The next day, Taylor tagged along with me and came to school. He didn't stay long. He just went early enough to talk to Nancy in the morning. Even though I talked to Nancy and her other friends every morning, this day, she and Taylor talked seperately in a group of their own. I couldn't decide whether I wanted to punch Nancy or Taylor's face in two!
In the afternoon, I was immediately reminded by Isaac that we had to leave for the interview. There was just one problem. We didn't have a ride there.
"Our parents are already gone. More errands. Zoe needed new diapers," Zac explained.
"Your parents are just about to leave to go... I don't know.... someplace."
"We thought we'd take Samantha and Michael to Laser Tag," my mom interupted from behind us. I saw Zac pout.
"Mom, they're not going to do this for fun. They were asked by the newspaper. They have too," I whined.
"Well, I suppose we could drop you off, but it's too far away to actually get there and then go to Laser Tag." This time my two siblings pouted.
I saw the look on my mom's face. I guess she'd already promised my brother and sister about going.
"Fine, fine. I know how we can get there. Mom, you go ahead, okay?"
"Are you sure Honey?"
"Yea." My parents both shrugged and turned to leave. Ike and Zac waved questionably to them.
"Okay, so now what do we do? Call the newspaper and cancel?" Zac asked, confused.
"No. This way we could even go someplace on our own afterwards. Mark has a convertable that he said he'd let me use when I was able to drive, but I'm sure he'd have no problem now."
Ike and Zac exchanged looks. "This had better work or else we're stuck here." I nodded.
"I'll go call him. Tell Tay we're going to leave," I said and ran to my room to use the phone. I dialed Mark's number and waited for an answer. Eventually someone picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hey, is Mark there?"
"This is him. Jennifer, is that you?"
"Yea, look can I ask you something?"
"Sure, I'm glad you finally called. What's up?"
"Well, I can't exactly talk long, but... would you mind if I borrowed your car?"
"My car? You can't drive..."
"Well, not for me to drive, but for Ike too. We need to get somewhere-"
"So now you're dating someone named Ike? First it's Tyler, now Ike?"
I laughed. "No, it's Taylor, not Tyler and Ike is his 17-year- old big brother. I'm not dating him. We just need a way of transportation."
Mark sighed into the phone. "Okay, okay, anything for you."
I was glad that Mark finally came into handy! "Thanks! You're a life saver!"
"Only if you go out on a date tommorow night with me!" he chimmed in.
"But-"
"Kidding, kidding. Don't kill me. Just come by and I'll lend my car to you."
"Thanks," I said and hung up.
"So?" Ike and Zac asked in unison when I came out of my room.
"He's letting us use it. All we have to do now is walk over to his house and get the car. He just lives a couple of blocks down."
"Cool! I've never ridden in a convertable before!" Zac exclaimed.
"Neither have I, Zac," I told him and laughed at myself for never taking a ride with Mark.
"Hey Taylor! Come on, let's go!" Ike yelled at Taylor who was downstairs with Jennifer (the mouse) and playing on our Sony Playstation.
"Hold on," he yelled in a faint voice. I heard the TV shut off and Jennifer's cage snap shut before he ran up the steps.
We hiked over to Mark's house and saw him parked outside on the driveway waiting for us. "Wow!" Zac yelled when he saw the yellow convertable.
"Hey Jennifer. Introduce me to these freaks while you're here," Mark greeted us smartly. All three of the Hanson brothers looked at him with disgusted faces.
"Okay, Mark, this is Isaac, Taylor, you already know him, and Zac. Guys, this is Mark." I hate introductions. I always feel like an idiot.
"So, these three guys are brothers? It's more like sisters to me," he said and snickered. Obviously Mark has a bad sense of humor. Isaac walked up to Mark and I stepped back and shock when I saw that they were almost the same height. Then again, Mark was only a year younger than Isaac.
"Look, punk, We're just here for the car, okay?"
"Alright, tough guy. Here are the keys," he said and tossed them to Ike. Then he turned to me and smiled. "Jennifer, come here and give you dear old Marky-poo a hug," he said in a puppy-dog voice.
When I turned away, he ran up to me and put his arms around me. Don't ask how loud I screamed. Let me just tell you that Zac was holding his ears. As I pushed him away, I spotted Taylor with a small look of jealousy on his face. "Eeewww! You creep! Leave me alone."
"Look, just bug off. She said to leave her alone," Ike said coming to my defense. Boy was I glad he was here!
"Well, geeze. You know, if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be able to go where you need too. I don't have to loan you this car. You should at least give me something in return!"
"Well, it's not gonna be me!" I said and hopped into the backseat of the car. Zac jumped into the front.
I ended up sitting next to Taylor although I didn't exactly want to. As we pulled out of his driveway, Mark waved and blew me a kiss. Jerk, I thought and looked away. Of course that meant I was now facing Taylor. I sighed and look at the back of Zac's seat instead.
We were silent the whole way.