My eyes opened slowly. Immediately, I was angry with myself. I hadn't remembered one thing about the dream. Not one measly little detail had stuck in my mind . . . Except for the fact that I could remember that I had dreamt.
I sat up and surveyed my surroundings. Evie was still asleep at my side. On the trundle bed, my mom and dad were also still asleep. I leaned over and looked at the bottom bunk. Lynn was asleep as well.
Great, I thought. First one awake, as usual.
Quietly, I climbed out of the bed and crossed the room to my suitcase - that apparently, my father had brought in. I did pretty good - I only stepped on two Legos. I opened the suitcase and grabbed some clothes. As silently as I could, I changed into them. So what, my mom, dad, sister, and best friend were in there? They were all asleep, anyway. When I was done, I closed the suitcase.
Opening the door, I crept out of the room and down the hall. I then slipped into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door.
I pulled out a jug of milk and then went in search of glasses. I checked three cupboards before I found the right one. With that done, I poured myself a glass of milk and walked out into the living room.
Isaac, Taylor, and Zac were all still asleep: Isaac on the couch, Taylor on the love seat, and Zac on the recliner - just as Isaac had said the previous night. Not wanting to wake any of them, I sat on the floor and sipped my milk. I looked at the clock on the VCR. It was seven thirty-five.
"Yet another early morning," I muttered. I sipped my milk.
After a few minutes, I heard a groan from behind me. "What are you doing up so early?" asked a groggy voice.
I turned around and saw Isaac rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Well, good morning yourself, Sunshine," I said wryly. I kept my voice low so as not to wake the other two.
Isaac sat up. "No, really. Why are you up so early?" he repeated.
"Had a dream," I told him simply.
Isaac looked straight at me. "What? You mean like a nightmare?" he asked, sounding almost concerned.
I was surprised. The last thing I'd have expected was for an almost total stranger to be worried because I said I had a dream. "No," I said. "It wasn't a nightmare. It was . . . Y'know, this is gonna sound weird, but I've had this dream two nights straight and I still can't remember it."
Isaac cocked an eyebrow at me. "Then how do you know it's the same dream?"
I thought about this for a moment. "I don't know. I just know, you know?"
"Don't try and confuse me this early in the morning," he said, shaking his head slightly. "I'm still half asleep."
Smiling, I said, "And, you're blond."
"Well, so are you."
"I never denied that," I told him simply.
Isaac laughed. I shushed him, glancing to his brothers. Still smiling, Isaac said, "Tell you what, I'll go get changed -" (he had slept in his clothes from the previous day as well) "- and we can go outside and talk."
I shrugged. "Okay."
Isaac left the room and quietly walked into his bedroom. I walked into the kitchen and rinsed out my now empty glass and set it in the sink. When I was finished, I went back into the living room and sat down on the couch Isaac had been sleeping on. A couple of minutes later, Isaac emerged from the bathroom - where he had apparently gone to change - and came into the living room.
"Ready?" I asked.
"One sec," he replied, slipping into the kitchen. He came back a moment later. "I left a note to our parents so they wouldn't wake up and freak out."
I nodded. "Good idea," I agreed. I walked over to the front door and attempted to unlock it. However, I wasn't successful.
"Here," Isaac said. He reached his arm around me and twisted the lock. "It's a little tricky."
I took a deep breath. He sure did smell nice.
Oh, shut up! Stop that right now! I scolded myself. Don't start thinking like that and getting all mushy!
Turning the doorknob, Isaac swung the door open. "Viola," he muttered.
I pushed open the screen door and walked outside. The air was crisp and clean, and there was a slight sharp chill on the breeze. Without noticing, I rubbed my arms. "It's gonna be a really nice day," I commented.
"Yeah," Isaac agreed. He touched my back lightly. "Over here," he directed.
The two of us walked out across the front yard and took a seat on two of about a dozen large rocks that ran from the far side of the house almost to the road. There were trees all around - many were pine. I looked around, took a deep breath, and sighed. "It's so beautiful out here."
Isaac grinned. "Yeah. It is pretty nice, huh?"
Nodding, I said, "Yeah, it reminds me a little of my grandpa's place."
"Oh, really? Where does he live?"
"Michigan," I said simply.
Leaning back and resting against a rock behind him, Isaac looked up at the sky. "Is that where you're from?"
"That's where I'm living now," I told him. "But I was born in Virginia."
Isaac glanced at me. "Really? That's where Zac was born. In Arlington. What city were you born in?"
"Norfolk," I replied. "And you know what's weird? My sister was born in Arlington. Only this one was in Texas."
"Really?" he asked, not looking down from the sky this time. "Is that where you were going?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah. We still own a house down there and we were going down there to sell it. Finally." I yawned.
Grinning, Isaac asked, "Is this conversation boring you?"
I nodded. "Yep. My life is pretty boring."
He gave a slight laugh. "Okay. Then why don't you tell me more about that dream?"
I shrugged. "I told you - I can't remember. I mean, I know that I'm gonna wake up, and I tell myself that I have to remember something, but I never can. Somehow, I know it's important. I just don't know why."
"Weird," is all Isaac said.
"Tell me about it."
Isaac laughed. "That's not your middle name!"
I grinned. "How do you know?"
"Because nobody would name their child 'Jaye Self-Induced Sugar High Morgan'," he said reasonably.
I shrugged. "Okay. I'll give you that," I said. The two of us had been talking for . . . oh, who knows how long. I'd managed to tell Isaac pretty much my entire life story, and he had told me quite a few things about his. And now, he was stuck on learning my middle name.
He shook his head. "What is it?" he asked. I didn't reply. "C'mon, Jaye. You know mine."
I rolled my eyes. "That's only because you go by your middle name, Clarke." Isaac pretended to cringe. I laughed. "You're not gonna give up on this, are you?"
"Not until you tell me," he said firmly.
"Fine, fine," I said with a sigh. "I'll tell you." I paused dramatically. Isaac reached over and playfully punched my leg. "It's Jacqueline."
Isaac nodded. "That's a nice name," he said at length. "Why didn't you want to tell me?"
"It sounds nice alone, but when you say it with the rest of my name, it sounds stupid. I mean, come on. 'Jaye Jacqueline Morgan'? My parents are the ones who were on the self-induced sugar high."
Isaac laughed again. "What is it with you and self-induced sugar highs?" he asked. I shrugged. "And 'Jaye Jacqueline'. Is that where the 'Jaye-Jae' nickname came from?"
I opened my mouth to reply, but I was cut off when the front door opened. Isaac and I both looked over to see what was going on.
"We'd better get moving if we want to get there by then," Walker was saying. He walked outside, my dad and mom following.
"This is so great of you," my mom said.
"Really, it's nothing," Walker said modestly.
"I wonder what's going on?" I whispered, turning to Isaac.
He shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe we should go over there and ask," he suggested.
I nodded. The two of us stood up and started toward them. They didn't seem to notice us until Isaac cleared his throat and asked, "So, what's going on here?"
My dad turned to him. "Well, your dad offered his van to help us get down to Arlington. Our van'll be in the shop for at least a week."
Isaac glanced at me. "So, you're all leaving . . ." he asked slowly.
"No," Walker said. "Mr. and Mrs. Morgan and I are going down to Arlington to sell their house. Until we get back and until their van is fixed, Jaye, Evie, and Lynn are staying with you guys and your mother."
Isaac gave a small nod. "Cool."
"So, you're leaving right now?" I asked my parents. They both nodded. I hugged them both and we said our good-byes.
"Look after your sister," Mom told me.
"Yeah," I mumbled. "That little hooligan. I'll make sure she stays out of trouble." Mom and I laughed.
I watched as Walker and my parents piled into the van and drove off. As soon as they turned onto the road, Isaac touched my arm. "You wanna go inside now?"
"Sure," I said with a slight shrug. When we walked into the house, everybody in the living room looked up at us.
"Hey, look who decided to grace us with his presence!" Zac cried. "Welcome back to civilization, Ikey-Pooh!"
"Yeah," Taylor added. "Where were you, anyway?"
Isaac walked into the house and sat down on the couch next to Tay. "The front yard, O dear genius brother of mine. I tell you, don't give up your day job. You'll never make it as a detective."
"Yeah, Ike, you're funny," Taylor told his brother sarcastically.
"Hey," I said, coming between the verbal insults, "do you guys know where my sister and Evie are?"
Isaac put his fingers to his temples and hummed. "My senses tell me . . . they're still in the bedroom."
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. Spider senses, right? Pop star by day, super hero by night?" I asked sarcastically.
Zac laughed. "He was right, though. They're still in the bedroom."
"Thanks." I walked to the guys' bedroom and opened the door.
"Hey!" Lynn yelled, pulling her shirt down over her head. "Zac, I thought I told you I was changing -" She turned and looked at me. "Oh, sorry. Thought you were someone else." She blushed.
"Lynnie, why did you think I was Zac?" I asked, closing the door behind me.
After closing up her suitcase, Evie said, "Because a couple minutes ago, Zac kept teasing her, pretending like he was going to open the door when she was changing."
I nodded. "Ah," I said simply.
"And where were you, anyway?" Evie asked. "I woke up and you weren't here. I went in the living room and Tay and Zac said they didn't know where you were."
"I was outside," was my reply.
"Oh," Evie said with a shrug. "Let's go get some breakfast."
I smiled. "Sounds like a plan to me," I told her. Lynnie was still digging through her suitcase, so we left her to dig. Eve and I made our way into the kitchen. I got two bowls out of the cupboards - I had found them while searching for glasses earlier. Evie got the milk out and began searching drawers for silverware and I began looking for cereal.
"Need some help?" Taylor asked from the doorway.
"Just looking for breakfast," I told him, opening another cupboard and looking through it.
He smiled. "Just make yourself at home."
I grinned. "I tend to do that," I told him.
Taylor chuckled to himself and walked further into the kitchen. He opened a cupboard and took out two boxes. "Take your pick. This is all the cereal we have left. My mom has to go do some grocery shopping."
I stood up and took the boxes from him. "Thanks," I said, walking over to the table.
Evie and I sat down. Taylor got a bowl and a spoon and sat down as well. As soon as the three of us had poured out our breakfasts, Lynn walked in. "I hate cereal!" she whined.
I picked an apple up out of the bowl on the table and tossed it at her. "Here, picky. Eat that."
"Whoa, flying fruit!" Zac cried, bounding into the kitchen.
"Shush, Zac," Isaac said, walking into the room after his brother. "Some people in this house are still asleep, you know."
Pouting, Zac quieted down and sat down at the table.
