My mind spun, thoughts dancing randomly through my head. Is this really happening? . . . I can’t believe this . . . Wow . . . Ohmigod! . . . ( . . . it’s the amazing Electro-Vacuum!) . . .

Ike drew his lips away from mine. I kept my eyes closed and inhaled slightly. When I finally did open my eyes, I saw that Isaac had already opened his and was gazing at me intently.

I felt . . . shaky. My fingers trembled and my good leg threatened to give out. I looked away. “Um . . . I, um . . .”

Isaac looked away as well. “Sorry,” he whispered. “I thought . . .”

Neither of us spoke. Finally, I managed to say, “Could you help me into the living room?”

Obliging, Isaac put his hand on the small of my back and led me into the living room and over to the couch to sit down. “I’m gonna get something to drink,” he said, his tone aloof. “Do you want anything?

I succeeded in giving him a weak smile and nodded. “A Pepsi, if you have it,” I requested.

He nodded and left the room. I lolled by head backward and stared at the ceiling. Oh, yeah, I told myself sarcastically. This is good. I felt like an idiot; like slamming my head into a brick wall. Hard.

Within a minute, Isaac returned, Pepsi and diet Pepsi in hand. He handed me the regular Pepsi and popped the lid of the diet one for himself.

I smiled. “How can you drink that?” I asked. “It’s so gross.”

Isaac said nothing. Instead, he picked up the remote control and flipped the TV on. Not bothering to change the channel from the talk show that came up, he set the remote to his side and idly sipped the diet Pepsi.

I bit my lower lip. Setting my Pepsi on an end table to my side, I reached across Ike’s body and grabbed the remote. Before he could get a word out, I flipped the TV off. “No,” I said quietly. “You’re not going to do this.”

“Do what?” he asked, reaching for the remote. “Rot my brain with television? Thanks for caring, but -”

I held the remote further away. “That’s not what I mean and you know it,” I insisted. “You just don’t want to talk about what happened.”

Ike groaned. “Look, Jaye. I thought that was what you wanted too, but I was wrong and I feel like a jerk now,” he explained succinctly. “Okay?”

“No,” I said. “Isaac, do you honestly think that we would have kissed if I hadn’t wanted us to too?” I was careful not to say, “let you kiss me”, because, for the life of me, I couldn’t remember which one of us had instigated it.

He nodded slightly. “I guess you’re right,” he said quietly. After a moment of silence between us, a sly smile crept over his face. “Now, give me that remote!” he called, lunging at me.

I let out a laugh and leaned backward, holding the remote as far away from my body as possible. Propping himself over me with one arm, Isaac reached with his free hand for the black plastic box. His arm was longer than mine, and I knew he’d take it from me, so I did the only thing I could think of.

I threw it.

It landed with a hollow thunk against the far wall. The smile evaporated from Isaac’s face and he looked at me seriously. “Do you know what you just did?” he asked slowly.

I nodded, unsuccessfully attempting to wipe the smirk from my face. With my pointer finger, I beckoned for Isaac to lean closer. When he did, I whispered, “I just threw the remote control. Sh!”

Isaac drew his chin toward his neck as he laughed, and his hair fell and touched my cheeks. I smiled. My hand moved up and tucked a lock of his hair behind his right ear. My finger then traced the curve of his cheek.

What am I doing? I demanded of myself. However, before I could answer, I found my lips pressed against Isaac’s. Again. Only, this time I was sure I had initiated the kiss.

Hadn’t I?

The two of us drew back from each other. I smiled at him and he smiled back. “Maybe you should throw that remote more often,” Ike whispered.

I giggled. “Maybe,” I agreed.

Just then, the telephone rang. Isaac gave a half smile and stood up to answer it. “Hello?” he said. And then, “Oh, hi. No, she’s out . . . The park, yeah . . . With the kids, yeah . . . Okay, I’ll tell her . . . Bye.”

I cocked an eyebrow as he hung the phone up. “Who was that?”

He shrugged. “A friend of my mom’s,” he replied simply.

“Ah,” I said simply, giving a small nod. I looked around the living room aimlessly, feeling almost uncomfortable. However, I had no idea why. It wasn’t like I’d done anything to embarrass myself. And I didn’t think I’d done anything to embarrass Isaac either.

Had I?

I couldn’t tell one way or another. He just stood in the middle of the room, an awkward looking-at-nothing expression on his face that probably resembled my own. I couldn’t figure out if he was uncomfortable or if he thought I was uncomfortable or what.

Finally, I cleared my throat. “Um, Ike,” I said carefully.

His eyes snapped over to meet mine so quickly that I wondered if he’d momentarily forgotten I was in the room. “Yeah?” he asked.

I bit my lower lip before saying, “I think I may have broken your remote.”

Isaac smiled. “I doubt it,” he said, making his way over to the far wall. “This remote has been through things you couldn’t imagine. I mean, look at how many kids we’ve got in this house.”

I shrugged. “I guess you’re right,” I said.

Ike nodded as he scooped the remote up from the floor. He then tossed it in the air and caught it a few times to prove his point.

“I’d laugh so hard if that thing, like, broke in half or something,” I told him.

Smiling, Isaac nodded in agreement. After tossing the remote onto the couch, he looked at me. “Well, what do you want to do now?”

I looked up momentarily, deep in thought. Finally, an idea snapped into my head. “Where’s your guitar?” I asked.

This time, it was Ike who bit his lower lip. “Which one?” he asked at length.

I laughed. “How many do you have?” I asked. Then, before he could reply, I added, “Just get the closest one, okay?”