Ike lay back onto his bed smiling at the ceiling. He was so happy Lucy didn't freak out when he said I love you. He thought he meant it. He wasn't totally sure but he was still happy he said it. He heard the door open and Taylor walk in. As if he wasn't there Taylor walked right to the stereo and turned it on. He sat on the floor and started to write in a small book. Like most people, Ike found this incredibly rude and strange for Taylor! It was as if Taylor hadn't even acknowledged his presence. Ike sat up trying to figure out what was with Taylor.
"Hey? You don't even say hello to your older brother?" Taylor turned his head in the direction of Ike, and mumbled hi and went back to writing.
"Ok, what's up with you Tay?" Ike said with a demanding tone of voice. This time Taylor didn't turn to look at Ike and kept on writing.
"Nothing."
Before Ike could argue anymore or get anymore angrier Zac walked in. He too looked a little bit different but then again Zac always looked and acted weird so it was no surprise to Ike.
"Hey guys, whatcha doing?" Zac said very pleasantly.
"Well I'm not doing anything, but I think Taylor has something up his butt." Ike said angrily and jumped down from the upper bunk. Zac just shrugged guessing that they weren't getting along. Zac heard what he thought to be a very annoying voice coming from the stereo on the boys' dresser. Being himself he just walked over to it and changed the radio station. Suddenly Taylor became very offensive.
"Hey! What the hell do you think you are doing? Did you ask if anyone was listening to this?" Instead of lowering himself as Taylor screamed at him he stood there not moving glaring deep into Taylor's eyes.
"What the hell are you staring at? I asked you a question!" Taylor screamed louder. Getting sick of the fighting Ike pulled Taylor to the side.
"Tay? Why are you screaming at Zac? Yea he was rude not as rude as your being! What the hell is with you today?" Ike said.
'Geese I hope this isn't going to make sneaking out of here harder!' wondered Zac. He glanced back over to Taylor and Ike.
"Nothing is the wrong I am just in a bad mood and don't feel like taking any crap from anyone!" Taylor snapped back. By this time Jessica was standing in the doorway looking very puzzled. No one noticed but Zac.
"Come on Jessie go back to bed. Nothing to see here." Zac said shooing Jessica back into her room. Zac heard Taylor and Ike arguing some more. Not wanting to go back in there he picked Jessica up and brought her into the girls' room. Avery was still sleeping so Zac was as quiet as he could possible be as he placed Jessica on her bed. He gently tucked her in and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Jessica made a face and starting to rub her face.
"Yuck, Zac." She whispered to him quietly. Zac put his finger to his mouth to silence her. He tip toed out of the room and saw Taylor stampede down the stairs. Zac walked back into the room to find Ike back on his bed reading a magazine.
"What happened?" Zac asked. Ike looked at him with eyes full of anger. He realized it was Zac and his eyes softened.
"Well I dunno something's with Taylor, he wouldn't give me any sign to what it was so..." Ike went back to reading his magazine. 'How am I ever going to sneak out now without anyone noticing. Well let's hope watching Mission Impossible paid off!' Zac muttered to himself a little louder than he thought. Ike looked up but just shook his head. He tossed the magazine to the ground and rolled over. Zac left the room and climbed down the stairs to see where Mr. Moody was. Zac looked at his watch, 10:00. He had 15 minutes to get out of there without anyone knowing. This was going to be a difficult task for him.
He looked around and saw Taylor sprawled on the living room floor. Quietly Zac walked past the entrance to the living room and into the kitchen. He stopped and listened he heard the TV but most important of all he didn't hear any movement. He opened the back door very very and I mean very quietly. Then he pushed gently on the screen door, after about a minute he maneuvered himself out the door with out it creaking. He then made his way over to Lucy's backyard making he sure he didn't pass the living room window.
Lucy stopped looking at the sky and wondering if her clock was fast or was Zac late? She hoped he would be able to make it out without getting caught. She didn't want the poor kid to get in trouble for her. She heard the sound of footsteps. Happily she looked up and saw Zac. She stood up and held her arms out to him. Zac ran to her and returned the gesture.
"So did you have any problems getting out?" Lucy asked
"Well, a little more than I thought, Ike and Taylor were screaming at one another. Taylor also screamed his head off at me too!" Lucy felt a lump build in her throat. Taylor didn't tell Ike anything she hoped.
"Zac?" Lucy asked desperately, "Do you know why they were fighting?" Zac shook his head.
"I have no idea. I go in and change the radio station and Taylor has a fit. Ike took to my defense and they both screamed even louder. I went to put Jessie back to bed cuz they woke her up. Well let's start going, we might make it back here by" Zac paused and looked at his watch "by about one." This didn't surprise Lucy but it did worry her for Zac's sake.
"Zac will that be ok for you? Are you used to staying up that late?"
"Oh don't worry about it, I figured you'd wanna talk about something. It don't matter to me."
"You're right Zac. I kind of needed some one to lend an ear to me."
Zac smiled, happy that he could help Lucy in any way he could. They walked through Lucy's backyard and made their way through the woods. Lucy handed Zac a flashlight and he flicked it on. Lucy did the same with hers. To Lucy it seemed a bit spooky out there at night, but she didn't care. She wanted to see the beautiful lake that seemed more like a dream than actually being real. Zac questioned Lucy why she wanted to go to the lake with him and didn't want anyone else to know. Thinking for a minute Lucy decided she could trust Zac and she told him everything that had happened from when she and Ike first kissed to when she hung up with him a few hours earlier. Zac listened, surprised at what happened between her and Taylor but now he understood why Taylor was acting they way he did.
"Lucy, I had no idea! It's all making sense now. I dunno what to say, do you like Taylor?" His eyes perked up waiting for a reply. Lucy thought "Zac, I don't know I think I do have feelings for him, but not as strong as I have for Ike. Ike told me he loved me, I told him I did too but I don't. I like him a lot but no not love." Lucy's eyes soften and became damp. Zac noticed this and pulled closer to Lucy putting his arm on her back. They walked quietly for about 10 minutes till Lucy saw an opening. Soon they stood in front of the most incredibly lake that Lucy had ever seen. She felt like she belonged here. Zac motioned her to seat with him on some dry flat rocks. Lucy walked over but instead of sitting she laid on the rocks facing the stars above. Zac too laid on the rocks to look at the graceful sky. In the distance Lucy heard an owl hoot. Lucy closed her eyes and wished her problems away. She opened them when she heard Zac's voice.
"Zac this is so amazing here. Thank you for taking me" Zac smiled and nodded.
"So Lucy what are you going to do? We have to do something to keep Taylor calm and Ike from ripping his throat out."
"That's what I'm afraid of, if Ike is this mad at him for this, what if I tell him that he kissed me?"
"I know, Taylor isn't usually like this. He kinda scared me before but I did my best to show him he couldn't threaten me. Though I'm still grateful Ike came to my side."
"Hey, that's cuz he's your brother. As for Taylor I think I have to talk to him but I really just wished it never happened." Lucy sighed and closed her eyes. She laid there for what seemed a only a few minutes till she felt someone shaking her. She opened her eyes to see Zac's worried face. He looked as if he had dozed off too.
"Lucy! It's three in the morning we have to get out of here!" Zac said as tried to force her to get up. Lucy jumped to her feet surprisingly wide-awake from the scare.
"Are you going to get in trouble Zac?" Lucy worried for him
"I hope not, I hope Ike and Tay are so mad at each other they haven't noticed I wasn't there."
They ran through the forest and they finally reached Lucy's backyard. They were both out of breath and extremely exhausted.
"Ok Zac, do you want me to make sure you get in ok? If your parents are up worried then I will take full responsibility for this." Lucy said still having trouble breathing.
"Nah, if I was missing Ike and Tay would go looking for me thinking it was their fault. I'll be ok, just go get some sleep Luc," Before Zac ran off he gave Lucy another hug and ran off into the street. Lucy climbed up the back stairs and opened the back door. She was pleasantly surprised to have Stinky greet her. She picked him up and brought him to her room. She dropped him on her bed and got undressed. She put on a long baby blue T-shirt and climbed into bed. Stinky made himself comfortable at her feet. Lucy slowly drifted off to sleep thinking about the stars and the lake.