Adia and her friends sat in a circle on the floor of her bedroom. It was probably about 3 a.m., but no one was really tired. They had run out of movies about an hour before, which Adia had planned on. Everyone was sitting, talking amongst themselves, but no one really wanted to say that it was starting to get boring. But Adia was counting on boredom. It was the only way she would be able to pull her scheme off. The girls were beginning to talk about Hanson versus N'Sync when Adia finally said something.
"So . . . how would you guys like to go do something?" Adia asked. Everyone nodded in agreement with her.
"But what though? It's three in the morning," Dru said.
"I was thinking, why don't we go roll someone?" Adia said. Dru looked up at her, wide eyed. She knew exactly who's house Adia was thinking of.
"Sure, sounds fun," a girl named Sunny piped up. "Who's house?"
"I have just the person," Adia said. "But it's a surprise. Just trust me on it. Okay?" Dru raised an eyebrow at Adia. Adia nodded in response. The girls all got up and got dressed again, stuffing rolls of toilet paper and cans of shaving cream in their jackets. They snuck out of the back door of the house, and quietly crept the five blocks to the Hanson home.
"Zac, wake up!" Taylor said, shaking his younger brother gently.
"Huh? What, Tay?" Zac mumbled.
"Wake up! We're getting rolled!" Taylor exclaimed. Zac shot up from his pillow.
"Excuse me? We're getting rolled?" Zac repeated. Taylor nodded. They ran downstairs, into the den and looked out the front windows. Surely enough, there were 10 giggling girls rolling the huge oak trees in the front lawn and putting shaving cream on the driveway. "Shouldn't we do something? Try to stop them?"
"Are you sure you want to do that? You might get mobbed," a female voice said. Zac spun around. Adia was standing behind him, dressed in a white tank top and pink pajama pants that had cows on them. His stomach dropped to the floor, like it always did when he saw her. She had her arms crossed, and her foot was tapping against the hard wood floor.
"Wha- . . . . how . . . . ?" Zac trailed off, fumbling for words in confusion, pointing in all directions.
"I called Taylor before we came. He let me in the house," Adia said. "We need to talk." Taylor quietly walked out of the room.
"I told you it was over. What is there to talk about?" Zac responded grouchily. "I have nothing to say to you."
"I know that. But I have something to say," Adia said. "You suck at communication skills, you know that? You just left the store earlier today, without giving me a chance to explain or anything. Plus, you never even told me how you felt about me. I had to discover it on the back of a locket."
"Well, I didn't mean it, trust me," Zac said, plopping down on the huge sofa in the den. "It was just a momentary lapse of sanity." He started staring at the ceiling fan, going round and round in circles.
"Don't lie to me. Because I can see right through it," Adia said. She came and sat down beside Zac on the couch. He attempted to get up, and she moved over, sitting on his lap. The locket around her neck glittered in the moonlight. "You're not going anywhere until you listen to what I have to say. Got it?" He nodded, his brown eyes searching her blue ones. "I'm really sorry about what I said yesterday. I think that goes without saying. But you didn't give me a chance to make it up to you."
"I don't want you if you don't want me. If you're just doing this because you're feeling bad and want to ease your conscience, you can forget it," Zac said.
"Hush, you!" Adia said. "Let me finish. You see, I've caught on to your little game. Your trust fall. And while I am slightly irritated by the fact that you've pushed me away, at the same time, you're scared that I passed the test."
"What test?" Zac looked away from her gaze.
"The trust fall. You thought you couldn't trust me. But you can," Adia said.
"Is that it? Is that all you have to say? Because I would really like to go back to bed," Zac said, frustrated by her antics.
"Yeah, that is," Adia said. Zac tried to get up, but she pushed him back against the couch. "Except for one thing."
"What?" Zac said. She leaned over to his ear.
"I love you," she whispered. She got up and left the room.
"Excuse me?" he exclaimed. "Adia Marie Fischer, get your behind back in here!" She peered from around the doorway.
"Are you calling for me?" Adia said. She puffed up her cheeks and crossed her eyes at him, pulling her ears outward. Zac started laughing.
"Don't give me the monkey face. Seriously, come here," Zac said. She tiptoed back into the room and sat down in his lap again, wrapping her arms around his neck. "What did you just say?",/p>
"Nothing, nothing at all," Adia said, feigning innocence.
"Would it help if I apologized?" Zac said. She nodded. "Alright, alright. I'm sorry. I should have just told you how I felt, instead of being mean. I shouldn't have called you those names, and I should have accepted your apology the first time. I'm really, and truly, sorry."
"Good, I'm glad," Adia said. "Thank you for the apology." She kissed him on the nose.
"You call that a thank you? Your definition of a thank you must be different from mine," Zac said, smiling at her.
"No, that wasn't a thank you. This is," Adia said. She pressed her lips against his. Magic. How much he had missed that kiss. She pulled away, looking at him. "I love you."
"I love you, too," he whispered, putting his forehead against hers. "I am so sorry."
"Me, too. But this sure makes up for it," Adia said, pointing to outside.
"You'd better help me clean that up," Zac said.
"Oh, I will. Before your parents get home. Don't worry," Adia said. She kissed him again. And for once, she wasn't wishing that it was Taylor that she was kissing. She was finally kissing the right brother.
