When Phoebe got home, she went over to Taylor's house before even going inside. She rang the doorbell. A few seconds later
Isaac answered.
"Hey Ike. Is Taylor home?"
"Yeah, hold on a sec. Do you want to come in?" He asked.
"No, that's ok. I'll just wait outside."
He shrugged and went to get his brother. She sat down on the steps and waited patiently. She needed to talk to him about the
mall. Taylor came outside not long after.
"Hey, what's up?" He took a seat beside her on the steps.
"Guess who I bumped into... or rather, was bumped into by?"
He started to smile. "Well, the only person I can think of would have to be... Veronica."
She laughed. "Yep! I was looking for a cd and then bam! She knocked into me and spilled the whole rack."
He shook his head and laughed. "That girl needs to get some help!"
She giggled. "I also saw her talking to her friend in the mall... I think her name was Maddy or something."
He stopped laughing. "Did you say Maddy?"
She nodded.
"Was she kinda tall with long hair? Like the color of honey?"
She looked confused. "Yeah, exactly. What are you getting at Tay?"
He stood up and started pacing. "I can't believe this. Ike has really bad luck!"
She stood up as well. "Taylor, what is going on?"
He stared up at the sky. "Ike is going out with Maddy tonight. He hates Veronica, Veronica hates him, and Maddy is friends
with her. Don't you see a tiny little problem there?"
She dropped her mouth open. "Woah, that's soap opera material. Are you going to tell him about all this?"
He covered up his eyes. "I don't know. If I do, I could end up messing up this thing he has for her. Maybe I should just let him
find out on his own." He sat back down.
Phoebe crossed her arms. "You should tell him. Maybe Maddy doesn't know her friend is such a jerk."
He looked up at her. "Maybe she does. Did you hear them talking at all? Were you that close?"
She shook her head 'yes'. "She was telling her about how she was going out tonight. But, she never once mentioned his name...
I would have known something was up then."
Taylor bent over to tie his shoelace. "Well, Veronica hates our music and us for that matter. Maybe Maddy knows that and
won't tell her about Ike."
She sighed. "I hope so. I feel bad enough for him having to deal with Veronica. You're right. We shouldn't tell him."
He smiled a little. "Let's just keep our fingers crossed that Maddy doesn't blab."
Phoebe crossed her fingers. "They're crossed."

"Maddy, you were late!" Joey said putting her arms around her neck.
"I can't drive like that Joey. And, I'm sorry I was late. I went to the mall with Veronica."
Jessica almost stopped breathing. She yanked Joey back down beside her.
"Turn on the radio Maddy!" Jessica said.
She flipped it on to a station that was playing Matchbox 20.
"Joey! Her friend is Veronica?" She whispered.
Joey nodded. "Yeah! I have met her too. She's not that nice."
Jessica stared at her. "Ike knows her."
"Huh?" Joey replied.
"She is a Hanson Hater to put it bluntly."
Joey bugged her eyes out. "No way! She never acted like one before."
Jessica leaned her head against the glass. "I don't even want to think about this."
Joey was really confused. "Wait, so when did Ike meet her?"
She rolled her eyes. "I told you about all that, remember? She knocked him into the fountain at the park and she also like ran
Zac over."
She thought for a moment. Then she remembered. "Oh yeah! Ok, I get you now. Wow, that is a problem."
"What's a problem?" Maddy asked.
Jessica mouthed "don't say anything" to Joey.
"Um, well... Jessica fell and chipped her nails. Yeah, that's it."
She shoved Joey a little. "That's stupid Joey!" She whispered.
Maddy laughed a little. Jessica had a bad habit of biting her nails.
"Ok, I won't ask. You two are obviously keeping a secret from me." She flipped the blinker on and turned onto their street.
"No we're not." Joey lied.
"Sure ok." Maddy smiled. She always knew when Joey was telling a lie. She pulled up into the driveway.
"Ok, get out. The vehicle has come to a complete stop and it is now safe to exit."
Jessica giggled and opened up the door. Joey got out and ran across the yard, doing a cartwheel.
"Show off! And I saw your underwear too. Too bad Zac wasn't around." Jessica yelled.
Joey turned blood red. "Oh that's it! You are so dead girl!"
She started chasing her around the yard, acting completely obnoxious. Maddy watched and laughed.
"I'm going inside now!"
She walked to the porch and went inside, leaving Joey and Jessica alone, to kill themselves on their own free will.

Taylor walked into his bedroom with Phoebe. She decided to stay a while. Isaac was reading a book.
"Hey Ike."
He looked up from the book. "I thought you didn't want to come in." He gave her a smile.
"Well, I do now. What are you reading?" She asked.
"It's called 'Desperation'."
Taylor sat down on his bed.
"Oh, a Stephen King novel. I have alot of those, but not that one."
He marked his place. "Yeah, I just got it. It's pretty good but a little hard to follow."
She smiled. "Alot of his books are like that."
Zac came in the room and went over to his closet.
"Hey Zac."
He turned and smiled. "Hi Phoebe."
He continued to look for something. Taylor spoke up.
"So, are you excited about your date?" She went over and sat by him.
He laughed a little. "Yeah, you could say so. I just hope I don't end up making a fool out of myself in front of her. You know,
like that Veronica girl." He shook his head.
Phoebe and Taylor looked at each other. He felt a little guilty because of what he knew. Zac found whatever he was looking
for and waved to everyone before leaving.
"Zac! Where are you going?" Taylor yelled.
He came back to the door. "I'm going to rollerblade for a little while. I need my gloves." He held them up.
"Oh ok. Bye then."
He ran down the stairs.
Taylor got ready to say something else, when Diana came to the door with Zoe and Avery.
"Hey mom." Isaac said with a smile.
Diana said hi to everyone. "I'm going to take Avery to her dentist appointment now. Mackie is asleep, so don't wake him. I'll
be back in a little while!"
Avery frowned a little and ran into their bedroom, not wanting to go with her mother. She ran over to Isaac and crawled into
his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. Diana sighed and walked back into the room.
"Here, hold Zoe for me." She handed the baby to Taylor.
He took her and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Avery honey, it's time to go now."
Her lip quivered. "I don't want to go. I'm scared." She hugged Isaac even harder. He gave his mom a smile.
"Avery, the dentist won't hurt you. You are just going for a check-up."
Phoebe walked over to Avery. "Hey, I just went to the dentist."
She looked up at her. "Yeah, he was really nice and I even got a really cool sticker. And he played the radio too." She hadn't
been to the dentist lately, but was hoping that this would make her feel a little better.
"Really?" She asked.
"Yeah! I bet you'd get a sticker too."
She looked at her brother and then got off his lap. Diana took her hand and walked her to the door. She turned and mouthed,
"thank you" to Phoebe, then she went and picked Zoe back up.
"Keep an eye on Mackie!"
"We will mom!" Taylor yelled back.
Isaac laughed. "What kind of sticker did you get, Phoebe?"
Taylor laughed too.
"A really cool one." She stuck her tounge out at him. "I was just pretending. Jeez..." She whacked Taylor in the head with a
pillow.
"Hey!" He hit her back with another pillow.
"Ok, this is war!" She yelled.
Isaac watched as they both smacked each other with pillows. "You two are insane. And you are going to wake Mackie!"
She giggled and hit him again. "Ok, I'm outa here. I'll be downstairs if you even care..." He smiled and left the room.
The two of them continued to have their pillow fight until they were out of breath.
"Ahh ok! You win!!" He exclaimed, falling onto the bed. She laughed and tossed her pillow to the other side of the room.
"You're a good fight Tay!"
"So are you... man I'm thirsty."
She joined him on the bed. "Me too... but I'm kinda hungry as well."
"Hey, I have an idea." He sat up so he could see her.
"What?"
"Let's go get some icecream. There's a place right around the corner from here."
"Oh, that's a good idea. Let's stop by my house first and let my mom know, ok?" She asked. "Sure, lets go!" He took her hand
and they left the room.

Zac turned the corner and bladed even faster. He loved doing that. It was his second favorite thing to do. His first, of course,
playing the drums. A few minutes later, he managed to find himself on Joey's street. He bladed down the sidewalk and noticed
that Joey and Jessica were sitting by a tree in the front yard. He went up their driveway.
"Hey!" He exclaimed. He plopped down beside Jessica.
"What are you doing here?" Jessica asked.
Joey was blushing. "I just went out blading, and I ended up over here. Besides, I'm tired. I need to sit for a minute."
Joey gave him a big obnoxious smile.
"What's wrong with you?" He asked her.
She looked down. Jessica snickered a little.
"Nothing... do you want a drink or something?" She asked him.
He stared at her like she was crazy. She never offered him drinks or anything for that matter. She was being unusually nice.
"Yeah...sure. I'll just have some water please."
She hopped up. "Ok, be right back!"
Jessica looked at him. "So where is everyone?"
"Tay, Ike and Phoebe are at home with Mackie...I think. Tay and Phoebe might have left. Dad's at work and Mom took Avery
to the dentist, and oh Zoe's with her too."
She smiled. "Dentist, huh? Did she not want to go again?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. I left."
"Oh."
Joey came outside, holding three bottles of water.
"I wasn't that thirsty!" He said laughing.
She giggled. "The other two are for us."
Jessica took hers and Joey handed Zac his. His hand touched hers and she smiled. He didn't know what was up with her. She
sat back down by Jessica. He took a sip.
"Thanks. Wow, that's really cold!"
She was happy that he liked the water. Jessica rolled her eyes. She thought he was crazy sometimes, but then again, he was her
brother. Joey however, loved Zac when he was crazy. He stood up after a few minutes.
"Ok, I'm going to go now. Thanks for the water Joey." He smiled.
"You're welcome." She replied.
"Tell Ike to pick me up at five, ok?"
He bladed down the driveway. "Yeah sure whatever. See ya!" He waved and took off down the street.
"Well, well, well. You must be in Zac heaven right now, huh?" She giggled a little and stared at Joey.
She smiled at Jessica. "At least he liked my water. That's good!"
"Why don't you just ask him out already?"
She sighed. "What if he doesn't want a girlfriend? I don't want to feel stupid if he says no."
Jessica took another sip of water. "Well, yeah. I see your point. Hey, maybe I can try to find out if he wants to go out with
somebody!"
"I don't know Jessie. I guess you can, but if you tell Zac that I like him, you will never forget it!" She warned.
Jessica laughed. "Nice threat, but ok I won't tell him. Jeez, how many times do I have to tell you that I won't anyway?"
She smiled. "A million."
"Um ok..."
Joey flicked some water on her. "Don't start it Joey! I do not want to get wet!"
She went to do it again, but stopped. "Ok, sorry."
Maddy came to the front door. "You guys haven't had lunch yet. You need to come eat now."
"Ok!" They picked up their water bottles and went inside.

Zac tossed his skates in the living room and went into the kitchen in search of a snack. He was hungry all of a sudden. Isaac
looked up from the t.v and saw him. He went to open the fridge, when he saw a note on it. He looked at it. It was in Isaac's
handwriting. The note read:
Jessica, Luke called. His number is: 446-5247. (Author's note: I have no idea about Tulsa's numbers, so I just hope that will
work.)
He stuck it back to the fridge. "Hey Ike!" He called out.
"Yes..."
He looked at the name on the note again. "Who is Luke?"
Isaac walked into the kitchen. "Hmm, my guess is that he is a friend of Jessie's." He smiled and moved Zac away from the
fridge.
He reached in and grabbed a can of soda. Zac thought for a moment.
"He is a guy though."
Isaac laughed when he heard him say this. "Zac... she can have guy friends you know." He paused before asking him the next
question on his mind. "This bothers you, doesn't it?"
Zac looked shocked. "It does not!" He turned and ran out of the kitchen and up to his room.
Isaac shrugged and went back to the t.v. He fell on his bed. He didn't understand this. It did bother him, and he wanted to
figure out why.

Taylor opened up the door to the icecream shop and Phoebe went in first. Everything was old fashioned looking. The tables
and chairs were a dark oak with a gold trim, the floor resembled marble and there were pretty hanging lamps over each table.
She smiled when she saw the jukebox in the corner.
"Wow, this is really pretty. How long has it been here?"
He looked around thoughtfully. "Well, I'm not too sure. It was here before I was born I think."
She looked at all the kids. They looked so happy there. Who wouldn't? They both took a seat at a table. A few seconds later,
a waitress came over to take their order.
"Hiya! What can I get you two today?" She asked cheerfully.
"I'll have a strawberry shortcake." She answered. "I'll have the same." He said with a smile.
"Great! I'll be back in a few minutes."
"I love strawberry shortcakes! They are my favorite!"
He thought it was cute that she got excited over icecream. "I love them too. I have one everytime I come here." He said to her.
She smiled at that, then she reached into her pocket and pulled out a quarter. "I'm going to pick a song. Be right back."
He watched her walk over to the jukebox. She studied all of the choices and smiled when she found the one she wanted. She
put the quarter in, and selected a song. She then joined him back at the table.
"What did you pick?" He asked.
"A song..." She giggled tp him.
A few seconds later, "MMMBop" rang out through the icecream shop. Taylor started laughing.
She laughed too. "I had to!"
He shook his head and smiled. The waitress interrupted their fit of laughter. "Here you are." She placed their icecream in the
center of the table. "Enjoy!"
"This looks good." He said staring at the icecream.
She took a bite. "Wow, this is so good! The best I've ever had."
He agreed with her. "Yeah, THE best." He gave her a wide smile.
The door opened and they both looked over to see who was entering the icecream shop. Macy and her friend Tisha entered.
Phoebe quickly turned back to her icecream. Taylor sighed.
"I hope she doesn't notice us. She'll just start something up again." He said looking at Phoebe.
She nodded. "Yeah, she is nothing but trouble."
Macy and Tisha sat down at a table right in back of them.
"I haven't been here in a while." Tisha commented looking around the room.
Her eyes fell to the table in front of them. She smiled and looked at Macy. "Look who's here."
Macy looked to where she was pointing. She rolled her eyes when she saw them. "Eww, gross. It figure's they'd be here too ya
know?"
Tisha giggled a little. The waitress came over and took their orders. Tisha leaned in and whispered, "Just follow me", as soon as
she left.
Macy nodded, smiling mischievously.
Taylor and Phoebe continued their converstation. They were just going to ignore them. Macy and Tisha received their
icecreams not long after. Tisha took a few bites and then she flung a little in Phoebe's direction. It missed.
"Stupid, hit them at least." Macy said getting a spoonful ready.
She flung it and hit Phoebe in the back of her head. She stopped eating and looked at Taylor. "Oh no..." She said feeling the
back of her head. She looked at her hand. "They tossed icecream at me!" She exclaimed to him.
He shot them an ugly look. "I'm sorry Phoebe. It's not that much. Here." He handed her some napkins.
She got most of the icecream out of her hair. She took a deep breath and gave a smile to Taylor. "I'm not going to let them ruin
our time here." She said.
He smiled back. "Yeah, they are not worth it." As soon as he got those words out, a glob of icecream hit him on his cheek.
He turned red, and wiped it away quickly. Phoebe turned to say something to the enemy, when a glob of icecream hit her in the
face too. She was very mad now. She stood up and wiped the icecream off. She picked up her icecream.
"No, Phoebe. Don't do it..."
She ignored Taylor and walked over to Macy and Tisha. "Thanks for the icecream. Here's yours." She picked up all her
icecream and slammed it in Macy's face.
Macy jumped up and screamed. "I can't believe you!" She grabbed Tisha's icecream and slammed it in Phoebe's face.
Taylor ran over to tried to help her. She wiped the icecream from her eyes. "Ok, I've had enough." Phoebe threw a punch at
Macy and knocked her to the ground. She looked stunned. She didn't realize she was so strong. Taylor was in shock now.
"How could you do that to my friend!" Tisha screamed and jumped on her back. Phoebe winced a little. The two girls started
screaming and punching at each other. Phoebe ran her back into a wall, causing Tisha to fall off.
The waitresses were trying to break up the fight and all the kids had formed a circle around them. Macy jumped up and ran
over to hit Taylor, but someone stopped her. Security was called and they escorted all four kids outside. Macy was fighting all
the way outside. Taylor stood by Phoebe when they yelled at them about disturbing the store.
"Now, all of you pay up for the icecream!" The guard yelled when he was finished. The cashier was there and gave them their
totals. Macy paid and rolled her eyes. Taylor paid as well.
"All of you get home now! You're lucky I didn't call the cops. Move!"
Macy and Tisha turned and walked in the opposite direction of them. They started to walk away too. Phoebe walked a little
funny.
"Are you ok? She didn't hurt you did she?" He asked with concern.
She felt tears come to her eyes. "I've never been in a fight before!" She exclaimed hugging Taylor tightly.
"Shh, it's ok." He rubbed her back. "You kicked her butt though!" He said a few moments later.
She laughed. "Yeah I guess I did. I shouldn't have done that though. I think I hurt my back again."
His face fell. "Where does it hurt?"
"All over. But, it's not that bad though. I just need to lay down." She started walking again.
"Wait. I don't want to walk all the way home with you like that. I'm calling Ike." He went over to a payphone and started
dialing.
She protested a litte, but stopped. Her back really didn't feel right. She sighed and leaned against the wall while he explained
things to Isaac.

NEXT CHAPTER