“Hey, Sky. What are you doing up so early?” I asked, crutching over to her and sitting down.
“I couldn’t sleep. I wanted to watch horsies!” she said, climbing into my lap and laying her head on my shoulder.
I looked at the TV and saw My Little Pony playing. I guess that’s what she meant when she said she wanted to watch horsies.
“Are your mom and dad at work?”
“Yep! They said they would be home later today.”
“Okay. Well, do you want some food?”
“Autumn, we all know you can’t cook,” she said sassily. I started to laugh, and she giggled.
“I know. Well, let’s rephrase that, do you want a Pop-Tart or some cereal?”
“Can you please get me some Cinnamon Toast Crunch, like the best big sissy you are?” she asked, giving me the puppy eyes.
“Of course! Only for my little sister!” I said, getting up.
I went to the kitchen and got out two bowls, the box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and a bottle of milk. I poured the cereal into the bowl, then the milk, and finally grabbed two spoons.
I limped back into the living room and gave Sky her bowl. We ate our cereal and watched a couple more My Little Pony shows, until about ten. Then we decided to go upstairs and change for the day, and wake everyone up.
First, we got Skylynn changed in a cute floral dress with white sandals and a pink bow in her curly blond hair. Then I got dressed in a navy-blue, polka-dot crop top with a cutout bow back and white high-waisted shorts, Aztec-looking Sanuks, and my glasses. I did my hair with my natural beach waves, then braided two strands and pulled them back with a rubber band. Next we went downstairs and got some pots and pans . . .
“Everyone get up now!” I screamed, standing in the middle of the hallway and banging my pans together as hard as I could.
“Wakey, wakey!” Skylynn screamed, running into the rooms one by one, banging her pots, and jumping on everyone’s bed.
I heard lots of groans and went into Nash’s room, since he was the heaviest sleeper, and started banging the pans together right by his ears. He jumped up and fell out of his bed, jumbled up in the sheets with a scared look on his face. I practically died laughing, and I heard laughing behind me, too. I turned around to see all the guys and girls videotaping the entire thing.
“And that, boys and girls, is how you wake up Nash Grier,” I said, giggling. They all ended their videos and put their phones down.
“Time to get up! We have to take the girls to the airport this morning,” I said sulkily.
“But it’s ten o’clock in the morning!” all the guys groaned.
“You guys are so lazy,” I mumbled, limping out of the room and going downstairs.
Everyone followed me, and we all went downstairs and sat at the dining room table. There were only ten seats, so the girls sat on their boyfriends’ laps. I sat next to Hayes, and he had his arm around Sky and me.
Everyone was on their phone and Nash was texting someone.
“Hey, guys, my mom and Johnnie are going out of town for business, so we have the house to ourselves,” Nash said, smirking.
“We know what that means,” we all chorused. “SLEEPOVER!” we cried in girly voices, as we threw up our hands and laughed.
Abbie
Jordan and I were packing up to go back to California. I was excited for cheerleading season to start again but sad to leave everyone, especially Jonah.
But I was also excited to go back, because Jordan and I were getting an apartment together! I was working at Hollister as a model, and Jordan worked at the Vans store in retail and modeling, so we had enough money to pay for the apartment ourselves. Out of all the girls, Jordan and I were the closest; we’d been best friends since kindergarten.
“I’m gonna miss Tez and everyone else so much!” Jordan whined, zipping up her bags.
“I know how you feel, but we’re gonna tour with them, so that’s a good thing!” I said, trying to lighten the mood.
“Yeah, but that’s in over six months.” She pouted. I laughed and told her it wasn’t as long a wait as we usually had between seeing them.
“Let’s go downstairs. Our flight leaves at six and it’s about three fifteen. We have to be there by four,” I said, picking up my huge duffel bag.
“Okay. Who’s dropping us off?” she asked.
“I think everyone.”
“Yay!” she said. She grabbed her bag, ran down the stairs, and dropped her stuff at the front door.
“Let’s go, weirdos!” I yelled to everyone. They quickly appeared from various parts of the house, and we were off to the airport.
Yay for the airport. Not.
Jordan
I really didn’t want to leave Tez. We were standing there outside of security saying good-bye. We were really just standing there hugging, listening to the conversations around us. Jonah and Abbie were doing practically the same thing, except they were talking to each other, blocking out the world.
“All right, guys, Abbie and I need to get through security and find our gate! I’ll miss you all!” I said, quickly hugging the others one by one.
“We’ll miss you, too, Jo!” they said in unison.
“Bye, guys! Don’t have too much fun without me!” Abbie said, winking at everyone and hugging them.
Everyone laughed. “We won’t!”
I turned to Tez, about to cry. “I love you, don’t forget about me while you’re at FAM Tour.”
“I love you too much to ever do that!” Tez said, pulling me in for a final hug. We kissed, and I waited for Abbie.
“I love you, Tay!”
“I love you more, Abbie!”
They hugged and kissed.
Then Abbie and I were off.
“WE LOVE YOU GUYS!” they all screamed as we took our places at the security checkpoint.
“WE LOVE YOU, TOO!” we called, blowing kisses to them.
Good-bye, North Carolina.
Autumn
Well, we lost two out of the eight girlfriends today, and it was awful.
Jonah and Tez have been in their rooms sulking. Alec was trying to get Tez out and Bailey was trying to get Jonah out, since Bailey and Jonah have a brother-sister connection.
Aly, Gabby, Alyssa, Shaelyn, and Ella decided to have a girls’ day to get their hair and nails done, and then go shopping. I’m not into that kind of stuff, so I decided to have a Disney marathon with Sky.
We ate Sour Patch Kids, Swedish Fish, M&M’s, SweeTarts, and more stuff while we watched so many different movies, including all the princesses!
Hayes, Nash, and Cameron decided to come and invade our Disney marathon, and Nash decided to pick Skylynn up from my lap.
“You can’t just do that, Nash. That was rude.” I pouted.
“Aww, babe, don’t be sad. Come here,” Hayes said, opening his arms. I smiled and crawled into his lap and snuggled against his chest. I tend to do that a lot, don’t I?
I kissed his cheek and turned my head toward the movie. We were watching Sleeping Beauty. Aurora is one of my favorite princesses. I really don’t know why, but she is.
My absolute favorite, though, is Ariel, but we had already watched The Little Mermaid. She’s so headstrong and determined, and I love that. I want to be just like her when I grow up. I actually wanted my name to be Ariel when I was little.
When true love’s kiss
The spell shall break.
And I was asleep.
Autumn
I woke up at around ten a.m. the next day on the couch in the basement. I stretched and looked at the date on my phone: June 2. Today is the day I get rid of my wheelchair and crutches!
I hopped off the couch and grabbed my crutches off the floor and made my way upstairs. I went into the kitchen and saw Hayes standing in front of the toaster. I le
aned my crutches quietly against the wall and walked behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist.
“Good morning, Pooh Bear,” I said, putting my chin on his shoulder.
“Morning, beautiful,” he said, kissing my cheek.
“Guess what today is!” I said excitedly.
“You’re not gonna need the crutches or the wheelchair anymore!” he told me, then turned and wrapped his arms around my waist.
“Yep! How did you remember?” I asked, astonished.
“I just do,” he said with a grin.
“I’m gonna go get dressed while you wake up the others. My appointment’s at—”
“Twelve thirty. I know,” Hayes said, kissing me.
I turned around and went upstairs. First, I took a shower, washed my face, shaved, and shampooed my hair. Once I was out of the shower, I brushed my teeth and wrapped my hair in a towel. I remembered my dad always used to call me turban head when I put my hair up in a towel. Key words: used to.
I pulled on a black cropped tank top and a floral skater skirt, added some cute accessories, and grabbed my hot pink Dr. Martens.
I limped downstairs with my shoes in my hand, not wanting to put them on at the moment. I threw them by the front door and jumped on the couch next to Bailey, who looked like a zombie.
“I’m guessing you just woke up?” I giggled.
“Shut up! I stayed up till four a.m., trying to get Jonah out of that room. It was no use!” she groaned, resting her head on my shoulder.
“Is he out now?” I asked her.
“No,” she said, annoyed.
“I’m gonna go try,” I said, standing up.
“Good luck! You’ll need it!” she said, stretching out on the couch.
I went back upstairs and into Jonah’s room. I knocked lightly on his door. “Jonah?” I wiggled the doorknob. It was unlocked. I walked in and shut the door behind me.
“What do you want?” he said sorrowfully. It was dark, and the blinds were shut. I walked over to the window and pulled the blinds open. Jonah groaned and shoved his head into his pillow.
I walked over to his bed and sat on the side. “Come on, Jo, what’s wrong?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
“Abbie’s gone, and I won’t see her for six months!” he said, sobbing. I rubbed his back.
“It’ll go by fast, Jo, promise.”
“I just wanted her to stay for the summer, but no, she had to go for cheerleading! It’s hard with her living in California and me living in Indiana,” he said, still crying.
“I know, Jonah, but love doesn’t know what distance is. And if you really loved her, and we all know you do, you wouldn’t care about the miles apart. So stop sulking and get on with your life!” I said knowledgeably. God, I sounded like a philosopher.
“You’re right. I need to stop sulking. Thanks, Aut, you always know what to say.” He smiled and hugged me.
“That’s what I’m here for. Now, hurry up and get dressed. We have to go to the doctor today!” I said excitedly.
“Okay!” He got up and headed toward the bathroom. Meanwhile, I went into another bathroom, removed the towel around my hair, and arranged it in my usual beach waves. Then I went back downstairs to the living room.
“My work here is done!” I told Bailey as I sat down next to her. Since I had been there earlier Alyssa, Aly, Shaelyn, and Ella had joined her.
“Wait, what? How?!” Bailey stuttered in pure shock.
“It was the philosopher in me that persuaded him to come out,” I said in triumph.
“That’s so not fair! I want your philosophy skills!” she said, jumping up and shaking me. “Teach me your ways!”
“I was born with them, love!” I smirked. She huffed and sat back down.
“Y’all want to watch Catfish?” Her face instantly lit up.
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” the others chorused, jumping up and down in their seats.
We got through two episodes of Catfish before the guys came in.
“What are you guys watching?” Cameron asked, sitting next to Ella.
“Shhhh!” we all shushed him, our eyes glued to the screen.
We were watching the episode with Craig and Zoey. It’s so freaking intense, I love it!
“Is this that Catfish show?” Hayes asked, dropping down next to me and putting his arm around me.
“SHHHHH!”
“Why are they looking at her Facebook?” Nash asked, sitting next to Shaelyn.
“Just shut up and sit down!” Bailey screamed at them. The guys sat next to their girlfriends, while Carter, Jonah, and Tez sat at our feet.
Thirty Minutes Later
“That show’s really weird,” Daniel said.
“No, it’s not—it’s awesomesauce!” I yelled at him.
“Well, let’s get going. It’s twelve now, and the doctor’s office is fifteen minutes away,” Carter said, looking at his watch.
“Let’s go!” I yelled, linking arms and skipping to the front door with Hayes, laughing the entire time.
“I got a picture of that! I also have your crutches!” Alyssa said.
“Of course,” I mumbled, as I put on my Dr. Martens.
We all walked out the door and to the cars.
Autumn
We piled into the cars and were off to the doctor. I was so excited, I was jumping up and down in my seat.
“Aut, calm down! You’re still not gonna be able to tumble or anything—you know that,” Ella said.
“Yeah, I know, but I’m just so happy to be free of the wheelchair and crutches. Those things were killing me!” I said.
“It was fun while it lasted,” Hayes said.
“What do you mean?! Having to practically be on your hands and knees doing everything?” I asked, annoyed.
“It’s just nice to know I was there for the one I love,” he said seriously. I smiled and kissed him.
“You know, I really love you,” I said, looking up into his eyes and intertwining my fingers with his.
“I really love you, too,” he said, resting his forehead on mine. We stayed like that for a while until I smiled and gave him a quick peck.
I turned forward in my seat and rested my head on Carter’s shoulder since he was on the other side of me.
“Okay, who got the pictures this time?” I smirked.
“CAMERON!” everyone yelled. I leaned up and held out my hand for his phone. He handed it to me and I leaned back in my seat.
I typed in his password, which I later found out was Ella’s birthday, and went to his photos. He had three: one of us kissing, one of us with our foreheads together, and one of us laughing.
I sent them all to myself and saved them. I showed them to Hayes after I edited them, and he said to send them to him. After I did, he posted the one of us kissing; the caption was a simple heart.
I liked it, and that’s when we arrived at the doctor’s office.
The Doctor’s Office
We walked in and there were so many people there! Not. There were only a couple of old people sitting in the waiting room.
I was called in instantly, and my doctor asked me stupid questions. In the end, I didn’t have to use my wheelchair or crutches anymore, but I had to watch out and be careful of what I was doing.
She prescribed even more medicine for me, and then we were off to Neverland! Or to the house, whichever way you’d like to put it.
When we got home, I played horsies with Sky for three hours straight in the backyard!
“Autumn, I’m tired! Will you put me down for my nap?” Skylynn yawned.
“Sure. Come on, Sky.” I took her hand in mine, and together we walked into the house and up the stairs. I could see she was really sleepy.
We went into her pink and purple room, and I got her settled on the bed and tucked her
in.
“How about this, Sky? When you get up, we can bake some cupcakes. I’m better at baking than cooking, promise!” I told her.
“Okay! Can they be pink?” She giggled.
“Of course, anything for you. Have a good nap, sweetie.” I kissed her forehead and handed her stuffed horse to her.
“Nighty-night, Autumn,” she said, closing her eyes.
I pulled the curtains closed, then went downstairs. In the kitchen I got out the things for Sky and me to bake cupcakes, until I felt arms wrap around my waist.
“Whatcha doin’, sweetheart?” I immediately knew it was Hayes.
“Setting up stuff to make cupcakes with Skylynn when she gets up from her nap,” I replied, reaching into a cupboard for the muffin tin.
“But you can’t cook,” he said, laughing.
“That’s right, I can’t cook. But I can bake,” I fired back.
“You’re so sassy,” he said, kissing my cheek.
“It’s one of my many qualities,” I said snobbily, while at the same time flipping my hair dramatically.
He laughed, and I looked back at him, giggling. I gave him a quick peck and continued searching for the ingredients we’d need.
“All right, I’ll let you get back to that, and I’ll see you later, beautiful,” he said, kissing my forehead.
“Okay. Love youuuuu!” I said, drawing out the “you” as he walked out of the kitchen. He laughed.
What happened next was just a big ball of fun!
Two Hours Later
Autumn
Sky woke up from her nap, and we started working on our cupcakes. Everyone else went out to do some grocery shopping except for Hayes, Skylynn, and me. Sky and I were jamming out to “Problem” by Ariana Grande while making cupcakes, and Hayes was watching us act like total freaks.
“I got one less problem without you!” Skylynn sang while pointing her whisk at Hayes.
Hayes pretended to be hurt, and I walked over to him. “Aww, Sky, shouldn’t you be saying that to Cam, since he’s your boyfriend?”
“Yeah, but he’s not here!” She giggled.
“But look how hurt little Haysie-Boo is. You don’t want him to be that sad, do you?”
Love Heals All Page 8
