"Celena! Phone!" Mrs. Holt yelled up the stairs leading to Celena's room. Celena picked up the extension in her room.
"I've got it, Mom!" Celena yelled. She heard the other phone click as her mother hung up. "Hello?"
"Hi, Cel. It's John," a deep voice said.
"Oh, hi! What's up?" she asked casually.
"Not much, not much. I was wondering if you'd like to go to the movies with me tonight," John said. Celena stood up and started jumping around the room, she was so excited.
"Sure. What time?" she replied.
"About seven. Is that okay?" he asked.
"Sure. I'll see you then," she said.
"Yeah, bye," he said.
"Buh-bye!" she said, hanging up the phone. "Ahhhhhh!" she screamed in joy. Her mother came rushing up the stairs at the sound.
"Are you okay?" her mother asked. "I heard you scream."
"I have another date with John tonight!" Celena exclaimed. She was ecstatic.
"That's wonderful," Mrs. Holt said, giving Celena a bear hug. "What time is he coming to get you?"
"About seven! We're going to see a movie," Celena replied. The phone rang again. Celena quickly picked it up, as her mother waved and left the room. "Hello?"
"Celena? This is Taylor," the voice on the other end of the line said.
"Oh, hi!" she said, kind of surprised that he'd actually called. "How are you?"
"Great...listen, I was wondering if you'd like to go rollerblading with me this afternoon," Taylor replied.
"Uh...sure." She looked down at her watch. It was noon. "Just as long as I'm home by six."
"Why?" Taylor asked.
"I have another date with John," she replied, nonchalantly.
"Oh, you do?" Taylor said, disappointedly.
"Yeah, we're going to see a movie," Celena responded. Taylor took a deep breath. It's just not. fair. Celena belongs with me, not John. But if she's happy, that's all that matters to me. Just smile and act as though you're thrilled about it.
"Well, that's great," Taylor lied. "I'm happy for you."
"Thanks. What time do you want me to come over?" Celena asked.
"Can you be over in fifteen minutes?" Taylor replied.
"That depends. Where do you live?" Celena asked.
"169 West Seventy-Seventh Street," Taylor answered.
"Great! I live on Seventy-Fifth Street," Celena said. "I'll be over in about five minutes. Okay?"
"Okay...bye," Taylor said.
"Bye," Celena echoed, hanging up the phone. She ran over to her closet and changed into a pair of jeans, a red O.R.U. sweatshirt, and her roller blades. She carefully walked down the stairs, with a backpack on, that contained her shoes, some money, and a first aid kit.
"Mom! I'm going over to Taylor's!" she yelled.
"Where does he live?" her mom yelled back.
"169 West Seventy-Seventh," Celena replied. "I'll be back around six!"
"Alright! Bye, sweetie! Have fun!" her mom yelled in response.
"Bye!" Celena skated out the door and down the driveway. She quickly skated two streets over to West Seventy-Seventh and found Taylor's house. It was a huge log home. She could hear kids shouting from the backyard. She skated up the driveway and to the front door. She rang the doorbell. A woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes like Taylor's opened the door.
"Hi, is Taylor home?" she asked.
"Oh, you must be Celena. Come on in." Celena stepped into the hallway. "I'm Diana, his mom. Sorry if I can't shake your hand, but I'm baking cookies with the girls, and I have flour all over me." A loud crash came from the kitchen. "I better get back in there and see what's wrong. Just take a seat on the couch in the den. Taylor will be down in a second. Jessie, Avie, what did you do now?" Diana yelled, walking off. Celena looked around her. The hallway alone was huge. She looked to her left. There was a room with a couch and a T.V., in front of a fireplace, which was going. This must be the den, she thought. She walked over to the couch and sat down. Above the fireplace hung a picture of Taylor's family. She stood up and walked over to it. Taylor and his mother were in it, along with six other people. There was a tall man with dark hair standing behind Diana, whom Celena assumed to be Taylor's father. Next to him stood two boys. One with curly sandy blond hair and brown eyes, and the other had straight blond hair and brown eyes. In front of them stood two girls. Each had blonde hair and blue eyes, but one was older than the other. On Mrs. Hanson's lap sat a miniature version of Taylor. It saddened her to look at the picture. They all looked so happy. Nothing like her own dysfunctional family.
"Hi!" Taylor said, startling her. She spun around to see him walking into the room.
"Oh, hi!" she exclaimed. "I was just looking at the picture of your family." She blushed profusely.
"Yep...but there's nine of us now instead of eight," he said. "That's my mom and dad. And that's Isaac and Zac." He pointed to the two blond headed boys. "And that's Jessica and Avery." He pointed to the two girls. "And the little guy on my mom's lap is Mackenzie. The newest addition to our clan is my sister Zoe. Like I said, she's two weeks old."
"That's amazing...your mother is making cookies with your sisters while having four other kids and a newborn to take care of. How does she do it?" Celena wondered.
"Well, Dad quit work when we finally got a record deal with Mercury. He helps mom out a lot," Taylor responded.
"Cool, wanna see pictures of my family?" she asked.
"Sure." She pulled her wallet out of her backpack. She opened it and pulled out some photos.
"This is Bella," she said, showing him a picture of a girl not much older than Taylor's brother Isaac. She had long reddish-brown hair, like Celena's, and brown eyes, shaped like almonds.
"She's gorgeous," he said.
"Yeah," Celena replied. "And this is Marco. He looks more like Dad than the rest of us." Marco had short, spiky blond hair and the same blue eyes that Celena had. "And this is my little sister Ailani." He looked at the picture and blinked a couple of times. The girl looked like she was older than Celena, but she was only twelve. She had bright red hair, pale skin, and green eyes. She wore about a pound of makeup. She looked twelve going on twenty-one.
"Whoa," he finally said. "She looks older than you or Bella."
"Yeah, well. She kinda had to grow up a little fast. She was only seven when Mom and Dad divorced," Celena replied. "And Dad's never home, so she was by herself a lot...or she was with Marco. She gets into a lot of trouble. Mom and Dad have been talking about her coming to live with us. He just can't handle her anymore. She needs more supervision. She's only twelve, and she already smokes. She only dyed her hair red to tick Mom and Dad off."
"Wow, she sounds like a handful," Taylor said.
"Yeah, she is." Celena stared off into space, in deep thought.
"Well, are you ready to go skate?" Taylor asked. "I thought we'd go to the Municipal Park. How does that sound?"
"Magnif!" she replied.
"Ok, let's go!" he said. They rolled into the hallway and out the door, then down the driveway. Taylor began to skat faster and grabbed Celena's hand, pulling her along with him. They quickly arrived at the park.
Taylor was still holding Celena's hand as they skated slowly around the path. But she didn't really mind it. She actually kind of liked it.
"What's your favorite poem by Anna Akhmatova?" Celena asked.
"Love. It's so true, how she describes it. Because that's what it's really like," Taylor replied.
"You've been in love before?" Celena asked.
"Yeah, I am right now," he said.
"With who?" she asked, suddenly feeling jealous, even though she and Taylor were just friends, and she barely knew him.
"No one of importance. She doesn't even know I exist, so it's hopeless," Taylor replied. Yeah, right, Tay. Like she's really gonna believe that. There's no way she's could be completely oblivious to the fact that you like her...is there?
"Oh...that's too bad," she responded. I wonder who she is...he seems really hurt about it.
"Yeah," he responded, quietly. There was an awkward silence for several minutes. "So," he spoke up, finally breaking the stillness," what's your favorite Akhmatova poem?"
"It would have to be One Man Follows," she replied. "That's how I feel most of the time. Lost, wandering aimlessly. My life is just one big mess. But nevermind that..." She looked up and saw an ice cream vender. "Do you want to go get some ice cream?" She pointed to the vender near the playground.
"Sure," he said. They skated off in the direction of the vender.
After about two hours of skating, Taylor and Celena went back to his house. They popped popcorn and watched Oklahoma there. They passed stories back and forth about themselves and their families, as well as about friends.
"Wasn't John belching Friday night on our date just totally disgusting?" Celena asked.
"Yes, it was," Taylor exclaimed. "It's one thing when you do around just a bunch of guys. But on a date? It's just rude. You're supposed to be impressing your date, not grossing her out. And then Chrystyne belching even louder in return was really...butch. Not something I find attractive in a girl." He made a face at the thought.
"Yeah...do you think you'll ever ask her out on another date?" Celena asked.
"No way, no how! I'd have to be really drunk, or there would have to be a really big change in her manners," he replied.
"Yeah...I understand," she said. The doorbell rang.
"I'll go get it," Taylor said, getting up. He walked to the door and opened it. "Hi! John, what are you doing here?" Celena looked at her watch. It was seven-fifteen. She had totally forgotten about her date with John! The two boys walked into the room.
"Hi, John!" she greeted him.
"Hey, Celena. Your mom said you were over here. So I thought I come see what was keeping you. Ready to go?" John explained. Celena looked over at Taylor. His face was red, and he was staring at his feet.
"Go where?" she asked, pretending not to know.
"We have a date, to go to the movies," John replied. "Remember?"
"Oh, yeah...I must have forgotten," she said. "Well, why don't we see if Taylor and Chrystyne want to come with us? Like a double date, again?" Taylor's head shot up, as he suddenly became alert to what she was saying. He shook his head violently. John sighed loudly.
"Yeah, I guess,' John said, frustrated. "Well, call Chrystyne, okay?" Celena picked up the phone off of the coffee table and dialed Chrystyne's number.
"Chrys? Yeah, it's Celena. How would you like to go on a double date with John and Taylor again? Tonight...to a movie. Okay...we'll be there in about fifteen minutes. Bye!" Celena said. She hung up the phone. "She's up for it. Maybe we can run by my house on the way, so I can change clothes. My sweatshirt is all sweaty and smelly."
"Nah...you can just borrow one of my sweaters," Taylor said.
"Are you sure? Because my house is only a few minutes away," Celena asked.
"Yeah, it's fine. Come with me. I'll get one for you," Taylor said. They trudged up the stairs, leaving John sitting on the couch. They walked into his room. Celena looked around as Taylor dug through his closet. There was a bunk bed in one corner, with a small twin bed near it. The walls were white, but you couldn't tell, because they were covered by posters. "Here." He tossed her a red sweater with a white stripe across the chest.
"Turn around," Celena commanded. "And no peeking!" She slipped off her own shirt and put the sweater on. She lifted the collar up to sniff it. It smelled kind of good, like vanilla and washing detergent. It smelled like Taylor did.
"What, does it smell bad?" Taylor asked.
"No...thanks," she said. She walked over and gave him a hug. "Thanks for coming along. I really appreciate it." Their faces were just inches apart.
"Anytime," he said. They were just moments from kissing. "Thanks for coming over. I had a really good time today."
"Me, too," Celena whispered. Taylor stroked her cheek gently with his hand. He kissed her forehead, her nose, and then her lips. The kiss was tender and lingering. They pulled apart, and Celena stared at him for a second. Then she grabbed his collar and pulled him to her, and they kissed again. Little kisses at first, slowly growing into longer, more passionate ones. They pulled apart, and Celena rested her head on Taylor's shoulder. "You know this can't happen again, right?"
"Definitely...it wouldn't be right. Since you're dating John and all...and he's my friend..." Taylor trailed off. "We'd better get downstairs."
"Yeah," Celena responded. They separated and walked down the stairs. They stood just outside the doorway to the den. "You have lipstick around your mouth." Taylor wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Your hair is all messed up," Taylor said. She smoothed her hair down. "Ready?"
"Yeah," she replied. They both took a deep breath and walked into the den.
"What took you so long?" John asked. A boy with curly blond hair as long as Taylor's sat next to him.
"Uh...I had to use the bathroom," Celena lied.
"And it took two of you for just you to use the bathroom?" John said.
"Well...um...," Taylor fumbled for words.
"What I think Taylor is trying to say is that he waited for her to get through, so she wouldn't get lost in the house trying to find her way downstairs," the boy said, standing up. "I mean, this is such a big house, and she's never been here before. Hi, I'm Taylor's brother Isaac. You must be Celena." They shook hands.
"Yes, I am. How did you know who I am?" Celena asked.
"Taylor's known for giving picture perfect descriptions of people. And he did a marvelous job of describing you," Isaac replied. "So, where are you heading?"
"To the movies," John said. "And we're running late." He glared at Taylor.
"Well, then. I guess you better be going," Isaac said.
"Yeah, we should. We still have to pick up Taylor's date," Celena responded.
"Taylor's date?" Isaac said, in disbelief.
"Yeah, Ike. Cel is John's date," Taylor responded quietly.
"Oh." He gave an understanding smile to Taylor.
"Come one, let's go!" John grabbed Celena's hand and pulled her out the door, with Taylor following close behind. John got in the car, without opening the door for Celena. Taylor quickly opened the back door, and let Celena get in. Then he slid in beside her. This was certainly going to be a long night.
"Let's sit here," Celena said. They filed into the back row. John sat on Celena's right, Taylor on her left. And Chrystyne sat on Taylor's left.
"So, is this movie supposed to be any good?" Taylor asked.
"Yeah, even if it is an old one. It's called Funny Face. Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn are in it," Celena replied. "I think you'll really like it."
"Shhh.....it's starting," Chrystyne said. The lights dimmed, and John put his arm around Celena. She tried to relax into his arm and pay attention to the movie. But thoughts of her and Taylor's kiss kept flashing into her head. Stop it! she told herself. You like John, not Taylor...even if he is cuter and sweeter. John is your dream guy. Don't blow it! About fifteen minutes into the movie, Chrystyne's beeper went off.
"Crap! It's my mom! Nana fell again!" Chrystyne exclaimed in a whisper. "John, can you take me home?"
"Uh...yeah, I guess I can. Cel, Tay, can you find a ride home?" John asked.
"Yeah, I'll call home and get Isaac to come pick us up. We'll be okay," Taylor replied.
"Okay. Bye!" John gave Celena a kiss on the forehead and then left with Chrystyne. Taylor was looking straight at the screen, while Celena was busy staring at her nails. Just my luck. I'm left alone with him. How am I ever going to be able to resist him...this is impossible! Man, I really need to get a manicure!
"So...," Taylor began. "Do you want to go to Baskin-Robbins after the movie?"
"Yes, that sounds great," Celena exclaimed nervously.
"Shhh!" someone in front of them said.
"Sorry, sorry!" Celena murmured. "Geez, some people..." She turned to Taylor. He had the weirdest look in his eyes. She just couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed him by the collar again and kissed him.
"I thought this wasn't going to happen again," Taylor said.
"Oh, well...at least we tried...," she said. Then she kissed him again.
