Alexis smiled at a story that Isaac was telling her. She knew he was flirting with her, but she didn't want to say anything to embarrass him. "So anyway, I told the guy 'No way',and he said..." Alexis tuned Isaac out. She snuck a few glances at Taylor. He just sat in a chair at the kitchen table with them, staring at the pale yellow walls. Zac had gone to finish building a lego castle in his room.
Then she noticed that Isaac stopped talking. "That was so funny." she told him, forcing a smile on her face. As Isaac started another story, she started to think about Heather. She missed her. There wouldn't be anymore arguments over who got to shower first, that one borrowed the other's clothes without asking.
Alexis realized that Isaac had scooted a few inches closer to her. His knee brushed hers.
Taylor got up suddenly and left the room without a word. Alexis's eyes followed him curiously. "Don't worry. He gets moody sometimes. It's no big deal."Isaac assured her. He had also watched Taylor leave.
"Oh." Alexis said
Chapter Six--Taylor
It was the next day, in the evening, when Isaac, Taylor, and Zac were going to a rollarblading competition. Taylor didn't want to go so he told his mother that he had a headache and wanted to stay home. The truth was, he wanted to stay home and keep Alexis company. He didn't talk to her much the day before. He had immediatly left the room when Isaac started flirting with her. He wished he could to talk to her as easily as Isaac did. Isaac had gotten over his nervousness and was talking to Alexis like they'd been friends forever.
"Hey, Alexis. Do you want to come watch us?" Isaac asked her.
'Please say yes.' Isaac thought.
'Please say no.' Taylor thought.
"Actually, I'm kinda tired, so I thought I'd stay here and watch a movie. But," she added when she saw Isaac's disappointed face,"I'll try to go next time. I hope ya win." She gave him a big grin.
"Okay." Isaac picked up his skates and walked to the stairs. "Mom!" Isaac yelled at the top of his lungs."We're gonna be late!" Taylor covered his ears. His brother had a powerful set of lungs. He watched his mother, Diana, jog downstairs. "Okay, okay, motormouth. You can wake the dead with that mouth of yours."
She turned to Alexis. "Are you coming?"
"No, I'm pretty tired."
Mrs. Hanson nodded. "Yeah, I know. These boys can wear you out. Well, you and Taylor can keep each other company."
Isaac, Zac, and Alexis turned to him, surprised."You're not going?" Zac asked.
He shook his head. "I have a headache."
"Well, bye Lex, Tay. See ya later." Zac called as he followed Mrs. Hanson out the door. Isaac was still looking at Taylor, unsure if he would try anything with Alexis.
"Bye Ikey-Poos." Taylor wagged his fingers at him in a gesture of good-bye. Isaac glared at him and walked outside. He slammed the door behind him. Taylor listened as the car started and drove away. He turned to Alexis. "Uh, so, what do you want to do?"
"Lets order a pizza and rent a movie." she suggested.
"Good idea." Taylor felt himself relax."There's a tv and vcr in me and Ike and Zac's room, so we can watch in there. I'll go tell my dad to order a pizza. Pepperoni okay?" "My favorite." Alexis replied.
Taylor went to tell his father what they wanted. He went back to Alexis a few minutes later. "We have to walk to the video store. But it's only a few blocks away."
"Fine with me." Alexis told him, secretly happy that she'd be taking a walk with Taylor.
Chapter Seven--Still Taylor
Taylor and Alexis hadn't walked a block when they saw a group of girls
waving, smiling, and saying hi to Taylor.
"Follow my lead." Taylor whispered in Alexis's ear. As he put his arm
around his waist, she gave him a quick, questioning look. He was
nervous, because, even though it probably meant nothing to Alexis, he was
touching her.
"Hi Kerry, everyone. What's up?" he asked the girls. He watched as they took in everything: Taylor with his arm around Alexis, the two standing very close to each other.
"Is this your girlfriend, Taylor?" a girl with long, blond hair and
light blue eyes, Kerry Fischel, asked him, venom in her voice.
"Yes, this is Alexis Neilson."
Alexis looked over at him in surprise, but she quickly caught on.
"Yeah, me and Taylor met a little while ago." Alexis made up a quick
little story on how they met.
Kerry practically had steam coming out of her ears. Taylor knew she
had a REALLY big crush on him, ever since they met.
"Well, too bad Taylor," Kerry started,"You didn't have to settle with
something less than perfect. There's plenty of girls in town, like, oh,
I don't know. Me, maybe."
He glared at her as Alexis looked down at her feet. He could tell she
was upset that someone she had just met already hated her.
"Kerry, shut up! I wouldn't go out with you if I was paid. Alexis is
the sweetest, prettiest girl I've met, and I wouldn't give her up for the
world." he shouted.
Alexis wondered if he really meant that.'Nah, he's just a good actor.' Kerry was stunned. No one had ever talked to her like that. She turned back to the other girls, who had backed away to a safe distance when the sparks started flying. "Let's go." she told them. It was obvious she was the leader of the group. All the girls turned to leave. All, that is, except one.
"Kerry, you don't even know the girl, so shut up." a girl with long
black hair and startling green eyes told Kerry. She walked over to Alexis.
"Hi. Sorry about Kerry. She's very, ummmmm..." she trailed off, trying
to think of a word to describe her.
"Mean, heartless, cruel, selfis..."Taylor started rattling off names
to describe Kerry. He watched as Kerry's face turned purple.
"SHUT UP TAYLOR!!!!" she screamed.
He ignored her.
"I'm Rebecca, but you can call me Becky." the girl told Alexis.
"Are you coming ,REBECCA?" Kerry asked icily.
Becky turned to her. "Just leave." Then she turned back to Alexis and
Taylor. Kerry stalked off, the other girls close behind.
Taylor was happy Becky stood up to Kerry. She was, supposedly, one of
Kerry's best friends.
"Thanks for standing up for me."Alexis told Becky.
"No prob. Hey, I have an idea. You said you were new here, so how
about me and Taylor give you the grand tour of Tulsa sometime." Becky
suggested enthusiastically.
Alexis grinned. "Sure." She and Becky traded phone numbers and addresses. "We've gotta go now. We're renting a movie, and our pizza will arrive at Taylor's house soon."
"Okay, catch ya around." Taylor and Alexis hurried to the video store. Taylor knew he still had his arm around Alexis, but he wasn't about to say anything.
"So," Alexis started,"What was up with those girls? Besides Becky, I
mean."
Taylor blushed. "They all like me."
Chapter Eight--Alexis
The park where the rollarblading competition was being held was right next to the video store.
"Hey, there's Ike and Zac." Alexis pointed out to Taylor. "Ike, Zac!" she called.
Zac looked up. He saw the two and nudged Isaac. He said something
Alexis didn't quite catch. Isaac looked up quickly. He noticed Taylor's arm
around Alexis's waist. He glared at Taylor. Then he bent down and
started to re-lace his skates.
Taylor dropped his arm from around Alexis. She felt disappointed, but
she knew Isaac felt bad. She saw Isaac mutter something to Zac.It looked
like he said 'That mother fucker', but Alexis wasn't sure. Zac looked
shocked. 'I guess that's what he said, 'cause Zac looks surprised.' she
thought. She felt horrible. She had known Isaac liked her, yet she still
went after Taylor. But, they hadn't really done anything. Taylor was
just acting. Right?
Taylor cleared his throat as they went into the store. "I guess we should explain later."
Alexis blushed and nodded. "Ike likes me, huh?"
"Yeah."
They hurried and got their movie, 'Mad Love'. Alexis had seen it when she and Heather had a sleepover for their eleventh birthday party. They and their friends went to the movies to see it, because it had just come out and they all had LOVED romance.
Taylor carried home a bag with two packages of candy and the video in it. When they got home, they got the pizza that had already arrived, some sodas, and a bowl of popcorn and brought everything up to Taylor's room.
He quickly put on the movie. Alexis settled on the floor in front of the tv. Taylor sat down as close to her as he could without making her uncomfortable. He pushed play on the remote control. They watched Chris O'Donnel and Drew Barrymore heat up the screen. Alexis watched Taylor out of the corner of her eye. He was staring intently at the tv. Little did she know that he desperatly wanted to put his arm around her. He really wasn't paying attention to the movie. He was too nervous, thinking about making a move.
"Jeeez, it's freezing in here. Can we put on the heat." Alexis asked, rubbing her hands up and down her arms, trying to keep warm. She had goosebumps on her arms.
"Sorry, we're not allowed to change the temperature. My dad likes it like this." Taylor informed her. "Oh. Okay." She was still shivering. 'Why do I get the feeling, she thought,'that I'm not shivering from the cold?'
Chapter Nine--Taylor
'Now! Do it Tay! There's no better time!' Taylor finally worked up the
nerve. Alexis being cold had fit in perfectly. He grabbed the blanket
from his bed and sat down next to Alexis. He wrapped the blanket around
their shoulders. "That better?" he asked her.
She smiled shyly."Yeah."
He scooted closer to her. She leaned her head on his shoulder.
'YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' Taylor thought happily.
Soon Alexis fell asleep, on his shoulder. Shortly after, he fell
asleep too, with his arm around her.
Chapter Ten--Isaac
"We won! Yes!" Isaac cried. Zac slapped him high five.
"Shhhhhh!" their mother told them. "The little ones are probably
sleeping."
Ike and Zac quieted down. Zac went into the den and decided to sleep down there for the night, watching the Beavis and Butthead marathon. Isaac made his way up to his room. The light were off, so he assumed Taylor was sleeping. 'I should turn the lights on and wake him up so I can yell at him' he thought. Then he decided against it. He would wait till tommorrow to yell at Taylor. He also assumed Alexis was sleeping in the guest bedroom. He quickly stripped down to his boxers and crawled up the ladder to his bed, which was right above Taylor's. The two shared a bunk bed.
He was still pretty mad at Taylor. 'The one girl I really really like, and Taylor gets her.' he thought angrily. he started feeling depressed. 'And Taylor's probably dreaming about how he got the girl and I didn't.'
He finally drifted off into a restless sleep, the whole time, thinking of Alexis.
