ohmyjonas16's Xanga

chapter twenty seven

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:34:37 GMT

“Guys there's donuts upstairs,” Nicole said, walking down into the basement after leaving a couple minutes before. It was about seven in the morning and none of us got any sleep. Our hide and seek game lasted a good two hours and we moved on, laughing the night away.

We had all gotten our second, maybe even third wind and didn't feel tired at all. I got to the top of the stairs and wanted to see what it was like out, walking over to the slider my jaw dropped.
“It's such a mess out there,” I said, pointing to the backyard. Everyone peeked out the window, surprise at what they were seeing. Branches covered the backyard along with pool floats and picnic tables.

“It took me about twenty minutes to get to Dunkin Donuts. It's such a mess just to go down three streets!” Nicole's dad told us, grabbing the newspaper and walking out into the living room.

“Is the power back on yet?” Kevin asked, grabbing a donut out of the large white, pink and orange box.
“Not yet,” Mr. Hansen answered, shaking his head.
“That's so weird. We have underground power lines,” Sage said, grabbing a chocolate glazed donut.
“Well yeah, but there's probably a power line over on that street that got struck or something,” Nick chimed in.
“Or that got hit by the tornado,” Joe said, pouring himself a glass of water.

“Oh my God that was so scary,” Abby said, leaning over on the island.
“Tell me about it,” Allie said. “I walk in and these two are crying like crazy,” she said, pointing to me and Abby and then Carlie, “and this one is panting like she's in the grudge or something.”
Carlie rolled her eyes.

“I just love how it's like, sunny out,” Abby laughed. She opened the door, letting the cool air flow in and shutting it quickly. “It's a little chilly out though.”

“Whoa, this thing says that it's only like sixty one degrees,” Nicole said, bending down to look at the digital thermometer thing that was on the kitchen counter.

I shivered just thinking about the temperature. Living in New England, we had the hot summers and the freezing winters, but I guess it's pretty normal to have a cool day in the summer and a warm day in the winter here and there.

“Girls, it says here that since there is so much damage that schools might be cancelled tomorrow,” Mr. Hansen said, folding back the newspaper and folding it again before slapping it down on the dining room table where we were all sitting.

Abby, Nicole, Allie and I looked at each other squealing and getting our hopes up that classes would be cancelled tomorrow. Sage sighed.
“You guys get the day off and tomorrow is my first day,” she said, taking a bite of her chocolate donut.
“Same,” Carlie said, sipping her milk. We just smiled.

“It's only September and you guys are getting the day off,” Nick said, shaking his head full of curls.
“Well if we have snow days, there's at least four feet of snow,” Nicole told them. “I hate New England,”
“Ditto,” I replied, looking out the window and across the street at the golf course where there were trucks and people picking up debris.

“I kinda want to go for a walk and just like, see how much damage there was,” Abby said, folding up the newspaper and sliding it to the center of the table.
“Yeah, we should go,” Carlie said, peeking out the window behind me.

“Dad!” Nicole shouted, getting up from the table and walking out into the living room to ask her dad if we could go.
“be careful!” Mr. Hansen reminded us.
“I kinda want to stay here,” Allie complained while the rest of us walked to the front door to put on our shoes.
“I'll stay here with you,” Sage told her. They left left to go back downstairs, we assumed to try to get some sleep while the rest of us were out.

“Where are my shoes?” I said, looking over everyone. There were converse everywhere and finally a black pair were thrown my way. I caught them saying thank you to whoever threw them.

The seven of us walked out the front door and into the chilly air. There were puddles in the street but the sun was as bright as ever.

Kevin was leaving for a little bit to go home and make sure everything was good their and coming back later.

“So, where should we go?” Carlie asked, taking a left at the bottom of the driveway and then onto another street.
“Let's go check out the golf course,” Joe said, pointing in the direction of it. We started walking towards the golf course and turned down another road, walking along the side.
Trucks were everywhere, picking up branches and cutting them up, fixing telephone poles and trying to get new grass laid down. Picking up furniture that had blown away from the restaurant...it was all a huge mess.

We walked down into Southwick where even more work was being done. We crossed the street where there were no trucks and leaned against a fence onto the course.
“Guys, look over there,” Nick spoke, pointing to a patch of brown a few hundred yards away. It looked like a straight line stretching maybe twenty feet at the most.

“That must be where the tornado hit,” Joe said quietly, studying it in the distance. Abby shivered, just thinking about the horrors of last night. There was seriously nothing she feared more than tornadoes and it was definitely a good thing Joe was here.

After standing there discussing it for a couple minutes we started to walk back. Nick grabbed my hand, our fingers intertwined. I bit my lip, watching my feet as my heart nearly stopped.
“Hey, look at those two behind us,” Nick leaned in and whispered in my ear. I turned my head slightly to the left to get a glimpse of Joe and Abby in complete flirt mode behind us. Abby giggled at something Joe said to her for only her to hear and I turned around smiling. They were adorable.

I nudged Nicole gently. “Hey, look behind us,” I said, whispering to her. She and Carlie peeked behind them.
“Aww,” Carlie smiled. “Hey, where'd my best friend go?”
“He went home for a little bit,” Nicole laughed. “Where have you been?”
“Yeah, I would have expected that question coming from Nicole,” I said with a laugh. Nicole glared and I flashed a smile, holding it until she finally cracked.
“ow, I'm getting blisters!” I shouted, feeling the pain of my sneakers rubbing against my bare feet. I didn't bother to find a pair of socks to put on and figured I'd be fine. “hold on,” I said, stopping really quick, trying to figure out a more comfortable way to get down the last two streets that were only a few feet.

“Come on,” Nick sighed, putting his back to me and bending over.
“yesss,” I grinned, jumping on his back as he grabbed my legs and I wrapped my arms around him. He stood back up straight, catching up to Carlie and Nicole.
“Hey guys,” I said, sticking my tongue out at them.
“Oh look at this baby...can't walk to more feet with blisters,” Carlie said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
“You're just jealous cause you wanted Kevin here to give you a piggy back ride,” I joked. She nodded.
“You're right,” she said, her eyes drifting back down at the puddles she was walking through.
“I know,” I smiled, fooling around with the loose brown curls that bounced whenever Nick walked.

We finally arrived back at the front door a few minutes later. It was about 8:45 and we walked in, being told that Sage and Allie fell asleep downstairs.

We went into the garage, digging through bins of things trying to find something to entertain us while the girls were sleeping.
“We can play wiffel ball again...” Nicole said, tossing the plastic white ball back and forth between her hands while I put band-aids on all my blisters and putting socks on.
“Let's do it,” Joe said, grabbing the skinny yellow plastic bat and walking into the backyard.

Nicole got up to bat first for our team, but striking out. She sighed and frowned, tossing the bat to Nick. Abby threw the pitch and it went right past Nick while he didn't even bother to swing. I picked up the wet ball and threw it back to her as best I could.

She threw it again and Nick jacked it, causing it to go over the hedges and into the next door neighbors backyard. Nick tossed the bat, smiling proudly as he ran the bases.

“Showoff,” Nicole mumbled under her breath, but joking.
I smiled and laughed, watching him run the bases and wink at us and point when he got to second and continued running to third.

“yes...but he's my showoff.”

you say goodbye - i say hello

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 21:10:01 GMT

okay, i know what you're thinking. instead of posting all these little messages, just post a new chapter already!

but here's the thing. before officially finishing this story, i'm starting a new one. so that obviously means i had to get another site. so click! lovexbugs

sub to me and i'll sub right back! promise!
as soon as i get five subscribers, i'll post chapter one.

it's already done and waiting...

♥tory

waitin' on a cure, but none of them are sure.

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 17:38:01 GMT

On September 28, 2008, a couple of us fanfic writers will be participating in a walk for JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) in honor of Nick J.
Nicole's mom is actually running our team for us. We were wondering if you guys would show your Nick J support and help us out a little. please check out this link...

http://www.jdrf.org/index.cfm?fuseact...

There's a couple of things you could do to help out with the walk. On the site you can donate to JDRF. You can also leave comments on different Jonas Brothers pages like jonasbrothersmusic on youtube.com to let them know about the walk. If you would like more information about where the walk is message Nicole (dreaming_out_loud19) and she'll be happy to let you know. The walk is in the Hartford, CT area so if you live near there and would like to participate too, that's awesome!

♥Tory

Do it for Nick and all the other kids who have to face the challenges of Juvenile Diabetes.
With your help, a cure will be found sooner.

a little bit longer...

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:56:31 GMT

First off i just want to say: hey everyone! I'm finally back from vacation so hopefully I'll be back to writing up some new chapters.

and more importantly...

HAPPY 19TH BIRTHDAY JOSEPH ADAM JONAS!!!

Also, the new cd, A Little Bit Longer, is just absolutely amazing and if you don't have it in hand yet...go get it!
Buying it from Wal Mart will get you the bonus track Live To Party and buying it from Target will get you the bonus track Hello Goodbye. So go pick it up!

and keep checking back for chapter twenty seven!

♥Tory

video girl

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:19:35 GMT

Hey guys! Wanna hear a pretty cool song?

Abby (Jonasified), Nicole (dreaming_out_loud19), and I remixed Miley Cyrus' hit 7 Things and made it all about those Jonas boys we all love!

Click on the link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcLGmekgX34) to listen, sing along with lyrics in the description box, comment, rate, and favorite!

Hope you love it!
♥Tory

chapter twenty six

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 20:49:36 GMT

“Macy are you okay?” I heard someone ask me after my phone fell from my hands. It was something that Massachusetts rarely experienced and it sounded pretty severe for the area.

“Nicole, why don't you guys go into the dance room. It's probably cooler in there,” Mr. Hansen suggested. It was wicked hot in the house, even in the basement it was warm. A couple of us headed into the dance room that was also in their basement and it was much cooler. All of a sudden I felt like I was gonna be sick. I could feel myself burning up.

I walked into the dance room and Nick followed, putting his hand on my back again. I just got so scared I could feel my eyes welling up with tears until I couldn't hold it in anymore. He pulled my close to him and I just started sobbing as he rubbed my back and stroked my hair. Carlie was in the corner, sitting down breathing heavily like she was in some kind of horror movie and Abby came in too.

I turned my head, still leaning on Nick. I could hear his heart beating a mile a minute, so it gave me some relief I wasn't the only one nervous about these intense storms we were getting. I tried to hold back my tears for the time being as Nick and I stood there, basically just walking back and forth.

Joe walked in a few minutes later and walking over to stand next to Abby who was leaning against the wall, sniffling a little.
“You okay?” he asked, leaning besides her. “You scared? It sounds like you're crying,” he said quietly.
She wiped under her eyes and shook her head. “No. I'm nervous but I'm not crying. I don't cry,” she told him.
“Abby,” he said, knowing that wasn't the truth.
“Okay I'm scared. I just want it to be over. I've never experienced something so intense like this,” she said, throwing herself into Joe's arms and bawling.

Abby was one of those people who could hold up pretty well. She tried so hard to cover the fact that she was scared or nervous, and usually did it pretty well. It wasn't because she was embarrassed or anything, it's just who she was. But when she's about to experience something like never before, and not in a good way, it all comes out.

Nick pulled away, placing his hands gently on my cheeks so I was looking at him. “You gonna be okay?” he asked as he wiped the tears. I shrugged.
“I'm not making any promises,” I told him, sniffling.
“Let's go sit down,” he spoke quietly, leading me over to where Carlie was freaking out. I sat down between them. Nick put his arm around me and I leaned on his shoulder.

“Macy, I think your brother is trying to call you,” Kevin said, walking into the room. “Where are you?” he asked, not able to find us in the dark.
“Over here,” I called to him. He walked over handing my phone. “Thanks,” I said, grabbing it.
“No problem,” he replied, turning around and giving Abby a rub on the back before walking into the other part of the basement.

I sat up and searched for Chace's number through my contacts, squinting my eyes from the light. I finally found it and pressed the green button.

“Hey, Macy,” he answered on the third ring.
“Hey, sorry I missed you. My phone wasn't on me,” I said softly into the phone.
“Oh. Are you okay?” he asked a little concerned. Just my older brother doing his job.
“Yeah, fine. Just a little freaked out,” I told him.
“Alright. Well I'm calling to let you know that the last touch down didn't last more than thirty seconds, so you can relax and they aren't expecting anymore,” he told me. I sighed of relief.
“Thank God,” I mumbled.
“What's everyone doing now?” he asked.
“We're just hanging out in the basement,” I told him, hearing a loud beeping noise in the background.
“oh, sorry, Mace. Gotta go. I'll talk to you later,” he said, talking faster.
“K. bye,” I said, hanging up the phone and putting it in my sweatshirt pocket. I leaned on Nick's shoulder again.

“What did Chace want,” Joe asked from across the room.
“Just that the tornado thing didn't last and they aren't expecting anymore. The storms almost over but, he's still getting calls,” I told them.

“Hey, why did Chace call?” Allie asked, walking into the room with us. I told her and she left.
“I think I'm gonna go back out there,” I told them as I stood up and headed towards the doorway. Nick and Carlie followed and Joe and Abby stayed in there.

“So, the storms finally going away?” Nicole asked hopefully.
“yeah,” I said when I got back into the other part of the basement.
“Thank God!” Sage said as she hopped up on one of the bar stools.

The wind was slowly dying down and the noise was starting to go away. Nicole's mom went upstairs to check things out and called for Nicole's dad. Of course we all wanted to know what happened and rushed upstairs to find glass shattered on the floor.

“Guys, stay back,” Mrs. Hansen said loudly so we stayed away and pointing the flashlight at the shards on the floor and counter. We backed up a little and she started to pick up big pieces from over the kitchen sink. “The bird feeder must have hit the window and that's what broke the glass,” she said.

“It's like I'm walking on broken glass,” Nicole and I started singing.
“Sorry, random out burst of song,” she said, looking down at her feet. We laughed and walked back downstairs.

Nicole's parents cleaned up what they could and Mrs. Hansen came back downstairs a few minutes later with a couple of blankets and pillows.
“Here boys, I brought these down for you cause I figured you'd be spending the night,” she said, placing everything on the pool table. They thanked her and she walked back upstairs to clean up what she could before bed.
Nicole went upstairs and brought some more candles down, lighting them which made the room light up.

“So, it's like, 1:00 now, and there's no power, and there's nine of us here...what are we gonna do?” Allie asked as she flopped on the couch.
“Ghost stories!” Kevin said, clapping his hands with an evil look on his face.
“NO!” I shouted, backing away. “No no no no no!” I shook my head. Kevin laughed.
“Ouija board!” Sage said, jumping up.
“You guys will just not give up will you?” I asked, as I watched her go over to the game closet.
“Macy, come on. It glows in the dark!” Nicole informed. I shrugged.
“Well in that case,”
“Yeah but, don't you have to hold it up to the light to make it glow?” Carlie asked.
“aw! I forgot about that,” Nicole said, trying to think of what else we could do.
“Then there's no point in doing it cause you can't read it,” Nick said.

“So, there's not really much to do...” Allie said dully. She got bored and annoyed extremely easily so it was difficult to always keep her pleased.
“I'm actually kinda hungry,” Carlie said, falling back on the floor and laying down. We agreed and sent Nicole up for some snacks.

“Yo,” I said, coming up from the cellar as she grabbed everything that look appetizing and put it on a tray. “didn't know if you needed any help,” I said, looking at what she had.
“I don't think so,” she said. She stopped. “Oh my god, I need to put all this stuff back. Come here really quick,” she said, opening one of the closets and pulling something out. “We can make s'mores,” she said, a smile appearing on her face.
“Oh my gosh. A s'more maker? Are you serious?” I laughed. She put some of the bags away and dug out some graham crackers, marshmallows and Hershey bars.

“What's all this excitement I'm hearing?” Abby asked, coming out of the downstairs bathroom.
“s'more maker,” I laughed as she nodded.

“So, Ab,” I said as she looked back up at me. “You okay now, cause you seemed pretty scared. Or maybe you just wanted to be with Joe...” I said, teasing her. She slapped me.
“Shut up,” she laughed, a little embarrassed. “You know I like him and...”
“well that is kinda obvious,” Nicole interrupted. I laughed.
“hey, what about you and Nick, huh?” Abby said. “I mean, you guys have always been more obvious about it after what happened and all but...”
“oh my gosh,” I said, remembering that I hadn't even told them yet. Right after he asked me out was when the storm had come and I was just so scared there was no time to tell them.

Nicole and Abby looked at me, waiting to hear what I had to say. I smiled and looked around, making sure no one else was around to hear.
“Guys...Nick...” I started. “asked me out tonight,” I whispered.
“SHUT UP!” Nicole practically shouted. I put my finger to my mouth and smiled, nodding me head.
Abby squealed, giving me a hug.
“So what did you say?” Nicole asked, waiting to hear the rest of the story. Abby slapped her forehead. “oh, I guess that was just another 'shoulda had a V8 moment,'” Nicole said.

“Anyways... I was gonna tell you guys when they left but...looks like they aren't leaving!” I told them with a laugh.
“So, when did he ask you?” Abby asked.
“When you guys were playing Rock Band and I came up to use the bathroom and then he came up and...yeah...” I told them, biting my lip. “But we should probably get back down there.”

We walked back down into the basement where all we could hear was cheering.
“What's going on?” Abby asked, taking a seat and placing the tray in the middle of us.
“Arm wrestling contest,” Allie said unamused.
“Come on Joe! Come on!” Sage laughed.
“Kevin, use those muscles!” Carlie shouted.

“Ooh! Joe! Look! Marshmallows!” Nick said, pointing to the marshmallows. Joe looked over while Nicole opened up the bag. He got distracted by the food and Kevin slammed his arm down.

“ooh! You just got poned!” Kevin said, waving his hand in front of Joe's face. Joe sighed.
“Kev, you're so gangster!” Abby said, playfully shoving him.
“Aw, thanks, Ab,” he said wrapping her in a big hug as she smiled.

“oh my gosh, these s'mores are sooo good,” Carlie said, stuffing one in her mouth. They weren't as good as the ones where you actually roast them in the fire, but they were pretty good.
After one though, I was full and it was time to move onto something else.

“Okay, I say we have a huge game of hide and seek,” Nicole suggested, wiping the rest of the chocolate off of her face.
Finally, something Allie agreed to. We put the s'more maker thing on the bar so no one tripped on it, and went over the rules.

“Okay, let's do teams,” Abby suggested. Since there was nine of us, Nicole offered to go alone since it was her house.

Kevin was with Carlie since she had recently decided they were best friends now. Abby picked Joe, and I was obviously with Nick. Sage and Allie were a perfect team too.

“Okay, cellar and downstairs only. No going upstairs. One flashlight per group. Count sitting at the bar stools over there, and to 50. Obviously no going outside and try to be quiet,” Nicole told everyone.
“Alright,” we agreed. Everyone looked around, no one volunteering to go first.

“not it! Nose goes!” I shouted. Everyone placed their finger on the tip of their nose except for Abby and Joe who stood there confused.
“i don't understand this!” Abby whined.
“Abby, we play all the time. When you say not it nose goes you hold your finger up to your nose and the last person to do so is it,” Nicole explained to her. She looked at Joe who shrugged, also confused.
“Come on, Joe,” Abby sighed, grabbing Joe's arm and sitting on the bar stools.

They started counting and we all scrambled for a hiding spot. Nick and I ran over to a chair in the living room and sat behind it. We grabbed the blanket that was thrown on the chair and covered ourselves with it but peaking out from underneath it so we could see if someone walked by.

Abby walked by and I started to laugh, but not loud enough for her to hear. Nick put his hand on my mouth just in case I got louder, but she walked away. I have a feeling we could be here for a while, but now was when I wanted everything to seem never ending.

JB on MTV!

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 18:38:30 GMT

hey guys! it's Jonas Brothers weekend on MTV and there's mobile updates every so often so be sure to check it out. a little later they'll be showing it for i believe another half hour at 6:00 eastern time. there was one on at three and it was just hilarious so be sure to check MTV later. or go to jonasbros.mtv.com .

also, don't forget to check out Camp Rock tonight on the Disney Channel!

♥tory

side note: i'm going on vacation from the august 12-15. i'm really hoping to get one more up before i leave so don't forget to check back! thanks so much to everyone who reads and comments!

and don't forget that A Little Bit Longer comes out August 12th!

chapter twenty five

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 22:00:06 GMT

“I'll be right back,” I said, getting up from my seat on the sofa and walking upstairs. There was still a battle of the bands going on downstairs and it was time for a bathroom break.

I opened the door of the downstairs bathroom two minutes later and Nick was walking up from downstairs.
“Hey, Mace. Can I uh...talk to you for a second?” he asked, his hand on his neck. He looked nervous as he lead me to the front door and outside.
I sighed. “What did I do wrong now?” I asked, remembering this is pretty much how all the drama really started.
“uh...nothing. no...you didn't do anything wrong I just...wanted to talk to you...alone,” he said, shutting the door behind him as we took a seat on the front porch steps. When we got out there, we heard rumbling in the distance but we weren't expecting anything for a while. He took a deep breath. “Mace, I've been waiting for the drama to be over to do this, and now it finally is,” he started.

“When we came back from Nebraska, it wasn't because I wanted to. It was because I needed to. I couldn't stop thinking about it, and how it tore both of us apart. But I had to come back because it was really affecting me, and it was obvious that you really meant something to me. I really liked you, and then my mom told me what you did that day... and that made me like you even more,” he said, looking back up at me. His brown eyes sparkled and I could feel my heart skipping every other beat.

“I was gonna ask you something that day we came back, but I didn't want to do that and leave later that day,” he said, looking out into the street and closing his eyes before taking another deep breath. I was biting my lip on the inside, freaking out in my mind. “But, I want to ask you now,” he said, hesitating a little.

He made eye contact again and was practically sweating. “Macy, I was kinda wondering...would you be my girlfriend?” he asked. He looked like he could pass out any second.

“Me?” I asked, putting my hand on my chest.. I knew he liked me and I obviously liked him, but after everything I had some doubts until today. “seriously?”
he nodded his head, smiling.
“I like you, Macy. A lot. And since the day we met, I just...”
I nodded and smiled really wide. “Nick,” I said, biting my lip. “I'd like that,” I said, staring into his big deep brown eyes again. We looked at each other for a few seconds, smiling.

Wow, Carlie was right. It was because he liked me...as more than just a friend. And now I felt like what it was actually like to be in love. Suddenly, Nick leaned in, I closed my eyes and followed until our lips met. Suddenly, everything became quiet. People stopped yelling, dogs stopped barking, cars stopped honking, cats stopped meowing, thunder stopped rumbling and the wind stopped blowing. It was silent and everything was perfect. Just how I wanted it.

We pulled away which felt like hours later, both of us smiling. I bit my lip again, looking back out into the street. I could have just about died. Not only my first real kiss with Nick, but my first real kiss...with Nick Jonas. Of all people, it was him. The one I had been falling head over heels for since way back in '06. I couldn't ask for anyone better.

Nick looked at his watch. “They're probably wondering where we are,” he said standing up and putting his hand out. I grabbed it and he pulled me up.
“I think they're a little caught up in Rock Band right now,” I said with a laugh. I smiled. He smiled too. I don't think I had ever seen him happier, which made me feel really good. And honestly, I don't remember being happier either.

We walked back inside and back down stairs, pretending like we were up to nothing. No one seemed to notice when we had even come back since their eyes were still glued to the flying colors on the screen.
“I'm getting confused,” Sage said, mesmerized by the things on the screen and banging on the drums, missing a few notes here and there. Kevin was using the guitar and hadn't missed a note yet, tilting up the guitar and making all the colors silver.

“Show off,” Joe mumbled, glaring in Kevin's direction while Kevin ignored him. Right before the last note, there was a loud bang and the tv flickered off and back on. We all looked at each other, totally not expecting that.
“NO!” Kevin shouted as he leaned back on the sofa. The one note he didn't miss. He lifted the guitar and strap over his head and placing it by the Play station 2 over on the floor and we turned off the game.

The nine of us ran upstairs to check out the weather and the huge storm that was on it's way. Nicole's mom was sitting in the living room with the weather scan on and a huge blob of red moved across the screen. It wasn't even close to us yet and we were freaking out. We all stood there watching the screen when a howling broke the silence. Nicole turned on the light over the slider door just as a huge gust of wind blew. Her eyes widened, seeing trees looking like they were about to break and plastic chairs flying across the yard.

“Oh my gosh,” she said quickly, flipping off the light before her little sister could see. She knew she would flip. I walked over to the slider where Nicole had been standing before when a crack of lightening appeared in the black sky. I screamed and jumped back, grabbing Abby's wrist when she walked over to the window. A couple seconds later there was a loud rumble of thunder and we all kinda jumped. We could hear the windows rattling a little to the vibration from the thunder and the tv shut off and the house was completely dark.

“Mommy!” Nicole's sister whined. “I'll be right back,” Mrs. Hansen said, swerving through us to go find a flashlight.

“Who am I touching?” I asked, slapping someone's arm. I couldn't see anything and my eyes hadn't adjusted to the dark yet.
“Ow,” Allie said. “Oh, okay. Allie,” I said, before screaming again.
“What?” Sage asked as I pulled out my phone.
“Someone texted me and scared the crud outta me,” I said, pulling out my phone and opening it.
“You're really jumpy,” Mrs. Hansen said, walking back into the room.

“Yeah, I know,” I said. Everyone groaned since the light from my phone was so bright and we were trying to get used to the dark.

“Nicole, do you have a scanner?” I asked, looking at someone who I thought might be Nicole.
“Uhm, yeah but you're not gonna be able to use it cause the powers out...” she said, a little confused. I sighed.
“Not a computer scanner, Nicole. Like I a police scanner,”
“Oh, I think so. Hold on,” she said, going upstairs to find her dad who was looking for more flashlights. She came back down a couple seconds later and turned it on.

“What did you want that for?” Joe asked as we pushed the furniture back and all sat in a circle.
“My brothers working and told me to listen in,” I said as the scanner started beeping. We were texting back in forth and then stopped. “That must be him,” I said.

A couple minutes later the wind started to pick up again and the lightening struck more frequently. The rumbles started getting louder and I could not stop shivering. Carlie was sitting next to me and was shivering too, so we got out our cell phones and used them as lights as we headed downstairs to get our sweatshirts.

We came back up and Mrs. Hansen lit a candle, handing it off to Nicole who put it in the middle of us all. It wasn't too much light but it would have to do for now. I was still shivering but I knew it was mostly nerves since huge storms freaked me out.

“I feel like we should be praying or something,” Abby laughed from across the circle. I was zoning out and focusing on the candle and then out of nowhere the fire went out.

“OH MY GOD!” I screamed at the same time as Carlie, grabbing both her and Nick's arms. Carlie grabbed my shorts and everyone laughed.

“Guys, not funny,” Carlie said, loosening her grip and letting go as did I.
“That was good,” Allie laughed. I rolled my eyes and Nicole re lit the candle.

But the wind just kept blowing harder, the lightening kept flashing brighter, and the thunder kept rumbling louder and we were all getting a little nervous so we headed back downstairs.

Mrs. Hansen went out into the garage and turned on the radio in her car while we stayed in the basement with Nicole's sister and dad.

“Nicole, come here for a second please,” Mrs. Hansen called for her. Nicole walked over to the doorway where her mom was waiting to speak to her. Nicole gasped even though they were speaking quietly with the intention of me not hearing...but I did.

“A TORNADO?!” I shouted. Everyone stopped talking and turned their heads to Mrs. Hansen. Apparently the radio station said that been a touchdown near us and there had been previous sightings of funnel clouds earlier in the day. Everyone seemed to be getting a little nervous at this point, and I was already freaking out and I was ready to lose it. My heart was pounding so hard I felt like I could hear it. Nick put his hand on my back and I wrapped my arms around his waist while he rubbed my back.

I texted Chace since he would definitely know about everything. He was working in Springfield and apparently there were three touchdowns there but they didn't last for more than two minutes, still...I was going crazy.

The storm became so intense over the next nine minutes, the lightening lit up the basement, and we could feel the thunder there. I sucked it up and a couple of us went upstairs to check it out. There was nickel sized hail at this point, and tree branches everywhere.

We quickly went back downstairs and after a while finally calmed down.
“NICOLE!” Abby yelled from where she was raiding the food pantry in the basement. “Are these...?” I could hear her ask.
“I think so,” Nicole said, taking the bag of chips and bringing them out with a couple bottles of Coke and a can of Diet Coke. “Mom, can we open this bag of chips?” Nicole asked, putting everything on the coffee table that we moved out of the way.
“Sure,”

I grabbed a chip, not knowing what kind it was, but at this point I was pretty hungry.
BARBECUE CHIPS?!” I shouted after tasting one. Barbecue chips were like our chip. There was never a time where Abby, Nicole and I were without them.

I grabbed a plastic cup and filled it with Coke, taking a sip in hopes I would be calmer. And it pretty much did the trick...in a way.

Mrs. Hansen told us that the storm was probably going to go until two and I pulled out my phone seeing now it was only 11:45. Usually I wanted sleepovers and parties to seem endless, but in the case, not really.

We all started talking again, trying to get everyone's mind off of the storm, though that was nearly impossible. But a few seconds later, it sounded like something had shattered upstairs. My heart started beating faster and faster and I seriously thought it was gonna jump right out of my chest and start running away. Or I was just going to pass out.

“It's probably just the cats,” Mr. Hansen said, playing around with one of the flashlights.

“We've got a touch down in Southwick, traveling north by the golf course towards Westwood,” the man on the scanner called out.
“Okay, that's enough,” Mr. Hansen said grabbing the scanner and shutting it of quickly.
“They better not have meant the golf course across the street,” Sage said nervously. Across the street from here was a golf course and just down the road, you were in Southwick.

My cell phone started vibrating in my hand again. I opened it up seeing another message from Chace.
“u better b in the cellar & if ur not get down now!”
Suddenly, my whole body went numb.

chapter twenty four

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:29:58 GMT

It was finally about 5:30 on Saturday September 6. I was on my way to Nicole's house for her birthday party which I was wicked stoked about. Not only were parties one of my favorite things, but also three of my best friends were coming home today.

“Bye, Mom,” I said, giving my mom a kiss on the cheek before hopping out of the Explorer.
“Bye, Hon! Have fun!” she yelled out the window as I walked up the door. I was about to ring the doorbell but decided just to walk right in. It's what we always do.

“Nicole!” I shouted, shutting the door behind me and walking into the kitchen.
“Hey, Macy!” Mrs. Hansen said from the living room. “How are you?” she asked, getting up from her seat and walking over to the table to refill the snack bowls.
“I'm good how are you?” I asked back, placing Nicole's presents on the couch with the rest of them.
“I'm good thanks,” she replied. “The girls are downstairs. Go ahead and bring your stuff down,” she said.
“Alright, thanks,” I said, picking up my sleeping bag, pillow and backpack and lugging it down into the finished basement. “GUYS I'M HERE!” I screamed when I finally got to the bottom. I was always the loudest one at friends' parties, and that's the way I liked to be. It makes me feel like everyone listens, though I sometimes go too far with the obnoxious attitude, I admit.

Nicole and Sage, one of our friends that used to go to school with us before she started going to private school, were sitting down there on the couch talking when I interrupted. I dropped my stuff and walked over to Sage and gave her a hug since I only see her at CCD and when we do random sleepovers throughout the year.
“Happy birthday Nicole!” I said, walking over and giving her a hug.
“Ah, thanks,” she said, standing up.
“Oh, and Chris says 'Happy birthday, idiot,'” I told her. Chris and Nicole always called each other idiots. Everyday in homeroom they would. So since we were all in the same homeroom, I decided one day I'd join the fun and call him an idiot too. It's so second grade, I know.
Then I got yelled at for that...

“Tell him 'thanks idiot'” Nicole replied when my phone started going off. I pulled it out of my pocket while it screamed the words to Games and answered it, then pulling it away from my ear.
“that was weird,” I said handing the phone to Nicole. “It's the idiot,” I told her, plopping down on the leather sofa next to Sage while Nicole talked to Chris. Every sentence they said ended with 'idiot'.

“What a loving friendship,” Sage joked, watching Nicole sit there laughing at whatever he was saying.

“SHE'S NOT TALKING TO-” I heard someone scream from the doorway in the basement. I turned around seeing it was Abby and I shook my head and glared at her. “She doesn't know still though, right?” Abby asked hopefully, taking a seat on the floor. I shook my head.
“know about what?” Sage asked curiously.
“You'll see later,” I told her. “It's a surprise,” I whispered.

“IDIOT!” Nicole shouted into the phone, laughing.
“So, who is she talking to?” Abby asked, crossing her legs to sit Indian-style.
“Idiot,” I told Abby who had a confused look on her face.
“Ooh, Chris?” she asked. I nodded.

“Okay, bye, idiot,” she said before hanging up the phone and tossing it over in my direction.
“Abby! You're here!” Nicole said excitedly seeing Abby sitting on the floor.
“No Nicole, it's just an illusion,” I said sarcastically.
“She's actually a hologram,” Sage laughed.
“oooh,” Nicole said, going along with it. Abby rolled her eyes and laughed.
•••••••••••••
“Someone play pool with me!” Carlie demanded, grabbing a pool stick off the wall. Carlie was another one of our best friends who we used to go to school with, but now goes to a private school. She's also Sage's cousin.

“I will,” I told her, walking over and grabbing the silver stick off the wall. I always had to have the silver one when I was over.
“You break it,” I said, walking over to the bar and sitting at one of the stools there while I waited for her. A stripe went in the pocket so she went again, shooting at another stripe.

“GUYS! YEAR 3000 IS ON!” Abby shouted, pointing at the tv with the remote. She was going from channel to channel on the On Demand music channels and Kidz Only ended up playing Year 3000.
“he took me, to the future in the flux thing and I saw everything. Boy bands, and another one, and another one, and another one,” he sang, reaching our hand out and gliding it from the left to the right like Joe does at concerts. “Girls there with round hair like Star Wars float above the floor...” we continued to sing, now into the pool sticks. Carlie laughed at us while she took advantage of my distractions and kept shooting even if it was my turn.

Allie rolled her eyes, but she didn't know what she was in for tonight.

“Food's here girls!” Nicole's mom yelled into the basement.
We ran upstairs and grabbed plates, lots of soda, and a ton of Chinese food. We brought it out into the dining room. I was sitting at one end of the table, which I usually did at Nicole's parties, and she was across from me. Everyone else sat down and I just stared at the plate. I sighed and continued to stare.

“is there something wrong, Mace?” Nicole asked, looking up from the opposite end of the table. Everyone looked at me.
“It's just...this is...uhm...well...it's kinda like...well...you see...i just...” I stuttered, not able to figure out what I was trying to say. “It's awkward!” I said. Joe's face was peeking out from under the chicken. Yes, that's right. The Camp Rock plates were out and we were eating off of them tonight.

Allie laughed. “Why is it so awkward?”
“You're right, this is kinda awkward,” Abby agreed, looking at her plate.
“Why is it so awkward?” Allie asked again.
“Because we're like, eating off of Joe's face!” I told her, bursting out into laughter. Everyone else did too.
“What's wrong with that?” Carlie asked.
“She doesn't know?” I asked Nicole, pointing to Carlie. She shrugged.
“Know what?”

“There was kind of...well...it's like...it's kinda hard to explain. But over the summer ...” I started.
“...we met them. And hung out. And...” Nicole told her.
“...then there was drama...but it's good now!” Abby smiled.

“okay! They don't need to know about all the drama!” I said defensively.
“What drama, did you like scream at the one with the curly hair or something?” Sage laughed. She was joking but dead on.
I shrugged and looked down. “kinda” I replied quietly.

“Oh, you have to tell us the whole story now!” Carlie said eagerly.
“Guys,” I complained.
“Tell us. We're your friends we should know everything!” Sage said, scooping a spoonful of rice in her mouth. I sighed.

“Fine,” I mumbled. “It starts off with me being stupid, selfish, greedy, jealous...basically everything a best friend shouldn't be,” I said, looking at Nicole and Abby. “I was feeling left out but in a way it was really my own choice...”

...

“...so then they got to...a state...and turned around because he felt the need to come apologize to me. Which he didn't need to and I did,” I said, looking down at my food. I was too embarrassed to make eye contact with anyone at this point.

“oh, and at this point, we thought they were dead,” Nicole said. Everyone but Abby and I looked at her confused. “There was a plane crash in Denver and there were rumors going around that it was them, and we made the mistake of believing them.”

“So, what state did they actually get to? Connecticut?” Allie joked.
I hesitated for a moment, picking at my food, and then finally spoke. “More like Nebraska,” I muttered.
“They got all the way to Nebraska and turned around just cause he felt like he needed to apologize to you even though you really needed to apologize to him?!” Carlie asked, trying to figure this whole thing out.

I stopped, realizing how bad I still felt about this whole thing. I could feel my eyes starting to well up with tears, but managed to hold them back. “yeah,” I replied quietly before burying my face in my hands. By this point I was ready to cry because I felt so guilty and I was completely embarrassed.

“Mace,” Sage said, breaking the silence that filled the room. “We didn't mean to embarrass you. We just wanted to hear the story and we didn't know it would be that bad,” she said with a sympathetic look on her face. I could feel my face turning red.

“Macy, he obviously loves you,” Carlie said a couple minutes later.
“Why do you say that?” I asked, looking at her and picking at the napkin I was holding.
“Well, I wouldn't get to Nebraska and turn around to come to Massachusetts just for someone I liked. He obviously didn't do it because he thought it would make everything better. He did it because he knew it would make everything better,” she said, taking a sip of her soda. I looked down at my food again, finally taking a piece of chicken and eating it. I nodded, not knowing what to say to that.

“And Macy, when we were saying goodbye to them, when it was your turn to say goodbye, he totally looked like he was going to cry,” Abby chimed it.

“I rather just forget the past guys. Can we just, move onto something else,” I asked, taking a sip of Coke.

“You guys wanna go outside or something?” Nicole asked, getting up from her seat and grabbing her napkin and plate.
“yeah, let's go,” Abby said, following her as did the rest of us.

“What do you guys want to do?” Nicole asked when we finally got out there. I pulled out my phone seeing that it was 7:45 already. The guys were gonna be here in fifteen minutes.
“Wiffle ball!” I suggested. I knew the guys would love it if we were playing when they arrived. Everyone else didn't really care what they did as long as it kept them entertained.

We finally were set up in Nicole's back yard and my team was up to bat first. I was teamed up with Carlie and Allie and Carlie was up to bat. Abby was pitching since she played softball and was the only one who could throw a descent pitch around here.

I saw behind me a car go by and I already had two strikes, so I struck out purposely.
“Abby!” I said, going to the 'pitcher's mound'. “They're here I'll be right back. Make sure Nicole stays here,” I told her. She nodded and I ran out into the front of the house.
“Where are you going?!” Nicole asked.
“I'll be right back! I need to get something!” I shouted while I kept running. I stopped in the middle of the driveway as Kevin parked his Jeep in the street in front of the house. I could feel my smile getting bigger and bigger, which I didn't think was even possible. My cheeks hurt already and I hadn't even seen them yet. Nick got out of the back seat, carrying a pink gift bag and slamming the door.

“Hey!” I said, walking down the driveway and giving them hugs.
“Hey, Mace! How's the party?” they asked.
“uhm, interesting,” I said. “But you're just in time cause we just started playing wiffle ball a couple minutes ago,” I said, as we walked up the driveway.

“i love wiffle ball!” Joe said excitedly.
“Yeah, but we're all really bad. Except for Abby but she plays softball so...”
“I think we can maybe help you out,” Kevin said with a laugh.

I looked down at the gift bag that was in Nick's hand. “I love the bag, Nick,” I said jokingly. Nick held it up.
“I know, it compliments my outfit so well tonight,” he said, pretending to model it. We laughed and finally got out to the backyard.

Nicole was playing in the 'outfield' and not paying any attention to the batters. It was my turn, so I let Joe go up for me while Nicole still had no idea. Abby smiled and waved before pitching to Joe. Carlie, Allie, and Sage were speechless and totally not expecting it, but they knew to keep quiet.

The first pitch to Joe, he jacked it making it go right into the pool. Nicole watched with her mouth opened.
“WHO DID THAT?!” she yelled, trying to see who was running around the bases. Then she stopped.
“JOE?! OH MY GOD! YOU GUYS ARE HERE?!” she shouted, bursting with excitement

Joe flashed a smile as he ran by her. She just stood there not knowing what to do, and then running to home plate to give them all hugs.

They all said 'happy birthday' and gave her a peck on the cheek and she was blushing insanely at this point.
“I can't believe you're here! This is like, crazy!” she said, still in shock.

“Oh, guys!” I said, walking over to them. “This is Sage, Allie, and Carlie,” I said pointing to each of the girls. “Girls, Nick, Kevin, and Joe.”
“It's very nice to meet you,” they all said, shaking each others' hands.

“Okay, I say we start a new game. New teams,” Abby said, throwing the wiffle ball up in the air and catching it.

When we had it all figured out, the teams ended up being Nicole, Kevin, Carlie and Joe against Abby, Sage, Nick, Allie and I.

We played till about 8:45, the score ending up about 16-13, thanks to Abby's softball skills and Nick's competitiveness, our team won.
“Girls,” Nicole's mom yelled out to us. “Oh! And guys!” she laughed from the slider. “Cake and presents?” she asked, opening the slider to let us in.
We all filed into the house and seated ourselves around the table again.

“I can't believe you turned around in Nebraska just for her,” Carlie said quietly to Nick, pointing over at me and laughing.
“Carlie,” I groaned, burying my face in my hands. Nick laughed and rubbed my back before putting his arm on the back of the chair I was sitting on. I peeked up as Nicole began to open her presents.

“Aw! A pink Superman cape!” Nicole laughed, pulling out the hot pink cape and holding it up for us all to see. She had been talking about Joe's dance all the time from August 9^th and about the cape. It definitely brought back memories. “Thanks, guys,” she laughed. Nick, Joe and Kevin all smiled, glad she liked it. She reached in the bag again and her jaw dropped. She pulled out the famous green box with a bow on it and the rest of our jaws fell. Tiffany & Co.

“Guys! Oh my god!” Nicole said, practically speechless as she opened the box. She pulled out a dangle cuff bracelet with a heart charm on it. Nicole stared at the bracelet before finally putting it on.
“Nicole that's so pretty,” Abby told her, playing with the heart charm.

“Good job, guys,” I told the boys who seemed pretty proud of themselves.
“Joe picked it out,” Kevin told Nicole, giving Joe the credit.
“Well, Joe did a great job!” Nicole said, still admiring the bracelet. Joe smiled.

“I still can't believe you guys are here. I thought you had a concert tonight or something,” Nicole said, a little confused.
“Our tour ended yesterday,” Nick laughed, taking a sip of the diet Coke in front of him.
“I thought you guys were on tour till like, September 31^st or something, though,”
“What did you just say?” Mrs. Hansen asked, walking into the room and placing a large wrapped present next to Nicole's seat.
“That I thought they were on tour till September 31^st!” she said. Everyone gave her a look and she glared at Joe. “There is no September 31^st is there?”
Joe shook his head slowly and smiled.
“I HATE YOU!” she joked, throwing a napkin at him. Joe opened up the napkin and looked back up at Nicole.
“If you hate me so much then why did you buy napkins with my face on it?” he laughed. Everyone else laughed and Nicole blushed.
“Cause...i...i...” she stuttered. “loved that movie. Duh,” she said, trying not to laugh. “If I knew you were gonna be here I wouldn't have bought them,” she said, looking at Joe and then glaring over at me since I had made it somewhat obvious I invited them. I shrugged. “Ooh! What's this?!” she asked, her attention drifting over to the large box next to her.

“Just a little something extra for your party,” Mrs. Hansen said, standing behind Nicole's chair. Nicole tore of the polka dotted wrapping paper off to uncover the box. Nicole's face completely lit up seeing the final piece she needed for the complete Rock Band set. The drums and game. She jumped out of her seat, giving her mom a hug and calling for us to follow her.

We followed her into the basement and hooking up all the essential objects for the Rock Band competition.
This is sure to be interesting...

chapter twenty three

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:55:08 GMT

Hey everyone! sorry again that it took so long to get up, but here it finally is! hope you like it, please please comment!

♥tory
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

“hey nick! i have a question if you can text me back when you get this please.” I quickly typed on my phone while walking into the living room. I sat down on the couch, closing my phone and turning on the tv. I flipped through the channels, trying to find something to entertain my for now since all I was supposed to do for homework was cover books.

I finally decided on Made and opened my vibrating phone.
“hey whats up?” the text message read. It was Nick responding. I was feeling too lazy to text so I just called him instead.

“Hey, Macy. What's up?” he asked, picking up on the second ring.
“Nothing, just got back from school,” I said unenthusiastically.
“Oh, how was it?”
“eh. One hundred seventy nine days till summer vacation!” I said sarcastically. Nick laughed. “Anyways, I have a question. Nicole's birthday is coming up and Abby and I were just wondering what day you guys were planning on being here...” I told him, waiting for his response.
“Well, I think we were gonna try to be home for the 6^th,” he informed me.
“That's perfect!” I said excitedly. “so, if you get home in time, I'm just going to invite you without her knowing. Cause she's trying to convince us you're on tour till September 31^st,”
“but we're- wait a second. Doesn't September only have 30 days?” he asked, laughing. I closed my eyes and nodded.
“yeah,” I said, laughing myself.

“Alright, so we're planning on leaving right after the concert anyway, so we'll get home around seven in the morning and relax before her party. What time does it start?”
“5:30, but you guys should probably wait till eight or something,” I told him.
“Sounds like a plan!” he said. I could tell he was stoked. I chuckled, thinking about the paper products she was planning on buying.

“And guess what she is gonna...actually, I'm gonna let that be a surprise,” I said, pulling the white hair tie out of my hair and letting it fall over my shoulders.
“oh, boy...” Nick said into the phone.
“yeah, it might be a little awkward. Especially for Joe...” I told him. He laughed.
“Well, I gotta go cause everyone is telling me to get off the phone,” he told me as I flipped through the channels again.
“Alright, I'll talk to you later,” I said with a smile.
“Okay, bye Mace,” he said before hanging up.

I shut my phone, opening it again to call Abby, letting her know what's going on.

“And she's definitely not expecting it right?” Abby asked, making sure.
“Ab, she thinks they're on tour till the 31^st,” I reminded her.
“oh yeah. Joe's gotta stop being so sarcastic around her,” she laughed.
“Tell me about it,” I agreed, running my fingers through my hair.
“So, what day are they planning on coming home?”
“that days,” I told her.
“Seriously? And they're still going to her party?” she asked, sounding surprised.
“Yeah,”
“Sweet,” she said. “Well, I gotta go take the dog outside. I'll text you later or something,”
“Alright, bye,” I said, hearing a 'bye' from her and shutting my phone.

Only nine more days...
•••••••••••••
Saturday
•••••••••••••
“Macy wake uppp,” Chace said, flinging my door open around nine on Saturday morning. All I wanted to do was sleep in since summer vacation wasn't for another 178 days. I groaned, throwing my polka dotted pillow over my head.

“Come on Macy,” he said, walking over to my bed and shaking me. I pulled the pillow tighter over my head. “I'm going to Dunkin Donuts and I'll get you something if you get up,” he bribed me. I sat right up in my bed and he just stared at me.

“I'm up, are you leaving?” I asked, squinting my eyes from the sun shining in. He shook his head, laughing and walking towards the doorway.
“What do you want?” he asked, turning around with his hands up on the frame of the door.
“The usual,” I replied, standing up and bending over, gathering my hair and putting it in a messy bun.
“small coffee coolatta with whipped cream...”
“Actually, make that a French Vanilla coffee coolatta,” I told him, switching off my fan and walking out of my room.
“k,” he replied, grabbing his car keys and heading out the door.

“Hey, Mace,” my mom said, pulling out a sheet of fresh chocolate and peanut butter chip cookies as I sat down at the counter. Everyone was running around getting ready for today's party. The 4^th annual Labor Day party that is.
“Hey,” I said tiredly, putting my arms on the counter and resting my head on them.
“What's wrong?” she asked, laughing at me.
“I miss sleeping till 10:30?” I said, yawning and rubbing my eyes. She rolled her eyes.

“Hey there,” Emily said, walking through the garage door and throwing her car keys on the counter.
“Hey Em!” my mom said, leaning against the counter as Emily took the seat next to mine.
“Where's Chace?” she asked, taking a sip of her iced coffee.
“Just left to go to Dunkin Donuts,” I told her, holding my head up with my fist. She nodded.

Chace walked in a few minutes later to drop off our drinks and have us come outside.
I stopped in the driveway seeing a huge mound of wood.
“Uhm...” I started, confused. My dad came around the corner with the lawn mower and the trailer hooked up to it. I raised my eye brows and looked across the street seeing Chris driving their mower over with Lilly walking next to him.

“Emily, you can come with my and Macy and Lilly you guys stay here and the boys will bring the wood out to the fire pit,” my dad said, walking out back. I groaned and Chace started putting wood in the trailer. I looked at Lilly.
“My dad made me come,” she said quietly as we started throwing wood in the trailer.
Chace was gone and Chris pulled the lawn mower up so we could fill the back of it.

“Well, this is fun,” Lilly said sarcastically, wiping her dirty hands on her soccer shorts.
“Tell me about it,” I said. “Did you hear what we got for later though?” she shook her head.
“My parents bought the projector so we can hook up Wii?” I told her as we took a seat at a table in the garage. Her eyes widened. I laughed.
“ARE YOU SERIOUS?!” she asked, a huge smile forming on her face. I personally didn't think it was all that huge. I thought it was cool, but not necessarily the 'coolest'. “That's so awesome,” she said as we got up to fill the trailer with more wood.
•••••••••••••
I walked back inside with Lilly after we finally finished stacking wood an hour later. I grabbed two cookies off the plate and handed her one.
“Mace,” my mom laughed. “It's only 10:30,”
“Mom, I eat cookies at like 6:30 in the morning on the way to the bus,” I told her. She rolled her eyes.
“Why did you eat a cookie at 6:30 in the morning?” my mom asked, shaking her head.
“Cause Chris offered me one and I wasn't gonna turn down a cookie,” I said, shoving the rest of the one I was eating in my mouth. Lilly's jaw dropped.
“You're the one who ate all my cookies!” she said, crossing her arms and pretending to be mad at me. I rolled my eyes and laughed.
•••••••••••••
“Macy you're friends are walking up the driveway!” my mom yelled up to me. I was in my room trying to brush my hair as fast as possible.. I heard the front door fly open and bangs from the front hallway. That would be an indication that my friends were here. I laughed and started brushing my hair as fast as I could.

“Hi Mrs. N!” I heard Abby say loudly into the other room. I rolled my eyes and threw my brush on my bed and grabbing my orange and pink Vera Bradley cosmetic bag from my desk. I pulled out my copper colored Almay eye liner, sitting in front of the mirror and applying.

“Macy!” Nicole shouted, flinging it open so I hit my head on the mirror. I fell over backwards just to be dramatic and holding my head.
“Ow,” I moaned, opening my eyes and seeing Nicole standing in the doorway with her eyes wide and her hands over her mouth.

“oh my god! I'm so sorry!” she said, not knowing what to do.
“Nicole, knock next time?” I said, sitting up. She nodded.
“yeah, no problem,” she said, freaking out still.
“Nicole,” I laughed. “It's not a big deal,” I said, shutting the door again to finish putting on the eye liner.

“MACY!” Abby said, throwing the door so once again it hit me. However this time I had the thing of eye liner up to my face.
“And that one, yeah. That hurt a little,” I said, lying on the floor. Abby was standing in the doorway like Nicole had been a minute before.
“Oh. Sorry!” Abby said, stepping over me and walking into my room. I continued to lay there.
“The people I'm friends with...” I mumbled, shaking my head and standing up. I walked out into the hallway and into the bathroom since I now had eye liner a little lower than I was aiming for.

“You guys,” I started, walking back into my bedroom. “The front door is one thing...the bedrooms...KNOCK!” I said, collapsing on my bed.
I sat back up on my bed, watching Abby drawing on a tube with my Sharpies that she had found in my closet.

“Ab, what are you doing?” I asked while she continued to draw.
“Glow sticks!” she said, holding it up like a two year old would. She was just as excited as one would be too. I shook my head and laughed.

I stood up and straightened out the black Metro Station shirt I was wearing and fixing my denim shorts. I slid on my black flip flops and did a mirror check before going downstairs. My hair was up in a messy bun and my bangs were down, looking pretty decent.

“Kitty!” Nicole said, turning to the front door where Lia, our cat was sitting. She would sit there and cry all day since she loved to go outside, but she's an indoor cat.
“Lia,” I said, bending over to pet her and pick her up.
“MACY!” Abby and Nicole shouted in unison. Just as they said that, someone opened the door. I dropped the cat and backed up, holding the top of my head this time.

“Oh my god, Macy. Were you standing there?” my aunt asked, walking inside with a tub of food. I nodded. She gasped. “I'm sorry, hunny,” she said, throwing her arm around me giving a hug.
“It's okay, it's the third time today that's happened to me. I'm just gonna stay away from doors,” I told her, glaring at the other two.
“I'm sorry!” Nicole said for the nineteenth time. I laughed and walked out into the kitchen with everyone.

“Is that...what I think it is?” Abby said, listening for something. She ran to the front window to see this odd vehicle driving down the street and stopping at someone's driveway.
“MACY! MACY GO GET MONEY!” Nicole shouted.
“Guys, we have ice cream for later,” I told them.
“But I want a snow cone!” Abby whined. I tilted my head. “Come on, it's one dollar. please?” she asked with an innocent look on her face. I finally gave in and went upstairs to get a couple bucks. When I came back downstairs they were already at the end of the driveway waiting. I walked out right as the ding dong cart pulled up to our driveway and found four other kids out there too. My jaw dropped.

I walked to the end of the driveway just as the ice cream truck pulled up. We ordered seven snow cones and passed them out under the tree that was in the front.
“So, where's that projector screen thing?” Lilly asked, eating a chunk of her snow cone. I shrugged. I could tell she was getting really excited for this tonight.

Five games of Marco Polo, two wiffle ball games, a game and a half of volleyball, croquet, and a game of cricket later, we were pulling out the projector.
“Dude, what are we watching?” Evan asked, walking over to where we were standing and my dad was setting everything up.
“Playing Wii,” I told him, cracking open my fourth can of Coke.

I grabbed a remote, waiting for someone to take the next. Nicole grabbed it and everyone sat on the patio furniture surrounding it.
“Challenge you in tennis,” I said, looking over at her on my right.
“Oh you're so on,” she said, narrowing her eyes.
“Oh yeah! That's right Nicole! You be mean!” Abby said, pumping a fist in the air. Nicole glared for two more seconds before bursting out in hysterics.
I served the ball up as the ball bounced back in forth on the side of the house. It was so weird playing it there but it was completely awesome at the same time.

I ended up winning three to two – barely.
After another game of tennis, two games of bowling and a wrestling match, we were ready for flashlight tag.

Flashlight tag was the ultimate game at our house. We stretched it from our backyard, the cul-de-sac, and Chris and Lilly's house which was three houses down.
We decided to do pairs because we always freaked ourselves out, especially behind the Stewart's shed.

When we finally had our pairs, we ran. Chris and our other neighbor who we now referred to as “Little Nick” sat on the bench on the cul-de-sac counting to fifty.

“By the fire!” I whispered harshly to Nicole as we ran over there. We weaved through the chairs and thirty people who were surrounding the fire pit, finally landing in at Mrs. Hansen's feet.
“What are you girls doing?” she laughed. Nicole put her finger to her mouth and turned her head to show her mother not to talk to us. Mrs. Hansen shook her head and went back to the conversation she was having with our friend Allie's mom.

“Uh-oh,” I said, leaning and looking to my right, over Nicole and seeing two round lights getting brighter and brighter. She slapped me to sit back up so I wasn't noticeable. We put our hoods on our heads and faced the fire again.
Nicole spoke quietly but hardly a whisper “Close your eyes. If you can't see them, they can't see you...”