Chapter 13

I pushed the thought out of my mind as we approached the house. Diana was outside bringing the mail in.

"Sari, honey, go pack a bag if you want to. Your mom just called, she's at the doctors and then she's going to the movies with your dad and Jonathan. She said you can go if you want, if not, for you to stay here, OK?" Diana said in her motherly voice.

"Thanks, Diana," I said. I turned to Taylor. "I'll be back, OK?"

"See you..." he called after me. I started off towards my house. I turned around and saw Taylor and his mother hugging and walking inside together. I smiled at the precious moment and started off again.

*********

"1, 2, skip a few, 54, skip some more, 99, 100!"

"Jessie, stop cheating!"

"I'm not!"

"Well, Mackie and I need time to hide!"

"I gave you time!"

"No, you didn't!"

"Yes, I did!"

"No, you-"

"OK, girls," Diana's voice rang out from the kitchen.I smiled at the sight. The Hanson house. Typical, never a calm moment.

"Hi everyone," I shouted.

"Hey there, Sari," Walker's voice called out from the den.

"Hey, Walker," I said, following his voice into the room. Isaac walked in almost immediately.

"Hey there," I said brightly.

"Hey, Sari, do you still want to go out? I know it's already getting late, but..."

"Sure," I said. Oh, I hope that didn't sound too eager. "Should I go change?"

"Don't worry about it," Isaac answered.

"OK, let me just throw my stuff upstairs and I'll be back," I said.

I ran as fast as I could without tripping over the stairs, pulling my makeup bag out of my overnight bag as I went. I threw my bag into the guest room. I think everything spilled out. Oh, well. I raced to the bathroom, stopping by Taylor's doorway to scream noiselessly. He followed me into the bathroom, and watched in horror as I racily put on my mascara.

"Pain is beauty," I said breathlessly.

"Oh, man, the merits of being a guy..."

"Well, the merits of being a guy don't include going out on even a maybe date with Isaac, so in this case," I said, beginning to sing, "I enjoy being a girl!"

"Oh, dear."

"Wish me luck!" I said, rubbing my lips together after applying a nude lipstick.

"Good luck!"

"Final inspection?" I said, giving him a spin.

"Beautiful, but one thing," he said, walking up to me, close to my face. "Your lipstick's a bit smeared." He held his finger up for me to lick, then gently wiped the side of my lip.

"Thanks, Tay," I whispered happily. "AAHHH! OK, I better go."

"Bye, Sari," he called, almost...envious? Sad? Proud even? I made a mental note to talk to him later and ran downstairs to find Isaac not there and Walker still in the den and Isaac on the phone in the other room.

"He's on with Rose," Walker explained. "She called him, he should be off in a minute. Where are you two going?" he asked.

"Hmm, we could go to the county fair, maybe? I think it's here this week. It's being held at Heron Square, by the lake again, I'm pretty sure." (author's note: I have NO idea if a Heron Square even exists, let alone in Tulsa. I repeat, I DO NOT KNOW IF IT EXISTS!)

"Hey, that sounds like fun! You know, Zac and Taylor wanted to go to that. Jessie, too."

"Oh, really?" I asked vaguely. I couldn't hide my disappointment.

"No," he said, laughing. "Have fun."

I grinned. I guess my "secret" wasn't really that well-kept. Oh, well. Just then, Isaac walked in. Oh, the scent of his cologne! I wanted to run over there and bury my face in his neck and kiss him until every window in the house got steamy and then some! Oh, Lord help me! I felt like Winona Ryder in Mermaids, suddenly. Well, what can I say? Curve is G-d's gift to cologne.

"Ready?" he asked, offering his arm as an escort. He seemed suddenly distant.

"Yes," I said, just choking it out. I looked at Walker, who was giving us a goofy "Dad" grin. How embarassing. Well, at least he approved.

"Be back by 12, guys, OK?" Walker said.

"Sure," Isaac answered.

We stepped out of the house. Isaac, the gentleman he is, held the door to the car open for me, then got in himself. He switched on the radio and flipped through the stations until he found Barenaked Ladies. He pulled out of the driveway, muttering under his breath.

"Chickety china, the chinese chicken, you have a drumstick and something or another...hmmhmmhmm no lights on...na na na naison..."

I smiled. He was so adorable when he didn't know all the words to a song!

"You wanna go to the fair maybe?"

"Sure, that'll be fun."

The chorus came on right then and we both started singing at the top of our lungs. I, for some reason, didn't feel shy. I took it as a good sign. We pulled into Heron Square less than 10 minutes later, after having laughed and sang all the way.

"Hey Sari?"

"Yup!" I cried, running like a little kid to the Gravitron2000.

"You do recall that this is the ride you got banned from by your mother because of your unfortunate medical condition which required a separate baggie to rid yourself of certain fluids inside of you, right?"

"Must you remind me? Besides, I was, like, 6!"

"You were 11!"

"That's not the point!"

Isaac chuckled deeply and bought two tickets. We rode that, then ran over and rode the Kamikaze, the roller coaster, the Ring of Fire, and the ride that swings you around, like a merry-go-round going faster in a swing (You know what I'm talking about, I know you do.). After, we began to feel a little breathless. We decided to ride the ferris wheel, but only after Isaac had spent 4 tries in one of those games where you have to get a penny in a cup of water before winning a big, green, stuffed platypus for me.

We sat on the ferris wheel, suddenly calming down, not laughing, not even speaking. The stars were out, each one shinier than the next. I began to wonder what Rose had said that had made him so distant before. As we reached the top, the speakers below us began to play a slow song-the very same song Taylor had sang to me only the night before.

"Sometimes the sun comes down in June...sometimes the sun goes 'round the moon...just when I thought my chance had passed...you went and saved the best for last." As I listened, I looked at Isaac, and he looked right back at me. We stared into each other's eyes, trying to find each other's thoughts. Suddenly, Isaac leaned over and kissed my cheek ever so gently. It was so sweet and innocent. He pulled back and went back to looking at the stars. I looked at him quietly, wondering what that had meant to him. After all, what about Rose? I hugged my platypus.

"All of the nights you came to me... when some silly girl had set you free...you wondered how you'd make it through...I wondered what was wrong with you."

I kept listening to the music and mouthed the final chorus for Isaac. I knew something was about to change, I didn't know what.

"You know, you two make a lovely couple," said the man who helped us get off the wheel. Isaac and I looked at each other and laughed.

"Why thank you, sir," I said. "But you see, we're really brother and sister."

"Yeah," Isaac said, punching my arm gently.

"Oh, well, that too!" the man blushed.

"Have a nice night," I said, and the man tipped his hat.

As we walked off in the direction of the lake that was around the corner, Isaac and I looked at each other and started laughing.

"He felt so bad!" Isaac laughed.

"Yeah, but it was funny!"

"I guess so...SIS!!!" he said, and began tickling me.

"Stop before I die!!!"

He obliged.

"Ike?" I stopped smiling.

"Hmm?" he said, still smirking.

"What happened with Rose?" I asked, and his face fell.

"I guess I should have seen it coming, but she doesn't want a long-distance relationship, nor would she want me if she did," he explained. "It was another guy."

"Ohh, man..." I said, and gave him a hug. He hugged me back tightly. I think he needed that.

We kept walking in silence until we reached the dock over the lake. It's so pretty and romantic over there, with benches to sit and watch a sunset or even just to look over the water. When we approached, we sat down quietly on a bench.

I couldn't think of anything to say to him, I mean, his girlfriend had just cheated on him. Call me crazy, but I had never been more surprised, I never saw it coming, and I would have never believed it had I not been there, but as I opened my mouth to speak a few words of encouragement for my friend, I was stopped by the electric shock that came with the feeling of Isaac's lips on mine.

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