The next day, Janelle woke up with a stiff back. She winced and slowly sat up. She saw Casey sleeping soundly on her bed while she herself had camped out on the carpet the night before. She slowly stood up checked out the clock$B)(JIt read 10:00 am. She was so thankful that it was Spring Break so that she could catch her extra z's. She trudged into the bathroom and started taking a shower. She soon heard Casey pounding on the door, "Janelle? Is that you?" "Yeah, I'll be out in a sec," Janelle turned off the water and wrapped herself in a towel. She grabbed her brush and stepped out, "Sorry, hope you weren't waiting for too long." Casey flipped a lock of hair over her shoulder, "Well, kinda, cuz like at home, I'm the only one who uses the bathroom." Janelle remembered that she was an only child and gave her a weak smile, "Yeah, well, ya better get in there before Ethan and Brenden wake up." She walked back into her room and closed the door behind her. She opened her closet and decided on a pair of white shorts and a purple tee. She quickly tied up her hair and bent down picking up Casey's stuff that lay strewn all over her bedroom floor. She sighed, the kid was a spoiled brat and Janelle was sick tired of playing her maid. She lifted her backpack and threw it onto a chair when she saw her diary fall out opening to a diary entry dated a couple of weeks ago. Janelle looked at her bedroom door then looked back at the diary. She was about to put it back into Casey's backpack, but saw her name written in one of the entries. She guiltily opened it up and started reading.
'I'm so sick of school. No one here ever wants to hang out with me. What's wrong? I try so hard to fit in, and everyone always snubs me.' Janelle raised an eyebrow and continued reading, 'I try to wear cool clothes, act cool, and talk cool, but still, everyone seems to hate me. I remember back when we visited Aunt Lisa in California, Janelle had so many friends, why can't I have a lot of friends too?' Janelle sighed and saw another entry dated just a week before. 'Mom's sending me away to stay with Aunt Lisa for a month in Oklahoma. This sucks, what the heck is there to do in Oklahoma? (Well, besides Hanson, but fat chance of me meeting them). I guess Mom's sick of me too.' Janelle slowly closed her cousin's diary and stuffed it into her backpack. She leaned against her bed and sighed. She hadn't realized Casey was such a lonely little kid. She decided she'd try to be really nice to her$B)(J Try at least.
Just then, Casey walked in and stepped past Janelle, "'Scuse me." She grabbed one of her many suitcases and unzipped it. Janelle saw her take out a couple of shirts. She stepped closer and saw that she had nearly 10 Hanson shirts. She looked at her cousin unbelievingly, "Sheesh, Casey, how many of those shirts have ya got?" Casey grinned up at her, "Nine! I was thinking I'd wear this one today, what do ya think?" She held up a white shirt, plastered across the front was Ike, Tay, and Zac. Janelle gave her younger cousin a weak smile, "Uh, yeah, sure, that'd be great Casey." As much as she loved Tay, Ike, and Zac, she would never wear a Hanson shirt. Imagine what it felt like having your face worn across girl's chests all across America$B)(J Much less, the world. She rolled her eyes and glanced over at the remaining five suitcases, "Hey, you need some help unpacking your other stuff?" Casey glanced over at her pile of luggage that lay strewn in one corner, "Nah, just leave it there." Janelle looked over at her cousin and said, "Well, then in that case, I'll go on down and help Mom get breakfast ready. I'll see ya down there."
Janelle stepped out of her room and clunked down the stairs, past the living room, where Ethan was watching cartoons, and into the kitchen. She saw Brenden on the phone with Sabrina, he gave her a thumbs up sign and she smiled. She turned and saw her mom whipping together some pancakes and she asked, "Hey Mom, need any help?" Her mom smiled and said, "Yeah, thanks Jan, could you set up the table for me?" Janelle grabbed a couple of plates and started placing them down, when she saw Casey walk in$B)(J Hanson shirt and all. Janelle grinned at her Dad who gave her a questioning look, "Don't worry Dad, it's just a phase thing." Her Dad smiled, "Thank god you aren't going through it." Janelle smiled and sat down next to her cousin as Brenden got off the phone. Ethan came trudging in as they all dug into their pancakes, eggs, and toast. Mrs. Landers looked at her children, "So, what're you guys planning on doing today?" Ethan munched on his toast, "Gonna go hang out with Zac, is that okay Mom?" Mrs. Landers smiled, "Sure, have fun." Just then Casey started jumping up and down next to Janelle, "Aw Ethan, you're gonna go see Zac today?" Ethan rolled his eyes, "Yeah, and you aren't coming." Mrs. Landers gave her younger son a stern look and turned to Casey with a smile, "I'm sure Ethan would be glad to take you honey." Casey stuck her tongue out at Ethan and turned to Janelle, "And you might wanna come along to see your boyfriend." Janelle blushed, "Yeah, sure Casey."
After Breakfast, Ethan, Janelle, and Casey passed through the garage on their way to the Hanson house. Ethan and Janelle each pulled on a pair of roller blades as they looked for a pair for Casey. At one point, they gave up and said, "Here, Casey, you can ride Brenden's old bike." Casey started whining, "I don't wanna ride some crummy old bike! I heard that Ike, Tay, and Zac think that bikes are childish and that roller blading is so much cooler! I don't wanna look like a dork in front of them!" Ethan rolled his eyes as Casey turned to look at Janelle, "Can't I use your roller blades? Please?" Janelle sighed and took off her roller blades and handed them over to Casey and got onto Brenden's bike. She lead them out of the garage and down the driveway and onto the sidewalk. They started heading over to their house when Janelle said to Casey, "Hey, Case? Try to treat them like normal people, y'know? I mean, no screaming or running and hugging$B)(Jkay?" Casey crossed her heart, "Promise, I won't do anything dumb." She grinned and as they approached the Hanson's front lawn, she started jumping in her roller blades, "Ohmigod, it's really their house! I saw a picture of it on the internet once! It really is the Hanson house!" Janelle got off her bike and slowly lead the way up the Hanson's front walk and said, "C'mon Casey, you said no screeching." Casey quieted down, "Sorry Jannie, I'm just so excited." Ethan rolled his eyes and rang the bell. They heard little running feet.
The door swung open and Avery smiled at them. "Hey Avie, how ya doin'?" Janelle asked. Avery gave her an angelic smile, "Just finished breakfast," she turned and screamed, "Taylor! It's your girlfriend!! Zaccy!! It's your weirdo friend!" She turned back at the trio on the front doorstep, and looked at Casey's shirt, "Hey, you have a shirt with my brother's faces on them," she scrunched up her face and continued, "You're weird." She gave them one last smile, then went running back into the family room. Casey turned to look at Janelle, "Jan! She said my shirt was weird! I look like a dork! I just know it!" Just then, Taylor approached the door with a sheepish smile on his face, "Sorry about that." Janelle grinned, "No problem," she turned and looked at her cousin who was gaping at Taylor, "This is my cousin, Casey." Casey gave Taylor a huge smile and then turned back to Janelle, "Jan! I told you to call me Cassandra! Casey sounds soo lame!" Taylor gave Casey a smile, "Actually, I think that Casey's a cool name." Casey smiled at Taylor then back at Janelle, "Okay, you can call me Casey from now on, I don't mind." Ethan started sticking a finger down his throat, pretending he was gagging, "Please, let me in before I suffocate from sweetness." Taylor laughed and pulled Ethan in, "Zac's got his VDO games set up in the family room." Ethan ran in leaving Casey and Janelle on the front step. Taylor motioned for them to go inside, "C'mon, let's go find the rest of the guys."
Casey and Janelle stepped inside and Casey started circling around looking at every part of the Hanson living room. Janelle rolled her eyes at Taylor, "You'd think she were visiting the Buckingham Palace." Taylor laughed, "No kidding." He started leading them into the family room where Zac and Ethan were already starting a game of 'Street Fighter.' Isaac was finishing up a bowl of cereal when they walked in. "Hey Janelle," he greeted. Janelle smiled, "Hey Ike," she pulled her cousin by the hand, "This is Casey." She looked down at Casey who was staring at Zac, "Zaccy! I heard that you sprained your leg!" Zac didn't lift his eyes an inch from the TV screen, "Huh? Oh, just fell down roller-blading, it's fine now." He continued focusing his eyes on the screen and Casey shyly sat down next to him, "Oh Zac, I talked to you last night on the phone, remember?" Zac rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I remember." The two 11 year olds carried out a conversation while Taylor, Isaac, and Janelle resisted laughing. "She really likes him, "Isaac pointed out. "No kidding, she has like 10 of your guy's shirts." Taylor slapped his forehead, "Oh yeah, those." Isaac grinned, "Good thing we didn't make 'Hanson lunchboxes,' can you imagine what that'd be like?" "Tell me about it, "Janelle replied. Just then, Mrs. Hanson walked in from the Kitchen, "Hey Janelle, Ethan." "Hi Mrs. Hanson, "Janelle and Ethan chimed. Janelle stood up and introduced her cousin, "This is Casey, she's visiting from Chicago." Mrs. Hanson walked over and said hi to Casey. Casey stared at Mrs. Hanson with wide eyes, "Wow, you've got long hair!" Mrs. Hanson laughed, "Yeah, it's long alright." She smiled at them and said to Isaac and Taylor, "Guys, your dad and I are going to be taking Jessie, Avie, and Mac over to dentist on the other side of town. Do ya think you can do some grocery shopping for me while we're gone?" Isaac groaned and sat up, "Yeah, sure Mom. Just leave the list by the phone in the kitchen." Mrs. Hanson walked over and kissed her son on the head, "Thanks Ike," she turned to the rest of the kids, "I'll see ya guys later." She started to walk out and turned back one last time, "We might get back a little late since it's so far, but you kids behave while we're gone, okay?" Taylor looked up at his mom, furrowed his brows and gave his mom and angelic smile, "'Course Mom, don't we always?" Mrs. Hanson laughed, "Yeah right Tay." And she walked out gathering her other three kids along the way.
Taylor looked at the rest of the group and asked, "So what do ya guys wanna do?" Zac looked up from his game, "We could go do that grocery shopping for Mom, then go do some otha stuff while we're at it." Isaac stood up, "Yeah, 'kay," he stood up, "Hey, maybe we can play a game of sovver after that$B)(Jwhaddaya say?" Zac and Ethan turned finished their game and turned off the TV. They stood up and started out for the front door, "Yeah, that sounds like lotsa fun, let's go!"
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