Kelsey took a deep breath, promised to herself that she would murder Jennifer after this, and sang in a strong, clear voice and sang, “After all the might-have-beens/ the close and instant calls/after all the trying agains/ don’t be afraid to fall/ We’re on the side of angels, after all.” When she was done, there was a silence Kelsey didn’t like.
Just at that moment Hanson’s manager, Christopher Sabec, spoke up, “Girl, where are your parents? Who is your manager? How old are you? What instrument do you play?” Kelsey stared at him, dumbfounded. “Why?” she asked curiously. “Because I want to manage you girls. If you play as well as you sing, then you kids have got it made,” then took a look at Hanson, “See? You guys have got me always signing kids your age. Jeez, what are you doing to me?”
This joke broke the silence with laughter. Kelsey said, “My Mom’s at home, we don’t have one, 12, and keyboard and drums.” Chris grinned; he liked this girl. He asked who drove her here. Kelsey pointed to Jennifer, “The same girl who is going to die if she ever makes me do that again; her mom drove us.” Jennifer blushed and then acted scared. She ran behind Zac and said in panic, “Save me! She’s gonna kill me!” Zac immediately helped her out. He spread his arms out and firmly planted his feet in the ground, “No one shall kill you, fair Jennifer. For Zac the Blue Ranger is here!!!” At this everyone started laughing as Zac proceeded to kill invisible enemies and do karate all around the stage.
In a few minutes, the sound check was over and everyone gathered backstage. Then the phone rang. It was Jennifer’s mother, “Honey, the car broke down and we can’t come get you for awhile. Can you wait?” Jennifer told Zac and he offered to drive them to their hotel and they could just stay the night there since no one could come get them. Jennifer suggested this to her mom, and after some bargaining, she agreed to call Kelsey’s mom and tell her they were staying with them.
Kelsey heard this and thought she would almost freak. “What about our clothes?” she thought. She didn’t bring any with her and neither did Jennifer. Mr. Hanson seemed to read her mind, “You girls can wear some of the boys’ old clothes they’ve grown out of.” Kelsey smiled at him gratefully. She couldn’t believe she was going to spent the next few hours and night with Taylor. Just the thought nearly made her faint.
Jennifer, on the other hand, couldn’t have been more excited. She immediately asked Zac to teach her a new song on the drums and he happily agreed. Kelsey, not knowing what to do, asked Taylor if he had a computer of any kind. He nodded and pointed to a black laptop on the table. She asked him if she could play on it. He agreed, only if, “I get to watch.”
Kelsey blushed and smiled. She sat down and put it in her lap and began to examine it’s contents. He had internet access. He had music programs. He had typing programs. She began to look into everything and mess with his desktop. He realized she knew computers pretty well and told her that nothing was working on the internet ever since he had put this Hanson computer program on there. Kelsey looked at it and told him it was because the internet worked best under 256 colors and not true color which was what the Hanson program ran the best under.
When she told Taylor this, he looked at her amazed. “Wow,” he thought, “She knows as much as someone my age, looks my age, and is as mature as people my age. I wonder if she’s thinking about what I’m thinking about...” he quickly made the thoughts leave his mind.
Kelsey looked at him. “He’s so cute when he’s thinking,” she thought, “Oh, but he wouldn’t go for someone three years younger than him.” She continued to wait for his response. The one she got was interesting, but something she had never expected.
Taylor looked at her wrist. It had blue W.W.J.D. bracelet on it. “Where did you get that?” he asked, taking her hand, which was freezing cold. “Jeez, your hands are freezing! Come here,” he said. She obeyed. He took her hands in his and softly blew on them. His warm breath warmed them and she felt a tingle go down her spine. He continued until they were warm to his touch. Kelsey swore in her mind, “If he holds my hands any longer I’m going to kiss him right now.”
Meanwhile, Jennifer and Zac were laughing their heads off. Zac was cracking Jennifer up and Jennifer was cracking Zac up. Both of them had tears in their eyes, they were laughing so hard. “Please, Zac, stop. I can’t take anymore,” Jennifer said breathlessly. Zac grinned. He loved hearing her laugh. He didn’t know why, but he did. Suddenly he felt the urge to touch her. He had to. But he wanted to hear her laugh, too. The solution? He tickled her.
Jennifer shrieked. “ZAC!!! STOP!!!” was all she could get out before falling to the floor laughing. Zac grinned and looked at her. “When she is laughing, she looks like she doesn’t have a care in the world. She looks...perfect,” he thought, still tickling her. Soon he was standing over her, still tickling her. Jennifer tried desperately to push his hands away, but she couldn’t.
“Zachary Walker Hanson!!! She asked you to stop, you do that right this instant! You can flirt with her later!” yelled Mrs. Hanson. Zac and Jennifer instantly became the same shade of red. Zac looked at her. Her face was flushed, her blond hair was in her face, some of it curling at her lips. He reached over and carefully pulled them out of her face, letting his fingers just barely brush her lips.
When Zac did that, an entire different feeling came over him. He had to talk to her, he had to touch her, he had to...kiss her. Where this came from, he never knew. All he knew was that he wanted his lips to touch hers. His fingers still tingled from the experience.
Jennifer couldn’t believe he had done that. When his fingers had just barely caressed her lips, she knew that she loved him, now and forever.
