The next day, Laurie woke up happy. She dreamt about her and Tay the whole night long. She dreamed them going to places all over the world and them getting married someday.
Laurie pulled on some clothes and went downstairs to eat a bowl of Fruit Loops. Mike was downstairs munching away on a banana.
"Morning, Mike," she said. Mike responded by opening his mouth and showing her the banana.
"Ew, sick Mikey!" she said. She poured herself a bowl of fruit loops and ate them. She looked out the window and saw Mackie playing on the swing set.
"I'm going to Tay's!" Laurie yelled. She ran outside and stopped to talk to Mackie. "Hey, Mackie, remember me?" she asked.
"Yeah, Laurie," he said. "Want me to take you inside?" he asked.
"Sure." Mackie took her hand and led her inside the house.
"Tay! Come in the kitchen!" yelled Mackie. Tay came in, in a T shirt and boxers.
"What, Mack--" he said. He saw Laurie and his face turned red. "Be right back, Mackie. Hi Laurie," he said hurriedly.
"Hi Tay," she said.
"I'll be right back." Tay sprang for the steps. He went to his room and got dressed, putting on jean shorts and an orange shirt. Then he sprang back down the steps.
"Okay, Mackie, what did you want?" he asked.
"Just to let you know that your girlfriend is here."
Laurie smiled. Tay looked embarassed. "Um, thanks Mackie."
Mackie went back outside. Tay took Laurie's hand. "Listen, Laurie, we gotta talk," he said.
"Okay. Where do you want to go to talk at?"
"Outside."
They went outside. They were by themselves. They sat on a swinging chair.
"Listen, Laurie, about when we kissed, well......" he started.
"Yes Tay? You liked it, didn't you?"
"I did, but I don't think to the extent you did. I meant to kiss you, but only as a friend, but still I'm not sure if I meant it as a friend, or if I didn't," he said.
"Whoa, Tay, I think you need to calm down and go think about this," Laurie said. "You can go ahead and go inside and think about this for awhile. I'll talk to you later."
"Okay, but Laurie--" Tay started to say. Laurie turned around.
"What?"
"We'll still be friends, right?"
Laurie smiled. "Yeah, definitely."
Tay smiled at her and went back inside. Laurie sunk down on one of their lawn chairs and started to cry. She sat there for a few minutes, and she heard their door open. She turned around, her eyes still red. It was Ike coming outside.
"Hey Laurie. What's wrong?" he asked.
Laurie looked up. "Oh, Ike, Tay doesn't feel the way about me as I feel about him," she sobbed.
Ike sat next to her and put his arm around her. "Oh, Laurie, it's okay," he said in his most soothing voice.
"I feel like an idiot, Ike," she said.
"You are not an idiot," he said.
"Yes I am," she said.
Ike squeezed her a little tighter. "No, you're not," he said.
"Then how come I feel like one?" she asked.
"You couldn't help feeling the way you do," he said.
Laurie sniffled. She looked up at him. "Did you feel like that once?" she asked.
Ike nodded. "Yeah, once when I was about your age. I really liked this girl, I even told her, and she laughed right in my face."
"That must have been horrible," Laurie said.
Ike nodded. "It was, but I got over it. And so will you. Who knows? Maybe Tay feels the same way about you and he doesn't know it yet," he said.
"You think so?" asked Laurie.
"Maybe," said Ike. He didn't want to get her hopes up, in case if Tay just wanted to be friends with her, but he hated to see her like that.
"Thanks for cheering me up, Ike. I really needed it," said Laurie. They gave each other big hugs. Ike had the sudden urge to kiss her, but he held it back.
"You're welcome. Laurie, if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm here for you," said Ike.
"Thanks, Ike, I really appreciate that," said Laurie. She stood up. "Well, I better be going."
Ike stood up. "Wait, do you maybe want to......do something together?"
Laurie was surprised. "Sure, Ike. What do you want to do?"
"Well, maybe we could go Go Kart riding or play Laser Tag?"
"I've never played Laser Tag before," said Laurie.
"Oh, you got to! It's a great game! We'll take Zac and Jessica with us, because it's more fun with more players."
"Okay," said Laurie.
"I'll go get them. You can come with me, if you want."
"Sure, why not?"
Ike and Laurie went in the house. They got Jessica and Zac. Avery wanted to go, so she came along too.
Tay was in his room, and they didn't bother him. Ike drove them to the local Laser Tag place. Laurie got to ride in front, Zac, Jessica, and Avery in back. Ike drove his blue VW Beetle. They got there in about 10 minutes. They had the radio on and they were all singing to it. They were having a great time. Finally, Ike pulled into the laser tag place. They all went in and Ike paid for everyone.
"I'll pay you back, Ike," said Laurie.
"Don't worry, kiddo," said Ike. They all went in and put on their gear. Ike helped Laurie with hers and Zac helped Jessica and Avery suit up. While they waited, Ike explained to Laurie how to play. After a few minutes, the guy let the four of them in. Laurie tried her best, but she got hit 6 times, 2 by Ike, 2 by Zac, 1 time by Jessica, and 1 time by Avery. She hit Ike one time, Zac 3 times, and Jessica and Avery each one time. They were pretty good. They played a few more games, and then they left.
"Did you like playing, Laurie?" Ike asked as they pulled out.
"Yeah, it was great. Could we go again sometime?"
"Yeah, definitely," said Ike. He turned back. "What about you guys? Did you have fun?"
"Yeah, it was fun!" said Avery.
"Groovy," said Jessica.
"Happenin in a far out way," said Zac.
Everyone laughed. Laurie noticed Ike's laugh, a nice deep one. She liked it a lot. They drove for awhile in silence. Finally, they got home. Taylor was outside. He looked mad.
"Where were you guys?" he demanded.
"We went to go play Laser Tag," said Ike.
"Why didn't you ask me if I wanted to go?"
"We didn't want to interrupt you," said Laurie.
"Okay, fine," said Taylor. He didn't look as mad anymore. "Laurie, do you want to come in?"
"Sure," she said. They all went inside. Taylor and Laurie went downstairs. Tay took Laurie's hand.
"Laurie, I've thought about it. The kisses, I thought they were nice, but I still want to be just friends," he said.
"I agree with you," said Laurie. Tay looked a little surprised.
"I'm sorry if I hurt you," he said.
"You did at first, but someone gave me some wise advice," said Laurie.
"Oh, okay," said Tay. He held his hand out. "Pals?"
Laurie grabbed it. "Pals."
Chapter 9
Chapter 7
I Knew Them When
While We Grow
