I finally decided on a pastel yellow shirt with three-quarter-lengthed sleeves and black pants. My nails were already painted clear. I quickly twisted my hair back with six little clippies. Then, I added the finishing touch-an "invisible" necklace that was a silver butterfly with a white zirconium on each side.
I ran out the door at about 2:45 a.m., pullling on my white shoes as I went. Isaac didn't have a car yet, so I was going to pick him up. Whenever I stopped at a stop sign I added a little more makeup to my bare face!
I turned up the radio. It was the new Blessid Union of Souls song-my favorite! I sang along, becoming apprehensive. As I pulled in to his driveway, Isaac wasn't outside yet!
He was supposed to be waiting on the porch! I got worried all over again. What if he doesn't come outside? Maybe I was stupid for coming. Well...he'll come. He's probably just running late. At least this gives me the chance to put on some glitter!
As I dabbed my finger into my bottle of glitter gel and applied it onto my eyes, my car door was yanked open.
"AHHHH!" I screamed, dropping glitter onto my lap.
Isaac laughed and covered my mouth with his hand.
"Shhh...I was just coming over to see what exactly you were putting on your eyes. Here, let me help you," Ike grinned, picking the glitter up off my lap and rubbing it on to my eyelids.
"Thanks. Sorry I screamed in your ear!"
"That's alright, Sierra. I just came out from around back 'cuz I didn't want to wake Mack-he fell asleep on the couch by the door...and I wanted to surprise you with this."
Isaac picked something up from behind him on the pavement. It was a picnic basket!
"I thought it would be nice if we could have a late-night picnic in the park-I would have packed your grandma's chicken & dumplings since you said on the phone that it was your favorite, only I would have had to wake your grandmother up at two in the morning to get some!"
Sierra laughed. This would be so much fun! She had never snuck out before.
"Well, Mr. Isaac Hanson, i'm sure the food will be wonderful whether you woke Grandma or not! Thank you, Sir. Might we go now?" I said in a "proper" voice and drove off into the night.
Ike and Sierra stepped out into the blackness of the night sky.
"Hey Isaac, what time is it?"
Ike looked at his watch and attempted to imitate Matchbox 20, although he switched the lyrics around a bit, "It's 3 a.m. but I'm not looonely."
After singing this, Isaac felt dumb. I have to remember not to act so immature in front of girls! he scolded himself, making a mental note.
Sierra, however, was thinking, Aww, he's so cute. I mean, he said he's not lonely...so he must enjoy my company! And he's so funny...he's one of the only guys I "know" that acts himself around me. I guess those lyrics were sorta sweet...but they were pretty corny, too! But well, I like him that way! This is sort of like being with Paige, only...look at him!
As Isaac spread a red and white checked blanket on the ground to put their picnic "snack" on, Sierra couldn't help but notice the way the moon made Isaac's chocolate-colored eyes light up in the night, the way his wavy hair was nicely combed back into a rubber band, or even how his outfit looked so good on him. He was wearing a tight black tee with a shiny black jacket over the top, some leather pants, and a pair of maroon-colored Docs...at least Sierra thought they were maroon...it was hard to see real well in the dark. His silver ring shined in the moonlight as Ike held out his hand to help Sierra sit down.
"It's a beautiful night," he commented.
"Yeah," Sierra agreed, staring up at the blue-black sky with a million sparkling stars, leaning on her arms behind her for balance.
"Well," Isaac said as he stepped closer," you look even more beautiful than I remember."
"Maybe that's because you barely even gave me a glance at the hospital, Silly," Sierra replied as she playfully pushed Isaac away.
"Oh yeah...I said I was sorry about that."
"I know; that's why I'm not mad!" Sierra said, grinning.
Ike quickly set up everything they needed for their picnic-a few flashlights, napkins, forks, plates, and then the food. There was potatoe salad, fruit salad, green salad with raspberry vinagarette dressing-even chicken salad on their sandwiches. There seemed to be a theme.
"Isaac, this is so nice! How'd you manage to get all of this together?" Sierra complimented, smiling up at Isaac.
"Well, I whipped up the sandwiches...shredded the lettuce for the salad...I hope you don't mind the potatoe salad and fruit salad were left over from last night's dinner!" Ike grinned.
"Oh, I don't mind-I'd feel bad if you had made all of this just for us!"
"Aww it would've been no problem really."
"Thanks, Ike. This is really nice and I appreciate it a lot. I've never done this before-it is really sweet of you!"
"You're welcome. I wanted to do a little something nice for you."
Ike had brought a portable radio with the two of them to listen to as they ate. K-Hits was the only radio station that played anything good at night, so they just tuned into that.
They ate quietly besides the radio, just enjoying being there together. After a few more minutes of silence, Ike pulled yet another appetizer out of the basket.
"This is some chocolate cake with fudge frosting...Mackie helped my mom make it for dessert last night, so who knows what it's like, but there were two pieces left over, so it was perfect."
He slid a piece for each of them onto two napkins and Sierra began to eat hers with a fork.
"Heeey...why ya usin' that?" Ike questioned and grinned, "To keep food off your face? 'Cuz...there's some icing on the side of your mouth." He smiled and wiped it off with the back of his thumb.
"Well, actually Ike, I sort of liked my frosting right there. In fact, I think you would enjoy it, too." Sierra grabbed a handful of cake and wiped it on Isaac's right cheek.
"Ohhh, I see how it is. You want some too, huh?"
Soon the two of them were throwing chocolate cake back and forth at eachother.
"Well, I liked the single bite that I had," Sierra laughed, and then looked up at Ike.
There was a cricket screeching in the distance and the radio was blaring commercials but Sierra thought it was perfect. There was a slight breeze, and her hair blew in her face. She had felt so close to Isaac earlier that night on the phone, sharing her thoughts and her favorite things; But now that she had spent time with him, she knew-Sierra had it bad for Isaac. Apparently, he had it bad for her, too, because he then leaned forward. Sierra leaned towards him, too, closing her eyes...
.::He's going to kiss me; he's going to kiss me; Isaac Hanson is going to kiss me::.
When Isaac's face was so close to Sierra's that she could smell the chocolate on his breath, the radio seemed to get louder and belted out the lyrics, "Kiss me out of the bearded barley. Nightly, beside the green, green grass."
Sierra thought it was rather ironic, so before their lips could touch, they both fell backwards, laughing.
When Sierra finally regained her composure, she stood and held out her hand to help Isaac up. She was sort of embarassed, so before Ike could say anything she said, "Let's go swing!"
On a normal day, Isaac would have hated the swings. His legs were so long that they brushed the ground, and he felt immature swinging with little kids around, wanting a turn. But this was different. He was sitting next to a girl he had taken a liking towards as of late, and now he would never think of one of his favorite songs by Six Pence None the Richer in the same way again.
By now it was four 'O clock, but he was not tired at all. This night seemed way too short, pluse Ike had fun getting to know Sierra.
But, unlike Isaac, Sierra was obviously getting tired because she tooks Ike's trick when she started singing in a Teletubbies-like voice different lyrics to a strangely-familiar tune..."It started at a pa-ark, in the middle of Tulsa. Sitting beside me, was a boy with long hair..." Isaac laughed.
What's he laughing at? Sierra wondered to herself. Omigosh...I just sang that aloud! Sierra giggled and apologized, "Sorry; I'm kinda out of it, huh?"
"My handsome appearance often dazes girls in the same way," Ike joked.
Sierra smiled as Ike finally had the courage to grab her hand when they walked slowly back to their blanket on the grass.
Meanwhile, Paige was having her usual, peaceful dream about flying when her alarm wnet off.
"It's too early. I don't want to get ready for school yet! Wait; it's only Sunday!"
.::Ring::.
"Oh, duh. It's the phone-not the alarm! Who on earth would be calling NOW?!?"
"Hello?" Paige's voice cracked.
"Hey, Paige! This is Taylor. Sorry if I woke you up!"
"Oh, no, Tay-you didn't wake me up! I'm always up at the crack of dawn on weekends."
"You're being sarcastic, aren't you?"
"How'd you guess?" Paige asked, not really wanting an answer, laughing.
"I'm sorry, Paige. It's just Zac's loud snoring woke me up, and I noticed Ike was gone! I got Zac up to ask if he knew where Isaac went, but he didn't know, either. We've been looking everywhere for him. He's not anywhere in the house. I don't want him to get into trouble 'cuz then he won't be able to drive me to places I wanna go!"
"Oh, how thoughtful of you," Paige said, grinning, "Well, last I knew, he was talking on the phone with Sierra."
"I know. I thought maybe she would have told you if they were going somewhere."
"Nope; but now I'm going to kill her 'cuz if she gets into trouble her parents probably won't let her go to that party next weekend with me!"
Paaaiigge!" her mom yelled from the other room. "Are you up? I have some bad news..."
"Can you hang on for a sec, Taylor?" Paige asked.
"Sure."
"Yeah, Mom?"
"Paige, I just got a call from your grandmother. Your grandpa just had another heart attack!"
"Oh, no, he did? Is he alright?" Paige asked as tears welled up in her eyes.
"They just rushed him to the hospital. I'm about to get dressed and go up there. Do you want to come with me?"
"Is it alright if I have Sierra drive me up there a little later? I have gotten zero sleep lately"
"Sure, Honey. Just remember, these could be your grandpa's final moments. He's doing worse than the last time."
"I hope not, Mom! He's always been so strong. He'll pull through."
"I sure hope so! I better get ready now. See you later, Sweetie."
"Bye, Mom; I'll be praying," Paige replied as she walked back into her room.
Crap...Taylor! "Hello?"
"Hey; what's up?"
"Oh, hi; sorry it took so long! My grandpa had another heart attack!"
"I'm so sorry! Is he gonna be okay?"
"Yeah; I think so. I'm going to go up there later. I need more sleep, but I doubt I'll get any. I wish Sierra was at my house so I would have someone to talk to about this here."
"I may not be Sierra, but would you accept me as a substitute to talk to?"
"You? Umm, yeah, sure! That would be great! Thank you so much, Taylor! How are you going to get here?"
"Well, since Ike's not here and my parents are still asleep...I guess I'll just rollerblade over!"
"Taylor! We don't live very close! You'd do that just to come and be a shoulder for me to cry on?"
"Anything for a friend...only, could Zac come too? I feel bad that lately he has been stuck at home while Ike and I have gone out," Taylor questioned apologetically.
"Sure. He seems to always have a lot of energy...I'm sure he would cheer me up right away! Thanks Taylor."
"Okay, cool. No problem...I'm glad I can help!"
"Okay, so I'll see you soon! Buhbye!"
"Bye."
As Paige hung up the phone she thought to herself, Crap! What should I wear?
Sierra opened her eyes.
"Omigosh!" she freaked out, realizing she was still at the park.
She had fallen asleep with her head on Ike's shoulder, and now it was daylight!
"Huh, what?!? Oh, dang," Ike said, remembering how nice it was with Sierra beside him on the blanket last night...but then he also remembered the sky fading away as he fell asleep.
He quickly checked his watch. "SEVEN FORTY-FIVE!!!"
They jumped up and grabbed everything except their leftover food, thinking maybe the birds would enjoy it later on that day.
Sierra and Ike jumped in the car and were rather distressed.
At the next red light, they finally took the time to breathe. Ike began, "I'm awfully sorry if you get into trouble. It's my fault I let us fall asleep. If you want I would be happy to explain to yoru parents..."
"No, Ike. Don't ever apologize for last night-I had more fun than I've had for a long time!"
"Really?"
"Yeah...thanks for the food and..." Sierra blushed, "Everything."
.::HonkHoonk::.
"Oh! Sorry!" Sierra motioned an apologetic wave to the car behind her after she noticed the light had turned green.
As Sierra dreamily crawled back through her window, she reflected on last night's events. Of course, Isaac hadn't kissed her yet, but he had given her a good-night hug.
He's so sweet, Sierra thought, I can't wait until after school tomorrow when he's going to pick me up and take me out again.
She layed back on her bed, and something crunched underneath her. It as a note. It read: Sierra~ Paige's grandpa had another heart attack. I went to the hospital with Mrs. Ellingston. By the way, unless you're kidnapped or just have a really good excuse, you're grounded.
"Crap," Sierra sighed as she threw her head on her pillow.
