“Okay son, just be back before dinner. If you want, invite Delaney over, I’m sure she wants to hang out with you before the tour starts,” Diana replied back. Taylor was a spitting image of his mother. With long blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, a heart of gold, and a smile that no one could possibly frown to, they were exactly the same. The only thing they had that was different were their talents. Diana’s was dancing. She was a gorgeous dancer and it all came so naturally to her, it was like she was floating when she danced. But, Taylor, he was a musician. He could play anything he put his mind to and when he sang it was like an angel just flew from the sky and then picked you up and now he’s flying you back up to Heaven so you can take a well-needed nap on the softest cloud up there.

Taylor tied up his sneakers and put on his light jacket then grabbed the orange covered tape lying on the table next to the door. He threw open the door and took off down the street. Faintly behind him he heard his dad’s voice…

“Thanks for closing the door Tay!” but he was laughing so it was okay.

Five minutes later Taylor showed up panting on Delaney’s porch. The awesome thing was that she was sitting there waiting for him so he didn’t have to deal with her parents. She had the meanest parents. Mostly her mom wasn’t around and so it was just her dad who was expecting Delaney to take care of him in her mom’s place.

“Hey Laney!” he greeted her with a big smile while he sat down next to her on the top step of the filthy porch.

“Hey Tay-Tay,” she smiled back. He was the only person who could make her smile without trying to. She was also the only person aloud to call him by that nickname. “Whatcha got there?” she asked pointing to the tape case in his hand.

“Our new album!” he said proudly holding it out to her. She took it in her hands and examined it carefully. Right there on the cover, in the center, was a picture of her best friend. She was so proud of him. Taylor and his family had just returned from Los Angeles where they were recording the album. She had been at their house waiting for them when they returned, he just hadn’t told her that they had finished.

“This is so cool; I didn’t know you guys were done. You did that fast… Are we going to listen to it?” Delaney said trying to spit out all she could just so she could hear the newest hit band.

“Of course we’re going to listen to it silly. Wanna go inside and try it out?” He asked starting to rise off the porch and go inside.

“Sorry Tay, we can’t,” Delaney said the smile melting off her face. “Umm, my tape player’s broken,” she said lying, and poorly at that.

“Laney, you can’t lie to me, what’s the real reason why we can’t go inside and listen to it?” Taylor was fourteen and extremely mature for his age. He and Delaney had become friends on the first day of kindergarten and they had been friends since. Being friends with such a troubled person had made him mature. He had to know when she needed help and when she didn’t. He had grown into being her best friend. Now, it wasn’t needed or mandatory or anything like that. It was just a habit and he liked things the way they were.

“It’s just my dad’s here and he’s probably drunk, I don’t know I haven’t been inside all day, plus, I’d rather go to your house anyways,” she said bringing her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around herself like she was cold. Taylor knew that she wasn’t cold, she was nervous and that was how she got whenever she had to talk about her family, to anyone.

“Don’t be like that, you know you can just tell me if you want to come to my house, plus, my mom said you could come to dinner, because we’re getting ready to go on tour and I want to spend as much time as possible with you before we leave,” Taylor told her comfortingly. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the cheek.

“I’m sorry, I’m just so ashamed. Your family isn’t like that, I wish I could live with you,” she said letting a few tears fall down onto her old sweatshirt.

“Hey maybe you could go on tour with us, I’m sure another person aboard our big bus wouldn’t bother anyone, besides you’d mostly be with me so I’m sure no one would have to feel obligated to be responsible for you,” Taylor said pulling away from her and looking at her. To him she had the most gorgeous eyes. They were so brown that they were almost black. But, coming towards the pupil the color got lighter until right around her pupil it was a honey-caramel color. He felt like her eyes held all of her secrets and they would never tell them to anyone. He had a hard enough time trying to figure out what was wrong with her sometimes that he hated her eyes, but when he would watch her just sit and think he loved her eyes. If your eyes could show the world that you’re lost and just biding time by thinking than Taylor would love them. That’s how Delaney’s eyes were. They always showed where she was in her own world, but would never tell what she was doing there.

“Do you think that I could go with you, I would love that. My dad wouldn’t, but I would, then again, I doubt your mom will let me go with you, oh well. It was a nice try,” She said smiling at Taylor’s anxious look; she knew he was going to get up and pull her down the street to his house. That’s what he always did, pulled her along, but she loved that.

“Come on, let’s go find out,” he said getting up and pulling her along with him. They ran down the street together finally coming upon the Hanson house. Delaney had always had this fantasy that the Hanson’s would adopt her and then let them live with her, because she felt they already loved her as another daughter, but now all they had to do was take her into their care.

They ran inside and immediately ran to the kitchen where they knew they would Mrs. Hanson cooking dinner. Sure enough she was in there, the perfect image of a mother. Wearing an apron, looking stressed, smelling like delicious food, while still there was 10 pots of simmering food on the stove. Even though she looked completely tired she smiled when she turned around and found her son and his best friend standing in her kitchen watching her.

“Hello Taylor and Delaney. I’m glad that you could come. I made your favorite desert, Taylor,” she said coming over and kissing him on the top of the head, which she had a little trouble doing seeing as he was growing taller every day. Then she did the same to Delaney, which was much easier seeing that Delaney was tiny and much shorter than Taylor.

“Mom, we want to ask you something,” Taylor began folding his hands together in front of himself silently praying she would say yes to their far-fetched plan.

“Yes son,” she said looking at his mischievous grin. She knew what he was going to ask and she was surprised that he hadn’t already asked it. The only problem was she’d already discussed the answer to this question with her husband. She was already feeling horrible about having to let him down.

“Well, I was wondering if Laney could go on the tour with us so I can have some company besides Ike and Zac. I really want her to come and she really wants to come to! You know how much fun it would be if she could come with us?” Taylor said using his blue eyes to try and win his mother over. He could really put in a good argument with his eyes… He knew how to use them and he knew the right words to put together to make it all work out. The problem was the mutual stubbornness that he and his mother shared. She had already made her decision and her mind was set.

“Taylor, baby, you know I love you and you know that I love Delaney,” here she threw Delaney a special look that she didn’t know. It was a look that a mother gave her daughter and Delaney had no idea how to interpret that look. But, she knew it was something good. She just didn’t know it was love. “But, I knew you were going to ask me this and so I’d already gone ahead and discussed it with your dad. I don’t think she can come with us son. It’s just keeping up with the band, having three other children to look after, and then, of course, there’s the baby. I have to keep a constant watch on Zoë. Plus, you have to keep your mind on the band and the music, you won’t have time for Delaney and she’ll end up spending all her time with Jessie and not you. Maybe next tour, but not this time, I’m sorry.” She said watching his smile melt into a frown. Delaney had been frowning when she walked into the kitchen so she didn’t know how she was reacting.

“That’s okay mom, you’re right, maybe next time,” Taylor said his tone of voice was truly sad.

“Come on Laney, let’s go listen to the album, call us for dinner, please mom,” and at that he began to walk out with Delaney following close behind.

“Delaney, I’m sorry you couldn’t come,” Diana called out to her.

Delaney just nodded in her direction. Did she ever speak? Diana thought to herself. Come to think of it, she had never heard her speak. How was it that Taylor had won her trust and why did she only come to him? There were so many girls in the Hanson household and yet she decided to go to a boy to seek advice. She’s very strange, Mrs. Hanson once again thought.

Although Delaney didn’t speak to anyone, but Taylor, if you really had been around her long enough you knew that she was constantly speaking to you. She had a way of talking without having to use her voice. She was a mental talker and even if you weren’t very good at reading people, you could read her because she was trying to get you to read her. She wanted you to know what was going on in her head. She just didn’t want to have to go through the pain of having to talk about. So far in her 14 years of life, Taylor Hanson had been the only person who had learned that she was talking, calling out for help and he had helped her.

That’s how they became best friends.

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Email: hshanson09@yahoo.com