As the teenagers approached the door, Isaac looked at Jamie. Had that hug meant anything, or was it just reassuring? He hoped it was the former, and that Jamie trusted him again. He had never wanted to hurt her; he loved her too much. The thought shocked him even as he thought it. Did he really love her? He had only known her for a few days; could he really say that already? Yes, he decided, he could. He loved Jamie, and always would.
While Isaac was deciding this, Taylor opened the door and entered the house. "Mom, we're home!" he called.
"Taylor, Isaac, Zachary, where have you been??? The Hotline is going crazy with phone calls about this new rumor!" Diana Hanson called.
"We were at Jamie's," Zac answered his mother. "Can they crash here?"
"What happened?" Diana asked upon seeing Jamie and Monica's crestfallen faces.
"Oh, nothing..." Jamie started. "Just that I almost got killed."
"Jules..." Monica groaned, putting her head in her hands.
"Jamie..." Isaac warned even quieter.
"Oh, Jamie, I'm so sorry," Diana said. "You're welcome to stay here for a while."
"I think it'll be more than a while," Jamie sighed.
With Jamie's hopeless words, Monica fled from the room. Jamie looked after her, and ran in the opposite direction. Zac looked at his mother as Taylor ran after Monica.
"Monica!" Taylor yelled breathlessly, following her into the backyard. When she turned around to him, he could see her mouth set in a straight line, but her eyes were full of tears. They were just waiting to fall. She was under a lot of pressure with everything with Jamie, and Taylor hated to see her that way. "Monica, listen to me, okay?"
"Why should I listen to you?" she gasped.
"Because I'm your friend, I'm Jamie's friend and I'm a world-famous singer that many girls would drop to their knees to hear what I have to say," Taylor joked. That got a small smile from Monica. "We're going to get through this, okay? I promise you. You and Jamie have been friends for a very long time. You think Jamie would ever let anything happen to you?"
"No, but Jamie...she...I know she's..."
"In love with Ike?" Taylor supplied. Monica looked up, her eyes meeting his in the moonlight. "It's obvious."
Monica sat on the ground. "Taylor...what am I supposed to do? Jamie's trying to be strong, but I know that car incident really startled her tonight. She always tries to pretend that she's in control, that she knows what she's doing, when she really feels like her life is spinning out of control. I can see it every time I look at her."
"Moni, you don't have to do anything but be her best friend," Taylor answered gently. "She loves you, and she will come to you eventually. It's happened to me before with Ike. It will happen with you and Jamie, okay?"
Monica looked up at him again, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "You promise?"
"I promise," Taylor said firmly. He watched Monica look away, considering this new friendship that was forming in front of her eyes. But Taylor could only think of how much more beautiful Monica was in moonlight. Without any control over his head, and only listening to his heart, he was reaching out to draw her into a hug.
Monica looked back up at him, and a sudden change came into her eyes. Taylor watched painfully as Monica leapt up and ran back into the house.
Jamie turned around from Diana when Monica ran into the house. "Excuse me," she politely said. She followed Monica into the living room. "Moni!"
"Don't talk to me right now," Monica said, her back turned to Jamie.
"Monica..." Something in Jamie's voice made Monica turn around. "You're in love with Taylor, aren't you?"
How DOES she do that? Monica wondered to herself. Slowly she nodded her head, knowing she couldn't hide the truth from her friend.
"Jules, please don't tell him," Monica begged. "Promise me you won't tell."
"Moni, he has to know. He thinks you still hate him...he needs to know the truth."
"Please," Monica pleaded.
Jamie sighed. "Okay, I promise. I won't tell him. But will you promise me something, too?"
"That depends..." Monica said cautiously. "What is it?"
"Promise me that you will tell Taylor how you feel. You don't have to tell him right now; you can wait for the right time. But, please, promise that you will tell him."
Monica looked at the floor. "Jules...I don't think I can."
"Will you try, anyway?" Jamie asked.
Monica sighed. "I guess so."
Jamie smiled. "Thanks, Moni." Then, knowing her friend didn't want to talk about Taylor anymore, she changed the subject. "Now...it's late. Let's find Diana and see where we can sleep, okay?"
"Yeah, I'm really tired," Monica agreed.
After a brief conversation with Diana, the girls were settled in the upstairs guest room next door to the boys' room.
"Now, I want you girls to get some sleep tonight, okay?" Diana said from the doorway. "Don't worry about Karen...we'll deal with that tomorrow."
"Thank you for letting us stay here," Jamie said.
"Oh, it's the least we could do. Sweet dreams!"
"You too," Monica said.
"Good night!" Jamie called as Diana left the room.
"What are we going to do, Jules?" Monica asked anxiously.
"Moni, remember what Diana said...we need to sleep tonight. We'll worry about Karen, and about the guys, tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay. Good night, Jules."
"Good night, Moni."
Meanwhile in the next room, all was not well. Zac was sleeping deeply, but he was the only one. Taylor was confused about Monica. For a minute, it had seemed as though she actually liked him. What had he done wrong? Then he knew...the hug. He had listened only to his heart, ignoring his head. Now he was regretting it. Finally, still mad at himself for what he had done, Taylor drifted off to sleep. Isaac, though, was still very much awake. He was worried about Karen, and about Jamie, and about what Karen might do to Jamie. He turned over in bed, trying to get to sleep. At that very moment, he thought he heard the sound of the window being opened. He had just dismissed it as his imagination, when he heard it again, louder. He was about to jump out of bed, when he decided to wait and see who was coming in. Slowly, the window slid open, and a person climbed through. Isaac stifled a gasp as he recognized none other than Karen Robinson entering his bedroom.
Chapter 13
Forbidden Angels
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