Chapter 61 : More Surprises, But It Ain't Christmas!
Six a.m., day after Christmas I pulled some clothes on in the dark...wait, I KNOW I’ve heard that somewhere...anyway, Zac had just called me. Apparently they couldn’t find Taylor anywhere and they wanted me to go to their house and see if anyone was home. I, being the good friend I am, swallowed some foul-tasting coffee to wake myself up for the walk over there. I then grabbed my coat and a pair of gloves and some earmuffs to keep me warm. I couldn’t believe Taylor had run off. Apparently they were supposed to do an appearance two hours before Zac called me (there was of course a huge time difference and it was mid-afternoon there) and Taylor wasn’t anywhere to be found. Everyone was worried to death about him. I told my mom quickly that I was going to see, and she insisted that I take K.J. Dang it. I hated going anywhere with him, the conniving little prick.
With a heavy heart, at least 10 layers on, and K.J. by my side, we set out to Hanson’s house. I tried not to even glance in his direction, but he walked close enough to me that I could feel his breath on my neck.
“Will you get away from me, you freak!?!” I finally protested.
“Sorry!” he snapped back quickly.
“It’s bad enough you have to come along; you don’t have to be my shadow the entire way.”
“Why are you so bitchy to me all the time Kat!?” K.J. stopped me suddenly with his hand and turned me towards him.
“Because you blackmailed me!” I heard my yell echo in the cold morning air. “Well, you tried, and you weren’t even shameless about it! You just totally blackmailed me without even thinking twice and it really made me want to kill you!”
“If I knew you’d get this way about it all....”
“You’d still have done it.”
“Pretty much. Man, you’ve already got me figured out and I have no clue about what kind of a idiot you are yet,” K.J. said nonchalantly.
I almost punched him in the face right then, but I thought better--revenge was always much sweeter. “K.J.? Do you know you’re way around this neighborhood yet?”
“No, not really,” he shrugged.
“Good,” I smiled. Before he could stop me, I kicked him where the sun don’t shine and ran off away from him, out of sight, and leaving him holding himself on the sidewalk. Once I was sure I was far enough away that he wouldn’t catch up, I slowed my pace to a jog and went the rest of the way to the Hanson’s. Once there, I knocked on the door, but no one answered. I went around to the back and used the key hidden underneath the laundry vent to let myself in. Zac had told me the code to the security system a long time before, so I quickly punched it in and disarmed the house. Thinking about the fact that K.J. might make it home before I did, I decided to call my mother. I dialed her quickly and made up a story about how K.J. had tried to hurt me and acting in self-defense I had kicked him and ran off because I was so scared. She took the story, hook, line and sinker and told me K.J. was in it deep. I hung up and then and ran up the stairs, calling for Taylor.
Once I was positive he wasn’t there, I armed the house again and locked the door on my way out.
“Joey, have you heard from Taylor?” I asked her the moment she answered the phone. I was beginning to get really worried about that boy.
“Well....”
Hearing the hesitation, I immediately knew she had something to do with it all. “What is going on, Joey? His entire family is worried sick about him!”
“I didn’t tell him to, but he came here and-”
“Joey! You’ve aided in making me more worried about that boy than I’ve ever been! I can’t believe you!”
“I told you I had no clue he was doing this until he did! I swear I didn’t or I would have stopped him,” she protested.
I had a short conversation with Joey, and then hung up, happy to know that Taylor was okay.
My gosh, it’s been a long time. Well, for the past five months we’ve all forgotten about this story. A lot of things have happened, but there’s no way we can write them all down now. I’ll just spot on a few things that have happened.
A month ago, the most surprising and....life-changing thing happened. I”ll try to tell you exactly the way it went...
I called Taylor inviting him over for a while. I sat in my room, wringing my hands together and wondering how I was going to tell Taylor this. It was impossible that this could happen. Somehow, it was wonderful and exciting at the same time it was terrible and sickening. When Taylor entered my room, he approached me and kissed me sweetly.
“What’s wrong?” he looked at me just once and already knew that there was something deeply troubling me.
“Taylor, sit,” I instructed. He sat down in a wicker chair beside my bed and stared at me. “I, uh, don’t know how this happened. I was totally surprised and I really don’t know what to think right now....” I felt as the first tears squeezed out and in only a few seconds, I was bawling. “Oh, Taylor! I can’t handle this right now! I don’t know where to turn...what are we going to do?”
“Do? About what? You haven’t told me what’s wrong yet! What’s wrong?! What happened? Did someone hurt you? Are you moving? What?” Taylor got up and held my hands and searched for the answer in my face.
“Taylor,” I whispered. “I’m pregnant.”
That was about the time that all the color drained from his face. He was struck speechless and we just stood there a moment, holding each other for a few minutes. We didn’t know what we were going to do. Taylor never thought of having an illegitimate child at 16 and neither had I. A few days later, I went to the doctor and he confirmed that I was a month pregnant. I hadn’t noticed sooner because I had always had an irregular period.
From the beginning, abortion was NEVER an option. I knew I didn’t want it at all and I wouldn’t even consider it. On the other hand, adoption was something we would have to think about. I wasn’t sure if I could go through the hell of having the child and then just give it up, but it may be a better choice than try to take care of a child at 16 years old. Taylor and I decided to wait for a month or so to tell our parents because I was afraid that my parents would want me to get an abortion and if I was far enough along, they couldn’t force me into doing it.
So, now it’s May and that meant it was nearly the year anniversary of when we all met. We wanted to celebrate somehow, despite the grievance Taylor and I were going through and decided to go to every Dillards in the area and wreak havoc upon the employees there. It would be a nice break from our busy lives to take out a day to celebrate the friendship between the five of us. Time to celebrate being Joey, Kat, Taylor, Zac and Isaac.
Chapter 62 : The Beginning of the End
Okay, this might be a little hard for me, but I'll continue the story until it is done. This is in May, so we already had Kat and Taylor’s birthday’s. Kat was grounded on hers and Taylor was away. So they didn’t have parties, but when they were available, they had small ones, just us. I’m going to continue now.
The one year anniversary of our friendship with Isaac, Taylor, and Zac, we were setting out to go to every Dillards we could, ending with the one we had all met at that fateful day. Kat had gotten a late birthday present from her stepdad two weeks before. It was late, but she was definately happy to get a car, even though it was from Bill. Hey, who couldn't be happy about a Firebird, right? We were on our way into Bartlesville, a town not too far from Tulsa, where I wanted to see a tiny little mall I went to as a little kid.
"What is so special about this one little mall?" Taylor asked once we got to the Washington Park Mall. "I mean, it's one story, and it only has three department stores."
"Well, you know that tiny little rose crystal I had when you first met me? The one that broke when that stupid cat my sister brought home got in my stuff?"
"Oh yeah...you were really pissed about that," Taylor chuckled.
"Well, my grandmother got me that the year before she died, in a store located here called....called....Lil' Things. I've never been able to find another one like it. I know it won't be nearly as special, but if I can just get another one, it will make it seem like I never lost it in the first place."
"Oh, it's a really nice thought, Joey. I'm sorry it got broken," Taylor smiled, trying to cheer me up a little.
"Joey, be happy! It's a happy anniversary!" Kat laughed at the small pun she made. We quickly got out of the car and approached the main entrance to the mall. Once inside, I directed everyone towards the large fountain in the middle of the mall. Taking a penny out of my pocket, I threw it into the pool, making a wish. I wish that I could find another rose. I smiled and watched as the rest of my friends followed in suit. We then went straight to Lil' Things and I began looking for my rose.
"There it is! Exactly!" I exclaimed, seeing the small red and green rose on display. I picked it up carefully and looked at the bottom. After seeing the price, I replaced it carefully--very carefully. "I-I really don't want it that bad," I tried to disguise the fact that I had not nearly enough money to buy it. Taylor looked in my eyes, and I knew he saw exactly why I wasn't getting it. Sympathy entered his eyes and he then hugged me.
"Come on, let's go get some drinks at Mr. Jim's," Taylor suggested brightly. We nodded in agreement.
Twenty minutes later, we were all laughing around a small table about our good times. Taylor excused himself to go to the bathroom after we all agreed to go to Dillards, reminisce and then leave. When Taylor got back, we all went towards Dillards, talking and laughing about our first day of knowing each other.
When we got back into Kat's car 15 minutes later, we looked at the road we were supposed to get on: Highway 75. Unfortunately, it was backed up for about a half a mile.
"Kat, take Frank Phillips Drive over to Adams Boulevard and then onto the access road. It'll take us onto 75, just farther up the road. It's a detour, but it's better than getting on 75 right here," I advised.
"Kay. Just tell me when to turn. You know this better than anyone here does," Kat told me as she released the emergency brake and rolled out of her parking space.
We began going towards Frank Phillips, and then we would work our way to Adams.
"SLUGBUG!!" Zac suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs when a red bug passed us. Kat, being easily distracted, jerked the wheel, almost running into the car next to her. He honked and she flipped him off as he gave the same favor as well as trying to run her back into her own lane. Once the trauma was over, and Kat had regained control of herself, she thought about why all of it happened.
"ZAC! You almost fucking ran us off the road by doing that, asshole! We could have all died if I had hit him! You keep your fucking mouth shut or jump out the window now before I throw you out myself!" Kat yelled angrily.
"Sorry...." he said aloud. "Talk about road rage. Not like you could throw me out while you're driving anyway, bitch," he muttered.
"WHAT?!?! That's it!" Kat roughly changed lanes and pulled into a nearby Sonic lot. "Zac, get out-"
"What? I'm sorry, but please don't throw me out! What if I get mobbed?" Zac asked, scared of what Kat would do.
"You didn't let me finish, dork! I was going to say, get out and switch places with Isaac. I don't want to sit next to you anymore."
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
"Be that way!"
"I will!"
Zac opened the door and slammed it shut, and then walked around the front of the car towards the side Isaac was on. Kat revved the engine just to scare him. Isaac opened his door and slowly exited the vehicle, kind of scared of Kat at the moment, as well. Once everyone was situated again, we began moving once more.
"Turn right up there, okay? After that first light," I instructed. We got back onto the road, having no idea what would happen next. What did happen, happened so quickly, I'm not sure if what I remember is even the complete story, but it's what the policemen and onlookers described as well, so I'm pretty sure it is right. We were heading through the green light and Kat was looking at the street sign, when I saw a red car heading straight at us in our lane. I saw it a little too late, though, because in the next instant, it struck the front end of our car. The last thing I remember feeling before I woke up in the wreckage was someone rear-ending us as well. I woke up what couldn't have been 10 minutes later to immense pain in both my legs which seemed to be trapped under a sharp metal bar. Moving only sliced through my flesh even more. I looked to my right to see Taylor slightly conscious and looking in my direction.
"I love you, Taylor," I whispered through the pain, looking at Taylor's strained face.
"I love you," he whispered. Suddenly, a thick foamy blood came out of his mouth and his head went limp, hanging down like a doll's. I felt the tears pouring down my face, but the pain in my legs no longer meant much. I didn't know if Taylor would be okay or even if he was alive at that point.
"Is-is anyone okay?" I strained to talk in the loudest voice I could muster which was slightly above a whisper.
"Joey...I'm--still alive, but....Isaac....he's--not--he doesn't look very conscious," Kat voiced somewhat loudly. "How's.......Zac?"
Before I could answer, I could hear a faint sound, like someone whispering. Kat was in an awkward position, with her seat broken back onto my legs, her head and upper body was laying back across the center console, but facing away from Zac, but close enough to hear. "Kat....I'm sorry....."
"Zac....me too...."
"Kat......I... .I.....I...." I could hear Zac's voice grow even weaker than the tiny whisper it had began as. "I.....love....." I could tell that after that word, he was no longer awake. Kat began to cry softly.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.....I love you Zachary," she cried as the faint sound of ambulances echoed in my head.
Chapters 63 and 64
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