Chapter 12

Vega had just finished her chocolat-strawberry milkshake when she heard a knock bang on her front door. Tay checked his watch. "That can't be Ike!" he said. "He'd be an hour early!". Vega shrugged and her and Taylor walked hand in hand towards the front door. They opened the door to see Isaac, looking sad as ever. "Ike!!" Vega said, dropping Tay's hand and giving Ike a huge embrace along with a kiss on the cheek. "Well... nice to see you too!" said Ike with a huge surprised look on his face. Tay gave Ike "the look" while Vega was hugging his brother. Ike stuck his tounge out at Tay and pulled away from Vega. "Well tay we've really got to get going... man Vega do you look good!" Ike said, closing the door behind him.

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"Uh!! Can you believe that.... that... girl!?!" Becca yelled at Jacqui, pointing to Vega's house. "She holds Tay's hand and then she hugs and kisses IKE? That chica is going doooooooowwwwwwwwwn!!" Becca said, scowling. Jacqui sat in the passenger seat of the car laughing at Becca. "You're so overprotective of your 'men'! No wonder Guime wanted to get out of Farmington so bad! He just wanted to get away from his stalker!" Jacqui said, still laughing. Becca in turn gave Jacqui "the look". "That was waaaay below the belt!" she said, pouting, and remembering how jealous she had been when Guime and Lindsey had gone to Homecoming together. "So what do we do? Ike's car is right there, and the 2 guys we love more than anything are inside that chick's house!" Becca said, snapping back to the present crisis. "I say we go beat her up!" Jacqui said sarcastically. "Ha, right, I wish!" Becca said, clenching her fist. "Okay chica, let's think this through. What would a true fan do in this situation?" Jacqui asked calmly, not being able to wait to see what Becca's next over-reacting answer would be. "She would.... she would.... get in Ike's car!!" Becca said, running over to he Blue Bug. "What if they come out?" Jacqui said, climbing out of Becca's convetible. "Then we hop in my car and speed!" Becca said, laughing as she headed towards Ike's Bug.

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Vega was oblivious to the brother's growing rivalry over her. She walked into the kitchen as the 2 boys followed her. She sat down and crossed her legs. "Why don't you sing me something?" she asked, fluttering her eyelashes. "Umm.. not now, we really have to go," Tay said, grabbing her hand and pulling her up. "V, don't ever forget me, alright? Remember, I love you," Tay said, more to rub it in the face of Ike than to really mean it to Vega. "And I love you too," Vega said, pulling Tay into an embrace. "Hey Ike could you excuse us for one sec?" Tay asked politely. Ike looked at the ground and kicked a twistie tie that was on the floor. "Alright," he muttered, walking towards the front door. He opened the door and sat on the front porch swing alone. Inside, Taylor and Vega were looking into eachother's eyes. Do I try for another kiss? Tay asked his conscience. He decided to, and kissed Vega's lips. She kissed him back and then pulled away, putting her head on his shoulder. She sniffled, and Tay hoped to God she wasn't crying. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. He tucked it into her palm and said, "Don't read this until I'm gone," he said soothingly. She nodded with her face downcast. He kissed her one more time and said, "Bye, V." She looked up and gave him a weak smile and managed to get out, "Bye Jordan."

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"Oh my gosh! He's coming!" Becca whispered excitedly to Jacqui. "I can't believe you talked me into this!" Jacqui said, as the 2 were hiding on the floor under a blanket in Ike's back seat. "Oh my gosh!! Tay's coming too!" Becca said, elbowing Jacqui. "No! Becca don't lie to me like that! Like they'd actually be in Detroit, and much less in the same car as us!" Jacqui said unbelievingly. "Shh!! They're coming!" Becca said, ducking under the blanket. Both car doors opened simultaniously. "She's really beautiful, Tay," Ike said as the bug pulled out of Vega's drive-way. "yeah," Tay mumbled as they merged into traffic on Grand River. Jacqui elbowed Becca, who was just as P.O.'d as her. Both of their crushes were obsessed with some anorexic blond chick! Becca sighed loudly as Jacqui slapped her hand over Becca's mouth. "Did you say something?" Tay asked Ike. "No..." Ike replied, as Becca laughed silently to herself. Now if only Guime and Phil were here, Becca thought to herself, as the Bug drove off to who-knows-where.