I don't own the book series, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor does.
Hope you enjoy!
finally got out of my slump lol. I guess being sick rly in powers you to get stuff done.
Caroline POV:
As I thought about the manhunt game last night, I couldn't help but grin. Wally kissed me last night!
But as I thought about what Blake pulled, my grin turned into a frown. I couldn't believe he'd try to actually kiss me, I wanted to punch him.
I got up and I opened my bathroom door so I could brush my teeth. I heard my bedroom door open and I poked my head out of the bathroom.
Beth and Eddie sat on my bed, staring at me, grinning at me. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Their grins widened. "I don't know. We just got a call from Jake and Josh. They shared some very interesting news." Beth gave me The Look. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"Tell you what?" I walked towards my closet, trying to avoid them.
"You know exactly what she's talking about, Caroline." Eddie grinned at me, she was also giving me the look. "Why didn't you tell us that you and Wally kissed?"
I blushed. "Sorry. But someone else, other than Wally, kissed me last night."
Beth and Eddie's faces turned pale. "Not Jake or Josh, right? They didn't, did they?"
"No! No, it was Blake." The looks on their faces were priceless.
"Blake? As in Melanie's brother, that Blake?" Eddie questioned.
I nodded my head. "Yeah, he kind of forced himself on me. But when I screamed, Wally ran over and beat Blake up."
Their eyes widened in shock. "Wally? Beat someone up? Wow, I never thought he was the kind of guy that would beat someone up." Eddie smiled. "That means he must really like you."
I couldn't help but grin at that, because I knew it was true. "But I just have one question." Beth looked at Caroline. "When did this happen?"
"Last night. During manhunt. He told me that Wally needed to talk to me, so I went with him. I should've known something was up."
"Why?"
"Because he and Blake are enemies and always have been since Blake took Wally's best friend." I grinned. "Wally finally found a way to get him back for all that he'd done to him."
"Well, since today is Sunday, do you want to call the boys to see if they want to eat somewhere?" Eddie had a hopeful look on her face.
"Sure!" Beth and I grinned as they went to their own rooms to start getting ready.
First, I called Wally to see if he and his brothers wanted to meet up at KFC. I picked up the phone and dialed his number.
"Hello?" Wally answered, as he picked up his phone.
"Hey, I was just wondering if you and your brothers wanted to meet up with my sisters and I at KFC for lunch. Peter can even come if he wants to."
"Jake and Josh said that they want to come, but Peter won't be joining us."
"Why?" I wrinkled my nose in confusion.
"He's getting ready to go ice skating with his girlfriend, Emily." Wally giggled.
From somewhere in their house, I heard Peter scream, "She's not my girlfriend, Wallace! She's my friend, my only friend!"
"My bad. His friend who's a girl, Emily." Wally yelled. Then he turned back to me. "Sorry about that, Caro. Peter's being a big baby."
I had to giggle at that. "It's okay. I mean, if he wants to, he can bring her with us."
"Nah, I think he wants to be alone with her." From the other side of the line, I heard Peter let out a loud war cry and he started whacking Wally. "Ouch! Peter, stop hitting me! Get off me!"
As I heard Peter on the other side of the line, I couldn't help but laugh. "Peter! Peter! Stop it, I mean it! If you don't leave your brother alone, I won't make you anymore cookies, ever again."
On the other side, Peter whined. "Caroline, why are you threatening me with that? You know I can't resist!"
Wally and I both burst out laughing. "Because, I knew it would work! And it did! You fell right into my trap!" I had an evil grin on my face, as I snickered evilly.
"Caroline." Peter laughed, then his voice became more serious. "But you were kidding about not making me anymore cookies, right?"
I smirked, as though he could see me. "You'll just have to wait and see." I giggled as I hung up the phone, just as Peter said something else.
I put the phone back down in its cradle and walked back in my room to get ready.
Wally's POV:
A shade of bright light hit my face, as the sun rose to greet the morning. I yawned and got up from my bed.
I looked over at my clock, which read 7:30, and I decided to go ahead and get up.
When I walked outside my bedroom door, my brother, Peter, was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! What do I do?"
I grabbed my younger brother by his shoulders. "Calm down, Peter. What's wrong?" I watched as his cheeks turned as red as a tomato. "Ok, what's your problem? Girlfriend problems?"
"No." He retorted, but his ears gave him away; they were burning.
"Yeah, right. Tell me, I promise I won't make fun of you. Just tell me and I'll try and help you out."
"Alright, but you promise not to make fun of me, right?"
"Yes, I promise. Now, what's your dilemma?"
"You remember my friend, Emily, right?" He was staring at me with a hopeful look on his face.
"Yes. Now, what's up with her? Is she moving or something?"
"No! But I think I asked her out on a date."
I gave him a smirk. "You think? So did you or didn't you? There's only one right answer here."
Peter exhaled and gulped a few times before responding. "I did. I called her yesterday and asked her if she wanted to go to the ice skating rink with me."
"You go, Peter. That's great."
"I mean, still at the moment, she's just a friend."
"Well, friends are the best thing you can be at any time. Look at how Jake, Josh, and I ended up. Things ended up good for us and I believe it will go good for you, buddy."
"Thanks, but you do remember that you and the girls weren't even in the slightest of friends? You hated each other!"
"That's true, but think about it like this, we went from hating each other to dating."
Peter started to say something else, but then the hall phone rang and I ran out to pick it up. "Hello?" I asked.
"Hey, I was wondering if you and your brothers wanted to meet up with my sisters and I at KFC for lunch. Peter can even come if he wants to."
"Jake and Josh said that they want to come, but Peter won't be joining us."
"Why?" She asked and I could definitely hear the confusion in her voice.
"He's getting ready to go ice skating with his girlfriend, Emily." I laughed as Peter's face turned red.
He ran at me, swinging his arms. "She's not my girlfriend, Wallace! She's my friend, my only friend!"
"My bad. His friend who's a girl, Emily." I bellowed. Then I turned back to Caroline, who was waiting patiently on the line. "Sorry about that, Caro. Peter's being a big baby."
She giggled. "It's okay. I mean, if he wants to, he can bring her with us."
I grinned. "Nah, I think he wants to be alone with her." From far behind me, Peter let out a loud cry and started attacking me. "Ouch! Peter, stop hitting me! Get off me!"
On the other side of the line, Caroline was laughing her head off. "Peter! Peter! Stop it, I mean it! If you don't leave your brother alone, I won't make you anymore cookies, ever again."
From behind me, Peter whined. "Caroline, why are you threatening me with that? You know I can't resist!"
Caroline and I burst out laughing. "Because I knew it would work! And it did! You fell right into my trap!" She laughed evilly.
"Caroline." Peter giggled, but then his voice turned more serious. "But you were joking about not making me anymore cookies, right?"
"You'll just have to wait and see." She giggled as she hung up.
Peter lunged for the phone before I even got the chance to put it back in its cradle. "Caroline?! Carolina?! Please tell me you are joking!"
I cackled. "Bud, she already hung up and you know Caroline. She'll always make you cookies."
He exhaled in relief. "You're right. I'm being ridiculous."
"Yup. You are."
Peter frowned at me. "Gee, thanks."
"You're welcome." I laughed as I walked back in my room to get ready.
I put on a Aerosmith concert shirt and my black and white Converse. I brushed my teeth and hair and then went into Josh and Jake's room.
I found my brothers in their bedroom, getting ready too. "Hey."
"Hey, Wally. So are the girls ready for us to come pick them up?"
"Jake, you know that they're going to take more time than us to get ready. They're girls. They don't just brush their teeth and then get dressed. They do their makeup and then they have to pick out their clothes."
"Really?" Said my oblivious brother.
"Yes, really. So, let's just wait until they call us, okay?"
"Fine." They grumbled reluctantly.
Eddie's POV:
When Caroline told us that they said yes, I quickly ran into my bathroom to take a shower. I washed my hair, then my body and absorbed all of the soap in my skin.
After I got my body washed off, I got out and started to dry my hair so it would look decent. Then after 20 minutes of drying it, I started to get my outfit ready.
Since I'm still not a big girly girl, I went with the safest options, that still had a feminine side to it. I picked out a white t-shirt with my blue jean overalls and my black Converse.
I think it looks pretty cool, considering how I feel about looking too girly. "Caroline! Can you please come here?"
Caroline walked into my room, holding a makeup bag in her right hand. "What do you need?"
"Can you tell me if this is cute, but tomboyish too?"
Caroline stood back, and silently judged my outfit. "Turn around." I turned around. "It looks like something you'd wear, so I like it. Because honestly? I'd wear it too."
I smiled. "Really? You would?"
"Yeah, for sure. I think it's cute." She smiled back at me. "Wait, let me go put on my clothes and you can tell me what you think, okay?"
"Ok!" Caroline ran to her room, and came back a few minutes later, dressed in her clothes.
She was wearing pink, white, and blue checkered overalls with her light pink converse high tops. She did a quick spin. "What do you think?"
At first glance, it doesn't look like something I'd wear, but as I got a closer look, I realized it wasn't too bad. "Yeah, it's cute. You should definitely wear it. It's so you."
Her face lit up as I said it. "Really? You think it's cute? I didn't really think it was your type of clothing."
"It's not, not really, but I do like it. It's cute and so you. Wear it. You will regret it if you don't."
She hugged me. "Love you, Eds. By the way, happy birthday."
I smiled. "Love you too, Caro and thanks!" Suddenly, out of nowhere, Beth ran into me, nearing plowing me down in the process. "Woah, where's the fire, Beth?"
She rifled through my closet, slinging hangers to the other side. Then she turned to us, throwing her hands in the air. "I don't know what to wear!"
"Beth, chill. It's fine. I have an idea." I walked to her room and opened her double closet doors. I pulled out her plain red wine colored dress with see through tights and her black Converse high tops. "Here. This is what you want to wear."
She smacked herself in her face with her hand. "I'm so stupid. I completely missed it. I forgot I had that."
Caroline came up beside her. "You're not stupid. Just a little blind sometimes. If I didn't know you, I'd say that you need glasses."
That put a big smile on her face. "Thanks, Caro. You sure have a way of making people laugh." She said as we all cracked up as we continued to get ready.
Jake's POV:
As I started getting ready for our lunch date with the girls, I realized that I had to do something special for all of us.
I went online, to our local movie theaters website and ordered six tickets to the morning showing of a early 90's reshowing, Little Giants.
Everyone I know, including Caroline and Beth, love that movie. It's such a great movie. It's got sports, a strong and powerful female character.
Becky or Icebox, is just like Eddie, just with brown hair instead of blonde. They think a lot alike. They both love sports, are better at sports than most guys they know, and got a crush on someone on her team.
I blushed as I thought about that. I'm the guy Eddie likes. As if that wasn't clear, because I'm her boyfriend.
I'm buying these tickets as a birthday surprise for Eddie also. She probably thinks I forgot about her birthday, but I definitely didn't.
I got a cake waiting downstairs in the fridge. Chocolate and buttercream, which is her favorite.
I walked into the room I share with Josh and sat down on my bed. He was in the shower, so I just decided I'd wait for him.
In 15 minutes, the water turned off and Josh walked out into our bedroom. He turned around and then he jumped. "Oh! Jake, you scared me! How long have you been in here for?"
"Just 15 minutes. What are you planning on wearing?" I asked.
"Probably my favorite baggy jeans and a t-shirt with my red Converse high tops. What about you?" He questioned, as he grabbed his clothes from his side of the closet.
"Hmm, I haven't really thought about it. Guess I should start getting ready." I got up and started to look through my side of the closet. I decided on wearing a Blink-182 concert t-shirt with my new army green Converse high tops.
"Are we all ready? Is Wally ready too?" I asked, as Wally walked into our room, fully clothed. "Are you ready?"
"No." he said straight faced then he hit me upside my head. "Are you blind? Doesn't it look like I'm dressed? Guess it's time to call the girls."
I reached for the phone, hoping that Eddie would be the one to answer the phone.
Eddie's POV:
As I sat on the couch, waiting for the boys' to call to say they're ready, the phone rang and I snatched it up. "Hello?" I asked.
"Hey, we're ready if you guys are." He said.
I started to laugh. "Us? What about y'all? We've been waiting on y'all to call for like 30 minutes."
He laughed back. "I guess we do take longer than y'all do."
I started to grin. "Thought you'd know by now how long girls don't take to get ready. We've been dating for long enough."
He scoffed. "As if I'd pay attention to anything you say, I never listen anyway, remember?"
I couldn't help but laugh. "I remember. We'll see you in a minute. I love you."
He sighed, but not an annoyed one. A happy one, like he couldn't believe we are actually dating. "I love you too, Eds."
I hung up the phone and then I looked over at my grinning sisters. "What are ya'll grinning at?"
"You. Ya'll are so cute. I never thought that Edith Ann Malloy and Joseph Hatford would be the ones to say I love you to each other." Caroline said, giggling.
I blushed. "Whatever. Are ya'll ready?"
"Yup," Beth said. "Let's go." She opened the front door and we all piled out to see the boys' waiting on us outside.
Josh's POV:
I watched as Beth opened their front door and walked toward us. She looks so cute. I love that color on her. I pulled her in for a hug. "Hi, I missed you. I love you."
"Oh, Josh, I love you too. What all are we doing after we get done eating?" She asked, and the only response I even gave her was a look I shared with Jake. "What have ya'll got planned? Please tell me it's nothing too extravagant?"
"You'll just have to wait and see, Beth." Jake said, then he looked over at Eddie, and that was the moment I could tell she'd figured it all out. Her eyes lit up.
He clearly had planned something for her birthday today. "Hey, Eds, happy birthday, by the way." She said then looked over at Jake to see his reaction. He was staring at her with the most surprised expression.
I snickered into my palm, because he realized he can't hide everything. "Oh, I didn't realize it was your birthday today, Eddie! Happy birthday!"
"Thanks, Josh." She responded then she smiled at Jake, who just turned as white as a piece of paper. "You didn't forget, did you?"
"N-no! I didn't! I promise!" He blurted, blushing.
"You sure? It kind of seems like you did." Eddie said.
"No, I promise, I didn't!" He said.
We got in Jake's truck and I could see the cake that Jake had bought for Eddie, just barely sticking out from under the back seat. We didn't have enough seats for Caroline and Wally to sit inside of the truck, so they just sat in the bed of the truck. It didn't seem to bother them, though. They we're hugging and kissing like they were the only ones in the world.
We drove all the way into town, straight to KFC for lunch. As soon as we pulled into a parking spot and everyone, other than Jake and I, went inside.
Jake grabbed the cake out the back floorboard and turned to me. "What am I supposed to do with this? How am I supposed to hide it from her until after we get done eating?"
I rolled my eyes at him. "I have an idea for you. How about you just leave it in your truck until after we get done eating, maybe like a normal person?"
"Oh, real nice. Make fun of the guy whose girlfriend thinks I forgot her birthday."
He had a worried look on his face and I realized that he was seriously stressed out. "Hey, I'm sorry. I know what It's like. Back when they lived here the first time, Beth thought I had forgotten her birthday too. I felt bad when she told me that she thought I'd forgotten."
"Understandable." He agreed, then it must have hit him. "Wait back when they lived here the first time? I thought ya'll two stopped dating after that whole Valentines day fiasco."
I blushed. "We did, but only for a month or two. By the that time, it was probably March or May." He stared hard at me, which only made me blush even more.
"May?! Like before June, that May?" He exclaimed, as we walked into KFC.
I chuckled uneasily. "Yeah, that May." I responded as we ordered our food and then waited for them to give it to us. "You aren't going to mention anything about what I just told you, are you?"
He shook his head. "No. We all have secrets. I was just surprised, that's all. I wish you'd told me that ya'll two had been dating though."
"Why?" I asked we got closer to our table. "So, that way it would've been easier for you to make fun of me?"
"No! I promise I wouldn't have made of you guys for it!"
I was surprised, to say the least. But then I stopped talking about it, because we'd sat down at the table with the rest of them.
I saw Eddie and I swear she looks so pissed off. And then I remembered. She thinks Jake forgot her birthday.
Well, she's in for a surprise!
Eddie's POV:
After we ordered our food and then found a table, I looked all around the room for Jake. But I couldn't see him. But I won't lie; I was really pissed off with him. I'm like a 101% sure that he actually did forget about my birthday.
But then I saw him, through one of the windows. Josh and him were standing outside, just talking. I sat there for a several minutes, just wondering what they were talking about. Then they came inside, and sat down at the table with us. This was after they'd ordered their food, though.
I saw Josh staring at me as soon as they sat down. His look seemed to say something along the lines of, "Jake didn't really forget." But how could that be? Because he really made it seem like he did.
But I decided to just to push pass it, and enjoy a nice day with my boyfriend, my sisters, and their boyfriends. "Isn't such a nice day outside?"
"Warm, but also freezing cold." Caroline added, then she grinned. "Just the way I like it."
Everyone laughed, nodding their agreement. "You have such a way with words, Caro. No doubt about it." Wally said, as he grinned at her which made her giggle and punch him on his shoulder.
"I've always known that. I'm "dramatic" as y'all like to say. I'm just loud." Caroline laughed.
"That's for sure." I muttered, causing everyone to burst out laughing. "You have a case of RMD, don't you know?"
Caroline took a bite out of a biscuit and crinkled her nose. "What's RMD?"
"Running Mouth Disease." I smirked at my youngest sister, whose mouth dropped open.
"Hmmph! I just like to talk a lot, and there's nothing wrong with that!" Caroline said, all grumpy.
Wally grinned and kissed her on her cheek. "Absolutely not. You're my favorite out of your sisters."
"Are you serious, Wallace James Hatford? How am I not your favorite Malloy sister? I've teased you the most!" I said, grinning at him.
"Well, she's my girlfriend, so obviously, I'm going to pick her. But if I had to have a second choice, it would obviously be you, Eddie. But then again, you are the most annoying one too."
"Ooh, he burned you, Eddie. You gonna stand for that?" Jake teased me.
"Nah, he barely even opens his mouth, so I'll let him take this one. He's normally the quiet one." I laughed as I shoved a biscuit in my mouth.
"Hardy har. A true class clown." Wally said in a sarcastic tone of voice.
"You know it." I smirked. "I've always been all of my teacher's favorite students. I just can't do anything wrong."
Jake snorted. "That's not how Mrs. Jacobson felt." He mentioned their 6th grade teacher, who absolutely despised me.
I waved my hand at him. "So? The feeling was mutual. For all three of us." I pointed at myself, Jake, and Josh. And all because of the first encounter we had as kids.
"She really hated us, didn't she?" Josh snorted, laughing. "We were just a couple of kids, who just so happened to get into trouble anytime we got within five feet of each other."
Everyone laughed, because of how true it was. Almost every time they got together, the police got involved. LITERALLY.
"At least she's not our teacher anymore. But doesn't Peter have her? Oof, he's in for a rough ride." I cackled.
"You got that right." Josh agreed, as he finished off his lunch.
Caroline's POV:
After we got done eating, Jake discreetly slipped out the door and to his truck.
What's he up to? I wondered, as I watched him through the window.
I watched as he grabbed a Walmart bag out of his truck and in the other hand, he held a pack of candles and a lighter.
Suddenly, everything clicked. Jake's nervousness when Eddie said he forgot her birthday. It all made sense.
He walked back in and took the cake out of the bag and placed it on the table. "Happy birthday, Eddie. I'm sorry that you thought I forgot. I couldn't forget. I wouldn't."
A huge grin slipped onto her face. "Aww, Jake! I'm so happy to have you!" She jumped up and ran over to him and hugged him.
"I have another surprise for you too, but you'll have to wait until after we leave." He was grinning so much, I thought he was going to be stuck like that.
"Can't you give me one tiny little hint? Please???" Eddie begged.
"No way. This is a surprise. You'll just have to wait and see."
Eddie pouted and then laughed. "Let's hurry up and finish eating then. I can't wait for my surprise." She said, as she shoveled the rest of her chicken sandwich in her mouth.
I laughed, as I took a sip of my Coca Cola and caught Wally's eye and winked.
He smiled and winked back as we finished our food.
Jake's POV:
After we finished our food and ate the cake, we got back in the truck and headed to the surprise. Aka the movies.
Eddie looked happy when she saw where we were. "Ooh! What movie are we seeing? Is this my surprise?"
"You'll just have to wait and see. I've already bought 6 tickets beforehand, so all we have to do is go inside, print out the tickets, and buy popcorn and stuff then go watch the movie." I said.
Caroline and Wally hopped out the bed of the truck and the rest of us piled out the truck.
Eddie had a big smile on her face as we walked inside the movie theater. "Go look at the popcorn and candy and see what you want." I said, as I walked over to the movie ticket printer.
I printed out all six tickets then went to go get my food. "Could I get a medium coke, nachos, popcorn, and a candy pack of Gobstoppers." I asked the woman at the booth.
"You sure can. Just let me go and get them for you." In a few minutes, she returned with all of my food in her hands.
"Thank you." I paid for it all then ran over to where everyone else was waiting for me.
"Jake, which movie theater room are we going in? Like what's the number?" Eddie questioned.
I looked down at our tickets, then gave them to each of them. "It's number 3. And don't look at the name of the movie. I want it to be a surprise for Eddie."
"Aww, how sweet. Jake doesn't want to spoil the surprise." Caroline cooed, grinning at him.
"You shut up." I pushed her into the theater door.
We all walked in and sat on a row and we all got settled in. The movie hadn't started yet, so we were all sitting watching the previews.
One of the previews caught Eddie's eyes and she turned to me grinning. "Is this what I think it is?" It was the preview of that singing animal that stopped singing anytime the man would show him to anyone.
"You bet it is. I knew you'd like it." I said, grinning.
"Like it? No, I love it. Thank you." She leaned over and kissed me on my cheek. I physically and mentally melted from her touch. Then she said three little words, that made my heart start to pound. "I love you."
"Gosh, Eddie, I love you too."
"Thanks for the best birthday ever. You're the best boyfriend."
"I know, I know." I said, as I pulled her in my arms and kissed her. I couldn't believe she was mine.
We spent so much time fighting as kids, I honestly never thought I'd be dating her right now or that she'd even be back here, living in Buckman.
I love Eddie so much, and I'd just die if we broke up. I'm glad she feels the same way about me.
I think we always have; we just didn't know how to show it.
