"So let me get this straight- Henry Clay is the guy who spoke at all these rallies and then he tried to be president, but nobody would vote for him?" Zac said the next day during school in the living room. "Wow! Poor guy! If I was him, I would have handed out cookies to everyone so they would vote for me. Yep, that gets them everytime."
"Um, Zac, this is a presidential election, not a sixth grade student council race," said Ike.
"So? Have you ever ran for president, Ike? Well, then! Be quiet," Zac shot back.
"Guys, can you shut up? I'm trying to write this essay," Taylor snapped at his brothers. Actually, he was having a hard time concentrating on his homework; he couldn't stop thinking about Tamara. His brothers weren't helping at all. They were still arguing about what type of cookies would be most effective in a presidential election. He looked at his watch. It read 2:25. "Mom!" he yelled. "Can we be done now, please!?" Diana came into the room.
"Are you done that essay?"
"Almost," Taylor lied.
"Okay, you guys may be done. But make sure you finish it for tommorrow."
"Yeah, sure," Taylor said as he sprang from his chair. He ran to the door and went outside. He had decided to go over to Tamara's house after school and try to talk some sense into her. He had started to cross the street when a silver VW Jetta pulled into her driveway. A guy about his age got out and walked to the door and rang the bell. Taylor stopped in his tracks and stared at the guy. He was about 5'10 and had brown hair. He was wearing a Tommy Hilfiger shirt and a Thomas A. Edison High School Soccer jacket, which was the public high school in Tulsa, and baggy jeans and swung his car keys, which were hanging from an Adidas key chain, around his fingers like a lifeguard at a pool. Taylor didn't reconize him from his neighborhood. He decided to sneak around the side of Tamara's yard and hide in the bushes to hear what was going on.
He crossed the street, making sure the guy couldn't see him and then he went into Tamara's neighbor's yard and hid behind the bushes. He could see the front door perfectly and in a few seconds Tamara came to the door. He couldn't believe what he saw. She was all dressed up, well, nicer than she had ever dressed for him and was wearing a short black skirt and a light pink shirt. Her hair was lightly curled and she had more makeup on than usual. She looked so beautiful and Taylor was ready to go out and hit that guy until he died. He wanted to take a metal stick and beat his shiny silver Jetta until it blew up. But instead he stayed hidden in the bushes.
"Hey Justin," Tamara said as she gave the guy a small kiss on the cheek. "So, where are we going?"
"I thought we could go out on my dad's boat on the lake at the park and then go out to eat..." Justin said. Taylor saw Tamara say something and then they walked to his car and got in. The guy pulled out of the driveway with a screech and sped down the street.
Taylor fell back on the ground. He couldn't believe Tamara had already found another guy. He felt as if he had been punched in the stomach. He was not going to let that rich prep Justin to steal his girlfriend away from him just like that. "What a bastard," he muttered to himself.
"What did you say, young man?" asked a voice behind him. Taylor jumped up and to his dismay, Mrs. Fluck, the neighbor, was standing right there, with a rake in her hand.
"Um, nothing. I'll be going now," Taylor said as he walked quickly away from her yard.
"I will be having a talk with your father, Jordan!" she yelled after him.
Later that night, Taylor was in the basement playing some video games when someone came downstairs.
"Hey, Tay, Zac! How's it going?" It was Scott Rice, Taylor's best guy friend in Tulsa. Tay jumped up and went to his friend.
"Scott! Hey man, what's up? I haven't seen you forever!" Taylor exclaimed.
"Well, I've been here. So how was the whole tour thing?"
"Great, awesome! We gotta hang out a lot before we have to leave again," Taylor said as they sat down on the couch.
"Definitly man. So were there lots of hot chicks on tour?" asked Scott.
"Oh, yeah. It was great."
"How about that Haley Adiela? Oh man, she is so hot! If I was you, I would have been all over her!"
"She wasn't that great, actually," Taylor said with a smirk.
"What does that mean? You didn't hook up with her, did you? Oh man, you did! That is so awesome, you are so lucky!" Taylor just laughed and shook his head. "I heard that Tamara Souder had to go on tour with you guys for a while, to babysit or something. That must have sucked soooo bad." Scott knew how much Taylor and Tamara hated each other.
"Well, it wasn't that bad. You know, she's not what we thought she was, she's actually, well, she's..."
"Oh my gosh, you like her, don't you? Geez Taylor, I leave you for one summer and look what happens!"
Taylor just laughed. "Well, you know, me and girls...."
"What about that Sierra chick you told me about? She was pretty hot too."
"Man, you didn't hear? She was a butch...a lesbian! Where have you been?"
"With my folks in Barbados. There's no T.V there, but lots of fine chicks. So what's up with you and Tamara?"
"Nothing right now. She's mad at me right now because she found out about me and Haley and then she got mad about the whole thing with Sierra again and now she's ignoring me."
"Taylor, you are such the player! I'm so proud," said Scott.
"Yeah, well, it's not that great actually. I like her a lot, Scott."
"Who, Tamara?" asked Scott. Tay nodded. "Well, that's one I'd never thought I'd see. You and Tamara." He shook his head.
"Yeah, do you know someone at your school named Justin?"
"Well, that narrows it down," Scott laughed.
"He plays on the soccer team and drives a silver Jetta."
"Oh, Justin Mundy. Yeah, I know him, everyone knows him. He's only like the star soccer player for the Eagles and all the girls are in love with him. He's alright, I guess. I'm not really friends with him."
"I saw him pick up Tamara about an hour ago at her house."
"Oh. Oh, man, that sucks. Sorry Taylor."
Taylor leaned against the couch. "I was hoping you'd say he was like the biggest loser at your school or something."
"Well, some people don't like him."
"Who?"
"The losers."
"Geezes, this sucks! I'm the loser!" Taylor said. "I hate Haley Adiela. I hate myself."
"Look, Tay, you're not a loser, okay? You could get any girl in this country...world. If Tamara doesn't see that, she's missing out. If you want, I could talk to Justin or something, tell him to back off..."
"No, Tamara would hate me even more. When's the next soccer game?"
"I think it's tommorrow night. Why?"
"I think I'll show up." Just then, two people came downstairs. It was Zac and Scott's sister, Megan. Taylor looked at Zac, who was getting very annoyed by Megan. Megan was 12 and was nothing like her brother. In fact, she was well, probably the biggest nerd in all of Tulsa and she was proud of it.
"Well, Zachary, I hope you had the most enjoyable time on tour. It was very unintersting without you around these parts, he he he," she snorted. "Oh, look, my glasses are just sliding right off my nose! These little buggers don't know when to quit! Please. Narf."
"Hi Megan," Taylor said. Megan just stared at him through her thick, black rimmed glasses.
"You're wasting my life," she said boredly. "Zachary, did I tell you that I'm the president of our calculator club at school? I have 43 different calculators, it's most facsinating."
"Wow, Megan, that's really cool," Zac said sarcastically. "How many members are there?"
"Well, right now, only one. The president. But that will soon change please. In fact, you could join as an honorary member. I would be much obliged if you would consider."
"Hey, Zac loves calculators! I'm sure he'd join," laughed Taylor.
"Yeah Taylor, ha ha. Where's Tamara? Oh, wait, on a date with a different guy!" Zac shot back.
"Ouch."
Megan blinked her eyes at Taylor. "Your brother is most amusing, Zachary. Did I show you my pencil collection? I have 576 from 32 countries!"
"Oh help," Zac said as he ran up the basement steps.
"Wait, Zachary! Did you know that the square root of 7890 is 34.5555323? Please!" she said as she tripped up the stairs. "Now, when did that stair get there? Narf," she questioned.
Scott and Taylor just watched them go. "Now, that is sad," Taylor said.
"Tell me about it. She's the biggest geek in the world and proud of it!" Scott and Tay thought about this for a moment and then forgot about her.
"So, I'll see you at the game tommorrow, okay?" Taylor said to Scott.
"What? I never said that I would go, I don't do school events, sorry."
"Come on, just this once," pleaded Tay.
"Okay fine, but you gotta set me up with Haley Adiela. She is sooo hot!"