Janelle was cleaning up her room. Her favorite aunt's daughter, in other words her cousin, was going to be coming over in a couple of days to spend her Spring Break with them. Mrs. Landers had said that their cousin, Casey, was going to be staying in Janelle's room during her one month stay. Janelle sighed. Casey was an annoying little 11-year old brat, and since it was Spring Break, she had been looking forward to kicking back and hanging out with her friends... not looking after her little cousin. The last time she had visited them, was when they were still living in California, it had been a total disaster. She had nearly driven Ethan crazy, and she had had the whole family running around the whole time. Janelle doubted that her little cousin had changed.
"You say you can but you don't knooow oh whoa," Taylor, Zac, and Ike were performing at a local mall in France. Zac was sitting behind his drums with his leg propped up on a stool. They had just finished singing 'MMMBop,' amidst the frantic screams and cries from the many teenage fans. "Thanks ya guys for coming on out here, it's been great!" Isaac said into his mic. Zac decided to use a little of his French, that he had learned from watching French TV, "Je vous-aime!" The crowd went wild over the fact that Zac had just said 'I love you guys' in French. Taylor rolled his eyes$B)(J The kid loved to drive the crowds crazy. Taylor waved one last time, and they all ran backstage.
"Hey ya guys, awesome performance," Ravi, their backup guitarist commented. Taylor gave him a high five, "Not as good as yours." Zac came limping past them, "They loved me the most, admit it ya guys." Isaac simulated gagging as Zac flopped down onto the couch next to him. Taylor walked on over to Zac, "Hey, how's your leg doing?" Zac looked at his cast, which had been signed by many French girls, "Great! All those girls crowding around me wanting to sign my leg, it's great." Taylor rolled his eyes, "No, really Zac, how's your leg?" Zac sat up, "It's okay, just feels kinda swollen that's all." Just then Mr. Hanson walked in, "Hey kids, wanna start heading back towards the hotel? Your mom said we'd go do a little shopping later." Isaac and Taylor immediately rushed past their dad, "See ya in the car dad." And they ran out. Zac, who was left lying on the couch, "Hey wait! Help me get up! Wait!! Ike! Tay! C'mon!" Walker Hanson laughed and got Zac by the arm, "Up ya go sport." Zac limped along to the car, "Dad, don't call me sport." Mr. Hanson looked at his drummer son and muttered, "Geesh, them hormones must be kicking in."
Janelle sat on the hard plastic airport chairs listening to 'Truly Madly Deeply' on her discman. The whole entire Landers family was at the airport waiting for Casey to arrive from Chicago. Apparently, Ethan, Janelle, and Brenden weren't really looking forward to meeting her. Ethan was sitting squished between Janelle and Brenden, listening to 'Puff Daddy' with his older brother and their parent's were sitting opposite of them on another pair of hard plastic airport chairs. "You guys, c'mon, I'm sure Casey's changed a lot. She's almost 11 now, and your Aunt Karen told me that she's really different now," Mrs. Landers tried to tell her kids. "Yeah right mom. She was born a brat, she always was a brat, she still is a brat, and she always will be a brat," Ethan muttered under his breath. Mrs. Landers eyed her three children," Well, whatever you do, I want to see you all treating your cousin nicely okay? No dissing, no teasing, none of that stuff." Janelle, Ethan, and Brenden merely nodded and went back to listening to their music. All of a sudden, they all heard a cry, "Aunt Lisa! Uncle Mark!" The three Landers children turned their head slightly and saw a petite girl in black flares and a shocking-pink tank top with sunglasses perched atop her head. They all raised an eyebrow as Ethan muttered, "That? Casey?" "No way, she looks like a miniature Spice Girl$B)(J Brenden noted when he saw her four inch heels. Janelle scrunched up her face, "Yuck, she looks like a Teenybopper." Ethan turned to his older sister, "That's almost like a miniature Spice Girl." Mrs. Landers motioned for her three children to walk on over and say 'hi' as she greeted her niece, "Casey! How was your flight?" Casey set her bag down, "Aunt Lisa, please don't call me Casey anymore, call me Cassandra, it sounds so much more sophisticated don't you think?" Ethan smirked, "Freaking wannabe." Mrs. Landers gave her youngest son a 'look' and turned back to her niece, "Yes, of course, it sounds great Case-- uh, Cassandra." Mr. Landers spoke up, "Hey Casey, ya got anymore luggage or anything?" Cassandra looked over at her uncle, "Yeah Uncle Mark. I got loads of stuff. I'll go get 'em later." Cassandra looked at her three cousins standing meekly in front of her, "Hey! Wow Janelle you're soo tall now! I love your shirt!" Janelle looked down at her burgundy tee. She didn't see anything special about it but said, "Thanks Casey, I like your, uh, your tank top. It's, uh, a nice bright pink." Ethan muttered under his breath, "Nearly blinded me." Casey smiled sweetly at Janelle, "Thanks Jannie, and please call me Cassandra," she turned to look at Ethan, "Ethan you still look like a dork." She looked up at Brenden," Hey Brenden, still hangin' with your homies?" Brenden looked at her from under his cap," Hangin with my homies? Uh, yeah, whatever." There was a silent pause among the group, suddenly Mrs. Landers cleared her throat," Well, let's get going. Cassandra must be tired from her flight." Janelle, Ethan, and Brenden grabbed their coats and started running, "Geesh, she did change," Janelle noted. Ethan replied, "She's even more of a brat." Brenden spoke up, "What was up with that questioning crap? It was like we were on trial or something." Janelle turned back to look at her brothers, "One thing's sure, I don't think I can stand one whole month of her in my room."
The whole Hanson clan was crowded at a French souvenir shop closeby the Eiffel Tower. Zac limped around on his right foot, "Man, there's nothing good here, just French stuff." Isaac picked up a little French flag and started waving it in Zac's face, "Here, like this?" Zac brushed the flag aside and walked over to Taylor who was examining a little paperweight. It was a little figure carved into the Eiffel Tower, with a man and woman dancing underneath the stars. Taylor smiled to himself, it was the perfect present to get Janelle. Just then, Zac interrupted him," Hello? Earth to Tay? Whattup with you?" Taylor blinked his eyes and looked at Zac, "Huh? What?" Zac gave his brother a look, "I dunno, you tell me. You were standing there with this big cheesy grin on your face." Taylor grinned, "I found the perfect gift for Jan, here check it out." He handed it over to Zac, "Great, more Eiffel Towers. We can open up an Eiffel Tower shop over in Tulsa. I'm sure they'll like that, we'll be famous! People will come on over from all over the mid-west wanting to buy Taylor's Eiffel Tower paperweights." Zac handed it back to his older brother and rolled his eyes," I was hoping we could get some real stuff." Taylor eyed him, "What kinda stuff?" "I dunno, French or Swiss chocolate," he said while giving Taylor a big grin. Taylor headed over to the cash register, "Yeah sure Zac. You'll end up puking it all up on the plane ride back to Tulsa anyway." Zac winced remembering his little ordeal on the plane ride to Paris, "I'll eat it when we get to Tulsa, no problem." Taylor paid for the paperweight and turned back to Zac, "Well, you better hurry up and get something cuz we're leaving tomorrow morning."
Somewhere on the other side of the globe, Janelle was leading her younger cousin up to her room. "Wow, Tulsa seems real cool," Casey noted on the way up the stairs. Janelle was dragging her cousin's 3 bags up the stairs while Brenden followed them carrying another 3. Janelle rolled her eyes, apparently, everything seemed 'cool' to Casey. They walked down the hall and into Janelle's room and she set down Casey's bags. Brenden lugged the remaining three and dropped them at the door, "See ya later Jan, good luck." Then he ran out and down the stairs. Janelle turned to face Casey who was examining every little thing in her room. She was now looking at a picture of Taylor and Janelle at the Valentine's Dance. Janelle was holding the rose that Taylor had given her, and he was standing behind her with his arms around hers. Casey squinted her eyes, "Ohmigod, that's Taylor Hanson! This is sooo cool! I knew that they lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but I didn't think that you guys knew them!" She started squealing as she jumped up and down on Janelle's bed. Janelle thought that every single spring would pop so she got up and said, "Well, if you want, I could introduce you to them." Casey jumped off of her cousin's bed and grabbed Janelle by the arm, "You mean it? You seriously mean it? Ohmigosh!" She started squealing again and Janelle winced, "I take it you're a real big fan of theirs?" Casey turned back to Janelle, "Are you kidding? I'm, like, their biggest fan ever! I just saw their 'MMMBop' VDO the other day, and I was like in love the first second I saw it! Here," she walked over to her backpack and pulled out a Middle of Nowhere CD, "I take it everywhere with me." Janelle raised one eyebrow and looked at her younger cousin. She was definitely a little Teenybopper$B)(Jin fact, she looked like she could almost pass as Steph's little sister. She forced a smile, "Well, they like it when you treat them like, y'know, normal, so when they get back I'll take you on over to meet them." Casey went back to look at the picture of Taylor and Janelle, "Heeey$B)(Jare you guys a couple or something?" Janelle smiled, "Yeah, I guess you could say that." Casey went over and gave Janelle a big smile, "Well, I'm like, so in love with Zac, do you think that he'll like me too?" Janelle resisted giggling and said, "Uh, yeah sure Case, I'm sure he'll love to, uh, getta know you." Casey flicked a lock of her hair over her shoulder, "Well, great, cuz if he doesn't, I'll make him like me."
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