.

When they finally arrived at home, Katie went straight to her room. She flopped on her bed and took out her hair, and then put it up in a clip so it was off her neck. She sighed, and looked at her clock. It was only ten thirty. Judy had stopped at the store again on the way home, claiming that she need stuff to make at least a salad for them to bring to dinner that night. They had gotten gas for the Wagon and then they had come home.

She sighed again, remembering the awful evening that was sure to lay ahead. Why did it have to be tonight? And in his house, meaning that she couldn't just hide up in her room if she felt like getting away. Oh well, she could always fake sick, right?

She dreaded this night more than anything, and would have given anything to get out of it. Well, at least Madison felt the same way about that one little boy. The little creep that called her a 'babe'. Jeez, Katie thought, they're five. He must take after his brother. Suddenly the phone rang. It wasn't her line, so she didn't move to answer it.

She stayed in her room for a while longer, when she started getting bored just lying on her bed, trying to think of ways to avoid Zac. She could 'lock' herself in the bathroom. Katie got up and went over to her dresser where she had all her jewelry laid out. She started untangling the pieces one by one and putting them in her jewelry case.

Katie heard a knock on her door, and wishing she had a peephole, went to answer it. It was Judy.

"Who was on the phone?" She asked. She wondered who it was, since no one had their number yet. Well, Nicole had her phone number, but not the main one.

"Oh, it was Diana Hanson."

"Did they cancel?" She asked eagerly.

"No, they didn't cancel it, in fact, the just made it a few hours longer. They just got their new pool lights set up around the deck area, and the whole area is now screened in, and they want us to come over and try it out with them." Judy said with a smile.

Katie just groaned.

"Hey, I'm cleaning the pool, and I wanted to make it a family affair. We need some way to spend our afternoons." She said.

She was dressed in a black bathing suit with some flannel shorts and her hair was in a messy ponytail. Little Ben was standing behind her in his swimming trunks holding a scrub brush.

"What the heck." Katie said.

"Great, just put on your suit, and some shorts or something, and we'll be downstairs in a few." She said, turning to get Sandra.

Katie grabbed her suit and an old pair of shorts that she loved, but they had a rip too high up in the thigh. She put them on, and grabbed some sandals, then headed out her door. She wasn't too wild about scraping the scum off the side of the large pool, but she had nothing else better to do with her afternoon, and she wanted to have the pool ready for the hot summer ahead.

She went downstairs and saw that Morgan, Krista, Madison and little Ben had chosen to join them.

"I just want a nice pool to swim in." Morgan said, tying up her hair.

"Yeah, me too. There aren't that many trees around you could probably get a really good tan if you sat out for a little while every day." Katie said.

"Yeah."

"Are you excited about dinner tonight?" Katie asked her.

"Yes." Morgan said, smiling at her.

"I thought you would be." Katie said.

"Well, I'll just have to look my best. Aren't you excited about seeing Zac?" She asked.

"No, I decided he's a jerk."

"Oh, what a quick change of mind." She said.

"Yeah, I know, but I'll explain later."

"Okay."

"So, it casual dress tonight, or what?" Katie asked, turning to Judy.

"Um, I would say not dressy, but definitely not casual…does that sort of give you an idea?" She said.

"Yeah, I know what you mean…like, skirts?"

"Yes, skirts, and a nice shirt, I'd say. I don't know how their house will be." Judy said.

Katie turned to Morgan and shrugged.

"Okay." Judy began handing out various sponges and scrub brushes.

"We're just trying to scrape the scum off the sides, and that's it. We're going to start filling it tonight while we're gone if we get it clean enough." Judy said, climbing down the ladder. She grabbed the hose, wet the entire pool, and then started spraying the soap all around the sides.

"Come on in, a little scum won't hurt you." She said.

Morgan and the others walked down the steps into the pool, and started scrubbing.

They had been at it an hour or so, and over half the pool was already clean.

"Oh, isn't that your friend?" Judy asked, pointing over at Zac, who was walking into their backyard.

"No." Katie said, her teeth clenched.

"Hi Katie!" Zac said, smiling gleefully at the fact that he was seeing her in her current condition.

"Hello." She said quietly.

"Here." He said, handing her a white envelope.

"What's this?" She asked, turning it over in her hands. It was blank.

"It's from Nicole. She sent me over here for some reason to give it to you. It's an invitation."

"Yeah, I'm sure, for an unknown reason." She all but growled at him.

He smiled down at her. "Well." He said, turning around. "I had better get back."

"Yes you had better." She said.

"Besides..." He started walking, then turned around. "I'll see you…tonight!" And with a final snicker, he left.

Katie was just fuming with anger. She turned around to see everyone staring at her.

"WHAT?" she screamed, and then went back to scrubbing.

An hour later, the pool was completely scrubbed down, and Judy dragged the hose around to the back of the house so she could start filling it.

"Can I play in it while it's filling?" Madison asked.

"You're already wet and sweaty, I don't care." Judy said.

"Thanks!" Madison said, splashing in the water that lined the bottom of the pool.

Little Ben jumped in as well to join Madison in her fun.

Katie sat out with them for a little while, the she went inside because she was hungry.

Judy was inside, making sandwiches. Katie glanced at the clock, and saw that it was nearly one. And so the Countdown began; five hours.

"Will you go get Morgan, Ben, and Maddy? It's time for lunch." Judy said, putting the plates on their huge kitchen table.

"Yeah, I'll get them." She said, and went out onto the deck.

"Hey guys?"

"Yeah?" Madison said. The pool already had around a foot of water in the deep end. Their pool was around thirty feet long and twenty feet wide, and it was in ground with a deep end of eight feet. The shallow part was around two and a half, which was great for the little kids.

"Lunch is ready." She said, and went back inside. "They're coming."

"Thanks." She said, getting out the Kool Aid she had already prepared.

They came in the house, shivering from the air conditioning, and dripping.

"Come on, dry off you two, we can't have you dripping all over the house!" Judy said.

They laughed and dried off a little in the entry way wall Judy went to call the others. They all came down, and they sat down to eat.

"Now, I want everyone to be on their best behavior. This is your first chance to show everyone what little angels you are." Judy said. "It was very nice of them to invite all nine of us over to dinner, when I'm sure they have enough mouths to feed as it is."

"They have seven kids." Melissa said.

"How do you know?" Sandra asked.

"Avery told me."

"Who's Avery?" She asked again.

"She's a sister."

"Oh." Sandra said, turning back to her food.

"Yes, well they have nine including them, so with us that's eighteen mouths to feed, and we need to give them a break and be on our best behavior." Judy finished.

All too soon it was five and time for Katie to think about getting ready. She took another shower since she had been sweating up a storm while scrubbing the pool. She brushed her hair, and decided to put it up, since it was still around 95 degrees outside, even in the evening.

She picked out a long, black skirt, and a Grey tank top. One couldn't go wrong with that. She twisted back the sides of her hair, and secured them with some flower clips, then pulled the rest back into a wad just above her neck. It was already five thirty.

She decided to do makeup later, and she sat down at her desk, where she thrown the white envelope Zac had given her. She opened it, and opened the card.





You're Invited!
To a party at Nicole's house 8-12 PM
details on back




She threw the card back down on her desk and sighed. She could just stay home. No, then Nicole would be mad at her, and Nicole was the only friend she had so far in Tulsa, so she better not burn her bridges yet, as her mother used to say.

She got up and rummaged in her closet before pulling out the sandals she had worn that morning to church. They were nice and comfy, and the leather was all stretched out and soft. She slipped them on, instantly becoming an inch taller.

She went into the bathroom, and applied a little makeup.

"Hey Kate?" Morgan said, walking into the bathroom.

"What?" She asked, swinging the door the rest of the way open with her free foot.

"Can you help me decide what to wear?" She asked, as she finished brushing out the rest of her hair.

"Oh, you'll look fine in what ever you wear. Besides, I've seen the way Taylor looks at you. He would like you even if you were wearing a potato sack." Katie said.

Morgan just smiled.

"Okay, okay, let's see. How about this?" She asked, pulling out a light blue skirt with white flowers on it.

"Okay, then what for the top?"

"Um, how about this..." She said, pulling out a white top.

"And…?" Morgan asked, glancing at the clock. It said 5:45. "We have to hurry."

"Okay…" She pulled out a light green cardigan and then went into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

"That's cool." Morgan said, and closed the door to get dressed.

Katie finished brushing her teeth, then finished her makeup, and headed out the door, her stomach already doing flip-flops.

Judy, Ben, Madison, Krista, and Melissa were already waiting at the bottom of the steps.

"Is Morgan coming?" Judy asked me, picking Kristen up out of her swing.

"Yeah, she was just having some trouble deciding what to wear." Katie replied, picking up Madison. She looked very cute in her baby blue sleeveless dress with little white flowers. Her hair was down and wild, still slightly wet from her bath. She looked adorable.

"Figures. Okay, then all we have left is Sandra. Sandra, get you butt down here, NOW!" Judy screamed.

"Does everyone have their swimming stuff in here?" Judy asked, holding up her bag.

"Yes." They all answered.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Sandra said, coming down the steps with Morgan behind her.

"Okay, I think we're all here. You all did a beautiful job this morning, now I expect to see a repeat of that, and if so, I'll treat everyone to ice cream tomorrow after dinner, is that clear?" Judy asked. How clever of her to suggest such a thing!

"YES!" everyone answered.

"Alright, we're off then." She said, opening the door to the Wagon. They all loaded in, and backed out of the drive at 5:55.

"Okay, the first house on the left…here we are." Judy was saying all too soon.

We all got out, and Katie looked at the house. It appeared to be only one story, but part was apparently underground, for the driveway wrapped around the house, and the underground part could be seen. It was by some woods, and most of the backyard was wooded.

They walked up and Judy knocked on the door. A tall boy with similar looks of Taylor answered the door.

"Hi, I'm Isaac. You must be Judy." He said, opening the door to let them in.

"Yeah, that's me." She said smiling, propping Kristen up on her hip. The rest of the kids filed in, and soon Taylor was also in the entryway. He smiled broadly when he saw Morgan, and raced over to her. He remembered where he was and then he kept his hands to himself. He saw Judy, and walked over to her.

"Hi, I'm Taylor, I don't know if we have met." He said, outstretching his hand.

"We've met." Judy said, giving him a secret smile.

Taylor and Morgan sighed in relief.

They were walking up to the living room when Diana came up to them.

"Hi again, so nice of you to come!" She said, as her husband came up behind her.

"Hi, I'm Walker." The man said, and shook Judy's hand.

Diana turned to the children. "Okay, now who is everybody?" She asked.

"I'm Sandra."

"I'm Melissa."

"I'm Krista, that's Morgan, that's Katie."

"And this is Kristen." Judy said, looking down at Kristen, who was wobbly and standing at her feet.

"And this is Madison." Katie said, crouching down to pick the little girl up.

"The babe!" The little boy from that morning said, coming up behind his mother.

Madison just glared and hid behind Katie's skirt.

"And that is Ben." Melissa said.

"Okay, I think I have it."

"I don't think you've met all the troops, I'll get them." Walker said, running to the bottom of the stairs.

"Kids! They're here! Come on, you've been waiting all day!" Walker yelled.

A few thundering pairs of feet were heard, and then three little girls and Zac came down the steps.

"This is Jessica, and Avery." Diana said.

"And Zoë, and of course Zac, and here's Mackenzie, whom we call Mackie." Walker said.

"Okay, now that we're aquatinted, I think we should feed the hungry!" Diana said, and led everyone into the dining room.

"I was thinking that we could seat everyone under eight in the kitchen, and the rest of us in the dinning room." Walker said.

"That's fine. Um, I made a salad." Judy said, handing Diana the giant plastic bowl of pasta salad. Cooking and preparing food had been a first for Judy.

"That's great! It looks delicious!" She said, taking it and setting it on the waiting table.

"Okay, I think we're ready, so everyone can go ahead and sit down, I'll bring the dishes into the kitchen when we're done in here, don't worry, I made double of everything." Diana said.

Avery, Mackenzie, Zoë, Madison, Melissa, Ben, and Kristen sat at the table in the kitchen, while Walker, Diana, Judy, Isaac, Taylor, Morgan, Katie, Zac, Jessica, Sandra and Krista sat in the dining room.

Walker took his place at the head of the table, while Diana sat beside him, then Judy, Krista, Sandra, Zac, Taylor, Morgan, Katie, Isaac, and then Jessica. They called the little kids in the say the prayer, then they began to pass out the food, which took a good fifteen minutes.

"This is very interesting so far." Morgan said quietly to her, while eighteen people ate, talked, and generally bickered for

"Zac, do you have a girlfriend?" Sandra asked him, batting her eyelashes.

"No." He said, looking uncomfortable.

"Oh, well, I thought you'd be the type of guy that was always taken." She said.

"Oh my god." Katie said under her breath.

"Just let her embarrass herself, no need to interfere." Morgan said, smiling through her teeth.

"Why, do like the show she's putting on?" Katie asked.

"Yes, in fact I do. It's very entertaining." Morgan said.

Katie looked over and saw that Morgan and Taylor were holding hands. As they ate? Katie just didn't understand why couples needed to be so mushy. If having a boyfriend was all about, then she wasn't really that enthused about getting one.

Zac smirked at her from across the table, and she glared back. This continued for a while, and Katie was beginning to wish that the table wasn't so wide, she could have kicked him.

He apparently had the same idea, although it was slightly different…



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