Chapter 36

About 45 minutes later, Tyler was ringing the Prescott’s doorbell. It was answered by a nice looking chap in his late 40’s.

“Yes?”

“Hello, Mr. Prescott I presume?”

“Yes, I’m James Prescott.”

“Mr. Prescott, I’m Tyler Savage, Mark’s father.”

Mr. Prescott’s eyebrows went up to discover the most famous, not to mention wealthiest, person in Sheffield on his doorstep.

“Yes, yes, Mr. Savage…..”

“Please, call me Tyler.”

“Thank you, and you can call me James. Please come in. Um, is everything okay? Tara is over your house, correct?”

“Oh, yes she is,” Tyler said. “And everything’s fine. As a matter of fact, I invited her to stay for dinner.”

“Yes, she just called and asked my wife if she could stay. She um….seems quite smitten with your son. About as much as our Emily is taken with your nephew Trevor.”

Tyler grinned. “Yeah, its brilliant that they all get along so well and will be attending school together. Which is right around the corner. Which brings me as to why I’m here. May I speak to you and your wife about something?”

“Sure,” James said before calling for his wife. Jean Prescott came into the living room upon hearing her name called.

“Jean, this is Mark’s father, Tyler Savage. Tyler, this is my wife Jean.”

“Nice to meet you Jean,” Tyler said extending his hand.

Jean shook it. “Oh, nice to finally meet you. Tara just called asking permission to stay at your house for dinner tonight. Seems her and our daughter can’t see enough of your son and nephew.”

“Well, if I may say so, they seem to be equally fond of them,” Tyler said. “Um, if you don’t mind, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you since Tara isn’t here.”

The three of them sat down in the living room as Tyler began. “James, Jean….I know about Tara’s past. She confessed it to us around a month or so ago. I know about her being Randy Spencer’s sister. To say the least I was quite shocked, but when she explained everything, well…..lets just say that I was bloody angry over how cruel her father was.”

Tears began to well up in Jean’s eyes. “It was unthinkable, how that bastard left my sister – 47 years old and pregnant. We have no idea where he took off to or even if he’s still alive today. At first, my sister had social services try to track him down, but they had no luck. She just gave up and did her best to raise Tara on her own. Fortunately, her eldest son took her and Tara in when things got too rough, financially. But, when my sister died, I…..I guess I felt it was my turn to take over. That poor lass had no kind of happy childhood. Since they lived in Canterbury, she and Emily would write each other and stayed close through their correspondence. When my husband and I decided to have Tara come live with us, Emily was ecstatic. We want to do the best we can for her, considering she should’ve had more.”

“I agree with that Jean,” Tyler said. “Which is why I’m here. Now, please, I don’t want you or your husband to think I’m overstepping my boundaries or anything. But…well….lets just say that this is something that I know Randy would’ve wanted for Tara. I know it. He was a wonderful bloke, a great friend and a superb drummer. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about him or Mark in someway. Everytime I look at my son I’m reminded of them because I named him after them. I miss them greatly. But, getting back to Tara. As I said, Randy would’ve wanted to do this. But, since he’s not here, I’d like to take the opportunity to do this on behalf of him.”

With that, Tyler retrieved an envelope from his shirt pocket and handed it to James. As James opened the envelope, Tyler continued to speak.

“Tara never should’ve been cheated out of what should’ve rightly been hers. Now that you’ve been so gracious to open your home to her to give her some semblance of a normal teenage life, I think we can agree that she should be able to have some of the things she missed out on.”

James opened the envelope and pulled out a check, his eyes widening at the amount of the sum.

“Tyler, I,” James stammered. “This……this is…….”

“….its what should’ve been Tara’s,” Tyler finished. “As I said, I don’t mean for this to insult of offend you, but, like I said earlier, it isn’t from me. Its from Randy. I’d like to leave it at that. While Tara was at the house earlier, she was going through some fashion magazines and saw some things she’d like to get for school, but didn’t think she’d be able to afford. I’m sure she’d even like to know that she’d be able to go to university after high school. Even though you asked her to live with you, I’m sure Tara feels that your daughter Emily’s needs and education must come first. Please, Mr. & Mrs. Prescott, please accept this to take care of whatever Tara wants. Her brother would’ve wanted it.”

Jean’s tears gave way to full fledged crying by now. James rubbed his forehead with his hand as he shook his head with amazement as his own eyes welled up with tears.

“Tyler, I….I don’t know what to say,” James choked out. “Its almost an answer to our prayers. My wife and I want to do what’s right by Tara, but we feared having enough money to support her and Emily. But….but she’s gonna be suspicious. If we give her money to go clothes shopping for school and for university, she’s gonna wonder where it came from.”

“Well, as much as I don’t condone lying, I’d rather she not know it came from me,” Tyler said. “If she asks, perhaps a mention of a raise or a bonus from work may suffice.”

James’ teary eyes twinkled. “Yes, I suppose a little white lie wouldn’t hurt. Again, I don’t know what to say. Thank you just doesn’t seem to be enough.”

‘Then don’t say anything,” Tyler said. “Whatever happiness she receives from it will be more than enough. And please, feel free to use that to get what you need for Emily for school as well. That should offset what you’ve had to do for Tara since she came to live with you. Well, I better get back in time for dinner. I just wanted to do this when the girls weren’t here.”

As Tyler stood up, Jean stood up too and hugged him. “Thank you so much. You have a generous heart.”

“I loved my friend,” Tyler said. “I know Randy would’ve wanted this.

James then shook Tyler’s hand and clapped him on the back before seeing him out. When the door closed behind him, James and Jean Prescott embraced each other and cried.

Chapter 37

Around 8pm that night, Tara arrived home after spending a very interesting rainy afternoon and evening with Mark. Her body was still tingling from what they did earlier in his ‘sanctuary’ and even blushed over almost being caught by his father.

She called out a ‘hello’, to which her aunt Jean came out. “Oh Tara, good, you’re home lass,” Jean said. “Listen, go upstairs and get Emily, then come back down. Your uncle and I want to talk to you girls.”

Tara bit her lip in question. “Is…is everything alright, aunt Jean?”

“Oh, everything’s fine, don’t worry.”

Tara went upstairs and knocked on Emily’s bedroom door.

“Yeah?”

“Hey, its me,” Tara said upon entering.

“Did you get get home?”

“Yeah, Mark just dropped me off. How did it go at the daycare today?”

“Oh, I had such a blast,” Emily said. “Crazy, but a blast. When I agreed to help Trevor’s mum out since they were short handed, I thought it would be nothing but cute, little fun and cooing at babies all day. Those tots had me chasing them in circles. She must’ve had 15 kids there ranging from 7 months to 3 years old. But, it was nice to do on a rainy day and all. The place has such an adorable name – Handle With Day-Care - isn’t that kitchy?”

“Very,” Tara said with a smirk.

“What? What’s so funny.”

“Ohhhhhh, nothing,” Tara mused.

“Okay, spill it. What happened with you and Mark today.”

“Welllllll,” Tara drawled out. “Lets just say we got a bit farther than you and Trevor got in his bedroom a few weeks ago.”

Emily’s mouth dropped. “What? Tara, how…..how far is ‘a bit farther’?”

“Well, not that far,” Tara quickly said. “I mean, his mum was right upstairs and, oh God, his dad walked in on us just as we finished.”

“Finished what for bloody sake?”

“Some very heavy petting – both of us,” Tara said with a blush. “I um…you know….rubbed him with my hand, outside only. I think…..I think he came in his jeans though.”

Emily snickered. “Oh God, no! Well, they are seventeen year old lads. They’re walking and talking ‘wet dreams’, ya know?”

“Yeah, well I think I may have had one myself,” Tara said with a hint of embarrassment.

“Huh? What did you do?”

“Well, you know that magazine you have that has that sex question and answer column? Someone wrote in asking what ‘dry humping’ is. Lets just say that I tried it and it works!”

Emily gasped. “Lord Tara, you didn’t! Crikey, you did get far. Well, at least it was safe. All Trevor and I’ve been doing since that day in his bedroom is pretty much the same. We both…..you know…..want to, but its just a question of when and where. I know its only been two months, but there’s something about him that, well…..I know I want him to be my first.”

“I feel the same way about Mark,” Tara said. “Imagine, I couldn’t stand him when I met him and now look at what I’m thinking of doing with him!”

“I don’t know what it is Tara, but these lads are special,” Emily said. “And I just don’t mean because they’re popular and goodlooking and great athletes, or even because Mark’s dad is famous and wealthy and Trev’s dad is a physician to the soccer stars. There’s something about them that tells me that they’re both going to be something special on their own someday.”

“Well, we can pretty much surmise that Trev may play pro footie,” Tara said. “Mark, I’m not sure. He’s a great soccer player and all, but not as serious as Trev. He can sure play the drums though.”

“Maybe he’ll take after his dad and form a band,” Emily said.

“I asked him that, and he said no.”

“That’s now. You don’t know what the future holds.”

“I don’t even know what the future holds for me,” Tara said. “I’m worried about what happens after high school.”

“Well, have you figured out what you want to do?” Emily asked.

“There is something, but……I don’t know.”

“Tell me,” Emily urged her.

Tara left Emily’s room for a minute and came back with some papers in her hand and gave them to Emily. “This.”

Emily looked at some rough pencil sketches of various fashion designs – dresses, pants, tops – all drawn onto models.

“You….you drew these?”

Tara nodded. “Yeah. The last few years I would pour through all the teen fashion magazines and even some adult ones. You know…clothes I can’t afford. Suddenly I got these ideas in my head and just began to draw. I didn’t’know I could.”

“You’re a natural,” Emily said. “Tara these are wonderful. I guess you’re thinking along the lines of design school or something.”

“I’d like to, but I don’t know if the money is there. I’ll probably get an afterschool or night job to start saving. Oh, blimey! I forgot. Your mum wants to talk to us. C’mon.”

Tara and Emily bounded down the stairs to where Emily’s parents were waiting in the living room. “What took you lasses so long?”

“Oh, just catching up with our day,” Emily said. “So mum, Tara said you wanted to talk to us?”

Jean looked to her husband with a smile as he spoke. “Well, I’ve got some good news, lassies. Things have been going swimmingly for me at work. And it couldn’t come at a better time. With school right around the corner, I want you lasses to take this and go shopping and get whatever you need for school. Clothes, backpack, supplies, whatever.”

Emily and Tara looked at the stack of pound notes that James handed them with wide-eyed amazement.

“D…daddy,” Emily said. “This…..do….do you know how much you’ve just given us?”

Tara was too speechless to react. All she thought of was the yearning she felt earlier when she looked through the fashion magazine over at Mark’s house.

“Yes, I do,” James said. “Like I said, things have gone well. Better than well. Now, don’t you lasses worry a thing. I wouldn’t be giving it to you if it wasn’t there. Now, make yourselves a date to do some shopping. I know how you lasses love to do that.”

Tara and Emily looked at each other and let out a scream of joy before hugging each other.

“Oh my God Tara, this is going to be mega! We’ve got to hit both the Crystal Peaks and Meadowhall Malls. They got that new crop of American brand stores that just opened up there. Oh, I’ve got to make my list of what I need. This is so exciting!”

Emily jumped up and hugged her father. “Thank you daddy! Thank you so much.”

As she sped off upstairs to make her shopping list, Tara slowly got up and hugged her uncle gently.

“Thank you uncle James,” she said with a choked up voice. “You have no idea how much this means to me. I was just looking through a magazine earlier and saw all these wonderful clothes. Its like my prayer was answered.”

“It was lass,” James thought to himself. “It was.”

Chapter 38

Mark stayed down in his ‘sanctuary’ watching the telly until about 10:30pm that night until his eyes began to close. He clicked off the telly and made his way upstairs, only to find his father alone in the kitchen.

“G’night dad,” Mark said as he made his way to the stairs.

“Mark, wait,” Tyler said. “C’mere for a moment.”

Mark turned around and walked back. “Yeah?”

Tyler fished for the right words to use. “Mark, listen. I…I know you like Tara. A lot. And I know she fancies you just as much. I know I don’t have to explain anything to you because I did that a long time ago and…..”

“Dad!” Mark said, almost embarrassedly.

“Mark, please, let me finish. I’m not gonna get into the mechanics of everything. You already know that. But, you and Tara have been finding yourselves alone and, well, a few weeks ago uncle Scott had to to pull Trevor out of his bedroom where he had Emily and well…….Mark, please….just be careful lad. Use your head lad – the one on your shoulders!”

Mark rolled his eyes. “Dad, don’t worry. I know all about it.”

“Know all about what?”

Tyler and Mark looked to see Grace enter the kitchen. “Uh, nothing specific mum,” Mark said. “I’m heading up to bed.”

“Good night Mark,” Grace said.

As Mark went to leave, he halted a bit and looked at his parents. “Hey, just out of curiosity. Did anything ever happen with uncle Scott when he was Trev’s age?”

Tyler cocked his head to one side. “Like what?”

“Well, when uncle Scott came inside to look for Trevor the day of Steph’s party and found out that he was in his bedroom with Emily, he said something to the effect of ‘not wanting history to repeat itself.’. Did grandpa Sav ever catch uncle Scott with a girl in his room or something?”

Tyler wasn’t prepared for that. Neither was Grace. They both knew what Scott meant by that comment and it was something that they had long put behind them these past years.

“Um, well, not that I know if,” Tyler said. “Remember, when uncle Scott was 17, I was just forming the band so I wasn’t at home much.”

Mark thought a bit. “Hmm, maybe he was referring to himself and aunt Chelsea – you know, because he got aunt Chelsea pregnant with Stephanie when they were teenagers.”

Tyler quickly glanced over at his wife, who busied herself by opening the fridge to get something to drink. He caught the look on anxiety on her face before he looked back at his son.

“Maybe, Mark,” Tyler said. “We’re just looking out for you lads. You’re both young with bright futures ahead of you. We just don’t want you making any mistakes that’ll interfere with it, that’s all.”

Mark began to get a bit embarrassed by talking about this with his mum around so he just nodded at his father then headed off upstairs. Once Tyler heard his bedroom door close, he turned to Grace.

“Crikey, talk about pulling an old skeleton out of the closet.”

Grace tried to hold back the old memories that stirred up inside of her. “Yeah, huh,” she replied, trying to make light of the situation. “I know for a fact that Scott wasn’t referring to him and Chelsea. He had no idea Chelsea was even pregnant until five years after. I know he was referring to him and I……”

“Grace, don’t,” Tyler said. “Don’t go dredging up the past. We’re all behind that, remember?”

“Well, its something I’ll never forget completely, but its not something I dwell on anymore. But it does creep up from time to time. Obviously it does with Scott for him to have brought that up. I know what went through when that happened and he doesn’t want to see Trevor go through that. Its only natural that his experience brings out the protective father in him.”

“And me,” Tyler said. “I’m not an idiot Grace. You know how I was at seventeen. Mark isn’t any different. He’s a good looking lad who has a pretty girlfriend who, I’m sure, is tempting him. Trevor’s in the same boat. For all we know, those two lads probably already had sex. We can lecture all we want, but its not going to stop them if they find themselves in a situation where they’re unable to stop. All we can do is hope that they are careful and responsible. The last thing I need to have is some lass’ father pounding on my door.”

Tyler saw the somber look on Grace’s face due to memories long since buried and went over to her. “Hey, you okay?”

She looked up at him and smiled. “I’m fine,” she said. “I’m glad all went well with the Prescott’s today. I would’ve loved to see the looks on their faces when you gave them that check. It was a wonderful thing that you did.”

“Well, you did suggest it,” Tyler said.

Grace leaned up to kiss him. “I love you, Ty. Lets go to bed.”

“I’m not tired yet,” Tyler said.

“Neither am I!”

Chapter 39

Tara and Emily had the time of their life shopping for back to school. They thought about seeing if the lads wanted to join them, but then opted out. They didn’t want their boyfriends huffing and complaining about being dragged from shop to shop.

They hit the shops at Meadowhall Mall which, over the years, had brought in a lot of American based stores and brands. Their first stop was Abercrombie & Fitch. Even though some clothes were a little on the expensive side, the girls decided to splurge in one store.

Tara opted for a pair or dark blue, low rise, boot cut jeans that laced up the front and down the sides of each leg from calf to ankle with black rawhide. She complimented it with a ribbed, fitted half button sweater in black that just skimmed the waistband of her jeans. She then found some inexpensive logo tops and chose a pair of dark gray hiphugger, drawerstring sweatpants with white and maroon stripes going down each leg and a matching hooded, zip up top.

Emily chose black jeans with tan rawhide laces and a golden brown, cropped sweater with a scoop neck and bell sleeves. The color enhanced her honey colored hair and topaz colored eyes. She then chose a similar sweat outfit in navy blue with pale blue and white stripes and invested a good portion of her allowance in a hip length calf-skin coat with lambswool trim and wooden peg buttons. It set her back a bit, but she needed a good coat for the winter.

They then visited The Gap, Aeropostale, Republic, Kangol, Logo, Bay Trading and Quiz. In a nutshell, they shopped till they dropped!

After rounding out their new fall/winter wardrobes with a variety of knit tops and sweaters, another pair of jeans, Sketcher sneakers, shoe boots, new backpacks, hairclips and scrunchies and some cool, inexpensive choker pendants to go with their tops, the girls decided to call it quits, bring the bags to the car then come back in for some lunch before venturing to get actual school supplies. But…not before Emily saw a sleek, black outfit in the window of Forever 21.

“Oh my God, Tara,” she said while gaping at the outfit. “I have to go try that on!”

Emily went inside and took a pair of the black pants in a size 4 then the matching black tank that had strategically placed, geometic cutouts on the chest and torso and the wide, leopard print belt and went into the dressing room. She then came out and Tara let out a low whistle.

“Wow, that’s mega hot Em,” Tara said. “I think Trevor’ll bust something if he sees you in that.”

“That is, if you last that long with him to see you in it,” came a sarcastic voice from behind Tara.

Both girls looked to see who it was. She was unfamiliar to Tara, but not to Emily. Emily folded her arms and regarded her.

“Just what’s that supposed to mean, Kristin?”

Kristin shrugged, completely unaffected. “Just what its supposed to mean. You may be Trevor’s summer playmate, but we went together almost our entire junior year. Not to mention the fact that our relationship was an intimate one.”

Emily would not be intimidated by Trevor’s spurned ex-girlfriend. “No need to reiterate that, Kristin. The entire school knows all the details of yours and Trevor’s relationship, thanks to you spilling the details to anyone who’d listen.”

Tara smirked at her spunky cousin for not backing down to this malicious little wench. She decided to get in on the fun and turned to Kristin.

“I don’t think we’ve met,” Tara said, extending her hand. “I’m Tara Spencer, Emily’s cousin. I’ll be finishing my senior year at Westfield.”

Kristin never bothered taking Tara’s hand. Instead she just eyed her before letting out a haughty laugh.

“Oh, yes. You’re the one who’s keeping Marky-boy company till he goes back to school and falls back into the throng of all his female admirers. Don’t get your hopes up for anything long-lasting, luv. Mark Savage doesn’t know the meaning of the word. Neither does Trevor. But, I have to say, the scenario here is soooo cute. Two cousins dating two cousins. Just don’t get too cozy with Trevor, Emily. He and I have a history and he will find his way back.”

Emily let out an audacious laugh. “Why? Because you gave him sex? You know, Kristin, I find what you’re saying to be very contradictory. If Trevor’s such a dog who can’t stay in anything long-term, why would you want him back?”

“Because I understand him,” Kristin said with a bit of unstability. “I understand what he needs.”

Tara let out a sarcastic huff. “Hey Kristin, here’s a newsflash. You’re not the only girl in town who can open her legs and give a good blowjob! If that’s all Trevor needs, he can get it from anyone!”

Emily was a bit shocked by Tara’s bluntness, but had to stifle a giggle anyway. Kristin dug her dagger-like eyes into Tara before ripping them into Emily.

“You’re nothing but a diversion for Trevor, Miss Emily. Even though we hooked up before our junior year started, I knew he had a thing for you since the first day of school. I saw how he was staring at you in Geometry class, but I was determined to hang onto him. I gave him what I knew would satisfy him.”

“And then blabbed it to the school,” Emily finished.

“To let everyone know that he was mine and hands off!” Emily spat out. “But that didn’t stop you from fancying him every chance you got. You wanted him all along and, because of that, he broke up with me two months before school ended. I knew he’d go after you. I just knew it. But, it won’t last. Trevor just needs to get you out of his system and then he’ll come back to me. He already proved how weak he is around me when I showed up at Craigs party that night.”

Emily’s face paled a bit. “What do you mean? You weren’t at the party.”

“You’re right, I wasn’t. I wasn’t invited. Once Trevor dumped me, I wasn’t part of the ‘it’ circle anymore. But, I showed up after everyone left. I waited in front of Craig’s house and Trevor came out to see me. Lets just say…..he was like putty in my hands, even though his hard cock was in my mouth.”

Emily heard enough. “I don’t want to hear anymore of this. You’re sick, you know that? I think you need help. You’re nothing but a malicious little liar.”

Emily turned to go back into the dressing room, but not before Kristin got the last word. “Malicious, maybe. But a liar? Why don’t you ask your sweet, innocent Trevor about that night.”

With a spiteful grin of victory, Kristin spun on her heels and left the store. Tara turned to Emily just as she closed herself back inside the dressing room and cried.

Chapter 40

Emily had a cinema date with Trevor later that evening. She knew she had to confront him about what Kristin said. True, she and Trevor had not been dating at the time, but he did express his interest in her the day of the party and got her phone number. The fact that he did that during the day, then succumbed to Kristin that evening made her wonder over how sincere his intentions were towards her and whether or not he really was over Kristin.

Trevor picked her up a little before 7 so they could go get something to eat before the movies. But Emily hadn’t an appetite since running into Kristin at the mall and needed to talk to Trevor now before the evening continued. Even though she knew she shouldn’t, she wore her new Abercrombie & Fitch jeans with the tan leather laceups with a golden beige peasant style halter top.

Trevor leaned into her and kissed her when they got back to his SUV, then looked over her outfit. “ Wow, luv, you look so bloody good! Guess you girls had a good time shopping, eh? So, what are you in the mood for? Chinese? Pizza? Italian……?”

“Trev, could…..could we go someplace and talk first?”

Trevor felt his insides jumble a bit. Judging by her tone and the worried look on her face, he wasn’t sure if this was gonna be a good talk or not.

“Um, sure luv.”

“Lets go to the park.”

Trevor drove to the soccer park, pulled in and turned the ignition off. He sat there in silence waiting for Emily to start.

“Trev, when Tara and I were at the mall today, we……we ran into Kristin.”

Trevor leaned his head back against the headrest and squeezed his eyes shut. “Bloody hell, what did she do Em?”

“Well, it wasn’t so much what she did, but what she said. She told me how she showed up at Craig’s party in front of his house after just about everyone left. She told me that you went out to her and…..that….she….”

Trevor cursed under his breath. “Sonofabitch! Emily, please….let me explain…”

Emily cut him off. “No, Trevor please. Let me finish. I…I know that you and Kristin had broken up a month before and you and I weren’t officially dating yet. So, in a way, I have no reason to feel jealousy or get upset. But, the fact that you showed so much interest in me that day, yet you let Kristin do………that to you that very night, just makes me wonder how sincere you are towards me.”

If Trevor was ever grateful for any one quality about Emily, it was her calmness and sensibility.

“Emily, please allow me to explain, okay? I know what Kristin told you makes me look like an absolute bastard. The fact is, and, I know this isn’t an excuse, I was a little buzzed on whiskey. Wesley brought over a flask that someone had brought and I took a few belts off it. I did it that afternoon to calm myself before I went and talked to you because I was nervous. Em, I’ve been bonkers for you since I saw you the first day of junior year, but I had already begun to date Kristin. Then her and I…….you know, had sex, and then she totally changed and became someone that I didn’t want to be with anymore. It took me a while to break it off with her because I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but I had to do it. Unfortunately, she hasn’t been taking it too well and thinks I’m gonna take her back. I had a little more whiskey that night when she showed up and, well, it addled my senses. I let her do something that I shouldn’t have. I was sick over it and I’m sorry you had to find out about it. But, Emily, I tell you this….I do not want to get back with Kristin ever! No matter what she does or says. My feelings for you are genuine and sincere. I want you to be my girl – no one else.”

Emily thought she would cry when she heard those words. She could tell by Trevor’s anxiety filled face that his feelings were honorable towards her. She took his hand and squeezed it.

“And I want to be your girl, Trev. Very much. I gotta say that when I saw you that first day of school, I…..well…..I couldn’t take my eyes off you. I had already known about you before I transferred from Tapton, you and Mark. You lads are the most popular, not to mention the best looking. I didn’t think anyone like you could be interested in me and, well, when I realized you already had a girlfriend, I didn’t think there’d ever be a chance. But after you broke up with Kristin, I got word that you were interested in me and I…..I couldn’t believe it. You have no idea how much I couldn’t wait to see you at Craig’s party.”

“Even after I caused you to go flying into the pool?” Trevor said with a blush.

Emily giggled. “Yeah, even after that. I guess you were nervous, but there was no reason to be.”

“Well, my dad warned me about drinking,” Trevor said. “It really did impair my judgement as far as Kristin was concerned. But Emily, you’ve got to know something. If Kristin is in this much of a denial, then I don’t know whats gonna happen once school begins. She may continue to cause trouble out of spite.”

“Let her do whatever she wants Trev,” Emily said. “I’m not gonna let her intimidate me. We’ll deal with it together, okay.”

Trevor smiled beautifully at her. “Okay. Now, dinner and a movie?”

Emily drank in his youthful, handsome face, totally disbelieving her good fortune. She leaned into him and kissed his soft lips. Trevor responded to her kiss which turned passionate. When their tongues touched, they both made soft sounds into each other’s mouths. Before Trevor could put his hands on her, she pulled away.

“Dinner, yes. As for afterwards….why don’t we enjoy the last of these warm nights down by the lake.”

Chapter 41

As a sign of their appreciation for what they did for Tara, Jean and James Prescott invited Tyler and Grace out to dinner to a very fancy restaurant two towns over. With her aunt and uncle out of the house for several hours and Emily and Trevor on a date, Tara raced to the phone and called Mark.

“’ello?”

“Hey, its me.”

“Aye, luv. Your aunt and uncle just left here from picking up my parents. I guess they decided to get better acquainted since we’re dating, you know? Probably be callin on Trev’s parents next.”

“Yeah, I guess. Hey, are you watching your sister tonight?”

“No way, thank God! Little wench wants to be alone with me as little as possible, so she begged my parents to go sleep over her friends house tonight. Fine with me!”

“You say that now, Mark, but wait till she grows up and has lads clamoring for her. You’re gonna be the protective older brother.”

“Yeah, well I’ll believe that when I see it. Anyway, why do you want to know?”

Tara rolled her eyes, disbelieving that he didn’t catch on. “Well….its like this. You’re parents are out with my aunt and uncle for a few hours. Emily and Trevor are out on a date. So that means……..”

“I’ll be right over!”

**********************

After dinner, Trevor and Emily drove down to the lake where they’ve been spending some long, lazy summer days at. When he parked his SUV, he looked into the back and grinned.

“Aye, I’ve still got the blanket in here from the last time we came,” he said. “Wanna go spread it out on the grass and sit for a while?”

“Sounds perfect,” Emily said as she got out.

They walked down to the grassy area on one side of the dock. The night was warm and nary a breeze was about. The lake was so still that it looked like a piece of glass. The sky was full of stars and the moon shone full and bright. Trevor laid out the blanket then sat down before taking Emily’s hand and pulling her down, almost on top of him.

“Mmm, I think I like this better than the movies,” he murmured against her neck.

“My thoughts exactly,” Emily replied as she turned her head to capture his lips with hers. Both youngsters fell back on the blanket, their bodies and lips fused in a passionate embrace and kiss.

“Dammit Emily, you’re gonna drive me out of my mind,” Trevor rasped, as he felt Emily snake her hand up the back of his shirt to caress his smooth, muscled back.

“That isn’t my intention,” Emily whispered in his mouth as her hands roamed his hard, warm skin.

“Then what exactly is your intention?”

Emily looked dead into his eyes, reached into her jean pocket and pulled out a condom.

************************************

Tara raced to the door as soon as she heard the bell. As soon as she saw Mark standing there with a mischievous grin and green eyes, she knew that she made the right decision.

Mark sauntered in and took in her calculating look. His body was a mass of lust just thinking about what was on her mind.

“So, you got me here and we’re alone. Just what do you have in store for the next few hours?”

Tara backed up until she stood on the bottom step of the stairs. She lifted her hand and crooked her finger for Mark to follow her.

*************************************

Sav sat at the card table in Scott’s entertainment room and stared at his hand. He then glanced across the table with an expressionless face and looked at Joe.

“Don’t look at me Savage,” Joe bit out. “I’m not giving anything away. I’m staying verrry quiet.”

Sav huffed under his breath. “Yeah, only in my dreams,” he mumbled before a cough snuck up on him. He then picked up a card from the stack and added it to his hand.

“Keep up the smart remarks mate, or your next breath will be your last,” Joe mused.

Sav coughed again. “I should’ve had my last breath years ago, so don’t get your hopes up Joe.”

Joe snickered across the table. “Maybe I’ll just have to shock that ticker of yours,” Joe said as he laid his cards down. “Gin!”

Sav rolled his eyes. “Blimey, stop cheating!”

“How the fuck can I cheat? What do you think I’ve got extra cards hidden in my trousers?”

Sav cleared his throat again and chuckled. “Trying to beef up what shrunk years ago?”

“Shrunk, my arse!” Joe spat. “Hey, it may not work the way it used to, but its still the same size.”

“So, since its not functional, its just there for aesthetic purposes?”

“Smart ass!” Joe sneered. “I’m looking forward to the day when I don’t have to listen to your snide comments.”

Sav coughed again, then cleared his throat. “You’ll miss me when I’m gone, Joe.”

“Yeah, about as much as I miss my annual visit to the proctologist!”

Just then, Chelsea came downstairs to check on the two men. “Do I have to put you two in separate corners for time out?”

“Only if we’re in separate rooms,” Joe replied. “By the way, thank you for inviting Abby and I over for dinner tonight, luv.”

“Oh you’re welcome, Joe,” Chelsea replied. “Everyone seems to be out tonight and, well, since we were already having Scott’s parents over we thought it would be nice to have you as well. Especially since you two can’t get enough of each other.”

“Speak for yourself,” Joe said. Sav replied only with a cough. Chelsea turned to her father-in-law.

“Dad, you okay? You don’t have that nasty bronchitis coming back, do you?”

“Ah, who knows,” Sav said in between coughs. “I already had it twice in six months. Its probably nothing.”

“Well, it doesn’t sound too good,” Chelsea. “How about I bring you down a nice cup of hot tea? That’ll soothe it a bit.”

Sav smiled up at his beautiful daughter-in-law. “Thanks luv, that would be great.”

When Chelsea went upstairs, Joe shook his head in amazement. “You bloody poser. You just love the attention. If it wasn’t the female fans all those years, its your wife. If its not Paige, then its your daughters-in-law. If not them, then your grandchildren….”

Joe was rambling so much that he didn’t see Sav run his hand roughly over his chest before the color drained from his face. “Joe…” he barely got out.

“Yeah, what now?”

“I….. feel like I can’t breath.”

Chapter 42

Joe looked upon the ashen face of his best friend since 1978 and paled himself.

“Sav, what……?”

“Joe,” Sav said, barely audible. “Go…go get….”

Joe turned and went to the bottom of the stairs and called up. “Scott! Quick! Come down here! Hurry!”

Scott was down the stairs in a flash, Chelsea right behind him, and saw his father clutching his chest and struggling for breath. He immediately went to him and fell to his knees beside him.

“Dad, what’s wrong?”

“I…I….feel like I’m drowning,” Sav sputtered out.

Scott put his ear to his father’s chest and listened to the rapid fluttering. “He’s got fluid in his lungs. Chelsea, call an ambulance.”

Chelsea ran to the phone and picked up the receiver to call. Scott then saw how his father was struggling to breath and knew every second counted.

“Screw the bloody ambulance,” he spat out, helping his father up. “C’mon dad, I’m taking you to the hospital myself. Chelsea, come with me.”

Chelsea took one arm while Scott took the other and helped Sav up the stairs. Paige saw the stricken look on her husband’s face and gasped, Abby right behind her..

“Rick….Scott, what…..?”

“Mum, he’s got some fluid in his lungs. Probably from all those bouts of bronchitis he had. I’m taking him to the emergency room. Chelsea’s coming with me. Aunt Abby…… Tyler and Grace are out to dinner tonight. His cell phone number is in the book in the drawer. Call him and tell him I’m taking dad to Shrewsbury now.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Abby said, going for the phone.

Chelsea got in the backseat of Scott’s white Infiniti with her father-in-law, as Scott tore out of the driveway towards the hospital. While he sped off, he pulled his cellphone out and dialed Shrewsbury.

“Hello, yes, this is Dr. Scott Savage. Who’s the emergency room doctor on call tonight? Dr. Schulman? Okay, please have him paged, its an emergency.”

While Scott waited, Chelsea had her arms around Sav trying to comfort him. “Hang on dad, we’re almost there.”

Sav didn’t waste his breath by talking. He just nodded and he struggled with every painful breath.

“Dr. Schulman, hi, this is Scott Savage. I’m bringing my father into the emergency room as we speak. He’s 83 and is having trouble breathing. I heard some fluid in his lungs. Okay, great. We’ll be there in moments.”

Scott clicked off his cell phone and looked into the rearview mirror. “Almost there, dad.”

*********************************

Grace and Tyler had just finished their appetizers and salads when Tyler’s cellphone rang.

“Excuse me,” he said to the Prescott’s before answering it. “’ello?”

“Tyler, its Abby. Listen, please don’t get nervous, but Scott just took your dad to the emergency room. He has some fluid in his lungs and is having trouble breathing.”

“I’ll be right there!” Tyler said as he clicked off before turning to the Prescott’s. “James, Jean, I apologize, but my father’s being rushed to the hospital. He’s having trouble breathing.”

“Ty!” Grace gasped as she touched her husband’s arm.

“Listen, why don’t you finish your dinner and I’ll take a taxi to the hosp……”

“Absolutely not,” James said. “We’ll call it a night and take you to the hospital ourselves. Your father is much more important.”

Tyler smiled with appreciation. “Thank you.”

****************************************

Back at Scott’s house, Abby hung up the phone then went to Paige. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. Scott will get him there in time and they’ll tend to him.”

Paige took Abby’s hand and squeezed it. “Yes, I’m sure,” she replied a little weakly. “As long as Scott’s with him, I know he’ll be fine.”

“That’s right, and…..oh my God…..Joe! He’s been downstairs this whole time. Excuse me.”

Abby gingerly made her way down the stairs to the entertainment room and was immediately assailed by the sound of soft sobbing. She found her husband sitting at the card table, his elbows on his knees and his face buried in his hands. Abby went over to him.

“Joe, sweetie….”she softly said as she put a hand on his shoulder. Joe stood up and clung to his wife and cried on her shoulder.

“Oh God please…..please don’t let him die! I never meant any of those things I said. They were only said in jest. I’m sorry! I’m so sorry. He has to live. I still want him around. I still need him around. He’s been around me for 65 bloody years. What am I gonna do without him? Please, oh please God don’t let him die!”

Chapter 43

Down by the lake, the late August night was getting even hotter as Trevor looked at the offering in Emily’s hand.

“Em, you……..you sure?”

Emily nodded. “Yes Trevor. Very sure. Just….just so you know, I….I’ve never done this before. I want you to be my first, that is…..if you’re ready.”

Was she kidding? “God Emily, every time I look at you, I’m……Jesus, are you absolutely sure? Once I start, I’m not stopping.”

“Good,” she said, pushing him back down. “Neither am I.”

With the dusk supplying them with privacy, Chelsea then sat back up and removed her halter top. Trevor’s hazel eyes almost popped when he saw she had no bra on. She then reached down and helped him remove his shirt then laid her bare top upon his. The initial contact of their naked skin made them both groan.

“Bloody hell, Emily,” Trevor said as he ran his hands all over her smooth, exposed skin. “You’re so friggin’ beautiful.”

“So are you luv,” she whispered as she began to kiss him. Being a seventeen year old lad, it didn’t take Trevor long to be ready and he was trying hard to keep himself calm so he didn’t have an accident.

Emily must’ve sensed this and decided to move things along. She didn’t want to wait anymore either. It was a little daring being outdoors as well. She removed her jeans until she was only in her peach satin panties. Trevor instantly shed his jeans and boxers. When Emily ran her hand down his taut stomach and came into contact with his erection, she gasped. She had never felt it before. She pulled away and looked down, then looked back at Trevor with a worried look.

“Whats wrong, luv?”

“Um….is….is this gonna work? I mean, oh God…….will you fit? I mean, I know its supposed to hurt a bit, but it doesn’t look like its gonna…..oh God!”

Emily covered her face with her hands in embarrassment. She felt like a fool. Trevor removed her hands then laid her on her back as he began to take the condom out of the package.

“Shh, don’t worry luv. It’ll probably hurt initially, but it should be alright after that. If not, just tell me if you want me to stop. I’ll die, but I don’t want to hurt you, okay?”

Emily bit her lip and nodded as she watched Trevor roll the condom onto himself. He then leaned over her as she slid her panties down.

“Put your legs around my waist, luv.”

Emily did as he said before he leaned down to kiss her. They kissed long enough to build up the longing until they both couldn’t stand it. Emily felt desire build up in her down below and instinctively began to lift her pelvis for some relief.

Trevor felt her do this and immediately positioned himself. He slowly entered her a little at a time, watching her face for any sign of discomfort.

“You okay luv?” he whispered.

Emily nodded as she buried her face in his neck. He continued to slowly go in until there was only a little more ways to go. He knew this would hurt her and there was no way to soften it. Trevor squeezed his eyes shut and pushed all the way in.

Emily gasped and whimpered at the stinging pain and Trevor stilled. “God Em, I’m sorry. I can’t help it.”

“I..I know,” she trembled. “Its…its okay. I don’t think its supposed to last.”

Trevor did his best not go move so Emily could adjust. She was so tight and hot that he was about to explode on the spot. After a few moments of just kissing, Emily began to move on her own, as did Trevor. He still continued to thrust inside of her slowly, even though his horny body wanted to pound away like mad.

Her tightness gripped him like a glove and he couldn’t stand it anymore. That and Emily’s whimpers of pleasure were sending him over the edge.

“Trev….Trev….it…..oh God, it feels so good. So good. Oh, more! Don’t stop! Not yet. Oh……God, somethings…..somethings happening…….Trev……TREVOR!”

That was all he could stand. Trevor held out long enough and gave into his release with a loud shout of her name. He then gingerly laid on top of her as he tried to still his rapid breathing and heaving chest.

“Em……you okay luv?”

“Mmm, hmm,” she murmured. “I’m fine. It stopped hurting after a bit. And then…..then it felt so good.”

“You felt incredible luv,” he whispered as he kissed her ear. “Thank you for giving yourself to me.”

“Mmm, I could lay like this all night. Its so quiet and beautiful and……you’re here.”

Trevor never felt anything like this before, at least not with any other girl. Even with the heat of the moment gone, he was still overcome with emotion for this wonderful lass who just gave him her greatest gift. He was also overcome with another feeling that scared him. So strong it was that he couldn’t help the words come from his mouth.

“Emily….I lo…………”

Just then, Trevor’s cell phone in his jeans pocket rang, cutting off his words. The timing couldn’t have been worse. He thought not to answer it, but figured he should.

“’ello?”

“Trevor, its dad. Where are you lad?”

Trevor rolled his eyes. How come his father always knew when he was getting hot and heavy with a lass?

“Uh, I’m…I’m with Emily dad, why? Whats wrong?”

“Listen, I just pulled into the emergency room of Shrewsbury. Your grandpa Sav is having trouble breathing. Your mother is with me. If you can, I’d like for you to go home. Grandma, Joe and Abby are there and I don’t want them to be alone. I also called Uncle Ty and he’s on his way. Could you do this for me lad?”

“Uh…yeah, yeah, sure dad. I’m on my way.”

“Thanks.”

Emily sat up as she saw Trevor reach for his shirt. “Trev, whats wrong?”

“My grandpa Sav was rushed to the hospital. He can’t breath. My grandma, uncle Joe and aunt Abby are at my house. My dad wants me to go stay with him. My uncle Ty is on his way too.”

“Oh God Trev,” Emily said as she furiously began to get dressed. “Do…do you want me to go with you?”

“Yes, could you?”

“Absolutely,” she sweetly replied. “Uh…did you say your uncle Ty is on his way?”

“Yeah, why?”

In the midst of the news about Sav, Emily giggled. “Um, well your uncle Ty and Aunt Grace went out to dinner with my parents tonight. Which meant that Tara had the house to herself. Lets just say that she planned on inviting Mark over and well, do pretty much what we did. My parents picked your aunt and uncle up tonight, so if they’re heading home early……..

Trevor had to chuckle as he fastened his jeans. “I hope Mark’s a quick operator!”

Emily giggled. “Think we should call and warn them?”

Trevor flashed her a gorgeous, devious grin as he gathered the blanket, took Emily’s hand and ran off to his SUV.

Chapter 44

Tara opened the door to her bedroom as Mark followed her inside. His heart slammed against his chest and he began to harden in his jeans as he knew that tonight was gonna be it.

He watched Tara sit on the bed and scoot back. “Join me?”

Mark sat next to her and snuggled close. “Tara, what…..what do you have in mind tonight?”

“Well, remember how far we got a couple of weeks ago in your ‘sanctuary’?”

Mark rolled his eyes and grinned. “How could I forget? I get a painful hard-on every time I think of it.”

“Well tonight, how’s about going a little farther and easing that pain, sport?”

Mark thought he’d die and gone to heaven. “Are you kidding Tara? Please, don’t be teasing me.”

“No, I’m not. I’ve thought about this for a while. I’m sure you’ve already been with other girls, but, you know…..I haven’t been with a lad before. Is…is that okay?”

“Okay? Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Because……because I don’t have any experience, that’s why?”

“Well, you could’ve fooled me by what we did a few weeks ago.”

Tara blushed then went into her nightstand drawer and dug deep in the back until her fingers found the hidden condom. She pulled it out and handed it to Mark. With shaky fingers, he took it from her as his eyes never left hers.

“Crikey Tara,” he said, leaning in to kiss her. “My ballocks are gonna bust before I even touch you!”

Tara giggled then wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back, pulling him down beside her. All Mark wanted to do was see and feel her. He pulled her tiny t-shirt off and Tara immediately unclasped her bra. She laid on her back as Mark drank in her breasts.

“God, they look as good as they felt,” he said as he laid back down next to her. His hand fondled one while he slid his face down to the other and licked her hardened nipple. Tara almost came off the bed when she felt that.

“Mark!” she gasped, grabbing fistfuls of his wavy brown hair.

Tara arched up closer to him, wanting as much as she could. Her hands then grabbed his t-shirt and pulled it over his head. When she did, she flipped Mark on his back and gave him the same treatment he gave her. She placed soft kisses on his neck then down to his chest, stopping to lick his nipple. Mark sucked his breath in and held her head closer to him. She then trailed down to his hard, flat abdomen and kissed and nuzzled him there. When she went all the way to the waist of his jeans, Mark began to groan and thrust his pelvis up.

“Crikey, Tara! You’re bloody killing me with your mouth down there.”

Tara quickly undid his jeans. Mark helped her take them off before he rid her of hers as well. Both were young, frantic and aroused to a point where they couldn’t take it anymore. She had never seen a naked lad before and was a bit surprised and nervous. Mark saw her look at his erection and smirked.

“Like what you see?”

“I…..I’ve never seen a lad naked before. Its…..its gonna hurt, huh?”

“Only for a moment, I suppose,” Mark said as he fumbled to put the condom on as quickly as possible. “Don’t worry luv, it’ll be okay.”

Mark got on top of her and positioned himself with his hand. He found her opening and inched his way in, groaning at how tight she was.

“Dammit! God, you’re so tight. Feels so good!”

Tara ran her hands all over his muscled back and down to grip his hips as she raised her own on impulse. The move caused Mark to impale her all the way, causing a shriek of pain from her.

“Tara, I’m….I’m sorry. Damn, I didn’t mean to….”

“Its okay,” she gasped. “I did it. I didn’t know you’d go in all the way so quickly.”

The two of them kissed and caressed before Mark couldn’t stay still anymore. He began to move in and out of her, slowly at first, but then increased his tempo because it felt too damn good.

“Tara…..oh God….so good….feels so good….damn, you’re so tight. Tara, I’m……bloody hell I’m gonna come….I’m gonna……….ah, shit!”

Tara buried her face in Mark’s neck as that mysterious, yet exquisite feeling overcame her again. She then felt Mark pulse and throb inside her and knew that he came already. Mark raised his head from where it was buried in her neck.

“Are you alright?”

All Tara could do was nod. She had never experienced anything so intimate and incredible in her life.

“I’m fine, Mark. That felt amazing.”

“You’re telling me! I knew you’d feel this good. I just knew it.”

As they both leaned into each other to kiss, the phone rang. Tara pulled herself up and answered it.

“’ello?” she breathlessly said.

“And just why are you out of breath?”

Tara rolled her eyes. “Why do you think? Em, why are you calling me? I told you Mark was coming over.”

“Yeah, well you better tell him to hightail it out of there. My parents are on their way home as we speak.”

Tara bolted up which startled Mark. “What? Now? They’re coming back now? Why?”

Mark caught on and scrambled for his clothes as Tara sought hers as well, while balancing the phone in her ear, continuing to talk to Emily.

“What? Oh my God, is he alright? You are? Okay, I’ll tell Mark. And…thanks for warning us.”

Tara hung up the phone then quickly put her bra and shirt on. She then looked at a almost fully clothed Mark.

“Mark, that was Emily. She and Trevor are on their way back to his parents house. Your grandpa Sav was having trouble breathing your uncle Scott and aunt Chelsea took him to the hospital. Your grandpa Joe and grandma Abby and Paige are at his house, alone. Your uncle Scott called your dad at the restaurant where he and my aunt and uncle are having dinner. They’re on their way back now so your dad can go to the hospital. Thank God Trev’s dad called him and told him that else…….”

“I think we would’ve had a surprise while we were up here,” Mark finished with a grin.

Tara swatted him. “That’s not funny, Mark. If my aunt and uncle caught us…..”

“Don’t worry luv. Like you said, it’s a good thing they called to warn us. Now, I think I better go meet Trev at his house. If I know my grandpa Joe, he’s probably upset. Do….do you want to come with me?”

“Of course I will.”

Once they were fully dressed, they both bounded down the stairs and out the door, just as James Precott was about to put his key in the knob.

“Oh…..Tara…Mark….,” James said. “You must know about your grandpa then, lad. We just dropped your parents off at the hospital.”

‘Uh….uh, yes sir,” Mark stammered. “I uh….stopped by to see if Tara wanted to come with me.”

James raised a curious brow. “Hmm, how did you find out Mark? Your father tried calling you on the way back but you weren’t home.”

Mark froze, but his sharp mind thought of something quickly. “Oh, uh Trevor called me first. My uncle Scott called him on his way to the hospital, then Trev called me to tell me. I must’ve missed my father’s call once I left to come get Tara.”

James didn’t know whether to believe him or not, but now wasn’t the time to speculate. “Oh, I see. Well, go do what you have to do. I hope your grandpa is okay.”

“Thank you sir. Me too.”

“I won’t be late uncle James,” Tara said as she quickly left with Mark.

Once outside, they looked at each other and let out a relieved breath.

“Quick thinking, Mark.”

“He almost had me there,” Mark replied. “C’mon, lets go.”

Chapter 45

Scott pulled his Infiniti to a screeching halt at the entrance way to the emergency room at Shrewsbury Hospital. Thankfully, a nurse was waiting outside with a wheelchair.

He opened the backdoor and helped his father out, Chelsea right behind him, and into the wheelchair where he was wheeled in to one of the available tables in the ER. Fortunately, it was a slow night.

Dr. Schulman, the attending ER doctor met Scott immediately.

“Thanks Fred,” Scott said.

“No problem Scott,” Dr. Schulman said as he hovered over Sav who was still fighting for breath. He took his stethascope and listened to his lungs which had obvious signs of fluid. He then turned to Scott.

“Does your father have any allergic reactions to any medications that you know of?”

Scott shook his head. “No, none that I know of. Other than a few mild prescriptions he had to take for this and that, and two nasty bouts of bronchitis, he’s really very healthy.

Dr. Schulman turned to the attending nurse. “Start an IV of Lacix, that should begin clearing the fluid out of his lungs.”

Dr. Schulman then took Sav’s temperature, which was a little over 100. After a quick examination, he turned to Scott.

“Seems as if your father’s bronchitis never fully went away and its developed into pnumonia. He has a lot of fluid buildup in his lungs and his temp is up. Lacix is the best for draining the fluid, especially intravenously. However, it’ll take a day or so for it to take full effect. We’ll also have to put him on oxygen to help his breathing until his lungs clear. Your father needs to be admitted so he can be watched. These next 48 hours are very critical, considering his age.”

Scott nodded. “I understand. Do whatever you have to.”

Scott then leaned down to Sav, who winced in pain as the nurse stuck the IV needle in his arm. “Dad, I’m right here, okay? They’re gonna get you on some strong antibiotics to clear the fluid in your lungs. You’re gonna need to stay for a few days so they can keep an eye on you, okay.”

Sav just nodded, not wanting to waste his precious breath, but not until he took hold of Scott’s arm.

“Scott,” he whispered. “Please…..can…can you stay with me?”

Scott felt his eyes sting with tears as he nodded. “Absolutely dad. I’m here. Ty’s on his way too and I’ve got Trevor going to the house to stay with mom and uncle Joe and Aunt Abby. Everyone’s looked after, okay.”

Sav nodded with relief as Scott began to fill out the forms to admit his father. He then turned to Chelsea.

“Luv, why don’t you go on home. Ty should be here soon and we’ll stay with him. I may stay overnight. I think he’s scared.”

“No problem sweetie,” Chelsea said kissing him. “Stay with him. He needs you. I’ll take care of everything at home.”

Chelsea then went and gave her father-in-law a kiss on the cheek, to where Sav just twinkled his still-sparkling blue eyes at her in response.

*********************************

Back at the house, Trevor and Emily arrived just about the same time Mark and Tara did. Mark went up to Trevor.

“Thanks for the warning, cuz. Emily’s parents were coming through the door just as we were leaving. If you hadn’t called, my ballocks would’ve been splattered all over the front lawn.”

Trevor grinned. “Yeah, well at first I wasn’t gonna call, just for a hoot. But then I realized that, if Emily’s parents caught you with Tara, they would’ve thought that I may be tarnishing their little girl as well and stop her from seeing me. Ain’t no way that’s gonna happen.”

“So, I take it that the two of you…….”

Trevor just grinned at him. “Mark, you know I don’t kiss and tell.”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Mark said. “As for me, I do kiss and tell, and I shagged Tara good and proper!”

The boys shared a private snicker and high-fived each other before following the girls into the house. Tara and Emily each kissed Paige, before Trevor embraced Paige.

“Aye grandma,” he soothingly said. “He’s gonna be alright.”

“I hope so lad,” Paige said. “I certainly hope so.”

Mark wandered into the upstairs family room to where he found his grandpa Joe sitting on the couch, hunched over a photo album that was sprawled on the coffee table. They were all pictures of Sav from when he was younger.

“Aye grandpa.”

Joe turned his red-rimmed eyes up at his grandson. “Mark,” he said with relief in his voice.

Mark saw his face and knew that he was worried about his friend. He sat beside him and looked at the pictures of his grandpa Sav when he was a young man.

“See this picture of your grandpa Sav?” Joe said, pointing to a particular one. “You’ve got his look, you do. You may have your mum’s green eyes and your dad’s brown, wavy hair, but you’ve got your grandpa Sav’s look. That look stole a lot of groupies from me!”

Mark giggled. “Yeah, I bet. But grandpa Joe….stop talking about him like its past tense. He’s still here. He’s gonna be alright. He’ll get well and get home and pretty soon you’ll be bitching at him the way you always did…….”

“No!” Joe sternly said. “No, Mark. No more jests about dying. I’ve already said enough and now look at what happened…..”

Joe broke off and began to cry again as Mark lovingly put his arms around him.

Chapter 46

Two days passed since Sav was rushed to the hospital and each night Tyler and Scott took turns sleeping on a chair in his private room, not wanting to leave his side. Even though there was a nurse who checked on him very frequently, his lungs had filled up with even more fluid before the Lacix began to take effect to clear him out. His fever was still up, his color wasn’t good and he was very weak. They wanted to stay by their father around the clock until he was past the critical stage.

By the third day, Sav was breathing much easier and the color returned to his face. His temperature had gone down as well, however he was kept on oxygen just to be on the safe side. Scott thought that he was well past the contagious stage to where his mum could come for a visit.

Chelsea brought Paige to see him as soon as it was okay and spent a good portion of the morning with him. Soon after Grace brought little Abby so she could see her grandpa, and spent the afternoon until dinner time. Tyler came by afterwards and Scott was on call that night so he popped in and out frequently as well. Needless to say, all the company wiped Sav out a bit and that night he had his first, restful night’s sleep.

The next day, Mark and Trevor went to see their grandfather and picked up Joe on the way to take him. As the three of them approached Sav’s room, Joe turned to them.

“Let me go in first for a few moments, okay lads?”

“Sure grandpa,” Mark said as he and Trevor went to seek out a vending machine.

Joe slowly walked into the room to find Sav sitting up in bed, an oxygen tube still hooked up to his nose and the telly remote in his hand. Sav turned his head towards the door when he saw Joe enter and just smiled.

“Aye mate,” he said, sounding much better than he did a few days.

“Aye,” was all Joe could say as he stared at him in the hospital bed.

Sav wondered what was wrong and decided to lighten the mood. “Sorry Joe, false alarm this time. Looks like you’re stuck with me for a little while long……”

“Shut up Sav!”

Sav was startled by Joe’s outburst. “Thank God I don’t have a pacemaker, else I’d be dead for sure! What’s wrong with you……?”

“Stop! Just stop talking about dying, okay?”

Sav saw that Joe was seriously upset and decided not to play with him. “Joe, I’m okay. I was only kidding.”

“Yeah, well we kid too much. Until the other night, I didn’t realize how much I regretted saying those things to you.”

“Joe, when have you ever regretted slinging an insult my way?”

“The other night when I thought you were gonna die of suffocation right in front of my eyes, that’s when!” Joe shot back. “You weren’t ready to go. I wasn’t ready to accept you going. Hell, I can’t accept any of us going. I know we’ve lived well past what we should’ve, considering how we abused ourselves when we were younger, but I’m just not prepared for it yet. Sometimes I forget that we’re not gonna live forever.”

“No, we’re not Joe. As scary as it is, we have to accept it. The day’s gonna come when one of us is gonna be the first to go. Whether its me, you, Phil, Viv or Rick.”

“I hope its me Sav, truly I do,” Joe said somberly. “If only because I won’t have to deal with watching any of you guys die before me. Or even Abby. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful to have lived this long, but the older I get just makes me closer to when its time to…..”

“Joe, stop,” Sav cut him off. “You just got finished saying that you don’t want to talk about death, so lets not. So….tell me something good.”

Joe looked into the eyes of his best mate of 65 years and reached deep down inside his heart to speak what truly was there. “I love you, Rick.”

Sav bit his lip and smirked. “Now I know you mean it. You haven’t called me Rick since we hired Rick Allen.”

“Is….is that all you’re going to say?”

Sav thought a bit then looked back at Joe. “Homo!”

Joe blew out a breath. “Ungrateful!”

Just then there was a knock on the door. “Aye, can we come in now?”

Sav perked up when he saw his grandsons. He then whispered to Joe. “Now there are my reasons for living! Come on in lads.”

Mark and Trevor came in and each gave Sav a hug before sitting down.

“Well, Joe has failed to cheer me up so far, so do either of you lads have anything to share that’ll put a smile on an old man’s face?”

Mark grinned mischievously and decided, what the heck?

“Trev and I got laid the other night.”

Chapter 47

Trevor couldn’t even flush with mortification because all the color drained from his face.

“Bleedin’ Christ, Mark! What’s the matter with you?”

Joe threw his head back and heartily laughed as Sav’s face found that smile he was looking for.

“Well……I was just trying to cheer grandpa up,” Mark justified. “Don’t get your boxers in a twist.”

Joe calmed down from his mirth. “Oh Trevor, its okay. Certain things you definitely can’t tell your dads, but you can certainly share with us. We’ll never tell.”

“That’s not the point uncle Joe,” Trevor huffed. “Unlike Mark, I like my private moments with my girlfriend private.”

“You’ll never make a good rock star Trevor,” Joe said. “There is no such thing as privacy when you’re on tour. You do everything in front of each other, right Sav?”

“That was a loooooong time ago, Joe,” Sav said before looking at his grandsons. “So I um……take it that your relationships are now steady ones, lads?”

“Well, for me it is,” Trevor said. “I really like Emily. A lot. A real lot.”

“Sounds to me like you love her, lad,” Sav said.

Trevor blushed. “Yeah, well I think so. I….I almost said it to her the other night, but I was interrupted by dad’s call when he was taking you to the hospital.”

“Sorry about that Trev,” Sav.

“No, no, its okay. In a way, I’m glad. Even though I felt I wanted to say it, I think it may be too soon. But, she’s definitely my steady girl.”

Sav looked at Mark. “And, what about you and Tara? You’re not gonna love her and leave her, are you?”

Mark flashed a wicked dimple as he green eyes twinkles. “No grandpa Sav, I don’t think so. For some reason, she’s so much more different from the other girls I dated. She’s special. Maybe its this connection she has to us because she’s Randy’s sister. I just don’t know what it is.”

“Hmm, that was an interesting tidbit,” Joe said. “What were the chances of you meeting the long lost sister of your dad’s dead drummer?”

“Yeah, huh?”

“I hope you lads are respecting these lasses, despite what transpired.”

“Grandpa, I swear, I had no idea it was gonna happen,” Mark said with his hands in surrender. “It was her idea. I didn’t push her into anything.”

“Same thing with Emily,” Trevor offered. “She made the first move. I just went along for the ride.”

Joe chuckled. “Don’t know what it is about you Savages that women just throw themselves at you.”

“Heredity,” Sav replied.

Just then there was another knock on the door. “Hello,” came a sweet, female voice that Trevor instantly recognized.

“Emily?”

Emily entered, followed by Tara. Emily held a beautiful vase of gorgeous, colorful flowers in one hand and a stack of magazines in another, while Tara held a mylar balloon with a huge smiley face on it and a couple of DVD’s.

“Hey grandpa Sav,” Tara said, going over to kiss him. “The lads called us last night and told us you were feeling better and can have visitors.”

“We can’t stay too long, though,” Emily said, kissing him as well. “We’re helping my mum do some major house cleaning today. But, we wanted to stop by and bring some goodies to cheer you up. Trevor’s mum said there was a DVD player in your room, so we brought you two movies. One’s a comedy the other an action one. Also, some magazines to pass the time.”

Sav smiled wide at his grandson’s lovely, thoughtful girlfriends as they placed the flowers by his bed and tied the balloon to the post.

“Lasses, this is so thoughtful of you,” Sav gushed, before turning to his grandsons. “You better hang onto these two else I’ll kick your arses!”

“Ditto for me,” Joe added.

As the girls greeted their lads, a very pretty nurse in her 30’s came in to check Sav’s oxygen level and take his blood pressure. When she left, Joe’s eyes followed her swaying bottom out the door.

“Still subtle after all these years,” Sav commented.

“Hey, I’ll never be too old to appreciate a shapely backside. Or a nice pair of tits.”

“Joe!”

“Grandpa!”

The girls just rolled their eyes and blushed.

Joe waived off his admonishment. “Oh, get off my back, will ya? I don’t smoke anymore, I don’t drink, I’m barely allowed anything with salt, sugar or fat, so can I least keep my one vice that doesn’t affect my health?”

Joe’s tirade was disrupted by the phone ringing. “I’ll get it Sav,” Joe said, picking up the receiver. “Sav’s room,” Joe answered.

On the other end, Phil let out a laugh of his own. “Don’t tell me he’s got you playing personal secretary?”

Chapter 48

Joe let out a sarcastic laugh. “Sorry Collen, I don’t work anymore. I’ve been retired for years.”

Sav perked up in his hospital bed when he realized it was Phil on the phone as Joe continued to talk.

“I guess you’re wanting to talk to the patient?” Joe asked.

“Well, I didn’t call for you, that’s for sure,” Phil shot back on the other end. “Hey um…any chance that the phone in his room is speaker phone? I’ve got Rick on a three-way here. Viv said he’ll call tonight.”

“As a matter of fact it is,” Joe said, pushing the speaker button. “Its Phil and Rick together for ya,” he told Sav.

“Aye mates,” Sav spoke towards the phone.

“Aye, don’t you go kicking the bucket now, Sav,” Phil chortled. “We all took bets and I’m saying that Rick here’s gonna go first, since he won’t stop smoking.”

Sav laughed, feeling better than he ever did in his elder years. “Rick, what are you doing to yourself?”

“Sav, if George Burns can live to 100 after chomping on cigars, then I’ve got nothing to worry about,” Rick replied.

“So, whats up with you two?” Sav asked. “Out raising hell at the bingo halls or something?”

Both men laughed over the speaker phone. “Bingo is for old people,” Phil stated. “As a matter of fact, I just finished 15 laps. I think you two should fly over and take a dip in my fountain of youth that I call a swimming pool!”

“Perhaps,” Joe said before he looked at Tara and got a twinkle in his eye. “Aye Phil, you’ve got a very young and very lovely admirer over here.”

Tara heard Joe say the name ‘Phil’ and immediately blushed. She knew this was the blonde guitarist from the picture that she thought was hot.

“Oh reallllllllly,” Phil said over the speaker phone. “Um….how young?”

“Seventeen.”

“Perfect!” Phil said with a hearty laugh.

“Actually, she’s my grandson Mark’s girlfriend, Tara. I showed her pictures from our Adrenalize promos and, well, she couldn’t tear her eyes off you.”

“Grandpa Joe!” Tara exclaimed, before looking at Mark. He had a stern look on his face.

“Don’t you even think you’re ditching me for an 85 year old former rock star!”

She leaned into him. “I’ll try to control myself.”

“Mark’s there?” came Rick’s voice over the speaker. “Aye lad, I’ve finally caved and dismantled my drumkit. I’ve got two gorgeous Zildjian cymbals that I’d hate to just pack up. I’m gonna ship them out to you.”

Mark perked up. “Thank you so much, Uncle Rick. I’ll look out for them.”

“So, who else is there with ya?” Phil asked.

“Trevor’s also here with his girlfriend, Emily,” Sav replied.

“And I’m sure she’s as lovely as Tara,” Phil said.

“Actually, they’re cousins, just like Mark and Trev” Sav said.

Phil chuckled on the other end. “Hmm, I bet they’re ‘kissing cousins’ as well.”

Emily blushed upon hearing that as Trevor nudged her head with his. “Aw, what do you think, Uncle Phil?” he said.

“I think you both take after your grandpa’s more than your fathers,” Phil said. “Anyway, I’ll let you continue with your visit. Sav, Viv will call you later on. After all these years, they haven’t developed 4-way conference calls.”

“Look forward to it,” Sav said. “Thanks again mates.”

When everyone hung up, Sav sat in bed with a huge smile on his face. “Well, that was a nice surprise. Wonder what else is in store for me today?”

Just then, they heard a female voice down the hall using very un-ladylike language in a strong British accent. It was followed by the admonishment of a male voice in a very sultry Italian accent.

“Oh no!” Trevor exclaimed. “Don’t tell me! Well, grandpa, I think you got more than you expected.”

As he said that, Stephanie appeared in the doorway to Sav’s room, Frank right behind her. Sav really perked up now.

“Stephanie luv, I can’t believe you came all the way here to see me! But, what was all that shouting?”

Stephanie walked in huffing. “I swear, the staff in this hospital is worthless. They work here, yet no one knows anything. One little candy striper pissed me off in the elevator because she blocked me with her cart when I was trying to get off. She’s lucky I didn’t belt her right into the next available room!”

“Steffi,” Frank calmly said. “Relax, ma bella. Do not upset your……”

“I am not upset Frank,” Stephanie spat out. “I’m…..I’m……”

Everyone looked at Stephanie with bewilderment as they asked in unison. “What?”

“I’m pregnant, that’s what!”

Chapter 49

Stephanie stood there in a huff after she blurted out her delicate condition. The reactions were mixed. Trevor threw his head back and laughed at his model-thin sister’s unexpected condition. Joe let out a laugh of his own as he got up to slap Frank on the back.

“Guess you Italians don’t waste any time, eh?”

Frank flashed pearly, white teeth that lit up his chistled handsome face. “Ah, Joe. Its hereditary, actually. I come from a large Napolitan family. I have five brothers and sisters, my father is one of 8 children and my mother is one of 11.”

Joe smirked and looked at Stephanie. “Hmm, something tells me you’re gonna be pregnant 24/7 until you punch out about six little……”

“Don’t even go there uncle Joe,” Stephanie snipped. “I am not sacrificing my career to become one big stretch mark!”

Frank smiled and took Stephanie in a bear hug. “My little spitfire,” he lovingly said. “But I wouldn’t have her any other way.”

“Wait till the hormones start kicking in Frank,” Mark warned. “You’ll regret saying that.”

“I don’t think I’d love Steffi if she were any other way,” Frank cooed before nuzzling her ear. Stephanie responded by pulling her head away. “Do you mind? That’s what got me in this condition in the first place!”

Everyone was enjoying watching Stephanie’s hissy fit and Frank’s joy that they forgot the main person in this room. However, Frank did not. He left Stephanie’s side and went over to Sav in his hospital bed.

“Grandpa Sav!” he announced, with his hands held out. “Or, should I say…..great-grandpa!”

Everyone turned to gage Sav’s response. Just as they thought, he had tears filling his eyes. He then held his hand out to Stephanie. “Come here, luv.”

Stephanie softened and walked over to her grandfather. He was the only person who could soften her brazen personality and the tears in his eyes were doing the trick. She sat down on the edge of his bed.

“Well, guess you won’t have to wait to be a great-grandpa after all, grandpa Sav.”

Sav hugged his granddaughter and whispered in her ear. “Thank you, luv. Thank you so much. Don’t worry, Steph. I know this is a surprise, but, over time, it’ll be the most important thing in your life. When that baby’s born, you’ll know unconditional love like you never have before. You’re strong and tough, just like your grandma. You’ll be a fine mum. And, between you and Frank, this wee one’s gonna be mega looking.”

Stephanie was comforted by her grandfather’s words and felt a little better over her surprise pregnancy. “Thank you grandpa. I guess I’m just scared, that’s all. This is all happening so fast. I’m sure once I’m over the hump I’ll be okay with it.”

After about a half hour, Tara and Emily had to leave to go help Emily’s mum with cleaning. Stephanie and Frank stayed for another 45 minutes and then had to leave to catch their tram back to their London flat. All who was left was Joe, Mark and Trevor.

“Well, I guess I better get going too mate,” Joe said, standing up slowly to abate the ache in his joints. “Hopefully, you’ll be home soon.”

“Me too,” Sav replied. “But, I gotta say, the last two days were wonderful. Everyone in my life that means so much to me either visited or called. And now, I’m going to be a great-grandpa. I now have my reason for sticking it out another 9 months.”

“You better stick around longer than that Savage,” Joe spat out.

Sav blue eyes twinkled at his friend. “Wow! You do love me, don’t you?”

“Okay, this is getting wishy-washy,” Mark said.

“Come here, you two,” Sav said to his grandsons. Both Mark and Trevor went over to him.

“Someday, both you lads will know how important your friendship is to each other. Mind you, I didn’t say your relationship, because your cousins, but your friendship. It’s a strong bond that I hope will weather whatever you lads face as you get older. Believe me, if Joe and I haven’t done each other in after all these years, then you two will have no problem. It was the rough roads, deaths, illnesses, divorces, fighting, frustration and what not that made us stronger. You lads have everything right going for you right now. You’re both bright, handsome, talented, popular and, well, you’ve never had trouble with the lasses. One day, things may not come easy to you. Always remember, it isn’t what’s thrown at you, but how well you handle it that’ll test your measure. Don’t ever forget it.”

Mark and Trevor both listened intently, knowing that their grandfather had a very good reason for saying what he did. They didn’t know the reason for it now, but stored it in the back of their memory until they did.

And one day….they would.

They both hugged and kissed their grandfather and got up to leave, Joe close behind. He took his best mate’s hand and squeezed it. “I’ll see you soon.”

Joe then turned to leave and was out the door when Sav called out. “Joe?”

Joe appeared back in the doorway. “Yeah?”

Sav slowly smiled. “I love you too.”

Chapter 50

Start of School Year

September

Everything began to get back to normal before the first day of school. Sav had been home from the hospital for the last ten days and was completely recovered, though his wife, sons and daughters-in-law continued to fuss over him. Even Joe was a little more cautious around him, though he found other things to bitch at him for.

Sav wouldn’t have it any other way.

And for the young ones, the first day of school was the craziest. Over at Tyler and Grace’s house, Abby was in the midst of her first, full-fledged fashion crisis. Although she wouldn’t be turning thirteen until Christmas Eve, she acting very much like a dramatic teenage girl on her first day of school. Even though her and Grace spent and exhaustive day shopping for just the right clothes, nothing seemed right that day.

“Mum!” “Abby called from her room upstairs. “I can’t find my new Mudd jeans – the ones with the black lace stripes going down each leg.”

From the kitchen downstairs, Grace rolled her eyes before going to the bottom of the stairs. “Abby, don’t shout from upstairs. Those jeans are in the washing machine.”

Abby came out of her room aghast, clad only in a new black, peasant top and terry Abercrombie shorts. “What? In the washing machine? What are they doing there?”

“I’ve been washing all your new clothes these past few days, miss,” Grace retorted.

“But…..but I need those jeans now!

Grace looked at her exasperated daughter sternly. “Watch that tone, young lady. As for jeans, we must’ve bought you six pairs the other day that I’ve already washed and dried. You’ll have to wear one of those.”

Abby looked appalled. “Mum, I can’t wear any of those other jeans. They don’t go with this shirt. And…..I have to wear this shirt today!”

Grace pinched her temples. “God, this is just the beginning,” she mumbled. She then silently cursed her husband for taking off to California to meet a new band with Kevin, leaving her to deal with her diva-in-training daughter during an emotional time as the first day of school.

Just then, Mark came out of his room. Dressed in Tommy Hilfiger jeans and a deep red t-shirt with the TH logo on the edge of his short sleeve, he looked as put together as any seventeen year old lad could in very simple attire. He had his dark gray backpack slung over one shoulder and a gym bag in his hand containing his soccer gear for practice. He looked at his little sister and winced.

“Crikey Abby, you could wake the neighborhood with that shrieking of yours.”

“Stuff it Mark,” Abby shot back. “I don’t need your stupid comments this morning. What I need are my Mudd jeans with the black lace stripes!”

Mark rolled his eyes at his sister. “Wench, it doesn’t matter what you put on. Nothing is gonna improve that flat body of yours.”

Abby stormed into her room, got her pillow off her bed, came back out into the hall and whacked her brother with it.

“Stupid lads! That’s all you care about! I hate you, Mark!”

She then went back into her room and slammed the door, the loud noise increasing Grace’s headache. Mark just chuckled and headed down the stairs.

“Mark, for the love of God, when your father is away, will you please stop teasing your sister?” Grace pleaded.

“Sorry mum, but her whining gets on my nerves. Whats the big deal over what pair of jeans she wears? I just threw this on and I look fine.”

“Girls are different, Mark,” Grace said. “They’re more fashion conscious and, well, they’re very concerned about how they look. I’ll bet this house that your girlfriend and her cousin and fretting over what they’re gonna wear this first day of school.”

Mark’s twinkled his eyes at his mum. “Yeah, but that’s different. At least Tara and Emily have bodies to fill those clothes!”

Grace pushed her son towards the kitchen. “You are your father’s son!”

********************************

Over at the other Savage household, Trevor came down the stairs with his bag of soccer gear. The first day of school meant tryouts to replace the departing seniors as well as practice for the recurring team members.

Casually dressed in Sean John jeans, a white t-shirt with a blue and white checked short sleeved buttoned shirt thrown over it, he entered the kitchen to where Scott was finishing up his breakfast and getting ready to leave for the clinic. Chelsea had long since left, since many mum’s drop their children off at the daycare early.

“All ready for your last year lad?” Scott asked as he finished his tea.

“About as ready as I’ll ever be,” Trevor replied. “I’m definitely ready for soccer to start. My shoulder feels just fine, which is good because we’ve got to defend our championship. Plus…….”

“What?”

“Well……scouts are probably gonna be about,” Trevor said with a little nervousness.

“That they will,” Scott said. “Is that what you want Trevor? To play professionally?”

Trevor turned unsure hazel eyes to his father. “Would it disappoint you if I chose it over going to university?”

Scott stood up from the kitchen table and went over to his son. “Trevor, I really don’t think there’s anything you can do that’ll disappoint me. I’ve been nothing but proud since the day you were born.”

Trevor rolled his eyes and blushed, not used to praise of any kind – even from his parents.

“Whats important is that I want you to do something substantial with your life, but I also want it to be something your’e happy with. Just take it one step at a time and we’ll see how things turn out once the season gets into gear, okay?”

Trevor nodded before downing a glass of juice, grabbing a scone and heading out the door.

**********************************

Over at the Prescott household, Tara and Emily must’ve tried on four different new outfits before Emily’s mum shouted up to them that they were going to be late.

Emily settled on a pair of light brown, low rise cords and a brown and gold print gauze top with a hankerchief cut hem that just grazed her waistband. She left her silky, honey colored hair down and put on a pair of solid gold hoop earrings. Tara opted for her new black American Eagle jeans and a short sleeved silvery-gray knit top that gathered between her breasts and showed off her slender, curvy figure to perfection. The color only emphasized her gray-green eyes even more. She then brought the sides of her long, dark hair up and secured it with a silver clip. She then looked at Emily.

“Do I look alright?”

“Tara, you look fine. Don’t be nervous. I mean, its not like you don’t already know people. You know me, Morgan and Jessica, plus you’re already starting out as the girl of one of the most popular lads in school.”

“Girls are gonna hate me, huh?”

Emily laughed. “Probably, but who cares. You’ll soon learn who’s who. Most are more bark than bite. And since we went to school a few days ago to walk you through, you won’t be walking around in circles getting lost.”

“That was a big help,” Tara said. “The last thing I want to look like is some twit who doesn’t know left from right. I kinda wish we were riding in with the lads this morning.”

“I know, but they, Sean and Wesley have this ritual that they’ve always faced the first day of school together,” Emily said. “Been doing it since grade school. Guess its some ‘guy thing’. At least Morgan’s mum let her take the car to school on the first day so her and Jess can pick us up. This way here, we can all stay and watch footie tryouts.”

“That’s true,” Tara said, grabbing her new maroon canvas backpack. “Well, shall we?”

Emily hooked her chocolate brown backpack over shoulder then put her arm around her cousin. “C’mon, Tara. Lets make your first day at school a memorable one!”

Chapter 51

Westfield School was abuzz with the chatter and chaos of returning students along with exasperation and confusion of a new crop of freshman who waited in long lines to get their locker assignments.

Trevor pulled his Pathfinder into a student parking spot as he, Mark, Sean and Wesley filed out.

“Praise bloody God, this is our last year mates,” Wesley said, spreading his arms out wide.

“Yeah, but we’ve got to make it out best,” Sean reminded him. “We’re seniors and we’re gonna rule the school!”

Mark looked about. “Think the girls got here yet?”

“Probably,” Trevor replied. “Especially if Tara wants any sort of a decent locker. Thank God we don’t have to go through that crap.”

“First day is always a piece of cake,” Sean said. “Just home room assignments and our class schedule. Can’t wait for footie practice. I’m still on a high from the championship.”

“Me too,” Mark replied. “Got a lot of pressure on us this year to defend it. Up to the challenge there, mates?”

“Oh, I am,” Wesley said. “And I don’t even have to ask Trev, our future team captain.”

Trevor looked at Wesley. “What? You don’t know that.”

“Trev, you’re a senior and the best player on the squad,” Mark said. “Plus you’ve got the best shot at getting scouted this year. Of course you’re gonna be captain.”

“Don’t you want to be captain, Mark?”

Mark shrugged. “Nah, that doesn’t bother me. Like I said, I play for the fun and competiton. You take it more seriously than I do, so you deserve it.”

Just then, the bell rang signaling that the students had less than ten minutes to find their homerooms. As the lads entered the school, a slew of people ascended upon them, high-fiving them and clapping each other on the back. Even though Sean and Wesley could hold their own very nicely, Mark and Trevor were the stars of their high school. Every lad wanted to be like them and every lass, well, just plain wanted them!

As soon as Trevor found out which home room he was in, he turned to head in that direction and was immediately confronted with Kristin. He halted in his tracks, startled by seeing her.

“Trevor, oh its so good to see you,” Kristin sang out as she shamelessly threw her arms around his neck in front of everyone. “Oh, I missed you so much this summer. Oh, but we’re gonna make this last year a blast, aren’t we luv?”

Trevor reached up to his neck and grabbed Kristins hands, bringing them back down to her side. “Kristin, what in bleedin’ hell are you doing? How many times do I have to tell you? We are no longer going out. And, I also know about that encounter you had with Emily at the mall last month. I’m trying to be nice about this Kristin, but you’re trying my patience. Now, lets leave this be once and for all, okay? I’ve got to get to homeroom.”

Without so much as a goodbye, Trevor brushed past her and disappeared down the hall. Kristin stood there for a few moments with a sick looking smirk on her face before she entered her homeroom. Her eyes quickly scanned for an empty chair and smiled victoriously when she saw who was in front of it. She sat down and poked the girl in front of her on the back.

Emily felt a poke on her back and turned around and met Kristin’s malicious face.

“Be prepared,” was all Kristin said.

Emily met Kristin eye’s with an intimidating look. “Bring it on!”

************************

After homeroom orientation was over, Tara went in search of her newly appointed locker to fill it with the text books for all her classes as well as some school supplies. Since the first day would be short and with no homework, she left mostly everything in her locker so she wouldn’t have to lug anything home in her backpack.

She looked up at the clock and saw that it was almost time for the lunch period. Since Emily had shown her where the cafeteria was a few days ago, they agreed to meet Morgan and Jessica there so they could eat together. She also would see Mark for the first time today as well.

As she began to put her books in her locker, two other lasses, obviously seniors, opened their lockers next to hers. One began to check her appearance in a mirror inside her locker, then proceeded to pull a bevy of cosmetics from a shelf inside to fix her appearance.

“God, did you see Kristin practically maul Trevor in the hallway this morning?” one girl asked the other. “I’ll lay odds that her and Emily will be going at each other like hellcats by the weeks end.”

“I wouldn’t want to tussle with Kristin,” the other girl replied. “Something about her scares me. Though, I gotta say, I wouldn’t mind tussling with her if it was over Trevor Savage. He’s a prime catch and she wants him back. Did you see how bloody gorgeous he looked this morning?”

“What about Mark?” the first girl said as she applied lip gloss in front of her mirror. “Crikey, those eyes of his would make me drop my pants in a heartbeat! He’s looking mega fine! And…….I believe he’s still unattached.”

“Think you got a chance?” the other girl asked.

“Absolutely! I mean, you can rule out the freshman, sophomores and juniors. Plus, half the senior girls are hags anyway. Two of the prettiest are Kristin and Emily and they’re gonna have a field day over Trevor. So……I’ve got the best shot at snagging him.”

Tara listened to this with mirth bubbling up inside of her. She closed her locker as her eyes met the ones of the girl refreshing her makeup.

“I agree,” Tara said to the girl. “Mark Savage is hot. By the way, my name is Tara. I’m finishing my senior year here.”

The girl stopped lining her lips as her jealous eyes took in Tara’s extremely beautiful face and perfect body, clad in a hip, stylish outfit. The girl put a hand on her hip and regarded Tara.

“Well, don’t get your hopes up, Tara. You’re new here and you’ll soon learn the ways, one being that underclassmen and newbies don’t stand a chance with senior lads – especially lads like Mark Savage.”

Tara was about to respond when the other girl in front of her paled as she looked down the hall.

“Oh my God,” she whispered to her friend. “Its Mark! He’s coming down the hall – right towards us!”

The girl fixing her makeup scurried to put her cosmetics back in her locker and quickly fixed her hair in the mirror before closing her locker door. Tara remained facing them until she felt Mark stop behind her, then looked at the girls faces.

“Aye Mark,” the freshly madeup girl said. “Good to see you back. Have a nice summer?”

“Brilliant one, thanks,” he said as he put a hand on Tara’s shoulder from behind. “Ready to go to lunch, luv?”

Tara didn’t think the moment couldn’t be any more perfect than this. She turned around to Mark and planted a soft, quick kiss on his lips. “Ready.”

Clasping her hand in Mark’s, Tara turned to the two astounded girls who looked at Tara with daggers of jealousy.

“Thanks for the advice about…..you know who, but I won’t be needing it,” Tara said coyly before taking off with Mark to the cafeteria.

Chapter 52

Early October

Tara had settled in quite nicely to her school surroundings. Of course, being Mark Savage’s girl didn’t hurt. Besides Trevor and Emily, she and Mark were considered the ‘it’ couple.

During her first several weeks of school, girls stared at her with green eyed jealousy because she was the beautiful new girl. But that was nothing compared to when they found out that she had been claimed by Mark Savage over the summer. Even the lads sulked after they found out she was unavailable, again having to wrestle with the fact that the two most popular lads in school always seem to snag the beauties first. Although the girls were jealous, they went out of her way to be her friend, if only to get into their close, inner circle.

Tara seemed oblivous to her instant popularity. Even though she realized her position as Mark’s girlfriend, she remembered where she came from also. She didn’t look down her nose at anyone.

Once in Chemistry, the teacher had asked everyone to split up in groups of two for a lab work assignment. Tara had a painfully shy, not to mention not very popular, senior girl in her class whom the other girls seemed to ostracize. When it came time to choose a partner, Tara wasted no time in asking the girl if she’d like to be hers.

At first the girl thought it was some kind of joke, but soon saw right through Tara’s genuineness. Her name was Brenda and, although fairly pretty, yet plain, Tara couldn’t understand why she barely had any friends. As they continued on as lab partners, they talked and got to know each other. Tara found her to be a brilliant person with a hoot of a sense of humor. All she needed was someone to open her up and accept her. But Tara decided that she would do more. Because she was beyond grateful for being given the chance she has now, she would pass that on to someone else.

In between classes, Tara caught up with Emily. “Hey Em, you staying for footie practice after school?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Emily replied. “I’ve got to finish my story for my creative writing class. I started it at home and saved it on a disk so I could work on it in the computer lab on my free period. Its due tomorrow so I’ve got to finish it when I get home. Why, whats up?”

“Well, do you know a senior girl named Brenda?”

Emily thought a bit, then recognition overcame her. “Yeah, but not personally. She’s really shy and keeps to herself. When I pass her in the hall I smile, but she always looks down. Never had her in any of my classes either. Some of the girls make fun of her because she’s a loner, which I don’t like.”

“Yeah, well I don’t either,” Tara emphatically stated. “She’s in my Chem class and I chose her as my lab partner, only because I knew no one else would. I remember what it used to be like that.”

“Good for you,” Emily said. “That must’ve made her feel good.”

“It did, but as I got to know her, I realized that she’s just like you and me – or Morgan or Jess. She’s got a great personality. Just needed someone to pry it out of her. I think its just her appearance and the way she handles herself is what turns people off. She dresses kinda drab, doesn’t wear any makeup, does nothing with her hair and she always walked hunched over looking down. I was thinking, she’s about the same size as us, so I thought I’d invite her over after school, have her try on some clothes, fool around with makeup and hair, you know…..a girlie afternoon.”

Emily smiled. “Sounds like a ‘My Fair Lady’ project to me.”

“Well, not really,” Tara said. “Its just….when I look at her, I see me before I moved here to Sheffield. I was always the poor girl in school that no one wanted to associate with. It hurt and I see the hurt in her. I guess I just want to help, that’s all.”

Emily put an arm around her cousin. “You’ve got a heart of gold, I tell you that. And….I think it’s a brilliant idea. Sure, count me in, but I’ve got to finish my story later.”

“Thanks Em,” Tara said, squeezing her. “I’ll go find her and invite her over.”

Emily smiled after Tara as she raced down the hall. She changed books in her locker for her next class and closed the door, only to find Kristin on the other side of it. Emily met her stare.

“You know, you’ve been quiet since that first day of school,” Emily said. “I knew it wouldn’t last long.”

“Having fun taking over my life?” Kristin asked.

“Your life? What the hell does that mean?”

Kristin acted non-chalant. “Oh, you know. You took my boyfriend and now you’re part of the crowd I used to be. A couple of my friends from last year don’t even bother speaking to me anymore because I’m not considered popular anymore.”

“Well, if that’s the only reason they wanted to hang around with you, then they weren’t true friends to begin with,” Emily retorted. “Maybe they just realize what a mean, manipulative, conniving person you are.”

Kristin leaned in to her. “They have no idea how mean, manipulative and conniving I can be. But…..you soon will!”

“You know what, just end it Kristin, okay? I’m sick of your empty threats. Just go and find a life and stay out of mine!”

With that Emily turned and left for her class. Kristin stood there staring after her, her mind churning.

“Not a chance, Miss Emily. Not until you pay for taking Trevor away from me!”

Chapter 53

At soccer practice, the lads went through a set of drills to work out the stiffness that set in over the summer. Most of the freshman, sophomore and junior members from last year survived the cut from the grueling tryouts and several new members made it to replace the departing seniors.

As everyone had predicted, Trevor was named senior captain. But the title meant nothing to him. He was beginning to feel the pressure of defending their championship as well as getting himself in the best shape possible before the scouts began to show up.

During a break, Trevor trotted from his goal over to the sidelines to get his water bottle from his bag. As he did, Wesley came up and nudged him.

“Aye mate, psycho-bitch-from hell at 10 o’cock!”

Trevor looked up to his left a bit and saw Kristin in the bleachers, staring at him. She waved before continuing to write in a notebook. Trevor just turned away. “I knew it was too good to be true,” he said. “She hadn’t bothered me since that first day and now she’s lurking.”

“More like stalking,” Wesley corrected him. “Mate, you may need a restraining order against her.”

“Wes, I’m not afraid of my ex-girlfriend. I hate having to resort to ignoring her and being mean, but I have no other way of getting my point across. She’ll give it up sooner or later.”

He then trotted back to his goal. Meanwhile, Kristin wrote furiously in a book on her lap. The look of determination on her face as she wrote was frightening.

“Won’t be long,” she said as she wrote those very words.

*******************************

In Emily’s bedroom, her Tara and Brenda were lost in a sea of jeans, shirts, sweaters, tanks, shorts, sweatpants, shoes, makeup and hair accessories.

Brenda was having the time of her life trying on clothes and having Tara play with her hair as Emily tried some cosmetics on her. With a pair of Emily’s low rise, faded, chocolate brown jeans and a fitted white knit jersey top of Tara’s, Brenda checked out her appearance in the full length mirror. Tara had twisted the sides of her long, auburn hair up and secured it with a pretty barrette. Emily had lightly lined her eyes and put on a little mascara, followed by some honey colored blush and a rose colored lipshine. Brenda couldn’t believe the change in herself.

“Wow, I can’t believe this is me! I didn’t think I could wear these styles, even though I think they’re mega. I guess I figured, why bother, you know?”

“Well, I think you should dress like this more often,” Emily offered. “Those styles really flatter you. And your hair is awesome. Guess its shopping time!”

“Yeah, well, let me see how much extra money I can pry out of my dad,” Brenda said. “Maybe I can catch a few sales this weekend.”

“Why don’t we make it a little trio?” Tara said. “The lads have practice until the afternoon on Saturday. We can start out about eleven or so in the morning and shop till about two or three. Until then, why don’t you borrow that top if you want to wear it tomorrow?”

“Yeah, and you can borrow my jeans too,” Emily said.

“Oh, and the makeup……”

“Here, take a few barettes to try in your hair…”

“Oh, and……”

The cousins were cut off when Brenda buried her face in her hands and cried. Tara put a hand on her shoulder. “Bren, whats wrong?”

“You’re being so nice to me,” she said with a sniff. “I…I haven’t really made a lot of friends in school, I just haven’t been good at it. And no one ever went out of their way, so I just kept to myself. Its real lonely, you know, when there’s stuff going on in school and you want to go, but can’t because you have no one to do it with.”

Tara put her arms around Brenda and hugged her. “Trust me, I know how you feel. I felt the same way at my school in Canterbury.”

“Yeah, but look at you now. Both of you! You’re dating the hottest lads in the school and you have a lot of friends.”

Emily looked at Brenda. “Well, now we have one more.”

“You…you want me to be your friend?”

Emily shrugged. “Yeah, why not? I’m having a blast. Oh, by the way, I can’t have too much fun. I’ve got to finish my story.”

“Not yet Em,” Tara said. “First, we have to run a list down of all the available senior lads on the team to see who we can fix Brenda up with.”

Brenda’s eyes widened. “What? Oh….oh, no, you don’t have to do that.”

Tara and Emily smiled and said together, “we insist”!

***************************

At the junior Savage residence, Chelsea was enjoying a day off from the daycare and began to catch up on things around the house. Later in the afternoon, Grace came over to have lunch together. The two sisters-in-law always made it a point to get together once a month, as their schedules allowed. With Chelsea running the daycare and Grace overseeing the administrative duties of the record label via the internet, not to mention their children, husbands and in-laws, once a month sometimes pushed it. Sure, they always saw each other on weekends and holidays, but that was when the entire family was together. This was just their time.

As they sat at the table, Grace rambled on about Abby’s sassiness and Mark’s future after high school, while Chelsea wondered about Trevor’s chances in the pro’s and also her future grandchild. Stephanie was almost three full months by now and it was hard to believe that she and Scott were going to be grandparents.

“Grace, Scott and I are only 42,” Chelsea fretted. “Were too young to be grandparents!”

“Yeah, but you were almost 17 when you had her,” Grace reminded her.

“Oh, I know. But, it’ll be brilliant to have a wee one around again. I’m just worried about being able to see the baby with her and Frank mainly living in Italy.”

“Well, hopefully they’ll both take a break from modeling once the baby’s born and stay in their London flat so then can ride in to see you often.”

“I hope so,” Chelsea said, just as the doorbell rang, followed by the sound of a key going in the lock.

As Chelsea aproached the door, it opened and Stephanie walked in.

“Steph,” Chelsea gasped, hugging her daughter. “What a surprise! Why didn’t you call first? It’s a good thing I was home. Come in, Aunt Grace is here. We were just talking about you and the baby. How are you feeling?”

Stephanie looked at her mother with a sad, stricken face.

“Mum, I lost the baby.”

Chapter 54

Chelsea put a hand to her mouth before she embraced her daughter, who was on the verge of tears.

“Oh my God, Stephanie,” Chelsea choked out with tears of her own. “When? When did this happen?”

“Over a week ago,” Stephanie rasped out. “I’m sorry for not calling, but I was just too devestated. Poor Frank. All I did was cry all over him, but he’s so wonderful. I decided to wait to tell you in person. He’s in London on a photo shoot and I took the tram in. I told him that I was gonna stay here for a few days and he’s gonna ride in when he’s done so we can go home together. Is…is it okay?”

Chelsea looked at her daughter. “Of course its okay, you don’t have to ask that. Listen, luv…you look tired. Your father should be home by 5:30. Why don’t I go upstairs and check to see if the spare room is made up and you can go up and rest, okay?”

All Stephanie did was nod before Chelsea kissed her and went upstairs.

Grace had been sitting at the kitchen table the entire time watching the scene between mother and daughter, as painful memories from twenty five years ago assailed her. She knew the pain that Stephanie was feeling. The emptiness. The sadness. Even though Grace had only been almost seventeen at the time and no where’s near prepared to be a mother, it still hurt. She went over to Stephanie.

“Steph, luv…..its gonna be alright, trust me.”

Stephanie hugged Grace. “Oh, it hurts so much Aunt Grace,” Stephanie sobbed. “All I can think about was how selfish I was in not wanting children for a while because of my career. But, only until I got pregnant did my feelings change. I was getting so used to the idea of being a mother. Frank was so excited. Our focus on everything changed and all we talked about was the baby.”

“I know, luv, I know,” Grace said, soothing her.

“Oh, how could you know? How can anyone in the family know? You and mum have had uneventful pregnancies. You can’t possibly feel……”

“I can Stephanie,” Grace said, cutting her off. “Listen luv, I’m gonna tell you something very private. I did have a miscarriage once. A long time ago, right before my seventeenth birthday.”

Stephanie pulled away and looked at Grace with shock. “What? You? Was….was it Uncle Ty…..”

“No, it wasn’t. I had broken up with Uncle Ty the year before, right before he went off to university. It was someone else. Someone…..who related to the pain and emptiness I was feeling from missing him. It was a grave mistake, we both knew it right away. I didn’t even know I was pregnant until I had the symptoms of the miscarriage.”

“Well….what about the lad who got you pregnant? Did he stand by you? Did you remain friends?”

There was no way that Grace could tell Stephanie the truth. “Well, Stephanie, its like this,” Grace thought to herself. “Your dad got me pregnant.” No. No way!

“Well, all I’ll say on that is yes. Fortunately, everything turned out alright. And, the miscarriage didn’t affect my ability to have more children, as you can see. You’re gonna be fine, luv. Just rest up and recouperate from this one and you and Frank can try again, okay?”

Stephanie nodded and hugged Grace again, still disbelieving that she had a miscarriage so long ago.

As Chelsea stood at the foot of the stairs overhearing their conversation, she thought the same thing.

Chapter 55

The Next Day

Emily was furiously making the final touches on her story in the computer resource center during her free period. Since she wound up goofing off more than she should’ve the previous day with Tara and Brenda, she would’ve had this all done last night. Now, she was under the gun.

She had Creative Writing next and her story was due. She worked diligently on it during her free periods in the computer center where her inspiration seemed to flow. She was very proud of it and knew that it would earn her a good grade.

After perusing it one last time she saved it on disk before printing it out. She then put the pages in order and into the plastic sleeve of her report cover before slipping it between her books to keep it flat. She popped the disk out and dropped it into her backpack then checked the clock.

She had about 15 minutes before the period ended and was about to make a list of what to bring home for homework when she heard a knock on the window behind her. She turned around and saw Trevor waving at her from outside the classroom. Tara got up and went to the door to meet him.

“What are you doing roaming the halls, Trev? You’re gonna get caught.”

“Nah, I have a pass,” he said, waving it in front of her. “I forgot my calculator in my locker for Trig class so the teacher let me get it. I passed by here and saw you.”

“Hey, how’s your sister doing? When you called me last night you said that she was still crying.”

“I guess she’s doing okay. She was talking with my mum and dad for most of the night. She’s just really upset. Its so ironic because she didn’t even want children right away, but I guess she changed her mind.”

“Well, it is a loss, but as long as she’s alright and can try again then that’s all that matters.”

Trevor smiled at her then leaned in. “What’cha got next, luv?”

“Creative Writing,” Emily replied. “I just came here to tidy my story up a bit before I turn it in.”

“Hmm, whats it about?”

Emily grinned. “Ooooh, its about this lucky girl who falls for the handsome star of her high school soccer team.”

Trevor blushed. “No, you didn’t! Did you?”

“No, I’m only kidding. I think everyone can pretty much figure that out without me writing a story about it.”

Trevor licked his lips and looked deep into her eyes. “So, you’re falling for me, huh?”

Emily tried to look innocent. “Shouldn’t you be getting back to class before it ends?”

Trevor kissed her quick and headed back down the hall. Emily turned and met Kristin’s eyes.

“Aw, how sweet,” Kristin drawled out sarcastically.

Emily decided not to play into her game anymore and just ignored her, walking right past her to go back to her seat. As she sat down, the bell rang and Emily gathered her books and backpack to head off to her Creative Writing class.

Once her class started, the teacher took attendance then asked for the stories to be turned in. Emily lifted one of her books that the report was under and found it wasn’t there. She then lifted the other book and it wasn’t under there either. She nervously flitted through the pages of her books and notebooks only to find that it wasn’t there or…anywhere. Perhaps she dropped it in the computer room? She raised her hand.

“Yes, Emily?”

“Um, I think I left my story in the computer resource room. I was working on it last period. Can I be excused to go get it?”

The teacher looked at the clock then back at Emily. “Make it quick.”

Emily got up and headed back down to the computer room, but her story was nowhere to be found. She asked the resource moderator if someone had found her story and turned it in, but no one had.

She went back to her class and approached the teacher.

“Um, my story wasn’t in the room. Someone may have picked it up and couldn’t find me to give it back to me.”

“Emily, the story is due today,” the teacher reminded her.

“I know but….wait, I have the disk in my backpack. I could go and reprint it quickly and bring it back.”

“Okay, but you’ll have to do it after class. We’re already late in starting.”

“Okay,” Emily said before going back to her seat. She went into her backpack to retrieve the disk.

That too, was gone.

Chapter 56

Emily spent the rest of the day in a panic. Since she had mainly worked on her story at school, it was all on disk. She never saved it to her hard drive at home when she worked on it and now she was paying for it.

She knew she had put the disk in her backpack and that her report was safely inbetween her books, yet it wasn’t anywhere to be found. Unless she could find either, she would have to take an incomplete in her writing class.

She was practically in tears by the end of the school day when Tara approached her.

“Em, whats wrong?”

“My story’s gone!” Emily half shouted through her frustration. “I was working on it in the computer resource center before class. I printed it out, tucked it between my books and put the disk in my backpack. Now both are gone. Its….its like somebody took……..”

“What?” Tara said.

“Kristin was in the computer room,” Emily concluded. “I left my seat when Trevor tapped on the window. I went to go talk to him a bit and after he left I saw Kristin in the room. The bell had rang for class so I just grabbed my stuff and went. When I got to class, both my report and disk were gone.”

“Em, I’ll bet anything that she took them,” Tara said.

Emily banged the locker in her frustration. “That sick little bitch! I can’t believe this is how far she’s stooped! And what am I gonna do? I have no proof she took it.”

“You’ve got to confront her and at least let her know you’re onto her,” Tara said.

Emily covered her face with her hands. “I don’t have time for this crap, Tara. I’m so sick of it. I thought if I just ignored her, she’d just get the hint and go away.”

“Well, I think Kristin’s a few short upstairs, know what I mean?”

“Yeah, and now she’s ruining my life, just like she wanted. What the hell am I gonna do?”

Tara looked down the hall and her face lit up. “Hey, do you have a free period next?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Kristin just went into the library. She’s got her backpack with her. Maybe you can sneak into it? Or at least go in there and spy to see if she talks to anyone and spills anything.”

“What have I got to lose,” Emily said, heading towards the library.

She entered through the door at the other end so Kristin wouldn’t see her come in. She began to go up and down the aisles of books to keep herself hidden, all the while spying on Kristin who was sitting at a lone table in the corner, furiously writing in a spiral bound notebook.

Emily couldn’t figure out what she could be writing so fast, but it went on for a good ten minutes. Finally, Kristin put her pen down, closed the notebook then put it in her backpack. Kristin then looked around before getting up and asking to be excused to get a drink of water in the hall.

Emily used that golden opportunity when Kristin left the library to sneak that notebook out of her backpack. She then went to the back of the library and snuck out. She made it down the hall silently and crept unnoticed into the computer resource center. She took an empty desk in the back and opened the notebook and began reading.

What she read made her absolutely sick.

Chapter 57

When the bell rang, Kristin left the library and went back to her locker. As she opened it, a couple of her friends came up to her.

“Hey Kris, you were supposed to meet us in study hall three periods ago,” one of the girls said. “Where were you.”

Kristin flashed a victorious smile. “Oh, I decided to go to the computer resource center instead. And am I glad I did. Things are gonna get very interesting.”

The other girl looked at Kristin with question. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, poor little Emily Prescott is in such a tizzy today,” Kristin said maliciously. “Seems her Creative Writing assignment, and the disk it was saved on, just, oh, I don’t know, magically disappeared.”

The first girl looked at Kristin with a dropped jaw. “Kris, you didn’t? Why do you insist on making her life hell?”

“Because she made my life hell, that’s why!” Kristin spat out. “How come you’re sticking up for her? Oh, why….because the new popularity queen – her and that bitch cousin of hers?”

“Kris, I think there’s something wrong with you,” the second girl said.

“There’s nothing wrong with me,” she hissed. “I’m just getting even, that’s all. I…I….”

Kristin cut off her sentence as she rummaged in her backpack, not finding her notebook. Her frantic look and wild eyes worried her friends.

“Whats wrong with you?”

“I……I can’t find my….my……oh my God!”

“Looking for something, Kristin?”

Kristin turned around to see Emily standing behind her holding her notebook in her hand, Trevor standing right behind her. Kristin lept forward.

“Give that back to me!”

Before she could grab it, Trevor snatched it out of Emily’s hand and held it high over his head. The look on Kristin’s face was one of pure fear and Emily wasted no time in taking advantage of it.

“Yeah, I’d be real scared if I were you, Kristin. Those are some pretty sick things you wrote in your little journal, starting with slashing Trevor’s tire that day at the lake. Guess you didn’t go away with your family that week. Oh, and I just love this new entry about taking my Creative Writing story and the disk.”

Kristin was absolutely wild, not knowing what to do. She turned towards her friends who backed away. “Sorry Kris, you got yourself into this sick mess.”

Kristin was in tears when she turned back to Emily. “Please,” she begged. “Give me my notebook back.”

“On one condition,” Emily said. “That you give me my story and disk back. Then, you apologize to Trevor for all the grief you caused him. Then, you and I are gonna go to my Creative Writing teacher where you can tell her what you did. And then……I think you should go see the counselor. You need someone to talk to.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then this notebook gets copied and distributed around school,” Emily countered, before walking closer to Kristin. “I don’t think your friends would like to see what you’ve written about them,” Emily quietly whispered.

Kristin paled. She knew every word she had written in that book and she wouldn’t have a friend left if it were found out. She had no choice.

“Why are you doing this to me?” she whispered to Emily.

“I could ask you the same question,” Emily replied. “You know I had nothing to do with yours and Trevor’s breakup, yet you’re intent on targeting me for it. Kristin, you need help in getting over this.”

Kristin then looked at Trevor. “I’m sorry,” she cried. “I’m so sorry.”

“Its okay Kristin,” Trevor replied. “Just get yourself together, alright? I promise I won’t read this notebook, but you’re not gonna get it back until you straighten out what you did to Emily.”

Kristin had no choice but to agree. She then went into her backpack, pulled out Emily’s story and disk and gave it back to her. “I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted,” Emily said, truly beginning to feel bad for her. “Now, lets go find my teacher.”

Chapter 58

The Following Monday

Now that the fiasco with Kristin was over, everyone in the senior class was now wondering who the new mystery girl was. No, it wasn’t Tara – but Brenda.

She, along with Tara and Emily, spent the previous Saturday shopping for three hours at Meadowhall Mall. It took Brenda some serious convincing for her dad to give her an advance on her allowance to shop, but he gave in, never seeing her so happy and excited before. And, when her two new friends showed up, who just happened to be the girlfriends of the towns biggest high school soccer stars, he gladly sent his daughter on her way. She had been too shy and had lacked friends most of her life because of this. It was well worth the extra pounds he gave her to shop.

And today, Brenda wore the first of the several different outfits she bought. She didn’t feel comfortable at first with her new jeans and jersey exposing her shapely torso, but soon grew accustomed to the latest fashions. With her hair pulled back with a butterfly clip, more of her lovely face was exposed, enhanced by a shimmer of flattering makeup. When her classmates realized who she was, they marveled at the drastic change in her appearance and how wonderful she looked.

Of course, there were always the girls who were in a snit about everything and couldn’t wait to sling criticism.

“Did you see Brenda Sullivan today?” one girl said to another in Trigonometry class. “Tara Spencer chose her as her partner in Chem lab and now she thinks she’s all that and trying to look and dress like she’s somebody.”

“Its not gonna change anything,” the other girl replied. “She’s still gonna be a nobody.”

Little did they know, but Tara was sitting two seats behind them and heard every word. She really despised girls like that and couldn’t wait till class was over.

When the bell rang, Tara went over to those girls with an enthusiastic look on her face.

“You guys tallking about Brenda? Doesn’t she look fab?”

One of the girls rolled her eyes. “Yeah……for a wannabe!”

Tara shrugged and looked at one girl then the other. “Well, better to be a ‘wannabe’ than a ‘never will be’. See ya!”

The girls were rightfully put in their place as Tara walked off with a smile.

***********************

Later that night, Scott was in the family room reading the newspaper. Frank had taken the tram in from London the day before and they all spent the day as a family before he and Stephanie left early this morning to catch their plane back to Italy. Stephanie seemed to be more disappointed for her Grandpa Sav since he was looking so forward to being a great-grandfather. But all he cared was that his granddaughter was okay and still healthy enough to have more children.

Chelsea was in one of the spare rooms that was her office away from the daycare. She was in the process of posting all the weeks expenses into the computer, but she hadn’t been able to get what she discovered about Grace off her mind. She had wanted to bad to ask her about it, but then Grace would know that she overheard at the bottom of the steps.

She then thought about asking Scott, since they were in the same grade together. Chelsea never pressed Scott much about the missing years after she moved to the States until she came back. She really didn’t care. All she cared about was that the one lad that she truly loved more than life itself was back in her life and had accepted the daughter he never knew about.

Although it was a private thing for Grace, her curiosity got the best of her. She first thought that perhaps Scott didn’t even know, and didn’t want to stir anything by telling him what she had overheard. But she then remembered how close Grace and Scott’s parents were. Their dads had been friends since they were teenagers and they were more like family. There was a good chance that it was common knowledge.

She put her checkbook aside and got up and went in search of her husband. She saw that Trevor’s door was closed and that he was hopefully doing his homework. She went downstairs and found Scott in the family room. Scott peeked up from above the newspaper when he heard her come in.

“Aye luv. Finished already?”

“No, still more to do. Um, can I talk to you about something?”

“Sure,” Scott said folding the paper and sitting forward. “Is it about Steph?”

“Oh…no, well, not exactly. Actually, its about the day that Stephanie arrived and told me the news. Grace was here having lunch with me at the time.”

“Yeah?”

“Well…I left them alone to go upstairs to ready Stephanie’s room so she could rest. When I came back down the stairs, Steph was crying in Grace’s arms and Grace…..well….she told Steph something in private. She told her that she understood what she was going through.”

Scott’s insides fluttered a bit, as a quarter century old memory came back to haunt him. He had never told Chelsea about him and Grace. Didn’t think there was ever a need to. When Chelsea left for the States, she had broken off all communication with Scott, though Scott didn’t find out why until she showed back up in Sheffield almost 6 years later with their daughter Stephanie in tow. Telling Chelsea this, even ‘matter of factly’ just didn’t seemed necessary since everyone involved just wanted to put it behind them and go forward with their lives.

However now, he wondered if he should’ve told her.

“Did….did Grace say why?” Scott nervously asked.

Chelsea took a deep breath and let it out. “Yes, she did. Scott, did you know that Grace got pregnant when she was younger – right before she turned 17?”

Scott couldn’t lie. “Yes Chelsea, I did. It was a very bad time for her. She and Ty broke up the year before – right before he went off to university. She was still reeling from it. She was hurting and she was missing him and, well….got involved with someone she shouldn’t have and made a grave mistake.”

Chelsea sombered a bit. “Wow, that must’ve been a hard time for her – and her family.”

“Yes, it was,” was all Scott said.

“She must’ve been missing Tyler something bad,” Chelsea said.

“She did,” Scott replied. “I understood what she felt when you left for the States. All I could think of was you. Not knowing where you were and not having you respond to my e-mails really hurt me.”

Chelsea put a hand on his knee. “Scott, even though we’ve been married 18 years, I don’t think I could ever apologize enough for those missing years.”

“You don’t have to luv,” Scott said. “That’s behind us. Just like what happened to Grace is behind her.”

“So……do you know the guy who did it? Was it someone from our class? Oh God, did Joe want to track him down and knock the tar out of….?”

“Why are you asking all this?”

The tone of Scott’s voice startled Chelsea. “I’m…..I’m just curious, that’s all.”

“Well, you shouldn’t be,” Scott said with a hint of admonishment. “Like you said, Grace told Steph in private, meaning she didn’t want anyone else to know. It doesn’t matter anymore who the lad was or what happened with them. It was a mistake that’s best forgotten, okay?”

Chelsea was a little puzzled by her husband’s reaction and was beginning to regret bringing this up. He should know that she wasn’t going to bring it up to Grace – that she respected her privacy.

“I’m sorry Scott,” Chelsea said standing up. “I just didn’t think it would be such a big deal to talk about after all this time.”

“Its not that it’s a big deal Chels, its just that I feel like I’m gossiping, that’s all. Lets just leave it at that, okay?”

“Okay,” Chelsea whispered with a nod before she walked out and went back to her office. She sat back down at the computer and continued her work, as the conversation she just had with her husband didn’t sit well with her.

Chapter 59

A few weeks later, it was family night over at Tyler and Grace’s house. Once a month, each of them took turns to host dinner on a Sunday night for the entire family – kids, parents and grandparents.

As usual, the after dinner clear-out was always the same. Abby, after helping clean up, disappeared to her room to spend the rest of the evening on the phone with her girlfriend while Trevor and Mark battled it out in the downstairs entertainment room on X-Box.

Upstairs, Grace and Chelsea finished the clean up and brought dessert and tea to the table. Joe took one look at the mouthwatering cheesecake and immediately went for the knife.

“Don’t even think about it,” Abby scolded her husband.

Joe rolled his eyes at his wife. “For bleedin’ Christ’s sake woman! Can an old bloke enjoy what little time he’s got left?”

Sav dropped a cube of sugar in his tea and looked up. “Planning on checking out soon, mate?”

“I’m not planning on going anywhere,” Joe retorted. “But blimey, one tiny slice isn’t going to send me to the grave!”

“Fine,” Abby gave in. “A very tiny slice.”

“And I think I’ll cut it,” Grace interjected, taking the knife out of her father’s hand. She then cut him the barest sliver of a piece and placed it on a plate then handed him a fork. Joe gave his daughter a sarcastic look.

“Um, Grace luv…..that piece of cheesecake is so thin I can see the damn plate right through it!”

“Dad, its either that or fruit,” Grace offered.

Sav waved his hands. “No, no, please don’t give him fruit! That has a very unpleasant affect on him.”

Joe gave a look around the table. “Is everyone done making sport of me?”

“C’mon dad,” Tyler said to his father-in-law. “Its only because we care.”

Joe then looked at the piece of sugar free angelfood cake with fresh strawberries that Sav was eating and winced.

“Crikey, you’re beginning to eat like Phil!”

“Should’ve done so a long time ago,” Sav replied. “He’s the oldest and in better shape than all of us. I’ve got to take care of myself, Joe. I’m waiting until my granddaughter gets pregnant again. Speaking of which, how is she Scott?”

“She’s fine,” Scott replied. “We talked to her last week. Her and Frank have a show together in New York and then they’re gonna head up to Niagra Falls and Canada for a spell.”

“Well, I’m glad she’s alright,” Tyler said.

“Me too,” Grace said solemnly.

Chelsea looked at Grace after she said that. She saw Grace look up to catch Scott’s eye and share what was some sort of unspoken understanding. She stared at her husband and sister-in-law for a few moments as they held each other’s gaze for a bit before Grace took a deep breath before looking away.

Something about that exchange unnerved Chelsea. It was obvious that Scott knew about what happened and that Grace must’ve confided in him about it at the time. She knew that Scott and Grace had grown up together and were more like brother and sister. Since they were the same age, they were always in the same class and we’re very close.

It was apparent that, even though this happened a very long time ago, it still affected Grace. Chelsea wondered if Tyler knew, even though they had broken up at the time. Perhaps the fact that Grace shared a look with Scott and not with Tyler told her that he didn’t know.

Chelsea mentally began to run down a list of lads from her sophomore class and tried to think of someone that Grace may have mentioned that she liked. She couldn’t think of anyone, mainly because she always had a thing for Tyler ever since he came of age and began looking less and less like a scrawny, brotherly type and more like a good looking young lad!

Chelsea went over to the refrigerator to get milk to fill the creamer as her thoughts continued to churn about the past. The only other lad that Grace was close with was Scott. She then remembered what Grace said to Stephanie the day she found out about the miscarriage.

“It was someone else. Someone…..who related to the pain and emptiness I was feeling from missing Ty.”

As she poured the milk into the creamer, she thought about the conversation she had with Scott a few weeks ago when she confronted him about Grace’s pregnancy.

“She must’ve been missing Tyler something bad,” Chelsea said.

“She did,” Scott replied. “I understood what she felt when you left for the States. All I could think of was you. Not knowing where you were and not having you respond to my e-mails really hurt me.”

Something inside Chelsea clicked.

Grace said that the lad who got her pregnant related to the pain and emptiness she was feeling at the time.

Scott said that he understood what Grace went through because he felt the exact same hurt when Chelsea left for the States.

Grace’s breakup with Ty happened the same time Chelsea left for the States. Grace and Scott were alone – left with broken hearts and no one to lean on but each other.

Each other!

“Oh God!” Chelsea thought to herself. “It was Scott!”