That hot day set a trend. Both for hot, sunny days and time spent with the new neighbors. Jessie and Meg quickly became friends, and Ryan and Zac were always doing something together. Of course, all the kids had other friends as well. But being as Zac was right next door and would be for at least a little while, it was just as easy to hang out with him most of the time. It was a weird and unexpected reaction, but Sky found herself slightly jealous. Even though Ryan was a kid, he was fun to hang out with and they had a special relationship since they'd both lost Jimmy. She knew that Ryan understood how it felt to lose such a great little boy like her brother, and it was an unspoken bond between them. Not that Zac wasn't amusing. He was funny and full of energy. A little strange sometimes, but a good kid. She took Meg & Jessie to the movies once or twice and they shopped for nail polish and beads for Meggie's necklaces. Megan was a very sweet little girl and also mature for her age. She was very insightful for a nine year old, and Jessie seemed to sense that Megan was someone she'd be able to count on for a long time.

It was not long after these new friendships formed, that Skyler decided to take a half day from work. She'd been gazing out the window all morning, and she felt very restless inside. She didn't know what she planned to do, but anything was better than a stuffy office building. She went home and changed into a tank top and shorts. She went to fix her hair and ended up doing one of her mirror studies. That was when she examined herself in the mirror and analyzed what she saw, good and bad. She had nice hair, long and dark but also very healthy looking. Thick, glossy hair ran in the family on her mother's side. Her mom's hair had been deep auburn, while Skyler only had red highlights. She had some tan color now, which helped her looks, she felt. She was actually a beautiful girl, with full lips and long eyelashes and high cheekbones, but she didn't see herself the way everyone else did. She picked at every flaw she had and magnified it to ten times what it was until she was convinced everyone noticed it. At this point she was looking at her eyes and thinking that they were a deeper blue, less crystalline than, say, Taylors, when the doorbell made her jump. All at once she felt silly for standing in front of the mirror gazing at herself. She ran to the door and opened it. There stood an over-heated looking Taylor, hair messily pulled back in a ponytail, wearing a white & blue tank top and baggy navy shorts. He had a skateboard under one arm. "Hi.."he sighed, "I saw your car pull in and I wanted to say hi." He shifted the skateboard. "Hi! You look hot...I mean...yeah...want a drink or something?" She responded, feeling stupid for saying that. "Sure, thanks." He practically pushed past her to get inside. She led him to the kitchen. "Soda? Pick one.." She opened the fridge where they had an assortment of cans of soda. It was dads other favorite drink besides Jack Daniels. He paused for a minute before selecting a Dr Pepper, and she got him a glass from the freezer.

"So why are you home?" he asked, gulping the soda down at first then recovering his manners and sipping. "I took a half day. I didn't feel like working. What are you doing?" "Just practicing moves. I don't have any yet, but I'm trying." He smiled. She smiled back. "Want to see my house?"she asked as an afterthought. "Yeah..the kitchen's nice." He glanced around as if to confirm this. She showed him the living room, dining room and downstairs bathroom. Her dad slept in the former guest room downstairs, but she skipped over that. Then they went upstairs. She showed him her bathroom (no one else used it, so it was hers) and the room that used to be her parent's. "This room was Jimmy's. Dad wouldn't clean out any of these rooms, so last year I finally did it. Peggy helped me. We packed up all their things and put them in the attic. So it's not like we tossed them or anything. I just thought it was too morbid to keep them exactly as they were..like shrines or something. It won't bring them back, you know?" She continued on to her room, the largest one upstairs. "I feel bad that that happened to you, Sky....I don't know what I'd do if I lost my mom or any of my brothers and sisters. It must be hard for you." "It is, sometimes....Well..here's my room." She said, changing the subject. He stepped in and looked around. "Wow...it's really cool! I like the stars on the ceiling...did you paint this?" He seemed to really be impressed. "Yeah, it started out as some glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling but I got carried away and thought I was painting the Sistine Chapel or something." She laughed, thinking of how it must appear, with stars and planets and a moon on the ceiling and swirling pink, blue and white clouds along the tops of the walls. "Well, I like it. You have talent. I can tell. As one artist to another, I admire your work." "Why thank you, Taylor." She said in a professional sounding voice.

They went out onto the little porch off of her bedroom and sat on the glider. They talked about a lot of things, work and families and fame. Then he asked her if she wanted to do something, so they ended up rollerblading around the neighborhood. She had a fun day, sort of like she and Ryan used to have, but Ryan didn't have crystal blue eyes and silky hair. And a nice mouth. And nice eyebrows. Anyhow, after that she hung around at the Hansons' house a few times and fit in pretty well.

A week or so later, she and Taylor were up in the tree house cleaning (she was the only one who ever cleaned it and he was nice enough to help since they hung out there sometimes) when Zac showed up, bored and ready for adventure. Skyler also felt bored and ready to do something different, so she asked them if they wanted to try out her Punky Color temporary hair colors. Zac immediately said yes, but Skyler said he'd have to ask his mom first. Taylor was more hesitant until Sky assured him it shampooed right out. Zac came running back with the okay-if- you're-sure-it's-temporary, and off they went. Zac chose blue, of all colors. Sky wanted to try purple, so Taylor went with a plum color. As they got out rubber gloves and towels, Sky found herself wishing Isaac were here. He'd never been in her house and he was over to a friend's house today, but she wished he was home. Not that they'd spent much time alone. That's what was so strange about her thoughts about him. Shrugging the feeling off, they put in some CDS and went to work. She loved washing Zac's hair, it was very relaxing. While they sat waiting for the color to set, Zac asked if Sky had any photos of her family. So she dragged out the photo album, sat between the two boys and took them through her life in pictures, telling stories about her brother, sister and mother. Most of them were funny, since they were an overall happy family until the accident. She didn't talk much of that night, except to say that she was sick and her mom and dad had argued, which is why the two of them stayed home that night. Her father felt very guilty because of that argument. Zac said Jimmy looked like a nice boy and Taylor said Sunny looked like a nice big sister. Skyler agreed. When the timer went off she washed her hair, then Zac's and Taylor's, according to the order they put the color on. She blow-dried Zac's hair first and she and Taylor kept saying "Oh my God!" as his hair dried. "It looks just like blue cotton candy!" Skyler laughed. "Zac! You look so freaky!" Taylor pointed. "Shut up, Tay! Wait ‘till you see yourself!"

When they were all dry they sat in front of the big mirror in the hallway, getting over the shock of having different colored hair. Zac liked it. Taylor wasn't sure. "Tay, I think you look very sexy." Sky said without thinking. "Sexy? Really? I feel dumb.." He touched his head. Zac went to show everyone and Taylor decided he wasn't a Plum man, so he let Sky take a picture of him before they were back in the bathroom washing their hair. "Well, that killed an afternoon." she laughed, towel-drying her hair. "It was fun because I was with you...that's all I need to have a good time." he looked at her with the flirty look she'd seen before. She gave him a playful shove and blushed, leaving the room. When they got to Taylor's, everyone was marveling at Zac's hair. He was enjoying the attention. They all turned to see Taylor & Sky, Isaac included. "What'd you do, Tay?! You washed it out!" Zac exclaimed, obviously disappointed. "Oh man, Tay, I wanted to see your plum hair. And you, Sky! I thought you went purple!" Ike was smiling at her in a teasing way. "We decided we're not very punk after all." Sky said, rolling her eyes and looking at the blue monster she'd created, " Anyhow, I took photographic evidence." Everyone laughed at this, and Taylor just shook his head, unable to believe he'd let her take a picture. It was an interesting afternoon, anyhow.