Zac
"Sit on it," Zac ordered, pointing at the suitcase.
"What the hell did you pack?" Jared exclaimed, sitting on Zac's suitcase.
"All kinds of stuff! Twinkies, HoHos, Swiss Rolls," Zac told him, counting each tantalizing item off on his fingers.
Jared laughed.
"Zac, come downstairs!" Mrs Hanson yelled.
"Be right back," Zac promised, skipping off.
He was in 7th heaven. His birthday was in a day, mysterious packages were appearing, he was getting his way lots since he was almost the Birthday Boy. Oh, life was grand!
"You called for me?" Zac asked, bounding into the living room, to find two smiling parents.
"Sit down, dear. We have excellent news!" Mrs Hanson invited.
"You do?" Yay! Cool!
Zac plopped down on the couch, and grinned. He couldn't stop grinning. His traditional party was tomorrow, after all.
"We wanted to tell you before your brothers," Mrs Hanson began, "Howie Mandel invited you to be on his show!"
"COOL!" he exclaimed.
"Good! It's all set then. I'll phone Mr Sabec after we tell your brothers," Mr Hanson announced.
"When are we going?" Zac asked.
"Our plane would leave tonight."
"W-what?" Zac felt his happy little world crush, "We can't!"
"Why not, dear?"
"My birthday's tomorrow! Cassie, Jared, and I were going up to the cave! It's my traditional thirteenth party!"
"You can go to the cave when we come back."
"No! You promised that we'd be here! Mr Sabec promised! It won't be the same after my birthday! You promised!" Zac's voice broke.
"Honey, don't you think going on Howie Mandel would be more fun?"
"No," he replied curtly.
"Don't take that tone with your mother, Zac," Mr Hanson threatened.
"You promised!" he repeated, tears forming in his eyes.
"There will be more birthdays, dear. Don't cry."
"Howie'll invite us back."
"Better pack your bags, Zac."
"But you promised!" the tears spilled over, "You lied!"
"Zac," Mr Hanson said in a warning tone.
Zac didn't want to hear anymore. He turned around and ran upstairs to the bathroom. Slamming the door, he began to cry.
Taylor
She had smiled sweetly at him. He loved her smile.
"You're sweet," she had whispered, pushing at her hair, which he still had held gently in his hand.
"I'm sorry," he had told her, taking his hand from her hair and placing it over Cheyenne's hand.
"Don't be. Dad and I are fine. I miss her though, Tay. Dad couldn't make music without her. He called her his second half. Part of him died, too. Tay, he couldn't do it without her."
"I know."
A loud sob had escaped her, finally.
"Shhh," he had shushed, rocking her back and forth.
It had been taken right before the tour, and was of him and Britt. He was smiling, and she was giggling, and he had his arm around her. He could remember that day perfectly.
They had gone to the park as a sort of "see you in a couple of months" date. It hadn't been too romantic, but it had been fun. Taylor smiled thinking of it.
Gawd, she was pretty. No wonder she had caught his eye. Britt was basically every guys' dream. How many girls could get their hair so shiny, or their smile so perfect? Yup, she had that pouty Alicia Silverstone thing going for her. And, face it, her figure wasn't exactly non-existant. He sighed. He was so confused. She could be his angel, and he knew it. But was she? The words she had said weren't exactly angelic. He sighed again, but louder this time.
The slamming of a door jerked him back to reality.
Zac
The tears wouldn't stop coming. Swiping fiercely at them, he locked the bathroom door, and leaned against it, sliding to the floor.
He crossed his arms, resting them on his legs, which he had drawn to his chest. Softly, he layed his head on his arms.
In the background, he could hear voices.
"Zac, dear, are you okay?" Mrs Hanson.
"Zac? Are you feeling bad?" Jared.
"Zac, come out now!" Ever so polite Tay.
"Tay, be nice." Mrs Hanson.
"Zac, come out please."
"Zac, what's wrong?" Isaac.
His hands flew to his ears, and he shook his head. Their voices were whirling around him, and he was getting dizzy. Very dizzy.
"Zac, are you alive in there?" Tay again.
"Zac, I heard about the Mandel show. It's okay, Zac. We'll hold a bigger one when you get back." Jared. The disappointment was so apparent in his voice, that it made Zac cry harder.
"Why are you sad?" Isaac.
"Everything's going to be okay. We love you." Mrs Hanson.
No! Wouldn't they stop? Zac shot a watery glare at the door.
Zac covered his ears again, and shook his head.
The bathroom was spinning. Zac felt sick. Faster and faster it spun. His world went dark.
He was in a dark room, filled with people, some faceless, some not. One with a snarly face stepped forward.
"Oh, Ben, look! It's a faggy Hanson girl."
"Ah, so it is, James. The littlest pansy. Mmmbop!"
"Stop it, Ben! You're hurting my ears."
Tears pricked Zac's eyes. He had thought he had forgotten them.
"No," Zac whimpered, his hands flying to his ears.
"You suck." This one was faceless. Zac shook his head at it, softly whimpering. The faceless offender sunk back into the crowd, and two girls appeared.
They didn't say anything, just stood, pointing, giggling, and whispering.
"Why don't you talk?" he asked, huddling into the corner.
They pointed and giggled some more, before one said, "I love you soooooooooooooooooooo much! I'm Mrs. Carrie Ann Hanson. Your wife to be."
They, too, sunk into the crowd. Cassie was next.
"Zac, you missed my birthday."
"Cassie...."
"Are you gonna miss yours now too?"
"Please...."
"You promised you'd be here!" her voice turned menacing.
The mob moved closer to the frightened, whimpering boy in the corner. Closer. Closer. He couldn't breath!
Zac's eyes flew open. He was huddled in the fetal position on the bathroom floor, crying, and shaking. The cold reality of what he wanted was burning very stong inside of him.
Isaac
"Do ya think he's alive in there?" Isaac asked, his face filled with brotherly concern.
"I hope so. He was pretty upset," Taylor replied, fiddling with his bed spread.
"Yeah, he was. I saw Shae."
"What's up with her?"
"She still isn't talking to me. She seems to want it over."
"Over......"
Isaac watched Taylor's eyes drift to a framed photograph on his night table. Taylor heaved a sigh.
"Whatcha got there?" Isaac asked.
"Nothing!" With that, Taylor flicked the picture down, so that the photo couldn't be seen, "Why does Shae think it's over?"
"I went to see her, and she slammed the door in my face. What was your first clue?"
The sound of footsteps interrupted them. A bedraggled Zac appeared in the doorway. Tear stains were lining his cheeks, and his eyes and mouth were stretched into the biggest frown Ike had ever seen on Zac's usually happy face.
"Taylor, where's my discman?" The transformed Zac asked.
"Over on my chair. Zac, are you okay?"
"I....I don't want to talk about it."
Solemnly, Zac collected his stuff and departed.
Zac
Zac watched the tiny land sweep below the plane. He could see spots that he knew were vehicles. He wondered about the people driving them, and wondered why he couldn't be just like them.
Zoe's high pitched wail broke through his thoughts.
"Mom, I'll take her," he offered.
Mrs Hanson handed the curly headed bundle to Zac.
"Hey, Curly Top. Stop crying, okay? I'm the one with the problems."
Zac nervously paced the hallway of their hotel room. He could hear his brothers talking. That was it. It was unfair to keep this from them any longer. He had to tell them. He tapped the door, softly.
"Come in."
Zac took a deep breath. That was it. He flung the door open and went in.
"Guys, I, uh, need to tell you something."
Taylor and Ike nodded, and Zac sat down on the bed.
"I, um, I'm really not happy."
"Because of the party?" Ike asked.
Zac ignored him, "I've, er, figured out why. It's not t-totally because of the p-party. I, uh, I want to quit the b-band."
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