"Why don't you come in?" he asked. "You haven't come over in a forever."
"I don't know... Taylor's been a bit angry with me lately," she mumbled. Zac rolled his eyes.
"Taylor's been like that with everyone. He's just PMSin'," he explained. Skye gave him a quizzical look.
" Zac, I thought you had this talk ages ago... Only GIRLS have PMS," she told him.
"Exactly," Zac said. "Taylor's PMSin'. Now, are you comin' or not?"
The expression on Zac's face was irresistable. She groaned, but took the keys out of the ignition.
"Aaaaalll right!" Zac said, trying to jump up, but only managing to hit his head on the ceiling of the car. "Oooh..."
Skye laughed nervously, and edged out the door. Since when do you get a nauseated feeling going into your best friend's house?
"I'm HOOOOME!" Zac called. Taylor glanced up from his "misery project" as he'd come to call it. It didn't matter whether or not he was going on tour in 3 days; Coach Jacobs (his chem teacher) wasn't about to let him out of this assignment. In fact, he just moved up his due date by a week and 3 days.
"And," Zac said, much closer now, "I brought a friend." Taylor's eyes flashed over to the door, where Zac was peeking in, grinning maniacally.
Skye peered over his shoulder, and grinned sheepishly. She disappeared again. A loud, "KYE!!!!" rang through the house. Taylor felt his breath catch, and he gave himself a self-conscious once-over. That was so 'chick', he chided himself. However, he did feel a bit bare. He was in a tank top and a pair of sweat pants. Not exactly...decent.
He got up anyhow and walked into the living room like he always did. He managed to keep the deep red blush back in his gooey-feeling stomach so that he didn't seem out of the ordinary. If Skye knew I had a crush on her, he thought, she'd probably run far and fast.
"Hey, Tay," she said, although she had a nearly 6-year-old Mackie in her arms and had her attention entirely focused upon him. He was really too big for this behaviour - and also too big to be calling her only 'Kye - and he seemed to know this as well as savour the fact that she babied him so.
"Hey, Skye," he said casually.
His mother suddenly popped into the room. "Hey, Skye. Where've ya been for so long?"
"I've been busy," she said, with a friendly smile. Yeah, Taylor thought heatedly, busy with Randy...
"How've you been?" Skye asked, sitting Mackenzie down.
"Good," Mrs. H replied. "I've got some work to be doing, so...I'll leave you kids alone."
"Oh," Zac said, grinning deviously, "Mac and I are going to run down to the Childer's house before it gets too dark. He wants to play with Joe, and I want to play with Marietta..."
"I don't either want to play with JOE!" Mac yelled. "HE SMELLS BAD!"
"Suuure you do," Zac insisted.
"No!"
"I'll give you five bucks..."
"Twenty," Mackie bargained.
"Fifteen," Zac offered.
"Well, I was gonna let you slide with ten, but if fifteen is what you offer, fifteen is simply what I'll have to take," Mackie said, shaking his hand firmly. "You drive a hard bargain, Zaccy."
Skye laughed at the gawking expression on Zac's face. However, Zac sighed and recovered quickly, and dragged Mackie out the front door.
After they had scampered away, Taylor seemed anxious to get away from the living room. Skye noticed this. "Taylor, do you have ants in your pants or something?"
"What?" he asked.
"Fidgety," she pointed out. "You're fidgety."
"Yeah, well," was all he had to say.
"Wanna go for a walk?" she asked.
"Sure," he said. But then paused. "Can I go get on some clothes first?"
"Oh, yeah," she said, looking him over. "I'll wait."
