Chapter 8

The next night, Keri and Tori got their first so that they were sure that Sam and Kayla weren't alone together.  They helped Kayla decide what they were going to do once Sam got there.  Finally, the doorbell rang and Kayla screeched, "It's her!  I haven't seen her in months!  OMG!  It's her!"  She ran to open the door, and as soon as she did, the girl ringing the bell, dropped her sleeping bag and gabbed Kayla into a humongous hug.

As they walked into the house so that Kayla could introduce Sam to the others, Tori and Keri got a good look at Sam.  They exchanged an embarrassed look and then started to laugh at their own idiocy.  Sam took one look at the two hysterical girls and then turned to Kayla, "Are they always like this?" she asked her friend.

"Not usually, but lately they have been acting weird.  Guys, are you okay?"  She directed that last bit to the giggling twins.

When they managed to get their laughs under control, Tori answered, "Yeah, yeah, we're fine.  We were just laughing at what idiots we are."  Kayla just gave them the look.  The look that says that they had better 'fess up or she was going to be very, very angry.  That if they didn't tell her she would resort to something drastic to find out.  Under this kind of pressure, Tori continued.  "Well, you see, we thought that Sam was a boy and Kyle was a girl.  I think James and Jake did, too.  We thought it was all weird, it just goes to show how idiotic we can be."  She had to shout the end of her explanation over the peals of laughter coming from Kayla and Sam.

"Tori…and…Keri…Rose…may I…introduce…you to…Samantha…Blake…" gasped Kayla while she was laughing.

"Please call me Sam," she said when they all finished laughing.

Soon they were all ready for a long girl-time.  They were all camped out in front of the T.V. in their pj's with a stack of movies to watch.  On the table they had all sorts of food, from junk to healthy (Tori is diabetic).  Since the rest of them went to school together, they were all interested in hearing about Firebrook from Sam.  It seemed as if she had talked about everything in detail, except Kayla noticed that she had not once mentioned Kyle.  Not once.  She usually would bring him up in passing at least once.  Kayla could tell that something was most definitely wrong and so she decided to ask Sam about it.

"Sam, what about Kyle?" she inserted when her friends stopped to eat something.  Her question nearly made Sam spit out the bite of ice cream she just took.

"Um…I'd rather not talk about Kyle right now."  Of course, this had the opposite effect than what she wanted.  Now everyone wanted to know what was up.

"C'mon, Sam, spill it before I have to force it out of you."  Kayla then turned her evil eye on Sam.  This, of course, had the desired effect.

"Alright, fine, you win!  Well, at the end of last year he promised that since I didn't know anyone who was going to Firebrook that he would introduce me around.  He promised not to leave me alone.  Well, he did this like the first day.  We had 2 classes together and he talked to me a lot.  We sat next to each other and it only felt a little weird that you and Jason weren't there, Kayla.

"But, that was as far as he kept his promise.  He didn't introduce me to his friends and little by little he stopped talking to me until he rarely even says 'hi' and we have 2 classes together!"  Sam had obviously wanted to get this off of her chest for a while.  "I managed to make my own friends no thanks to that lying creep.  So, now, I have a lot of friends and don't need him.  It just kind of hurts that we were such good friends before and now we never speak.  I am so glad that he never knew that I liked him."

Kayla didn't know what to say to this and so she started to tease Keri about Jake.  She obviously liked him.  But he was too dense to notice.  "So, Keri, how's Jake?" she asked innocently.

Keri's blush told everyone what Kayla already knew.  Keri didn't even try to hide it.  "Sigh…I wish he thought of me in a way other than a friend.  Whatever, better a friend than nothing at all…I don't like being teased though.  So on to a new topic.  Tori, do you like anyone?  It's not like you confide in your own twin or anything!"

"Nah.  There is just no one I like in that way."

"C'mon," her twin insisted, "there has got to be someone."

"Nope."

"Fine, don't tell.  But there will be someone eventually.  I can sense that much."  Although Sam only thought she was joking, the others knew what Keri really meant without specifying.  Keri had this talent for predicting the future.  Like what they learned in their art/foretelling class.  She was unbelievably good.  She was almost always correct, so Kayla and Tori did not doubt her and her prediction made Tori feel much better about herself, which was why Keri had divulged that bit of her future.  Keri knew that her twin had been depressed lately, what with school, Quidditch, diabetes, and being a teenage girl who wouldn't but that is beside the point.

*                      *                      *                      *                      *                      *

While the girls were having their "girl-time," the guys were a couple of blocks away and doing nearly the same things, but it didn't have a name beyond "hanging."  They had already exhausted all topics of conversation except one: girls.

"Kyle," Jason began, "tell me again why you stopped talking with Sam."

"I guess I just got nervous.  Without you and Kayla between us, I suddenly discovered my attraction to her and I was too scared to say anything.  I guess I should at least talk to her in class.  I wish we had what you and Kayla have…"

Either James or Jake muttered, "Don't we all," in anonymous agreement with Kyle.

They all talked about random stuff that guys talk about before finally drifting one by one off to sleep.

*                      *                      *                      *                      *                      *

The girls had still not fallen asleep after they watched 3 movies.  It must have been all of the food they had eaten.

"I'm bored," Keri whined.  "Is there anything we can do that doesn't involve watching a movie?"

"Well…it depends on how brave you are feeling…" That got the attention of the others.  They all looked up sharply and stared at her, demanding to be told.  "Okay…okay…I'll tell you.  I happen to know for a fact that James, Jake, and Kyle are all spending the night at Jason's house.  I just happen to have a key to his house, and his parents don't care if I use it in the middle of the night.  If they see us they will let us in."  Keri and Tori both knew that she planned on warning Jason's parents telepathically that they were going to be in their house so they wouldn't panic.  "We can easily get to his house from here and do whatever sort of prank you guys want to do.  That is, if you are brave enough."

"How about just using silly string," suggested Keri.  "We wouldn't want his parents angry at us for ruining anything."

"That is a great idea.  And, for some unknown reason, I happen to have silly string downstairs.  Let's go get some and then we can go on over to Jason's house."

The girls all went down to Kayla's basement to get the cans of silly string and then Kayla ran upstairs to tell her parents where they were going and to get a camera.  15 minutes later they left her house and started to run to Jason's house.  When they were a block away, they slowed to a walk so that their heavy breathing wouldn't give them away.

As they made their way to his house, Kayla contacted Jason's mother.  Mrs. Clayborn, it's Kayla.  The girls and me are coming on over to crash the guys party.  We didn't want you to be alarmed when I let us in.

That's fine, Kayla dear.  They're asleep right now.  Make sure to get a picture of what they look like when you're done so I can see it.

Kayla quietly slid her key into the lock, and slowly turned it.  When she heard the lock click, she creeped the door open and motioned her black-clad accomplices inside the house.

Once they were all inside, she quietly closed the door, hoping that it wouldn't creak.  The girls had already decided exactly whom they were going to get with the silly string.  Kayla was obviously going to get Jason; and Sam, Kyle; Keri wanted Jake so that left James for Tori.

Since the girls didn't want the guys to wake up before they finished, they worked quietly and efficiently.  It was a good thing that the silly string cans didn't make too much noise when squirting through them.  As soon as they were done, they stood back to admire their handiwork.  The guys looked totally ridiculous.  They weren't only covered in silly string.  Oh, no, the girls had gotten quite carried away.  As a joke, Kayla used a marker to write in big letters on the faces of Jake, James, and Kyle.  She wrote "I love Keri, Tori, and Samantha" respectively on their foreheads.  In retaliation, Tori wrote on Jason's face, "I love Kayla.  She is the sexiest thing on earth."  By the time they were finished, they were trying very hard not to laugh and ruin their careful work.

Kayla quickly started to take pictures.  It was the flashing light that woke Jason up.  As he woke up to the blinding light, he wondered what Kayla and the girls were doing in his house.  Then, he saw the guys.  And, then, he saw himself.  "Kayla!!!!!!!" he screamed jumping up and glaring at the too innocent looking Kayla.  This of course woke up the others and this was when the girls couldn't hold in their laughter anymore.  When Kyle saw Samantha, he looked truly frightened.  Then she launched herself at him with a scream and started to attack him.  (Punching and hitting you dolts.  Get those inappropriate thoughts out of your heads!!!)  The other guys, not afraid in the slightest, started to slowly walk towards the girls, who then looked at each other and ran out of the house, the boys on their tails.

As the girls ran, they were talking telepathically so they wouldn't waste their breath, and their followers wouldn't hear them.

Where are we going? Kayla asked the other two.  Back to my house?  They would most definitely guess that.

No, Tori replied after a moment of quick thinking.  How about we head for our special "girl headquarters"?  We've never told them about it, so even when we teleport, they would have no idea of where to find us.

That is a really good idea, sis, Keri added.  Should we split up to add to the confusion?

Kayla shook her head, No, my guess is, that they will assume that we are going to my house and so they will try to teleport their as soon as we disappear.  She spared a quick look back over her shoulder.  Alright, on the count of three.  One…two…THREE!  They all teleported to the spot they agreed upon, leaving 3 very confused boys behind them.  Jason, James, and Jake ran to the spot where the girls disappeared and then stopped.

"Where do you think they went?" asked Jake.

"I have no clue," Jason responded and James looked dumbfounded.  "My guess is not Kayla's house.  They wouldn't be that stupid.  They would know that would be the first place we'd look.  We might as well go back to my house and keep Sam from hurting Kyle too much."

"Yeah," seconded Jake, "but keep your mind open.  We might be able to figure out where they are."  The guys slowly walked back to Jason's house only to find when they got there that Kyle and Sam weren't fighting anymore.

Instead, Kyle was lying on the floor, with his hands under his head and Sam was sitting with her back against the couch, her arms around her knees. Kyle was looking at Sam from his position on the floor. All they were doing was talking. They weren't fighting. This surprised the guys. They expected to have to save Kyle from Sam since she was beating him up.

Without even hearing what they were talking about, Jason shooed the others out of his house and closed the door behind them. He felt that Sam and Kyle had unfinished business that they needed to discuss. They definitely did not need 3 extra listeners intruding upon their private time.

Outside, Jake and James gave him a look. "I think we should give them some time to talk. I got the feeling that they had stuff to discuss and they don't need us to do that." They just nodded in response to his statement. "Why don't we go shoot some hoops or something?" At his friends' blank looks, Jason continued, "Oh, right, I forgot that you don't play basketball. I would suggest Quidditch, but if people saw us, we would get in major trouble. I will just explain what to do and then you'll be fine…" they walked down the path as Jason began to explain basketball to his friends.

Inside the house, Kyle and Sam were discussing their current relationship. "So I guess I don't really have a good reason for why I stopped talking to you," Kyle explained. "All I can say is that I am really sorry and that I will try to do better from now on."

"I guess you are right." Sam was silent for a few moments before continuing. "While we are into our whole confession thing maybe I should ask you a question. Do you know how long I liked you for?" Kyle, startled, shook his head, knowing that he wasn't going to like the way this conversation was going to turn out. Not when he finally realized what he felt for Sam. He would just have to live with what she said. If she didn't like him anymore, then it was his fault for letting her go.

"It started when Kayla first realized that she liked Jason. I was so busy trying to get Kayla together with Jason that I couldn't focus on my own feelings. I started spending a lot of time with you because it just so happened that as we spent time trying to convince Kayla and Jason to see the other's feelings that we kept getting thrown together also. I was just starting to see my true feelings for you when you became a jerk and stopped talking to me." Throughout her speech, Kyle started to gain hope that maybe he had a place in her heart, but her next words disabused him of that notion. "Then, I discovered that maybe what I felt for you wasn't really love. I missed being with you as a friend more than I missed you as a crush. I would give anything to have that friendship back."

Kyle felt like kicking himself for letting this wonderful girl slip through his fingers, but he decided that he wouldn't tell her that he liked her. "Well, we can start over. Sam, I am truly, deeply sorry for being a you-know-what and ignoring you. But, I have to say that as a team, we work well together. We managed to bring our two best friends together into a couple that is near inseparable."