"Let me get this straight," Chrystal said for the sixth time in ten minutes. "You were in the Hanson house, played chess with Zac, watched Taylor building with Legos, even offered macaroni and cheese, made by Zac himself, and you RAN OUT?" She was near screaming.
Jaya looked at the floor guiltily. She was sitting on the edge of her bed, with her hands in her lap and her shoulders hunched over. "Yeah. I just wasn't comfortable with them, Chrys..."
"WHY?" Chrystal screeched.
Jaya looked at her friend, studying her closely. She realized that Chrystal would have given anything to have been in her position. She liked the band, their music, and the people in it. Jaya opened her mouth to speak, but Chrystal interrupted her.
"You know, sometimes Jaya, I think you go too far. Way, way too far. Didn't you feel any guilt, any wish to stay? Anything at all, besides hate for them?" She was thundering across the room, kicking old magazines and clothes out of her way. When she reached the dresser she stopped, laid her hands on it, and stared at herself in the mirror. "Do you know what I would give to look like you, Jaya? And then to be in that position?" She turned around to stare at her friend. "You'd better apologize to them, because they deserve it."
"Chrystal, listen to me," Jaya said, trying hard not to let her emotion win through. It was boiling up inside her, and she was very confused. Every part of her in that house was saying to get out of there. Now there was something else, deep inside, telling her what she did was wrong, and she didn't understand why it was asserting itself now. "I know, I know I was mean to them, and they were so nice to me. But Chrys... You're gorgeous, and you're completely different than I am. You would have done something different than I would have. If you had been there, maybe Zac would have made a formal dinner. Who knows? What I did, I did... it's done, I can't fix it. All I can hope, we can hope, right now, is that Zac calls us. Then I can apologize."
Both girls stared at each other for a minute. Then Jaya managed a tentative smile, which Chrystal slowly returned. Jaya stood up, and the two friends drew each other in for a big, long hug.
"Don't be nervous, Zac, pick up the phone."
"I can't!" wailed Zac, who was looking more and more desperate by the minute. "Oh Ike, she hates me, she does! She doesn't want to talk to me! Why would she want to talk to me, anyway? I'm not anyone special."
"Now she's got you down on yourself. Come on, Zac, snap out of it!" Taylor chided him. "You're just as good as you were before she appeared in our backyard."
"But I... oh, Taylor, Isaac, what'm I gonna do if she hangs up in my face?"
Isaac and Taylor exchanged a glance. This was not like Zac at all. Then Isaac made a stab in the dark. "If she hangs up on you, then she's not worth it." He watched the expression on his brother's face.
Taylor's, meanwhile, was one of instant comprehension. Then he smiled at Zac, who looked distinctly uncomfortable. "C'mon Zac, nothing to lose by trying!"
"Okay, I'll try, but let me get one thing straight with you two." He pointed at Isaac, then at Taylor, and as he moved his finger back, he said, "I do not like her!"
He then picked up the phone, and with shaking fingers, dialed Jaya's number.
Both girls jumped as the phone rang. Chrystal stared at it, then whispered, "Well, what are you waiting for? Get it Jaya."
The other girl whispered back, "I can't. I just can't. You get it."
Chrystal turned to her friend with wide eyes. The phone rang again. Then her expression changed to one of someone who felt very stupid. "Oh, come on, we're nitwits. It's not Zac. What are the odds that this call is from him, as compared to all the other people who have this number?" She marched over to the phone and picked up the receiver on the fifth ring. "Hello?"
The voice at the other end was clear, and, unmistakably, a boy's. "Hi, Jaya? This is Zac."
Chrystal was close to, but not in, shock. She blinked furiously, put her hand over the receiver, and turned to Jaya, who was standing behind her expectantly. She mouthed the words, "It's him!" then turned back and took her hand away. "Oh, Zac, I've heard a lot about you! This is Chrystal, Jaya's friend."
Jaya freaked out. She ran across the room, back, then back again and out the door. Five seconds later she raced in, threw herself across the bed, sat up and stared at Chrystal.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were Jaya. May I talk to her, please?"
Chrystal marveled at his politeness. "Sure," she said, then handed over the phone in a daze.
Jaya almost refused to take it. She looked at it like it was a dead fish. Then she tentatively reached out her hand, gently took it, and held it up to her ear. "Hello?"
"Hey, Jaya! It's Zac! What do you say we get together sometime soon?" Jaya almost dropped the phone.
"I uh-- just a... wait a minute, Zac, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, she stuck her hand over the receiver and mouthed, "Can he come over?" to Chrystal. Her friend nodded vehemently. "Zac, you still there?"
"Of course I am." Zac sounded very confused at the strange phone call he was experiencing, but he tried to make the best of it.
"Okay... then... can you come over now?" Jaya rushed her words. Why was she inviting Zac over? Was it for Chrystal's sake, or for her own...? She found herself hoping that Zac could come.
"Yeah! Sure! Where do you live again, Trellis or something?" Zac was, to say the least, over-enthusiastic. Jaya felt a flood of relief rushing in.
"No, it's Trellion. 497 Trellion Way." Jaya glanced at Chrystal. Her friend looked like she was in a trance. "Oh, you don't mind if Chrystal's here, do you?" Chrystal looked startled, as if she hadn't considered that. She looked worried.
"Nahh, as long as she does't scream, it's cool. See you soon, okay Jaya?"
"Bye Zac." She carefully put the receiver back in the cradle.
Jaya couldn't believe her friend. She was standing in the doorway of the bathroom, watching Chrystal apply gobs of makeup as fast as she could. "You're kidding my, Chrys... please say you're kidding."
Chrystal turned from the mirror and glanced over her shoulder. Jaya tried not to laugh at her friend's half finished face. "No, I am most definitely not kidding. I want to look good for Zac." She turned back and started applying some liquid eyeliner.
Jaya sighed. "Just don't put on three coats of that stuff, okay?" She pushed herself off from against the doorframe and left the vicinity of the bathroom. Ambling down the hall, she glanced at the framed pictures lining it. They were all different pictures she had made, from different grades. There were some from when she was in first, third, fourth and fifth.
The doorbell rang, startling Jaya out of her reverie. She heard a squeal and a crash from the bathroom. Trying hard not to roll her eyes, she went to quickly check on her friend, who had just dropped half of her makeup on the floor from surprise, and then dashed to the front door. She opened it to see Zac's smiling face.
Zac stood on the front step, nervously fidgeting with his collar. He had just rang the doorbell, and seconds later heard a muffled squeal and crash. He didn't even want to think about what that could have been. While he waited for the door to open, he took a glance around... there wasn't much to see, really. A few rose bushes of different colors, and a front lawn. Then the front door opened, and he plastered on his best smile, even though his mind was racing with nervousness.
"Hi Zac!" Jaya said cheerfully, without a trace of her earlier antagonism. "Come on in... Chrystal's in the bathroom..." she broke off and glanced over her shoulder for a second, then looked back. "But she should be out shortly." She moved out of the way, and Zac walked inside.
He liked her house immediately. The front hall had dark wooden floors, with two shag carpets lining it. There was a small table by the front door, with an antique mirror above it, and a bucket for umbrellas and canes to the right. He couldn't see much farther, except he could see a flight of stairs with pastel blue carpeting leading up it in the distance.
"Come on, let's wait for her in the living room." Jaya turned away and led Zac around a corner up the hall.
"Her?" he asked. Then he remembered: "Oh yeah, Chrystal." He followed Jaya into the living room, and took it in too. His eye fell on something the piqued his interest greatly.
"Umm, Jaya? What's that?" What he pointed to was a smallish gray box, about eight inches long and six inches across, perhaps three inches tall. Two wires were connected in the front, which ended in much smaller, oblong plastic shapes which held several different buttons.
"You've never seen a Super Nintendo, Zac?" Jaya was surprised.
"Of course I have, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. You play Super Nintendo?" He was, to say the least, amazed that a girl played video games. Not many he knew did. Then again, he didn't know too many, considering that he was home schooled and most of the girls who came up to him were obsessed screaming fans in love.
Jaya looked at him through narrowly slitted eyes. "Yes, I do, is there a problem with that?"
"No way, no problem! That's so cool! I bet you do really good." That seemed to satisfy Jaya. He went on, "So what game is in there now?"
"Oh, I was playing Final Fantasy III," she said. "It's, by far, the coolest game I've ever played. It even beats out Suikoden on Playstation. Much better plotline and cooler characters, even if the animation isn't as good."
**Note: These are role-playing games for the Nintendo (duh) and Playstation (duh.) I love them, they kick butt. I'm hoping to death that I get a playstation for my birthday so I can get Final Fantasy VII. Just imagine a 3D game with puzzles, battles, magic, monsters, and a lot of really cool characters with actual personality, and you'll be in the ballpark.**
"Whoa, can I play some?" Zac's eyes shone as he looked down on the Super Nintendo. His fingers ached to pick up the controllers. "I haven't played Final Fantasy III... that should be interesting."
Jaya shrugged. "Sure, it shouldn't hurt anything.. here, I'll set it up for you." She walked over and hit a button on her TV. Zac assumed it was the power button, since that made the screen go on. Then she hit the power switch on the Nintendo up, and the Final Fantasy logo appeared on the screen. Zac settled back on the couch.
"Hey, Jaya, which buttons are which? I'm used to Playstation, N64, and Sega Saturn..." He broke off as she sat down next to him.
"First off, Sega sucks." She pointed to each of the buttons as she explained them. "The A button is confirmation, and it allows you to talk to people. B button is cancellation. X goes into menu and switches characters in battle, Y only switches characters. L and R select all enemies or allies. Control pad, duh, moves the cursor and the characters on screen."
Zac, already used to RPGs and basic video games, understood all of what she was saying. He tried hard to concentrate on the game, not Jaya, as the screen started up into the introduction. It was something about magic reborn, espers, whatever those were, and some old war. He didn't catch it all.
"Oh no, not video games." Zac turned at the new voice. A pretty girl of Jaya's age was standing in the doorway, her arms folded, her expression one of disgust. "I swear, if I hear one more thing about them, I'm going to scream."
"This must be Chrystal?" Zac asked tentatively. The girl seemed to notice him for the first time.
"Oh, you're playing Zac? Well, I guess it's okay..." Jaya tried to keep herself from laughing. Chrystal manuvered herself around the couch and sat down on Zac's other side. "I don't understand a thing about video games."
Zac smiled at her. Then he shrugged. "There isn't much to know. It's not hard. I guess it just takes a while to get used to them..." He turned his attentions to the screen and started fiddling with the controller, interacting with the story of the game. Both Jaya and Chrystal settled back to watch, content for the time being.
Chrystal was dozing off, Jaya noticed. Her friend found video games immensely boring, but Jaya kept telling her that she wasn't playing the right games. Jaya sighed audibly, and Zac heard her.
"Oh, sorry, Jaya, I lost track of time." He smiled sheepishly at her. Chrystal had completely fallen asleep, and was falling away from Zac. Jaya stiffled a giggle, then pointed at her. Zac turned, and they both watched her slowly come to rest on the arm of the couch.
Zac grinned, turned back to Jaya, and motioned for them to leave her alone. Jaya nodded back, and they both stood up and left the room.
Jaya stood thoughtfully for a few seconds in the hall, then made her way up the stairs, trying not to thump too loudly. Zac, slightly amused, followed her up. She took the first exit on the left, opening the white door and making her way in.
"This is my room, Zac," she said, smiling. She didn't know what had made her bring him in, but something told her that since she had gone into his room, it was only fair to be the other way around. She watched while he glanced around. It wasn't much to see, with the white walls, light blue trim, white bed, dresser, armoir, and desk. There was a computer too, and a stereo system in the corner, with the speakers hooked up in the corners of the ceiling.
"Hey, it's nice," he commented politely. She shrugged, stuck her hands in her pockets, and turned around a few times, as if seeing her own room for the first time. Then she made her way over to the armoir and opened it. Inside was a small TV, cable box, and vcr. "You've got everything!" he said, and Jaya thought she detected a slim note of jealousy in his voice. But she figured she was hearing things, especially since he had pretty much all he wanted.
Zac sat down on her bed, leaning back against his extended arms. Then he blinked and straightened, as if thinking of something. He looked at Jaya. "You don't happen to have any macaroni and cheese, do you?"
She laughed, remembering when Zac had come in to his room with macaroni and cheese, then quickly sobered as she remembered her response to it. Zac must have read her mind, because he stood up and made his way over to her. "It's okay, Jaya, I didn't mean to bring that back... It doesn't matter."
If you ever asked Jaya what happened next, all you would get is a distant reply and a faint smile. She never knew quite how it happened, or even why. All she knew was Zac's closeness, and the gentle feel of his lips to hers, and the faint scent of his shampoo as his hair brushed against her face.
Almost as quickly as it had come, it was gone... like a dream when you wake up. Only it hadn't been a dream, and Zac's face was just inches from hers. Embarassed, he moved back and stared at the floor.
"Jaya I--" He looked up at her wide eyes and shocked expression with a meek apology on his face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. Oh, man, I really blew it. I gotta go, I'll see you later."
Ten thousand emotions were coursing through Jaya's veins. She couldn't label any one of them, and she didn't know what to say. Zac looked distinctly uncomfortable as he started to head for the door. All Jaya knew was that she didn't want him to leave. She pivoted on her right foot as he walked around her, trying to keep him in her sight.
"Zac...." He stopped, at turned to her. His hair tucked behind his right ear, the rest cascading down the opposite side of his face, his brown eyes slightly damp. Jaya didn't want him to cry. "It's okay, Zac..." She turned and looked out the window for a second, and then turned back. "Thanks," she whispered, and a smile found its way to her face.
Zac nodded, smiled back, and quietly left.
Three days later, Jaya rang Chrystal's doorbell. An overstuffed backpack was on her back, and a sleeping bag took up both her arms. She had been lucky to connect her knuckle with the bell, since she couldn't see it. Chrystal opened the door a minute later, and immediately took the sleeping bag from Jaya.
"I should've known you'd be late," Chrystal laughed. Jaya followed her inside. "Everyone else is already here." She stopped for a second, thinking. "Okay, if everyone's still where I left them, Sydney, Nyle and Cameron are stuffing their faces in the kitchen, Amber, Taira and Genesis took over my brother's N64 and are playing Mario Kart," Jaya's face brightened. "Albie's gossiping with Carlie, Lana, Breeze and Ginger in my room. Something about how fine Bryce is." She smiled, leading the way down the hall and around the corner into an extra large room, where the five previously mentioned girls were giggling.
Jaya threw her stuff into the corner, on top of the huge pile already there. She waved a hello to everyone, receiving a wave and a few scattered hi's back. Carlie leaped up and grabbed Jaya's arm, dragging her down into a sitting position.
"We're curious, Jaya..." Jaya knew Carlie was talking about herself and Albie, the only twins in the whole middle school. They were identical, naturally, with straight light brown hair, delicate faces and button noses. However, Albie's hair was hilighted, and Carlie tended to be slightly more fashionable. Carlie went on, "how many boys have you gone out with?"
Jaya knew right then it was going to be a long night. She knew of all the girls at the party, of course, she just didn't know them all very well. Chrystal was the only person she shared secrets with, and generally the only person she hung around with, too. But Chrystal was one of the nicest people at school, and had a lot of friends, and even more aquaintances.
"None, I'm eleven, come on, guys!" Jaya refused to let them catch on anything about Zac, even if they technically weren't going out. She hadn't seen him since the kiss, and he hadn't called either. But some small part of her kept thinking about him.
"Ooo, you're blushing!" Ginger teased her. Ginger's partial oriental features and shoulder length black hair, which was always shining, even if there wasn't light, made her one of the school's knockouts. However, she was also a huge gossip, and so Jaya tended to avoid her.
"Yeah, maybe she knows something we don't," Breeze grinned mischeviously. She was a tad overweight for her age, but no one cared. Her bleached blonde hair was tied up in a loose bun, and Jaya could see faint traces of natural-looking makeup.
Lana, of course, had to get a word in. "Were you making out with someone, Jaya? Naughty girl!" Amber curls bounced on the sides of her heart shaped face, which she shook slowly while she shook her finger at Jaya.
"Okay, enough guys, I'm going to introduce her to everyone else." Chrystal winked at Jaya, who gratefully smiled back. The two walked to the den, where the N64 was set up. Three girls were staring intently at the screen, their eyes wide. Sudden outbursts of "oh man!" and "I did that on purpose, I swear," came every so often. Sitting behind them, laughing his head off, was Chrystal's older brother, Austin.
"Yo, guys, pause it would you?" Chrystal called into the room. The screen suddenly froze and darkened, and four heads turned to Chrystal and Jaya. Chrystal began introductions. "Okay, Amber," Chrystal said as she pointed towards an auburn, curly haired girl, "Taira," she pointed at a girl with wide eyes and wavy black hair, "and Genesis," she finished, pointing at a very tall looking girl with straight black hair. Jaya recognized them, but didn't know if they knew who she herself was. Then Chrystal said, "Guys, this is Jaya." She supposed they didn't.
Lastly, Chrystal led her to the kitchen, where Nyle, Sydney, and Cameron were hanging out. Nyle had a huge bag of Lay's potatoe chips in front of her, but was constantly dipping her hand into a tub of chocolate chip cookies, which was in front of Cameron. Alternating between the cookies and a glass of 7up, Cameron tried hard to slap Nyle's hand every time she reached into the cookie tub.
Sydney was laughing at the pair, while eating some Ritz crackers and a tuna fish sandwich. After the introductions there, Chrystal called everyone into her room, since the whole party had arrived. After everyone had settled in, the party really began.
"Okay, Ginger, truth or dare?" Breeze asked with a crafty look in her eyes.
Ginger made a face by squinting her eyes, sticking her tongue out the corner of her mouth, and wrinkling her nose. "Thanks, Breeze, I really wanna be picked on!" The assembly laughed, and Jaya heard Ginger pick "dare" above the din.
Breeze leaned back, a devilish grin on her face. "I dare you to go confess your undying love to Austin." Chrystal cracked up, but several other girls gasped.
Ginger shrieked. "You're kidding!"
"Nope, do it, girly!"
"Oh, fine then." Ginger stood up, shot a not-so-nice look at Breeze, and made her way out the door, followed by the band of people, who were whispering to each other.
Ginger strode confidently down the hall and knocked on Austin's door. The girls held their breaths expectantly. Jaya glanced at her watch; it was nearing midnight. Austin opened the door groggily, ran his fingers through his curly black hair, and blinked, trying to focus on Ginger.
"Whaddaya want? The N64 is available, if you wanna play it." What a one tracked mind, Jaya thought.
"Austin, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a long time," Ginger began, dropping into sappy overload. The girls tittered.
Realization of what was happening dawned on Austin, who suddenly groaned. "This isn't truth or dare, is it? You woke me up for this?"
"I've kept it pent up inside," Ginger went on, ignoring him and the others, who were trying desperately to keep from cracking up. "I love you so, Austin, the way your curly hair falls into your eyes, your look of concentration as you play with your... uhh... N64, and even the way you drool when you look at your picture of Pamela Anderson Lee."
Chrystal couldn't take it anymore. She burst out laughing, leaning against the wall and trying to breathe. She made a feeble attempt to point at Austin and say something, but it didn't work, and she only succeeded in turning her face cherry red.
Austin's eyes twinkled. He knew what was going on. Chrystal, Breeze and himself had an ongoing joke, which they tried to trap as many people as they could into. Ginger, being a newcomer to Chrystal's sleepover parties, had no idea what would happen next.
At Breeze's signal, Austin reached out and grabbed Ginger's arm, ignoring the startled protest. He dragged her into his room and shut the door. Half the girls had a confused look on their face, and the other half winked at each other.
On the other side of the door, Austin got down on his knees in mock courtship. "Ginger, darling, I'm so glad you finally told me... I was about to ask you to marry me, but I hadn't any nerve! I love you, oh light of my life, please, come with me!"
Ginger stood shocked. "Uhh--"
Fortunately, the girls could hear through Austin's door, and they hooted and cheered at Austin's fake proposal. Ginger finally caught on, and sticking one hand on her hip, she yanked the door open and glared at Breeze, who just grinned back. Carlie and Albie were leaning on each other, laughing and wiping away their tears at the same time. Sydney gave her a huge wink, then nudged Jaya and whispered, "They'd make such a cute couple!" to her, very loudly.
Ginger flushed, grabbed Sydney's arm, and raced back to Chrystal's room. The rest of the girls applauded Austin, who bowed in response, then trooped down the hallway and reassembled themselves on Chrystal's floor.
"CHRYS!" Ginger screeched in agony. "Why on EARTH did you do that to me?"
Chrystal shrugged, barely containing her mirth. "Because it was funny, Ginger!" She nudged Taira, who grinned up at her.
Ginger frowned unhappily, but then smiled. "Okay, so you got me. But now it's my turn!" She looked around the room, then focused on Jaya. "Jaya..." she began, and the girl stiffened. "We don't know anything about you yet. Truth or dare?"
"Uhh..." she wasn't ready to make a fool of herself yet, so after a moment of thought, she shrugged and said "Truth."
"Mmmph. No fair. Okay, let's see... Anyone have any ideas of what to ask her?" Ginger looked around the room. "Chrystal, you know her best, what do you think?"
Chrystal thought for a second, then suddenly remembered when Zac had come over three days before. "What did you and Zac do after I fell asleep on the couch, Jaya?"
Cameron frowned, her brow furrowed. Genesis opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Nyle, who asked, "Who's Zac?"
"There's no Zac in our grade," Lana put in.
"Zac Hanson," Chrystal remarked in an offhanded manner. Several girls looked at Jaya with wide eyes.
Amber spoke first. "He was at your house?"
"Oh my--" Carlie started. Albie broke in, "God." Then the twins regained their composure and grinned at each other .
Genesis, who wasn't an avid Hanson fan, waved her hands wildly, trying to attract attention. "Okay, so Zac Hanson was at her house. The question is, what did they DO?"
Jaya had been sitting, distinctly uncomfortable, through all of this. She continued to sit wide-eyed through the rest.
Nyle started giggling at Genesis's remark, and the other girl turned to her with a look of disgust. "Oh Nyle, you perv!"
Taira just sat, head on hand, with a bored look on her face.
Carlie and Albie, who were madly in love with what they knew of Zac Hanson, shrieked at Nyle's unspoken suggestion. "You wouldn't dare, Jaya!" "He's eleven! YOU'RE eleven!"
"Okay, HOLD it!" Chrystal took charge very efficiently, and the group fell silent. "Go on, Jaya?"
"Umm-- we left the couch, so we wouldn't wake you up, then we went up to my room and--"
Albie groaned and stuffed her head into her pillow, interrupting Jaya. Muffled sobs came from her direction. Carlie looked forlorn. "Oh Jaya, you didn't?"
"I didn't! I showed him my room, then he asked if I had any macaroni and cheese." Jaya glanced at Chrystal, whose face showed rememberance of the first macaroni incidenct. She went on, "Then he kinda.. uh..."
Albie's tearstained face looked up, then she stuck her tongue out at Jaya and giggled. "Boy am I a spoilsport. He kinda uh what?" Carlie shot her sister an exasperated glance.
"He kissed me," Jaya muttered, not making eye contact with anyone. Their response was NOT what she expected.
