Kristyn hung up the phone, placing the phone back down in its cradle. She stood up off her bed, and walked out of her room; making her way down the hall and down the stairwell. She entered the kitchen, and found Linda there with Alleigh and Ceital.
"Hi," Kristyn greeted them. "What are you guys doing?"
Linda looked up. "Hi Kristyn. We're just baking cookies."
"Really? Sounds like fun," Kristyn commented. "Can I help?"
"Well, we're almost done, actually," Linda admitted. "The cookies are just baking in the oven right now." She smiled. "But thank you for offering."
Kristyn grinned. "Sure, no problem. I'm always happy to help." She turned to look at her younger sisters. "Hey you two. What's up?"
Instead of answering, Alleigh abruptly stood up and stalked out of the kitchen. Kristyn stared after her; looking completely bewildered.
"Did I say something wrong?" Kristyn asked, feeling puzzled.
Linda shook her head. "Don't mind her. She's just feeling a little down today. She's just a little upset, that's all. Just give her some space and some time to cool off, and she'll be fine."
Kristyn nodded. "Okay."
"Mommy, I want to decorate the cookies," Ceital said.
Linda smiled. "Sure you can. That's why you're here."
Ceital beamed and nodded happily; looking satisfied. Kristyn smiled as well.
"Kristyn, are you feeling all right now?" Linda asked. "Christian and Dante told me that you seemed upset earlier. Is there anything you'd like to talk about?"
"Oh, no. I'm fine now, mom," Kristyn answered. "It's okay; everything's fine now. Don't worry about it."
"All right. I'm glad to hear that," Linda replied with a smile.
Just then, the phone rang. Linda walked over to the phone and picked it up.
"Hello?" Linda answered. "Sure, hold on a moment, please." She looked up at Kristyn.
"Kris, it's for you," Linda said.
"Okay." Kristyn walked over and accepted the phone from her mother. She brought the phone up to her left ear.
"Hello?" Kristyn said.
"Hi Kristyn. It's Morgan," Morgan Doherty greeted her friend.
"Hi Morgan. How're you doing?" Kristyn asked.
"Just great. Listen, my brother and I are going to the mall in a little bit. But, we're not going to stay there together; Lee's going to meet up with some of his friends, and I'm going to meet up with mine. So, do you want to come meet me at the mall?" Morgan wanted to know.
Kristyn thought for a moment. "Ummm........"
"Come on," Morgan urged. "It'll be cool. It's a Saturday afternoon. Do something fun. Say you'll come."
"Well........" Kristyn started.
"Leah, Dasha, Ang, and Jo will be there too," Morgan added. Leah Armond, Daria Pavilova, and Angelina Radvetsky were three of Kristyn's other friends.
Kristyn smiled. "Okay. I guess I'll come. Hang on; let me just tell my mom that." She covered the mouthpiece of the phone with her right hand.
"Mom, is it okay if I go meet up with some friends at the mall?" Kristyn asked.
Linda nodded. "Sure. As long as you come back home before dinner time."
"Okay. Thanks mom!" Kristyn turned back to the phone.
"Yeah, Morgan; I'll be there. I'll meet you guys there, okay? I'll see you guys there soon. Bye." She hung up the phone.
"Would you like me to give you a ride to the mall?" Linda asked.
Kristyn shook her head. "That's okay. I'll walk."
"Where are you walking to?" Christian asked, as he entered the kitchen.
Kristyn looked over at her brother. "I'm heading out to the mall, not that it's any of your concern."
"Hey, I was just about to go there. Want me to give you a lift?" Christian questioned.
"Well, I was going to walk, but......now that you mention it, I guess if you're going there too, then I guess I might as well go with you," Kristyn decided with a sigh.
Christian nodded. "Cool. I'll meet you out at the car." With that, he turned and headed towards the front door.
Kristyn turned to her mother. "Bye mom. I'll be home before dinner. Bye Ceital." With that, Kristyn headed down the hall and out the front door; following her brother out to the car.
Taylor sauntered into the mall, and strode over to where Lee, Casper, and Jakob stood waiting for him.
"Hey guys," Taylor said breezily.
Lee raised his eyebrows. "Well, someone's in a better mood than they were the last time around."
Taylor shrugged. "I guess so."
"Tay, what took you so long to get here, anyway?" Jakob demanded.
"Yeah, you're late," Casper agreed. "We've been waiting here for about fifteen minutes. What's up with that?"
Taylor thought back to swindling Zac's orange popsicle. He smiled as he recalled the victorious memory.
Zac's the real pathetic loser in this game, Taylor thought triumphantly. He turned back to his friends and grinned.
"Just taking care of a little business," Taylor replied lightly, as he remembered the conquering memory of defrauding the gullible Zac.
"Yeah, well, whatever. Now you're here, so let's go," Lee said briskly. "No use standing around here any longer; wasting time and all."
Taylor shrugged again. "Whatever."
"Hey, what's that orange stuff on your chin?" Jakob demanded. He stared at the orange residue on Taylor's chin.
Casper made a face. "What is that??"
Taylor wiped his chin off with the back of his right hand, and looked at his hand. An evil grin formed on his lips as he was again reminded of his exultant memory.
"Oh, just a little souvenir from a winning moment," Taylor answered nonchalantly with a shrug.
"A winning moment??" Lee repeated. He gave Taylor a strange look.
Taylor beamed and nodded. "Yep. A winning moment. A real victory"
Lee rolled his eyes. "Sometimes I don't get you, man. But whatever, to heck with that. Let's go."
Taylor continued to grin. "You're the boss."
Kristyn hopped out of Christian's car, shut the door, and hurried over to the front entrance of the mall. As soon as she stepped inside the mall, Morgan rushed over to her and grabbed her arm.
"There you are, Kristyn!" Morgan declared. "It's about time you showed up!"
"Morgan! Hi! Oh, what; am I late or something?" Kristyn asked worriedly. "Did I keep you waiting long?"
Morgan grinned. "Nah; don't worry about it. It's fine. What matters is that you're here now and that you made it here fine. That's all I care about."
Kristyn smiled back. "Okay. Cool." She looked around the mall. "Where are the others?"
"They're all waiting at the food court," Morgan answered. "Come on; let's go meet them now."
Morgan steered Kristyn over towards the food court. She led Kristyn over to a table where Leah, Dasha, Angelina, and Johannah were seated, waiting for them.
"She's here, finally!" Morgan announced.
"Hey Kristyn!" Leah greeted enthusiastically. "Glad you could make it!"
"Hi Kristyn!" Dasha echoed.
Angelina nodded at Kristyn. "Hey Kristyn."
Johannah smiled up at Kristyn. "Hi."
Kristyn smiled back. "Hi guys. It's nice to see you all again."
"Same here," Leah said with a smile. Dasha and Angelina grinned and nodded in agreement.
"Well, now that we're all here, shall we go now?" Morgan asked. "Are you guys ready?"
"Yep," Leah replied.
Kristyn nodded. "Sure."
Dasha grinned. "Uh-huh."
Angelina stood up. "Ready."
With that, the six friends stood up and were off; heading down out of the food court and towards the alley of stores.
"By the way, Morgan; where's your brother?" Kristyn questioned.
"Oh, Lee's off with his own friends; doing his own thing and all," Morgan replied nonchalantly. "You know; his group....Jakob, Casper.......and, umm....I can't remember that other guy's name. Let me think......mmmm......Tyler or something.....no, wait, it's Taylor. Yeah; that's it." She nodded.
Kristyn's head perked up. "Taylor?"
Morgan nodded. "Yeah. If I remember correctly, anyway."
"By any chance, would it be Taylor Hanson?" Kristyn asked curiously.
"I think so," Morgan answered. "Yeah, that sounds familiar. Seems right." She glanced at Kristyn. "Why? Do you know him or something?"
Kristyn nodded. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. His mom and my mom are friends. Their family came over my house for lunch yesterday."
"Ah, I see." Morgan nodded. "Cool. You like him?"
"Do I like him?" Kristyn repeated. "What do you mean?"
"No, I mean, did he seem nice or whatever," Morgan said quickly.
"Oh. That. Yeah, he seemed pretty friendly. He was nice," Kristyn replied.
Morgan nodded. "That's cool."
"Hey, you guys," Johannah spoke up. "Speaking of friendly guys, something rather interesting happened to Kris today." She grinned at Kristyn.
"Really?" Leah looked interested. "What happened?"
"Yeah, tell us!" Morgan said eagerly.
Kristyn blushed a little. "Oh, well, it was no big deal or anything, really." She shrugged. "I just ran into Josh Ledger today at the library. Apparently, he followed me there; according to him, anyway."
"He followed you??" Angelina repeated.
"Wow," Leah murmured.
Kristyn nodded. "Well, yeah; I guess so. I mean, that's what he said. Anyhow, he ended up walking me home and he came over for a little bit." She shrugged. "That's basically the gist of what happened. He seems like a nice guy."
"Ohmigosh! That is so cool! I can't believe that happened to you. You're really lucky," Morgan commented. "Josh is so cute."
"Yeah, he really is," Leah agreed.
Kristyn shrugged again. "I wouldn't say lucky or anything. I mean, he was just........nice to me, that's all." She shrugged again. "No big deal."
"No big deal??" Johannah repeated. "Are you kidding? The guy is head over heels for you. He totally digs you."
Kristyn made a face. "Jo, we've been over this already. Don't jump to conclusions. You don't know that for sure."
"Yeah, but it sure sounds like he likes you a lot," Dasha remarked.
Kristyn shook her head. "Nah. I don't think so."
Johannah rolled her eyes. "Kristyn, you are in complete denial of reality. Just wake up and smell the coffee already, will you??"
"I told you already; he was just being nice!" Kristyn protested. "That's all!"
Angelina gave Kristyn a skeptical look. "Why do I doubt that," she mused.
Kristyn sighed. "I don't know. But the fact is, you guys, he was just being nice. That's all it was. Really."
Leah shook her head. "I don't think so."
"Yeah, me neither," Morgan agreed.
Johannah nodded knowingly. "Ditto."
-=#^# Chapter 22 #^#=-
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