Sorry. Just updating when I can.
Chapter Two- It's All About How You Tell Them
"You can ride in my van, Lynn. Mariah and I usually drive to school together anyway. Mari, you don't mind if you ride in Hilary's car do you? I know Lynn's your new best friend, Hil, but I'd like to get to know her too." Miriam flashed the new girl a friendly grin as she pulled out a set of car keys.
Lynn smiled shyly back. Mariah laughed and gave Miriam a playful poke. "All right. I'll ride with Hilary, but I get first dibs on Lynn for girl talk when we reach the house."
"Deal!" Miriam and Hilary chorused. Hilary slid into the driver's seat of her car and Mariah hopped into the passenger's seat. Hilary opened a window and called out to the girls making their way to Miriam's car. "Miriam, we're going to do some shopping before we head over to the dojo. Why don't you let yourself in the house and start prepping with Lynn? Grandpa will let you guys in."
"Awesome. Thanks Hilary!" Miriam unlocked her doors and motioned for Lynn to sit in the passenger seat. She turned her car on, and began to drive off.
"Any preference in music?" she casually asked.
Lynn shook her head. "Not really."
Miriam glanced at the girl nervously fingering the silver chain of her necklace. "You don't really have to worry about being with us. You've already caught Tala's eye," she teased lightly.
Lynn's cheeks turned a light pink. "I didn't think anyone noticed."
"You're not used to attention are you?"
Lynn shifted in her seat. "Well," she answered slowly, "I am. But I don't think much of it. It's basically only attention from my friends and family anyway, since I like pulling pranks."
"Good! You'll fit right in with me and Max."
"Oh? What about everyone else?" She questioned.
"We're all going to be awesome friends, trust me. Tala will make sure of that, you can bet on it." She watched as the girl blushed again, and laughed.
"So let's have some girl talk before Mariah can steal you away. She's a good friend, but she won't leave me with a moment with you when she gets a hold of you. She may even ignore Ray tonight, she's so eager to talk to you."
"Really?" Emerald eyes gleamed with interest.
"Of course. We're always dying to meet new people. So, any boyfriends I should be warning Tala against? Though, if you do have a boyfriend and Tala gets wind of him, I would advise him to run as fast as he can."
Lynn giggled. Miriam noticed how her face lit up in a genuinely lovely smile. Tala sure knows how to pick them.
"No. No boyfriend. Never had one to begin with. Quite odd, but I never had time to date."
Miriam gasped in mock horror. "Not even a prom date, my dear? Deprived, weren't we!"
Lynn's smile blossomed. "I suppose. It just didn't appeal to me at the time."
"So what are you doing at the university?"
"Surviving."
Miriam laughed. "Aren't we all? Undecided on a major?"
"Nope, Education field, with Hillary. And you?"
"I'm trying to figure out what kind of major doesn't require any mathematics or sciences." Miriam scowled. "I like to beyblade, but I don't want to know why it works. Just knowing it works makes me happy."
"What about Max?"
"He's just checking out what he likes. When he finds his passion, he'll know."
Lynn hesitated then decided to ask, "How did you guys get together?"
She watched the corners of Miriam's dark eyes crinkle with laughter. "This is my favorite story to tell. Our relationship was filled with teasing mostly. He and I love to laugh. It was sort of frustrating for Hilary and Mariah though when Max was trying to scrape up the courage to ask me out."
"Why?"
"Because he was so shy! The blunderbuss would only ask me on dates if he had Hilary's or Mariah's help." Miriam grinned. "It was getting to the point where Mariah and Hilary would be practically be wearing signs that read, 'Miriam will you go out with me? – Max,' just to try to help him out. It is a miracle we're going steady now. He took about three months trying to ask me. My brother, Joseph, was starting to wonder if he'd ever get to tease me about having a boyfriend." She made a right turn.
She looked at Lynn as she waited for a red light. "It was so funny, at the beginning," she said her eyes sparkling. "He and Tyson were completely oblivious to the fact that Hilary and I were trying to convince them we were head over heels in love with them." She frowned. "Did I just use a cliché? Ugh. Anyway, Mari had a hell of a time trying to get us hooked up. Hilary can tell you her side of the story. For me, Max was in love, and I was in love. Humorous people can be plenty stubborn too. We admitted that there was some chemistry between us, but we just refused to get it going. Funny how that can all change when you realize one day that he's something to be treasured. Even funnier how he realized the same about me the same day." Her eyes softened.
"But you've been happy ever since?" Lynn's eyes were questioning.
"And that's the goddamn truth." Miriam turned into an open lot. "We're here. Let's go see if Grandpa Granger is home."
He was home and pleased to hear that there was a gathering at his house. "We need more young blood around here! Glad to see Hilary's making a new pal. I trust you've met my grandson?"
Lynn's eyes danced with amusement. She liked the old man already. "Yes sir."
Miriam asked, "Sorry Gramps, but could Lynn and I be excused to the kitchen? Hilary wants us to get a head start on dinner, lest we all starve."
"Sure! I can't wait. It's a nice change. Why isn't Tyson here? The least you gals could have done was to make him help too. The boy's got a mean appetite, and I don't expect him to leech off of other people forever! He's gotta fend for himself sometime!"
"He was busy, and he'll be home later. But thanks! Come on, Lynn." Miriam practically dragged Lynn into the kitchen.
"He's really nice." Lynn was smiling beautifully now. "I can kind of see why Hilary and Tyson are the way they are.
Miriam groaned. "Oh, believe me. You have not seen Tyson at his worst yet. Though, admittedly, he has gotten better." She smiled at Lynn's confused look. "Don't worry. You'll get to know all of us, sooner or later. We'll be more than happy to swap stories."
They worked in the kitchen for a little while, and soon enough they heard Hilary's voice call, "Grandpa, we're home!"
Mariah raced into the kitchen. "And if I remember correctly, I still have dibs on Lynn! Come on, honey, you can help me make Ray's favorite dish." The pink-haired girl took hold of Lynn's arms and soon they were both chopping vegetables.
Mariah gave Lynn a cat-like grin. "So, what has Miriam told you about me?"
Lynn cast a shy glance at her, and then at Miriam, who gave her a smile and a nod. "We talked about her and Max, mostly."
Mariah pretended to look outraged. "Miriam, I thought the plan was to feed her information on Tala!"
"Hey, not like I didn't try, Mari!" Miriam called back, laughing. "Can I help it if we decide to talk about my favorite subject?"
Mariah rolled her eyes and whispered, "At least that much is true. Given the opportunity and time, she'd never shut up about Max."
"Don't you feel the same about Ray?"
"Of course."
Lynn smiled. "He seems really smart and quiet about things." She had really liked Ray when she met him. In a way, he was kind of like Lynn, only less shy.
Mariah dumped all their chopped vegetables into one bowl. "Oh he is!" she exclaimed. "He's very thoughtful about everyone in our group and especially of me. I'm sure he likes you too. Of course," she added slyly, "anyone who can catch the eye of Tala is certainly someone special."
Lynn's cheeks burned a little. "Did everyone notice that?"
"Well, putting it bluntly, yes."
Lynn changed the subject. "Miriam told me how she and Max hooked up…"
Mariah groaned. "Oh my god. That was a nightmare. I nearly asked her out for him. Even Tyson was beginning to wonder when they would end up together, and Tyson's usually oblivious to everyone. I was banging my head on walls every time they'd get together for a group outing."
Miriam interrupted, "She's not kidding. She was literally smacking herself whenever Max would try to flirt with me. That is, she'd do it to vent frustration and try not to take it out on Max. He's a natural sweetie, but when he tries to purposely flirt with a girl, he gets it all wrong. The best and only thing he should do is to be his funny self. Mariah tried to tell him that once, but he didn't think he needed her advice."
Mariah muttered, "Yeah, let's see how far he gets without my advice the next time before I get the chance to shoot him."
Lynn was interested now. "What did he do that was so bad?"
"Took to her a romantic movie. That plan failed miserably because they both hate sappy story lines. They ended up sniggering through they entire movie because Max kept trying to add to the storyline. He kept up a running commentary the entire night. He tried to take her to a fancy dinner, but he forgot to make reservations, and I refused to let him go in what he was wearing. Who goes to a dinner wearing sneakers? And shabby jeans? Of course Miriam thought that was a grand idea, with her sense of humor and all. I thought she'd die laughing with Max in the comfort of my living room!" Mariah was huffing now.
Miriam's eyes were flowing with mirthful tears. "But Mari," she choked, "the expression you were wearing was hilarious! And we couldn't help but imagine what would happen if we walked in like that! Even Max understood that!"
The pink haired girl shrugged and turned to Lynn. "You see what I mean? They were so perfect; they were bound to drive me nuts. Don't you dare do the same with Tala. I could be liable to shoot you both."
"Thanks for the warning." Lynn turned to Hilary who was engaged in baking the meatloaf she and Miriam had prepared. "What about you Hil? Did you have problems getting Tyson?"
Mariah rolled her eyes. "Not quite," she said, answering for Hilary. "Tyson was more than eager to ask this brown-haired beauty for a date, but they had clashing attitudes for the longest time."
Hilary grimaced a little. "I was a little immature in my younger years…"
Miriam stirred the soup they had prepared. "That's a small understatement, Hil."
"Okay, okay. I was an annoying, pushy brat. So was Tyson. The only difference between us was that I could fit my ego through the door."
Lynn was slightly surprised. Hilary was bubbly, but she wasn't exactly pushy, according to her knowledge. But then again, she only befriended her a few hours ago.
Meanwhile, Mariah had laughed. "Boy, are you still bitter about that! Tyson could be absolutely harsh when he spoke to Hilary! Of course, he doesn't do that now, but man! He could really stick a knife in her heart."
Hilary looked slightly hurt. "Well, yes. But he and I have changed. I'm glad we're together."
Miriam's smile was mischievous. "Oh, don't give us the innocent act. You know perfectly well that you matched and topped some of Tyson's best insults. You were just as bad as he was!"
Hilary smirked a little. "OK. I am a little proud of that," she remarked wickedly.
The girls laughed. They were startled when Kenny stuck his head in the doorway.
"Is dinner ready yet?"
Tyson's hands shoved Kenny out of the way and he grinned at Hilary. "Yeah, the guys are here, and we're all starving!"
"Tyson, it's only six! We said dinner at seven! Go back and have your 'boy-talk', we're busy here. Go catch up with Kenny, he's hardly around for a discussion, on a normal basis, anyway."
Kenny protested, "That's not true Hilary! I just happen to be very busy, that's all! Why, at the offices…" He found that he could not finish his sentence as a taller and stronger Miriam shoved him and Tyson out of the kitchen and into the hallway.
"And don't come back until we call you!"
Hilary's brown eyes sparkled with laughter. "Nice move," she said appreciatively.
"When your team is all guys, you learn how to let them know to give you privacy. Especially if one of them is your brother."
"But Joseph isn't all that bad. I think."
"Exactly. That's what you think." Miriam's eyes showed irritation as the door opened again. "Kenny, if I have to tell you one more time…" she threatened as she turned around to face the intruder.
Icy blue eyes looked back at the irate girl in amusement. "Oops. Wrong pair of green eyes. I'm looking for a pair that looks a little happier to see me."
