Chapter 10-A Secret No One Knows

TAYLOR

Taylor wished Jessie good luck, kissed his mom good bye, and settled down to play on the computer. His whole plan had been carefully calculated and was flawless, except for one small problem:Ike.

He racked his brain to find a way to get to the place where the dancing was to take place. He'd considered rollerblading, but figured it would take too long. Finally, he'd decided that the only logical answer was to get Ike to drive him.

"Isaac! Where are you?" he bellowed.

"The living room!"

Taylor pranced off to the living room and found both Ike and his dad.

"Dad!" he exclaimed.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to watch Jess?"

"Yeah. But she doesn't dance until 2:30. Why be there two hours early?"

"Because!" Taylor said, exasperated.

"Taylor, are you up to something?"

"No!"

Mr Hanson raised an eyebrow, before turning back to the TV. Feeling extremely frustrated, Taylor sighed. He couldn't very well tell his whole plan to Ike with his Dad in the room! No way! Suddenly, an idea hit him. He fled to the kitchen and picked up the phone. If anybody could get him out of this, it was Jake.

"Hello? You've reached the Lemont residence."

Oh no!

"Hey, Emily," he groaned.

"Tay! Cup cake, how are you?"

Cup cake? Eeew yuck!

"Don't call me cup cake," he snapped.

"Tay, baby," Emily drawled,"me and Michelle are going out for lunch tomorrow. Want to come as my boyfriend? Now that Lacey's out of the picture-"

"Is Jake home?" Taylor asked, figuring if he had to listen to anymore of this, he'd be sick.

"Tay, sweet heart, will you ever go out with me?"

"Let me think. Aaah, uum, oooh. No. Emily, IS JAKE HOME?"

"Hold on," she sniffed.

"Hey! 'Sup?" Jake asked.

"A lot. Listen," Taylor said, before spilling out his plan.

"Holy! What do you want me to do about that?"

"Can your sister drive us?"

"Susan? And hold on, did I hear an us?"

"Yup."

"If I can get Susie to agree, I'll phone you back."

"Ok. Bye!"

"Bye."

Taylor hung up and drummed his fingers on the table. Seconds later, the phone rang.

"Jake?"

"Well, Susan agreed. How did you convince me to sit through Jess's ballet thing? We'll be there to pick you up in 15 minutes. Be ready. Also, Sus is dropping us off at the mall, and is going to pick us up there at 5:00. We'll have to walk the rest of the way. I didn't tell her 'bout the dance thing."

"Thanks, bye."

"Bye."

Taylor slammed down the phone and rushed to the living room.

"Dad, Jake and I are going to the mall. Be back at 5:00."

"Ok, Taylor."

Taylor ran to his room and got into the baggy clothes, hat, and sunglasses that had saved Zac. Quickly, he went to the porch to wait and sat on the steps.

Exactly 12 minutes later, a black Honda rounded the corner. Taylor stood up and rushed to the car.

"'Lo, Tay!" Jake cried.

"Hi Susan. Hey Jake!"

Susan had class unlike her little sister. She had dark hair and incredibly dark eyes. Her hair was always pulled straight back into an incredibly tight, low ponytail. Susan was tall, but she still wore black leather shoes with huge heals, She was always wearing a tight black pant suit or a black skirt and jacket. Taylor supposed Susan was weird, but besides Jake, all the Lemonts were a bit off the wall.

"Hello, Jordan Taylor," Susan said primly, "Your fashion choices are most peculiar, for you."

Taylor nodded and shrugged. Jake mimicked Susan, and he and Taylor giggled.

"Jason Alexander, don't be a fool. Remember who is driving you."

Jake made a face at the "Jacob Alexander", but choose not to push his good fortune with his odd sister.

"Sorry, Sus."

"I'll let it slide, Jacob Alexander," Susan announced, pulling into the parking lot, "Be here promptly at 5:00 pm. Good bye, Jordan Taylor and Jacob Alexander."

Taylor got out and slammed the door.

"Jordan Taylor?" he squeaked.

"Jacob Alexander?" Jake choked.

The two began to make gagging noises.

ISAAC

"Zac, just a little longer! I need help!"

Zac groaned, "Ike! I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS ANY MORE! WHY DO YOU WANT TO LEARN SIGN LANGUAGE?"

"Whoa! Zac, calm down!"

"NO! I HAVE A LIFE! I DON'T HAVE TO SIT HERE!! WHY DO I HAVE TO GIVE YOU SENTENCES TO SIGN AND THEN MARK YOU ON THEM?? THAT IS WHAT MOM DOES WITH AVERY AND JESS' SPELLING LESSONS! DO I LOOK LIKE MOM????? FOR GOODNESS SAKE!"

"Breath, Zac," Isaac commanded.

"NO! NOT UNTIL YOU TELL ME WHY YOU WANT TO LEARN SIGN LANGUAGE!"

Isaac swallowed. He knew the question would come sooner or later from either Taylor or Zac. Carefully, he chose his words.

"I met a girl in the park, her name is Brianne. She is extraordinarily nice, but we can't have much of a conversation because she is deaf and can't speak. I wanted to be able to talk to her."

Zac nodded and smiled. Isaac knew what he had to say next would wipe that smile right off of his face.

"Could you come with me to the park and help me with my sign language? I wanted to wait for Taylor, so you could both go, but tomorrow's Christmas Eve, and Tay is busy today. Please?"

ZAC

This sucks. I can't do this! I don't know her and God knows that my sign language does not include decent things to say to a girl. Oh! Dumb old Taylor! Where is he? Ike, can't you use the language I helped you with? I can't remember it!

Ike was leading him to a tree. Under it was a young girl, short and thin, who looked sickly. She was a long shot from beautiful, but was pretty in a quiet, unnoticable way. Zac noticed that Isaac's eyes were glowing, and he thought, "It doesn't matter. Ike really likes her."

Issac signed hello to her and she signed it back. Then her signing went right over Zac's poor, confused head. By the look on Ike's face, Zac knew he hadn't gotten it either. Grinning from ear to ear, she got out a notebook. Ike sat down on one side of her and yanked Zac down so that he could sit on the other side of her. Gulping, Zac glanced at her paper.

"Hi. Are you Zac? My sister, Allison, likes Ike. She told me about you. And Taylor. She taught me to sign MMMBop and Man From Milwaukee."

"Say something," Zac's mind ordered. He took her pen and paper and began to write.

"How do you sign the ba du bops?"

Brianne, deciding to humor Zac, who was blind to the fact that she could lip read, showed him.

TAYLOR

"Where do you want to sit?" Jake asked.

Taylor's eyes skimmed the theater

"Uh, front row. Good view there."

Taylor and Jake shuffled to the front row and sat down. He scanned the auditorium for his mom and found her, behind the judges. He almost waved, but caught himself.

The dances began. Trot, trot, trot. Twirl, twirl, twirl. Poise, poise, poise. Yawn, yawn, yawn. Sleep, sleep, sleep. Doze, doze, doze.

"Tay! It's her!"

Taylor looked at the stage and did not see a group of dacing nine year olds. He saw what he least expected to see. He saw Madeline.

"Maddy!" Jake gasped.

Taylor just gawked. Maddy was beautiful. Her hair was up in a loose bun and white rosebuds had been weaved delicately in. She was wearing a white, satiny looking, long sleeved body suit and a tutu. Madeline's tutu looked fragile. Taylor didn't know how that could be. He must be hallucinating. He blinked. Madeline was still there. Her grey eyes were filled with a strange sort of passion that was very intense. Her cheeks were pale, but Taylor couldn't see her freckles from where he was sitting. She was so beautiful! Taylor realised just how feminine Madeline could look.

"Tay, did you know Madeline took ballet?" Jake asked.

Taylor shook his head and continued to stare.

"Uh, Tay, are you OK?"

"Sure," he replied.

"Tay, I don't think Maddy is that fascinating!"

Taylor started to say that he thought she was and more, but decided against that. He wasn't going to let Jake into this secret just yet. It was between him and Zac.

"Neither do I!" Taylor lied, trying to sound annoyed.

"Then here's a solution. Quit gawking!"

Taylor made a face, but didn't stop staring. Madeline posed and an awful thing happened. She and Taylor made eye contact. Her lips twitched, almost forming a half smile. Her eyes showed the first real sign of emotion and she wrinkled her nose. Taylor hoped he hadn't made her screw up. She only looked at him for a mila second, but to Taylor, her gaze seemed to last forever.

"Uh oh, Tay, I think she saw me."

"No, Jake. I think she saw me!" Taylor said, trying not to sound to disgusted. How could Jake even think that look was for him? He had Shiela. And he had......nobody. Ugh!

"Dumbo, you're in disguise! She saw me!"

"Ok, Jake, whatever."

Jess's class came ona and Taylor watched her. Her class was pretending to be birds. The costumes were cute. But, to Taylor, they couldn't even be compared to how beautiful Madeline was.

Email: Me