Isaac smiled and shuffled uncomfortably. “Zac, it’s still 1999. Keep a low profile before we get kicked out of here.”
“Argh, you’re no fun,” Zac stated. “I’m going to help Keryn.”
Zac stumbled over to the vending machine where Keryn was standing, trying to decide what drinks to purchase. “If you get Diet Coke, I’m not drinking it.” Zac leant up against the machine and kept his eye at the gate where Kayla would be arriving any minute. “That stuff is so pointless.”
“How is it pointless?” Keryn heard the clanking of coins falling into the machine as she pressed Coke for herself and Dr. Pepper for Isaac and Zac.
Zac gratefully took his can and started sipping. “Well, it hardly is going to make you lose weight... I mean, if you are trying to diet - why drink Coke at all?”
Keryn nodded, Zac had a point. “Well, I’m so glad that I’m not drinking that Dr. Pepper crap. It’s so revolting, Zac, how do you drink it? It tastes like cough medicine,” Keryn cringed for affect.
Zac grinned and took another grateful sip. “It’s an unexplainable sensation,” Zac crinkled his eyebrows trying to decipher what the substance resembled.
“Cough medicine.” Keryn nodded and looked over towards Isaac. “You can’t fool me. I’ve tasted it.”
Zac just shook his head and scanned the candy machine. “Do you have any more money?”
“Why?” Keryn had her eyes fixed on the gate, waiting for Kayla.
“Do you want to go halves in M&Ms or something?”
“Sure,” Keryn stood on her toes and reached into her pocket, handing Zac some coins.
Kayla walked down the narrow hallway, holding onto the straps of her backpack. She couldn’t believe New Years had finally come around, but at the moment she felt a little tense about seeing the others for the first time in a couple of days.
“Uh, Charlie?” Kayla glanced up next to her where he was walking. “Ike may be a little hostile, just remember that for me, okay?”
Charlie looked down at her and continued happily walking down towards the door that took them to the main part of the airport. “He can’t be that hostile, Kayla. I’m a nice guy, aren’t I? It’s gonna be love at first sight.” Charlie snickered.
“Charlie, be serious... Just don’t pick any fights with him... He’s just a bit confused I think. I don’t know his story at the moment.”
Charlie developed sincerity in his voice and looked at her. “Kayl, I’m not like that. I’m just going to be myself and see if he likes me... if he doesn’t... I don’t know what his problem is. I’ve never hit anyone before.”
Kayla looked doubtful. “Just behave, Charlie.”
Charlie pretended to gasp as Kayla took off in front of him and headed towards the door. She sure does look excited, Charlie thought. This Tulsa place must sure be something... Changing millenniums in Tulsa... Charlie shuddered and dismissed the thought. He’d given up a huge Californian party for this.
Charlie glanced around for Kayla and noticed she was gone... “Dang,” he muttered and dodged a group of people to get out of the door first.
“Ike!” Kayla threw her arms around him, kissing him on the cheek. “Hey Keryn, hey Zac.”
“Hey,” all three said in unison.
“How was everything?” Keryn was the first to ask. “What’s it like on a se-” Keryn was interrupted as another body emerged from behind Kayla. “Charlie?” Keryn asked, confused.
“The one and only,” he had his eyes focused on his shoes as he shuffled his feet on the ground. His normal, confident personality dissolved with nerves.
“Ike, this is Charlie.” Kayla stepped back to reveal him and watched Ike’s expression change from surprise to cross between angry and uncomfortable.
“Heeeyyy...” Zac screeched. “Ahh, you rock man!” He offered his hand quickly to meet the guy he’d heard to much about.
Charlie brightened and gratefully took Zac’s positive attention. “I hear that you’re pretty insane yourself,” Charlie smiled and shook his hand.
“Hey, Charlie... what are you doing here?” Keryn asked, curiously.
“Well, we got an incentive for finishing up early... so, here I am... a free return flight...”
“Ha, return,” Ike muttered under his breath.
Zac elbowed him and Keryn continued. “Ah, great Charlie, we’ll have a blast.”
“It’s looking that way,” Charlie now looked genuinely excited, apart from one thing. “Uh, hey Ike,” he carefully offered.
Isaac looked up from the spot on the floor he’d been staring at for the past few seconds. “Charlie, hey.”
“You know, I think we better get going,” Kayla sensed some hostility.
“I think you’re right,” Keryn pushed Isaac along and Zac joined Charlie in the walk to the car.
Kayla walked along behind them, observing. “Maybe this was a big mistake,” she whispered as she noticed Isaac looking Charlie up and down. “Geez, I hope not.”
“Guess what?” Kayla ripped her bag open when the party preparing was over and it was time to relax.
“What?” Keryn asked, rushing over to her. Taylor had joined them in the room and was, too, curious.
Kayla carefully retrieved the Geri Halliwell autobiography from her bag. “This is what... I can finally read it now!”
Taylor rolled his eyes and looked at Keryn for her reaction. “Oh my God! Yay!” Taylor laughed and shook his head.
“You guys are too much,” He picked Keryn’s copy up from the kitchen table, where it had been resting for the last few days. “Why didn’t you just borrow hers when she was finished with it?”
“But then she might accidentally tell me what happens and the whole story would be wrecked... it’s much better if we read it together.”
“Kayla,” Taylor started, reading the back of the book. “News flash. She left the Spice Girls... How could you not know what was going to happen at the end of an autobiography? You buy them in the first place because you know all of these facts.”
“Taylor,” Keryn chipped in. “That’s not the point.” She snatched her book from him and grinned. “Besides, I caught you reading mine the other day...”
“I was just studying... I’m going to write one, you know,” Taylor grinned and made a square shape with his fingers, putting it up towards his face. “This is going to be my cover shot, what do you think? Do you think I should pose nude for it?”
“Save me now,” Kayla gasped. “I’m going to find Ike. You two can stay here and think kinky thoughts. Just don’t go too far, his parents are here.”
Keryn blushed and scurried from the room, making a mental note to kill Kayla. Taylor tried to be cool, strolling off into the other direction. “Geez, they’re pathetic,” Kayla groaned, placing her book on the table next to Keryn’s. She raced off in search of Isaac.
“Okay,” Charlie bent over and picked up an armful of twigs and logs. “If you want the perfect bonfire, this is how you do it.”
Charlie started assembling them on the grass, occasionally moving and fiddling with the twigs that fell out of place. “Charlie... that looks like it will set Tulsa on fire,” Zac observed.
“Hey, I’ve never done this before... just be patient.” Charlie fiddled with some more twigs and stepped back to view his creation. “There, the perfect fire.”
Zac raised his eyebrows and stared at the masterpiece. “Charlie, for a start, it’s too small and it looks more like it’s in the shape of an elephant’s head than anything else. What were you trying to achieve?”
Charlie sighed and turned the pile back into a heap of sticks. “Well, you teach me how to do it,” he whined, stepping back.
Zac showed his expertise as he quickly got to work on the new creation. “So, you were assigned this task, were you?”
“Taylor, my man,” Charlie put his hand out to shake Taylor’s. “Nice to finally meet you.”
“Likewise,” Taylor and Charlie observed Zac. “Have you met everyone yet?”
“Yeah, you’re a great bunch of people.”
“Oh, you’ve met Ike?” Taylor asked curiously. He didn’t think Isaac would be standing at the front door with a bunch of roses in his hands to meet Charlie.
“Oh, yeah... He was, well, nice,” Charlie tried to think of the right word to describe Kayla’s boyfriend.
“You’ll get used to him, he’s really nice, usually.” Taylor and Charlie chuckled as Zac stepped back to look at his design.
“Perfect,” Taylor offered. “Tonight’s gonna be great.”
Alanis Morissette drifted from the stereo speakers as the last sunset Tulsa would see for the millennium disappeared through the trees.
Isaac sat, leaning up against the tree trunk watching everybody at the party make fools of themselves. He snickered and crossed his ankles over, brushing away some grass that had stuck to his jeans.
He looked at Zac who was madly spinning Margo as they did a strange little dance to Baba, by Alanis. Zac’s hair was flying in every direction possible as Margo was finding it hard not to fall in a heap on the ground. Isaac snickered, the times you needed a camera.
He scanned the crowd again... Charlie had struck up a conversation with their cousin Kath, who looked to be having a good time. As a matter of fact, Isaac thought, Charlie had struck up a conversation with everybody at the party so far. Isaac rolled his eyes and kept looking around the party.
Thank U had burst from the speakers as Margo and Zac launched into a slow dance. Isaac still couldn’t grasp the fact that those two were a couple. They looked like they matched each other psychically, but mentally was another story at this stage. Zac had moaned on and on for months about how much he hated her and now they were hugging each other tightly on the dance floor, waiting to celebrate the new millennium.
Keryn waved to Isaac from the other end of the party. She, too, looked like she wasn’t having the time of her life. She felt sorry for Isaac, he was walking around excited all day, waiting for Kayla to come home and now look what had happened, they hadn’t even had much time alone together.
“Dance?” Keryn heard over the sound of the speakers. She looked up to see who the owner of the voice was. Taylor. Typical.
Keryn stood up and brushed the dust from the back of her long pants. “Why not,” Keryn tried to seem enthusiastic. But she was inwardly groaning. The last thing she needed was to touch Taylor.
“You mad at me?” Taylor asked as he took her hand and guided them over towards Zac and Margo.
“Of course I’m not mad, Taylor. Why would I be mad?” She looked at him through narrow eyes.
“You just seem quiet, that’s all.” Taylor dropped her hand and they stood there, kind of staring at each other for a while. Keryn didn’t know whether she should have made the first move, or him. She swung her arms around and waited for a while until the song faded.
“You guys, come on. You have to at least sway to the music,” Kayla came up from behind and pushed them together. Keryn looked around the backyard... the only people that were dancing were Zac, Margo and Charlie, who had taken residence in the middle of the backyard, swaying to himself.
Taylor looked around uncomfortably, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. He let out a deep sigh and looked at Kayla.
“You guys are pathetic,” she rolled her eyes. “Come on, we have to get this party going. It’s kind of dead at the moment.”
Taylor smiled and reached out for Kayla, taking her hands and throwing them around his neck. Kayla let out a long laugh and followed Taylor’s lead.
“What are you doing, Taylor?” Kayla asked through her giggles.
“I’m trying to get this party going, like you said.”
“Well-”
“Oucchh...” Kayla and Taylor heard from behind them. They had just crashed into Charlie, who seemed to be having fun moshing to a ballad.
“Okay, maybe this isn’t working,” Kayla and Taylor were still holding each other, but the music had stopped.
“Maybe it’ll get livelier once we get closer to the new year?” Charlie asked. “Come on, Kayla, get out of Taylor’s embrace, the music has stopped and Ike seems to be fuming over there,” Charlie quickly untangled the pair.
“Don’t be silly, Charlie. Ike’s cool.”
“Are you as sick of this as I am?” Keryn stood over Isaac with her hands on her hips.
He thought for a moment. “Probably more.”
“I thought New Years was supposed to be all about partying. What’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” Isaac looked across the backyard towards Taylor and Kayla, who seemed to be having a lot of fun all on their own. “Do you want to dance?” He asked Keryn.
Keryn swung around and looked at the party. Surely there wouldn’t be any unwanted tension if she danced with Isaac. She looked down towards him and held out her hand. “Come on, we’ll show ‘em.”
Isaac slipped his hands into Keryn’s and stood up, shaking off the dirt that had stuck to his jeans. “Okay, let’s do it,” Isaac laughed and looked at Kayla and Taylor again, who were talking to Charlie.
The music started up and Ike spun Keryn around a few times. “I have to warn you,” Keryn whispered. “I’m not the best dancer in the world.”
Isaac smiled. “Well, I’m not that good myself, but I’ve been known to get down and boogie.”
Keryn groaned at his choice of words and giggled.
Kayla looked over to the spot where Isaac had been sitting a few moments earlier, she had wanted to go over and talk to him. They hadn’t had much privacy since her and Charlie had arrived back in Tulsa.
“Tay, where’d Ike go?” Kayla enquired as she, Taylor and Charlie stood in a circle.
Taylor looked around the backyard. It had been decorated with thousands of streamers and balloons and the fire had been brightly blazing behind them. Their parents and a few of the children were huddled around it, watching the goings on at the party.
Taylor carefully scanned the crowd, looking for his brother.
“Oh my God, there they are,” Kayla glanced to the spot near the tree where Isaac had been sitting.
“They?” Taylor spun around to see Keryn waltzing across the grass with Isaac. “Oh,” Taylor couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous and mourning the fact that he’d thrown away Keryn just a few minutes before.
“Do you want to dance over and swap?” Kayla reasoned as she watched Taylor’s eyes flicker with jealousy.
“They seem to be having a whole lot of fun,” Taylor moped. “She wouldn’t even touch me.”
“Taylor, quit it. She didn’t have much chance to touch you,” Kayla ran her hands through her hair and then put them on her hips. “You kind of swept me away pretty much instantly.”
Taylor grinned. “Oh, ha ha. I swept you away?” He asked.
Kayla just laughed and clutched Taylor’s hands. “Come on, let’s swap.”
“Fine, if you don’t want me,” Taylor followed her.
“It’s not that I don’t want you, it’s just that you want her and I want him.”
Taylor’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, he decided to drop the topic.
At 11.45pm Kayla and Isaac had done their fair share of dancing. Ever since her and Taylor had rushed up earlier, they hadn’t felt the energy to stop.
“Kayla, there’s something we needed to talk about,” Isaac shuffled his feet into the grass, taking a piece of streamer and twirling it around his fingers.
“About what, Ike?” Kayla asked as she sat down on the ground with a dazed look on her face, tired from standing up so long.
“Well, I don’t know how to say this without you blasting me.”
Kayla became alert and looked at Isaac, interested in what he had to say. “I won’t blast you, Ike, what is it?”
“Well-”
“Kayla!” An excited voice screeched from the other side of the backyard.
She snapped out of her trance and searched towards the voice. “What Charlie?”
“Can you come help me with these fire crackers?”
Ike let out a sigh and rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time at Charlie. “Go on,” he smiled, trying to disguise the fact he was fuming inside. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
“Sorry, Ike,” Kayla looked at him helplessly. “Don’t run off, I wanna see you at twelve.”
“Sure, I’m not going anywhere.” Isaac sighed and knocked his head on the back of his tree.
It was 11.55pm. “Taylor, what are you going to be doing during the transition?”
Taylor thought for a moment, he had planned to be doing something meaningful, but he just hadn’t thought about anything yet. “I don’t know, what about you?”
“I don’t know either. Well, I guess it’s not that important,” Keryn looked into the party again. The night had turned out to be not so bad after all. Pretty much every person was dancing now and they were all excited as the time drew closer.
Keryn smiled as she noticed a very tired Mackie holding hands with Avery as they played ‘ring around the rosie’ to keep themselves awake.
“Did you ever tell your parents about us?” Keryn asked, out of the blue.
“What do you mean?” Taylor didn’t feel like getting into this right now, playing dumb seemed like the ultimate get away.
“You know, Taylor, us.”
Taylor groaned. “Are we ever going to stop talking about this? Is it ever going to be resolved?” Taylor was getting annoyed.
Feeling hurt, Keryn shuffled out of her seat and walked away from him. She felt things like this were important to her, she at least wanted to be aware of what was happening in her life.
“Kayla, I feel sick,” Keryn walked over to Kayla and Charlie who were busy carrying the fireworks out to the backyard. Charlie had insisted buying some as soon as they got to Tulsa. It’s never a New Years without crackers.
“Well, you’re gonna want to party like it’s nothing else in a few minutes. So, I wouldn’t worry about it too much.”
Keryn smiled, Kayla was probably right.
“What’s the time?” Kayla asked.
“Oh my God,” Keryn shrieked in realisation. “One minute to go!”
“Are you ready, Charlie?” Kayla asked. “Can I go now?”
“Sure,” Charlie had the excitement of a child on his face as he admired the crackers. “All ready.”
“I’ll see you next millennium,” Kayla smiled and threw her arms around him. “Happy New Years.”
The girls rushed away to find Isaac next to the tree. “Come on Ike,” Kayla screeched, excitedly. “Let’s go start the countdown!”
Isaac grinned at the fact they were celebrating together and Charlie was out of the picture at the moment. “Hey, Keryn?” He asked.
“Yeah?” She grinned, the atmosphere was making her go crazy, she was so happy.
“Why don’t you go and stand with Taylor?” Isaac motioned towards his brother, who was looking uncomfortable with Zac and Margo at the other end of the yard.
“Twenty seconds to go!” Keryn heard Walker shout from his position around the fire.
Keryn shrieked with excitement. “Taylor! Get here!”
Taylor stopped shuffling his feet in the ground and raced over to his friends. “Sorry, about before, you know?”
“Forget about it,” Keryn smiled. “Just forget it for now.”
“Right,” Walker started. “Ten - nine - eight - seven - six -”
Everyone had joined in at this point, Charlie was standing by, about to send the fire crackers into the air and Keryn looked on as Ike and Kayla hugged. Jessica and Kath were near Charlie, watching as he began to launch. Zac and Margo were already kissing. Mr. and Mrs. Hanson had huddled in close, holding Zoe, watching the rest of the family, while Avery and Mack were jumping up and down, counting along with everyone else.
“Five - four - three - two ... ONE!”
A cheer lit up the earth. Keryn could feel the intense experience of every person living on central time witnessing the turn of a century, the turn of a millennium. Everything around her was moving in slow motion, she couldn’t hear anything. It was like the moment before a rocket launches, everyone was dead silent for a split second before life burst through them and they felt the need to scream. It wasn’t 1999 anymore. There weren’t any explosions, computer failures, nothing. There were just her friends, experiencing a great party around her.
Keryn looked up towards the sky as the beginning of Charlie’s fireworks display sprang to life. The colour jumped through the air like a crayon to fresh paper. It looked amazing. Bright blue fire springs tore holes in the sky as the entire backyard looked on in awe.
Zac and Margo were embracing on the back step, staring up at the sky. Kayla and Isaac were locked in a kiss. The rest of the family were standing together, looking on, so, so happy.
Keryn looked up at Taylor to see if he was enjoying the festivities. “Happy New Year,” he whispered, gently. Keryn realised he’d been looking at her the whole time.
Her insides exploded, like the fire works. “H-h-happy n-new year,” she quivered, hardly being heard over the loud blasts from above.
Taylor snapped out of his trance and gently reached out to her, pulling her in and hugging her. “Happy new year,” he said again, this time a little more strongly.
Keryn just stood for a moment, until she realised that Taylor had his arms around her. It felt so warm, so different. She tightened her arms around the back of him, squeezing as they both pulled away.
It was like a beam of laser light, the intense eye contact they shared at that moment. Some sort of realisation. They both quivered gently as they stepped toward one another, like school children being assigned to hold hands to walk across the street.
He brought his finger up and gently stroked her chin, tracing around her lips. Not one single regretful thought traced through their minds as Taylor’s head fell down to meet hers. Their lips pressed against each other, it was so lyrical, so romantic. The music around them splashed their ears as they came in closer, putting their arms around each other again. As their fingertips touched it was like electric sparks, making the moment more intense. Taylor brought his hands up and slowly moved them through her hair. Then the music stopped. They pulled away and stared at each other... that intense look still in their eyes. Nothing could cut it at the moment. They just stared.
Taylor fumbled through his pocket for a crumpled piece of paper he’d been keeping for a few weeks, the paper he’d written on in the hotel when she flew back to LA. “Here,” his voice was crackled, shocked.
Keryn brought up a shaking hand, still looking him in the eye, and took the piece of paper, letting it slip into her pocket.
“Sway, listen to the song, Taylor. It’s Sway.” It was their song. The song they’d chosen that last night on the ship.
The corner of Taylor’s mouth drifted into a smile of realisation. He listened to the sound drifting from the stereo and lent in again, but it was too late. She was gone.
He looked down at his hand, it was being taken. Taylor followed, dodging through the people, waiting to reach his destination.
Taylor stared at the back of her, they were walking into the house. She turned around, taking him into another kiss as they walked up the steps. “I can’t believe I ever left you,” she whispered, walking through the door they’d walked through so many times when they were children.
Taylor’s feet just floated down the corridor, towards her empty room. “I can’t believe I ever let you leave me.”
Taylor pulled her arms back as they drifted into another sweet embrace. Their song seemed to be on repeat, the sweet sounds seemed to never stop. “Sway my way, yeah I need to know all about you.”
Taylor fell up against the wall, closing his eyes. It was perfect. The entire moment was incredibly perfect. That perpetual intense feeling that was sending sparks racing through each of their bodies. This time their timing was perfect.
They swayed into the room half listening to the song flooding from the speakers, half feeling what the other was thinking. The warm scent of the room completed it. “Sway my way, yeah, I need to know all about you.
Questions? Comments? E-mail.
Next Event ->