"What?" Ike asked cluelessly.
"Shut up! You were flirting so bad with Gwen!" Taylor retorted.
"Yeah, well...what's your point?" he asked, not getting the clue.
"Ok," Taylor started somewhat calmly, "first of all, she's 15!" Ike's eyes bulged. "Secondly," Taylor continued, "SHE'S MY GIRLFRIEND!"
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Ike immediatly apologized.
Taylor just rolled his eyes and said sarcastically, "Yeah, I'm sure you are."
"Listen Tay, I really am, I didn't know. So she's your girlfriend, huh?" he asked with a grin.
"Well...sort of," Taylor replied.
"How can someone 'sort of' be your girlfirend? She either is or she isn't," Ike said.
"Well, I haven't officially asked her yet, but we're pretty close I guess," Taylor reasoned.
"How close?" Ike inquired.
"Jesus, Ike, why are you so nosey?!" Taylor exclaimed.
Ike threw his hands up in exasperation. "Hey, I tell you about my girlfriends."
"Yeah," Tay laughed, "but I never said I wanted to know."
Ike flashed an evil look at Taylor and simply said, "Shut up Tay." He started to walk out when he noticed Zac was lingering by the doorway with a devilish grin. "Zac!" he exclaimed. "How long have you been here?!"
"Long enough," Zac replied with a smug look.
"You're such a prick," Taylor snapped and stormed out of the kitchen.
"Whoa," Zac said, "somebody's got PMS!" Ike and Zac watched Tay as he stomped up the stairs. "So," Ike said after the pause, "where's your Alisha?"
"She's not MINE," Zac responded and then paused. "Well, not yet," he said in a small voice.
"Yet? You mean you actually think she'd go for you?!" Ike mocked.
"Shut up, Chewwy, it's not like you have any girls waiting by the phone for your call!" Zac returned.
"Oh, really, and how do you know?"
"What?! You have a girlfriend?!" Zac exclaimed.
"No, I'm just asking how you know," Ike said.
"Oh, phew, you were about to give me a heart attack, I mean, Ike...girlfriend...it sounds to weird to be true!"
"Shut up Zac!" Ike replied and swatted him on the head. "Well, I gotta go to the campus library and pick up some books. Tell everyone I'll see them later."
"Ok, bye Chewwy," Zac said and grinned as Ike walked out the door.
**********
Ike leafed through a big textbook at the library. On a table next to him, 5 other books were already there. "Shoot," he muttered to himself, "one more book...." He began walking down the aisle, still flipping through the book. He kept walking and didn't see the figure standing in front of him. All of a sudden he dropped all of his books and the other person's books too. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry," he said without looking up at the person.
"Don't worry, it's ok," a soft voice replied. Ike looked up in awe. He was facing a girl, about 5'6 with shoulder length brown hair and beautiful green eyes. She knelt down to pic up her books and gave Ike a smile.
"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going," he said and gave her a weak smile while picking up his books also that were scattered on the floor.
"I'm Katy," she replied.
I'm in love, Ike wanted to say, but instead he said, "I'm Ike. Nice to meet you." Damnit Ike, he said to himself, what kind of pick up line is that?!
"Shhhh!" the librarian hissed to Katy and Ike.
Ike looked down at the books Katy was now clutching. "You study journalism?" he question.
"Yeah, this is my second year," she said. "And I see you study music?"
"Yep, second year also," he replied. They both just kind of stood there, not really knowing what to say. "Well, I guess I will see you around?" Ike finally asked, breaking the silence.
"Ok! I gotta go now, so I'll see ya later," Katy said.
"Ok, see ya!" Ike walked out of the library with a huge grin. That'll show Zac, he thought gleefully.
*********
"Tay?" Gwen quietly asked as she knocked on his door.
"Yeah," a muffled voice came from inside.
"Can I come in?" she asked.
After a few footsteps, the door to Taylor's bedroom opened. Taylor walked back to his bed, flopped down, and sighed.
"What's wrong?" Gwen asked him.
"Gwen, will you be my girlfriend?" Taylor just blurted out quickly. He noticed the confused look on her face. "Sorry, it's just that Ike and I got talking...and he said that I was a wuss for not asking you out and everything..."
"Tay," Gwen smiled, "Will you be my boyfriend?"
Taylor grinned. He sat up and got closer to Gwen. He leaned over and kissed her on the lips.
"Taylor," she whispered. He ignored her soft moan and put his hands on her waist. They got closer together and kissed even more passionately. Taylor's hand slid very slowly up over her shirt and then back down. He brought them under her shirt this time and back up again. His hands brushed against the back of her bra and stayed there. Their kisses got deeper as the minutes passes. Gwen began to rub the outside of his leg and then to his waist. He quietly moaned and kissed her on the neck.
"Taylor," she whispered again, "I think we should stop."
"Ok, he replied and reluctantly let go of Gwen. And quiet knock on the door surprised them both and they turned their head. It slowly opened and Zac poked his head in.
"Um...hi...uh...Alisha and I are going rollerblading, ok? Ok, bye," he quickly said and ran out the door.
Tay turned to Gwen with a confused look. Gwen shrugged. "That kid has some serious issues," Tay slowly said.
********
"Ok," Zac said as he bounced down the stairs, "let's go, I'm dying of boredom!"
Zac lead Alisha out to the garage and they strapped on rollerblades. "So where do ya wanna go?" she asked.
Zac shrugged. "I dunno, wherever..." He paused for a second or two. "Alisha we need to talk, I know you said you just want to be friends...but-"
"Zac, I know, I really like being with you," she interrupted.
"Well, um...do you want to be my girlfriend?" he unsurely asked.
Alisha turned her head the other way for a moment. The looked back at him with a weak smile and nodded her head. Zac grinned. "Well, let's get going," he suggested and they skated out of the garage.
As they rollerbladed on the smooth pavement, Alisha contemplated. What am I doing, she thought, I can't do this to Zac.
Zac noticed her uncomfort and said, "Hey Lish, you ok? You seem awfully quiet."
Alisha forced a smile and said, "Yeah, I'm fine." Zac reached for her hand and they both skated in silence.
********
Taylor flipped through the tv stations hoping to find something decent to watch. Gwen was curled up on the couch next to him. "Ugh! There's nothing on!" he complained.
Gwen was about to say something when Alisha and Zac walked in the room hand in hand. "Hey guys," Zac said, "mind if we watch tv with you?"
"Sure," Gwen and Tay replied. Zac and Alisha sat next to eachother on the floor.
"I'm hungry, I'm gonna get food," Zac said.
"Ok, I'm hungry too," Tay replied, "I'll come with ya."
As soon at Taylor and Zac were out of the room Alisha turned around to face Gwen. "Gwen, oh my god, I feel so awful," Alisha moaned.
"Why? What happened?" Gwen asked.
"Zac asked me to be his girlfriend."
"Alisha," Gwen started, "you told him about Jason, right?"
Alisha got a guilty look on her face. "Well...not exactly..."
"Jesus, Alisha! What were you thinking?!" Gwen exclaimed.
"Well...I don't know, I just really like Zac...and I also like Jason. When Jason asked me out I still thought about Zac a bit, but I swear, I never thought I'd see him again," Alisha slowly replied.
"Alisha, you gotta tell him," Gwen informed her.
"Yeah, I know..." Alisha was cut off when Zac and Taylor re-entered the room with 4 cokes and chips. Zac handed Alisha a coke and sat down next to her with a warm smile. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. I'm the biggest idiot, she thought to herself.
*******Next Day********
There she is, Ike thought to himself. It was the day after he had met Katy at the library. It may have seemed desperate, but he went back the next day to see if she was there. He slowly approached her and tapped on her shoulder. She turned around.
"Ike! Hey!" Katy exclaimed with a huge smile.
"Hey, I know you're probably busy studying, I just wanted to say hi," Ike said, grinning back.
"Oh, that's ok, I need a break from the books anyways...I've got a big test tomorrow."
Ike and Katy continued talking for like an hour, not watching the clock. "Oh shit," Ike suddenly said, "I've got a class in 10 minutes, I'll see ya later, ok?"
"Ok, bye!" Katy replied.
Chapter 7...Strange Kind of Love