“Come on Georgia, you’ve been thinking for ages!” Kevin whined.
“Okay, okay…” I took a last look at my letters and begged for inspiration. I waited.
Nothing. I waited some more.
“That’s it! That’s the last time I ever play Scrabble with you!” Kevin groaned.
“Aha! Scream!” I exclaimed as I recalled my conversation with Zac a couple of nights
ago. “S-C-R-E-A-M! That’s eleven points!”
“At last!”
“Okay kids, time to pack!” Helen walked into the room. We put the game away and
went upstairs.
As I picked out some clothes to take with me I couldn’t help but think how exciting
and interesting life was for me at the time. It was only ten days before school started
and the Jefferson family was paying a one-week visit to Mrs. Jefferson, Bill’s mother,
and Kevin’s beloved grandma. Since I had no business at all in such a family reunion,
and to say the truth I didn’t at all fancy the idea participating in the whole thing, it was
decided that I remained in Tulsa. And not wanting to leave me all alone in the house,
since the Hanson place was already too crowded without me staying there, Helen and
Bill arranged for me to stay at Tiffany’s. This was a pleasant change for me; a chance
to get to know my friend a bit more and to let that staying with her bond us even more.
Tomorrow was the beginning of an exciting week, hopefully an appealing
adventure.
“Did I fill you in with the latest hot news?” she beamed.
“What? Come on, spit it all out!” I asked anxiously.
“Kim went out with Ben last night!”
“That’s great! So what was their first date like?”
She threw her hands in the air. “I don’t know many details, she wouldn’t tell much
over the phone… She just said that he called her, asked her if she would fancy going
out with him to McDonald’s and…” A voice called from downstairs.
Tiffany groaned, opened the door, put her head out and yelled “What?”
Another cry came from downstairs.
She turned to me. “How unusual… Mom wants me to go to the super market.”
“I’m coming with you, you’ll tell me everything on our way there.”
While roaming through shelves and filling her shopping basket up, Tiffany told me
everything she knew about Kim’s date with Ben. She was at the point where Kim
called her afterwards to tell her everything when she was interrupted by a tapping on
her shoulder. We both turned to see who the tapping finger belonged to, and we smiled
at its owner.
“Hi Greg!” we said in unison.
“Hi girls! Shopping, are you?”
“Mm-hmmm, usual thing when mom has a lust to cook.” Tiffany said and showed her
basket. “I heard your buddy finally asked our friend out!”
“Yah, I finally convinced him to. He’s a bit of a chicken in these things you know…”
he laughed. “So how are you two, besides feeling super happy for your
friend?”
“Take it easy Greg, it’s Ben we’re talking about, not T…” Tiffany gave me a terrified
look as she almost said ‘Taylor Hanson’. “I mean, he’s not, um, Tom Cruise or
anything…” she managed to save the situation. Fortunately, Greg hadn’t noticed
anything peculiar in that confusion of names and waited expectantly for an answer to
his question.
“Oh we’re fine!” I said. Tiffany kicked me lightly to roll with it as she made her way to
the cashier’s.
“You know, I’m staying with Tiffany for a week!” I immediately regretted saying that.
Now I would have to explain why I was staying with her, why I didn’t visit grandma
Jefferson, why I had come to the USA, and all that. Fortunately, Greg simply
commented on that with a “Cool! We should go out together sometime, I mean all of
us..” and smiled.
Oh God, he’s so cute! I thought. In the meantime, Tiffany had paid for all the
goods she had gotten in order to have her mom cooking a decent meal, that is a meal
to suit our tastes, and came back with hands full of bags.
“Here, let me help you get these home” Greg volunteered.
“Oh thanks Greg, but I can handle it… They’re not heavy or anything…”
“Yeah, after all, I will help you carry them.” I said and took a couple of bags.
“As you wish!” Greg said. “See you around then!”
“Bye Greg!” we said in unison and watched him direct himself over to the grocery
department.
“We’d better hurry if we want those burgers ready in time!” Tiff said and we walked
out of the super market.
All the way home I felt like my head was going to explode and my stomach was going
to pour out on the road in any second. I felt guilty. Guilty for liking Greg, guilty for
slowly letting him take over Zac’s place in my heart. I felt shocked by the discovery
that I had secretly hoped that Tiffany would say ‘yes’ to him and let him come with us.
I was looking forward to that “sometime” when we would all go out together and I
would see him again. But no, I liked Zac! I started to wonder if I did after all. How
complicated all this was! What did Zac and I have? Friendship. We were pals. But even
if there was something more than friendship that I felt for him, I was nothing but a fan
to him. A fan that happened to get to know him better than others, that became his
buddy, that liked his music as much as his eyes. How would it look if I told him that I
loved him? He would think that I like him because he’s famous. And there was no
chance that he could feel the same way. But even if there was, he’d constantly doubt
whether my feelings were true, or I was just acting teenybopper like. So the question
was, should I try to win Zac and be happy, or just stick with the friendship thing, still
being happy, and let Greg get my full attention? I felt like being a cartoon, with an
angel at one side of my head and the devil at the other.
“It’s Zac you have in your heart, and mind! After all, remember what Tay
said…” I heard the angel try to banish all negative thoughts from my
mind.
“Tay was only trying to make you stop whining to him and told you that
you had chances with Zac to get rid of you! It’s Greg you love!” the devil
contradicted.
This is no help at all, I thought. I decided that the wisest thing to do was to
talk to someone about it. Who was in hand? I looked up at the sky. No, I don’t
think that He gives advice on love affairs. That angel cartoon guy was no good
but to give me additional headache about what to do. The devil guy was out of the
question. I didn’t want me to end up like Keanu Reeves in “Devil’s Advocate” or
anything like that. Should I turn to someone more human? Definitely not Tay since he
had his part in the confusion in my head. What about Ike? No, he had completely no
idea about what my love life was going through and it was not the time to fill him in.
Was there no one else? Think, think!
“Hey Georgia? GEORGIA? HELLO???”
Who is it? Is it an angel from above, sent to help me take the right decision and
leave all bad thoughts behind?
“Are you listening? You’re not even looking at me… GEORGIA!!! What do you want
to go with your burger?? Hello?”
I got out of my trance. Angels don’t talk about burgers and what goes with them. I
realized we had got home, and were at the kitchen. Tiffany had been talking, well
shouting at me for a long time. Both her and her mom looked worried. No wonder, I
must have been acting like hypnotized. Then I felt something like divine inspiration hit
me. Tiffany. She was the one to talk to. How didn’t I realize it before?
“I would like my burger to go with some french fries, please.” I said to Tiffany’s
mother, and grabbing Tiffany by the hand, whispering “I have to talk to you” as I lead
her out of the room, I left her standing there dazed.
“Weird girl” she thought as she put a frying pan on the bench and reached for some
cooking oil.
“Maybe there’s something interesting on TV.” he thought and went into the living
room. Avie and Mackie were watching cartoons. They were completely caught in it.
“Hey guys wanna change the channel and watch something more interesting?” Zac
suggested.
“No way Zac…” Avie replied, her eyes glued to the screen.
“Oh come on! How can you watch this crap? At least switch it on to some other
cartoons! These ones are completely driving me nuts!”
“Then don’t watch!”
Zac sighed and left in search of someone else. Jess was reading a book at her room.
“Hey Jess, wanna come up to the tree house?”
“No thanks.”
“Why not?”
“Zac I am reading a really interesting book…”
“Please Jess… I’m desperate….”
“Some other time Zac”
Zac dropped his head and walked out of the room. He considered the situation.
“Mum’s at a visit with Zoë… Ike’s at the mall with Jason… Tay …” Suddenly his face
lit. “Tay must be somewhere around!” He wandered around the house looking for him.
He found him at the back yard. He had his discman on and he was trying to sing along
with Alanis Morisette.
“Mmmmmmm, mmmmmmm, oh oh, mmmmm…” He had his eyes closed and there
was no way he could hear Zac sneaking behind him.
“Ha ha!! I got you earthling!” Zac shouted as he threw himself on Tay’s back, who
wasn’t so pleased by the whole thing.
“Zac get off me now!!” he yelled and took the headphones off. “What the hell do you
think you’re doing?”
“Trying to find something interesting to do...” he said with a puppy-eyed
look.
“Well, can’t you find anything else?”
“Like what? Everyone in this house is too busy to do anything with me, Mum is not
here, nor Ike, not even Zoë! Kevin is gone for a week and so is Georgia!!! What can I
do?” he threw his arms in the air.
Tay thought for a second. That was the best opportunity to talk to him about Georgia.
“Well… We need to have a nice brother to brother talk!” he said leaving his discman
one side and grinned at him.
“Er, about what?”
“About everything! Your worries, your hopes, your dreams, the band, girls…” Tay
made a dramatic pause.
“Oh no! He found out about Georgia!” Zac thought. “Girls?” he hemmed.
“Yah! You know Zac,” Tay said and put his arm around Zac’s neck, “boys your age
think a lot about girls… And I don’t mean sex, no there are more in life than that…
Take love for example.”
“What about love?” Zac raised an eyebrow.
“Well… I’m just saying that you’re at an age when it’s the most likely for one to first
fall in love.” Tay prepared his blow. “What about you? Haven’t you ever fallen in
love?”
“Oh my God! He knows!” “Look Tay…”
“It’s okay Zac, I was only trying to say that if you find yourself in a strange situation,
for example, if you find out that a certain girl is interested in you and you don’t know
how to respond… especially if your relationship with that certain girl is complicated,
or if you fall for her, well you can always turn to me for advice…” he smiled.
Zac was confused. Did Taylor know about Georgia and acted as if he didn’t? Or had
he no idea and all this was a coincidence? Since he could not be sure, he decided that
he shouldn’t tell him anything until he was sure about his brother’s thoughts.
“Um, thanks Tay, I’ll remember that.”
“No problem!” Tay grinned. “I hope he got the message… But that’s enough with
him, I have to talk to Georgia as soon as possible.”
I started to think that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea after all. But still, I had to talk
to someone about it.
“I need you to listen very carefully…” I tried to gain some time.
“I will. Just tell me.”
I decided not to tell her about Zac at all. Tay already knew about it, I’d rather if it
stayed between us. I would only tell her about Greg. But what exactly would I tell her?
I myself wasn’t even sure about what I felt, or for whom I felt it.
“Well?” she gave me a doubtful look.
“Well, you know…. Well…”
“Well what?”
I took a deep breath and hoped I was doing the right thing. “Well, it’s not anything to
worry about… I just thought I should tell you that I have been thinking a lot about
Greg lately…”
“In what way?” she demanded, sounding rather confused.
“I’m not sure...” Save yourself before it’s too late! All I could think about at
that moment was Zac. I was about to tell Tiffany that I liked Greg, and yet I had Zac
on my mind. “I have been thinking about him, and I think that I like him…”
A grin started to emerge on Tiffany’s face. “Are you telling me…?”
“I think so…” I said shyly. This is it, I thought. There’s no turning back
now. Tiffany was completely taken by surprise, and was talking about “how
exciting” that was, how she had never thought about it, how we made “such a nice
couple”… I remained silent. Zac. Zac. I was on the verge of crying. Why did
it always have to be that way? I had to forget all about Zac, but it was so hard. It’s
better that way, I tried to convince myself. I was either going to be miserable,
suffering because he didn’t love me, or I could enjoy the time we spent together as
friends. I chose to be happy, being friends with Zac and liking Greg. Even if Greg
wasn’t at all interested in me, I wouldn’t suffer that much since I only liked him a bit,
for the time being at least. I couldn’t bear the pain Tiffany’s excitement about the
whole thing was causing me. I wanted to talk about something else, less painful. I just
wanted to stop thinking about Zac, and Greg. I wanted to change the subject, so I
asked without even thinking: “So, who’s the lucky guy for you?”
Tiffany stopped talking, her face cracking into a blissful grin. She leaned forward and
whispered,
“It’s a secret… but you’re one of those people that should and may know…” she
paused, making the excitement of the moment even greater. “It’s Taylor.”