(28) Nick & Meredith Sittin in a Tree

"This is an awful idea."

"I'm never listening to you again."

"Did I ever mention I'm allergic to grass?"

"You're ruining this, Makennah."

"I feel like I'm facing death. These are my final moments on earth."

"Are we going to die? Grace sounds like we're going to die."

"I'm going back!"

"No!" Makennah whisper-yelled. She grabbed Meredith with both hands and reeled her back to the front of the line. "This is going to work." She was a mastermind matchmaker after all. This was really a simple plan and they could have a little fun along the way.

"I feel like throwing up," Meredith whined.

"Same. But that might just be all the popcorn," Grace whispered.

"Everyone, shut up!" Makennah slit her hand across her neck to signal for the girls to can it. "Follow me!"

Like a general heading into war, Makennah crouched low and ran through the dark, ducking under windows, hiding behind trees, whispering quiet steps through the fluffy green grass. The nippy cold weather caused goosebumps to pop up along her bare arms and legs. She heard the shuffling of feet through the grass behind her and knew the girls were following their fearless leader.

In all honesty, it wasn't a great plan. Any number of things could go wrong including someone calling them cops. However, in her mind, it sounded great so she went with it. She couldn't admit her weakness now.

"Here we go!" She mouthed the words, tucked her arms close to her body, launched herself in the air and dove through the covering.

Right into a cold damp trampoline.

In the neighbor's backyard.

"Oh my God!" Grace shrieked as she dove into the trampoline. Penny and Meredith danced madly in the outside, quickly trying to climb on for protection.

"Hurry up!" Makennah waved them on.

It was one of those moments that Makennah didn't have to pee before they left. However, now that she couldn't pee and her adrenaline was pumping, she had to pee so bad. Of course, all of her friends were laughing and that made it worse. All four of them crouched in the squeaky trampoline, covering their mouths with their hands so they didn't burst out laughing. Makennah tried to shush them but she couldn't. Her sides hurt from holding in her laughter.

Penny was the first one to ease up onto her feet and leap into the air. The three of them bounced on the surface as Penny jumped around them. Fearlessly, Grace followed her and started bouncing all around the rim, staying close to the protective net around the trampoline to keep her balance.

"We are totally going to get caught!" Meredith whispered, clutching onto Makennah's arm.

"That's the point!" Makennah shrieked. Her foot slipped and she grabbed onto Meredith.

"Ow ow my hair!"

Makennah burst out laughing and tried to seal her lips closed. The front of her body slithered down Meredith's chest as she continued to fall.

"Get up! Please get up!" Meredith hooked her arms under Makennah's armpits and hoisted her up.

Makennah just fell down harder. "I can't...stop." She gasped between gusts of laughter.

"I'm falling!" Meredith whispered.

Her feet slipped and slid across the smooth trampoline tarmac. There was no way she was recovering from this. "We're going down!" Clutching onto Meredith, she let her body go limb and slithered to the bottom, taking Meredith with her.

A little frustrated but unable to hold in her laughter, Meredith collapsed under Makennah's weight. Her body smacked the trampoline with a soft whack. Instantly, she dissolved into laughter.

"Sh!!"

There was a small flash and Makennah realized it was Grace taking a picture with her phone.

"I feel like this is actually a start to a porno," Penny whispered and covered her mouth with her hand as she giggled.

"Mature!" Makennah whisper-yelled as she crawled up onto all fours.

Their ruckus finally caused some commotion within the house. Even though all of the lights were off, the blue illumination of a tv screen periodically flashed on the windows and closed blinds.

The single source of suspicion within the house was the rabid man eating dog.

The dog that almost killed her every morning that she left for school.

It barked viciously inside the house.

"It's working! I'm calling Nick!" Makennah whipped out her phone and called Nick. It rung for so long that she thought he might not answer.

"Sup."

"Nick! Come help us please!" Makennah hung onto the net around the trampoline to keep her balance as the girls kept jumping around her. Glad to see their fun wasn't dampened.

"What's up?" He asked causally.

Makennah tried to whisper as loud as possible. "We snuck over to the neighbor's to jump on the trampoline but I forgot about...the dog." She knew her face looked totally stupid and unbelievable.

Behind her, all of them snickered at her stupid answer.

"Mack...that was really dumb." Nick laughed on the other end.

"Please come save us!" Makennah shrieked helplessly.

"Is the dog outside?" Nick asked. She heard him shuffling around in the background.

"Not yet but I think they're about to let him out!" Makennah made a face to her friends while she swung around on the trampoline, her feet slipping and sliding. Penny and Grace jumped higher and harder to cause her to stumble.

"Alright, chill out. I'm on my way." And Nick hung up.

"He's coming!" Makennah cheered, pumping her fists in the air.

Meredith danced around on the slippery trampoline, waving her hands excitedly. "I cannot believe this is working!"

"I've never wanted to throw up more!" Grace announced as she clutched her stomach. But she kept jumping like a lunatic.

The dog barked even louder inside the house.

Penny lightly hollered as she slipped and tumbled. Her body weight naturally rolled to the center of the trampoline, the weakest point. Grace and Meredith giggled and tromped around her.

"Is he coming? I feel like we're gonna die!" Penny fake cried and clutched onto Makennah. Makennah slid down the damp trampoline down the center with Penny, who dragged her down.

"Ow ow my hair," she cried. She fell over laughing when she realized Penny hugged her shirt so tight that the tank started to slip and expose her boobs.

"My side hurts from laughing, stop," Penny's whole body shook with laughter.

"I've never seen someone's tits more than Makennah!" Grace announced.

Makennah pointed an accusatory finger as she righted her tank top and covered all body parts. "Okay you little brat. The first time you egged me on!

"For the sake of a video!"

"No," Makennah grunted. "To embarrass me and show it to a guy!"

"Shut up! You're glad I did it!" Grace knocked into Meredith and bumped onto the side of the trampoline. Her little body catapulted across the net and she fell in a heap of laughter.

"Sh!" Meredith shushed them loudly. Instead of silence, they were greeted with the sound of the dog barking again.

"Hello ladies."

Makennah rapidly crawled over to the side of the trampoline where there was an opening in the net. Theo stood loud and proud on the other side with his hands on his hips. "No!" Makennah slapped her hand on the trampoline. "Go get Nick!"

Instead of listening, Theo crossed his arms over his chest and didn't move a centimeter. "Why? I'm here to save the day."

"Theo!" Makennah yelled angrily. "Go get Nick now!"

"Why?" He smirked.

"Because I said so!"

"Well he's talking to the neighbors," Theo explained, watching her with steady eyes. There was laughter in his tone.

"This is not funny! This is very serious! Go tell Nick we need his help and you distract the neighbor's!"

Theo rolled his eyes. "What am I supposed to say?"

"I don't care!" She was actually getting angry. "Go! Shoo!" She waved him away and turned her back, trusting he would listen.

Several laughter-filled moments later, Nick jogged around the house and smiled goofily as he neared the trampoline. "This definitely looks like a near death experience."

Makennah stuck her head out of the opening and dragged Nick over to the side of the trampoline by latching into the collar of his shirt. "Shut it. Meredith twisted her ankle!" Makennah shot a look over her shoulder.

A very awkward moment of silence passed as Meredith's face went blank and everyone shut up. "Oh...uh...ow!"

Nick looked confused.

Makennah widened her eyes at Penny and Grace when Nick wasn't looking at her. "Guys...help Meredith over here!"

"Yeah help me!" Meredith raised up her arms for them to lift her to her feet and hobble over to the side of the trampoline.

"We were really worried that they would let the dog out while we tried to escape and obviously Meredith can't run away!" Makennah explained.

Meredith looked at Makennah with wide scared eyes.

Still, no one did anything other than Makennah. They were awful at catching on. She was so going to roast them later. Half wits.

"Nick, can you carry Meredith please?" Makennah asked kindly with a smile.

"Sure." He smiled at Meredith and held out his arms. "You okay?"

Meredith crawled over to the opening and hung her legs over the side. Penny and Makennah held the net flaps open. "Yeah, just fell on it funny."

Without hesitation, Nick hooked one arm under Meredith's legs and curled the other around her back. He swept her up bridal style with ease and comfortability. Makennah and Grace's mouths fell open almost simultaneously. She was not expecting that. She thought he would offer a piggy back ride.

With a warm and fuzzy smile, Meredith wrapped her arms around his neck and held on. Nick looked like it was no big deal to hold her. "You guys coming?" He asked.

Theo rounded the corner and presented himself again. "I told them we were throwing the football and it came over the fence. I just asked them to keep the dog inside for a minute. We better hurry so they don't peek out here." Noticing that Nick was a little tied up, Theo came over to the trampoline and offered a hand for the rest of the girls to get down.

Grace accepted quickly and hopped down, holding on Theo's hand for balance. Penny was next. She fumbled down awkwardly and ran after Nick holding Meredith and Grace.

Makennah crawled through the opening in her hands and knees, swinging her legs around to sit on the side. Theo glanced over his shoulder and saw that all four of them were a few yards away. The hand he previously offered her curled around her waist gently. The smile he offered to everyone else turned soft when he gazed down at her.

"Really? Sneaking into the neighbor's backyard? The basement wasn't enough fun?" Theo asked. Theo dragged Makennah off the trampoline and held her firmly to his chest. Because of the awkward angle, her body was forced to go limp and lean completely on him.

"Listen, Mr. Rose..."

"Oh I'm listening." That smile turned flirtatious as he glanced down at her whole body pressed firmly against him. She realized her very scantily clad body was flush against him in every way it could be.

She rolled her eyes, acting unaffected. "Meredith likes Nick. And I think Nick could like Meredith. So we set this up..."

"...and Meredith's ankle wasn't really twisted. Oh my. What a female won't do." He rolled his eyes.

Makennah gasped and smacked him on the shoulder. "Rude! I'm simply encouraging two people to be together!"

His arm loosened a little as he laughed. Makennah used that as her opportunity to step away and catch her breath. If she didn't pay attention, she'd stay there all night.

"So this whole night...the whole sleepover...isn't just for Meredith?"

Makennah crossed her arms and then uncrossed them immediately. She didn't want to bring extra attention to...things. "They are all my friends. And I wanted to have them over. I've never..." she cleared her throat and stopped, turning quickly to walk away. "Don't check me out as I walk away." She swayed her hips anyways in her flannel pajama shorts.

"I always check you out when you walk away," she heard him say with a laugh.

Makennah couldn't resist a glance over her shoulder. Theo was just standing there with a huge grin on his face, doing precisely as he said he would do. Makennah smirked and tossed her hair over her shoulder, continuing on her path. He would follow or he wouldn't.

Back at the house, Meredith was sitting on the couch in the low lit living room with her foot propped up on Nick's thigh who sat on the coffee table in front of her. Carolynn obviously wasn't anywhere near or she would have yelled at him for that. In fact, she thought Will and Carolynn might have finally gone to bed because the house was very quiet. Makennah ducked her head and scampered off to the kitchen where she heard quiet laughter which turned out to be Grace and Penny throwing ice at each other.

"You guys!" Makennah reprimanded them by grabbing the kitchen towel and snapping it at them. "Get downstairs! Give them some privacy!"

Forcibly, Makennah removed Theo from her mind as she heard the front door open one last time and hurried downstairs to escape anymore flirting that would make her fall for him harder than she already is.

About twenty minutes later, Meredith hopped down the stairs with an ice pack in her hand. A cheesy happy grin transformed her face into a beautiful shining image. Makennah couldn't look away from her happiness.

"That. Was. Magic!" Forgetting her fake sprained ankle, Meredith ran across the room and dove onto the couch.

"It worked?!" Makennah asked.

"A. He held me in his arms. B. He took care of me and my fake injury! C. He asked for my number!"

As if it were a movie, all four of them squealed like little girls, throwing their arms around Meredith to hug her happily. Meredith laughed harder than anyone and that grin never left her face. Grace was already giving out tips and telling her how to flirt while Penny chimed in with her usual sassy comments.

"Makennah, thank you!" Uncharacteristic to Meredith's tough cool exterior, she threw her arms around Makennah's neck and smacked her lips on her cheek.

"That...was unnesarry," Makennah mumbled because her cheek was smashed against Meredith's. "Okay okay!" She shoved Meredith away who swam across the blankets to grab her phone.

"Now we wait!" Meredith exclaimed, holding her phone excitedly.

"Let's watch a movie!" Penny said.

"Where's the remote?" Makennah asked. Grace found it first while Makennah found her phone. Her screen lit up with a text the second she picked it up.

T- come upstairs

Makennah's pulse quickened. She thought about that promised kiss that had been put on hold. Obviously, Theo wouldn't try that now but she didn't know what this mysteriousness was all about. "Does anyone need a refill?" Makennah asked, holding up her own glass.

All the girls needed refills which was good because that would take some time to do. She had no clue what Theo wanted but she figured it might take longer than a second.

Grasping all the cups to her chest, Makennah mounted the stairs and bounced the door open with her hip. When she looked up, Theo was standing in the kitchen with his phone in his hand. When he saw her, his cheeks split into a grin.

"Everything okay?" She whispered, dumping the cups noisily on the counter.

Theo crooked his finger at her. "Come here."

He hadn't even done anything and she was blushing. "What?" She asked, her voice cracking.

"You heard me." He took a step in her direction to meet her in the middle.

She wasn't a wimp so she treaded over to him on light bare feet. Thank God she painted her toenails. That seemed like a very important detail at the moment.

"I just wanted to say goodnight," he explained.

Makennah obviously looked confused because he laughed quietly. "Okay, goodnight," she said back. A secretive text for just this?

Well not only this. Because Theo curled his hand around the base of her neck and tugged her closer to him. They stood toe to toe on the cusp of touching which seemed more lethal than their previous engagement in the neighbor's backyard. His thumb traced a lazy line along her jaw which made Makennah sigh.

Unexpectedly, Theo leaned forward and kissed her sweetly on the forehead. His lips lingered for a second before he drew back and gazed down at her.

"What was that for?" She whispered. Her mouth barely worked because she was stunned by his sweetness.

Theo almost didn't say anything. His mouth opened but nothing came out. His eyes dipped to her lips. "Just showing you what it's like to be my girl."

Makennah sucked in a shaky breath and dropped her gaze to the floor. His thumb rubbed her jaw again. "Why's that?"

"Figured I should give you a taste of what it's like."

Makennah's tongue nearly tied itself in knots. "Well I'm not girlfriend material." That's all she could say. She felt like she had to rebut him.

"Yes you are," Theo said with a laugh.

"No, you barely know me," she exclaimed.

Theo ran his fingers through her hair and dropped his hand to his side. He picked up his keys off the counter and jiggled them to break the silence. "Then show me."

Everything he said was so hot. How did he do that? His bet unnerved her.

Show me.

She didn't know if she could. But she would try.

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I've got sunshineeeeee on a cloudddyyy day.

Song dedication to Theo and Makennah....

My girl - The Temptations

Xoxo

W. Carolina