When Isaac turned the corner that led to the road of his house, he began thinking. He didn't know whether to give his brother, Tay the "silent treatment" or not. He knew Tay was going to pay the price for the crime that he committed...and soon. He wanted to make his younger brother grovel at his feet and beg for forgiveness for what he did. But first, he had to get to the one person who mattered the most to Taylor. He had to get to...Hallie.
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Ike walked into the house and tried to quietly slip into his room. But, as soon as he entered the house, little Mackie came running up to him screaming, "Ikey's home! Ikey's home! Ikey's home!"
Isaac bent down and picked up his little brother. He hushed him and asked, "Shouldn't you be asleep by now?"
Mackie giggled and smiled, "Nope! I was awaitin' for you to get home!"
Ike smiled and then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Taylor walking up to him. He put Mackie down, "Go get ready for bed, 'lil buddy."
He lightly pushed Mackie into the direction toward his parents. After Mackie was out of hearing range, Ike sighed, "I'm not talking to you, Tay."
Tay stepped in front of Isaac, "C'mon, Ike. I just want to apologize."
Ike looked up and pushed Tay out of the way. He started walking toward his room, then said over his shoulder, looking back at Tay, "Sorry, no apologies accepted from an annoying little trader that supposedly called my 'brother'!" Then, shut the door behind him, and was out of Taylor's sight.
"What?!" shrieked Taylor. "Ugh, stubborn like always. Well, at least I can tell Mom and Dad that I tried." He started toward the kitchen but, instead he turned into the playroom, where his little sisters were playing together.
Jessica looked up, "Hey, Tay."
Tay walked in and sat in-between his two sisters, "You guys don't mind if I crash your little party, do you?"
Avie and Jess shook their heads.
"That's cool."
Taylor watched his two sisters play together. He began thinking of how Ike and he had been like that. In fact, they had always been like that. They had always acted like best friends and now, they were separated because of some stupid girl that they both barely even knew.
"Tay?" Avery interrupted his train of thought. "How come you and Ikey-poohs aren't talking to each other?"
Tay bit his lip, "I hurt his feelings. I didn't mean to. I'll make it better soon though, and Ike and I will be just like you and Jess, again."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I promise," he smiled.
"Tayles," Jess said, "what did you do that mad Ikey so mad?"
"For one," Tay began, "I told a girl that he liked her. Then, to top it off, I asked her out. I'm surprised he didn't pin me to the wall!"
Avie got a disapproving look on her face, "That wasn't very nice."
Her older brother looked down. Taylor felt kind of ashamed. Even his 7 year old sister knew what he did wasn't right.
Tay finally looked toward her, "Yeah, I know. I didn't mean to make him so angry." Tay pushed his hair out of his face.
"Did you try to apologize to him?" Jess asked, curious and wanting to help her older brother.
"Tried to. He said, 'Sorry, no apologies accepted from an annoying little trader that is supposedly called my brother.' He just doesn't want to forgive me.
"Ouch."
"Yeah, I know," Tay told his sister. "What do I do?"
Jessica felt sympathy for her older brother, "Just give it time to cool off."
Avery agreed, "Yeah, I think that Ikey-poohs just needs some to think and cool off."
"You're right," Tay said, getting up off the floor. "I'll just give him an hour to think about it. "Thanks, guys."
"No problem, Tayles," Jessica said, as her sister and she began to play again. "See ya."
"See ya," Taylor said, as the door clicked shut behind him.
As he walked away from the playroom, he couldn't help but to think, "I can't believe I just did that. I just asked a 7 year old and a 10 year old for advice about a fight with Ike. Man, I feel silly. But hey, they seemed to understand."
At that, Taylor smiled secretly to himself, and went to go find Zac.
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Ike sat in his room, going through the phone book. He was looking for Hallie's phone number. He saw going to call her and get even with Tay…his way. He was going to ask Hallie out to a movie and dinner, just this once. She was too young for him to date. She was only 15, and he knew that Taylor really liked her.
"Ah! There it is!" Ike exclaimed, his finger was underlining Hallie's phone number.
He picked up the phone, and listened for the dial tone. Then, dialed her number. The phone rang.
"Hello? Mrs. M. speaking," said the voice of Hallie's mother.
"Hi, Mrs. M? This is Isaac. Tay's brother. Is Hallie there?"
"Hi, Isaac! Yeah, hold on a sec," replied Hallie's mother. Isaac heard her yell, "Hallie! Phone!"
Another phone picked up and Ike heard Hallie's voice yell, "I got it, Mom!"
The other phone, that her mom was using, hung up.
"Hello? This is Hallie," Hallie's soft voice spoke.
"This is Taylor Hanson's older brother, Isaac, Hallie. Hey, what's up?"
"Nothin' much," she answered. "How about you? You haven't called here in a long time."
"Yeah, I know. Nothin' really is up here. I just called to ask you something."
"Well?" she said expectantly. "What is it?"
Ike paused, "I was wondering if you wanted to go to a movie this weekend. Then, maybe after the movie, we could go to dinner, if you want."
Hallie was almost shocked to hear Isaac ask her that question, "That sounds great to me. Let me go ask my mom if I can. Will you pick me up?"
"Sure."
"Alright, hold on," Hallie put down the phone, and went to go ask her mom if she could go. Her mom agreed, and she hurried back to the phone. "My mom said I can go."
Ike smiled, "That's great. I can't wait. So, I'll call you on Saturday and work out what time that I'll pick you up?"
"Okay," she was just as happy as he was, "I'll see you then!"
"Bye!"
"Bye!"
Then, both ends of the phone were hung up. Ike had completed his mission. He thought what he did was fair, too. Tay and he had just simply traded crushes for one day…and only one day.
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Taylor found Zac in the family room, watching the late night cartoons. He had a bag of chips in his lap and was completely devouring the entire bag. Tay was surprised that his little brother wasn't' choking. Then, Tay picked up the remote control and pressed the "power" button. The TV flashed off and Zac broke out of his trance.
"Hey!" he cried, turning around and looking at Taylor.
Tay put down the remote. "Let's talk, Zac."
"Why should we?"
Tay shrugged, "Because, we're brothers. We are friends. Best friends…only bester."
Zac was confused, "What?"
"Just, c'mon. What's up?" Tay said, as he sat down on the couch, next to his brother. Tay was trying to make up with Zac, what he thought he lost with his older brother, Isaac. If he couldn't be best friends with his older brother then, why not the younger brother?
"Are you okay, Taylor? Is the fact that Ike won't talk you bothering you?"
"Of course it is, Zac," Tay looked down, as he thought.
Zac reassured his older brother, "Trust me, after tomorrow, you guys will be friends again. I promise."
Tay didn't say anything. He just sat there and hoped that Zac was right. His date with Kat was in two days. What he didn't know was that, so was Isaac's date with Hallie. One only knew how he'd react when he found out.
*Main Page*
Chapter 3- Bitter Punsihment and Sweet Revenge
Chapter 5- Love, Lies, Rivalry
Tulsa's Long Road Home
