" I don't know, Ike," Diana said doubtfully.
" But what's wrong with it?," Isaac asked.
" Erin just got here and I don't want her confined to her room so that my teenage sons can have party."
" Mom, she'd probably just be staying in there anyway!"
" Well, I still don't think a party would be a good idea."
" I'd hardly call it a party! More like a get-together. We just want to invite the girls over, rent some movies and order some pizza," Isaac protested," We thought we could invite Erin to join us and maybe help her relax."
Diana actually seemed to consider it. " Well, you do have a point," she finally said," I never thought of it that way. I suppose that if it's all right with your father, it's all right with me. As long as it stays a little get-together. And I mean little."
" All right! Thank a lot Mom! Do you think you could keep the other kids entertained in some other part of the house or something, though?"
" Why don't you ever do that for me?," she teased.
" You never asked me," he grinned.
" So does that mean that if I asked you, you would take the little kids for twenty-four hours?"
" Not a chance!," he laughed," But will you?"
" Yeah, we'll take them to a movie or something." She turned towards the entrance to the kitchen. " You guys can quit hiding now! I already said yes!," she called.
Taylor and Zac stepped onto view and grinned at her sheepishly.
" How did you know we were eavesdropping?," Taylor asked.
" Let's just say I know you guys too well," Diana said.
" Well, anyway, thanks Mom! I'm gonna go call Felicia and ask if she can come!," Zac exclaimed and ran off.
" Yeah, after I call Terry!," Isaac interjected and chased after him.
Taylor watched them run out with amusement.
" They would let me be the last to use the phone, wouldn't they Mom?," Taylor smiled.
" Nah, you just have to be quicker," Diana smiled back.
***************************************************
" I don't know. A party? With her?," Terry said doubtfully," From what you told me, she hardly sounds like the type of person I usually like to hang out with."
" Come on. She probably won't leave her room anyway," Isaac coaxed.
He didn't underdstand her sudden desire to be alone. What he didn't realize was that ever since that night they had kissed, Terry wasn't sure if she could face him. She wasn't sure what the kiss meant. Isaac hadn't mentioned it, so neither did she. But she thought about it.
" Please?," Isaac said again," If you don't come, I'll be lonely, with only my brothers for company, who will probably be spending the evening flirting with Felicia and Maddy."
Terry smiled as she pictured the puppy-dog look he would be giving her. It was a look she had never been able to resist.
" Oh, all right," she smiled," So you won't be lonely, I"ll come to your house tonight. Just for you."
" Great!," he said enthusiastically," By the way, there's something that I wanna talk to you about."
" What about?"
" Not now. I"ll talk to you about it tonight."
***************************************************
" I can't believe they're making me do this!," Zac muttered.
Taylor and Isaac had insisted that Zac be the one to invite Erin to hang out with them. He paced back and forth in front of her door for a moment, then timidly knocked.
" Erin?"
Erin sighed and rolled her eyes. What did they want now? She took a long drag from her cigarette before putting it out.
" What do you want?"
Zac opened the door and made a face when he smelled the smoke.
" Ew! Have you been smoking in here? Isaac told you to smoke outside."
" I don't give a rat's ass what Isaac says. Now tell me what you want and get out."
He sighed. " All I wanted to tell you was that Isaac, Taylor, and I are having some friends over for movies and pizza and that you're wellcome to join us."
" That's nice," she said, sorting through some cd's," Good-bye."
Zac turned to leave, but paused on his way out.
" You know, there's really no reason to act that way," he told her," We're trying to be nice to you." Then he shut the door.
Well, I've got my own party to ask about, she thought.
***************************************************
" Erin, no, I don't think that's a good idea," Diana said.
But why not?!," Erin persisted.
Diana sighed. " I've already told you; I know how those kinds of parties are and I don't want you being around that."
" I still don't see what the big deal about the party is. I just want to hang out with my friends!" I also want to see a couple of other people, but it's not like you need to know about them, she thought. " For that matter, I also don't see the big deal about hanging out with them!," she said, jerking her thumb towards the living room- where the guys were playing video games-for emphasis.
" You've never really givin them a chance," Diana pointed out gently," If you would stop being so defensive, you might find that you could like them."
" No thanks!," she snapped.
She quickly left the kitchen, shoving aside a startled Taylor, and ran to her room. She sat on her bed for a moment, seething. She didn't care how much those parents babied their own kids, but they certainly had no right to baby her. She went to parties all the time. Damn it! I really want to see them. I might be able to catch him there, then I could also see...
She couldn't sneak out tonight, they would probably be keeping an eye on her, one way or another. She sat quietly for a while, lost in thought, when a slow smile spread across her face. She had an idea. She stood up and began to search through her things. She grinned triumphantly when she found what she was looking for.
I'll give them a taste of a real party.
***************************************************
" Dang, what was that all about?," Taylor asked.
" She wants to go to some huge party," Diana replied. She looked nervously in the direction Erin had gone, then back at Taylor. " Are you sure you're gonna be okay with your father and I leaving tonight? I'm a little worried about what Erin might try to pull."
" Mom, we'll be fine," Taylor smiled," I mean, how much trouble can she be?"
