We walked over to the three brothers. Anne and Kate were awestruck. They could not say a word. I realized then what I must have looked like when I first met Hanson.
"Zac," I said, "meet my sister Anne and her friend Kate. Anne and Kate, this is Zac."
Zac said hi cheerfully. Kate was a bit subdued, but I didn't blame her. Anne, on the other hand, was just plain shy for the first time I could remember. But, again, I couldn't blame her. She had had a major crush on Zac for a long time, even longer than I had a crush on Taylor. (My crush, by the way, was rapidly changing into just plain "like", as a friend.)
Just then, the coaches called Kate and me in for class. Avery ran in ahead of us. As I left, I noticed Anne starting to come out of her shell and actually talk to Zac.
At that moment, the first thought in my head was that I was sorry for Taylor. Here both of his brothers had crushes on girls who were right there. Zac even had two girls. Taylor, however, had nobody. I was not about to flatter myself that he liked me like that; I knew better than that. Then I thought that maybe I shouldn't be sorry for him, that he might have had a secret girlfriend back home, and that was why he wasn't looking for a girl here in Austin. With that in mind, I ran into the gym.
I came out of the gym two hours later, sweaty and exhausted. The first thing I saw was Zac and Anne standing together. Both of them had huge grins on their faces.
As I came up to the four people who were waiting, Anne ran up to me. "Monica, he asked me out!" she said excitedly.
I could not believe my ears. I had just introduced them, and now two hours later they were dating. But I was happy for them. Then I saw Kate, who looked a little bit depressed at the news, but not too upset. "Wow, that's incredible!" I said in response to Anne's news. "So when is the date?"
"This Friday, if it's okay with Mom and Dad."
"Yeah, I don't know if they'll let you, though. Remember, they have talked about not letting us date until sixteen. Not that that matters for me, though," I said laughing a little, since one: I was already sixteen, and two: I had never even been asked out. Then I remembered that Zac was only fourteen. "Who's going to take you? Neither of you can drive yet."
Isaac spoke up. "I can handle that. I called Michelle and asked her out. We're going on a date also on Friday night. We were going to go to the movies. I guess we could take them with us, but then sit apart so it's not like a double date. Is that all right with you two?"
"Yeah, that would be great," Zac said. "Thanks a bunch. Now if only Taylor had a date, we could make it a triple..." he hinted.
Taylor blushed. "No, I don't want a date right now. I haven't found the right girl yet, and I don't want to rush into anything."
I had told myself that I knew he didn't like me like that, but a small part of me had still clung to that hope until those words.
Then, I remembered the date (not that I had entirely forgotten it; it had just slipped my mind). I asked Isaac, "Where are you guys staying, anyway? I'm not trying to be nosy or anything; I just don't want you to have to drive a long way to pick up Anne."
Isaac named a street. I gasped in surprise. "That's in our neighborhood!"
"Whoa, talk about coincidence," Taylor put in. I agreed.
Just then, I realized that Anne and I needed to get home. She and Zac exchanged phone numbers, and then we left.
Chapter 17
Love Takes Time
Story Page
Back Home
