Zac angrily stamped his left rollerblade down on the Hanson's driveway over and over again. He was so vexed with anger; his face was bright red, and he was shaking with rage. He couldn't believe his older brother managed to outwit his trick, and con him instead.
"Darn it, darn it, darn it!!!" Zac yelled irately. He shut his eyes, tilted his head up towards the sky, and screamed. "ARRRGGHHHH!!!!" He grabbed his head, and massaged his temples roughly. Then, he took hold of his blond hair in both fists, and gritted his teeth.
"UGGGHHHHH!!!!" Zac moaned wrathfully.
"Uhh....Zac?" Lucy spoke up.
Zac let out an annoyed sigh, and turned around. "What??!" he said irritably.
Lucy frowned. "Ummm.....sorrrrryy. Never mind. I'll try to talk to you when you're in a better mood, since now is obviously not a good time. You're throwing a real fit here."
Zac sighed again. "Sorry, Lucy," he mumbled. "It's not you. It's Tay." He scowled. "Geez, that boy drives me up the wall!! He pisses me off so, so much!! I can't take it anymore!!" He gritted his teeth again. "The nerve of that two-timing jerk!!! I am so gonna kill him when he gets back home!! He'll pay for this!!! I'll get even, if that's the last thing I'll do!! He'll be sorry he messed with Zac Hanson. Just wait and see."
"Well, if it's any consolation to you, ya know, my older brothers drive me nuts too," Lucy said understandingly. "They can be real pains in the neck, like most brothers are."
Zac rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you could say that again!" He shook his head.
Lucy nodded sympathetically. "Sad, but true."
"I can't believe I fell for Tay's stupid plot," Zac said grimly. "I'm so stupid." He let out another sigh. "Man, I'm such a moron." He slowly skated over to where Lucy was sitting, and plopped down on the grass beside her.
Lucy patted Zac on his shoulder with her right hand. "Don't feel bad. I mean, heck; we were the ones trying to deceive Tay in the first place, but somehow I guess he caught on, and managed to deceive us instead. Our scheme backfired." She shook her head.
Zac covered his face with his hands. "Don't remind me. I don't even wanna think about it."
Lucy frowned. "Wait a sec. Come to think of it, what was our conspiracy, anyway? I don't even remember what it was supposed to be to begin with." She furrowed her eyebrows, as she tried to remember their original plan.
Zac shook his head, burrying his face in his arms. "I dunno. Don't even bother asking me. After all, I was dumb enough to fall for Tay's double-crossing sham."
Lucy put her right arm around Zac's shoulders. "It's okay. Don't be mad." She leaned her head over to the right side, gently resting her head against Zac's.
Zac lifted his head up, and brought his right hand up to his forehead, and sighed again. "Yeah, but I still can't believe it. I lost my popsicle to Tay; thanks to my stupidity and his deceit," he muttered bitterly.
"Here. You can have some of my snow cone, if you want," Lucy offered. She held out her snow cone towards Zac with her left hand. "Just as long as you don't eat the whole thing, like Tay did to your popsicle."
Zac winced, and let out another long sigh. He buried his head in his arms again.
Lucy cringed slightly; knowing that she touched a soft spot. "Sorry, Zac. I didn't mean to bring that up again."
"Nah, it's okay," Zac mumbled. "Thanks." He accepted the snow cone in his left hand, and brought it to his lips, taking a small bite into the flavored ice.
"Good?" Lucy asked, as Zac handed the snow cone back to her.
Zac nodded. "Yep. Thanks."
"No sweat," Lucy replied nonchalantly. She brought the snow cone to her mouth, and poured the remains of the flavored ice into her mouth.
Zac's face brightened. "Hey, wait a second. We might have some more popsicles in our freezer! Yeah, I think we do!" He began furiously removing his rollerblades. "Come on. Let's go see if there are any."
Lucy nodded. "Okay." She pulled herself up to her feet, and stood up, waiting as Zac struggled to pull off his rollerblades.
"What the heck....these things are stuck!" Zac exclaimed, as he madly tugged his right rollerblade with both hands, in an attempt to get it off his foot.
"Stuck??" Lucy repeated. "What do you mean, stuck? It can't be stuck."
"Well, apparently it is! The darn thing won't come off!" Zac snapped. "Don't ask me how or why, cause I don't have a clue!"
"Well, obviously," Lucy replied, shaking her head.
"Lucy? A little help here, if you don't mind, please!!" Zac said hastily.
Lucy rolled her eyes, and squatted down in front of Zac. She grabbed a hold of Zac's right rollerblade, and pulled with all her might.
"Unnhhhhhhhh," Lucy moaned, as she tried jerking the rollerblade off Zac's foot.
"Pull harder!!" Zac said briskly, as he continued to help loosen the rollerblade off his foot.
"I'm trying, I'm trying!!" Lucy cried. Holding the rollerblade that was still attached to Zac's foot, she leaned backwards, and pulled with every ounce of strength she had.
"Come on, come on; get off already!!" Zac said impatiently, as he squeezed his eyes shut, yanking at his stuck rollerblade.
"Geez Zac, what did you do; glue this thing to your foot??!?" Lucy demanded, as she continued to grasp the rollerblade in her hands; towing with every fiber in her bean.
"Well, how should I know?! I don't know! All I know is that the darn thing's stuck on tight!!" Zac exclaimed exasperatedly.
"Well, duh; obviously!!" Lucy snapped.
"Pull! Pull!! Get it off!!" Zac shouted impetuously. "I wanna get it off now!!!"
"Yeah, well, I'm trying! That's what I'm trying to do!!" Lucy yelled. She leaned forward, and gave one last hard pull, jerking backwards abruptly.
"Unnnhhhhhhhhh!!!" Lucy screamed. "Get off already!!"
All of a sudden, the rollerblade came off cleanly; wrenching off of Zac's foot. However, the force of impact was large, sending Lucy hurtling backwards down to the ground with a thud.
"OWW!!" Lucy yelled, as she hit the pavement, still holding Zac's rollerblade in her hands. She fell back onto her back; her feet came flying up in the air.
"Ugghhh," Lucy groaned. She looked down at her hands, and suddenly remembered that she was still holding Zac's rollerblade. She glared at it angrily, and flung it aside. For a moment, she continued to lie back against the pavement, remaining motionless, having lacked all her energy she used up when pulling off Zac's rollerblade.
"Awww, man," Lucy mumbled mellifluously. She let out a huge sigh, and slowly covered her face with her hands.
Zac's eyes widened with alarm. He yanked off his left rollerblade quickly, casting it off to the side, and scrambled up to his feet. He hurried over to where Lucy lay on the pavement.
"Lucy! Lucy!" Zac cried worriedly. He rushed over to her side, and hunkered down beside her right side. He looked her over; scrutinizing her anxiously.
"Are you okay, Lucy??" Zac asked neurotically. "Ya got quite a spill there."
Lucy sighed again. "Yeah, never better," she muttered. She glared over at Zac's rollerblade lying on the ground, and grimaced. "Thanks to your stupid rollerblade over here."
"I'm sorry," Zac apologized. "I don't know what happened with that thing. I gotta get new ones." He climbed to his feet, standing up in front of Lucy.
Lucy rolled her eyes. "I'll say."
Zac held out both of his hands; extending them out to Lucy. "Here. Lemme help you back up to your feet. Come on; upsy-daisy."
Lucy took a hold of each of Zac's hands, and Zac pulled her up to her feet. She cocked her head to each side, and rubbed her hip gently.
"Man, that hurt," Lucy mumbled. She looked down at the back of her jeans, examining to see any tears.
"Sorry about that," Zac apologized again. He grinned at Lucy. "But hey, if it makes you feel any better, I really appreciate you getting off my rollerblade. Thanks a lot."
"Yeah, sure. Don't mention it," Lucy muttered, as she continued to massage her sore hip.
"I thought that thing would never come off!" Zac exclaimed.
"Me too," Lucy agreed. "Thank goodness the darn thing finally came off." She made a face. "But it cost me a bruised hip."
Zac stuck out his lower lip. "Sorry. If I had known getting my rollerblade off would've hurt you, I never would have asked for your help in the first place, ya know."
Lucy nodded. "Yeah, well, whatever. What's done is done, I suppose." She let out a weak smile. "At least the rollerblade came off, finally. It was about time."
Zac laughed. "Yeah, I know!" His smile collapsed, as his eyes fell on Lucy's hip.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Zac asked hesitantly, as he gazed at Lucy apprehensively. "Maybe I can have my mom look at it or something, if you want. We have band-aids and stuff in the house."
Lucy shook her head. "Nah, that's okay. I'm good. Well......I mean, not good, but well.......I'll be okay." She forced a smile. "I'll live."
Zac breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, good! Lucy, I don't want you to be in pain or anything. If it starts hurting or acting up again, just let me know, okay?"
Lucy nodded. "You got yourself a deal." She grinned at Zac.
Zac smiled. "Cool!" He cast Lucy a sideways grin.
"So, whaddaya say; you wanna go raid the fridge, and look for those popsicles now?" Zac suggested brightly.
Lucy grinned and nodded. "Sure. Let's do that."
With that, the two of them turned and headed towards the house. They were determined to carry out their mission of raiding the refrigerator and finding some popsicles.
././/. Chapter 23 ././/.
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