giggling. Tay gave us a dirty look in the mirror. “Where do you want to eat this?” Ike asked as he took the bag from the lady at the winndow.

“We can’t go home,” I whined, taking the box of fries Tay was handing over his shoulder.

“Why not?” Zac said, with a mouthful of Whopper.

“Because then you guys will have to leave sooner,” I said, handing Zac some napkins to wipe the mayo off his face.

“Where do you want to go then?” Ike asked.

“I don’t know,” I shruggeed.

Ike decided to just drive. We ended getting off the highway and stopping on a side road so Ike could eat his food (he wasn’t quite a good enough driver yet to eat and drive, and so we insisted that he pull over). After we’d all finished, I still persisted that we not go home, and so we decided to go to the movies.

They somehow conned me into seeing Bride of Chucky, which I thought was incredibly sexist and stupid, but it was really fun to make fun of. We bought popcorn and soda (water for me because I hate soda), and we sneaked in when the lights went out. Tay was on my immediate right, and Ike next to him, and Zac was on my left. We sat in the back row, attempting to avoid a Hanson Hysteria. I got really bored during the previews, and I started throwing popcorn at Ike and then ducking behind Tay.

“Cut it out!” Tay whined after Ike had attempted to get me back the fourth time and hit Tay in the head (for the fourth time). I then started chucking popcorn in the air and tried to catch it in my mouth. I hit the person in front of me in the head twice. Tay elbowed me, “We’re gonna get thrown out!”

“No we’re not,” I laughed. I stopped throwing popcorn anyway.

About halfway through the movie, Zac announced that he had to pee. Tay agreed. Ike wanted to watch the movie, but I volunteered to go with them. We climbed over Ike’s legs (Zac tried to push me into Ike’s lap, but I didn’t fall) and exited into the lobby. Thankfully, there was no one to be found. We followed the signs to the men’s room.

“Ha ha, you can’t come in!” Zac taunted, running in the men’s room and closing the door behind him.

“Oh yea?” I asked Tay, who was about to enter.

I swung open the door. “Hi, Zac!” I yelled.

“What are you doing in here?!” he frowned.

“Visiting,” I smiled, leaning up against the sink.

“What if there was somebody else in here, or I’d already started peeing?” he wondered.

“Then I’d have been in for a surprise,” I shrugged. Just then, a boy about my age, or maybe a few years older entered. He kind of jumped when he saw me. I kind of jumped when I saw him. “I guess I’ll wait out there,” I said to Tay. I shot out the door.

I waited outside the door for a minute or so. Tay and Zac came out, laughing. “Did you see his face?” Tay was laughing, turning red.

“That was a Kodak moment, Robinson,” Zac breathed heavily.

“Oops,” I said innocently.

We continued to laugh as we tried to find our way back to the theater. As we were about to enter, Tay decided he wanted some Buncha Crunch. Zac went in to his seat and Tay and I went to the snack counter. We got our snacks. On our way back to the theater, we saw some girls looking at Tay with wide eyes.

I leaned over and whispered in his ear, “Tay, teeny boppers at three o’clock,” I nudged him in the ribs.

Tay looked frantically around for somewhwere to hide or something. I did too. What were we gonna do, hide in the popcorn? The girls approached us. Just as they were about to begin screaming, I felt by my side and grabbed Tay’s hand, to make it look like we were on a date. The girls just stood there, speechless. We quickly strode into the theater.

“That was close, thanks a lot, Robinson,” Tay sighed, releasing my hand. We climbed over Ike and sat down.

“You’re just lucky I was there,” I whispered, “They might have raped you.”

Tay laughed. Ike asked, “What happened?”

“Robinson saved my butt from the Scream Squad,” Tay explained.

“How?” Zac wondered.

“I held his hand and they got all freaked out,” I shrugged.

“How cute,” Ike teased.

Just then, the girls came into our theater. Tay shrunk in his seat. One of the girls grumbled, “I can’t believe it!”

Another whimpered, “Maybe it’s just a joke.”

“That girl was a slut,” the last one grimaced.

I was about to say something, but Tay put his hand on my arm, as if to hold me back. I pouted, but remained silent. The girls grumbled a little more and then left.

Zac erupted into laughter, “She called you a slut!”

“Shut up, Zac,” I grouched.

He continued to giggle.

“Stop,” I said, trying my best to stay angry, but his laughing was infectious.

“You’re a slut, Robinson,” Zac said in a loud whisper.

At that, I started to tickle him. I leaned over my seat because he was crouching down to avoid my hands. Just then, the girls re-entered through the door closer to the side of the theater that we were on. They saw Zac and I and misinterpreted (why does that always happen to us?). The girl who had called me a slut gasped and stormed out. I heard her mutter, “Whore.”

Zac must’ve heard her too, because he started laughing even harder. I let go of his sides and sat in my seat, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Whore,” he said under his breath.

“Shut up!” I insisted.

The person in front of me whirled around and shhhhhhed me. When he turned back around, I gave him the finger.

Zac thought this was hilarious, and he started to choke on his Pepsi. Tay and Ike were watching him gasp for air with amused looks on their faces. After a few minutes, Zac stopped choking. Finally, the movie ended.

“You guys, what are we going to do? I’ll bet those girls are still out there, waiting,” I whined as the house lights came on.

“So?” Ike shrugged, wiping pocorn kernels off his pants.

“So, they’re going to like, rape Tay and then they’ll probably beat me up,” I moaned.

“Please, Robinson, you beat us up, like every day,” Tay said, “you can take them.”

“And as for Tay, I don’t think he’ll mind if they rape him,” Zac grinned.

I said, throwing my arm aroung Tay’s shoulder, “Ain’t nobody kickin it to my man!”

They all laughed at me. “Well then, we’ll just run,” Ike suggested.

“To where?” Zac asked.

“The car, silly,” I took my arm off Tay’s shoulder to rumple Zac’s hair.

So, we decided to run. We stood in front of the doors and Ike counted to three. On “three” we pushed through the doors and took off for the exit. I ran behind them a little bit because I had no clue where I was going. Zac tripped over the guy from the men’s room. I yanked him off the floor. We erupted into laughter, such hard laughter that we were hardly even running anymore. All of a sudden, Zac reached for my hand and yanked me to go faster. I heard some screaming from behind us.

“Let’s go guys!” Ike screamed. Of course, we picked up the pace and dashed out the doors.

“Where’s the car, Ike?” Tay yelled, running sideways across the parking lot aisles.

He spotted it and we rushed toward it. I let the guys get in first because looking for the car gave the screamers time to catch up to us. Just as I climbed in, the girls flooded the car. I slammed the door shut and locked it. Ike, Tay, and Zac did likewise. There were about seven girls in total, the three girls from the theater, and then some others. They were like, shaking the car. Tay, Ike, and Zac waved and smiled. Ike started the car and attempted to drive away, but it took a few seconds for the girls to move out of the way. When they did, Ike drove away.

I turned around to see Tay and Zac because I had gotten in the front seat. “You guys, that was crazy!” Everybody was breathing heavily.

“That’s not even the worst it’s been!” Ike explained, turning the corner.

“Yea,” Zac said. Everybody was smiling. That was fun. I was all hyper now. I flicked on the radio. It was “Bohemian Raphsody”by Queen. I loved that song. I blasted it. We all started singing (and doing that little Wayne’s World head-bang thing). After that song (which is pretty long) we were almost home.

“Well, Robinson, what’s the deal?” Ike asked, stopping the car.

“I don’t want to go home,” I whined.

“Robinson, you’re going to get yelled at, it’s late,” Tay said, leaning his head into the front seat.

“So?” I turned to face him.

“So, that’s bad!” Zac said in a silly voice.

“But guys,” I whined.

“Come on, Robinson, we’ll be back,” I ke said.

“Yea, but not for like, ever,” I pouted.

“We can write to each other,” Ike offered.

“I know, but... how are you going to know which letter is mine?” I asked,

“Send a package with ROBINSON printed on the back, and then we can make sure to open it,” Zac said.

“All right, all right,” I said, still grumpily.

“We can call you,” Tay suggested.

“Knowing you, Tay, you’ll probably call me collect from Morocco or something,” I smiled, shoving Tay’s face, pushing him back into the back seat.

Ike restarted the car and drove. He went down my street to drop me off first. He stopped the car in front of my house. “Get out,” he teased.

“You guys,” I whined.

“If you cry, I’m going to hit you,” Zac warned.

“I’m not going to cry,” I reached over the seat and slapped him in the head. I opened the car door and climbed out.

“Bye!” Ike, Tay, and Zac said in unison.

“I’ll miss you guys,” I smiled. Zac stuck his tongue out at me. “Well, I’ll miss Ike and Tay anyway.” We laughed.

I closed the door and went up to my doorstep. I turned and waved at them as they drove away. They waved back. I went inside.

Chapter 5: A Phone Call, Music, New York, and a Really Big Impulse

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