Every Family Has Their Issues. . .

"'Friend' is such a complicated word. It can mean anything from acquaintance to sibling. They're the people you know you can count on no matter what you've done. They love you for who you are - inside and out. They know everything about you - all of your faults, dark secrets, your deepest desires, and your most admirable traits. When separated, they're all you can think about. Anyone else you know feels like they know them because they're all you can talk about. You're so comfortable when you're with them that, sometimes, it's the only time you can fall asleep. They've redefined the way you live your life - you can't remember how it used to be because you could swear you never really lived before them. People ask what you've been up to since you last met and you can only laugh as you remember the latest harebrained adventure. Tears flood your eyes when you realize that they're the only ones that really understand you. And you know, without a doubt, that they aren't going anywhere. You know that, unlike everyone else in your life, they will never order you away because you complete them as much as they complete you. They're the people you go to when the world has become too complicated, because with them everything is simple. You have your own dialect that only they understand - even if every word is English. They look into your eyes and see what no one else can see. They know when you need a ray of sunshine or how to hold you as the lightning strikes. They're the only ones who know how to pick up the pieces when your world has crumbled. The pain they inflict - though more exquisite than any you'll ever feel - is beautiful because it only brings you closer. When you find someone that fulfills this definition don't ever let them go, because people like these are few and far between."
The question is, how to you keep from losing them. This little family is just that - a family. It would be naive to expect us to be all fine and dandy all the time. No family in the history of this entire world can say that. No two people can - let alone the four of us. It is one of the only things you can count on as a human being. Now, I am, in no way, implying that you should be expecting every little detail to be a problem. You've got to live your life like every day is your last, how else do you expect to get anything done? It is just something you can't let throw you off, or the shock of it will take you over.
I don't need to go into detail about said problems. No one really needs to know - heck, I'm not sure that the four of us have the same story for all present issues. The only thing I'm trying to say is what ever stupid decisions we have or haven't made, how ever justified we felt, whatever we've said and/or done - of all of the people in the world there is no one more important than your family. Things happen. Period. Your life, thoughts, actions, relationships, EVERY LITTLE DETAIL is up to you. You can't let others dictate that for you. People - myself and everyone I love included in this - ARE STUPID. Miscommunications lead to actions which lead to hurt feelings which lead to fights that destroy people.
I am tired of implications ruining everything that makes my life worth living. I am actually going to stand back and let this one take its course, hereby relinquishing my title as the 'know-it-all-problem-solver.' Any questions asked of me will be answered in pure honesty - it is up to you to ask the questions and take my answers. I'll take the pain I know expressions might cause because it will only bring us closer. Balance won't be found unless you make a physical effort to find it. I'm not angry - just opinionated. The three people I share this blog with fulfil my definition of friend better than I think they know - I just hope they can say the same for me.

Express.....not so much.

You know guys...I just realized something.
I actually kind of hate express. I guess it was just
because I've only been in there once or twice, and have
never actually bought a ton of clothes from there, but yeah. Not
such a big fan anymore.

"My mom wants to know if you'll take an IOU?"

As Ryan -The Comic Relief- said in his blog post, planned days are the only time he and I can ever hang out. Ryan and myself have not hung out in a really long time, and the list of stuff we wanted to do just kept getting longer and longer. So finally, we decided that we would just make a day that we could hang out, so we decided on last week.

About two weeks ago, Ryan and myself were talking about the possibility of me meeting one of Ryan's best friend, Mandy. Ryan has not seen her for a couple years (I think... I may be wrong), and I know he misses her like crazy. So I told him that I would be willing to drive him to Brigham City to see her. We had our minds set on Tuesday the 28th, and we both got that day off work.

The day before our little adventure up north, I texted Ryan to make sure everything was still going according to plan. Ryan replied informing me that there was a scheduling conflict, and Mandy was not able to make time to meet us. I was disappointed because I have heard so much about Mandy, and she seems like a really awesome girl, so I wanted to meet her. But, despite the fact that our original plan failed, I was still determined to hang out with him.

So the next day I showed up at Ryan's house somewhere around noon, and I showed him a really awesome shirt from Express -The "Ryan's Hell"- that Katie had bought for me. (To give a little history, Ryan loves Express, but he won't let himself buy stuff from there because that store is super expensive.) Express was having a sale on their shirts, and they were only $20 instead of the normal $60. Ryan didn't believe me, so he went onto their website, and sure enough, they were having a sale on their shirts. After debating with himself (which is always fun to watch), Ryan finally decided to go to Express with me to buy some clothes.

Almost two hours later, Ryan and I ended up at the South Towne Mall and went straight for Express. (Yeah, that's right, Ryan Ditty was inside of Express.) We both spent some time looking at different shirts and everything. I found a couple shirts I wanted to try on, so I went into the changing rooms. I asked an employee (who, by the way, had a very peculiar lisp) if he could let me in and he opened a door for me. "So, what's your name?" he asked me.

"Tanner," I responded.

"Hi, Tanner. I'm Tim, just let me know if you need anything, honey."

I closed the door in shock, instantly I sent a text to Ryan: "So, the MALE employee over here just called me honey."

"You are such a homo magnet," Ryan replied. I laughed out loud for a couple minutes, and tried on the shirts I had. After deciding on the purple shirt (yes, I said purple), I walked out to find Ryan staring at a pair of pants. "These are one hundred dollars!" he said to me as I walked up next to him.

"You know you want to get them, Ryan. They'll look so good on you," I said, provoking him.

"You are a bad influence," Ryan muttered as he walked away from the pants, disappointed. We shopped around for a little bit longer, Ryan decided on a shirt, and we stepped up to the cash register. "Wow," Ryan said, "I didn't think I would ever walk out of this place only spending twenty one bucks." I just laughed because I could tell there were about two hundred dollars worth of other things he wanted.

We walked around the mall, looking for Banana Republic (Ryan gets a discount there through his older brother), but there wasn't one in that mall, so we decided to drive up to Fashion Place Mall. After driving up to Fashion Place, we got bored and got on the freeway heading home. However, I accidentally got on the wrong side of the road, and ended up going the totally opposite direction of where we wanted to go. So the idea poped into my mind, "Well, we could always see your cousin." Ryan was hesitant because of the long driving distance, to which I just looked at him. "Oh, that's right, Tanner, you like driving." Ryan called Ethan (his cousin) and asked Ethan what he was up to. "Oh, well call me back when you're finished," I heard Ryan say as he hung up. "Ethan's cleaning his car, and he has no plans for the night. Let's go up and surprise him," he said to me.

"Okay," I said (excitedly, of course). I then stepped on the gas and continued my way up to Farmington. After fifteen minutes, we arrived at our exit, and Ryan pointed me in the direction towards Ethan's house. After being lost for a few minutes, we finally arrived at our point of destination, just to discover that Ethan was gone. So Ryan called Ethan "Where are you?" Ryan was being totally casual, and told Ethan to call him when he got home. Then Ryan started getting really defensive (I then knew that Ethan was guessing Ryan was up there) and guilted Ethan into believing that Ryan just wanted to talk.

After driving around a little bit waiting, Ryan finally got a call from Ethan. Ryan then hung up after talking for two seconds, "He already knows we're here." So we showed up at Ethan's house and kidnapped him to Starbucks (where else would we go?). While Ryan forced Starbucks at Ethan, Ethan texted him mom informing her that he had been kidnapped. His mom answered asking what the ransom would be, to which Ryan replied that it had to be hazelnut chocolate. Then, Ethan texted some girls who were in love with Ryan. After a twenty minute long debate, Ethan convinced me to drive them both to some crazy girl's house (I don't remember her name, let's call her Mary).

We showed up to Mary's house, and Mary also had a friend (...Sarah? Yeah, let's go with that) Sarah over (another girl desperate for Ryan's love). We stood in the freezing cold outside world, and then Ethan got a phone call from his mom. "Yeah, I'm just at Mary's house," then he turned to Ryan, "My mom wants to know if you'll take an 'I-Owe-You'?"

"NO! I want my chocolate now!" Ryan demanded. We just laughed as Ethan ran off to finish talking to his mom. Then Sarah got a phone call from her friend, and she ran off leaving Ryan and myself alone. "We need to get away from here," Ryan whispered to me. I just laughed, and texted Lizzie Ostler (my fiancé), and sent "Lizzie, call me right now and yell at me for not showing up on our date."

Right as I hit send everyone was back together standing in the most awkward conversation I have ever seen. Not too long later, my phone rang. "OH CRAP!" I yelled, "I forgot about Lizzie!"

"Really? Well, we've got to go, Tanner forgot about his date with his girlfriend," Ryan informed Mary and Sarah, and we were off. Ryan, Ethan, and myself just laughed as we drove off and explained to Lizzie why I asked her to yell at me.

After that we took Ethan home, and headed to our house again to meet up with Katie. Overall, it was a pretty fun and exciting night.

Worst bunch of Pirates you'll ever meet!

Its no secret that I am the plotter and I bare my title with pride! Tonight was one of my better ideas if I do say so myself. Paige has been out of town for pretty much the entire Christmas Break, but that wasn't going to stop me! I've been wanting to do something worth telling about for a VERY long time.

Maddy Taylor -The Little Samurai- and I decided last night that we were going to finally live up to one of the quotes on the blog: "My next door neighbor just hoisted the Jolly Roger, I think that means they commandeered the neighborhood." however we did not commandeer a neighborhood. Our story begins with Maddy and I trying to find the Jolly Roger. Shockingly enough it is rather hard to find a pirate flag at the end of December. After trudging our way through three different party/toy stores (and not to mention the treasure chest and aloha bubbly gum coins that we picked up on the way) we found ourselves at the mall, turns out that unique gifts carry's pirate flags, who knew! We gathered our things and broke for a few hours, only to be reunited by the blasted snow storm. After dressing in our very sexy pirate apparel we set out.

As any good Plotter knows the outcome of every adventure can be pretty much marked by the first five minutes, and Maddy and I were not off to a good start; we couldn't even get the gate open to leave my backyard! After wrestling with the gate for a while we hobbled our way to her car, only to find that her keys were missing. We make the worst pirate team of all freaking time! Lucky for us Maddy keeps an extra set of car keys in her martial arts bag. Everything we thought was sure to be smooth sailing from there.

We began our commandeering by stealing the beloved Harry Potter books from their shrine and hiding them behind some other books, then we set sail on her bed! Every good pirate knows that you must set sail to find your buried treasure, but there was a slight problem, we didn't have a map. So being the cunning teenage pirates we are, we simply made one on the spot. During the map making process, we suddenly heard footsteps echoing from the upstairs. My heart plunged into my stomach! I honestly thought we were dead.
A voice rang from upstairs,"Hello?" the voice of a male carried downstairs.
"Hey," I responded shaking, "We are Paige's two best friends!" I figured that no matter what I said I would most likely end up attempting to explain to the cops that I wasn't in fact stealing anything but I was honestly the best friend of one the girls who lived here. But it was worth a try.
"Katie?" The voice said shocked.
Suddenly Taylor -Captain Jack- appeared from the 'secret staircase', a look of utter bewilderment on his face. My heart slowed just a bit, but I then realized how ridiculous Maddy and I looked, dressed like pirates without Paige being home.
"Hey Taylor!" Maddy exclaimed.
"What are you doing?" He asked edging toward the two of us.
"Commandeering Paige's room!" I said with my classic plotting smile.
"Can I join?!" A smile slid across his face.
"Of course! We'll just have to write you into our story."

We were suddenly off again with Taylor as a mate on our adventure! To make things better he brought his Ipod which had the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack on it! We ventured onward for a few hours more, and successfully commandeered Paige's room by hoisting the Jolly Roger above her bed. To make things even better all 85 pictures made it on facebook!

Moments Like These

Wait, you can rent golf carts? No. Way.

*****BTW, this story is the background story to the story about our day at the Thanksgiving Point Gardens... so read it.******

So, me and Katie have this tradition of always being... stupid. It's not like we plan it, it's just that we do stupid stuff when we're together. This time is not an exception.

Once upon a very long time ago, Katie and I were just clocking off, and I decided that I wanted to show Katie the gardens at Thanksgiving Point. I've always loved this place, and I thought I should show her the beauty inside. So I drove her over from our work, paid for the admission, and we started to walk towards the beauty. As we were just walking out, I noticed some golf carts that were parked outside. I ignored them, and Katie and I started our trek down to the waterfall (my favorite attraction). Then, all of a sudden, out of no where, by surprise, without prior notice, a golf cart with guests drove past us.

"Wait, you can rent golf carts?" Katie asked. "No. Way."

"Yeah, it's like 20 bucks." I said.

"Oh, never mind then."

"Katie?" I turned to her. "I have twenty dollars, we are so renting a golf cart!"

"Okay," her excited voice screamed.  I ran back inside to buy a golf cart, and walked out with a cashier who instructed us on how to use a golf cart.  After making fun of the fact that we already knew the peddle on the right meant "go," Katie and I were off!

*Keep in mind, Katie and I are teenagers.  We were just handed a golf cart in a public garden.  Let the games begin.*

Katie had the wheel first, and she speed (well, as fast as you can in a golf cart.  Let me repeat: well, as fast as you can in a golf cart.  Have I made it clear that golf carts are not fast?  Okay, good.  Keep this in mind when you read the next Gardens story.) down the hill towards... fun!  Her and I switched off several times during the two hour period driving our rented green friend.  We sped around everywhere we could, having fun, laughing, talking, the works.  Then, Katie found a spot in the path where two other trails met and came to a circle- a round a bout.  Next thing I know, I am seeing the same spot in the grass every seven seconds, and Katie drove in circles screaming "Round-a-bout!!!!!"

I laughed as Katie drove us around and around and around again on this little round-a-bout we found in the middle of the gardens.  After going around the twenty sixth time Katie looks over at me, "Why is it that my brother takes me on better dates than my boyfriend?"  I just laughed as I grabbed the wheel from her, pulling her out of the circle saying "Because I'm sexier than him, and he's a whore."

Then I directed Katie towards the waterfalls.  If any of you don't know anything about the waterfall at the Thanksgiving Point Gardens, it is the biggest man-made waterfall in the Western Hemisphere (that's North and South America.  Yeah, I passed world geography).  This thing is HUGE! and it's beautiful!  There's trail at the top where you can look down and look at all of the inner workings of the waterfall.  I instructed Katie through the small trail, looking at the beauty inside the waterfall.  As we were pulling out of the waterfall, I looked behind to see a sign that said

No Segways

No Wheelchairs

No Golf Carts

"Umm, Katie?" I said.  "Look at the sign behind us."  She stopped the car and just laughed, "we better not get in trouble for that!"  We hurried off of that trail and back to our starting point.

Not long after, it was my turn to drive, so I grabbed the wheel, and I "just happened" to find the round-a-bout again, and Katie and I spun around continuously for several minutes.  Katie and I always went back to that place to go around in circles.  By the end of the day, Katie and I had probably spent about twenty minutes total just spinning in the round-a-bout.  It was awesome.  As we walked out of the gardens, we had decided that we would invite Ryan and Paige along really soon the next time we wanted to go to the gardens.  That day ended up being August 16th, and that story will have to wait.

Ryan and I

Even in this Family, we've got our clicks. Katie and Tanner end up doing a lot together, and Ryan and I end up doing a lot together. I can't claim to know the inner workings of Tanner and Katie's relationship, but Ryan and I's goes pretty deep. I've known him for just over six months at the least, and he is one of TWO people that really gets me. I'm not discrediting Katie and Tanner at all, Ryan and I just think on the same brainwave, if that makes any sense. I don't know if any of you reading this have that person that just immediately understands you, but let me tell you, it can change your life.
As you can probably guess, with one thing or another (which is a MUCH more loaded phrase than most people realize), Ryan and I have gotten really close. So, as I was saying my final goodbyes today (before my trip to Hawaii for a week, just to clear up any confusion in case you got the wrong idea from the 'I'm Not Going Anywhere post), he stayed a little later than Katie and Tanner, because I'd been with them while he was working and they had to take Katie's cousin Caleb - The Inspiration - back to his home in Spanish Fork. We didn't want to go into my house because the rest of my family was scrambling to get ready for our trip but we didn't want to stand out in the cold, so we ended up sitting in front of my house in Birdie - The Painted. We just talked about this and that, covering anything we felt like we needed to for the past and previous weeks.
We should have known something was up when about 10 different cars passed us. First off, it was about 11:30 at night. Secondly, my road is never really busy, unless school is just getting out. Ryan even said, "I've never seen this many cars on this road." We just ignored them though. It was harder to ignore the huge white truck, however, because it decided to stop outside my neighbor's house, with its lights off. We both watched for someone to get out, but there was no sign of life. Feeling like we'd rather not be focusing on the looming locomotive, we did our best to ignore it, talking still, but we stopped when the car lurched forward and came at us, aiming for poor, defenseless Birdie - The Painted. Right before it was about to hit Birdie - The Painted - the truck turned and continued like it was just going down the street. Suddenly, there was this blinding light behind us, as the truck's headlights appeared in Birdie - The Painted's - back window. Both of us gasped for air as the blue and red 'cop lights' flashed behind us. When I say flashed, I quite literally mean flashed, because the officer only kept the lights on for a second or two.
Ryan and I waited, with baited breath, waiting for any sign of movement from the cop, and didn't see any for an unusually long minute or so - which really is a pretty slow reaction time, believe me, I would know. Finally, I see the beam of a flashlight on the road next to the truck and Ryan rolls down his window. The cop meanders up to Birdie - The Painted - making sure to check the back seat before coming level with Ryan's window.
"How're you guys doing tonight?" he asks.
I honestly had to resist the urge to roll my eyes. Like he really cared.
"We're good," Ryan and I replied simultaneously.
"What're you up too?" he asked - finally getting to the point.
"We're just sitting here talking. . ." Ryan said nervously.
"Well you don't get too many people 'talking' in a car outside some one's house on a Tuesday night," the cop said.
"It's her house," Ryan said instantly, pointing at me.
I waved, like 'Hi, I'm innocent, I swear.'
"Oh, that makes much more sense," the cop said, as apologetically as a cop could. "I had to check, you know, just because."
"It's fine," we replied.
"Have a good night you guys," he said.
"Thank you, sir, you too," we said, and I waved again for good measure.
He went back to his car and pulled away. Only when we were out of his sight range did we collapse in on each other, dying of laughter.
"They're following me," I said. "I'm telling you."
"It's just your luck, Paige," he replied, shaking his head.

Moments Like These

Truly A Family

If I were to look back on the eighteen years I've been alive, I'd tell you that I, honestly, hardly remember any of it. It's not like I repress memories, though there are a few that I know I have, it's just that I've got a really odd way of sorting through what is important and what isn't. This is why I started the blog - so that I'd always remember no matter what. I feel like this says it all for me. "Even though we've changed and we're all finding our own place in the world, we all know that when the tears fall or the smile spreads across our face, we'll come to each other because no matter where this crazy world takes us, nothing will ever change so much to the point where welre not all still friends."
You've seen our posts about the song 'Old School' by Hedley. I did another one of those turn a song into a story kind of writings for that song, and, naturally, Ryan, Katie, and Tanner all star in this particular story. (*it is written as a follow up to my previous writing on For Good. Again, I didn't move, and am not going to move to Florida. EVER.)

Old School

"Mommy, the phone is fo' you," Kialya, my daughter, called from below.

"Who, love?" I asked, looking up from my computer.

"Aunt Kate," she answered - I pulled myself out of my chair.

"I'm coming," I called, mounting the spiral stairs. Her velvet coice prattled on, filling Katie's ear with the deepest desires of her two-year old life.

"Mommy is making her story," I heard. "She say she almost done, but guess what Aunt Kate? I know what happens!"

There was a moment of silence - the little angel's laugh tinkled, "But Aunt Kate, I pwomised I wouldn't tell!"

"Tell her what?" I asked, walking into the room.

"She wanna know how it ends," Kialya said in her best tattle-tale tone.

"Nope," I said, picking her up - her small form resting on my hip. "Not even your daddy knows that, huh?"

"No," she said with the girlish chuckle that I cherished, "but I do 'cause I special. Bye-bye, Aunt Kate."

She handed me the phone and snuggled her head into my neck. "Hello, love," I said inot the reciever.

"Ahoy-hoy, we're still on for dinner at your house, right?"

"Yeup, I'm gonna get started as soon as I'm off the phone."

"Awesome, I just had to check - you get so wrapped up in that book of yours," she said. "I'll see you in an hour."

"Yeup, don't die."

She just laughed in response. The line went dead. I set Kialya down, and headed to the kitchen.

"Is Aunt Kate comin'?" she asked, struggling onto one of the mahogany chairs around the table.

"She is," I said, bustling around the kitchen for the makings of dinner - which I really had forgotten about. "Do you know what that means?"

"Is Unca Tanner and Unca Ditty comin' too?" asked ehr eager voice; I couldn't help but smile as her face lit up.

I nodded and an excited squeal tore from her soul.

"Do I gets presnts?"

"We'll see," I said, shaking my head - they spoiled her as if she were their grandkid.

"Will you make 'pasketti, mommy? 'Pasketti is nommy."

"You read my mind, angel," I said. "How about you get your words? You can practice them in here while mommy makes dinner."

She waddled off and was back in seconds clutching her little 'rhyming families' folder. She poured over the words studiously as I continued to prepare dinner. Once everything was cooking, I washed my hands - Kialya looked up expectantly.

"Honey, I'm going to get ready," I said. "Don't go near the stove."

She nodded and went back to her words. I was just attempting to sneak back to my book when I heard a knock and the pitter-patter of Kialya's feet.

"Who is it?" she called through the door.

"The boogey man," taunted Ryan's voice from outside.

"But the booey man sca-wee," she whined. "Can you not be booey man?"

I heard Ryan laugh from the other side of the door, "It's Uncle Ditty, Kialya."

She squealed and threw the door open. Ryan stood in the empty frame, taller than ever, but it didn't stop him from bending down to Kialya's height to say hello properly - which sometimes included a gift - chocolate, little toys, a puppy - and always a hug.

"Oh! This is my favorite kind!" she squealed as I walked into the room.

"Hey, Ry," I said, he straightened and we hugged. "What have I told you about spoiling her dinner?"

"I was at the store. . . I couldnt' resist," he said, putting his hands up.

"Look at what I got!" Kialya demanded proudly, showing me a 'Cookies n' Cream' bar.

"Nom! Why don't you go hide it until it's time for desert?"

She toddled off.

"She is just like you," said Ryan. "How's the book coming?"

"I'm almost done," I said, leading him into the kitchen. "I've just gotta work out the dedication."

"You'll get it," he said, glancing around. "Where's the hubby?"

"The game," I said, rolling my eyes. "He knew I have you guys over tonight so he made plans with his friends, since I refuse to go."

Ryan smiled knowingly and Kialya came back into the room - utterly confused.

"Can'da is at the door," she said.

Ryan and I laughed aloud. "Wel, ket Canada in," I told her, she scuttled off.

"Tanner is here," I said, pulling the breadsticks out of the oven.

A second later he led Kialya back into the room.

"Where are we going?" he asked her.
"Can'da!" she cried happily.

"I've trained you well," said Tanner.

"Is mommy coming?" she asked.

"Nope, I'm going to kidnap you," he replied, singnaling her to 'shh!'

She copied him, and pulled herself back onto her chair.

"You kidnap her and you'll never see the light of day again," I said slowly.

"Oh . . . mommy mad," Kialya whispered to Ryan, who busted up while I pulled Tanner into a hug.

"How're you?" I asked.

"Never better," he replied.

The front door slammed and Kialya gasped - her eyes widening with excitement.

"Where's my favorite angel?" Katie's voice called.

"AUNT KATE!" Kialya screamed as Katie walked into the kitchen.

Katie scooped her up and the child clung to her neck. "You have lout shoes again!"

Katie reached down, pulling off a heel - bigger than any I'd ever seen - to show her, "Yeah, because loud shoes rock, right?"

Her student nodded dutifully.

"Who is going to buy them for you, Kia?" I asked.

She looked from me to Katie - deciding. "Mommy."

Katie high-fived her, "That's my girl."

"I'm forwarding you the bill," I muttered, setting the plates out on the table. "Kia, hon, will you go put your words away? We need the table."

She snatched the folder from the table and ran from the room - clutching it to her chest.

"I can't believe she's already reading those," Katie said.

"Not really, but I told oyu, before kindergarten she'll be reading. Once she can read well enough, we'll start on Harry Potter - not that she doesn't already know about it."

"Of course," Tanner muttered.

"Kialya came back in and I lifted her up.

"Let's eat," I said, setting her on a chair. Katie and Ryan fought over the seat on her left side while Tanner peaceably sat on her right. I sat downand we dug in.

"How is everyone doing?" I asked.

"No attacks this month," Katie reported. Ryan breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm probably going to find the cure for this before any of the doctors I've been to. My professors know more than they do."

We all laughed.

"I've been good," Ryan said. "School is going to start up again soon. I've only bought like five things on E-bay this year."

"There has GOT to be a group for that," Katie muttered.

"You're a freshman, right?" I asked.

"Senior, Paige," he said exasperated.

"At least I remembered you were in school. How are the languages coming?"

He answered in a garbled mess of sounds that I recognized as Chinese.

"'Scuse me?" Kialya asked.

Ryan snorted into his pasta.

"I'm great," Tanner reported. I might actually get to go to Canada at the end of the month - and the district is going to pay for all of it. OH yeah."

He winked at Kialya - she giggled.

"I good," Kialya said. "We're gonna feed duckies tomorrow."

"I'm awesome," I said, smiling when Tanner quacked. "Once my dedication is done the book will be ready for the publisher."

"That rocks," Ryan said.

Tanner nodded approvingly.
"Why is it taking you so long for the dedication?" Katie asked. "Isn't it just 'Thank you Mom and Dad' - done?"

"It's got to mean something."

It was silent for a minute while we all concentrated on our food.

"We should make this a tradition," Ryan said suddenly, "now that we're finally all in the same state again."

I looked down, a sudden heat in my face.

"We could alternate houses," Katie suggested. "With each of us in charge of our own week."

"I don't think my roommates would be able to handle having you guys in our apartment," Ryan said. "Besides, I'm a starving student, remember? I can barely feed me, let alone all of you."

"We could have it here every week," I said, quietly. "I wouldn't mind at all."

"It isn't your fault, Paige," Katie said, picking up on my shame. "Your dad got the job and you had to move with your family."

"Nothing was ever the same without you though," Ryan said.

Tanner nodded his agreement.

"How'd we end up here?" I asked. "Seven years of texts, phone calls, and maybe a day a year - yet, we're all still here - all grown up, and still best friends."

"Grown up?" Tanner chuckled. "How'd we manage that?"

Ryan chuckled.

"Yeah, I distinctly remember fighting time," Katie said. "We never really left our selves time to grow up."

"Hey, we had our moments," I said defensively. "We'd sit down for conversations and I'd get up feeling five years older, over and over again."

"Yah, but you remember all of the things we've done," Ryan said. "I know we all do."

"Like when we took those air mattresses to that pond?" Tanner asked.

"And Katie convinced the little girl there that she was queen of the mermaids," I said, shaking my head.

"That was funny - you know it," Katie said.

"Oh yeah," Ryan said. "I was the butler, huh?"

"Yeah, and then you got caught in that no service hick town, remember?"

"What about when I made him a stripper?" Tanner asked, cracking up.

"Those poor Starbucks employees," Katie muttered to me.

"What about the off-roading ventures?"

"Or when I exploded Starbucks all over your car?"

"Good ole Denton."

"Or when we shredded Tanner's tires?"

"Or the 10,000 shampoos."

"What about when I proposed to Katie on the street corner?"

"After the epic car chase? Yeah, that was AWEsome."

"Or redneck-sledding."

"That hill was never the same."

"Or the car wars."

I glanced at Kialya - her eyes followed the conversation, lit with a dream-like kind of light. I couldn't get over how much she loved these guys - I knew she would idolize them for the rest of time: they would be the inspiration for her crazy years. I suddenly had an idea.

* * * *

A week later, Katie, Ryan, and Tanner all went to their mailboxes to find a tightly wrapped, unmarked package. Each tore the paper to find a hard bound copy of the book - a marker on the dedication page.

To how caviler we used to be,

The beautiful insanity -

Now it won't ever fade.

Moments Like These