Chapter Three: Book Three
I was now sitting on the floor of the three brothers' room, helping Taylor and Ike clean up the blood stains that I had left behind.
My feet still throbbed, but Mr. Hanson had given me a pair of crutches he had down in the basement from when he had broken his leg.
Taylor and I talked about the fact that, yes, he did have feelings for me, and what we were going to do about it.
"Nothing," I said simply. As horrified and angry that I had been about Aria and Taylor together, she was my best friend, and so was he. I couldn't hurt either of them. So Tay and I had decided that we were not to let anyone other than Zac and Isaac about our feelings.
"This is not coming out over here," Tay sighed looking over at Ike and I, who were over by the door on our knees together.
We had been sitting on the floor with sponges in hand for over an hour, and not one of the blood pools had disappeared. I dropped the sponge and leaned against the wall, closing my eyes.
At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Ike stood up quickly and opened it letting the two people inside.
Katie sat on Zac's cot while Aria had taken the floor next to Taylor.
A lump had formed in my throat in that short amount of time and I found it hard to speak. Ike did it for me. He walked over to the bucket of soapy water that was in the middle of the room and let his sponge 'plunk' into it. water splashed out, making a dark ring around the bucket.
"Libby!" Katie exclaimed, looking at my feet. "What happened?!"
Taylor spoke up. "She was talking on the phone with you," he said, looking at Aria, "and she accidentally dropped her glass. It shattered, cutting her feet. She ran over here as soon as it happened, which is why we have these stains on the carpet." He said it so matter-of-factly that Aria had seemed to forget about how I hung up on her.
The door opened once more and Zac walked in, rollerblades in hand. He smiled as everyone stopped talking and looked up at him as he entered the room.
"Heya," he said simply, dropping his 'blades to the floor and taking the spot next to Kate on his bed. Katie glanced at him suspiciously and scooted away slightly only to find that Zac scooted with her.
I giggled, getting up with my crutches, and having some trouble doing so. Before Ike or Zac or Katie or Aria could get up to help me, Taylor was on his feet and reached out to pick me up. Aria gave us a strange stare as I glared at Tay.
He apparently got my mental message and backed off, only lending one hand to help me up. He then sank down with Aria once again.
"So," I said, trying to break the uncomfortable silence. "What are we gonna do today?"
Everyone shrugged and Ike spoke up. "We can't exactly do much Lib, you can hardly walk, nevermind go on a fun-filled day of games." He half-smiled at me and I shook my head.
"Uh-uh," I argued. "I refuse to let me ruin your day. If I can't do anything, then you guys go ahead and do something without me. I can be alone you know, I AM the sixth Spice Girl." I smiled. Although I would be a bit hurt if they all decided to up and leave me, I would rather see them happy without me than miserable with me.
The clan looked at each other.
"No way!" Zac screeched. "I'm not gonna let you stay home by yourself. What happens if the Boogie-man decides to come and capture you? Or the monster under the bed? I'd need to protect you!"
I laughed. "I think I need protection from you Prozac." Everyone laughed at the small joke I made.
As I flopped down onto Ike's bottom bunk, I realized that Aria hadn't spoken once during this time. I also realized that I hadn't spoken towards her either. I looked over in her direction.
She was looking at me as I turned my head, but as I caught sight of her, she turned quickly away, looking back at Taylor. He smiled at her.
I tried to ignore the fact that the look Aria gave Tay made me sick and instead turned to look at Katie and Zac. He was only inches away from her and she was against the wall now. She sighed and threw her arms up in the air, giving up. "Ok!" she yelped. "I give up!!" and sank back into the many pillows covering Zac's cot.
"Well," Aria said, speaking for the first time since they arrived. "Let's get out of here. It's getting stuffy in here."
Chapter Four: Book One
Email: angelikgrl@aol.com
