CHAPTER 7 - Surprises, FedEx & I love you.... 'Ditto'
It was Saturday
morning & Zac woke up extra early cause he going to Nicole's
place. And he also planned to dress
good today, so he has to wake up extra early to find good clothes.
Meeting Nicole's parents made Zac very nervous.
He didn't know why, cause 'meeting the parents' was usually his Thing.
Zac remembered at the mall when he met Nicole's mother that she
introduced him to her as only her friend. He
kept wondering why, but couldn't think of any reason.
He's been up thinking for almost two nights now, and the only reason that
he could come up with is that, maybe Nicole didn't want to be in a serious
relationship right now. He still
wasn't satisfied with the reason that he made up, so he decided to ask his
brothers...
"Hey
guys.. wake up!" Zac shouted, trying to wake Tay & Ike.
"What
the hell? Zac it's 10am! Go back to sleep." Taylor said, trying to go back
to sleep
"Come
on guys! I need your help." Zac whined.
"Fine..
What is it Zac?" Isaac said, sitting up from his bed.
"You
see Ike, Me and Nicole have been dating for a month now.. & 2 days ago she
introduced me to her mother." Zac explained.
"Whoa..
Zac you mean the French girl?" Taylor asked, now fully awake.
"Yea."
Zac replied.
"Wait
a minute Zac, isn't that a good sign? You know.. 'meeting the parents'
thing.." Isaac said.
"I
know... but when she introduced me, her mother asked if I was her boyfriend..
& she said I was just a friend." Zac continued.
"Bummer."
Taylor said, flatly.
"I
know!!! urgh.. I mean.. do friends kiss?!" Zac asked.
"I
don't know Zac, cause usually the friends thing changes on the first kiss...
right?" Taylor answered.
"Zac,
why don't you just ask her?" Isaac suggested.
"Yeah
maybe you're right. Thanks Ike." Zac said
"Which
reminds me, Tay... are you with Kristen?" Zac questioned.
"Uh?
I think so... Why?" Taylor replied.
"You
think so? What the hell kind of answer is that?" Isaac asked.
"I
don't know. We are dating right now. But who knows? She's only here for a
while." Taylor pointed out.
"That's
sad Tay." Zac said.
"Hey
guys, Madeline asked me to attend a wedding with her. What you think?"
Isaac said, starting a new topic
"WHAT?!"
Zac & Taylor said in unison.
"Are
you serious Ike? Attending a wedding together?" Taylor said.
"Yea,
are you guys that serious?" Zac added.
"I
think so. I think I'm falling in love with her." Isaac said
"In
love.. you've never been in love Ike! How sure are you that you're in love this
time?" Taylor asked.
"It's
just different." Isaac defended himself.
"Does
she know?" Taylor asked.
"No
not yet. I'm waiting for the right time." Ike said.
"You
know she's older than you right?" Zac reassured.
"Age
doesn't matter Zac." Ike replied.
"Whatever
man. I gotta go take a shower." Zac said, standing up and walking towards
the closet.
Taylor
watched his brother as Zac searched for decent clothes inside their closet.
Zac was looking through all the clothes they've ever owned.
He was looking at everything and he was throwing everything that he
didn't like on the floor. Every now
& then Taylor noticed that Zac was talking to himself. Taylor smiled to
himself. He wondered why Zac making
a big thing out of meeting Nicole's parents.
"You
really like her don't you?" Taylor asked Zac.
"Uh?"
Zac asked, not paying attention
"I
said.. you really like Nicole you do?" Taylor repeated
"Yea...
y?" Zac replied not brothering to look at Taylor.
"Cause
'meeting the parents' usually didn't bother you." Taylor reasoned.
"Urgh..
I know.. this is usually my thing. I don't know what's wrong... I'm just
nervous."
====================
"Someone
get the door!" Mrs. Hanson shouted.
"TAY
GET THE DOOR... I'M DOING LAUNDRY!" Mrs. Hanson shouted again.
Taylor
heard his mother shouting from the laundry room. His brothers left earlier and he was left at home, with his
mom and his other siblings. He stood up, to get the door, just like what his
mother had instructed him to do.
"Ok
mom! I got it!!" Taylor said, jogging to the door.
** DING
DONG ** **DING DONG **
"Coming!!"
Taylor called out.
"Who
is it?" Taylor asked, as he placed his ear on the door, waiting for the
person's reply.
"FedEx
delivery Sir." the man replied.
Taylor
opened the door. And the delivery
guy handed him his clipboard for Taylor to sign.
Taylor signed on the blank and gave the delivery guy back his clipboard
and closed the door. He examined
the huge box that the delivery guy pushed inside their door step.
The box was huge. It almost fit, 2 persons inside.
Taylor pushed the box to the living room. He went around the box, checking if there was a name written.
'Wonder who's this for?' he thought.
Just then, he saw his name at the side of the box.
"Holyshit...
this package is for me?" he asked himself
"Wonder
who would send me a package." He said as he tried to rip off the tape off
the box.
As soon as
Taylor successfully removed all the tape on the box, he pushed the box on the
middle of the living room, near the couch.
He sat on the middle of the couch, pulling the box near him, as he slowly
opened the box, he realized that the inside of the box had glitters.
'Fucking glitters' he cursed.
He continued to open the box, when the box was fully opened, he saw a
bunch of crumpled red crepe paper. He was about to look what was beneath the
paper when....
"SURPRISE
TAYLOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Chutney screamed as she jumped from
the box
"AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Taylor shouted.
"Hi
Tay.. are you surprised?" Chutney asked, in her underwear, smiling.
"What
the hell do you think you're doing?! You sent yourself to me?! What are you
demented or something!?" Taylor said annoyed.
"I
really wanted to see you! And I thought that this would be sweet." she
explained.
"What?!
Sweet? Scaring my ass out... you think that's sweet? And what the hell are you doing
half naked!"
"I'm
not half naked! I'm in a costume!" she
argued.
"You're
in your underwear"
"I'm
suppose to be a bunny. Look." she said turning around, showing Taylor her
fake furry bunny tail.
"Fine
Chutney. Now you have to go ... " Taylor said, directing her to the door.
"What?
No! Can't I stay here?" she pleaded.
"No!
If my mother sees you, I'm in deep shit. Now, leave."
"I
can't go out there! It's cold! I don't have any clothes on.." she reasoned
out.
'Why is
this happening to me? I should just die right NOW.' Taylor
thought to himself.
"Fine.
I'll drive you home. Happy?" Taylor suggested, giving her his best
fake-smile.
====================
"Hello?"
Madeline said, as she picked up the ringing phone.
"Hey..
It's me." Isaac said
"Oh
hey.. Why'd you call?"
"I
called to say 'hi'!" Isaac said.
"Oh...
" Madeline said in return.
"You
sound kinda disappointed... are you?"
"Uh?
No, silly. I'm just not feeling good right now."
"Hun,
are you ok? You want me to come over?" Isaac asked, sounding very worried.
"No
need Isaac. I just have a head ache."
"Are
you sure? I'll go there right now." Isaac suggested.
"I
can manage Ike. Don't worry about me. And besides, you have plans later
right?" Madeline said between coughs.
"I
can cancel them."
"No,
Ike... go ahead and have fun with your model friends. I gotta go. Bye."
Madeline said quickly as she hung up the phone.
Isaac
retuned the phone back. 'What?! Was she jealous?!!?' he asked himself,
confused.
He decided
to call Madeline back but she wasn't answering the phone.
Isaac got worried maybe something happened to Madeline.
Or maybe... she was mad at him cause she's getting jealous of those
English models. 'I'll just tell
the girls that I can't join them tonight.' he thought to himself.
Isaac smiled to himself. 'She's jealous' he thought smiling.
====================
Zac waited
in outside of Nicole's front door. He heard footstep coming closer, so he tried
to fix himself. As the door opened, he saw a girl about 2 inches shorter than
Nicole, same hair... same everything. He next thing he knew, he saw the girl
jump to him. Zac tried to back down
a couple of step backward but the girl's body landed on top of him as he fell on
the floor.
"OW!"
Zac said as he tried to squirm beneath the girl.
"OHMYGOD
YOU'RE ZAC HANSON!!!" she screamed on Zac's ear with her French accent.
"HELP
ME!!!! NICOLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Zac screamed back,
calling for Nicole.
Inside,
Nicole heard screaming outside the front door.
She went to the living room to check it out. She peeked through the window, and to her surprise, she saw
Zac lying on his back screaming and her sister sitting on his chest. 'Oh
shit....' she thought, running
to the front door to save Zac.
"Justine!!!
Get off him!!!!" Nicole screamed at her sister, pulling her to stand up.
"AHHHHH!!!!
GET OFF MEEE... YOU'RE KILLING ME!" Zac screamed again.
"Zac...
Zac Hanson... I LOVE YOU!" Justine, Nicole's sister screamed on last time
on Zac's ear before standing up.
"STAND
UP JUSTINE!!!!" Nicole screamed on last time.
Nicole
grabbed Justine's arm as she pulled her up. HARD. "STAND UP! STOP IT! YOU'RE KILLING HIM!" Nicole
yelled at her sister, more serious now.
Justine
calmed down, and she stood up, letting Zac breathe normally.
"Fine.. fine.. But-" Justine said, but she was cut off by her
sister.
"But
nothing.. look at him Jus! Go back inside.." Nicole said as she pushed
Justine inside the house.
"Oh
my god Zac! Are you ok? Here, let me help you..." she said, trying to help
Zac stand up.
"Urg..."
Zac said, holding his back as he stood up.
"I'm
sooo...sorry." Nicole said, wiping Zac's sweat with her hand.
Zac
smiled. "I'd take.. that she's a fan?"
"Yea..
BIG fan. And she's in love with you. Or so she says."
Zac stood
up straight this time, trying to clean his shirt. When Nicole noticed that he has a small bruise on the right
side of his chin.
"Zac,
look at your chin... I'm so sorry." Nicole said holding his chin.
Nicole
kissed the bruise lightly. "There.. better?" she smiled.
"You
know, my lips are kinda bruised too." Zac told her, smiling.
"Oh
yea? from what?" she said, smiling.
"From
all the shouting a while ago. My jaws hurt so badly!!" Zac lied, holding
the sides of his face.
Nicole
kissed his cheek, both left and right & gave him a soft kiss on the lips.
"There..
happy?" Nicole said, smiling at him.
Zac
nodded.
Nicole
took Zac's hand and she pulled him inside the house. Nicole told Zac to stay in the living room. She told him to
wait for her cause she was going to get him Ice for the bruises.
Zac sat on the couch. He
looked around the living room. And
it was HUGE! 'She's probably loaded'
he thought.
"Here,
put this on your chin." Nicole said behind him as she handed him the ice
pack.
"Thanks
Nic." Zac said placing the ice pack on his chin.
Nicole sat
beside him examining his face to check if there were other bruises. Zac felt
shivers down his spine as he felt Nicole's fingers wondering around his neck.
He turned to face Nicole but she too concentrated on Zac's neck in
finding more bruises. Zac sighed. 'She's
so beautiful to be true.' Zac thought about what Isaac said earlier. He had already rehearsed earlier what to say to Nicole but
didn't have the nerve to start the conversation.
'It's all about timing. It's now or never Zac'
"Uh..
Nicole, can I ask you something?" Zac asked, looking at Nicole.
"Of
course you can, what is it?" she asked, not looking at Zac
"Hey..
it's serious. Look at me." Zac said waiting for Nicole to face his
direction
"I'm
sorry. What is it Zac?"
"Uh I
don't know how to say this.." Zac stumbled his words.
"What
is it Zac?" she asked, she sounded more worried this time.
"Uh...
Nicole, remember when you introduced me to your mom, you
told her I was just your friend."
Nicole
nodded.
"Is
that all I am to you?" Zac said, holding her hand.
"You
see Zac-" Nicole was cut off
"Cause
Nicole. I like you a lot. We've been dating for more than a month now.
And you got me by surprised when you told your mom that we're just
friends." Zac continued
"What
do you want me to say to her? That you're my boyfriend Zac?" she asked.
"Am I
not?" Zac asked, confused.
"I
thought.. we were just friends." Nicole said, looking down.
"So you
kiss all of your friends uh?" Zac said, standing up.
"No..
it's not that Zac." Nicole explained
"Then
what is it?! All this time I thought you liked me. I knew this was too good to
be true! All our kisses meant nothing to you." Zac said to her,
half-yelling.
"You
don't understand Zac. Please just let me explain." Nicole pleaded.
"Explain
what?!" Zac said... now yelling
A tear fell down Nicole's check. "Please
Zac, don't' do this.. I don't want to loose you."
Zac clamed
down later on. "Fine.. talk Nicole. I'm listening."
"Zac,
I've never had a boyfriend before. And
when I have one, I want it to be for love.
I don't want to commit the same mistakes as those other girls out there.
At least if my first boyfriend and I break up, I will not blame myself.
Cause I'll be sure be sure that I didn't loose anything.
And I'll be sure that everything that I did was worth it. Because I did
it for love... not for just some dumb infatuation or crush. And I'll be honest
with you Zac, I am scared of falling in love.
I'm too scared that maybe I won't be loved back." Nicole explained.
"I do
like you Zac. I really do. You don't know how happy I was when I first met
you." she added.
After
hearing Nicole's explanation, Zac felt like an asshole.
He wanted to kick himself but being that stupid.
"I'm
sorry Nicole. I'm an asshole." Zac said, looking down on his lap.
"I'm
sorry too. I should have been honest." Nicole said.
Nicole took Zac's hand. And she squeezed it. Zac smiled back at her. Zac hugged her, and kiss her forehead.
"I'm sorry Nicole. I just don't want to loose you too"
Nicole smiled at him.
====================
**
KNOCK KNOCK **
"Who
is it?" Madeline asked before opening the door.
"Delivery
mam'" she heard a man say on the other side of the door.
"What
is it?"
"Flowers
mam'"
Madeline opened
the door. Her mouth dropped
open when she saw a huge bouquet of flowers.
She can't even see who the delivery guy was. The thing was HUGE!. The
guy handed him the card. Madeline opened it, expecting it to be from Isaac.
When she opened the envelope, to her disappointment. It wasn't from
Isaac. It was from a guy named.
'Clarke'. Madeline looked at the flowers that was in front of her. She sighed.
"Excuse
me sir. This must be a mistake. I don't know anyone named Clarke." Madeline
said, going outside the door to be able to see the face of the delivery man.
"Of
course you do mam'" the guy replied.
"Wait
a minute... Isaac? Is that you?" Madeline asked as she went around the huge
bouquet to see who the guy was.
Isaac
placed the huge arrangement on the floor, showing Madeline his face.
"Yea." he answered. smiling.
"Oh
my god! What are you doing?!" Madeline asked... smiling.
"I
wanted to surprise you!"
"Whatever."
"Come
on! You were smiling a while ago!" Isaac teased.
"Fine
fine... Thanks Ike." She said, giving him a kiss on the lips.
Isaac
placed the flowers near the kitchen table and he followed Madeline to the living
room. When he got there, she was
sitting on the couch watching TV. He sat beside her and placed his arm around
her shoulder. Madeline move a
little away from him.
"What's
wrong Madeline?" Isaac asked.
"Nothing
Ike."
"Yea."
"Are
you sure Madeline?"
"Yea
Ike."
"But
you-" he was cut off
"Don't
you have to be somewhere Ike with your model friends?" she said, annoyed.
"So
that's what's this is all about!" Isaac said smiling.
"What?"
Madeline asked, pretending to know nothing.
"You're
jealous!"
"Jealous?!
No, I'm not jealous." Madeline said, defending herself.
"Yes
you are! Ever since I told you that those model are in town, you don't talk to
me that much anymore."
"That
doesn't prove anything Isaac."
"Oh
yeah? You don't answer my calls sometimes." Isaac said.
"And
you don't call back when I leave a message on you machine!" Isaac
continued.
"And
you always tell me your busy, but I know you're just watching TV." Isaac
added.
"Fine!
FINE! You win." She said, looking down on her lap.
"Aw..
Hun.. Why were you jealous?!" Isaac said, sitting beside her & pulling
her for a hug.
"Come
on Ike! You know how flirty you are! And all of them are pretty."
"No
there not... you're prettier." Isaac said, as he kissed her nose.
"But
they're models! And obviously all of them has a crush on you guys." she
continued to explain.
"Aw
come on. They like me. But I don't love them." Isaac said, pushing the
strands of her hair behind her ear.
"Really?"
she asked, smiling.
"Yea.
I only love you." Isaac said under his nose.
"What
did you say?" Madeline sat up. Looking at Isaac.
"Uh?
I said what?" Isaac pretended.
"Did
you just say that you love me?" She asked, looking at him seriously.
Isaac was
not sure if he sure admit what he said. The
look that Madeline was giving him, made him worried. 'What if she doesn't
love me?'
"Ike..
What did you just say?"
'It's
NOW or NEVER.' he
thought
"Uh...
I said I Love You." he whispered.
He slowly
looked at Madeline's expression. Her
seriousness turned into a smile. Isaac
was relieved. Madeline gently
lifted Isaac's chin with her hand to face her.
She kissed him. And..
between her kisses she smiled and said...
"Ditto"
Chapter 8 - Home Boy Ike, The Garage & Sneaking Out
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