"And you'd keep Amber and Tay's relationship a secret?"
"Absolutely," Mrs. McKenny assured her.
Alexandra thought of Taylor...his dream that he had achieved through so much work and dedication-- for it to be ruined...it would crush him. He'd lose all his fans that mean so much to him-- because of her. She couldn't destroy everything.
"Okay," Alex sighed, "I'll do it."
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Jenn waved goodbye to her at-home teacher. After she closed the door, she sprinted upstairs to start studying for her algebra test the next day. She stumbled back down the stairs when the doorbell rang again. "Maybe she forgot to give me MORE homework," Jenn muttered to herself.
When she opened the door a smile brightened her face. "Hi!" she greeted her boyfriend with a kiss. Ike followed her inside. "Do you want something to drink?" she offered.
"Um...I can get myself a glass of water...thanks anyway though," Ike answered, searching for a glass. Jenn watched him fill himself a glass of water.
"Want to come upstairs?" she asked. Ike nodded, and she led him up to her room.
Ike set his water down on her dresser and slipped his arms around her waist. He blew lightly into her ear. "Stop it Ike, that tickles!" She leaned away, but smiled.
Ike tilted his in head again, this time nibbling on her earlobe, fingering her long hair sweeped up into a sloppy ponytail. He made a trail of kisses down her neck, as he began to walk slowly backwards towards her bed.
Jenn turned around and slowly began to unbutton his shirt. She kissed his chest and started to undo his belt buckle with one hand, while outlining the firm creases of his abdominal muscles.
"No wait," Ike interrupted.
"What?" Jenn straightened up.
"Before we...get into anything here...I need to use the bathroom," his face flushed embarrassingly.
"Ugh Ike! Why didn't you go at home?" She asked as if scolding a five-year-old.
"Sorry mommy, I guess I forgot," he grinned and kissed her, his tongue leaping into her mouth, mingling with hers. "Hmmm...my mom sure doesn't kiss like that," he after Jenn licked his lips carefully, tasting him. Then he pulled away and headed for the bathroom.
Jenn rolled her eyes and plopped back onto the bed. A minute later Ike emerged from the washroom with a familiar box in his hand.
"What's this?" he demanded. Jenn's eyes widened. "Jenn, are you..." Ike sat down next to her. "Pregnant?"
"No," Jenn looked down, "but I thought I was--it was just to make sure...I had to..." she told him. "I'm sorry, but it wasn't that big of a deal," she added firmly.
"But why didn't you just tell me? Even though it was negative--it's my business too..." Ike looked hurt.
Jenn softened. "I know," she mumbled, then looked him in the eye. "I should've told you...you know I'm sorry Ike..." she wrapped her arms around his neck and pecked the tip of his nose with her lips.
She let go of him and looked at the video that he had put on her bed. "I Know What You Did Last Summer?"
"Yeah...I rented it so we could watch it," Ike explained.
"Oh," she read the label on the video, "I already saw it though."
"Me too."
"It was a really dumb movie."
"I know."
"Scream was way better," Jenn handed the video to Ike.
"I think so too, but it wasn't available at the video store and I didn't have time to go to another one."
"Oh okay," Jenn said, a little disappointedly. "You could've made them get it somewhere," she shoved him playfully. "You're a Hanson and you couldn't get a copy of Scream!"
"It's not my fault," Ike protested, "some idiot took it out before me!"
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Taylor shoved Scream into the VCR.
"Yes!" Alex rejoiced, "I love Scream!"
They settled onto the couch in the den of Alexandra's house. Alex's heart was racing due to the problem that she faced. She tried to remain calm. Still, she nearly flinched when Taylor casually slipped his arm around her shoulder.
Instead of resting her head on his shoulder, she stared unblinkingly at the TV screen. Taylor had made many feeble attempts at starting a make-out session, but Alex just said that she wanted to watch the movie, and Taylor sighed disappointedly everytime.
Well into the movie, just as Sydney's best friend's head was crushed by the garage door, tears spilled out of Alex's eyes.
"What's wrong? I mean...this movie isn't exactly Titanic..." Taylor told her, annoyed.
Alex's eyes left the TV and looked deep into Taylor's identical blue ones. He has no idea that anything's wrong...how could he? She thought with pity. It's going to hurt him so much...
Her lower lip quivered. She leaned her head on his shoulder and then buried her face in the soft material of his sweater, to smother her quiet sobs.
"Alex what's wrong?" Taylor asked again.
"I, um, I can't look," she pretended to be scared, covering her eyes. "I hate these kinds of movies," she said, but it was hard to understand because Taylor's clothing muffled her voice.
"Oh," Taylor excepted this rather girlish reply with surprise. She didn't seem like the type to shy away from scarey movies.
Actually, she wasn't. Alex loved scarey, exciting, bloody movies.
Too bad Taylor didn't know that.
All The Way To Albertane
You Are My Hope
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