July was unbelievably hot. It was so hot for the first few weeks that no one could play outside for more than ten minutes. Skyler spent much of her time flopped on the couch with a huge glass of lemonade. Ike had called her once a week so far and she'd gotten short letters from both Taylor and Zac. Ryan, unable to ride his bike, skateboard or roller-blade, bugged Sky to do things with him. So they played a lot of board games and watched a lot of movies. They played so much Nintendo that she was getting both really good at it and Carpel Tunnel Syndrome. She even beat him twice, and that was close to being a miracle. Peggy was kind of irritable around the kids due to the heat, so Sky tried to entertain Amber and Cole but found she had a short temper as well. Part of it was the heat, and part of it boredom and frustration. By the third week of July, she was tired of missing Ike. He hadn't called this week, and she was beginning to forget what he looked like. So one afternoon, bored and alone, she got on her dad's computer. He had the Internet because he often did work at home. So she got on and searched under the topic of "Hanson".

She was a little shocked when she saw all of the sites. She had often been to their official site, "Hansonline", but hadn't really checked out more than one or two of the other sites. There were too many to possibly view. Then, just for the heck of it, she searched under Isaac's name only. There were about five or so sites just for him. She felt proud of him, at first. But after an hour of reading page after page of "why I love Ike" she was jealous and insecure. It's not that she was unaware of his many adoring fans, it was just that she'd never thought that they LOVED him and wanted to MARRY him. Some girls just wrote kind, flattering things about him, others seemed a little obsessed and delusional. It was thoroughly depressing. She got off of the computer and the phone rang right away. It was Trish.

"Hey Sky...I know you like Isaac and all, but he's out on tour, right?" she asked. "Yes...right through to August." she sighed, still envisioning the Ike dedications. "That's what I thought. Well, you remember my boyfriend Jack, right?" "Of course I do, Trish, I'm the one that introduced you last year!" Jack had been in a night class with Sky, and she'd gotten them together last summer. "Oh yeah...well, he and I are going out tonight. To an outdoor show at the festival." "That's nice." "Anyhow, his friend Bryan wanted to go and Jack thought maybe you'd like to come along, too," she cleared her throat. "You don't possibly mean a blind date, do you?" she rolled her eyes. "No! Not at all! First of all, you met him at Christmas at my house." "Did I? I don't remember." "Well, he had a girlfriend then. Anyhow, it would just be as friends. I told him there's already someone you like. I didn't say who it was, though." "Thanks. Well...I would like to get out.." "Great! Perfect! We'll pick you up at six. We'll get something to eat first." And just like that, she was going out. She wasn't very enthused about it, but there you go.

It was something to pass the time, anyway. She put on a short ice blue sundress, and silver sandals. She put her hair up in a ponytail, did the usual spritz of perfume and put on frosted pink lipstick, then waited out on the front porch. When they pulled up, she realized she'd be sitting in back with Bryan. She slipped her sandals back on, got up, and smiled as she approached the car. "You look good, Sky!" Trish said at once, pushing her straight auburn-red hair behind one ear. "Thanks..." she looked down at her dress. "Sky, you remember Bryan," Jack said. Even though she didn't, she smiled and said hello as if she'd already met him. She couldn't help but notice his grey eyes. How many people had grey eyes? Surely, not many. His hair was very dark brown, a little on the long side (not like Ike's or Taylor's) and it made his eyes stand out that much more. She tried hard to remember him from Christmas, but she just couldn't. She liked Jack a lot, he was funny and nice, so she assumed Bryan must be an okay guy to hang out with.

He was. He had a good sense of humor and seemed bright. He and Jack would joke around with each other and they had Sky laughing so much her stomach hurt. They went to eat, then went over to the festival to watch a South American band. They were good, and as the sun set behind them it was a beautiful image. Trish was Sky's age, but Jack was 21 and Bryan was 22, so they had a beer at the restaurant and she snuck a few sips. They were out until about eleven. As they were walking back to the car, she saw Bryan looking at her and she looked back. Jack and Trish were a little bit ahead of them, holding hands and talking.

"Hey Sky,"Bryan started, "I know Trish mentioned you liking someone, but do you actually have a boyfriend?" She thought for a second. "No," she replied with honesty. "Well...I was just wondering...if you might wanna go out during the week. Just to a movie or something." She thought quickly. A movie? That's like a date, isn't it? But she and Isaac weren't even going out. It's just that she thought about him non-stop. However, that seemed to be the case with several thousand adoring females out there. And why didn't he ask her out, anyway? Did he have a girl in every port? She was mulling this over while Bryan patiently waited for a response. Then Trish, who must've overheard, stepped up and saved the day. "Hey Bry, why don't we all do dinner and a movie this Tuesday? I wanna see that Antonio Banderas film that just came out." Trish glanced over at Sky and winked. Sky smiled. "That sounds like a great idea, Trish," she nodded enthusiastically. Both guys agreed. So a compromise was found.

Isaac never called her that weekend and no more letters arrived before Tuesday. She was deciding what shoes to put on with her little green dress, when the door bell rang. She ran downstairs barefoot to answer it. It was Ryan. "What are you doing all dressed up?" Ryan asked suspiciously, looking her over. "I'm going out." She let him in and he followed her up the stairs. "With who?" he asked, flopping onto her bed while she put earrings on. "Trish and Jack..and Bryan." "Who's Bryan?" "Just Jack's friend,"she flipped her hair over to put in a hair band. "So it's like a double-date?" he sat up and pushed his hair back. "Geez, Rye, your hair is getting kinda long," she commented, as she flipped her hair back up again. She walked over to the mirror to put on lipstick. "You didn't answer me...you're going out on a date, aren't you? What about Ike?" "It's not a date! I'll be with my friends. He's a friend of Jack's and if there's only one friend with a couple they feel like a fifth wheel." "Yeah, but what about Ike? Would he mind?" "Well now, I don't know that, do I? Maybe if he contacted me once in awhile I could ask him, but until then I have to make my own decisions." "I heard from Zac yesterday," he said, watching her apply her lipstick with fascination. She finished and turned to face him. "You did? What did he say?" "Just that they were filming the concert for the video they're gonna put out. And he was tired. He said he bought a Super Soaker for me, since I don't got one." "Don't have one." "Right...anyways, we talked for about five or ten minutes. That was it." "Where was everybody else?" "Ike and Taylor were down in the lobby hanging out, I guess." "With girls?" "No, with monkeys! Of course with girls, Sky, weren't you at the concert that night?" "Okay, okay, no need for sarcasm! Don't they have any guy fans? Or old ladies?" "Sure they do, they just don't hang around hotel lobbies as much." "Whatever. Well, I'm going out and I'm going to have a good time," she declared, slipping into her black sandals. The same ones she wore on her first date with Isaac. She twirled around and asked Ryan how she looked. He got a little shifty at this point. "You know...nice. You look very nice," he looked down at his feet. "Thanks, man. Come on and sit outside with me ‘til they get here." They walked out together and sat on the porch steps.

They had dinner at a Mexican restaurant then went to see the movie. Both were good, and she had to admit she was having fun. After the movie, Trish was wound up, so they went out for coffee at an all night diner and talked and joked around for almost two hours. They were all in silly moods, partially because it was so late, so they were laughing at everything. They dropped Skyler off at midnight. When she got in, she was surprised to find her dad up, having a glass of milk in the kitchen. "How was your date?" he asked, as she kicked off her shoes and sat across from him at the table. "It wasn't a date, but it was fun." she answered. "Isaac called," he said, and her heart immediately sank to the bottom of her chest. "He did?" she tried to sound casual but she wanted to choke the details out of him. "Yes. I told him you were out. He said he'd try back tomorrow." "You just said out?" "Yeah, I think I said you went to a movie." "But he'll call tomorrow?"she wanted to scream. "Yes, that's what he said." It figures. One of the only nights she'd left the house and he finally decides to call.

The next night she carried the cordless everywhere she went in the house. She didn't leave the house once after work. She cleaned and made dinner for her father then cleaned up. She changed her bed sheets and painted her nails. Around eleven she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore and she did head bobs until she conked out. Half listening for a while longer, she finally accepted that no ringing phone was going to disturb her sleep. She was mad and hurt the next morning. It started her off in a bad mood, then to top that she had a run in her stockings, she couldn't find one of her shoes, and she forgot to bring a muffin to work, so she had nothing to eat. It was a hundred degree day and everyone was crabby. The copier broke when she was assembling an important report and someone took her favorite pen from her desk. When she got home, she stripped and took a cool shower, then put on a sports bra and cutoffs and sealed herself up in her room with the air conditioner on full blast. She was resting quietly when the phone rang. She was hoping it was Isaac, but expecting it to be Ryan. She was wrong on both accounts. It was Bryan. "Hi Sky...I hope you're not mad, but Trish gave me your number." "Oh..no, I'm not mad." She made a mental note to kill Trish. "I just wanted to tell you that I really had a good time last night." "Me too. I liked the movie," she said. "Yeah...well, I just wanted to know if you were busy tonight? I'm going to this work thing. It's just a party at the Holiday Inn, but I'm supposed to show my face. Anyhow, I thought if you'd go with me, we can leave early and go somewhere." Here she was, on the spot again. She felt like even considering it was betraying Isaac. Then she thought of how she hung over the phone all night last night and he didn't even have the decency to call. Was he so busy that he couldn't take five minutes to say ‘Hi, I'm alive'? It really ticked her off, especially in the foul mood she was in. "Sure, Bryan. I'd love to," she heard herself say.

She could not bring herself to put jeans on, so she went with shorts and a sheer short-sleeve blouse with a tank top underneath. She was waiting on the porch when Ryan rode up on his skateboard. "Are you insane? It's 200 degrees out here and you're skateboarding?!"She shook her head. "Just around the block! I couldn't take it inside anymore...now where are you going?" "I'm going on a date, Ryan," she said, a little harsher than she meant to. "What about Ike?!" "Good question, Rye. I asked myself that last night when I sat by the phone all night waiting for him to call, which he didn't. If you happen to talk to him, tell him I have better things to do than sit around waiting for him to decide to pick up a phone." She could hardly believe this was her talking. Ryan looked a little frightened. "Yeah..okay, Sky." He paused then asked, "Is it that Bryan guy?" "Yes, it's that Bryan guy." Just then he pulled up. "And there he is now. See ya." She ran down the driveway and got in. She waved to a baffled looking Ryan as they drove off.

The party at the hotel was boring, but at least she got something to eat. They only stayed an hour, then they left and went for a drive. He asked her what she felt like doing, and she felt like going home. But she didn't say so. She just shrugged. He ended up taking her back to his house where they played Blackjack and Crazy Eights and he made a blender of White Russians. He had two, which was probably nothing for a guy his size and age. But Sky, who hardly ever drank alcohol, was smashed by the second drink. She was rambling on and giggling and Bryan seemed to think it was the cutest thing. Everything he said was hysterical to her and she was telling him about things like why she liked the color blue and how she used to take karate when she was five. When he finally drove her home, he wanted to walk her to the door, but she said she was fine. Then he leaned over and was kissing her before she even saw it coming. She was so weak and dizzy and illogically happy that she did little to stop him, even though in her heart she was wishing it was Isaac kissing her instead of him. Then she stumbled to the door and let herself in, collapsing on the floor. Thank God her father was away on an overnight. He would've totally flipped if he'd seen her drunk. Ironic as it sounds. While lying on the floor, a blinking light caught her eye. She crawled to the answering machine and hit the button. "Sky, this is Isaac....I couldn't get you before so I called Ryan...he told me you were out on a date and you said you weren't going to sit around waiting for me, or something like that. Anyway, I'm really confused and I need you to call me. Here's the hotel number and my room number. I'll tell them you might be calling. I don't care how late it is, even if it's one in the morning. Just call me, please...okay. Bye.." He sounded nervous. Through the haze of her high, a wave of guilt washed over her. Just hearing his voice made her feel sick and sorry and miss him all over again. She crawled to the phone and pulled it down to her level. She had no idea what time it was, but it couldn't have been too late, because they'd gone to the party so early. The hotel clerk put her right through when she gave him her name, and Isaac answered on the first ring. "Hi. It's Sky." she said, trying to sound sober. It was hard to enunciate each word. "Hi...did you just get home?" He sounded depressed. It made her sad. "Yeah...I just..yeah." "So what did Ryan mean? Were you out on a date? Are you mad at me? I'm sorry I didn't call yesterday. We ended up doing interviews after the show and we didn't get back until 1am." "Mmm." "And I'm sorry I haven't been calling...It just seems like something keeps coming up. I guess I don't really have an excuse." "Busy meeting girls?" she regretted saying it even as she said it. "What? No..I mean, sure I meet girls...just ‘hi nice to meet you'. Sky, what's wrong? You don't sound right..." now he sounded worried. "Um..um..I had this drink, it was good but iss a lil' hard to talk right now. I'm really trying, though." She felt like an idiot, yet didn't care. "Are you drunk? What kind of date was this? Who were you with?" "Iss just a guy that Jack knows...he's so nice, Jack, I mean...an we went to a party but he din like it so he brought me over ta his house an made me a White Russian..yeah...an we played cards..." She was so tired suddenly. Her eyelids felt heavy. "Did he do anything to you? Sky, did he try anything with you? Where's your dad?" he was a little panicked sounding now. "Nooo...he was so nice..jus when he took me home I think he kissed me...not my dad, Bryan. My dad's gone on business..." she sighed deeply. "You think he kissed you?! Don't you remember?!" "No...I'm so tired, Ike. Can't we talk about this tomorrow..." she just wanted to sleep. "I'm worried, Sky! I wish I was there...I really wish I was with you." "You don't miss me.." "Yes I do! I think about you everyday...all the time. Don't think that just because you don't hear from me that I forgot about you. I could never do that. I'm so glad I have you, Sky, I know it even though we've been apart for so long. That's how I know. I see things and do things and I can't wait to tell you about them. I don't need to talk to you to know how I feel about you..." "Well I guess you're just way better than me...You deserve someone normal." "I'm not better than you! And you are normal...whatever normal is. You're a good person, Sky, I wish you could see that. Where are you now?" "Um...lying on the kitchen floor in the dark." "Ohh Sky...you poor baby. I wish I was there to carry you to bed,"he'd lowered his voice. "Me too...are you mad at me for going out?"

"No...but I'm really jealous. Especially if he kissed you. I don't even wanna picture that. He shouldn't have gotten you drunk. That's not cool. I'll be home soon, Sky, and we'll work this all out. But please please please tell me you're not gonna see this guy again. Or drink any White Russians." "I won't." "Good...now promise me you won't sleep on the kitchen floor and you'll be careful going up the stairs. Don't fall or anything, okay?" "I won't...I miss you really bad...really bad..."she said, her eyes closed tight and fighting the approaching sleepiness. "I miss you too. More than I can tell you on the phone." They were both silent for a minute, listening to each other breathe and trying to take in as much as they could before closing off the connection between them.