Laurie was glad she and Tay were friends again. She missed him for those few hours. That's how much of a friend he was to her.
Laurie then felt Tay pull her to her feet. "So, what do you want to do?" he asked.
"Play Nintendo?" she asked.
"Okay!"
The two of them set up the Nintendo and played game after game of Super Mario Brothers. They must have played for 2 hours straight! Finally, Mrs. Hanson came down.
"Laurie, your mom would like you to come home now," she said.
"Okay. Bye Mrs. Hanson! Bye Tay!" she said.
Tay stood up. "Want me to walk you home?" he asked.
"Sure, I just gotta go tell Ike good bye," she said.
"Okay, I'll wait for you by the door," he said.
"Okay." The two of them ran up the steps. Laurie went upstairs to Tay's room while Tay watched her run up the steps.
Laurie knocked softly on the door. "Ike? May I come in?" she asked.
She heard some shuffling around. "Yeah, Laurie, come on in," he said.
Laurie pushed his door open. Ike was sitting at his desk. "Hey," he said.
"Hi. Just wanted to tell you good bye. I gotta go home," she said.
"Oh, okay. I'll see you later," he said. They took some steps toward each other and hugged each other.
They hugged a little longer than usual. When Ike let her go, Laurie left a wet spot on his shirt. She was crying a little.
"Laurie? You okay?" He asked.
Laurie sniffled a little. "Yes, I'm okay. I am really glad we talked today, Ike. You helped me so much and I really appreciate it."
"No problem, sweetie." Laurie cracked a smile, and Ike noticed the cute way she bit her lip when she smiled.
"Well, Tay's waiting for me, so I'll talk to you soon."
"Sure."
He watched Laurie go out the door. Ike went to his window and waited for the two of them to go through the backyard.
"Hey, Laurie, I'm glad we're still friends. I didn't want to lose you," said Tay and they walked back, hand in hand.
"Same here, Tay."
They reached the door, both shifting around uncomfortably. Tay had his hands stuffed in his pockets, concentrating on his shoes. Laurie was looking everywhere but at him.
"Well, I'll see you later, Laurie," he said.
"Bye Tay," Laurie said. She watched him walk over to his yard, his hands still stuffed in his pockets. Laurie opened the door to her house. Her mom was in the kitchen making spaghetti.
"Hi, sweetie. Have fun at Taylor's?" she asked.
"Yeah, I had a great time."
"That's nice," she said. Laurie left the kitchen. She went up to her room and turned on her computer. She started to type on a story. Then, she heard some shouting from the Hanson house. Laurie opened her window. Ike was yelling to her!
"Hey Laurie!" he said.
"Hi Ike!"
"I got an idea, hold on, okay?"
"Sure!" Ike ducked out of view and grabbed two tin cans and a huge ball of fishing line. Him and Tay did this when they were little and it worked. He tied the fishing line to one end of the cup and then to the other one. Ike carefully crawled out of his window, as he had practiced before, and ran that can over to Laurie.
"Here, hold on to this," he said.
"Okay," Laurie said mystified. She saw Ike run back to his room and pick up the other can. She put the can to her ear.
"Hey, Laurie, can you hear me?" asked Ike.
"Yeah, I can hear you."
"Cool. We can talk like this if you ever want to," he said.
"Awesome!" Laurie looked at Ike and she could tell he was smiling at her. Laurie smiled back.
"Hey, Ike, I gotta go, I think I hear my mom calling me for dinner," she said.
"Okay, Laurie. Talk to you soon!" he said.
"Bye Ike!" said Laurie. She put her extension of the phone down, and rushed down to dinner. As Ike heard Laurie rush down the steps, he whispered something barely audible into his extension of the phone.
Chapter 10
Chapter 8
I Knew Them When
While We Grow
