Oh my God. I can’t believe he’s so close to me. I can’t believe that he’s right in front of me, and I’m not dreaming. Tears started to flood my eyes.
“Nick, oh my God.” I couldn’t say anything more.
He had grown taller, and he was taller than me now. He had grown up so much in just one year. It was a shock to see him.
“Hi,” he said, tears forming in his eyes.
“Hi.”
“How’ve you been?”
“Good...You?”
“Good.... It’s been too long.” He hugged me, and we both started to cry.
A few minutes later, I was aware of Taylor’s eyes. God, this must be so hard for him, I thought. I broke lose from Nick’s embrace, which was the hardest thing for me to do at that moment.
“So how’s Mary?” I asked.
“She’s good. It’ll be 3 months soon.”
“That’s awesome!” It was hard for me to think of Nick having someone else. It’s always been me.
“What about you?”
“His name’s Taylor.” I pulled Tay up beside me. “He and I had an instant attraction for each other. He’s really great.”
“That’s cool. How long’s it been?”
“Not too long. Just today.” God... I can’t believe that I still feel this way... My heart is, like, split in half.
“That’s cool. Well, listen, I have to meet Rhonda, Chris, and Mary soon. It was great seeing you again. I’ve really missed you. Don’t be a stranger, call me. Maybe we can do something.” With that, and a quick hug, he was gone. I stood, unable to move.
“Joey, you ok?” Nicole asked me. She knew my past with him, and how much I loved him. She knew that it was hard for me to see him, and not have him.
“Yeah,” I said, still dazed. “It’s just hard. I loved him so much, and then he was gone. It is like a stab in my heart to see him and know that things will never be the same with him again. But, hey, I have the greatest guy in the world, and I love him. If I didn’t have Tay, I would be sobbing by now. You know that. But, you know what? I think I have more in common with Taylor than with Nick, which I thought was impossible.”
Ike cleared his throat. Nicole and I totally forgot that Taylor and Isaac were there!
“Sorry! Sometimes we get a little carried away with our conversations. We are twins, ya know.” Nicki explained.
I still couldn’t believe that I said those things with Tay right there!!
*************************************************************************
I was shocked. In more ways than one. I know that Joana loves Nick more than anything. I know partly because she told me, and partly because I saw it when she was with him. The fact that she didn’t go running after him, and that she called me the greatest guy in the world, and said that she loves me, meant so much to me. I knew then that she really did love me, and that she really cares.
She looked at me. “I just want you to know that I care about you so much.” She paused. “I do admit that I still love Nick. It’s hard for me to see him with another girl, and I’m sure it’s hard for him to see me with you. We both still love each other, but we both think it’s best to move on. We did it for our own good, and I am so glad we did. If we hadn’t... I wouldn’t have you.” She took my hand and looked into my eyes. “I love you, Taylor. That’s all that matters.”
I choked back tears. “I love you, too, Joana. More than anything else.” I kissed her then, totally oblivious of anyone or anything else. Oblivious to anything but us, our love, and our bodies. Nothing else mattered.
“Can you two come back down to earth, please? We’d really like to go and have some fun,” Nicki said, breaking our wall of magic.
Joana blushed. “Sure. Sorry.... Let’s go!”
I took Joana’s hand and we began to walk. Then I noticed that Ike had given Nicki his ring... The one and only piece of jewelry that he never takes off. “Hey, Joana...” She looked at me. “Take a look at Nicki’s right hand.... Do you see it?”
“Yeah.. I do... I’ve never seen it before.... what is it?” she asked.
“It was Ike’s ring... He never took it off... He got it in New York when he was 11..... He ALWAYS wears it.... But now Nicki is wearing it.... Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
She smiled mischievously. “I sure am.... I wonder if they are together or not.. and if they are, why aren’t they telling us? Nicki always tells me everything...”
“I’ve got a plan.... Just follow my lead.” I told her.
I walked up to join them, and she followed behind me.
“So, what’d you guys do when you were by yourselves?” I asked. I could see Ike turn red, and the look on Nicki’s face was obvious. Something did happen when they were alone.
“Well.... We, uh... talked?” Ike said.
“Ok, guys. What are you hiding from us?” Joana asked, finally impatient.
Nicole looked at Ike, and then sighed. “Well... We are kinda together now, too....”
I couldn’t believe it... Ike swore that he would never date anyone ever again because of the pain Clara put him through... I was really proud... He finally opened his eyes. “Hey, that’s great! I’m happy for you both!”
“Nicki, that’s great!! But why didn’t you tell us when we told you? We’re twins, for heaven’s sake, Nic... Why are you starting to hide things from me?”
“I’m not.... It’s just that..... Ok... So maybe I was... But I really don’t have a clue why... I’m sorry...”
“It’s ok... But if you do it again, I’ll do something drastic, like die your hair..” Joana teased.
Nicki laughed. “Ok.. You win.. I won’t do it again!”
***********************************************************************
Something was very wrong... I had no idea what it was, but I could feel it... Nicki had never hidden anything from me for 16 years until this happened. It just wasn’t like her. I had a feeling that all hell would break loose in our family soon.
“So, do we do the Rapids, Pompeii, Lochness again... What?” Nicole asked.
I looked at my watch... it was only 4pm... 8 more hours... “Well... If we do the Rapids or Pompeii now, we’ll be soaked for the rest of the day... Why don’t we go see a show? That will kill some time. And, besides the shows stop about sixish... If we want to see one, we’d better go now.”
Nicole’s pager went off. “Who could that be?” She looked at it. “Hey, Jo, it’s Hill. We’d better find out what she wants.”
At that moment, Tay’s pager went off, too. “Hey, it’s Zac. Here’s an idea. How about you guys walk over to England and wait for us there. Then we can decide what to do.”
“Ok. Sounds like a plan. How about you meet Nic and me in front of the theater for ‘Rockin the Boat’ in about 30 minutes. Ok?” Ike suggested.
“Ok. See ya then!” I shouted, and once again, we were off on our own separate ways.
“So, where are the nearest phones?” Tay asked.
I smiled. “Follow me.”
I took his hand and led him through the crowd. I was surprised that nobody else had recognized him
I took him to the phones near Roman Rapids. When we reached them, I took out my money, and called Hillary.
Ring, Ring. “Hello?” Hillary answered the phone.
“Hey, Hill. You paged?”
“Yeah. I am feeling a lot better. Mac said he’d drive me. Do you think you guys could meet me @ Big Ben in a little bit?”
I paused. Did I really want her there? I love her to death, but I want to be with Tay. But, then again, Hillary would be hurt. I don’t want her to be hurt again. She’d seen enough. I brought a lot of pain and fear into our family this past year, and Hill was effected the most by it. More so than Nicki, strangely. I’ll let her come. “I have a better idea. Meet us @ the 5pm performance of “Rockin the Boat”. We’ll save you a seat. K”
“Ok, Joey. See you in about an hour!” She hung up.
I hung up and looked at Tay, who was just hanging up himself. “So, what did Zac want?” I asked.
“Well, he really wants to come back. So, I told him to meet us at the show. I told him that we would save a seat for him. What did Hillary want?”
“The same thing. I told her to meet us at the same place you told Zac. That’s pretty weird,” I paused, thinking the cutest thought. “You know, wouldn’t it be cute to see Hill and Zac together? Who knows? They may end up with the same fate as their two older siblings!”
He laughed. “Yeah, it would. But, he kinda likes this girl at home. But, then again, if your sister is anything like you or Nic, he’s bound to fall for her.”
I blushed, and hugged him. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
“Well... It means that if Hillary is anything like you - Beautiful, fun, undescribable - He’s bound to fall for her like I did for you.”
Oh my God! He’s so sweet! I kissed him, and said, “You’re amazing. Do you know that? You make me feel good about myself. I haven’t felt that way in so long!”
“Well, you know it’s all true. Everything about you is perfect. Every little thing about you makes me love you more.”
“I love you so much. I don’t know how I lived so long without you.”
“Me either. It’s like my heart was reborn today. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. I thank you for making me come back to life.” I paused, and looked at my watch. “We’d better head towards the show! We don’t want to be late!”
Confused? Go back to chapter 6
Totally lost? Need to start again? Go back to the chapter index!
Done? Go home!
