“Who is it that you’re always talking to?”

Jen looked up from her book. Madeline was standing the doorway. “Um, I’m not talking to anybody right now…”

Madeline rolled her eyes. “No, on Messenger. I went downstairs and you didn’t even look up. So I said hi, and you still didn’t notice. So, who was it? Your boyfriend?”

Jen shook her head. “I don’t have a boyfriend; you know that.”

“Don’t change the subject. Who was it?”

“I don’t know.”

Madeline came into the room. “Oh, come on. Tell me,” she begged.

“It was Zach.”

“Zach? Who in the heck is Zach?”

Jen shrugged, not an easy task when you’re lying on your stomach. “I don’t know. Lace introduced us. She thought it was someone that she knew. Turns out she was wrong.”

“So, what’s he like?” Madeline asked, intrigued.

“Well, he’s 14, and he’s got 3 brothers and 3 sisters.”

“Go on.”

“That’s all I know.”

“That’s all?”

“Yep. Well, he thinks Taylor is a boy’s name, does that count?”

“No, that doesn’t count! So you don’t know anything else about him? How many times have you chatted?”

“Two, I think. He’s just a very private person, I guess.”

“Lemme talk to him sometime.”

“Oh, no. No, Mad, sorry, but I don’t think so.”

“Oh, please? I’ll be nice.”

“I told you, no.”

“Please, Jen? Just once? I’ll find out anything you want to know.”

“You mean anything you want to know. I can find out on my own, thank you very much, and once is more than enough.”

“Give me one good reason why you won’t let me chat with him.”

“Because I said no.”

Madeline glared at her.

Finally, Jen sighed. “Okay, I’ll think about it. But, if I let you, you have to promise not to say anything embarrassing.”

“Who, me?” Madeline asked, looking innocently at her fingernails. She could feel Jen’s eyes on her. “Oh, alright. I promise.” She rolled her eyes. “Sisters.”

The phone rang late that night, about 12:30. Jen quickly scooped it up. “Hello?”

“Jen? It’s me.”

“Taylor?” Jen asked, concerned. Taylor sounded like she had been crying. “Is everything alright?”

“No, nothing’s alright.” Taylor voice broke, and she started crying. “Can Morgan and I come over to your house?” she managed through her tears.

“Yeah, yeah, of course. But what’s going on?” Jen could feel Madeline’s eyes on her as she talked.

“I’ll tell you when we get there. We’ll be there soon.”

“Okay. Bye, Taylor.” Jen didn’t hang up the phone until she heard the dial tone.

“What’s the matter with Taylor?” Madeline asked, puzzled.

Jen shook her head. “I don’t know. She and Morgan are coming over though. Come wait with me?”

Madeline didn’t answer, just slipped off the bed and followed her sister downstairs and out the door. “Oh, hey look. It’s Tayles,” Madeline said, pointing at her sister’s gray and white cat, which was sneaking around the side of the house.

Jen scooped up the cat that she had named after her best friend and the two waited in silence. Finally, Jen spotted headlights. She waited impatiently as the car pulled in, then put Tayles down and dashed to the car. She opened the door, anxious to see her friends. Taylor got out and clung to her. Soon, though, she pulled away, wiping her eyes.

“Hi,” she said, managing a small laugh.

“What’s going on? What happened?”

“Let’s go in.”

Jen and Madeline led the way as the twins locked arms, something they hadn’t done since the 4th grade, and followed them into the house. They went up to Jen’s room.

“Okay,” Jen said, shutting the door, “now tell me what’s going on.”

Taylor and Morgan sat on the bed, staring down at the floor. Neither offered an answer.

“Well?” Jen prompted.

Taylor laughed weakly. “Oh, it’s so silly.”

“What?”

“It’s just that…”

“…Somebody broke in,” supplied Morgan.

“Yeah, and Mom’s out with Tim. We didn’t feel safe staying there by ourselves.”

Jen studied the pair, seeing right through their lie. It was obvious, though, that they weren’t going to say what really happened. “That would be scary. Um, why don’t you guys sleep in my bed tonight, and I’ll crash with Maddie, okay?”

Taylor looked up. “No! I mean, uh, I mean you both can sleep in here with us. It’ll be fun, like a sleepover.”

Jen glanced at Madeline. “Uh, okay. Sure. You can still have the bed.”

“No, we’ll sleep on the floor if you guys are. You have enough room.”

“Okay…Mad, come with me to find some sleeping bags,” Jen said, walking over the door and opening it.

“Okay.” Madeline got up and walked out the door. “What’s going on?” she asked once they were in the safety of the darkness.

“I don’t know. I wish Taylor would tell me. One thing’s for sure, no one broke in.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because Taylor was home all night.”

Jen woke up late the next morning. She sat up and looked around. Madeline was in the sleeping bag on the right, and still sleeping. Morgan was one sleeping bag away on the left and was just waking up. Taylor, who should have been right next to her, was nowhere to be seen.

Jen climbed out of her bag as quietly as she could and stood up. She glanced around the room again before deciding to go look for Taylor.

She went out into the empty hallway and looked around before heading over the bathroom. The door was halfway open. Jen pushed the door open the rest of the way and glanced in. “Tay, you in here?”

“Yeah,” came a muffled reply.

Jen stepped into the bathroom. “What are you doing?”

Taylor was sitting in the bathtub, her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms resting on her knees. She was cradling her head in her arms. “Nothing.”

“What happened, Taylor?” Jen knew that Taylor had a tendency to sit in the bathtub whenever she was upset because she claimed it was the only place she had any privacy.

“Nothing,” Taylor repeated.

“I know something happened, and don’t give me that bull about somebody breaking in. You were home all night.”

Taylor looked up. Her cheeks were tear-streaked, her eyes were red, and there were dark circles under her eyes, giving away the fact that she probably hadn’t slept all night. She shook her head as tears welled up in her eyes. “I can’t tell you, I just can’t.”

“Come on, Tay, you can tell me anything. We’re best friends.” Jen sat on the edge of the tub, looking at Taylor.

“I wish I could tell you this, but I can’t.”

“Taylor-”

“I can’t!” Taylor said, tears streaming down her cheeks. “You don’t understand, Jen, I can’t! I can’t,” she said again, lowering her head back down and sobbing into her arms.

Jen looked at Taylor, her heart breaking but not understanding why Taylor couldn’t tell her what was bugging her. Just then Morgan came into the bathroom.

Morgan knelt beside her sister, murmuring into her ear and rubbing her back. Finally, Taylor nodded. Morgan stood up. “I think we better go now.”

Jen nodded as she watched Taylor unfold herself and climb out of the tub. “Okay…are you going to be okay? Both of you.”

“We’ll be fine,” Morgan assured her.

Jen gave Taylor a hug. “Call me anytime,” she whispered, then watched the two girls exit the bathroom. She sighed and went back to her bedroom. Madeline was now sitting on her sleeping bag.

“Well?”

Jen shook her head. “Nothing.” She sat on the bed, close to tears herself. “I wish she trusted me enough to tell me!” she burst out.

“Hey,” Madeline said softly, standing and walking over to her sister. “She does trust you. If she didn’t, she never would have called you and asked to come over. Taylor will tell you. Just give her time.”

Jen nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.” She stood up. “I’m going downstairs. You can stay up here if you want,” she said as she walked out of her room.

She ran down the stairs and went to the computer. She down and waited for it to come on. As soon as she had logged on to the Internet, she went straight to her inbox. She didn’t even think as she typed up the email. She hesitated a second, then hit the ‘send’ button.