| When Ayzlin stopped running and had caught her breath, she regretted not leaving her car around the corner or some place close. The fall night had grown cold as she walked to Drew's house. She remembered Nick and Drew and herself begging Mr. Lachey to help them build a tunnel down to the basement from the bottom of the club house. Reluctantly, he said yes. That is, he was reluctant until he found the house had been built over an older house foundation and a tunnel was already underneath the club house. He boarded the walls of the tunnel with metal sheets. The kids were ecstatic at the thought of a new hiding place. She ducked into the clubhouse and lifted up the trapdoor. She crawled into the tunnel and realized that her shoes would tap along as she walked. She sat down in the tunnel which was so tall and wide, Nick and Drew could've probably still fit in it. Once she had her shoes off, she walked down to the dropoff of the tunnel, where she would have to slide down. She hoped Drew had remembered to pull the ladder down. Ayzlin quietly dropped down the tunnel and walked the few more feet to the rope ladder that had been attached to the end. She climbed down it and walked across the basement to Drew's room. "Drew, it's me," she said quietly, knowing it had to have been late. /I hope I don't wake him up/ But she didn't. He opened the door for her and ushered her in. Ayzlin dropped her shoes at the door. "Thanks for coming. How was Senior Raid?" he inquired. Ayzlin recounted the story to him, leaving out the part about Peyton. "Sounds like fun. Do you mind if we talk about Kylee?" "No. That's why I'm here." "All right. I called her when I got home from soccer. We talked about it. She said that she understood my priorities, but she didn't know if she could deal with them.Said that she missed me too much to deal with the whole thing." "You're kidding? Kylee said that?" "Yup. I asked her to please forgive me, that I was doing what I loved and I was with who I loved. Kylee said that she was afraid it wasn't going to work. That wasn't the Kylee I knew. I asked her what was up, and she didn't say anything for a while. Then, she informed me that her and I were over because she found someone else who could love her and who would be there for her and who would be able to get his priorities straight. I asked her how she could just throw everything we had away and she said it was pretty easy when she never got "attached" because she never saw me. So I just hung up." Drew explained. "Wow, that's pretty tough. What are you going to do now?" Ayzlin inquired. "I don't know. Maybe I'll just leave the dating scene for awhile, and concentrate more on music." He shook his head. "I guess that I was already concentrating on it, and that's why we're both here." "Yeah, but I know what you mean. Hey, don't give up on this, alright? There's gotta be someone out there for you, Drew. Nobody's gonna be alone forever. Maybe it is Kylee, and this is what it is going to take for both of y'all to figure it out," Ayzlin offered. "Maybe you're right, Ayzzie. What would I do without ya? You really are my best friend. I miss you so much when we're not here." "Yeah, me too. But I've also learned alot with you and nick not being here. I can stand up for myself, and I don't depend on you or Nick or anyone else. Well, besides my parents, but that's not what I mean." Ayzlin looked at Drew's clock. "Uh-oh. I better get home. I have a dance class tomorrow. What time are you leaving?" " Four-thirty." "Okay, I'll be there. You know it." "See ya then." They both got up and hugged each other. Ayzlin shut Drew's door behind her, then leaned up against it. /He's a good friend/ Drew leaned up against the door too./What would I do without her?/ ============================================================================== At nine o'clock the next morning, Ayzlin's phone rang. Groggily, she leaned over and picked it up. "Speak," she commanded whoever was on the other line. "It's Jeff. What's up?" "Not me." Ayzlin looked over at her alarm clock. "Jeff. Number one, it's nine o'clock. I only got home seven hours ago, and I've only been asleep for six. Number two, aren't you in my house?" "I know what time it is, and yes I'm at your house, but I didn't know if you were home so I called your phone. Don't you have to be at a dance class today?" "Yeah..........but not for five hours!" "Sorry. Anyway, I'm about to leave, but meet all four of us at the pizza place downtown, about eleven, okay?" "Yeah, I guess I'll hafta get up now then. I'll see y'all then," she said and hung up. Ayzlin pulled herself outta bed and showered. She got dressed and did everything she needed to get ready for dance, then left for the pizza place. Chapter Four |