Taylor was dreaming. He was dreaming about the first time he and Erica had kissed. It seemed like it was happening all over again. He really felt like he was kissing her. He started to move and realized he was still in his bed, and someone actually was kissing him! The person pulled away. He opened his eyes, he couldn't believe it!
"Erica?" he asked rubbing his eyes.
"Yup," she said smiling,"can you believe it? I'm all better."
Taylor smiled at her. She didn't even look sick anymore, she looked like she was glowing.
"And," she continued,"for my first day out of the house in three days I decided to pay my caring boyfriend a visit."
Taylor smiled even bigger.
"But when he wasn't home I figured I could come here." she joked.
"Hey!" Taylor exclaimed sitting up.
"I'm just joking! I came here first. Your mom told me you were sleeping so I figured what better a way to wake up than with a kiss?"
Taylor's smile once again ensued,"And you were right." he said gently brushing his lips against hers. He stared into her eyes and went to kiss her again when she stopped him by placing her hand on his chest.
"Maybe you should get dressed huh?" she asked.
Taylor looked down and realized he was only in his boxer shorts. He turned red,"Uh...yeah." he said sheepishly.
"I'll wait downstairs." she said leaving the room.
Taylor quickly got up and picked up a pair of jeans discarded on the floor. He held them to his nose and took a whiff,"I think I can get one more days wear out of these." he mumbled to himself pulling the pants on. Then he walked into the bathroom and rinsed off his face and brushed his teeth and hair. He was incredibly glad he had taken a shower last night so he wouldn't have to take the time out to jump in now and make Erica wait longer. Then he went back to his room and dawdled over which shirt he wanted to wear. He found his white t-shirt in a pile in the corner, where all the clean clothes went so the boys could put them away. Not that they ever saw the insisde of a drawer but who knows. Taylor glanced at himself quickly in the mirror. It was then that he noticed a big, red stain on the front of the shirt. Spaghetti sauce he thought ripping that shirt off and going on a quest for another one...
Erica glanced at her watch yet again. It had been almost a half an hour since she left the boys room and frankly, she was getting tired of watching cartoons with Jessica. To her they were almost boring by now. The road runner always gets away, you would think the coyote would learn that by now. You would also think that the coyote would stop buying Acme products seeing as none of them ever work.
"Ready?" Taylor asked from the doorway of the den.
"Geez, and I thought girls take a long time to get ready." she said.
"They do." Tay smiled and reached out for her hand. Then they walked out of the front door holding hands. The weren't really walking anywhere just kind of wandering around aimlessley. They both loved to do that. You saw so much more than you ever could taking a specific route.
"I missed you so much." Taylor said.
"Missed me? You were by my side the entire time. How could you miss me?" she asked.
"Let me rephrase that...I missed this." Taylor said leaning in close to her. He felt her breath dance over his lips the way it always did before his lips connected with hers. He hadn't realized how much he missed it.
" I see." Erica said when they pulled away,"So you just missed me fulfilling your little perverted fantasies?" she joked.
"Of course not." he said quietly, letting his fingertips dance around on her stomach,"Let's go somewhere...less public." he suggested.
"We could go back to my house." she offered.
Taylor scrunched his nose,"Who's home there?"
"No one." she said.
"Well then...to your house it is." he said taking her hand in his once again.
"So what was the matter with you yesterday?" Isaac asked Stacie.
"Huh?" Stacie answered.
"You were crying and it wasn't because of me...what was it about?" he asked again.
"Guys in general." Stacie said.
"Huh?" he asked.
"Let's just say that guys have been pretty shitty to me in the past, but you're different." she said simply.
This simply didn't quench Isaac's thirst for knowledge. What a wimpy reason.
"Well what did they..."
She cut him off,"I don't really want to share anymore with you yet okay?" she asked him.
"Okay." he agreed, even though he was hurt. But he decided whatever this was about wasn't worth a fight. Besides, today was the day that he was thinking about asking her to be his girlfriend and he didn't want anything to ruin his plans.
Erica opened the door to her house and walked inside. Taylor followed her, thankful that his sisters or brother weren't playing in the front yard to see them walk inside. She grabbed his hand and pulled him up the stairs to her room. Taylor didn't really see why they had to be in her room to make out, any room would do. No one was there to stop them, but then again, any room would do just as he thought before. They walked into her room shutting the door behind them. Erica went over and sat on the bed, Taylor sat next to her. He wasted no time in pulling her close to him and kissing her. Soon enough their tounges found each other. Not really sure of what to do next, they both started to lay down on her bed, Taylor on top of Erica. He unsurly slipped his hand under her shirt. He let his hand rest on her stomach contemplating whether or not he actually wanted to do this as he kissed her. In less than a second he realized, yes, he wanted to do this. He eagerly slipped his hand up to her breasts. He felt around letting his hands explore every inch of her body. Erica pressed her lips against his harder, with more urgency. Taylor pulled his lips away and slipped Erica's shirt off. Then he removed his shirt and continued to kiss her. He slipped her bra strap down her shoulder and kissed her neck and then her shoulder. Then he pulled back a little, Erica sat up not wanting Taylor's lips to leave hers, this was precisley his plan. Once she sat up his hands drifted to the clasp on her bra. He fumbled around with it not really sure how to unclasp it. He tore his lips from Erica's and peered over her shoulder, his face becoming flushed as he tried to remove her bra. Erica simply let her lips drift over to his neck, gently kissing and sucking on it.
"What the hell..." he muttered become perturbed.
Erica pulled away from his neck and tried her hardest to stay serious about the situation not wanting to break the mood.
"Just give me a sec." he said trying yet again to unclasp her bra.
"Would you like some help?" she asked him.
"No! I can do it. Just hold on." he said becoming more and more agitated with every growing second,"Why do you girls have to wear so many layers of clothing ?" he asked,"And why is it that I would need a goddamned set of directions to undress you!" he said frantically pulling at her bra.
"Taylor..." she said quietly trying to calm him down.
He threw his hands in the air,"I give up!" he yelled.
Erica cupped his face in her hands and gently kissed him,"It's okay Tay," she whispered and kissed him again before she easily reached behind her and unclasped the bra herself.
Taylor quickly took the initiative and slipped it down her shoulders, pulling away for a second to glance at her, a small smile spreading across his face before he kissed her again. Then once again they layed back down. He freely let his hands roam around.
Erica couldn't believe that she was letting him do this. I mean yeah it felt good and all, but she wasn't sure she would exactly like to have went this far so fast. It was almost as if their friendship hadn't meant anything to him because he hadn't even considered what it would be like to do these things with his best friend. It made her feel like he only wanted her body and not her. She didin't like that feeling. But then again, if she didn't go this far she believed that he would no longer like her. She closed her eyes as she felt his lips trace over her neck and continue moving down.
When he came back to her lips for a kiss she felt his hands fall on the waist of her jeans and they started fumbling around with the button.
"Ummm...Taylor? What are you doing?"
Something shiny caught Zac's eye. He stopped peddling on his bike and hopped off the seat. He went over to the curb and bent down to see about 1.50 in change. Yes, my lucky day. he thought. All of a sudden he heard someone screaming.
"No brakes! Move! I have no brakes!" the voice yelled.
Thump
Zac was on the ground with the owner of the voice and a bike on top of him. Zac groaned with pain and the person got up bringing the bike with them.
"Well, well if it isn't Zac." the voice said.
Zac opened his eyes and groaned, but not in pain. It was because he realized who the voice belonged to. It was Kerri.
"You know, we gotta stop bumping into each other like this." she grinned.
Zac got up and started brushing himself off,"Yeah well..." he muttered,"are you okay?"
"Well I'm fine I guess except for a few scrapes here and there." she said.
Zac looked her over and saw her knee practically gushing blood,"Why don't we go back to my house and get you cleaned up." he offered.
"Well..." Kerri said not really sure if she should go to a complete strangers house,but he seemed harmless enough,"okay." she agreed.
Zac, being the gentleman he was, walked in front of her and barley said two words to her as they wheeled their bikes back to his house. Once they got there Zac took her straight to the bathroom where the first aid kit was kept.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Kerri asked as she watched Zac pull random things out of the kit.
Zac glanced at her,"Of course," he said laughing,"I have three younger siblings, I know how to treat cuts, believe me."
Kerri nodded and hopped up on the bathroom counter.
Zac brought the peroxide over to her. He didn't even put it on her, when she screamed,"Ow! That hurts!"
Zac smiled,"I haven't even done anything yet."
Kerri turned red,"Oh."
Zac finally put peroxide on her knee to clean out the gash.
"Owww!!!" she screamed incredibly loud. You would think he was murdering her.
"Stop it," Zac said,"It doesn't hurt that bad."
"How would you know? You're not the one having that gunk poured on you." she shot back.
Zac pulled the peroxide away from her knee,"Okay it's clean." he announced.
"Thank God." Kerri said sighing.
Zac pulled out a band aid and pulled off the wrapping, he gently placed it on her knee,"See it wasn't that bad." he said glancing up.
She gave him a small smile,"I guess it wasn't."
Zac blushed and reached up and grabbed her hand and helped her off of the counter,"I pronounce you cured."
"Thank you for breaking my fall and cleaning me up." she said softly.
Zac blushed harder,"No problem." he said putting away the first aid kit.
Kerri moved closer,"I know, I just wanted to say thank you." she said before kissing his cheek and exiting the bathroom.
Zac looked at the ground Oh shit he thought.
"Damn Stacie!" Isaac exclaimed,"Slow down. The chicken is already dead it's not going to run away."
Stacie glanced up, realizing she had been eating rather quickly. She didn't feel so comfortable around him anymore. She knew that this relationship was going to go pretty far, and that made her nervous because she knew that sooner or later she would have to tell him what had happened to her, and she didn't want to ruin everything with him. She wouldn't let herself ruin everything with him.
"Oh." she replied.
Isaac wasn't really sure what the deal was with Stacie at this point. She was acting really strange all of a sudden. Almost like she couldn't wait to get away from him. It made him feel really bad. I should have known not to like her as much as I do. She is too good for me. She is so pretty, I should have known I didn't have a chance with her.. Oh well, I'm still going to ask her anyway. The worst she can say is no.
"Stacie," he said.
She looked at him. He took that as a sign that he should continue.
"So far, we have had a pretty good relationship..."
Oh crap. Stacie thought, I knew this was coming. This is the unfamous, "I think we would be better off if we weren't so close" speech. I should have known he would leave me. The nice ones aren't loking for me. They are looking for people like my cousin. The nice ones want the nice ones, not the fucked up ones.
"...but something has been missing." she heard him say.
Wait a minute. That speech doesn't go like this. What's happening here?
"Will you be my girlfriend?" he asked.
Stacie's eyes filled with tears and she took a sip of water, hoping she could accept without a dry throat.
Oh God, Ike thought, she's going to cry because I'm stupid and I asked her that and now she feels stupid or that she's lost it because some dork likes her. Damn it!
"Yes." she whispered letting a tear slide down her cheek.
Woah, wait a second! This wasn't supposed to happen! She was supposed to reject me! What's happening? Maybe I misunderstood. he thought.
"What did you say?" he asked not believing his ears.
"Yes." she said louder.
He smiled really big and reached over and grabbed her hand.
She smiled back.
"Just what exactly did you think was going to happen here?" Erica asked Taylor.
Taylor just stared in her eyes. She pushed him off of her and put her bra back on. Then she stood up and faced him.
"I'm waiting for an answer." she said putting her hands on her hips.
"I don't know Erica..." he said suddenly finding his voice,"I guess I just got caught up in the heat of the moment. I'm sorry. I probably should have said something first." he stared at her through big eyes.
Erica sat back down, her back facing Taylor, and sighed.
Taylor knelt behind her on her bed and put his hand on her shoulder,"I'm sorry." he repeated kissing her shoulder. Then he wrapped his arms around her neck and rested his face by hers.
"It's ok." she said looking at him.
He gently pressed his lips to hers, intent on giving her only one kiss and then putting his shirt back on. But once his lips touched hers he kissed her again, and he pulled her bra off on his own this time and started to lay her back down on the bed. Right when she was actually starting to enjoy it and when she stopped worrying about going to far, he stopped.
Erica opened her eyes and saw that he had his head in the air as if he was straining to hear something.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I swear I heard the door open." he said.
She listened. She heard footsteps coming down the hall. Oh my God! she thought scrambling out from under Taylor.
A male voice spoke as the door opened,"Erica the door was open so I..." Justin stopped when he saw Erica half naked in the middle of the room.
Erica screamed.
Taylor leapt in front of her and threw his arms around her to cover her up,"Get the hell out!" he yelled.
Justin leapt out and closed the door saying he was sorry and he would wait in the living room.
"Oh my God....oh my God!" Erica shrieked, tears streaming down her face.
Taylor kept hugging her trying to calm her down,"Shhh...he didn't see anything...shhh...it's okay...stop crying...shhh...please stop crying Erica he didn't see anything."
"Yes he did! Yes he did! Oh my God!" she sobbed.
"No he didn't, calm down, get dressed and I will go and sit with him okay?"
She nodded. He pulled his shirt on and she put her bra back on. He kissed her lips gently,"Calm down." he said and pushed a few tears off of her cheeks and left the room to wait for her to compose herself.
I don't like this Justin guy, he's too much trouble. Taylor thought heading for the living room.
"So Zac, maybe we could get together and hang out sometime." Kerri said.
"I don't want a girlfriend." Zac blurted out.
Kerri laughed,"Zac calm down...all I am saying is that we should ride bikes or rollerblade or something."
"That's all?" Zac asked eyeing her to see if she was telling the truth.
"Yes that's all...I mean it is not like we are going to be having sex or anything." she laughed.
Sex? he thought, did she just say sex?
"Do you want my phone number?" she asked him.
"Why would I need your phone number?" he asked her confused.
"To tell me when we should get together...duh." she said rolling her eyes.
"Oh yeah..ok I guess so." he said leading her into the kitchen.
She worte down her phone number and then tore the paper in half,"Can I have yours?"
"Yeah."
Zac spouted off the seven digits to his phone number for her. Kerri took it down and then carefully folded the paper in half.
"I gotta go now." she said stuffing the paper in the back pocket of her faded blue jeans.
"Okay." her said walking her to the door. They said goodbye.
Walker Hanson came into the kitchen to see his son staring intently at a piece of paper. He leaned over his shoulder and read it.
"Whose number is that?" Walker asked him.
"Kerri's." Zac replied before turning red and leaving the room.
Isaac walked into the bedroom, flopped down onto Taylor's bed and sighed. Zac picked up his head and looked at him.
"Zac...life is great." Isaac said with a grin.
Zac rolled his eyes and turned back to his Legos. Isaac continued.
"Life is great and girls are...well I don't think there is a word for what girls are, but it's way up there."
"Well," Zac said throwing down the lego piece in his hand,"obviously you aren't going to shut-up so tell me, Chewbacca, why is life so great?"
"First of all don't call me that, and second of all life is so great because Stacie is officially my girlfriend." Isaac said staring at Zac to see his brothers reaction.
Zac put on a serious face,"Ike...can you do me a favor?"
"What?"
"Find out her crack supplier because she must getting the good stuff!" Zac laughed.
"Oh well haha...that's right, go ahead, pick on your smarter more intellegent brother, the one who actually has a girlfriend." Isaac said with a smug smile.
"Aah...ha ha ha ha...NO!"Zac said rolling his eyes and turning back to his Legos.
"Oh yeah Zac. You know all the girls want you. Don't you hear them? They're trying to break down the door! They want your eleven year old hairless man body!" Isaac joked, laughing.
"Shut-up Chewy." Zac mumbled.
"Oh wait...I just might stand corrected...I hear you had a girl over here today." Isaac said changing the subject.
"So?"
"And I hear she's cute," Isaac prodded,"and she gave you her phone number...woah!"
"And your point being?" Zac asked rudely. He hated when his brothers teased him about liking girls or about girls liking him. He left them alone, why couldn't they just leave him alone?
"Hey cool down little man, just thought you would want to talk about it that's all." Isaac apologized.
"Why should I? We are only friends." Zac declared.
"Only friends? Yeah that'll last for about a week." Isaac laughed.
Zac looked innocently at his brothers,"I don't look at girls as sexual objects, but apparently you do. You're sex driven."
As soon as Taylor appeared in the living room Justin stood up.
"Yo man...I am so sorry..." Justin began.
"Do you always burst into peoples bedrooms without knocking?" Taylor asked hotly.
"Well...no...but it's the middle of the afternoon and there was no reason for her to be uhh...you know."
"Don't tell her you saw her." Taylor warned.
"Why not?" Justin asked confused.
"Why not? Are you serious?" Taylor yelled,"She was crying her eyes out to me from embarrassment! You saw her half naked! That's not the kind of thing you just bring up for no reason at all! Keep it to yourself! I don't need this shit it my life, and she doesn't need it in hers."
"Geez...calm down...it's not like it was bad or nothing, in fact, she's pretty hot eh?" Justin said nudging Taylor.
If Erica hadn't walked in just them Taylor would have wrung his neck.
"Hi." Erica said avoiding eye contact with Justin. She walked straight over to the couch and curled up in a ball in the corner. Taylor sat next to her and Justin sat across from them in a chair. Taylor put his hand on her knee, but he felt her tense up so he took it off.
"Hi." Justin replied staring right at her.
They sat in silence until Taylor realized that no one was going to say anything,"So...Justin. What brought you here anyway." he asked.
"Well uh...gee I guess I forgot now." he said.
Erica turned bright red.
"No wait," he said suddenly,"I remember now. I wanted to see if she could come ride bikes with me," he turned his attention to Erica,"So do you wanna?" he asked.
Erica racked her brain for some excuse,"Well, I uh...my bike tire is flat." she lied.
"Well let's rollerblade." he suggested.
"I,uh,can't...I promised Taylor I would hang out with him today." she said sliding a quick glance at Taylor.
"Well he can come...if he can blade." he said eyeing Taylor.
Taylor stared at him Is he serious? he thought,"I could blade better than you." Taylor said.
"Is that so?" Justin asked smiling.
Taylor stood up,"Yeah."
Uh-oh, what's going on here? Erica thought.
Justin stood up and got in Taylor's face,"Anytime you wanna try."
Taylor didn't back down,"How about now?"
"Fine, go get your blades." Justin shot back.
Erica leapt up,"Guys this is dumb." she announced.
They both turned to stare at her.
"Let's call it even ok?" she asked.
"Zachary...telephone!" Mrs, Hanson yelled.
"Who is it?" Mr. Hanson asked his wife.
She shrugged,"Some girl."
"Oh great," Mr. Hanson said,"all we need is more girls calling this house."
"Just wait until our girls have boys calling them." Mrs. Hanson smirked.
"Oh no...my little girls will have no boys calling them." Mr. Hanson said, turning his attention back to his paper.
"Well how do you expect them to meet people then dear?" she asked.
"They can meet people...when they're thirty." he said seriously.
Mrs. Hanson chuckled at her husband and then called for Zac again,"Zachary Walker Hanson you get your little butt in this room and pick up this phone now!"
Zac came bounding in the room,"Who is it?" he asked.
"It's a girl, I didn't ask her name." his mother told him handing Zac the phone.
"Hello?" Zac asked.
"Hi...it's Kerri." she said.
"Oh...hi" he said turning his back to his parents so they would stop staring at him.
"Listen...my mom wants to thank you for being so nice to me after I bumped into you, so she wants you to ask your parents if you can have dinner here." Kerri asked.
"Hold on let me ask." Zac said and then turned his attention to his parents,"Kerri wants to know if I can have dinner over there, Her mom said it was okay."
"Kerri who?" Mrs. Hanson asked.
Zac shrugged.
"Where does she live?" Mrs. Hanson asked.
Zac shrugged.
"Let me talk to her mother." Mrs. Hanson said.
"Kerri...my mom wants to talk to your mom."
"Okay." Kerri said and then called her mom to the phone.
Zac handed the phone over to his mother.
Erica followed Taylor into his room while he searched for rollerblades.
"Taylor...c'mon this is stupid! What are you trying to prove?" she asked.
Isaac, who was sleeping, rolled over and looked at them,"Do you see me trying to nap? Shut-up!" he barked.
"I'm trying to prove that I'm a better blader." he said grabbing his blades and leaving the room.
Isaac felt someone tugging on his arm,"Isaac get up...get up." Erica said.
Isaac cracked open one eye and looked at her,"What?" he asked.
"C'mon...hurry up!" she said dragging him out of the door.
"What's going on?" Isaac asked.
"C'mon you'll see." she said.
They got outside and saw both Justin and Taylor sprinting along the sidewalk, warming up.
"Okay," Justin announced,"whoever wins is well...better." he snickered.
Erica ran over to Taylor and pulled him aside. Isaac followed,"Look Taylor this is stupid. What if you get hurt?" she asked.
Isaac spoke up,"Oh yee of little faith," he said pushing Erica side,"he'll be fine. He can blade."
"Yeah, it's only twice around the damn block. How fucking simple is that?" Taylor agreed.
"C'mon! Don't pussy out!" Justin yelled.
Taylor clenched his teeth and rolled his hands into fists and was just about ready to beat the living shit out of him when Erica stepped in front of him.
"Look Taylor," she started, but was interrupted by Justin who had skated over.
"If I win," he said,"will you take your shirt off for me too?" he made a kiss face at her and started skating in circles.
Taylor looked at Erica...she looked pissed,"You can do it Tay, kill him!" she pressed her lips to his and sent him off.
Taylor and Justin lined up at a crack in the sidewalk,"Okay twice around," Isaac said suddenly becoming the ref.,"Ready...set...GO!"
Taylor and Justin both took off in a mad dash towards the corner and disappeared. Erica and Isaac glanced at each other.
"I hope he wins." Erica said quietly.
Isaac nodded. Suddenley they came skating around the corner having made it there first time around,Justin was in the lead.
"Hurry up Tay." Erica said under her breath.
She saw Taylor glance at her out of the corner of his eye while going past her. She smiled at him. He suddenley had a renewed burst of strength and he shot ahead of Justin and rounded the corner.
All Isaac and Erica could do was wait for them to come back around and hope that Taylor would win. The anticipation was almost too much. Erica stared intently at the corner waiting for him to come around. All of a sudden he did. Tay was winning, but Justin was right at his feet. C'mon c'mon c'mon Tay! Hurry up! she thought.
Erica and Isaac watched as Justin lost his footing and Taylor came out victorious. Erica ran and hugged him. Once she let go Taylor skated over to where Justin now stood.
"Told you." Taylor snickered before turning around.
Justin put out his blade and tripped Taylor suddenley. Taylor fell on his knee...hard.
"Shit!" Taylor yelled grabbing his knee and ducking his head down so no one could see the tears that stung his eyes.
"Oh my God!" Erica rushed over to Taylor and knelt beside him,"Oh my God! Taylor look at me! Let me see your knee!"
"Oh...fuck me!" he exclaiomed grabbing his knee.
Erica suddenley heard laughing. She looked over to see Justin cracking up hysterically.
"You son of a bitch!" she yelled and leapt up and ran over to him and shoved him. He fell because of his rollerblades. She kicked him in the stomach. Isaac ran over to get Erica away from him because he saw the rage in Justin's eyes. But he was too late. Justin had knocked Erica to the ground. He rolled on top of her and slapped her across the face. She screamed. Taylor looked up when he heard Erica scream. He tried to get up but he couldn't move his knee.
"Asshole! Stop it!" he yelled and watched helplessly as Ike tried to pull Justin off of Erica. Justin turned around and punched Isaac in the stomach. Erica screamed again.
Justin grabbed Erica's head and smashed it into the concrete sidewalk. A whimper escaped her lips as she tried to push him off. She felt her head hit the pavement again. She heard Taylor screaming and felt Justin being pulled off of her but after that...it all went black.
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