~ Chapter 17 ~

Suddenly Julie bursts through their door and Renee’s and Taylor’s lips ripped apart. Luckily, no one had noticed what had just occurred.

"Hey Renee! Look who I found in the lobby!" Julie announced as Chris walked through the door followed by Andrew. Renee’s heart pounded in her chest even more, and she smiled at the sight of them. She really did miss Chris. Renee jumped up, surprised, and ran over to him.

"Chris!" she squealed throwing her arms around his neck, but realizing that this might make Tay think that she didn’t care about him. Because he just kissed her, and she didn’t do anything. But what he just did, made her somewhat confused, but she now knew the answer to the "Does he love me or not?" question. Renee didn’t really know what to do now.

"Hey babe! We wanted to surprise you, and I guess we did," he told her looking over at Taylor wondering what he was doing here.

She noticed, "Oh, Chris, this is Taylor. Taylor, Chris. Chris is in a band called the Indigo Clamdiggers, and Taylor is in a band, with his brothers called Hanson." Renee explained.

"Nice to meet you," Chris said to Taylor as he put an arm around Renee’s waist.

"Yeah," Taylor replied looking down. Renee could tell he was jealous, and sad. She felt sorry for him, and she knew she would be depressed over this later on.

"Hey, where’s Ali?" Andrew asked Renee.

"Um, she’s downstairs with Taylor’s brothers, Isaac and Zac, playing video games. Oh, by the way, this is Andrew, Taylor, he’s also a band member of the Indigo Clamdiggers," Renee said.

Taylor waved and gave them a half smile as he got up to leave, but Renee stopped him.

"Where are you going Tay?" she asked concerned.

"I’m pretty tired. I think I’m going to go to bed now. See you in the morning," he said leaving the room. Renee’s heart fell to her stomach.

"Why don’t you guys go get Ali?" Julie suggested breaking the silence and tension that flared up in the room.

"Ok," Renee replied putting on her sandals.

Andrew, Chris, and Renee walked downstairs. Renee and Chris hand in hand. As they walked Chris asked, "Would you be my girlfriend? I know this is all the sudden, but I can’t stop thinking about you. So . . ."

"Well," Renee started feeling somewhat overwhelmed. "Sure, I guess."

"Great! I love you so much, and I’ve been waiting to ask you that for forever!" he told her excitedly.

She was happy that she was his girlfriend, but really sad for Tay. She knew that he must have feelings for her, and she had the biggest crush on him (*but what she didn’t know was that Isaac liked her too!) She liked Chris a lot, and had strong feelings for him, but she had even stronger ones for Taylor.

They reached the arcade and Isaac was the first to notice Renee and Chris holding hands. He walked up to them, Ali and Zac following him. Ali just now noticed Andrew standing there, and she ran up to him.

"Andrew!" she squealed hugging his shoulders.

"Hey girl! How’s it going?" he asked her looking at Isaac and Zac.

"Just fine Andrew!" she giggled.

"Um, Isaac this is Chris, my boyfriend," Renee introduced looking down at her feet, as Isaac’s heart sank.

"Oh, hey," Isaac nodded feeling somewhat jealous, but not as jealous as Tay feels (*and he doesn’t even know that Renee and Chris are going out!)

"Oh, this is Andrew everyone." Ali introduced him as their hands clasped together.

"That’s what I meant to ask you Ali. Would you go out with me? I have been thinking about you and now I can’t stop," he asked Ali.

Ali’s face turned red from being put on the spot with such a question.

"Well, um, I guess," Ali replied confused on what guy she really liked. She thought maybe Taylor liked her, and she knew that Taylor would be upset about everything that was happening.

"Cool," Andrew replied.

~ * ~

Since the Hanson bro’s shared their own hotel room Tay was alone almost ready to cry. He was lying on a bed, in the dark, just thinking about Renee and Ali. He thought,

"Isaac likes Renee, Zac likes Ali, and now both of Ali’s and Renee’s boyfriends have come, well, they must be their boyfriends, but I don’t know anymore. This is just too much competition for me. I love both of them, but I’m not the only one. I can’t and I shouldn’t give up," Taylor soon fell asleep in his tears.

~ * ~

"Well Renee, Zac and I are going to bed now. See you in the morning guys," Isaac said heading towards the elevator, Zac following him.

"Okay," Renee and Ali replied quietly, "Goodnight."

In the elevator Isaac and Zac were talking.

"Renee never told me she had a boyfriend," Isaac said sadly.

"Neither did Ali, even though we never asked them. Do you think they like us?" Zac asked him.

"I don’t know, but we’re not the only ones who like them. Their boyfriends and Tay likes both of them too. I feel bad for Tay, but we like Renee and Ali too so it would be hard to help him. Poor Tay."

" This is really confusing b/c we don’t know who they really like. I mean, judging by the way Ali hesitated when he asked her that, it seems like she was unsure about her love for him." Zac said to Isaac as the door opened and they walked to their room.

"You watch way too much Oprah, Zac." Isaac smiled.

"I don’t watch Oprah, I watch Sally," Zac grinned with arguementive stubbornness.

Isaac shook his head, and they went to bed that night thinking of Renee and Ali.

~ * ~

"Well, Renee and I are going to go to sleep now," Ali told Chris and Andrew as they reached their room (*Ali, Julie, and Renee’s room.)

"Goodnight," both Renee and Ali kissed Chris and Andrew on the cheek.

"Goodnight loves," they replied as Renee shut the door.

Chris and Andrew were staying at that hotel too so they went to their room, which was a floor below theirs.

When Ali and Renee walked in, Julie was asleep in her bed so Renee and Ali did the same.

~ * ~

"C’mon, lets go to the studio!" Julie exclaimed getting her purse.

Everyone followed her to the lobby where they met Chrisso, Andrew, and Chris there.

Renee and Ali were delighted to see them waiting for them.

"Where’s Ms Martin and Ms Weber? Do they ever come with us?" Ali asked Chrisso.

"Well, until next week they are aloud to do whatever they want. You start your schooling again next week," he explained as everyone climbed into a van. Chrisso drove with Julie in the front seat, Annie, Ali, and Andrew in the seat behind them, and Chris, Renee, and Katey in the very back seat. They drove to the studio. Hanson was already there b/c one, they were releasing ‘MMMBop’, and two, they were recording the last two songs on their cd, ‘With You in Your Dreams’, and ‘Man From Milwaukee’.

The van stopped and everyone went in. Chris and Andrew decided to go to the bathroom. Renee, Ali, Annie, and Katey went into this little room with all their instruments and microphones and amps in it.

"Whoa! Yeah!" Renee said picking up her guitar and plugging it into an amp. She started playing as Isaac, Taylor, and Zac walked in. Ali sat at her drum set and beated the drums to the rhythm of Bush’s ‘Machine Head’, but stopped when she saw Isaac, Zac, and Tay.

"Hey guys!" Ali said cheerfully.

"Hey, um, where’s Chris and Andrew? Did they come with you?" Zac asked hoping that she would say no.

"Yeah, they’re in the little boys room," Renee told them jokingly.

All three of the boys looked down sadly.

Chapter 18