"Thanks for bailing me out last night," Isaac said to Taylor. Last night, Taylor had managed to drag his two brothers up the stairs and into their room without their parents really suspecting anything. Taylor told them that Zac and Ike were just really tired from dancing around all night$B)(J That wasn't really a lie, because they really did dance$B)(Ja lot. Taylor looked over at his older brother, "No problem$B)(J Besides, you're the one that got yelled at for getting the big bump on Dad's car." Taylor was putting on his roller blades. He was heading on over to the VDO arcade, and was going to stop by Janelle's to see if she wanted to go along too. Zac flopped down onto the couch, "Hey Tay, I didn't do anything stupid last night did I?" Taylor raised an eyebrow, "Don't worry, you just break danced in front of the entire Tulsa high school population$B)(Jyou'll get over it." Zac grinned, "I must've been good if you say that everybody cheered for me like that." "Please, don't flatter yourself, "Taylor rolled his eyes. All of a sudden Isaac spoke up, "Hey Tay, you sure that I didn't look like a dork in front of Melanie?" Taylor started laughing hysterically, "No, she looked like a dork too$B)(JI can't believe it, you guys were ballroom dancing! I thought you were gonna start cha cha-ing or something." Isaac rolled his eyes and Taylor stood up. "Kay, I'll see ya guys later. I'm leavin' now." He clunked down the front porch, and headed on over to the Landers's house.
Taylor rolled up the front porch and rang the doorbell. He strained his ears as he heard someone clinking out notes on the piano. Just then the door swung open and Janelle, with an exasperated look on her face said, "Hey Tay, I'm trying to figure out his piano crap, but I can't seem to be able to do it." Taylor grinned and stepped inside. "C'mere, lemme show you how to do it." He walked over to the piano and sat down. Janelle sat down beside him and watched him pluck out a few notes. She realized he was playing "With You in Your Dreams." "Oh, Tay, that's beautiful," she commented. Taylor took her right hand and said, "Here, you play the melody, and I'll use my left hand and play the other part." Janelle looked over at her piano book and started playing 'Mary Had a Little Lamb.' She'd managed to get the first couple of notes right then ended up clunking some horrible tune. She sighed, "I give up, I'll try again later." Taylor smiled, "Yeah, okay," he stood up and continued, "Hey, I'm going on over to the VDO arcade, you wanna come along?" Janelle stood up, "Yeah sure! Lemme go get my blades."
"Hey, so how'd it go last night?" Janelle asked as they headed on over to the VDO arcade. Taylor pulled his hair up into a ponytail and said, "It was okay, actually, except Jordan and his gang came up and rammed my Dad's car. Scared the shit outta me." Janelle looked at Taylor with a worried expression on her face, "Are you okay? Did anything serious happen?" Taylor looked back at her, "Nah, don't worry$B)(JIke told Mom and Dad that he'd bumped into a stop sign$B)(Jthey didn't get that mad." Janelle murmered to herself, "I can't believe that jerk$B)(J" "Who, Ike?" Taylor asked. "No, no, I mean Jordan. I mean, what's his freaking problem anyway?" she demanded. Taylor grinned at her, "He likes you, Jan." Janelle looked at him, "That's not the point$B)(Jhe's doing it because he's used to getting what he wants$B)(JHe's just saving his rep." Taylor took her hand, "Well, who cares, anyway, just forget him." He paused for a second then started smiling, "Hey, race you." Janelle laughed and grabbed his hand, "'Kay then, on your marks, set, go!" And they were off.
It turned out that nobody beat nobody. They both crashed into each other and had fallen down outside of 'Randy's Sports Shop.' Taylor laughed and stood up. He helped Janelle up, "You okay Jan?" Janelle grinned, "Yeah, sure$B)(J She wiped off her shorts and Taylor said to her, "Hey, you wanna get something to eat first?" "Yeah, sure, what'd you have in mind?" she asked. Taylor looked around and surveyed the area, "C'mon, let's go to Leo Grottos, heard they got good burgers there." Janelle laughed and followed him in.
Janelle was munching on some fries as Taylor bit into his hamburger. He wiped his mouth and grinned at her, "Good, huh?" Janelle smiled, "Yeah." She had been thinking about her past couple of weeks of living in Tulsa. So far, everything had been great$B)(Jbut mostly it was because of Taylor. He was like a best friend, she could talk to him about anything. He had a funny and sensitive charm that made Janelle just want to smile and laugh out loud. Everything he did seemed to be so perfect$B)(JTaylor noticed that Janelle was staring at him, "What? I got ketchup on my nose or something?" Janelle grinned, "No, I was just thinking." Taylor set his hamburger down, "Bad thoughts or good thoughts?" Taylor asked. "Good thoughts, "Janelle replied. Taylor picked up his hamburger and resumed eating, "Good." Janelle smiled at him and picked up her own burger and started munching away.
Taylor had been secretly watching Janelle as she ate her burger. She was such a great girl. He felt like he'd known her forever. He could fall down from roller-blading and not be the least embarrassed. He could dance with her under the stars, and feel like the luckiest guy in the world. Frantic fans could chase and attack him, and she'd laugh. He could go away for a couple of weeks, and she wouldn't make a big deal of it. That reminded him of his European tour that he was going to be doing in just a couple of days. "Hey Janelle, I want you to have something." He reached behind his neck and took off one of his chokers. It was the one with the six pointed star. "Here Jan," he handed it over to her, "It's supposed to scare witches away." Janelle laughed, "Wow, thanks Tay. It's just as beautiful as the stars from the dance last night." "You were the prettiest star last night," Taylor murmured. He saw Janelle blush as she tied the necklace on. Just then they heard "MMMBop" from behind them. They turned around and saw that MTV was playing the VDO that they had just filmed a week ago. Janelle laughed, "Hey Tay, look who's on TV." Taylor blushed as he saw himself singing with his brothers, "Geesh, this is embarrassing," he finished his coke and stood up, "C'mon, let's go before someone recognizes us." Too late, Taylor heard a shriek from behind. He cringed and saw some girls around Zac's age running towards him. "Yikes," he grabbed Janelle and fled towards the VDO arcade.
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