Chapter Four: Book One
After much complaining, the six of us were sitting on the grassy lawn of the community playground. We watched as Mackie, Jessie, and Avery ran around with a bunch of other little friends.
I sighed as I lay back onto the grass which was warm from the sun's rays. I slipped my shoes off and slipped on my sun glasses, smiling. "I love summer," I stated. And everyone else seemed to agree.
Zac stood up, placing his sunglasses on also. "I'm gonna go join the twirps." He ran off to the huge play area that seemed to tower in front of us like a sky scraper.
"So Lib, we still on for tonight?" Aria asked. I looked up, slightly surprised that she actually had stated a sentence in my direction.
I nodded, half-faking a smile. "Yea, I'm on for Tom Cruise any day." Aria, Katie, and I had made plans for that night to go to the theater and catch Tom Cruise's new movie, Danger Zone. Although I wasn't that fond of Tom Cruise--and everyone knew it--it was fun to just pretend.
Aria rolled her eyes. "Uh-huh. You and Tom Cruise go together like vinegar and water." But she smiled.
Just as I opened my mouth to continue the conversation, Aria screamed. She stopped, and screamed again, jumping to her feet. As she started running toward the playground, I noticed a figure running in her direction. They joined in a hug--a tight hug--and started screaming, once again with each other.
After a moment of conversation that I couldn't quite make out, Aria was dragging the person over to our clan.
"Look who's here!!" Aria screeched.
Christine Spencer, who everyone referred to as "Cracker" was standing next to Aria, looking just as excited as her friend was.
"Heya peeps!" she greeted with a huge smile. Everyone jumped up and started hugging her, except me.
"I would get up and go nuts like everyone else, but I'm kinda confined to the ground at the moment," I remarked, glancing down at my bandaged feet.
Cracker looked down at them and her jaw dropped. "Don't tell me you went rock climbing and twisted both ankles while falling to what you thought was your death!"
Everyone, who had been jumping and laughing with giddiness, stopped and stared at her. Cracker took a sheepish look around and quietly commented, "It was a joke."
After a quick moment of silence, everyone burst out laughing and slapped Cracker on the back.
"Still haven't lost that...indescribable sense of humor have ya?" Ike commented, his smile a bit too big to be greeting just a friend.
Cracker's face went a light shade of pink. She mumbled a 'thank you' that wasn't quite understandable and looked down slightly. She walked over to me and bent down, giving me a big hug and asking me how I hurt my feet.
"Long story," I replied, smiling. I pulled her down next to me and slung my arm around her shoulder. "But you gotta tell ME how sunny California was. Is the rumor true that all the guys wear.. speedos?" I asked, a sly grin spreading over my face.
Ike and Taylor exchanged glances and moaned, and Aria and Katie giggled.
"No, it's not." Cracker said. But her smile grew sly too. "They don't wear ANYTHING."
We all laughed.
Christine had gone to her father's for the school year, leaving her friends behind and started at a new school. Her mother had said it would be a "great experience" for her. She had never told us when she would be back and never specified any date in the letters she wrote us.
As Cracker started gushing on how she loved California, but loved being back, we all listened intently. Although Ike was listening a little too intently. He was leaning over as though he didn't want to miss a single word that came out of her mouth. He smile and nodded at everything she said and laughed along with her.
Another scream pierced through the conversation. All the mothers of the children playing at the park stopped and looked up, hoping that it wasn't their kid who was screaming.
Mackie was running as fast as his little legs could carry him over to us, his finger held high over his head. As he reached us he ran right into Taylor's lap, crying hysterically.
"What's wrong Mac??" Tay exclaimed, trying to pry his little brother away from his chest so he could see Mackie's face.
As he did, we saw that Mac's expression was horrified and tear stained. All he did was simply stick his fore finger in Taylor's face and waved it around yelling, "Ouchie! Ouchie!"
Taylor took his brother's hand and started examining it. A few seconds later, a smile appeared on Tay's face. He started delicately digging at Mackie's finger and pulled out a microscopic object.
Mackie smiled, investigated his finger and smiled at his big brother, giving him the thumb's up sign as though he was approving of Taylor's work. He ran back off to join Zac and his sisters.
Tay dropped the object into the grass, where it was lost forever and smiled at the rest of the group.
"So what did Dr. Taylor find?" Kate asked, grinning.
"It was a sliver Nurse Katie. The cure? Two fingernails and a steady hand."
I chuckled and lay back where I had been before, sliding my sunglasses off the top of my head and in front of my eyes. I love this, I thought to myself, listening to all my friends talking about anything friends would talk about.
If only I could stop thinking about Taylor.
Email: angelikgrl@aol.com
