RUN TO ME
Disclaimer: Same as always, you all know what I don't own and what I do. The song "Low" is owned by Kelly Clarkson.
To RosieLady: Thanks! I'm glad you like the story and Kayla. About the anonymous reviews, that was a really great idea, and I intend to use it so more people can voice their opinions on my story. Keep reading, reviewing, and enjoying!
To mistress of the universe: Thanks for the suggestions. I have tried many times on one of my other stories posted on this site ('Child Of The Whitelighter' in the Charmed section of TV Shows) to get the spacing right, but ff.net is very finicky-as you say-about the spacing and apparently has decided that spacing is not needed. But I will take your advice on the songs, but there will only be a few instances when the song is important. The one in the first chapter was just an interesting side note, but the few verses from "Brand New Day" were used as foreshadowing, but only if you really thought about it. But in the future, I will use your idea, because it is a really good one. I hope you keep reading, reviewing, and enjoying the story.
A/N: If anyone has any ideas on what else I can have Kayla and the gang do to Kim Carlisle, or any ideas in general-excluding those about throwing people in the story or myself off a cliff-please feel free to email me personally at angelfire87_2006@yahoo.com
LOW
The next day, Robbie and the gang noticed that Kayla never showed up for school, and they soon found out that she had indeed broken her arm and would be out of school for a day or two due to the pain. But they also soon found out something that might have caused her to go home even if she was feeling better: it turned out that the entire school had tuned in to the RFR broadcast the day before, because people kept coming up to Travis and asking where his "girlfriend" was. "I can't believe it," Robbie said after what seemed like the 50th person had come up to them in the lunchline, said their piece, and left, "Kayla's gonna kill me when she comes back." "Kayla was ready to kill you yesterday, and I bet if she hadn't been in so much pain, she would have," Ray said, "She's not gonna forgive and forget easily for this one. You're in it deep, my friend." "I know, I know," Robbie said as the group sat down at their table in the cafeteria, "But do you really think I should be the one to talk to her? I mean, if I hadn't said what I said, she never would have run, and she never would have broken her arm." "I think I know who she'll listen to," Ray said slowly as him, Lily, and Robbie turned to look at Travis. "Oh no, not me," Travis said, putting his hands up defensively, "I can't." "Why?" Ray asked, clearly not understanding. "Don't you know the real reason she ran?" Travis asked his friends, who all shook their heads, "It wasn't just because of what Robbie said, it was because she didn't want to face me. I mean, would you want to face your crush right after they found out you liked them?" As he spoke, he gave Ray an all- knowing glance, as a reference to Ray's major crush on Lily, and how Ray had said he'd rather walk through the cafeteria naked than tell Lily the truth. "You know he's right, guys," Lily said, "Maybe we should all go over together, that might soften the blow, as my parents say." "So after school then," Robbie said, "We head over to Kayla's house and try to fix the mess I got us into." The group nodded, and they made their plans to go over to Kayla's that afternoon, after RFR, of course. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The RFR broadcast was almost done for the day, when Robbie said, "I'm Question Mark, and I'm wondering: How far is too far when it comes to telling someone's secret? I'm wondering this today, even after we already did this bit, because I would like to apologize to Kayla Adams for telling her secret on the air yesterday, and the entire crew here at Radio Free Roscoe wishes her a speedy recovery. That's all for today. Tune in tomorrow for more RFR." Travis shut the mikes off, and Robbie, Lily, and Ray took their headphones off and set them on the table in front of them. "I hope she heard that," Robbie said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kayla Adams was sitting on her bed, in her room, watching her little sister Shelby play with her old Barbies, joining in from time to time when Shelby asked her to be "the Barbie's friend so she doesn't feel alone" and when Shelby asked her for advice on what Barbie should wear, when she heard a knock on the door and said, "Shelbs, look out the window and tell me who's out there, please." Shelby said, "OK," went over to the window, and looked out. She ran back to her sister's bed and flopped onto it saying, "It's the people from the hospital yesterday." The color drained from Kayla's face as she heard her sister's words, and her fears were confirmed when her mother entered the room and said, "Kayla, those kids from the hospital are here. They want to know if they can talk to you." Kayla shook her head and said, "Not right now, Mom." Shelby gave her sister a quizzical look and said innocently, "Is it because you like Travis?" Kayla blushed and said, "No, it isn't," and thought, "It's because of Robbie's low prank that he pulled yesterday." Mrs. Adams picked up on her eldest daughter's feeling and said, "Shelby, do you want to help me set the table?" Shelby nodded and ran downstairs. "Thanks Mom," Kayla said, "I owe you one." Mrs. Adams smiled and said, "Do you want me to bring your dinner up here?" Kayla nodded her head and her mother shut her door and went downstairs. Kayla waited until she was sure her mom had left, then got up and went to the window for some air. As she opened the window, she happened to look down and saw the guys and Lily still standing in front of her house. She also saw Travis look up at her window at the exact moment she looked down. Kayla gasped, pulled her head inside her room, and closed the window, her heart beating a mile a minute. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well, that went well," Ray said as he sat on the porch steps outside of Kayla's house. The group had just been told by Kayla's mother that Kayla didn't want any visitors at the time, but that she would tell Kayla that they had stopped by. Robbie and Lily were talking to Ray, and Travis was looking at the house. He was looking at an upstairs window that had a flat part of the roof next to it, when he saw the window open and Kayla poke her head outside. He didn't know she had seen him until she was looking right at him, and just as suddenly as she had appeared, she disappeared back into the room and shut the window. "You guys, I saw her," Travis said, still looking at the window. "Where?" Robbie, Ray and Lily asked. Travis pointed to the window where he had seen Kayla and said, "Up there. I think it's her room, and I think I have an idea." "What is it?" Robbie asked, curious. "Do you guys see a ladder anywhere?" Travis asked, as the gang began looking around the property. Suddenly Ray's eyes fell upon a ladder lying next to a shed and said, "Over there!" "Go get it," Travis directed, and when Ray brought the ladder over, Travis put it up against the side of the house, directly under Kayla's window and said, "Going up!" "How are we gonna manage this without falling?" Ray asked. Travis pointed to the flat stretch of roof and said, "See that part of the roof there, that flat part? We'll go up the ladder one at a time and sit on the roof, and the last person up the ladder will knock on the window. Seeing as she doesn't want to talk to me right now, and how she would probably send Robbie flying back down the ladder, I think Ray should do it." Ray nodded and said, "Ladies and Guys who aren't going to do the talking first!" Robbie climbed up the ladder first, followed by Lily, then Travis, and last but not least, Ray. Ray took a deep breath, and then knocked on Kayla's window. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kayla was reading "The Outsiders," by S.E. Hinton, when she heard a knock on her window. She looked over at her window and saw Ray Brennon staring back at her. Kayla ran over to the window, opened it, and said; "Ray, are you nuts?" then shook her head and said, "On second thought, don't answer that. What are you doing out here, on a ladder?" "Well, we figured that if you wouldn't let us in through the door, we'd come in through the window!" Ray said brightly. "What do you mean, we?" Kayla asked, knowing full well what the answer would be. "Me, Lily, Robbie, and Travis. You know, the guy you." Ray said, but before he had the chance to finish, Kayla pulled him into her room and shut the window. "What the hell do you think you're doing, letting Robbie come here? He's really not on my Top 10 list of people I want to see today, and frankly, neither is Travis," Kayla said angrily, "I don't know what you think you'll accomplish by coming here, but I don't think you should stay." "See, Travis knew you wouldn't talk to him, and that you would probably send Robbie flying down the ladder, so they decided to use me," Ray said, "Lily didn't want to be a part of the initial ladder assault." Kayla grinned and said, "OK, you can stay. But where are the others?" Ray pointed at the window and said, "Look out the window and to the left."
Kayla shook her head and went over to the window, opened it, and looked to the left of it to find Robbie McGrath, Travis Strong, and Lily Randall sitting on the flat roof. Kayla muttered, "I don't know why I'm going to do this, but." and then waved them over to her window and said, "Come in," before backing away from the window to let them in. "Thanks," Lily said as she climbed through the window, followed by Robbie and Travis, "It was starting to get cold out there." "Do your parents know you're here?" Kayla asked, and when the group nodded, said, "OK then. There are a couple of chairs in here if you all want to sit down," before closing the window. While Lily and Robbie joined Ray in looking around at the stuff on Kayla's wall, Kayla picked up a jacket hanging on one of her chairs and went over to Travis. She held out the jacket and said, "I think this belongs to you." Travis took his jacket and said, "Thanks," before sitting down on the chair where his jacket had been resting moments before. Kayla went back to her place on her bed, joined by Lily, while Robbie and Ray chose to sit in the two beanbag chairs near her TV. "Nice setup you've got here," Ray said, "I especially like these chairs. Very comfy." Kayla grinned and said, "You can thank Shelby for those. She decided they would be the perfect gift for 'big sissy's' 16th birthday. She's got good taste for a 3 year old. The rest of the stuff came from my relatives, except for the stuff on the bulletin board." Kayla looked wistfully at the bulletin board which held pictures of her and her old friends at various school events, and one of the 4 of them inside the FACE studio the day of their first broadcast. "Your friends?" Travis asked, pointing at a picture of Kayla, Jordan, Michelle, and Allyson at their Freshman Farewell dance the spring before. Kayla smiled and said, "Yeah, those are the county nutcases, myself included. We were at the last dance of the year, and the theme was 'Spring Break.' We were all wearing tank tops, shorts, leis, and grass skirts, and we looked so stupid and got so hyper on Mountain Dew that it wasn't even funny." The group laughed, and suddenly the door opened and Kayla's mom entered with a few trays of food, giving her daughter a quizzical look, as if to say, "it took them this long to figure out how to get in?" Kayla noticed her mom's expression and nodded, saying, "I changed my mind. I decided to have a few visitors, and since these guys were outside, I figured what the heck, might as well invite them in through the window!" "Well, it took them long enough to figure it out!" Mrs. Adams said with a laugh, "We had a house like this back in our old town, and Kayla would always sneak her friends in through her window. I didn't think it would take all of you this long to figure out how to get in. But since you're here, you might as well have some food. You guys are lucky to have snuck in on Taco Night. Here's all the stuff, and Shelby will be up in a few minutes with the toppings. Just be careful not to drop anything." "Yeah, because Mom's worried about mice," Kayla said, "She doesn't like them. Just ask my dad what she did when she found out about Pixie and Dixie." "Pixie and Dixie?" Robbie asked, "Like the cartoon?" Kayla laughed and said, "Yeah. It happened a few years ago, when Shelby was 1. Dad had been feeding them for weeks when Mom finally saw them. When I got home, Mom was up on a chair screaming for my dad to get them. Dad finally got them, but he brought them out while I was still in the room, and let's just say I don't really enjoy that kind of thing." The gang laughed, and Mrs. Adams smiled and said, "I'll send Shelby up with the rest of the food." "Are you sure she doesn't need any help?" Kayla asked. "Don't worry," Mrs. Adams replied, "If she needs any help, I'll do it. You kids just get back to whatever you were doing," she said, shutting the door behind her. "So," Ray said, turning his attention to the picture of Kayla and her friends in the FACE studios, "Where was this one taken?" "That was taken inside our radio station's headquarters," Kayla said, "We called it FACE, for our nicknames. We ran it kind of like you guys run RFR, we all had nicknames." "Dare I ask?" Ray said. "It stands for 'Fuzzy, Aqua, Confucius, and Eek'," Kayla replied, "I was Fuzzy, Michelle-the one in the red-was Aqua, Jordan-the one standing next to me on the left-was Confucius, and Allyson-the one standing between Jordan and Michelle-was Eek, and also Michelle's twin sister. I have a recording of our last broadcast with me, and a couple of the other broadcasts too. They gave them to me as a little going-away gift before I left." "So, you're telling us that you were part of a radio station like RFR before you came here?" Travis asked. Kayla nodded and said, "Best days of my life." Just then the group heard a small knock on Kayla's door and a small voice saying, "Kayla, I need help!" "That'll be Shelby with the toppings," Kayla said, getting up off her bed and opening the door, took some of the bowls from the tray her little sister carried and said, "Just to give you a hand, literally. You didn't spill anything in the hall, did you?" Shelby set the tray down and shook her head with glee and said, "Not a drop!" Kayla hugged her and said, "Good work Shelbs. You wanna stay up here with me and my friends?" Shelby said, "No, I'm going back downstairs. My boyfriend's coming over soon." "Boyfriend?" Kayla asked, giving the others a "just play along with her" look, "Who's your boyfriend?" "Billy from preschool," Shelby said shyly. "Well then," Kayla said, escorting Shelby to the door, "You'll want to go back downstairs and get ready for your date, Shelbs." Shelby nodded and went out the door, pausing to wave and say "Bye" to her sister's friends. "OK!" Kayla said, "Taco Time!" Everyone dived into the tacos, and after they at a few, Kayla slumped back on her bed and said, "I'm stuffed! I couldn't eat another taco if I tried!" The others nodded in agreement, and finally Robbie said, "We actually came here to ask you something pretty important concerning RFR." "If it's about me telling Kim Carlisle, you don't have to worry," Kayla said, "The day I tell Kim Carlisle anything important is the day Robbie stops broadcasting his Torpedo scores on RFR." "How did you know about that?" Robbie asked as the others laughed. "It's not important," Kayla said, winking at Ray, the reason she knew about the Torpedo incident, "OK, first off, I have to tell you that what you did was really low, Robbie, and that I was really hurt by the fact you chose my feelings for broadcast. But since you seem to feel bad about it, I'll forgive you. So, is there anything else that you want to ask me?" "Yeah," Robbie said, "How would you like to join RFR?" Kayla smiled and said, "I'd love to, but I can't use my FACE name, that would give it away." Travis looked at the bed, specifically at the book Kayla had left beside her and said, "How about Sodapop? Like in 'The Outsiders,' since you seem to like the book." Travis glanced at the movie posters for "St. Elmo's Fire," and "The Outsiders" that Kayla had on her walls and said slyly, "And also since that's who Rob Lowe played in the movie version." Kayla blushed, threw a pillow at Travis, and said, "Fine! You caught me!" Travis threw the pillow back at Kayla, who threw it at Ray, who ducked, leaving the pillow to hit Robbie square in the face. Robbie's expression changed from one of unawareness to one of shock, and the rest of the group laughed as he tried to figure out where it had come from. The rest of the time passed quickly, and soon they had to leave. They all climbed out the window and down the ladder, Travis last of all, pausing as he started to go down the ladder. "Kayla?" he whispered. Kayla turned back to the window and whispered, "What?" "You wanna go out with me sometime?" Travis asked. Kayla smiled and whispered, "I'd love to." Travis smiled as he climbed the rest of the way down the ladder, and as he reached the ground, he threw his jacket to Kayla and said, "You can give this back to me when we set a date." "For what?" Kayla asked. "For the wedding," Travis said sarcastically, "I mean our date." Kayla laughed and shook he head as she closed the window. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Travis looked up at the window and whispered, "Good night Kayla," before walking away from the house with his friends.
That was a really long chapter. I don't know if I'll be able to write anymore after this! Just kidding! Here's a preview of the next chapter.
Title: Take My Breath Away Summary: Travis and Kayla go on their date, and two things-one expected, the other unexpected-happen.
Disclaimer: Same as always, you all know what I don't own and what I do. The song "Low" is owned by Kelly Clarkson.
To RosieLady: Thanks! I'm glad you like the story and Kayla. About the anonymous reviews, that was a really great idea, and I intend to use it so more people can voice their opinions on my story. Keep reading, reviewing, and enjoying!
To mistress of the universe: Thanks for the suggestions. I have tried many times on one of my other stories posted on this site ('Child Of The Whitelighter' in the Charmed section of TV Shows) to get the spacing right, but ff.net is very finicky-as you say-about the spacing and apparently has decided that spacing is not needed. But I will take your advice on the songs, but there will only be a few instances when the song is important. The one in the first chapter was just an interesting side note, but the few verses from "Brand New Day" were used as foreshadowing, but only if you really thought about it. But in the future, I will use your idea, because it is a really good one. I hope you keep reading, reviewing, and enjoying the story.
A/N: If anyone has any ideas on what else I can have Kayla and the gang do to Kim Carlisle, or any ideas in general-excluding those about throwing people in the story or myself off a cliff-please feel free to email me personally at angelfire87_2006@yahoo.com
LOW
The next day, Robbie and the gang noticed that Kayla never showed up for school, and they soon found out that she had indeed broken her arm and would be out of school for a day or two due to the pain. But they also soon found out something that might have caused her to go home even if she was feeling better: it turned out that the entire school had tuned in to the RFR broadcast the day before, because people kept coming up to Travis and asking where his "girlfriend" was. "I can't believe it," Robbie said after what seemed like the 50th person had come up to them in the lunchline, said their piece, and left, "Kayla's gonna kill me when she comes back." "Kayla was ready to kill you yesterday, and I bet if she hadn't been in so much pain, she would have," Ray said, "She's not gonna forgive and forget easily for this one. You're in it deep, my friend." "I know, I know," Robbie said as the group sat down at their table in the cafeteria, "But do you really think I should be the one to talk to her? I mean, if I hadn't said what I said, she never would have run, and she never would have broken her arm." "I think I know who she'll listen to," Ray said slowly as him, Lily, and Robbie turned to look at Travis. "Oh no, not me," Travis said, putting his hands up defensively, "I can't." "Why?" Ray asked, clearly not understanding. "Don't you know the real reason she ran?" Travis asked his friends, who all shook their heads, "It wasn't just because of what Robbie said, it was because she didn't want to face me. I mean, would you want to face your crush right after they found out you liked them?" As he spoke, he gave Ray an all- knowing glance, as a reference to Ray's major crush on Lily, and how Ray had said he'd rather walk through the cafeteria naked than tell Lily the truth. "You know he's right, guys," Lily said, "Maybe we should all go over together, that might soften the blow, as my parents say." "So after school then," Robbie said, "We head over to Kayla's house and try to fix the mess I got us into." The group nodded, and they made their plans to go over to Kayla's that afternoon, after RFR, of course. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The RFR broadcast was almost done for the day, when Robbie said, "I'm Question Mark, and I'm wondering: How far is too far when it comes to telling someone's secret? I'm wondering this today, even after we already did this bit, because I would like to apologize to Kayla Adams for telling her secret on the air yesterday, and the entire crew here at Radio Free Roscoe wishes her a speedy recovery. That's all for today. Tune in tomorrow for more RFR." Travis shut the mikes off, and Robbie, Lily, and Ray took their headphones off and set them on the table in front of them. "I hope she heard that," Robbie said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kayla Adams was sitting on her bed, in her room, watching her little sister Shelby play with her old Barbies, joining in from time to time when Shelby asked her to be "the Barbie's friend so she doesn't feel alone" and when Shelby asked her for advice on what Barbie should wear, when she heard a knock on the door and said, "Shelbs, look out the window and tell me who's out there, please." Shelby said, "OK," went over to the window, and looked out. She ran back to her sister's bed and flopped onto it saying, "It's the people from the hospital yesterday." The color drained from Kayla's face as she heard her sister's words, and her fears were confirmed when her mother entered the room and said, "Kayla, those kids from the hospital are here. They want to know if they can talk to you." Kayla shook her head and said, "Not right now, Mom." Shelby gave her sister a quizzical look and said innocently, "Is it because you like Travis?" Kayla blushed and said, "No, it isn't," and thought, "It's because of Robbie's low prank that he pulled yesterday." Mrs. Adams picked up on her eldest daughter's feeling and said, "Shelby, do you want to help me set the table?" Shelby nodded and ran downstairs. "Thanks Mom," Kayla said, "I owe you one." Mrs. Adams smiled and said, "Do you want me to bring your dinner up here?" Kayla nodded her head and her mother shut her door and went downstairs. Kayla waited until she was sure her mom had left, then got up and went to the window for some air. As she opened the window, she happened to look down and saw the guys and Lily still standing in front of her house. She also saw Travis look up at her window at the exact moment she looked down. Kayla gasped, pulled her head inside her room, and closed the window, her heart beating a mile a minute. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well, that went well," Ray said as he sat on the porch steps outside of Kayla's house. The group had just been told by Kayla's mother that Kayla didn't want any visitors at the time, but that she would tell Kayla that they had stopped by. Robbie and Lily were talking to Ray, and Travis was looking at the house. He was looking at an upstairs window that had a flat part of the roof next to it, when he saw the window open and Kayla poke her head outside. He didn't know she had seen him until she was looking right at him, and just as suddenly as she had appeared, she disappeared back into the room and shut the window. "You guys, I saw her," Travis said, still looking at the window. "Where?" Robbie, Ray and Lily asked. Travis pointed to the window where he had seen Kayla and said, "Up there. I think it's her room, and I think I have an idea." "What is it?" Robbie asked, curious. "Do you guys see a ladder anywhere?" Travis asked, as the gang began looking around the property. Suddenly Ray's eyes fell upon a ladder lying next to a shed and said, "Over there!" "Go get it," Travis directed, and when Ray brought the ladder over, Travis put it up against the side of the house, directly under Kayla's window and said, "Going up!" "How are we gonna manage this without falling?" Ray asked. Travis pointed to the flat stretch of roof and said, "See that part of the roof there, that flat part? We'll go up the ladder one at a time and sit on the roof, and the last person up the ladder will knock on the window. Seeing as she doesn't want to talk to me right now, and how she would probably send Robbie flying back down the ladder, I think Ray should do it." Ray nodded and said, "Ladies and Guys who aren't going to do the talking first!" Robbie climbed up the ladder first, followed by Lily, then Travis, and last but not least, Ray. Ray took a deep breath, and then knocked on Kayla's window. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kayla was reading "The Outsiders," by S.E. Hinton, when she heard a knock on her window. She looked over at her window and saw Ray Brennon staring back at her. Kayla ran over to the window, opened it, and said; "Ray, are you nuts?" then shook her head and said, "On second thought, don't answer that. What are you doing out here, on a ladder?" "Well, we figured that if you wouldn't let us in through the door, we'd come in through the window!" Ray said brightly. "What do you mean, we?" Kayla asked, knowing full well what the answer would be. "Me, Lily, Robbie, and Travis. You know, the guy you." Ray said, but before he had the chance to finish, Kayla pulled him into her room and shut the window. "What the hell do you think you're doing, letting Robbie come here? He's really not on my Top 10 list of people I want to see today, and frankly, neither is Travis," Kayla said angrily, "I don't know what you think you'll accomplish by coming here, but I don't think you should stay." "See, Travis knew you wouldn't talk to him, and that you would probably send Robbie flying down the ladder, so they decided to use me," Ray said, "Lily didn't want to be a part of the initial ladder assault." Kayla grinned and said, "OK, you can stay. But where are the others?" Ray pointed at the window and said, "Look out the window and to the left."
Kayla shook her head and went over to the window, opened it, and looked to the left of it to find Robbie McGrath, Travis Strong, and Lily Randall sitting on the flat roof. Kayla muttered, "I don't know why I'm going to do this, but." and then waved them over to her window and said, "Come in," before backing away from the window to let them in. "Thanks," Lily said as she climbed through the window, followed by Robbie and Travis, "It was starting to get cold out there." "Do your parents know you're here?" Kayla asked, and when the group nodded, said, "OK then. There are a couple of chairs in here if you all want to sit down," before closing the window. While Lily and Robbie joined Ray in looking around at the stuff on Kayla's wall, Kayla picked up a jacket hanging on one of her chairs and went over to Travis. She held out the jacket and said, "I think this belongs to you." Travis took his jacket and said, "Thanks," before sitting down on the chair where his jacket had been resting moments before. Kayla went back to her place on her bed, joined by Lily, while Robbie and Ray chose to sit in the two beanbag chairs near her TV. "Nice setup you've got here," Ray said, "I especially like these chairs. Very comfy." Kayla grinned and said, "You can thank Shelby for those. She decided they would be the perfect gift for 'big sissy's' 16th birthday. She's got good taste for a 3 year old. The rest of the stuff came from my relatives, except for the stuff on the bulletin board." Kayla looked wistfully at the bulletin board which held pictures of her and her old friends at various school events, and one of the 4 of them inside the FACE studio the day of their first broadcast. "Your friends?" Travis asked, pointing at a picture of Kayla, Jordan, Michelle, and Allyson at their Freshman Farewell dance the spring before. Kayla smiled and said, "Yeah, those are the county nutcases, myself included. We were at the last dance of the year, and the theme was 'Spring Break.' We were all wearing tank tops, shorts, leis, and grass skirts, and we looked so stupid and got so hyper on Mountain Dew that it wasn't even funny." The group laughed, and suddenly the door opened and Kayla's mom entered with a few trays of food, giving her daughter a quizzical look, as if to say, "it took them this long to figure out how to get in?" Kayla noticed her mom's expression and nodded, saying, "I changed my mind. I decided to have a few visitors, and since these guys were outside, I figured what the heck, might as well invite them in through the window!" "Well, it took them long enough to figure it out!" Mrs. Adams said with a laugh, "We had a house like this back in our old town, and Kayla would always sneak her friends in through her window. I didn't think it would take all of you this long to figure out how to get in. But since you're here, you might as well have some food. You guys are lucky to have snuck in on Taco Night. Here's all the stuff, and Shelby will be up in a few minutes with the toppings. Just be careful not to drop anything." "Yeah, because Mom's worried about mice," Kayla said, "She doesn't like them. Just ask my dad what she did when she found out about Pixie and Dixie." "Pixie and Dixie?" Robbie asked, "Like the cartoon?" Kayla laughed and said, "Yeah. It happened a few years ago, when Shelby was 1. Dad had been feeding them for weeks when Mom finally saw them. When I got home, Mom was up on a chair screaming for my dad to get them. Dad finally got them, but he brought them out while I was still in the room, and let's just say I don't really enjoy that kind of thing." The gang laughed, and Mrs. Adams smiled and said, "I'll send Shelby up with the rest of the food." "Are you sure she doesn't need any help?" Kayla asked. "Don't worry," Mrs. Adams replied, "If she needs any help, I'll do it. You kids just get back to whatever you were doing," she said, shutting the door behind her. "So," Ray said, turning his attention to the picture of Kayla and her friends in the FACE studios, "Where was this one taken?" "That was taken inside our radio station's headquarters," Kayla said, "We called it FACE, for our nicknames. We ran it kind of like you guys run RFR, we all had nicknames." "Dare I ask?" Ray said. "It stands for 'Fuzzy, Aqua, Confucius, and Eek'," Kayla replied, "I was Fuzzy, Michelle-the one in the red-was Aqua, Jordan-the one standing next to me on the left-was Confucius, and Allyson-the one standing between Jordan and Michelle-was Eek, and also Michelle's twin sister. I have a recording of our last broadcast with me, and a couple of the other broadcasts too. They gave them to me as a little going-away gift before I left." "So, you're telling us that you were part of a radio station like RFR before you came here?" Travis asked. Kayla nodded and said, "Best days of my life." Just then the group heard a small knock on Kayla's door and a small voice saying, "Kayla, I need help!" "That'll be Shelby with the toppings," Kayla said, getting up off her bed and opening the door, took some of the bowls from the tray her little sister carried and said, "Just to give you a hand, literally. You didn't spill anything in the hall, did you?" Shelby set the tray down and shook her head with glee and said, "Not a drop!" Kayla hugged her and said, "Good work Shelbs. You wanna stay up here with me and my friends?" Shelby said, "No, I'm going back downstairs. My boyfriend's coming over soon." "Boyfriend?" Kayla asked, giving the others a "just play along with her" look, "Who's your boyfriend?" "Billy from preschool," Shelby said shyly. "Well then," Kayla said, escorting Shelby to the door, "You'll want to go back downstairs and get ready for your date, Shelbs." Shelby nodded and went out the door, pausing to wave and say "Bye" to her sister's friends. "OK!" Kayla said, "Taco Time!" Everyone dived into the tacos, and after they at a few, Kayla slumped back on her bed and said, "I'm stuffed! I couldn't eat another taco if I tried!" The others nodded in agreement, and finally Robbie said, "We actually came here to ask you something pretty important concerning RFR." "If it's about me telling Kim Carlisle, you don't have to worry," Kayla said, "The day I tell Kim Carlisle anything important is the day Robbie stops broadcasting his Torpedo scores on RFR." "How did you know about that?" Robbie asked as the others laughed. "It's not important," Kayla said, winking at Ray, the reason she knew about the Torpedo incident, "OK, first off, I have to tell you that what you did was really low, Robbie, and that I was really hurt by the fact you chose my feelings for broadcast. But since you seem to feel bad about it, I'll forgive you. So, is there anything else that you want to ask me?" "Yeah," Robbie said, "How would you like to join RFR?" Kayla smiled and said, "I'd love to, but I can't use my FACE name, that would give it away." Travis looked at the bed, specifically at the book Kayla had left beside her and said, "How about Sodapop? Like in 'The Outsiders,' since you seem to like the book." Travis glanced at the movie posters for "St. Elmo's Fire," and "The Outsiders" that Kayla had on her walls and said slyly, "And also since that's who Rob Lowe played in the movie version." Kayla blushed, threw a pillow at Travis, and said, "Fine! You caught me!" Travis threw the pillow back at Kayla, who threw it at Ray, who ducked, leaving the pillow to hit Robbie square in the face. Robbie's expression changed from one of unawareness to one of shock, and the rest of the group laughed as he tried to figure out where it had come from. The rest of the time passed quickly, and soon they had to leave. They all climbed out the window and down the ladder, Travis last of all, pausing as he started to go down the ladder. "Kayla?" he whispered. Kayla turned back to the window and whispered, "What?" "You wanna go out with me sometime?" Travis asked. Kayla smiled and whispered, "I'd love to." Travis smiled as he climbed the rest of the way down the ladder, and as he reached the ground, he threw his jacket to Kayla and said, "You can give this back to me when we set a date." "For what?" Kayla asked. "For the wedding," Travis said sarcastically, "I mean our date." Kayla laughed and shook he head as she closed the window. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Travis looked up at the window and whispered, "Good night Kayla," before walking away from the house with his friends.
That was a really long chapter. I don't know if I'll be able to write anymore after this! Just kidding! Here's a preview of the next chapter.
Title: Take My Breath Away Summary: Travis and Kayla go on their date, and two things-one expected, the other unexpected-happen.