This summer was turning out to be the worst summer of my life. Well, it wasn't all that bad, maybe because I met Taylor. He made the summer a little less depressing. As I walked, the feeling of nausea returned.
"No, no, no, no, no. No throwing up, no throwing up," I thought to myself over and over. I stopped walking and leaned against the wall. When the nausea left, I headed to my room to lie down. I settled down on my bed with a book. A few minutes later I heard my mother's car pull into the driveway. She was home from work early. I shut out the reast of the world and concentrated on the book. I heard Jewel and her friends talking loudly downstairs. The voices got louder as the four came upstairs. Jewel burst into my room, something in her arms, and a smile plastered on her face. I looked at her annoyed out of my skull.
"What do you want?" I asked rudely.
"Lookie what Mom gave us!" she said, placing whatever she had in her arms, on the bed in front of me.
"Oh my gosh! Really?" I exclaimed, picking up the tiny brown kitten and stroking its soft fur. Jewel and I had always wanted a cat or a dog, but my parents never agreed with us. I guess they(or Mom) changed their(her) mind. The kitten batted at a stray strand of my hair with its little paws.
"Is it a boy or a girl?" I asked.
"It's a boy. Mom said we could name it!" Jewel, Jessica, Latoya, and Joy sat on my bed. The kitten was a plain brown color, but it had pretty blue eyes.
"Hmmm, how about Fudge?" I said. Jewel clapped her hands.
"That's what I was thinking!" Just then, Mom opened the door.
"Jewel, dinner's going to be ready soon. It's time for the girls to go home," she said. The four looked really dissappointed, but they still got up and left the room, after giving 'Fudge' one last pat. Mom walked over to me, I gave her a big hug.
"Thanks for the kitten Mom! Where'd you get it?" I asked.
"Well, there were some people by the grocery store giving away free kittens. They were all vaccinated and were in perfect health, and they came with some free food, so I thought maybe I should give into you guy's beggins and got one. What did you name it?" she said.
"Fudge,"
"What an original name," she laughed,"Well, I have to go finish making dinner. We're having meat loaf. Okay?"
"Yummy!" I smiled. She closed the door behins her. I held Fudge in my hands. He wrapped his paws around my thumb and began to gnaw on my tumbnail. I giggled and set him down on the bedspread. He looked up at me with his blue eyes and meowed.
"I'm sure you wouldn't mind if I thought you looked kinda like Taylor. Would you Fudgy? Your eyes are almost like his," I said, scratching behind his ears,"It'd be our little secret. So I think you have his eyes,"
I felt kinda stupid talking to a cat. But a cat can't talk back, and that is a good kind of friend. Fudge began to walk around the top of my bed, picking his feet high off the quilt. It was as if he were marching around the bed, looking around his territory.
"Kate!" I heard Sam call from downstairs,"Dinner!" I picked up Fudge and placed him on my shoulder. He meowed pitifully and wrapped his front legs around my neck.
"Okay, okay, I won't do that," I said, taking him off my shoulder and putting him on the floor. I walked downstairs, with him following my feet. I sat down at the table, Fudge sat on the floor.
"So Kate and Jewel, do you like the new present?" Mom asked.
"Yeah!" we said at the same time. I took a big bite of the meat loaf.
"Is Katrina supposed to be here tomorrow?" Jewel asked, Being the strange person she is, Jewel was making one of her many beautiful sculptures out of her mashed potatoes.
"She should be," Dad said,"Of course, your mother and I have to work tomorrow." He shrugged I knew he never thought good of Katrina. Neither did my mom. They thought she matured way to early, even though she was only a year older then me. She wore makeup when she was ten. Katrina learned to apply mascara before I even knew what it was. When I was ten, the only makeup I ever wore was when I broke into my mother's makeup kit, and made a mess of my face with lipstickand blush. I smiled, remembering the look on Mom's face whenever she found me with makeup scattered around me.
After dinner, I stayed up to watch a little tv, and to catch up on a little reading. Fudge spent most of his time exploring the house, and Jewel spent most of her time chasing after him. About seven times in ten minutes, she would ask me if I had seen Fudge. I just told her to leave him alone for a while. Reluctantly, she stopeed looking for him, and watched some tv. When tv proved too boring, I went to my room, and Jewel continued looking for the kitten.
In my room, I put Alanis Morissette in my cd player and listened to it while neatening up my room. I was known for being a neat freak, like Sam. I didn't really like messy rooms. I opened the top drawer of my desk. A foreign piece of paper lay there.
"Hmmmm, what's this?" I mumbled. I picked up the paper and looked at it. It was the sketch of Taylor I had accidently drawn. Seeing the picture made me want to see him even more, I blushed. I put the drawing back into the drawer and closed it. I flopped onto my bed and sighed. Suddenly, a ball of brown fluff jumped out from behind my pillow. Fudge yawned and streched, then carefully treaded across the covers towards me.
"You hiding from Jewel?" I asked him. He climbed onto my stomach and curled into a ball. I looked at the door, making sure it was closed.
"You know what Fudgy? I've got a secret that no one else will know, well, for a while," I lowered my voice to a whisper,"I think I like Taylor. He's cute, nice, and he's got a sort of charm that's just 'wow," I sighed again,"I really hope I see him again tomorrow. But them Katrina's coming over," I shrugged amd stroked the kitten's fur.
Not long afterwards, I got tired and decided to go to bed. My last thought before letting my mind drift into dream land was "I hope I see him tomorrow,"
I woke up at 5:30 the next morning. Fudge had decided that he should wake me up really early by stepping all over my head. I tried to go back to sleep, but the annoying cat wouldn't let me. My parents had already left for work. I went into the bathroom and got the shower ready. I stepped inside, feeling the steaming hot water pounding on my back. My throat didn't hurt, so I assumed that the strep throat was gone. I didn't know if the stomach bug was still there, but I didn't want to find out if it was. I got out of the shower a half hour later, wrapping a towel around my body and wrapping another towel, turban style, around my head. I went into my room to get dressed. Afterwards, I went downstairs for some breakfast, even though it was a little after six in the morning. There was a note on the fridge...
Dear kids,
We've gone to work. Don't be lazy and hang around the house all day. We've gone in your mother's van, so that you can wash Dad's car, it needs it. Sam; do the trimming and finish the mowing the lawn, Kate; do the vacuuming and dusting, Jewel; try to pick up your room. And when Katrina gets here, make her feel right at home. Love you guys!
I shrugged after reading the note about three times. I had the easy jobs. Out parents tried to split up the housework as fairly as possible. Vacuuming and dusting were the easiest though. I grabbed a dust rag and the Endust bottle and went to dust the living room. It was a pretty easy job. Only took about ten minutes to finish. I decided against vacuuming, because it would wake everyone in the house......not that it mattered.
I went outside, it was still a little dark. The sun's rays were beginning to appear over the trees. I sighed and sat down on the porch steps, putting my chin in my hands. I was going to start washing the car later, when it was warmer. I was sure that Jewel and Sam didn't want to. Considering that it took Jewel forever to clean her room, and Sam had a lot of yeard to trim and mow. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a Jolly Rancher. I unwrapped the strawberry candy and popped it into my mouth. I layed down on the porch, enjoying the welcoming heat of the rising sun. Without knowing, I began to doze off.....
About two or three hours later, I felt someone lightly kicking my side.
"Huh? Wha? Who?" I quickly sat up and looked up. Sam was standing over me, laughing.
"I just came out here to get the paper, and found you out here snoozing," he said,"How long were you out here?"
"I dunno, I came out at about 6:45 this morning. What time is it now?" I asked.
"It's almost nine o'clock," Sam laughed,"Why were you out here? Waiting for Taylor?" he said, raising his voice and batting his eyelashes.
"I was not! I just came out here cause I felt like it! I have to wash the car later," I said defensively.
"Sure, uh huh, I believe you," he said,"I have to finish mowing the lawn now. Bye Bye." Sam hopped down the steps and walked around the house. I went back inside to hang around. After watching tv, vacuuming, waking up Jewel, making sure she started to clean her room, and getting all the car washing stuff together, I went outside to finally wash the car.
I hosed down the car, and began to wash the tires. I paused when I thought I heard something. I stood up and looked down the driveway, towards the road. Nothing there. I shrugged and was about to turn around when something grabbed my shoulders. I did what I would naturally do.
I screamed.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey, don't scream," I heard a voice say. Taylor. He took his hands off of my shoulders.
"What did you do that for?" I yelled. I always scared easily.
"I'm sorry, it was just too easy," he grinned, his eyes flashing.
"That was mean," I stated.
"I said I was sorry, geesh."
"Well, I should tell you that I happen to be easy to scare," I regreted saying those words as soon as they came out of my mouth. He grinned even wider.
"Thanks for telling me, I'll remember that," Taylor smiled sweetly.
"Oh, no. Don't even think about doing that again," I said, narrowing my eyes at him.
"Who said I was going to do anything?"
"Remember who's got the hose and who doesn't," I held up the hose.
"You wouldn't dare."
"I would."
"No you wouldn't," he said, daring me.
"You wanna bet?"
"Um, no. But I bet that you won't spray me with that hose."
"Um, that was kinda a bet,"
"So?"
"Do you want me to spray you?" I asked. He looked up at the sky.
"Well, it is pretty hot out here, but duh, NO!"
"Well, to get you back for scaring me..."
"Don't!" he shielded his face with his hand. I pointed the hose at him and shot a steady spray of water directly at his chest.
"Stop!" Taylor yelled and lunged at me. I turned and tried to run around, but tripped over the hose. Taylor grabbed me around the waist before I could fall over. He yanked the hose from my hands and held it over my head. He drenched my hair and probably all of my clothes.
"Ahhhhhh! Stop! I'm gonna kill you!" I shrieked, trying to get away, but his firm grip around my waist made it impossible. Taylor continued to totally drench me with water. He was laughing like a maniac as I swung my arms from side to side, attempting to grab him.
"My revenge!" he laughed, swinging the hose around.
"Stop!" I continued to shriek. Taylor let me go and stepped back. I was completely soaked. He looked at me, a smug smile on his face.
"Oh thanks," I said glaring at him, my wet hair hanging in front of my face. His shirt was the only wet item of clothing that he was wearing. He just continued grinning.
"Sorry,"
"Sure you are," I replied sarcastically, "Know what you need?" I asked.
"What?"
"A hug," I stated.
"Oh no, I don't think so," he began to back away. Taylor turned to run as I also started to run. I jumped and wrapped my arms around his neck. He fell forward onto the ground. I fell on top of him.
"Okay! Okay! I give up! I give up!" Taylor yelled, trying to roll over. My arms were still wrapped around his neck.
"Ack! You're choking me!" he said, using his hands to pry off my arms. I let go and rolled off of him. He stood up and brushed himself off.
"You got grass all over my shirt!" he whined.
You got water all over my clothes," I whined in the tone of voice he was using and stood up. I took the hair scrunchie out of my hair. I shook my head, causing my hair to flip around, splattering water all over Taylor.
"Hey," he said, wiping the water droplets from his face. I grinned at him. I could tell he was trying not to smile, but the corners of his mouth were twitching, making it obvious. He suddely snickered.
"What? What are you laughing at?" I asked, wiping my cheek with the back of my hand.
"Your hair, it's all stringy. You look like that girl in that music video."
"Alanis Morissette?" I said, knowing exactly what he was talking about.
"Yeah, that's it,"
"She's my favorite singer,"
"Cool. She has a nice voice," Taylor walked past me, towards the front porch. I smiled slyly to myself. I picked up the hose that was at my feet. I slowly turned around so that I was facing Taylor's back. I pointed the hose at him and fired.
"What the?" he shouted and faced me. I laughed and dropped the hose.
"What'd you do that for?" he asked loudly.
"My revenge," I grinned. He rolled his eyes. I heard someone whistle. Sam was standing in front of the garage, preparing to open it.
"Woo hoo Kate, you win a wet t-shirt contest or something!?" he hooted. I don't think I had ever blushed that red in my entire life.
"Shut up Sam!" I yelled at him. I couldn't just let him sit there and make fun of me. Sam caught sight of Taylor.
"Oh, here comes the judge to pin the ribbon on the champion! I don't think she'll be able to stand the loss of blood though..." this sent him into another fit of laughter. Normally, I would have killed Sam, but I didn't think it would be polite with a guest present.
"Still chuckling, Sam opened the garage and grabbed the Weed Eater. He closed the garage and dissappeared behind the house.
"I, uh, I'll go get some towels," I spoke to Taylor. He looked down at the ground.
"Um, okay, I'll sit right here," he said, sitting down on the porch step. I went into the house. The towels were in the linen closet upstairs. When I got to the linen closet, I proceeded to smack my head against the door.
"How could I have been such an idiot!" I wailed quietly to myself. I stopped damaging the door and rested my forhead on the chipping paint for a second. I thought of how mad I was at Sam. Why was he so mean to me when Taylor was over? I never made fun of Sam when he had girls over....
"Wait a minute...." I said, bringing my head away from the door. Sam never really had girls over...."Ah ha!" My conclusion was perfect....he was jealous of me because I actually was hanging out with a person of the opposite sex. I cringed, a little weirded by what I had thought. I grinned with my new found knowledge and finally opened the linen closet door and pulled out a few towels.
I stepped outside, wiping my hair with one of the towels. I tossed the other one at Taylor. It hit him in the back, and he turned around.
"Oh, hey," he said as I sat down on the porch steps. He continued wiping off his shirt and his hair with the Bugs Bunny towel that I gave him. I took my sandals off and tried to get the grass off that was stuck to my feet.
"Um, Katya?" Taylor said, breaking the silence. He nervously tucked a lock of hair behind his ear.
"Hmm?" I replied.
"Well, I was wondering, I, um, well." he stuttered. I turned and faced him.
"What?"
"Um, my friend, Mark, is having a pool party tomorrow, you know, a last days of summer part. And he, um, invited me and said that I could invite a few other people, he wants the party to be really big. And so I was wondering if, um, you could come?" he looked down at the ground and blushed a light shade of red. I was speechless for a few seconds.
"I, I, I, um, well, I'm, uh, sure," I smiled shakily. Being thirteen years old did not help my way of talking.
"Really?" Taylor looked at me.
"Yeah, I think so. Is it okay if I invite someone?"
"Uh huh,"
"Cool, cause my cousin is going to be here soon, and she might want to go," I said, talking fast. As soon as the words came out of my mouth, a Toyota 4x4 pulled into the driveway.
"Speaking of my cousin, she's here," I said, shrugging.
I stood up, not knowing what problems there were going to be in the near future.