~A Once and Again Series~
The Way We Were
Lol, yeah, sorry if you read the "mistake" chapter... I don't know how I uploaded the wrong chapter into the wrong series, lol. But the right one is up now, so anyways... Thanks for the reviews. : )
Chapter 10//The Telephone Exchange.
"Dad, did you have the Manning's number?"
"The Mannings?" Rick asked in confusion, "As in Lily?"
"As in Grace," Eli corrected him.
"Oh," Rick scribbled down the number for his son. "I didn't realize you and Grace were friends. I thought she was only a freshman."
Eli took the number from his dad. "She is... but she's cool."
"Who's cool?" Jessie asked, coming in the kitchen.
"Grace Manning, apparently," Rick said, teasing his son.
Jessie frowned a bit. "Oh."
Eli grabbed the phone off the hook.
"Are you dating her??" Jessie asked.
Eli looked at his sister in surprise, "No, we're just friends." He gave them one last look and escaped to the privacy of his room. Jessie watched him go with her eyes narrowed.
[[Jessie - What's so special about HER anyways? Yeah, she's kind of pretty, but so are millions of other girls... so why is my brother all hung up on HER?]]
* * *
"Mom, can I get a tattoo?" Zoe asked.
Lily gasped, "Never! Zoe!"
Zoe frowned, and drank some more of her soda. "Julia said when she turns16, her parents are going to let her get a tattoo. She's going to get a rose. I think tattoos are cool."
"Not going to happen," Lily said firmly, sensing that Zoe was about to ask again.
"Mom!" Zoe cried.
"You know what, when you turn 18, then we'll TALK about a tattoo." Lily said.
"That's 8 years away!" Zoe said angrily.
"What's the difference between 6 years away and 8?" Lily asked.
"You know, Zoe, when you're 18, you can get all the tattoos you want, and you don't need your parent's permission," Grace added from the far end of the table.
Lily looked at Grace with annoyance, "Thanks." Grace shrugged.
Zoe's eyes were lit up as she pondered how many tattoos she should get.
"Zoe..." Lily began, and stopped as the phone rang. Zoe jumped up and got it first.
[[Grace - I know Eli said he'd call, but that was just earlier today... Guys never call that soon after they tell you they are going to call. But then again, I don't think I ever had a guy call me before about anything not school-related... unless you count Jeff Renskin, and that SO doesn't count, because we were in the first grade, and I didn't even like him.... he wore the same shirt every day... it was disgusting.]]
"Hello?" Zoe asked. She paused, throwing a look back at Grace. "Yeah, hold on."
Grace jumped up off her chair and grabbed the phone out of her sister's hand. "Hello?" She asked as she exited the kitchen, heading for her bedroom. She thought it might be Julie, but..
"Hi Grace.... it's Eli."
[[Grace - It was ELI.]]
"Oh, hi," Grace said, hurrying up the last of the stairs. She escaped into her room with a smile, shutting the door behind her. "How are you?"
"Uh, good. You?" Eli asked.
"Good, good." Grace sat on her bed, and tried to think of something to say to this amazing guy. "So, you got my number from your dad?"
"Yeah," On his end, Eli smiled. "I think he thought I was trying to call your mom at first."
Grace laughed. "Yeah, it is weird that our parents are dating.."
"Very weird." Eli agreed.
[[Grace - This is SO weird... talking to him on the phone. I don't know what to say to him!]]
"So, are things going any better at school?" Eli asked.
"Hmm?" Grace questioned.
"I mean about the rumors, and Jennifer."
"Oh, yeah, I guess. The rumors are kind of dying down, I guess." Grace said, and realized in surprise that what she said was true. Even though earlier today SHE had still been mad and upset over the rumors, people hadn't been whispering about her or anything like that. Grace had just been too upset to realize that the rumors were fading.
"That's good," Eli said, "I don't think anyone really ever believed them anyway. Well, maybe the part about you breaking me and Jennifer up."
"Really?" Grace asked in surprise. "People believe that?"
"Yeah, people keep asking me if I'm dating you."
"Wow, that's weird." Grace said, smiling at the thought of people thinking she and Eli were dating.
[[Grace - Okay, I never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad my mother is dating Rick. If she had never started dating him, then I, like, probably wouldn't be talking to Eli on the phone right now! Funny how things work out, huh?]]
* * *
Lily picked up Zoe's empty glass and put in the sink. Zoe was now completely absorbed in drawing out detailed pictures of what the tattoos she was going to get looked like. Lily walked over to her daughter and studied the drawings.
"A frog?" She questioned.
"Yup, and a tulip... I don't want to get a rose. Julia's getting a rose, but I've never liked roses that much. They are thorns, and tulips are just much nicer." Zoe pointed at another drawing. "And this one is a dolphin."
Lily nodded, not bothering to argue with Zoe over the idea of tattoos, since it would be years before her daughter could get them, and by that she would have grown out of this stage. She glanced over at the telephone charger, noticing the "In Use" light was still on. "Who called for Grace?" Lily asked, trying to make it come out causally.
"A guy," Zoe said.
[[Lily - *Staring hard into the camera* A guy?]]
"Oh." Lily moved away from the table and went into the living room. She paused at the bottom of the stairs, staring up at the closed doorway to Grace's room. Finally she sat down heavily on the bottom stair with a sigh. Her face fell into her hands.
[[Lily - I really think Rick and I have something. Once I get divorced from Jake, I think we'll get even closer. And unless, some unexpected bump stops us, then hopefully we'll get married someday... that would make Grace and Eli stepsiblings... stepsister and stepbrother... oh, boy.]]
* * *
"No way!" Grace said into the phone.
"No, it's true!" Eli insisted, "Every one in the junior and senior class knows about it."
"But he's, like, a teacher and she's like, 17! And he's such a DORK... why would she date him?" Grace cried in disbelief at the news that a student was dating one of the math teachers, Mr. Glen.
"I know, it's sick, isn't it?"
"Totally!" Grace agreed, smiling.
[[Grace - I didn't expect him to be this easy to talk to.. it's like, just so easy to talk to him.]]
"Oh, hold on a second," Eli said as a knock came on his bedroom door. He set down the phone on his bed and went to the door. His dad stood in the doorway.
"Hey, are you done with the phone?" Rick asked.
"Oh, not really.." Eli looked at the phone. "But hold on, I'll get off it."
Eli went over to the phone, "Grace, I got to go. My dad probably wants to call your mom."
"Oh, okay. Bye."
"Bye." Eli clicked off the phone and handed it to his dad. Rick raised his eyebrows at his son.
"What?" Eli asked, "It's true, isn't it? You wanted to call the Mom."
Rick couldn't lie. He purposely didn't answer Eli, instead taking the phone and heading into his bedroom.
* * *
Grace hung up the phone, a bit disappointed. She stood up and began walking across her room when the phone rang in her hands. She answered. "Hello?"
"Oh, hi Grace, it's Rick."
Grace smiled slightly, remembering what Eli had said. "Hi. Hold on, I'll get my mom." She opened her bedroom door, and to her surprise her mother was just standing outside of it. "Here, it's for you... it's Rick."
Lily took the phone, looking her daughter over carefully.
Grace squirmed under her mother's eyes, and retreated into her bedroom, closing the door behind her. Lily continued down the hall, entering her own bedroom.
"Hello?" She asked after sitting down on her bed.
"Hey, beautiful, how are you?" Rick asked.
"Okay," Lily answered, falling down to lie on her bed. "Was Eli just talking to Grace on the phone?"
"Uh, yeah, actually he was," Rick answered, not seeming concerned about it.
[[Lily - Doesn't it see the problems it would cause if Grace and Eli were to... date?]]
"Isn't nice that they are friends?" Rick continued.
[[Lily - Friends?? Am I throwing too much into this? Is it possible that they could just be FRIENDS?]]
"Friends? Eli said that?" Lily asked carefully.
"Yeah. I think it's nice that at least two of our kids like each other. Maybe if we got them all together for dinner or something, Zoe and Jessie could have a chance to become friends too. And then we'd have one big happy family." Rick said.
[[Lily - *Smiling* Did he just say 'one big happy FAMILY'? *A even bigger smile* Wow. I'm not even divorced from Jake yet, and he's talking about... wow.]]
"Lily?" Rick asked after her long silence. He hadn't even caught what he had said.
"Friday sound good?" Lily asked. "I could make dinner for all us. Pasta sound good?"
"That sounds very good. I'll check with the kids and get back to you on that. Oh, I've got to go, Jessie needs the phone."
"Okay, bye, Rick."
"Bye."
Lily turned off the phone with a smile. Her earlier worries about Grace and Eli having been forgotten as she thought instead about her and Rick.
* * *
The Way We Were
Lol, yeah, sorry if you read the "mistake" chapter... I don't know how I uploaded the wrong chapter into the wrong series, lol. But the right one is up now, so anyways... Thanks for the reviews. : )
Chapter 10//The Telephone Exchange.
"Dad, did you have the Manning's number?"
"The Mannings?" Rick asked in confusion, "As in Lily?"
"As in Grace," Eli corrected him.
"Oh," Rick scribbled down the number for his son. "I didn't realize you and Grace were friends. I thought she was only a freshman."
Eli took the number from his dad. "She is... but she's cool."
"Who's cool?" Jessie asked, coming in the kitchen.
"Grace Manning, apparently," Rick said, teasing his son.
Jessie frowned a bit. "Oh."
Eli grabbed the phone off the hook.
"Are you dating her??" Jessie asked.
Eli looked at his sister in surprise, "No, we're just friends." He gave them one last look and escaped to the privacy of his room. Jessie watched him go with her eyes narrowed.
[[Jessie - What's so special about HER anyways? Yeah, she's kind of pretty, but so are millions of other girls... so why is my brother all hung up on HER?]]
* * *
"Mom, can I get a tattoo?" Zoe asked.
Lily gasped, "Never! Zoe!"
Zoe frowned, and drank some more of her soda. "Julia said when she turns16, her parents are going to let her get a tattoo. She's going to get a rose. I think tattoos are cool."
"Not going to happen," Lily said firmly, sensing that Zoe was about to ask again.
"Mom!" Zoe cried.
"You know what, when you turn 18, then we'll TALK about a tattoo." Lily said.
"That's 8 years away!" Zoe said angrily.
"What's the difference between 6 years away and 8?" Lily asked.
"You know, Zoe, when you're 18, you can get all the tattoos you want, and you don't need your parent's permission," Grace added from the far end of the table.
Lily looked at Grace with annoyance, "Thanks." Grace shrugged.
Zoe's eyes were lit up as she pondered how many tattoos she should get.
"Zoe..." Lily began, and stopped as the phone rang. Zoe jumped up and got it first.
[[Grace - I know Eli said he'd call, but that was just earlier today... Guys never call that soon after they tell you they are going to call. But then again, I don't think I ever had a guy call me before about anything not school-related... unless you count Jeff Renskin, and that SO doesn't count, because we were in the first grade, and I didn't even like him.... he wore the same shirt every day... it was disgusting.]]
"Hello?" Zoe asked. She paused, throwing a look back at Grace. "Yeah, hold on."
Grace jumped up off her chair and grabbed the phone out of her sister's hand. "Hello?" She asked as she exited the kitchen, heading for her bedroom. She thought it might be Julie, but..
"Hi Grace.... it's Eli."
[[Grace - It was ELI.]]
"Oh, hi," Grace said, hurrying up the last of the stairs. She escaped into her room with a smile, shutting the door behind her. "How are you?"
"Uh, good. You?" Eli asked.
"Good, good." Grace sat on her bed, and tried to think of something to say to this amazing guy. "So, you got my number from your dad?"
"Yeah," On his end, Eli smiled. "I think he thought I was trying to call your mom at first."
Grace laughed. "Yeah, it is weird that our parents are dating.."
"Very weird." Eli agreed.
[[Grace - This is SO weird... talking to him on the phone. I don't know what to say to him!]]
"So, are things going any better at school?" Eli asked.
"Hmm?" Grace questioned.
"I mean about the rumors, and Jennifer."
"Oh, yeah, I guess. The rumors are kind of dying down, I guess." Grace said, and realized in surprise that what she said was true. Even though earlier today SHE had still been mad and upset over the rumors, people hadn't been whispering about her or anything like that. Grace had just been too upset to realize that the rumors were fading.
"That's good," Eli said, "I don't think anyone really ever believed them anyway. Well, maybe the part about you breaking me and Jennifer up."
"Really?" Grace asked in surprise. "People believe that?"
"Yeah, people keep asking me if I'm dating you."
"Wow, that's weird." Grace said, smiling at the thought of people thinking she and Eli were dating.
[[Grace - Okay, I never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad my mother is dating Rick. If she had never started dating him, then I, like, probably wouldn't be talking to Eli on the phone right now! Funny how things work out, huh?]]
* * *
Lily picked up Zoe's empty glass and put in the sink. Zoe was now completely absorbed in drawing out detailed pictures of what the tattoos she was going to get looked like. Lily walked over to her daughter and studied the drawings.
"A frog?" She questioned.
"Yup, and a tulip... I don't want to get a rose. Julia's getting a rose, but I've never liked roses that much. They are thorns, and tulips are just much nicer." Zoe pointed at another drawing. "And this one is a dolphin."
Lily nodded, not bothering to argue with Zoe over the idea of tattoos, since it would be years before her daughter could get them, and by that she would have grown out of this stage. She glanced over at the telephone charger, noticing the "In Use" light was still on. "Who called for Grace?" Lily asked, trying to make it come out causally.
"A guy," Zoe said.
[[Lily - *Staring hard into the camera* A guy?]]
"Oh." Lily moved away from the table and went into the living room. She paused at the bottom of the stairs, staring up at the closed doorway to Grace's room. Finally she sat down heavily on the bottom stair with a sigh. Her face fell into her hands.
[[Lily - I really think Rick and I have something. Once I get divorced from Jake, I think we'll get even closer. And unless, some unexpected bump stops us, then hopefully we'll get married someday... that would make Grace and Eli stepsiblings... stepsister and stepbrother... oh, boy.]]
* * *
"No way!" Grace said into the phone.
"No, it's true!" Eli insisted, "Every one in the junior and senior class knows about it."
"But he's, like, a teacher and she's like, 17! And he's such a DORK... why would she date him?" Grace cried in disbelief at the news that a student was dating one of the math teachers, Mr. Glen.
"I know, it's sick, isn't it?"
"Totally!" Grace agreed, smiling.
[[Grace - I didn't expect him to be this easy to talk to.. it's like, just so easy to talk to him.]]
"Oh, hold on a second," Eli said as a knock came on his bedroom door. He set down the phone on his bed and went to the door. His dad stood in the doorway.
"Hey, are you done with the phone?" Rick asked.
"Oh, not really.." Eli looked at the phone. "But hold on, I'll get off it."
Eli went over to the phone, "Grace, I got to go. My dad probably wants to call your mom."
"Oh, okay. Bye."
"Bye." Eli clicked off the phone and handed it to his dad. Rick raised his eyebrows at his son.
"What?" Eli asked, "It's true, isn't it? You wanted to call the Mom."
Rick couldn't lie. He purposely didn't answer Eli, instead taking the phone and heading into his bedroom.
* * *
Grace hung up the phone, a bit disappointed. She stood up and began walking across her room when the phone rang in her hands. She answered. "Hello?"
"Oh, hi Grace, it's Rick."
Grace smiled slightly, remembering what Eli had said. "Hi. Hold on, I'll get my mom." She opened her bedroom door, and to her surprise her mother was just standing outside of it. "Here, it's for you... it's Rick."
Lily took the phone, looking her daughter over carefully.
Grace squirmed under her mother's eyes, and retreated into her bedroom, closing the door behind her. Lily continued down the hall, entering her own bedroom.
"Hello?" She asked after sitting down on her bed.
"Hey, beautiful, how are you?" Rick asked.
"Okay," Lily answered, falling down to lie on her bed. "Was Eli just talking to Grace on the phone?"
"Uh, yeah, actually he was," Rick answered, not seeming concerned about it.
[[Lily - Doesn't it see the problems it would cause if Grace and Eli were to... date?]]
"Isn't nice that they are friends?" Rick continued.
[[Lily - Friends?? Am I throwing too much into this? Is it possible that they could just be FRIENDS?]]
"Friends? Eli said that?" Lily asked carefully.
"Yeah. I think it's nice that at least two of our kids like each other. Maybe if we got them all together for dinner or something, Zoe and Jessie could have a chance to become friends too. And then we'd have one big happy family." Rick said.
[[Lily - *Smiling* Did he just say 'one big happy FAMILY'? *A even bigger smile* Wow. I'm not even divorced from Jake yet, and he's talking about... wow.]]
"Lily?" Rick asked after her long silence. He hadn't even caught what he had said.
"Friday sound good?" Lily asked. "I could make dinner for all us. Pasta sound good?"
"That sounds very good. I'll check with the kids and get back to you on that. Oh, I've got to go, Jessie needs the phone."
"Okay, bye, Rick."
"Bye."
Lily turned off the phone with a smile. Her earlier worries about Grace and Eli having been forgotten as she thought instead about her and Rick.
* * *
