Dusty Shaginaw sat, watching all the people. Most were getting off the bus, but a few were getting on. She half-expected to see him, giving her a cold grin.
"Don't worry, sweetie. It won't hurt...much." His evil laugh rang in her mind.
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" Dusty looked up into the warm brown eyes of a familiar face. "Dusty?" he exclaimed.
"Zac? Zac Hanson?" She opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. "Where's Tay?"
"Don't worry, Dusty. I'll call as soon as I get back to Tulsa. We'll be together someday, I promise. I love you." Tay ran his fingers through her hair and kissed her cheek. "Goodbye, Dusty. Never forget that I love you, my shy angel."
Zac looked into her eyes and cringed at the pain he saw there. "Uh, busy, I guess. Haven't seen him since I left."
Dusty looked out the window and wondered where her best friend Danyelle was. She pressed the power button on the radio just as the melody of her favorite song faded away. "Damn, missed it." Then she heard.
"I repeat," the radio guy announced, "Zac Hanson, youngest member of the famous pop trio, has been missing since late last night. Fourteen-year-old Hanson was last seen by his mother at 11:30 p.m., at which time he was preparing for bed. There is no evidence of foul play, but the possibility has not yet been ruled out. Once again, Zac Hanson has disappeared."
"Yeah, I heard about that." Dusty fought to keep from screaming at him to let out all the worry and frustration she had felt when he had disappeared.
"Anyway," Zac sat and indicated Dusty's growing stomach, "what have you been up to?"
"Oh, you know," Dusty grinned, "a little of this, a little of that. The 'rents kicked me out, so I'm headed to Trisha's. I think I'm going to stay there for awhile, at least until the baby's born. It's just her and her little brother; I figured they could use the company."
"Yeah, I don't think it's been the same for them since their parents died. But here's a coincedence." Zac had a mischievious gleam in his eye. "That's where I'm going too. But Trisha doesn't know anything about it. She's the only one who's known where I was. I wanted to go straight to her house, but they would have found me; it was the first place they looked. I think I'm going to move in with her."
"Sweet! Oh God, sudden craving for pickles and peanut butter-one of the many disadvantages of being pregnant." Dusty gently patted her tummy. "This little one here is either Jordan Walker or Jordanna Lynn."
"It's not..." Zac hesitated. "It's not Tay's, is it?"
"No, no," she shook her head quickly. "He was gone long before that. But I love Tay and I kinda hoped that we could, you know, raise it together. That he would be the father. But now, I just don't know. I wish he'd call or something."
"Well, I'm sure you'll hear from him soon." The bitterness in Zac's voice made her glance up at him suspiciously, but his facial expression was innocent and calm.
"If you don't mind, I'm going to catch some zzz's." Dusty yawned again and leaned against Zac's shoulder.
"See you when you wake up," Zac replied as she drifted off. He looked at her, then at the picture of Trisha in his hand and once again cursed his brother for hurting the girls.
"Brad! Answer the door, kid!" Trisha called down the stairs to her little brother.
"I got it," he yelled back. She heard the door open. "Zac! Dusty!"
Trisha reached the top of the steps in time to see Brad launch himself at the figures in the doorway. "Zachary Walker Hanson and Dusty Shy Angel Shaginaw, what the hell are you doing at my house?"
"Came for a visit," Dusty yawned. "And to introduce you to my future child."
Trisha reached the bottom of the stairs and hugged Dusty tightly before walking over to Zac, who had been quiet the entire time.
Finally he spoke. "I missed you, baby." They looked at each other for a moment. Then they moved together like a couple in a romantic movie.
"Get your hands off of my sister," Brad teased Zac.
"Get your sister's hands off of me," Zac replied with a laugh.
"That'll happen," Dusty put in sarcastically.
"Ha ha." Trisha moved away from Zac. "Let me start some dinner or something. You guys have got to be starving."
"Hey Zac! Is Tay there?"
"Dusty? Hey girl, what's up? How's Trisha doing? I haven't talked to her in awhile, no time."
"Oh, she's okay. Things have finally calmed down after her parents' accident and all. That insurance money came through. She's now an emancipated minor and she got custody of Brad, so that's good. Where's Tay?"
"Great! I'm going to call her tongiht and make sure. Tay's...uh, I think he, uh...oh yeah, he went to the, uh, Laser Tag. Yeah, he had a free game or something."
"Oh. Okay. I guess just tell him I called, I love him, and call me back. Okay?"
"Okay. And Dusty? I'm really sorry." He hung up, leaving her to wonder what he was so sorry about.
Dusty opened her eyes and wondered where she was. The last thing she remembered was calling Tay. Where was he? "Oh, shit, I remember! Bus ride with Zac, Trisha's house," she thought. "Okay, I get it."
She relaxed and glanced around Brad's room. For a ten-year-old, this kid was pretty hip. Of course, it helped to be living alone with a sixteen-year-old girl who was pretty wild. His walls were covered with posters of Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, Eminem, and of course, a single Hanson poster, autographed.
Dusty walked over to it and read what the guys had written aloud. "To Brad, the coolest brother Trisha has. Someday you'll have a kick-ass band and maybe even play the guitar better than me. Practice hard-Ike." Dusty laughed at Ike's cockiness. "Brad-aaahhheee! Bet you haven't had as much sugar as me. Gotta get hyped up for the concert! -Prozac. The band is falling apart without you, Zac." Dusty thought of all the hurt, betrayed teenyboppers out there who were wondering where their hyper little blond man had disappeared to. If they only knew the real Zac, who wanted nothing more than to be a normal teenager, play music, and be with his girlfriend. Then she turned her eyes to the final note on the poster. "Brad, once again, I'm signing my name and it will be worth a ton of money. Don't you wish you were famous? Yeah, well, Zac claims that it's not all it's cracked up to be, but it's me. Love to you and your sis, Tay. Tay, why haven't you called? Damn it, where are you?"
Dusty's head swiveled when she heard whispering in the hall. "You didn't tell her about it?" Trisha's voice.
"No, I didn't tell her!" The lower hushed voice belonged to Zac. "What was I supposed to say to her?"
"How about the truth? Say, 'Hey, Dusty, Tay screwed up and met someone else. He's really sorry, and he loves you more than her, but he's afraid to leave her because she has been so good to him. You have to talk to him.' Did you ever think about that?"
The conversation continued as Trisha and Zac moved away from the door. Dusty leaned against the wall and placed a hand on her belly. Feeling the baby kick, a single tear fell from her eye. "Guess you forgot, even if I didn't."
Dusty got dressed and went downstairs, ignoring the pain in her back and the sorrow in her heart. It was a typical weekday morning in Trisha's house, which Dusty knew from her many visits.
There was Brad, laying on the couch, watching MTV Jams, unlike the other ten-year-olds who were entranced by the Magic Schoolbus. His skateboard was propped by the door, waiting to carry him to school.
Dusty could hear Trisha in the kitchen, whipping up some of her famous, surprisingly tasty peanut butter and jelly waffles. Silverchair's new album, Neon Ballroom, blasted out of the stereo as Trisha walked into the living room with a tray full of waffles, two glasses of milk, and a two-liter of Dr. Pepper.
"Breakfast," she yelled over the music. Brad attacked the waffles as Zac scampered in from the laundry room and settled on the floor, and Dusty took her seat on the couch. "Sorry, Dusty," Trisha handed her a glass of milk, "but young mothers need lots of calcium. And," she glanced at Zac, "I'm not sure if there'll be enough Dr. Pepper to go around with him here."
Ten minutes later, all the food had been devoured. "See you guys later," Brad called as he strapped on his backpack and grabbed his skateboard. "Sis, I'll be home around six."
"Bye," all three teens yelled to him as he hurried out the front door, already late to meet his best friend Jackson at the corner.
As soon as he was gone, Trisha picked up the phone and dialed. "Hello, may I speak to the nurse, please? Hello, Mrs. Stratton. This is Trisha Tyler. I won't be attending school today. I've had some family arrive from out of town unexpectedly. Yes, I'm sure I'll be there tomorrow. Thank you. I'll have Brooke Cox pick up my assignments for me. Yes, thanks again."
As she hung up, Zac looked at her incredously. "You're just going to skip school like that? Call in and say you're not coming? That was too easy."
"Yeah, one of the good parts of being emancipated." Trisha took another swig of Dr. Pepper. "But somedays I wish my mom was around to bitch at me and tell me how important it is for me to go to school."
"So what are we going to do today?" Dusty interuppted, not wanting Trisha to think about her parents too much.
"First thing's first." Trisha took a glance at the open notebook in front of her. "Here's what I thought we should do. I'm going to call Brooke so she can pick up some stuff for me. Then, we'll arrange a doctor's appointment for Dusty. Just a general checkup for you and the baby, get you acquainted with the man who'll be delivering little Jordy." Dusty nodded her agreement. "Good. But first thing's first. Zac, you have got to call your mom."
"No way."
"Yes, Zac." Trisha gritted her teeth and gave Dusty a look begging for support.
"She's right, Zac," Dusty put in. "Your mom is worried sick about you. She's been calling everyone you've ever met, asking if they've seen you."
"And if you're going to live here," Trisha continued, "you have to go to school. To go to school, you have to have your legal guardian sign for you, or someone appointed to care for you by your legal guardian." Zac shook his head once again. "You know if you call her and explain, she'll put me in charge of you," Trisha pleaded. "Then you can stay here with me for as long as you want."
Zac took a deep breath and managed to stutter out, "I-I can't, can't ta-a-ke the ch-cha-ance of h-h-i-i-m-m answer-i-ing."
Trisha grabbed the phone off of its cradle and began dialing the familiar number before he could add anything. "I'll get her on for you." The room was silent as we all waited for someone to pick up. "Ike? It's Trisha. I really need to talk to your mom. Could you put her on? Thanks." Zac gripped the couch cushion, verging on tears. "Diana? This is Trisha. There's someone here who really needs to talk to you." She handed the phone to Zac.
"Mommy?" He sounded like a four-year-old who had lost his favorite blanket. "I'm so sorry, Mommy. I didn't want him to hurt me anymore. I wanna stay with Trisha for awhile..." He walked back to the kitchen where he could be alone.
Dusty looked at Trisha. "Now what?"
"Now," Trisha flipped off the stereo, "we wait."
It was almost an hour later when Zac reentered the living room. His eyes were red and wet, and he was shaking, but he looked at peace. "Mom said I can stay," he whispered. "She's on her way to the lawyer now, and the papers will be delivered tonight."
"That's great!" Dusty pulled Zac down to the floor for a hug and Trisha joined them.
"Why don't you go and get some rest? We'll wake you up when we get back from the doctor's office." Trisha gently guided Zac up the stairs and into her room as Dusty sat on the floor, waiting once again.
"I'm so sick of all this waiting!" Tay yelled at his father. Dusty looked at him in amazement. Tay never yelled. "That's all we ever do! Wait, wait, wait! Damn it, I want to get something done!" He turned away from his father, looking for his next target. Zac. "Zac! This is all your fault. If you hadn't stayed at Trisha's so long, we could have left already. But no, you couldn't leave that bitch. Break up with her."
"No," Zac argued.
"Tay's right." Walker gave Zac a cruel glare. "This is your fault. If you would have come home on time, we could have left. You will break up with that girl. She's too old for you anyway."
"No, she is not! I love her. We belong together," Zac protested.
"Shut up," Walker yelled as he hit Zac. "Dusty," he turned to her, "you will go to the cabin where Trisha is staying and tell her that Zac doesn't want to see her again. Let's leave without them, son." Walker put an arm around Tay and led him out of the room.
"It's always about Tay," Zac cried into Dusty's shoulder. "He's so perfect. I wish I had never been born. I'm going to Trisha's." He ran out of the house as fast as he could, praying that she would be there.
Dusty was startled out of the flashback by the sound of Trisha clomping down the stairs.
"He's out for a few hours," Trisha informed Dusty tiredly. "I gave him about four sleeping pills so he would calm down a bit. I'm gonna go clean up the kitchen."
Dusty tried to remember what had happened after Zac had run out of the house. Hadn't she gone to Trisha's cabin after him? What had happened? Oh, she remembered...
Trisha opened the door and sighed with relief at the sight of Dusty. "Oh God," she gasped, "I was afraid that you were Walker or Tay. I just got Zac to relax a little." She lowered her voice. "I don't think he can handle another fight in his mental condition." She stepped back to let Dusty through the doorway. "What happened?"
"I don't know," Dusty answered in puzzlement. "I just don't understand it."
"Dusty? Dusty! Are you okay?" Trisha grabbed her shoulders. "Girl, I thought you went and freaked on me too."
"No, I was just remembering something that happened before." Dusty tried to smile reassuringly. "Just one of those things, I guess."
