Chapter Twelve

Zac called his brothers from behind his drums, "Hey, guys, this is our last song right?" "Yeah, 'I Will Come To You,'" Taylor replied. Isaac called over to Taylor, "Kay, go for it Tay." Taylor slowly played out some chords on his keyboard and started singing, "When you have no light to guide you, and no one to walk beside you, I will come to you, oh, I will come to you."

Janelle was watching Taylor sing out the lines to her favorite song. She loved "I Will Come To You." She loved Taylor's soulful voice and the way he sang. He just gave music a whole new meaning. She looked away and saw Jordan and Steph tightly hugging each other on the other side of the dance floor. She giggled and complimented herself on a job well done. She glanced back at Isaac, Taylor and Zac who were soulfully singing the ending of their song. She noticed Melanie and Isaac were grinning and staring at each other's eyes. Janelle smiled at their little game and looked over at Taylor who was already looking at her. She heard him sing out the last verse, and end the song, "I will come to you, oh I will come to you."

She stood up and walked over to the stage. Amidst the little screams from girls here and there, she looked up and winked at him. He called to Ike and said something, then walked down and greeted Janelle, "Hey Jan, sorry I couldn't really spend the whole entire evening with you." Janelle quickly kissed him on the cheek and replied, "That's okay Taylor, we still have some more dances left." They began walking away when they heard someone speak up on the auditorium mic, "Hey guys, it's Donny B. here! Thanks a bunch to Admiral Twin, Safari Sanity, and Hanson for totally lighting up our dance with their awesome music--" he was interrupted by a shout that came from the back of the auditorium. "No prob pal! We love you guys!!" Janelle turned and looked at Taylor, "That was Zac, wasn't it?" Taylor grinned and nodded knowingly, "Yeah, who else?" She grinned and turned back to face the stage. "Anyway, thanks Zac, we love you too," he was interrupted, once more, by a couple of laughs, "For the rest of the dance, I'll be your DJ, and you guys can kick back with your loved one, to a couple of these slow jams. Check it out." He sat back down and turned on what sounded like "Truly Madly Deeply" by Savage Garden. Janelle turned back and looked into Taylor's deep blue eyes, "I love this song, it's just the sweetest ever." Taylor grinned, "Then we'll make it our song, along with our night," and with that, he extended one hand and bowed, "May I have this dance?" Janelle smiled back, "Why of course." She put her hand in his, as he lead her out to the middle of the dance floor.

On the dance floor, Janelle wrapped her arms around Taylor and rested her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to be swept away with the steady beat of "Truly Madly Deeply." She heard Taylor softly speak into her ear, "Hey Jan, look up." Janelle slowly raised her head and looked up at the ceiling. She looked, astonished, at the hundreds of little white lights that were sparkling upon the dance floor. "They're so pretty$B)(J They look just like little stars," she noted. Taylor lowered his eyes at her, and smiled, "Not as pretty as the stars in your eyes though." Janelle blushed and looked back at him, "You really know how to sweep a girl off her feet, don't you?" Taylor smiled at her, "Don't worry, if you fall, I'll catch ya." Janelle gave him a smile, and placed her head back on his shoulder. She breathed in deep and could smell his wonderful scent. She saw, that not far from them, was Jordan and Steph, dancing away, as they moved all over the dance floor. She giggled and said, "Hey, check it out, Barbie found Ken." Taylor glanced over and looked at the waltzing pair and grinned, "Hey, they go together, but guess who found his princess?" Janelle looked back into his eyes and replied, "And guess who found her prince?" They both smiled at each other as the song came to and end and a faster tune came blaring out of the speakers. Taylor took her hand and whispered into her ear, "C'mon, let's go outside." Janelle put her hand in his and followed him out into the cold night.

Janelle shivered under the night sky as Taylor lead them over the to the bleachers on the soccer field. They both sat down and Taylor wrapped his arms around her to keep her warm. In front of them was the night sky and$B)
(Jhundreds of thousands of little stars all around. Taylor clasped his hand in hers and said, "Hey, you ever wonder what it'd be like to be one of those little stars?" Janelle raised her head and socked him playfully in the shoulder, "Yo Tay, didja forget? You are a star." Tay smiled and replied, "Hey, y'know we're gonna be going on tour in Europe for a couple of weeks or so$B)(J" Janelle sat up and said, "Wow, you guys are gonna have tons of fun." Taylor looked at her," Promise I'll bring you back a souvenir." Janelle laughed, "Ha! A crummy souvenir! Well, okay, an Eiffel Tower paperweight or somethin' should be okay," she paused for a second then squinted at him with her hands on her hips, "Just don't bring back some Swedish chick." Taylor widened his eyes and gasped, "Wha--? Me? No waaay!" They both laughed and Janelle said, "C'mon, we'd better get back now." They stood up, and carefully stepped down the tall bleachers.

To their surprise, when they got in, they saw a loud crowd circled around someone$B)(J Then they heard a loud cry, "Ohhh yeeeeaahh yee yeaaah!!" Taylor moaned and buried his face in his hands, "Crap, Zac's at it again." He pushed through the crowd and pulled his brother by the collar$B)
(JThe kid was doing something between a break dance and the twist. "What the heck do ya think you're doing?" Taylor demanded. Zac looked up at his brother and started laughing hysterically. Taylor shook him a little and Zac started hiccuping, "The punch's good!" he managed to drawl out. Taylor let go of him and groaned, "Shit, someone must've spiked the punch." Janelle could only laugh at the scene in front of her. She gently got Zac by the shoulder and led him over to a table and told him," Hey, Zac-ster$B)(J You'd better lie down for awhile." She put two chairs together and motioned for him to lie down. Zac was still grinning like a slobbering dog and he obediently lay down," Yummy punch," he murmered one last time as he slowly closed his eyes. Just then, Taylor approached her, "Whaddaya know? My 11-year old brother's drunk." He grinned, "Great, how am I gonna explain this to Mom?" Just then, they were interrupted once more by another loud cheer. They both turned and saw Isaac and Melanie doing this sort of ballroom dance across the gymnasium floor as people cheered them on. Taylor gaped at his older brother, "What the hell is he doing? Crap this is so embarrassing." Janelle looked at Ike and Melanie, and then back at Taylor, "You, uh, you don't think that they're drunk too, do you?" Taylor raised one eyebrow, "Apparently so," he rolled his eyes, "C'mon, let's go save the other half of my family."

So, as it turns out, Isaac and Melanie were just as drunk as Zac. Taylor and Janelle staggered with them across the parking lot and got the three of them into the backseat of the car. Taylor slammed the door shut and looked at Janelle across the car roof. He shrugged and said, "Great, what do we do now?" Janelle squinted her eyes as if she were thinking and said, "Well, one thing's for sure, Ike sure can't drive right now$B)(J" She peered over at Isaac who was belting out the US anthem. Apparently, Melanie thought this was the coolest thing ever because she was cheering him on. Taylor scrunched up his face, "Yeah. I can't call Mom and Dad, cuz then they'll get grounded for a month." He sighed and then grinned over at Janelle, "Looks like I gotta bail them outta this one, huh?" Janelle walked over to his side of the car and said, "You sure you know how to drive this thing?" Taylor shrugged, "Well hey, it'll be just like driving a go-kart$B)(Jhe grinned at her," I promise I'll drive really slow and I'll take the backstreets$B)(J No freeway driving." Janelle grinned, "Well, then hey, what're we waiting for?"

"Okay, clutch, brakes, accelerator$B)
(JI got it." Taylor slowly edged out of Tulsa high's parking lot$B)
(Jdriving at 5 miles per hour." Janelle looked at Taylor who was craning his neck trying to look out of the rearview mirror. She spoke up, "Hey, Tay, I think we can go a little faster." Taylor looked over at her then back at the speedometer, "Oh, yeah sure." He increased his speed to 9 miles per hour. Janelle smiled to herself when she felt the car bump into something. "Crap, what was that?" Taylor lowered his window and stuck his head out. "Nothing, don't worry. I just bumped into the Schatzsky's mailbox." He rolled his window back up, "Y'see, it's shaped like a cow, and I didn't really see it." Janelle giggled as they slowly crept down the Tulsan streets.

Soon, they had reached Melanie's house and they got out and helped her out of the car. After a couple of minutes of standing in the sidewalk, she had managed to "sober" herself somewhat and muttered a quick thanks and stumbled up the driveway. Janelle and Taylor got back into the car and headed away towards the Landers house.

When they got there, Janelle saw Brenden's car already parked in the driveway. "Crap, I better run in now." She turned and looked Taylor in the eyes and said, "Hey Superstar, thanks for an awesome evening," and with that she quickly kissed him softly on the lips and scrambled out. She called back one last time, "Hey, drive back carefully okay?" Taylor, still in a daze replied, "Uh, yeah sure." Janelle smiled and ran up the driveway and through the front door.

Taylor Hanson gripped the steering wheel and let out a whoop, "Yeah! She kissed me!" He heard his two brothers, who had managed to sleep through the mailbox crash, let out a snort in response. Taylor stepped on the pedal and set out for the Hanson house. As he was driving along, all of a sudden, he heard a whoop from outside. He looked and saw Jordan, Aaron, and CJ in a black BMW. "Shit, "Taylor muttered under his breath. Just then, he felt Jordan ram their car into the Hanson car's bumper. "Damn, what the hell are they doing?" Taylor exclaimed exasperated. He stepped on the accelerator and sped off at 45 miles per hour on the quiet suburban streets at 11:00 at night. He was starting to get frantic as Jordan sped up alongside him at 50 miles an hour and lowered his window, "I told you to watch your ass! Hope your brothers liked the punch!" And with that, they sped away. Taylor scrambled out of the car and surveyed the bumper. "Shit! I am so dead." He slowly stepped back into the car and headed home.