Chapter Three

Stephanie

Monday

Private Journal of Stephanie Tanner

Writing from our hotel room in Seattle. We arrived yesterday and already, everyone wants to sightsee. The next morning, Dad wakes up super-early (he's nuts, I tell ya.), but we ignored him. A few hours later, everyone's gone. Apparently, they'd tried to wake me up, but I wouldn't get up, according to a note D.J. left me. Dad says I'll have to explore the hotel instead because he doesn't want me all alone in a strange city. But it's all good...I met someone and we went to all the places around Seattle...

How on Earth could my own family ditch me like that? Here I was inside this boring hotel room, completely bored out of my mind. TV was old, room service was limited and the hotel itself was stupid. It didn't even have a pool.

I stared at the half-eaten bag of Fritos on the coffee table and then out the window at the view outside. Our room was on the 14th floor, so we had a pretty good sight of the city. It reminded me of why we took this trip in the first place: To sightsee.

Desperate, I quickly showered, got dressed, brushed my teeth and hair, grabbed my purse and extra hotel room key. Then I was out the door before I even knew what I was doing.

While waiting for the elevator to arrive, I half-expected Dad to pop out between those doors and then ground me for life for sneaking out. But instead of Dad, another face popped out at me. It was a boy. A cute boy my age with sandy-blond hair tied up in a ponytail, freckles on his nose, sharp blue eyes, pouty lips, and a height that could put other guys I know to shame. He was wearing a black shirt, jean shorts, and white sneakers.

I looked at my own attire in disdain. I had on my old Jesse & The Rippers T-shirt, a pair of D.J.'s old black flip flops, my black frilly miniskirt, and one of Michelle's scrunchies I'd managed to swipe from her.

I smiled nervously at the boy. He smiled back. Then, unexpectedly, he replied, "You're a Jesse & The Rippers fan, too?"

I smiled modestly. "Yeah, I am. I mean, I know the frontman. He's my uncle, Jesse Katsopolis."

The boy's eyes widened. "Get outta here! That dude's my role model! I'm in my own band and we look up to him. Is he really your uncle?"

"I swear. Look, I'll even prove it," I said. I took a picture of Uncle Jesse with Aunt Becky, the twins, and Michelle.

After pointing everyone out, the boy grinned widely. "Yep, that's him alright. Man, I can't believe he's your uncle. That's so cool! Jesse is the man!"

I laughed inwardly, imagining what Uncle Jesse would do if he were here to listen to this boy. He'd probably melt into a great big blob of hair mousse.

The boy groaned. "Sorry about those manners of mine, you know? I forgot to introduce myself. I was just...Um...I'm Jayden McCarthy. You are?"

"Uh...Stephanie Tanner. Nice to meet you," I said shyly. I was almost shocked that this boy even wanted to talk to me.

We shook hands. Then Jayden asked, "So, are you from Seattle?"

"No. I'm from San Francisco, actually. I'm on vacation with some of my family and friends. Are you from here?"

"Yeah. I was actually on my way to see my sister, Paige-Margaret. She owns this hotel and I had to talk to her. How do you like it?"

"It's boring. I'm sorry, but how can you expect to have a good time here when there's no pool?"

Jayden grimaced. "Yeah, I agree with you. Paige-Margaret has been getting a lot of complaints from people about this place."

We talked for about ten more minutes until Jayden mentioned sightseeing.

"I haven't seen anything. I was supposed to go with my family, but they ditched me because I overslept," I told him, leaving out the part about sneaking out.

Jayden bit his lip. "Um...well...I know you don't know me that well, but I'd like to show you around Seattle, if that's okay?"

"Uh...I guess it's a possibility. I mean, we leave tomorrow and it'll be a looooooooooo time before I see Seattle again..." I said, trailing off.

"Then come with me. I'll take you to the Woodland Zoo, The Pike Place Public Market, Elliott Bay, The Space Needle-"

"Did you say The Space Needle? I've always wanted to go there!"

Jayden beamed. Then he extended his arm. "Shall we?" he asked.

I happily obliged. "I'd absolutely love to," I said, linking my arm with his.

I never knew how much I had in common with Jayden. He loved writing just as much as I did (although he's a songwriter, as he's in his own band, The Wahh Wahh Crybabies.).

He's also very smart, has an eye for all the greatest dancers, and we both have a secret taste for pineapple pizza. Jayden also had good ideas on where to go. He took me all over Seattle to places like Kerry Park, Elliott Bay, The Pike Place Public Market, and to a local/indie music store so I could see his latest CD. That's when I met the other band members; Carlos, Trish, Quintin, David, and Mary Linda. I ended up buying two CDs; one was the Wahh Wahh Crybabies and the other was by a rocker chick named Jeana Walker Taylor for Gia.

After I said good-bye to Jayden's friends, Jayden brought me to a pizza parlor for lunch. We ordered some pineapple slices and sodas. As we ate, Jayden asked in disbelieve, "Man, this is good! How can anybody not like pineapple pizza?"

"Yeah, they're crazy," I agreed.

Jayden drank some of his Mountain Dew. "Hey, after lunch, I'm taking you to the Woodland Zoo. Is that okay?"

"Sure. Absolutely. Animals rock," I said.

"Great. Well, let's finish eating and then we can leave," he said, smiling at me. I nearly blushed.

After we ate, Jayden paid the bill and the two of us rode a double decker bus to the Woodland Zoo.

It might have been the pizza or the fact Jayden and I were the only passengers riding the bus, but for some reason unknown, Jayden grabbed my hand. I nearly jumped out of my seat.

"This ride can get pretty bumpy," he told me. "So you might want to be careful not to fall or something."

"Oh," I said, a little disappointed. I sat back and tried to enjoy the ride.

Okay, we visited the zoo. It was cool, but nothing could prepare me for what was about to come. It was almost sundown when Jayden and I arrived to The Space Needle. The Space Needle has to be the biggest structure in Seattle. I mean, it's big, but you don't know how huge it actually is until you actually see it. It's like seeing The Golden Gate Bridge back in San Francisco, only you don't cross it.

Jayden and I took an elevator to the top of the observatory deck with twenty other people. Jayden took hold of all my shopping bags and led me to a clear spot of the building.

"Take a look, Steph. Isn't this cool?" he asked.

I quickly took one peek and was automatically hooked.

"Whoa. What a view. I knew it would be like this...but...whoa."

"Takes your breath away, huh?"

"Absolutely. This is incredible. Thank you."

Jayden smiled again. "Glad you like it," he replied.

And then, he kissed me lightly on the cheek. I stared at him in complete bliss, shock and amazement as he took my hand and continued to look at the wonderful view of the city of Seattle.

Jayden called his older sister, Paige-Margaret, to take me back to the hotel. When she came, we all talked about her hotel and some improvements she could make.She's pretty cool and she actually paid attention to me.

"Thanks for letting me know. This is my first time owning something like this, so I'm learning. I'll see what I can do in the future," she told me.

When we arrived back, I proceeded to open the door to the car, but Jayden stopped me.

"Wait, Stephanie. Is it okay if I still keep in touch with you?"

I felt flattered that Jayden still wanted to see me. After all, I was a geek and he was...a stud.

"Sure. Let me get a pen," I said.

I dug into my purse and pulled out my sparkle pen and a piece of paper. I wrote my address and phone number on it and handed the piece of paper to Jayden. He did the same with me.

"I really want to stay in touch with you. I had a good time."

"Me, too. Thanks for everything. It was so cool. Seattle's awesome."

Jayden shrugged. "No problem. Hey, can you get your uncle's autograph for me?"

I giggled. "It's no problem. See you soon," I said.

Jayden kissed my cheek again, making me blush again.

I waved as Jayden went back into the car with his sister.

After they'd left, I picked up my shopping bags and purse and walked back inside towards the hotel. As soon as I reached the room, I wasn't surprised to find D.J., Steve, and Kimmy back from sightseeing.

"Hey, guys. How was your day?" I asked.

D.J. shrugged. "It was okay. We managed to fit everything into our schedule. How about you? Did you have a good time here in the hotel?"

I knew she was teasing me, so I said haughtily, "For your information, I actually had fun. I went city-hopping with the hotel owner's younger brother. He's-"

"Like who'd want to go out with you, Blondie?" Kimmy interrupted.

"If you must know, his name's Jayden, he's my age and he's in his own group. Where's Dad and Vicky?"

"They went out to eat. And don't you dare try to change the subject. Who's this Jayden dude?"

I groaned as I quickly explained all about Jayden and our entire day together in Seattle.

"He's an indie rock musician? Wow, that's sweet!" Steve replied.

D.J. and Kimmy still looked skeptical.

"I'm still not buying it, Steph. There's still no proof that you met this boy," D.J. said.

"Yeah, who would want to go out with a dork like you? A rock musician? His sister's the owner of this hotel? Puh-leese. Come up with a better plot line next time, okay?" Kimmy put in. They both laughed.

I rolled my eyes. I didn't care if they didn't believe me or not. As long as I remembered the great day Jayden and I spent, that was all that mattered.

As I looked outside the patio, I looked into the night sky. I began to wonder if I would ever meet anyone like Jayden again.