Katie paced through the kitchen. So far the day hadn't been terrible; it had just been slow. The last week or two had been slow. That morning, Katie had gotten up around nine to discover that Morgan had plans, and Judy was going to see her sick aunt in Oklahoma City, therefore Katie was placed in charge of Sandra, Krista, Melissa, Madison, ben, and Kristen. Zac had taken Thursday and Friday off of school, because Walker had taken Zac and Mackie to Colorado to visit their grandmother until Sunday evening. Katie had to ride to school all by herself with Taylor and Morgan, and Zac hadn't been there to walk her to walk her to her classes. Katie glanced up at the clock on the kitchen stove. It read four thirty. She glanced out the window, seeing that it was already almost dark.
"I hate winter." Katie said, absentmindedly. Melissa looked up from the picture she was drawing at the kitchen counter.
"Why?" She asked, setting her crayon down.
"Because it gets dark so fast. And it's cold. i hate the cold."
"Yeah, but in the winter we can go sledding and build snowmen." Melissa pointed out.
"I guess." Katie said. She had only lived in Tulsa since the beggining of June, so she hadn't yet encountered a Tulsa winter.
Katie had spent her day mostly watching TV with her sisters and Ben. So far they had also played at least ten board games and watched Hercules twice. katie hadn't even really gotten dressed; she was still in her flannel pants, a t-shirt, and her beat up house slippers. Zac wasn't allowed to call her from his grandmother's house; it was long distance. He told her that baisically all he would be doing there is watching Mackie get pampered, and he and Walker would be doing yard work that desperately needed to be done in the freezing cold.
"I'm hungry." Madison said, padding into the kitchen in her bare feet.
Katie groaned. She had forgotten about that. It was nearly five, and she would have to cook them something for dinner. She really didnt' feel like doing that, but it didn't look like she had a choice as Ben and krista wandered in the kitchen, looking hungry.
"Okay, how about speghetti O's?" She asked hopefully. Those were the easiest thing she could think of to make.
"No, we had those last night." Madison argued.
Katie sighed. "Alright, then how about soup?"
The four children made faces at her. "Okay, so I guess that's a no..."
"Macaroni." Ben said.
"Marcaroni and cheese? Okay, i can do that." Katie said quickly, relieved that they came up with something else easy.
"But I don't want that." Krista said.
"You're old enough, make something else." Katie said quickly, not wanting her siblings to catch on.
Krista made a face at her and took a seat at the kitchen counter. Half an hour later, Katie was serving out the slightly burned macaroni.
"How can you screw up macaroni and cheese?" Sandra asked as she stabbed a forkfull of the noodles.
"I was changing Kristen in the other room, and somebody forgot to tell me it was done." Katie said, looking pointedly at Melissa.
"What?" She asked, holding her hands up in defense.
Katie just glared at her and set the pot back down on the counter. She felt bad for snapping at all of her siblings, but it didnt' help that she wasn't getting paid for her nine hour babysitting job, and she hadn't really spoken to Zac since last Sunday evening. She wasn't expecting to hear from him tonight either, since he was getting back late. He had been especially busy the last week; Monday he was home sick, Tuesday he had gone home sick after third hour, and Wednesday he was in the auditorium with a Rocket Club exibit, and Thursday he had left for Colorado.
When she had everyone else served, she took a paper plate from the stack on their counter and helped herself. Judy absolutely refused to wash dishes, and their dishwasher had been broken the first week they had lived in the house. The house had been brand new when they had first moved in; Katie's father had it built for them, and he had been planning to move into it with Carol, but then he had died suddenly and left Judy with the responsibility of the whole thing. She stood with her plate on the counter and one elbow propped up on it, eating her macaroni.
The phone rang, and Katie started for it, but Madison beat her there. "Hello?....here, it's for you." She said, shoving the phone at Katie.
I'll bet it's Zac, Katie thought. She grinned and put the phone up to her ear.
"Hello?"
No one answered. "Hello?" She asked into the phone. She could hear someone moving around in the backround, but no one spoke.
"Real funny Zac." She said with a giggle. She hung up the phone, expecting him to call right back. She waited for a few minutes, and her grin faded. She walked into the TV room where Sandra, Melissa, Ben, and Madison were all sitting.
"Madison, who was that on the phone?" She asked, standing in the doorway.
"Some guy." SHe said, not taking her eyes off the screen. Katie, knowing she wasn't about to get anywhere with the TV in front of Madison, walked over to stand in front of it.
"Hey!" Four voices chorused.
"Who was that on the phone? Was it Zac?"
"No, Zac always pretends to be someone else, but I always know it's him." Madison said. Katie knew Zac was great at voices, but only cartoon voices. he couldnt' impersonate anyone else for the life of him, with his every changing, sometiems squeaky voice. Around her house, he often spoke in cartoon voices with the younger kids, and they loved it.
"Are you sure it wasn't Zac?" Katie asked. She was beggining to worry.
"Yeah. It was a guy." Madison said hopefully, wondering just how much of her show she was going to miss.
"Did you recognize his voice? What did he say?"
"He just asked for Katie." She said.
"Well what did he sound like?"
"Jeez, quit drilling your sister and move!" Sandra shouted, tossing a pillow at Katie.
Katie whipped it back at her, getting a screech out of Sandra immediately. She walked back into the kitchen, where Kirsten was still sitting in her high chair. The baby looked at her and giggled, bits of macaroni still on her cheek. Katie cleaned her face and wiped off the tray. She carried her baby sister out to the TV room where everyone else was and set her in her playpen amoung the toys.
She paced around the hallways, making sure the kitchen door was locked, the back door, the front door, and even the garage door. She looked out the window. It had begun to lightly snow, and it was almost completely dark. Katie did a quick count of all her siblings, then sat in an armchair in the corner of the room to silently ponder her mysterious phone call.
She had gotten one simmilar to that around a week or two ago, but she couldn't be sure that it wasn't Zac just acting stupid. Then again, Zac would have called back by then. She glanced at the clock, seeing that it was almost six. Judy said she would be home at five thirty, so where was she? Katie couldn't figure out who would be calling her and not saying anything. She didn't know a lot of people at school, and the ones she did know she got along well with. Who had called her? She sat in her chair until seven, blankly watching the screen, where 101 Dalmations was now playing. She had been sitting there, just pondering and imagining scary sequences in her head. She glanced out the window next to her. It was pitch black outside, and the wind was howling, and a light snow was still falling. She glanced at her siblings, who were all piled near the couch, intently watching the movie.
Half an hour later at seven thirty, Katie nearly had a heart attack. She heard something in the kitchen. She cautiously got up and walked over to the wall near the kitchen. She grabbed a broom that was in the corner near the kitchen. She stood perfectly still and listened. All that could be heard was the sound of the movie, and one other thing. The kitchen door softly closing.
Katie took a deep breath and jumped out into the kitchen, ready to beat the shit out of someone. She lunged at the form standing in her kitchen, dressed in black. She tackled the person and sent them both crashing the the floor. Katie sat on it and started smacking it with the broom.
"OW!" The person said. It was a man."Ow ow ow! Katie, what the heck?"
It was then that Katie realized she had made a mistake. "Oh my god!" She yelled, jumping off Zac.
"What are you doing?" Zac asked with a groan, sitting up. He pulled off his stocking cap and looked at her.
"Oh my gosh Zac, I am so sorry." She said.
"I am too." He said, rubbing his arm where Katie had smacked him.
"What were you doing?"
"Your front door was locked, and I rang and rang the doorbell, and your garage was closed, so I came around the back. But i guess that was move of poor judgement on my case." He said, still rubbing his arm.
"Oh my gosh." She said with a laugh, leaning back against the cabinets.
"I thought you were a burglar or some strange man in the house, and I just attacked you." She said.
"Yeah, I saw that." Zac said with a tight smile.
"The doorbell's broken." She said.
"Oh yeah." Zac said, remembering what his girlfriend had told him a few days ago.
"I told you that you goon." She said, standing up. She helped a beat up Zac stand.
"I'm so sorry." She said, brushing the snow off his coat.
"That's okay." He said, removing his gloves.
"I thought you wouldn't be back until late." She said.
"Well my grandma wanted us to work today too, but it was too cold, so we just went home." Zac said with a smile.
"Oh darn, right?" She asked him.
"Yeah." he said. "I'm still cold, and I have been cold since thursday." he said, making a pathetic face.
"I'm sorry. Did you walk over here?" Katie asked, brushing more snow out of his hair.
"yup."
"Zac!" SHe exclaimed. "You're nuts!"
"Well no one would drive me, and this way I can go home whenever." He said.
"I can't wait until you can drive."
"That's a ways away yet." he said with a laugh.
"Well give me a hug, i haven't seen you since Wednesday." She said. Zac unzipped his big coat and she wrapped her arms around his stomach, embracing him tightly. He wrapped his arms around her, and she breathed in his scent as her head lay against his chest. They pulled apart, and he looked at her.
"So where is everyone?" he asked with a sniff.
"They're in the den watching a movie." She said.
"Oh, so you weren't home alone."
"No."
"I see."
"But Judy was supposed to be home an hour ago, and she's not home yet." She said.
"Well, just make sure to keep a phone near you."
"That reminds me, i have to talk to you about something else too, but it can wait." She said.
"Okay." He said, shoving his gloves in his pockets. "I gotta get out of this coat, and my boots are tracking in all over the floor."
He took off his coat and hat, carefully setting them next to the kitchen door. "Much better." He said sniffing.
"Are you still sick?" She asked him with a suspicous glance.
"yeah." he admitted.
"Do you need something?"
"That would be great." He said, shoving his hands in his pockets.
Katie noticed he was talking nasly, like he couldnt' breath through his nose.
"Is it just like a nasal cold, or what?"
"Yeah, my nose is stuffy and I have a headache, and I'm all achy." he said.
"Okay, How's Nyquil?" She asked.
"Great." he said, following her to the bathroom down the hall.
She walked in with him and looked in the cabinets. She pulled out the nyquil and poured some into the cup.
"How much do you weigh?" She asked, looking at the box.
"What?"
"I have to give you so much according to how much you weigh." She said.
"Four seventy two." he answered with a grin. Katie shrugged, guessing it was somewhere around one seventy. She poured some in the cup and handed it to Zac, who downed the liquid immediately. He made a face almost instantly.
"Yuck. That's nasty."
"Here." She said, getting him a glass of water. He gulped it down, then set the glass back on the counter.
"Much better. Thanks." he said. She reached up and felt his flaming cheeks. They were burning hot.
"Oh my gosh, Zac, you're burning up!"
"I know, I'm sick." he said, following her out of the bathroom.
"What do you want to do?"
"I don't care." He said, which usually meant play video games.
"Okay." Katie said, leading him down the stairs to the basement. They had recently finished re-painting and modernizing the basement, adding two guestrooms, two bathrooms, a TV room, and a half kitchen. Several rooms were still empty, but consisted of the ping pong and air hocked tables.
She walked into the TV room and flopped on the couch, Zac sitting down in front of her.
"Zac?" she asked
"yeah?"
"Did you call here earlier?"
"No, why?"
"Because the phone rang and Madison picked it up, and it was for me. No one was on the line, and I hung up after a few minutes. I was just wondering if that was you."
"No." He said slowly, turning around to face her on the floor. "Is that the first time you've gotten one?"
"No, i got one last week." She said.
"Hmm..." Zac thought a moment. "I dunno." He said.
"Neither do I." She said, grabbing a blanket off the back of the couch. "It's kind of creepy though, isn't it?"
"Yeah." Zac said slowly. "When was Judy supposed to be home?"
"Two hours ago."
"And you just got this call?"
"Yeah, about an hour ago. Zac, I'm kinda scared." She said, moving down on the floor. She wrapped herself in her blanket and scooted close to him.
"Tell you what. I'll stay here until Judy get's home." Zac said, looking at her.
"You would?"
"Yeah, sure. I'll just call my mom and explain the situation." He said.
"Okay." She said, relaxing a bit. She looked over at Zac, who was watching her. She smiled, and he leaned in for a kiss. Suddenly she remembered that he was sick. She reached out and put a finger against his lips. Zac's eyes popped open.
"Later, Nyquill boy." She said.
Zac frowned and switched on the TV.
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