Two days had gone by since their arrival home and all was back to normal. The children had their classes, as usual and went about their daily chores. But, today was different. Today was Saturday! The two eldest Hanson siblings were going places. Now, the only obstacle was, if they could ever get things to be the same after brutal revenge. One could only pray that Taylor would take Isaac's revenge lightly. Could he? Would he?
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Isaac had just hung up the phone and had arranged to pick Hallie up at 6 to go to the movies. "Mom! I need the car tonight!"
"For what?" she yelled back.
"I'm going to go to the movies with someone at 6 and then, we are going to dinner!" he responded.
"Okay, just be back by 11," Mrs. Hanson ordered.
Nothing could have worked out more perfect. Tay was meeting Kat in front of the Blue Rose at 5 and Amy and Adam would be there to make a fool out of him. The Blue Rose Café was near Hallie's house so, on the way to pick up Hallie, he could see how embarrassed Tay was. He knew what he was doing was mean but hey, Tay was really asking for it.
Ike started toward the playroom, where he knew his younger brother, Zac was playing video games. He opened open the door to the playroom and sure enough, he saw his little brother seated in front of the TV screen, "Hi, Zac."
Zac didn't even bother to look up, "Hi, Ike."
Ike coughed and asked his brother, "Zac?"
Yeah?"
"Do you wanna help Adam, Amy, and me with something?"
Zac still didn't look up, "With what?"
Isaac said no more than one soulful word, "Revenge."
The word 'revenge' rang in Zac's ears and he paused the video game and looked at Isaac for the first time, since he had entered the room, "On who?"
Ike leaned against the wall and said casually, "Tay, of course. After what he did. He deserves it."
"It depends on what I get to do," Zac told Isaac, with a curious sound in his voice.
His older brother smiled, slyly, "How does a Super Soaker and a camera sound to you?"
"You mean, I get to drench Tay? And take a picture of him after he's soaked?"
"You sure do, Zaccie," Ike was smiling. He saw that his little brother was agreeing with his plan.
"Okay, I'll do it."
"Cool, I'll tell you when we're leaving. I have a date right after we make Taylor look like an idiot so, you'll be going home with Amy and Adam, alright?"
"That's cool, see ya."
"Bye!" Ike walked out of the playroom feeling successful. Amy's plan was falling directly into place. He couldn't wait until 5 o'clock.
It was 4:30, time that day had flown by so fast, and Tay was getting ready for his date with Kat. Ike, on the otherhand, was all prepared for his date with Hallie. He still hadn't told Tay about his date with Hallie. Isaac was going to wait until Tay was just about to leave for his date with Kat. It was too perfect.
"Ike! Can you come here for a second?!" Tay yelled from across the house. He needed his brother's opinion.
Ike walked into the room, "Yeah?"
"Do you think Kat'll dress up? Or no? I mean, can I just go in jeans and an Adidas shirt?" asked Tay.
"Nah," Ike told his brother, "she won't be dressed up. She'll probably be in a girlie-type tee-shirt and jeans."
"Okay, cool," Tay said, as he took out his favorite maroon Adidas shirt and his black jeans.
Ike looked at his watch, "Tay, you better hurry and start walking over to the Blues Rose. It's just about 4:45."
"4:45! Damn! Thanks!"
"Anytime," Ike said, as he walked out of the door.
Ike turned on the cordless phone with a "click". He dialed Adam's house as fast as his fingers would allow. The phone began to ring.
Ike became impatient, "Come on! Come on! Come ON! Pick up!"
He heard the phone pick up, "Hello? This is Adam."
"Hey!" Ike answered, feeling a shrill of success,. "Tay's leavin' for the Blues Rose in like, 5 minutes. I would start over there now!"
"Okay, thanks. Bye!" Adam hung up before Ike could even say 'bye'.
Ike hung up. If he was going to tell Tay that he was going on a date with Hallie, he better do it now. So, he racked up some nerve and found Taylor, as he was walking out the door, "Hey, Tay!"
Taylor turned around, standing at the front door, "Yeah? What? I'm gonna be late."
"I just wanted to tell you that I won't be home when you get back. I'm going to the movies."
Tay asked, "With who? Adam and Amy?"
This was it, Ike sighed, "Nope, I'm going with Hallie."
"WHAT!?!?!" Tay screamed, as he walked back into the house. You're going with Hallie?"
"Yeah, I asked her last night if she wanted to go to a movie and possibly dinner."
"But," Taylor was amazed at what his brother was saying, "you can't! She's only 15! You're 17!"
Ike snickered, "Her mom saw no objection to it."
Tay couldn't believe it. Ike was going on a date with one of the only girls that he had actually cared for. He had never been so angry.
"Look," snapped Tay, "I gotta go. I don't want to leave Kat waiting." He slammed the door.
Isaac laughed to himself as he spoke his thoughts aloud, "That was beautiful." Then, he walked into his room to get ready to leave.
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Tay stood in front of the Blue Rose Café, looking for Kat. He hoped he didn't look too angry because he didn't want to frighten her. Deep down though, he was extremely aggravated with Ike, with Hallie, with life. The summer had been so great and within three days of being home, it had already started to turn into a nightmare.
Then, a girl came up to him. She was about 5 feet and 4 inches, and was wearing a Tommy Girl shirt and jeans. She smiled brightly, "Taylor?"
Taylor's hair blew into his face, as he looked up. The wind had started to pick up since he had left the house. Maybe it was just the tension in the air, though.
He smiled back, "Hey, are you Kat?"
"That's me."
"Ike was right," he said. "You are very pretty."
Kat flushed and replied, "Thank you, you look great, too."
Taylor shoved his hands into his pockets and kicked the ground, "So, where do you wanna go? It's up to you."
"Let's stay here for awhile. Then, maybe afterwards, we can go to the new cinema up the street."
"Sounds cool to me," Tay agreed.
Tay took Kat's hand and they started walking over to a table, where there wasn't much wind. Taylor pulled out a chair for Kat, trying to act like a gentleman, and then seated himself.
"I'm glad you could come," Tay finally said, after a moment of silence.
"Me too," Kat said, looking downward to try and hide how red her face was.
"Well, tell me about yourself. How old are you?" Tay inquired.
"I'm about to turn 15 in September."
That's cool," Tay answered, his voice faded as he spoke.
"Tay?" Kat said, softly.
"Yeah, Kat?" Tay looked into her dark brown eyes. He loved her eyes. They were distinctly brown, but they were so dark that if you didn't look close enough, you would've thought that they were black.
She looked right back at him. His baby blue eyes seemed to have a sparkle in them tonight. The same kind of sparkle that he gets when he was performing, like when he was happy.
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"Zac! C'mon! Let's go!" yelled Isaac from the van. Isaac beeped the horn impatiently, waiting for his little brother.
Zac ran outside, and hopped into the van. A Super Soaker full of water fell to the van floor, as he placed a camera loaded with film on his lap.
"Let's roll," he said, in his ever-so-cool voice, as he put on his Oakleys. Then, the van pulled out of the driveway and headed towards the café.
The van was silent until about halfway to the café, when Zac announced, "This is going to be so funny! I can't wait!"
Ike chuckled, "Yeah, I know, he looked at his brother then, back at the road, "Tay won't know what hit him."
"Except for a water gun and a camera flash," Zac smiled, holding up the camera, proudly.
After that, all was quiet again. They remained quiet all the way up to the Blues Rose. They hid the van and waited for the signal to approach Tay.
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Tay and Kat continued talking. Tay found out a lot about Kat. She had lived in Pennsylvania and Florida, before moving to Tulsa, four years back. She also had an older brother, Ike's age, who was getting ready for college. Then, all of a sudden, the unexpected happened.
Adam and Amy walked up to Taylor's table. Adam leaned against the table and spoke directly to Tay, "Hey, what's up, little man?"
Kat giggled, "Little man?"
Amy cut in, now, "Yeah…little man. I'm serious! I mean, look at him! He's only skin at bones!"
Taylor started to get embarrassed and ducked down, flushed.
Amy spoke, in a baby voice, "Aww, look. Little Man is getting embarrassed."
Kat giggled again, "C'mon, guys! Stop. You'll hurt his feelings."
Tay sat up straighter. At least somebody cared.
Adam snickered, and exchanged a sly look with Amy, "But, you know, Kat? That is your name, right?"
She nodded.
"Just checkin'. Anyway," Adam continued, "I gotta tell you about this chick that Tay thinks is just soooo fine! Her name is Hallie."
"Oh, yeah! Hey! Didn't you tell me the other day, Tay that you were thinking about asking her out?" asked Amy.
"What?" Kat was startled.
Tay didn't know how to respond. He knew what they were saying was true. But, he never really did ask her out, "I…I…I did like her, yeah. I never asked her out, though."
Adam was on a roll, "But, I thought you called her yesterday and asked her out?"
"But, I…" he started.
Kat's eyes welled with tears, as she interrupted him, "Taylor! I thought you cared about me!"
"I do, Kat! I do! Please, believe me!"
Adam turned around and saw the Hanson family van. He motioned Isaac and Zac over.
The two boys ran over to Adam, Amy, Tay, and Kat.
Ike ran to Kat first, and hugged her, "Are you alright?"
She was crying, "No! Your brother, Taylor…he's so insensitive!"
That was probably the first and only time anyone in the Hanson family would ever hear anyone say that about Taylor Hanson.
Isaac said nothing more than, "Get 'em, Zac."
Zac pulled out the Super Soaker and drenched Taylor. After seeing Taylor soaked, Kat's tears turned into laughter. After all the water was drained from the Super Soaker, Tay shook the water off like a dog, and squeezed it out of his long locks. He couldn't believe it even happened. He didn't even have time to think.
"Flash!" the camera took a picture of Taylor soaking wet.
Tay didn't expect that, either.
"Well," said Ike, realizing it was 5:52, "I gotta go. I'll be late to the movie, if I don't."
Kat smiled, "Bye, Isaac. Call me?"
Ike smiled back at her. "I will. Zac, you are going back home with Amy and Adam. And Taylor? I told you that I'd get even with you." With that final word, Isaac got into the van.
Success! Isaac had won back Kat's heart, easily. But now, he had to go meet Hallie and celebrate with a movie and dinner.
*Main Page*
Chapter 4- Only the Beginning
Chapter 6- Fallin' In Love Ain't Easy
Tulsa's Long Road Home
