Quit Bugging Me

Chapter 5

Taylor did her best to drown out the other kids' insults with thoughts of the amazing weekend ahead of her. Each time Jack or any of the other kids called her Queen of the Flies, she thought of sipping lemonade on the patio with her cousin Lydia; each time they suggested she move into a dumpster to make her companions feel more at home, she imagined reeling in countless bluegill at the creek.

"Hey Liz," Taylor said in the minutes before math class began. "My parents are taking me to Aunt May's this weekend. Wanna come?"

"Aw jeez, I promised Mom I'd try to get my hummingbirds to pollinate her roses." Eliza wouldn't look her in the eye. "Sorry."

"Are you sure you can't make it?" Taylor asked with a pleading look in her eyes. "Maybe you could help her earlier this week."

"I guess, but she wants me to help Andy get more crickets too."

"But you can get those in five minutes at Walmart. Besides, I'm sure we can find all sorts of bugs by the creek."

Eliza shrugged and offered her a sad smile. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll have tons of fun without me."

Eliza kept acting weird all week. She avoided partnering with Taylor in science class, barely chuckled at her jokes during lunch, and even forgot to bring emergency Skittles, leaving her candyless after a nasty pop quiz in English.

When school let out on Friday, Taylor raced to her parents' car with a massive smile on her face despite her friend's weird behavior. Even without Eliza there to share the fun with her, her escape from the constant stares and teasing at school was only a short car ride away.

Aunt May greeted her with a hug as her rabbits hopped around her legs. "My goodness, what a beautiful young lady you've become!"

"It's great to see you too," Taylor said as she gasped for breath in the middle of the bear trap-tight hug.

"And look at those flies! Your daddy better be careful. If you grow up much faster, he'll have to move into a fortress to keep all the boys out."

"No trouble there," her dad said with a grin. "The girls on the other hand, well, let's just say they'd better behave if they want the privilege to even think about dating my little princess."

"Dad!"

"Of course, I'd better be careful about Taylor treating them well too," her dad said with a chuckle as Pitch purred. "Although if how she talks about that Katniss girl is any indication, I think she'll treat them right."

"Shush, Malcolm," her mom said as Taylor fought the urge to crawl under the porch. "You're embarrassing her."

Aunt May laughed. "Why don't y'all come into the kitchen and give me a hand? Taylor, Lydia should still be out by the creek. You've got plenty of time to play before dinner'll be ready."

Taylor made her way to the creek a couple minutes' walk from her Aunt's house. A small crowd cheered as a pair of teenagers with ripped jeans raced their companions, a horse and a stag, across the creek. They laughed as hooves sent refreshingly cool water splashing over everyone.

"Hey, Taylor!" yelled a girl with tangled brambles of dark brown hair. She waved her arm as if she was trying to put out a fire. "Over here!"

Taylor galloped over and hugged her cousin. "How've you been?"

"I've got some new friends to show you." Lydia rolled up her sleeves to reveal a pair of green snakes.

Taylor jumped backward. "Jeez, a little warning would have been nice!"

Lydia laughed. "Sorry, I still can't get enough of people's reactions. You'd think I had grenades up my sleeves."

"They might as well be," Taylor said as her flies jittered around her. "Aren't you worried they might bite somebody?"

"Nah, Em and Peri are harmless. Unless you're a cricket, you've got nothing to worry about. Wanna pet 'em?"

The snakes lifted their heads and flicked out their tiny black tongues. "No thanks."

"No worries. When they finally shed their skins, you can touch those if you're up to it." Lydia wiggled her eyebrows. "I know a couple kids who'd jump higher than armadillos in traffic if we put the skins in their backpacks."

"Don't you think that might be a bit much? Some people are really scared of snakes." And the last thing she wanted to think about was another surprise hiding with her notebooks.

"Good point. I'd rather not throw away the skins though. They'll be too cool for that." She put a hand to her chin. "Maybe I could use them as tinsel instead."

"That would definitely be interesting," Taylor said. "So you haven't had them long?"

"A couple weeks. Mom says I'll need to be extra careful soon since they'll have a hard time dealing with chilly weather." She nodded at Taylor's flies. "They're new too, aren't they?"

Taylor stared at her shoes, watching a pair of ants crawl over her shoelaces. "Yeah. They're pretty lame, huh?"

"No way! Bugs are great because you get a ton of them and they're super easy to feed. I wish Peri and Em were that easy to take care of." She stroked one of the snakes with the tip of her finger. "They only like live food. I'd kill to toss them a slice of fruit and call it a day."

"Everyone else thinks my flies suck."

"Sounds like they're the ones that suck." Lydia laughed at Taylor's stunned expression. "Hey, it's true. Come on, let me introduce you to some folks. You're not the only one around here with bugs."

"Oh jeez, I dunno. What if they don't—"

"I'm sure they'll like you. Come on!"

Lydia grabbed her hand and dragged her toward a swarm of other kids with insect companions.