The next day after school Kris finally got to talk to her sister. Ginger had gone back to the hotel with Zac as soon as they'd finished their cake and spent the night there. By the time they'd gotten back the next morning, Kris had already left for school with her parents and Ginger ended up being late. Ginger picked up her sister from school in Kris's car but Kris drove home.
"So I hope you had a good birthday, considering I didn't spend any of it with you," Kris said slightly bitterly.
"Kris, don't start. I had an awesome birthday. I don't think I would have had a good one if I'd spent it at home. Zac and I would have gotten into a fight about Taylor, we'd be avoiding each other all night and you would have been right in the middle and I don't want that to ever happen." Kris sighed.
"Yeah, well, Mom and Dad weren't exactly happy about it. They didn't think you two were out having sex until you didn't come home last night, then they were sure of it. They're going to be mighty pissed off. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't say something to Zac while we were gone."
"They weren't home all day," Ginger said.
"Someone had to take them to the airport. I think Mom took a half day at work so she could bring them to the airport."
"Hey, what was up with the big smudge on the cake?" Ginger asked, looking over at Kris, obviously changing the subject on how her parents were going to react when she got home.
"Oh, Mom and Dad put your name on the cake! I told them not to, but when they brought it home, there it was right there." Ginger froze.
"Did Taylor see it?"
"Yeah he did," Kris said.
"Oh man�"
"Don't worry, I told him not to say anything!" Kris said. "I told him if he said anything to anybody about it he'd go straight to hell and that I would be the one sending him there. He believed me." Ginger smiled.
"Did you and Taylor end up going somewhere yesterday?" Ginger asked.
"Yeah, we went to the park."
"The park?"
"Yeah! It was really nice. You should try it sometime. Make sure it's secluded and keep an eye open just in case you plan on having sex and someone decides to stroll by. Or bring a blanket."
"Hmm, I'll have to remember that�wait, did you and Taylor have sex yesterday?" Kris smiled. "Well that's number twenty-one," Ginger muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing. That's good. Sex is good." Kris burst out laughing. "What?"
"I think you're the first person who's told me that. We just had this guy come to our school and totally trash the whole idea of sex and was all like 'sex is bad, sex is bad' and now you're telling me it's good."
"Give into peer pressure, Kris! Everybody's doing it. I guarantee it'll be fun�" Kris giggled. "So at least you had a good time."
"Yeah, I guess so. Do you have any idea how much experience that boy has? I don't think I've ever had it like that before�maybe it was just because it was outside and there was the risk of getting caught."
"Was that an actual question or was that just rhetorical?" Ginger asked, pausing.
"No, that was an actual question. Do you know?" Kris asked.
"Um�Zac told me it was somewhere around a hundred." Kris's eyes widened.
"You're kidding."
"No. He also mentioned that Taylor might be infected with six hundred different kinds of STDs and that I should warn you."
"Oh my God. Why didn't you tell me?"
"He just told me yesterday!" Ginger said. "I didn't know that you and Taylor were going to go out to some park and have sex! Well, actually I kind of figured that he was going to try to do it with you somewhere, but still. I didn't think you'd let him." Kris rolled her eyes. "It's okay. Did you use a condom?"
"Yes."
"Good."
"Let's talk about something else," Kris said. "Did you hear that harmony yesterday when they were singing to you? Oh my God I almost died."
"Me too," Ginger said, thinking about it.
"Is that why you were blank for such a long time?"
"Yeah. That and I was thinking about stuff and�yeah. I've never heard them sing together before. I've never heard Zac sing before! Well, not to me personally. I've heard him on CDs and in concerts and stuff�"
"I get your point, babe."
"Damn, that was something else." Ginger shook her head just thinking about it. She was still in awe of Zac from that. He was sitting right next to her and she could hear him clearly in her ear, strong and smooth like she only dreamed of his voice being in person. When they'd gotten back to the hotel Ginger had been all over him before they'd even gotten in the door. She broke her promise to Kris and went down on him in the car on the way there, which she pushed out of her mind because she knew she'd blurt it out if she ever thought about it again. He had been exhausted from their set earlier but she made him go another round when they got back to the hotel before she got completely worn out and feel asleep.
"Taylor invited me to spend the summer with him," Kris said out of the blue a couple of minutes later.
"Really? That's good. I'll see you."
"Are you going to be up there too?" Kris asked.
"Do you not know?" Ginger asked.
"Um�I guess not."
"I'm living with Zac." Kris hit the brakes hard approaching a stoplight and looked over at Ginger.
"What? You're leaving me?"
"I'm not leaving you!" Ginger said immediately. "I'm not doing that! Zac and I have been planning this since the very beginning of our relationship. As soon as I'm out of high school I'm moving in with him. I could have sworn I told you."
"Uh no you didn't!"
"Kris�you're going to be spending the summer with Taylor anyway, so you'll be with me all summer. Then in the fall you're going to college and I'm not. It's not like you're never going to see me again."
"You could at least be staying in town like I am. I'm never going to see you! I'm going to see you as much as I see Taylor and that's never!"
"Kris, I can't just back out on this because you want me here."
"Oh, I see how it is. As soon as you've got a boyfriend your sister doesn't even matter anymore! I'm nothing to you now!"
"Jesus Christ, Kris, you're not even my sister!!" Kris grew silent and took in a deep, furious breath and Ginger knew she'd gone too far. Being sisters meant a lot to Kris, even if they weren't really related. The moment Ginger moved in with her Kris started calling her sis and stopped using her real name altogether, which was good for when Zac was around. "I'm sorry."
"Don't talk to me."
"Kris�"
"Don't talk to me!" Kris yelled.
Ginger stayed quiet and looked out the window the rest of the way home. Once they got home, Kris went in without a word and nearly slammed the door in Ginger's face. Ginger huffed and went into the living room while Kris went into the bedroom. Ginger sat next to her little brother. "What's going on?" he asked.
"Kris and I had a fight."
"Don't talk to him! He's not really your brother!!"
"Fuck you, Kris! I apologized, you're the one who thinks I'm abandoning you!"
"You are!"
"No I'm not! God, this was going to happen anyway! We were going to go away to college and only come home during the holidays. We were going to get married to people and you and I wouldn't see each other as often! It's bound to happen! We can't be roommates the rest of our lives!"
"We could be like the chicks in Sex and the City, they see each other every day!" Kris yelled.
"We can still do that! It just won't be for a while. I'll be in Tulsa with Zac and you'll be here until you finish college, then we can have that! Every day you and me could have lunch." Kris came out of the bedroom.
"I don't want you to go."
"I know you don't. I have to." Kris sighed before running over and hugging her sister. "I still love you. I'm still going to call you every day, come home during holidays and whenever we're in town. And we'll be together all summer anyway."
"That is if Mom and Dad let me go."
"They can't stop you, you'll be eighteen!" Kris rolled her eyes. "I'm more worried about Diana not letting you go. I bet Taylor didn't even ask before he invited you. We haven't even said anything about me coming. That's the only problem we have with me living with them. She doesn't like me very much."
"Why doesn't she like you?" Ginger ran her fingers over the tattoo on her arm. "Oh�But you're not really a punk, sis. You just look like one."
"Thanks, Kris."
"Hey, I wasn't the one who told you to get four tattoos and a tongue right and start wearing heavy eye liner and maroon lipstick. At least your hair isn't black."
"Yeah right, like I'd ever dye my hair."
"I mean how could you be a punk anyway?" Kris asked, turning around and walking back into their room, Ginger following behind. "You call yourself Ginger and you listen to Hanson. How punk is that?" Ginger hit her sister in the arm. "Ow! Hey! It's true! You're dating guy who plays the poppiest of pop music. How is that punk rock?"
"I listen to punk rock."
"Honey, Hoobastank and Authority Zero are not punk rock."
"Hey, I listen to the Sex Pistols," Ginger said, climbing onto the top bunk she'd missed sleeping in while she was under radiation.
"Yeah, twice since you came here and you've contemplating selling it because you said you didn't like their album." Ginger's mouth dropped.
"Shut up!"
"Face it, hun, you are not punk rock. You used to be, I'll give you that. When you go those tattoos you were nothing but punk rock, but you're not anymore. You're old." Ginger gave her a look. "What? I'm just saying the truth!"
"Whatever."
"So, what's on TV?"
Kris turned eighteen on April 20th. Taylor got off work and flew in for a few hours but Zac couldn't leave. Ginger spent most of the afternoon in her room while Taylor and Kris were in the living room. Their parents had somewhere to go and wouldn't be back until dinnertime. Taylor and Kris were taking advantage of that but after a while they felt as though Ginger was being disincluded.
"Sis, come out here! Its my birthday!" Kris yelled from the living room.
"That's quite all right! I'm watching a television program on the benefits of not smoking pot," Ginger said, sitting on her top bunk with the clicker in her hand.
"Oh, that's stupid. They play that every year. Come out here. Taylor is so boring!!" Ginger grimaced a bit at the sound of Taylor's name. At least Zac wasn't there to see it. Kris started giggling as Taylor tickled her in revenge for saying he was boring and Ginger turned back to the television. "Sis!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming." Ginger turned off the television and went into the living room where Taylor had stopped tickling Kris. Ginger sat down on the couch furthest away from them.
"Oh come on, sis, we're not going to bite."
"He might," Ginger said, looking at Taylor. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Ugh�sis�" Kris said.
"I'm going out for a while."
"This is only going to get worse if you keep running away from it," Kris said. Ginger grabbed the keys from the key rack.
"Then it'll get worse. You guys have the house to yourselves. Have some sex. I'll call before I come home." Ginger opened the door and walked out. A minute later she came back in. "Oh, but, um, don't do it on that couch right there," she said, pointing to the couch she'd just been sitting on. "It's not very comfortable. Bye!" She walked out again and went to the car. She opened the door and got inside, feeling weird behind the wheel. Before she moved to Kris's house she never drove, her brother made sure of that, and while she was there Kris always did the driving. Of course she'd driven, but she didn't do it often. Pushing that behind her, she started the car and headed off.
She didn't know where she was going. She drove around town for a while, not really having a destination in mind. She just needed to clear her mind. Taylor was doing absolutely nothing to help her out in this situation. He didn't look the least bit like he was going to change and in less than a month she was going to be living with him. Argh, she thought. That bastard. The worst part was that he was dating Kris, her sister, and he was still being as flirtatious as he was the day he met her. It pissed her off.
In an hour and a half Ginger called Kris and said she was coming home. Kris said it was fine and when Ginger got home they were where she left them, only looking a bit more disheveled and tired. Ginger was home for maybe ten minutes before their parents got there. They had dinner, did cake, and once again Ginger was floored at how incredible talented Taylor was.