ISAAC
Isaac got the ball and belted it at Taylor. Smirking, he yelled,
" Tay, wake up!"
He laughed under his breath as the ball whizzed passed Taylor's nose, missing by about an inch, causing Taylor to jump back in surprize and cry out.
" Hell Tay," Taylor's best friend, Jake, complained, catching the ball, " don't dream when you're playing basketball!"
Taylor sighed heavily and ran his hands through his hair. Suddenly, he lunged and grabbed the ball and threw it back to Ike. Isaac easily caught it and scored the winning goal. Doing a sort of victory dance, he high-fived Taylor.
Jake threw himself on the lawn. Taylor followed lead and sprawled on the frass. The two became absorbed in a debate over who should win a soccer game coming up. Isaac shook his head and went into the house.
" Mom!" he shouted, slamming the door good and hard, "Can I have a Coke or something?"
Mrs Hanson emerged from the TV room and patted her stomach.
" Don't shout, Ike, Mackie's knapping and he isn't sleeping very deeply."
Isaac follwed his mom to the kitchen and plopped on a chair. He smiled as his mom waddled towards the fridge.
" Can I have a Coke?" he repeated.
" Sure, dear, but grab one for Jake and Tay, too," Mrs. Hanson murmured from inside the fridge.
Ike found the pop and went back outside. He hurled it at the two boys and opening his own can.
"So, Tay, seen the girl that moved in down the block?"
Taylor, suddenly looking interested, shook his head. Jake whistled under his breath. Isaac leaned forward so far the he almost fell of the step.
" Her name is Angela Cook."
" Uh huh."
" Curly blond hair."
"Ooooohhh."
" Round face."
" Oooooh."
"Blue eyes."
" Following ya."
" She's cute, all right."
Isaac almost laughed. Tay's eyes had grown with every point.
" How old?" Taylor asked.
" 16."
"16?"
" 16."
"16?" Taylors voice broke.
" Yeah? Problem?"
"Uuum, 16. I am 14. 16.14.16.14. See a pattern?"
Ike snorted.
" Tay, you've lost it!"
Snickering, Taylor stood up and brushed past Ike. He opened the door and slammed it shut, dissapearing inside.
Ike, who wasn't going to miss the oppurtunity to discuss a girl, joined Jake.
TAYLOR
Taylor barreled through the door and almost smacked into Mrs. Hanson.
" What is it with slamming doors?" she excalimed, " Mackie is napping!"
Taylor nodded and went into the TV room to do some serious channel surfing. But to his dismay, General Hospital was starting. He heard his mom's cry of glee.
" Baby kicking?" Taylor asked distractedly, wondering how to distract er long enough to make a move for the control.
"Yeah. It isn't in a good mood. It has been kicking all day!"
Mrs. Hanson grabbed Taylor's hand and pressed it against her stomach. Momentarily forgetting about the control, Taylor paid attention to the kicking under his hand.
"Cool, isn't it?" Taylor commented.
"Oh yeah. You kicked a lot."
"You better believe it," Taylor kicked at the air with his left foot.
Mrs. Hanson smiled and kissed Taylor on the cheek. With that, she turned back to her soap.
Taylor slouched down on the couch and tried to get interested in the soap. Yawn, yawn. How did women watch these things?
"Where's Zac?"
"Hmmm?"
"Zac?"
Mrs. Hanson waved in the direction of the bedroom. Taylor heaved himself off the couch and walked to the room.
Zac was perched by the Lego table, fiddling with his Legos. Tay pulled up a chair and began to snap at the Legos.
"Hey, Tay. Where's Ike?"
"Discussing girls with Jake."
Zac looked surprised.
"You left? You? Not discuss girls??? Are you sick?"
"No. But isn't she a bit old for me? She was 16!"
Zac shrugged.
ZAC
Zac grabbed a Coke from the fridge and bolted out the door, almost tripping on Ike and Jake, who were discussing some girl named "Angie".
"Zac, where ya going?" Ike called as Zac ran down the driveway.
"Luke's!"
Turn right. OK, gone! Ike can't stop me now!
"Zac! Luke's isn't to the right!"
Skidding to the left, Zac rounded the corner. He perched by a trash can and waited a few minutes. Then, sure that Ike and Jake were still talking about Angie and not watching the road, Zac began to go to the right again.
Zac slowed down and tried to look calm and normal. He wondered if he could strut. What boy couldn't? He proceeded to try this, blocking out his surroundings.
"Oh migosh! THERE IS ZAC HANSON!!!!"
Zac looked up to see a bunch of screaming fanatical girls. Gulping, he smiled, fluttered his hand as a wave, and darted into an alley. He prayed they wouldn't follow him. Boy, was he wrong!
Turning, he ran. He only wanted to go this way because Rose Harrison lived on this street. He only wanted to watch her from a distance, but kow her'd have to go inside or be mobbed.
As he ran down the street, the Harrison sisters came into view. They were doing nothing in particular. Rose was doodling with sidewalk chalk and Madeline was kicking at a soccer ball.
" Hey Zac!" Madeline crie dwhen she saw him.
" Hey Mad! Hey Rose! I'm, uh, going into your house now!"
He sped past Rose and Madeline, opened the door of the Harrison house and was safe. He ran quickly to the window.
The Scream Squad, as they fondly called their fans for the obvious reason, was mobbing Rose and Madeline, who were pushing towards the door of the house. Madeline reached it first, and heaved Rose in. Quickly, she slammed the door.
" Geeze, Zac!" Madeline exclaimed.
Rose snorted and glanced at the door.
" What were you doing?" Rose asked, pulling the elastic from her curly red hair, " You came out of that alley running like a mad man followed by a gang o' girls!"
" Uh.." his tongue was rubbery and he couldn't answer Rose, only stare at her.
"Doing? What were you doing?" Maddy backed Rose up.
Madeline. he could talk to her.
" Going to my friend's house."
Rose fiddled with her hair and turned her grey eyes to the window. " What do they see in you guys?
Zac felt like somebody had punched him in his stomach. Could Rose really mean that? His mouth fell open.
" Zac, shut your mouth," Maddy ordered.
ISAAC
Isaac channel surfed and thought about Angie. Jake made her sound like some sort of goddess. He would have to get to know her. A loud bang interrupted his thoughts. He jumped about a mile. The crash had come from the garage.
He stood up and walked to the door that led to the garage. Ike opened it and thundered down the stairs. He found Taylor there.
Taylor had positioned himself behind Zac's drumset. His face was buried in music sheets and his foot was pumping the bass drum pedal, making a dull thump,thump. Isaac picked up his guitar and played a few odd notes.
Taylor hit the symbol and Ike jumped agian.
" Tay, what are you doing!?!"
" Playing MMMBop on the drums. Sounds like it. "
" Whatever."
Ike began A Minute Without You. Another crash interrupted him.
" Taylor!!!"
" What?"
" Leave the drums to Zac!"
" I play drums."
" But you haven't, for awhile."
Taylor sighed, got up, and went to his keyboard. He began a scale. Faintly, Ike heard the phone ring. He put his guitar down, raced up the stairs, and quickly answered the phone.
" Hello?"
" Hey Ike," Zac cheerfully greeted.
Ike pulled a chair up and plopped down. He knew how Zac could go on and on and on........
" Mom or Dad there?"
" No. They took Avie, Jessie, and Mac to the movies."
" You're kidding, right?"
" NO! What's up?"
" I'm in trouble."
" Oooookay," Ike said slowly.
" I'm at the Harrisons'. I would walk home, but the Scream Squad is outside the door. Maddy made me do the autograph and talk to your fans bit, but they won't leave!"
" OK."
" So, help?"
Ike drummed his fingers and thought. An idea dawned on him. " Stay there. Tay and I'll pick you up."
" OK," Zac said, dubiously.
Isaac hung up and ran down to the garage. Tay was experimenting with his guitar.
" We are going to pick Zac up and Rose and Madeline's."
" All right," Taylor agreed, putting the guitar down.
" Our fans are there."
" Oh?"
" They won't let Zac leave."
" If they won't let Zac leave, what makes you think that they will let us leave?"
" They won't recognize us."
"Oooh?"
" Come on!"
Ike grabbed Taylor's arm and pulled him all the way to the bedroom. He opened the door and pulled out the baggiest pants he owned. Then he went to the closet and got the baggiest shirt.
" Put these on."
Taylor dressed slowly and went to the mirror.
" I still look like me!"
Ike found a rubber band and advanced on Taylor.
" Oh no! Those break your hair!"
" Shut up."
Ike put Taylor's hair in a high ponytail and twisted it into a bun. He grabbed a baseball hat and plopped it on Taylor's head. He sat on the bed and admired his work.
Taylor walked to the dresser and found a pair of sunglasses. That finished "the look."
Ike didn't know if "the look" was Taylor. The clothes were too big and they made his face look too thin. But what the heck? He didn't look like Taylor anymore. Shrugging, Ike left the room.
The drive over was tense. Isaac knew that Taylor was afraid that he wouldn't live the rest of the day. He stopped the car infront of the driveway.
TAYLOR
Taylor opened the car door and was greeted by about 15 screaming girls. They would recognize him. They weren't stupid. Tay looked back at Ike. Ike had bent over and was almost impossible to see. Tay shoved his hands into his pockets and slouched. Slowly, he crept his way up the driveway to the throng of fanatics.
"Zac!" one girl screeched.
" Taylor-"
Taylro jumped and glanced at the who had cried his name. His mouth went dry and he waited for the crowd to eat him up.
" Is so hot!" she continued, " I would kill to meet him!"
Taylor sighed in relief. He pushed past the girls and rang the doorbell.
" Who's there? If you want to see Zac, you can't come in," somebody yelled from the other side of the door.
"Ta-Joseph," Taylor replied, using the best German accent he could manage on the spur of the moment.
" Joseph?"
" Joseph."
The door opened a crack and Madeline stuck her head out. " I don't know you, Joseph," she said.
Madeline made a move to shut the door, but Taylor, who wasn't going to stay outside with all of the excited girls, pushed through it.
As soon as he was in, Maddy began to scream. Taylor winced and didn't know what was worse, a screaming Madeline or hysterical girls. He raised his hands to comfort her, but she misread his gesture and punched him as hard as she could in the stomach. Groaning, Taylor doubled over and collapsed on the floor.
" Don't touch me!" she hollered, "I'll call the police!"
"Mad-"
"Rose, call 911!" She punched him again on the lip and Taylor tasted blood. If she wasn't his best friend, in a different way from Jake, he'd really show her what he could do!!!
"Mad, what the hell is going on?" Zac cried.
"Zac, get her off me!" Taylor gasped through his sore lip.
Madeline stopped, her arm poised to punch him again and said in an awestruck voice, " Taylor?"
Taylor's only answer was a groan. Madeline pulled his hat off and undid his bun. She began to giggle.
Taylor found nothing funny about the situation and was thoroughly disgusted when Zac joined her. His lip was throbbing and his belly hurt. But Maddy was getting a huge kick out of it.
Taylor regarded Madeline as one of his best friends. She was fun and liked soccer almost as much as he did.
"Shut up," he snapped.
"Sorry," she said before pressing her lips together in an obvious effort to stop laughing. Zac came over and patted his arm.
" She sure beat you up!" he giggled.
Taylor pushed Zac, who scooted over to the couch to sit by Rose. Maddy sat on her knees behind Taylor and redid his ponytail. Taylor crossed his arms and pouted. Maddy giggled and threw her arm over Tay's shoulders and gave him a squeeze.
" There, there, you poor baby," she giggled," Rose, get me some bobby pins. Who ever did your bun did an awful job!"
Taylor winced as Madeline did his bun, being none to gentle about it. She then plopped the hat back on his head and set the glasses evenly back on his nose.
Zac had watched the scene with a look of amusement.
" How are you going to get me out?" he asked.
Taylor peered at Zac from behind the dark lenses of his glasses. " Through the door."
Taylor took a moment to laugh at his own joke. Seeing that nobody else thought that it was funny, he continued, " We are going to push through the crowd and get in the car."
"Ooooh."
Sighing, Zac followed Rose to the door and began to get on his shoes. Rose started to talk in a lively tone, with Zac saying the odd word here and there.
Maddy tapped Taylor's shoulder, motioned at their siblings, and fluttered her eyelashes, " L'amour!" She burst out giggling as she said it. Taylor joined her laughter before going to the door.
" Ready, Zackie?"
" Yup. Bye Mad, bye Rose."
"Bye."
"See ya." " Come on Zachary," Taylor said, resuming his accent, " Follow Joseph." Zac clasped Taylor's arm and allowed himself to be pulled to the car."
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