True looked at the airport clock. It read 9:00. Where was her father? Suddenly, she heard her name being spoken over the intercom.
"Will Truly Bradford please come to the information desk? She has a phone call."
She groaned. The information desk was all the way at the other end of the airport.
"Oh well, let's get going." she told herself and began running through the lobby. Her hunger was most insistent, and when she reached the desk, it was so intense that she had to grab the edge of the desk and wait for it to pass. The receptionist looked at her strangely.
"May I help you?" she asked in a voice that said she really didn't want to.
"Yes, I'm Truly Bradford. You have a phone call for me?" True panted and held onto the desk, lightheaded. "Gee, I'm out of shape." she thought.
"Oh, not anymore. You do have a message, however." The receptionist handed her a piece of paper, sniffed once, and then turned back to her computer. True walked slowly to a chair and sat down to read.
True felt like crying. Her stomach was clamoring, more than insistently, for the food she had deprived it from in the 5 and a half hours she'd been awake. She stopped at a vending machine and got some mustard pretzels and DP.
"Hmm...nothing like a little DP to chear a person up." she said out loud, holding her Dr Pepper up as if she was giving a toast.
"Look, Tay, that girl's perfect for you, she likes DP too." True heard someone say.
True turned around and just glimpsed five blond heads walking away from her. All had long hair, but the shortest two were girls.
"Screw you, Ritalin Boy," his brother snapped, looking back at True. Then they vanished into the crowds.
"Hmm...he was cute. Nice eyes. Tay..." She'd heard it before, she thought. She didn't puzzle over it long however; the mustard pretzels were calling her name. She sat down and promptly devoured the bag. She chuckled a little at the thought of the huge supper she was going to have when she got home.
"Thanks, dad. That's the first good thing that you've done for me." The DP soon followed, and then True got up and left the airport for home.
Taylor sat down in his seat on the plane and pulled out his sketchbook. Isaac Hanson, his brother, sat down beside him and began singing Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn" along with his walkman. Tay tapped him on the shoulder.
"PLEASE, Isaac." Tay gave him a pained look. Ike grinned back at him.
"Sorry, bro. Couldn't help myself."
Taylor couldn't help but smile. "Only you, Ike. Only you."
A voice came from the front of the plane, imitating the guitar solo from Guns n Roses November Rain. Zac bounded up the steps and settled into his seat, still screeching like an electric guitar.
Isaac and Taylor looked at each other.
"I guess I was wrong. Only him AND you." Taylor amended.
"What?" Zac asked. Tay and Ike cracked up laughing.
"Oh nothing. I just have weird brothers." Tay told him.
"No kidding! What a coincidence, so do I!" Zac grinned at his brothers and broke into an evil laugh.
"That's amazing!" Ike said, a la Jim Carrey.
"Okay, wiseguy, Truman, let's just forget it, okay? I wanna draw." Mr. Peacemaker Taylor reached into his bag for his cd player.
Isaac looked at Zac with a glint in his eye. "Ooh sorry, el artiste needs his peace. Would you like me to move over, am I in your light?" Zac and Ike cracked up. Tay shot them both a dirty look and cranked his Jonny Lang CD.
He opened the sketchbook to a nice clean page, and began to draw, letting his mind wander as he drew. He thought of the concert they had to do pretty soon. His throat had been a little sore lately, and he hoped the tylenol he had taken would help stop the pain before he had to sing.
"Ooh, more shading there." he thought. "That part was darker." His hand flew over the paper. "Should I tell Mom about my throat?" he asked himself. He thought for a second. "Nahh, she'd probably make us go home."
He sighed, and reached for a lighter pencil. Almost done now. Isaac had looked at him strangely earlier, when his orange juice had made his throat burn and he'd made a face. "Hope he doesn't rat me out." he thought. Ike would probably do that, too. Just a little more and....there!! He looked at his work, and was surprised at what he saw.
"Hey it's that girl from the airport!" Zac screeched. "See Tay? I knew it. It's fate!" Isaac turned around.
"Hey, that's good, Tay. It looks just like her." Taylor looked at them both with his mouth open. "You guys, this is really weird. I didn't even start out to draw her."
"Sure, Tay. We believe you." Zac tried to keep a straight face, but couldn't stop the grin that was taking over his face. Taylor wasn't paying attention anyway.
"She looks so sad..." he said softly. His hand traced the lines of the fine boned face, the long dark hair. Her eyes were big and sad, like a deer's. "Like a dog who's been kicked too many times," he thought.
"Earth to Tay." Ike was shaking him.
"What, Ike?"
"Lunch, stickboy. EAT!" Zac said, handing him a sandwich.
"At least I have muscles, Marshmallow Boy!" he shot back.
"Ooh," Ike laughed. "I believe that was a hit!" Zac pulled Ike's ponytail, causing Isaac to go off in hysterics about not touching his hair, and Zac and Tay to collapse into laughter.
After the hilarity had subsided, the brothers went back to their individual pursuits. Tay turned his walkman back on to hear "Angel of Mercy" playing.
Taylor sang a little under his breath as he looked at his drawing. The girl was short, he observed. Sitting in the chair, holding a can of DP and a bag of pretzels, she fit comfortably sitting cross-legged. Of course, it was a pretty big chair, he remembered.
"Tay, do you think you should be singing? Ike's voice cut through the fading end of "Angel of Mercy." Taylor paused the music and looked at his brother.
"What do you mean, Ike?" Taylor swallowed and tried to look innocent.
"I noticed your throat looked like it was bothering you this morning." Isaac turned two concerned brown eyes on his little brother.
"It was, a little." Taylor admitted. "But it's better now. Don't worry, Ike."
"Did you tell Mom?" Damn Isaac's big brother radar.
"No, and I'm not going to. It was just a little sore, that's all." Tay reached for the pause button on his walkman, stopping when he saw the look on Isaac's face.
"Okay, you're right, I won't sing anymore." He smiled at his older brother.
"All right, Tay, but you should really..."
"Ahh...." Tay held up his hand. "No. I'll stop singing, but it's not worth telling Mom and having to go home before the tour is good and over." He shook his head at Isaac's worried face. "It's okay, big bro. You don't need to worry about me so much."
Taylor turned on his walkman and turned toward the window. Japan. Geez. It was gonna be a long flight.
