~Gabrielle~
I had never heard of Hanson before. As I stared at the picture, I wondered which one was singing. My thoughts drifted to Jeremy and my eyes teared up again. I felt like someone had ripped my heart out and put it back broken. Now that I knew Jeremy had hated me and lied to me, I felt my trust and self-esteem disappearing. I hated myself. Why had I lost him?
Ellie handed me more tissues. I wiped my eyes and looked at the picture. The oldest one caught my eye. In the picture, he was smiling. Despite my pain, my heart skipped a beat. "What's his name?" I asked after the song.
Ellie looked over my shoulder. "Oh, that's Isaac, Ike for short," she said. "That one's Taylor and that's Zac, my favorite."
I stared at Isaac again. "Oh, Ellie, I just can't," I said, shoving the picture away. "I'm sorry…"
"I understand. It's okay."
"I think I should go home now," I said, standing up. Ellie nodded and stood up. She hugged me.
"Feel better soon," she whispered. "I still love you."
I cried at the word 'love'. Right now, I had no idea what it meant. I turned to leave.
"Wait," Ellie cried. She handed me a tape. "Promise me you'll listen to this."
"I promise." Then I ran out of the room.
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I stared at the ceiling that night at midnight. I was really miserable. My thoughts kept going to Jeremy, and every time they did, I cried harder than before. My mom and I had talked for a long time that night, but I felt no better. I finally decided to try to sleep.
As I rolled over, my hand hit the tape Ellie had given me. I sighed, remembering my promise. I put it in my Walkman and put my headphones on.
A beautiful piano filled my ears, and from the very fist line, I knew the song was by Hanson. I started crying again. I guessed the song was called I Will Come To You. I immediately loved it. I listened to it 10 times before turning it off.
Finally, I fell asleep, but not before Jeremy's face appeared in my vision.
__________________________________
I woke up the next morning and stretched. It was Friday, and I was spending the night at Ellie's. I felt a little better after a night's sleep, but I knew I would crumble if I saw him again. I promised myself I would tell Ellie to keep him away from me.
"Do you still want to sleep over at Ellie's tonight?" my mom asked me as I got in the car.
"Yeah. It'll help, Mom." Mom nodded and started the car.
Ellie was waiting for me outside the school building. I got out of the car and waved to Mom. Ellie took my bag for me.
"How are you?" Ellie asked.
"Okay. Just keep him away from me," I told her. She nodded.
"Of course! Hey, how'd you like the tape?"
"I loved it. Do you think this weekend, you could tell me more about them?"
"Yeah!" Ellie laughed happily. I was anxious to find out more about the oldest one…what was his name? Oh, yeah…Isaac.
As we walked to our first period class, I noticed how many girls were giving me sympathetic glances. I squared my shoulders and walked in with Ellie.
~Ellie~
I could tell Gabrielle was very upset as we went into my house that night. She always did something funny when she was in pain. She shoved all her feelings deep down inside and ignored them.
"I'm putting your bag right here," I said to her. She didn't answer. When I turned around, she was leafing through my Hanson scrapbook.
Okay, it wasn't a scrapbook. It just had a few pictures of the band and all the lyrics to all four of their albums inside. I had never seen them in concert, and I only had 3 CDs.
"Can I hear this one?" Gabby finally asked. I peered over her shoulder to where she was pointing.
"I don't have that CD," I said when I saw the song title, "More Than Anything". I knew Ike sang it.
"Oh." Gabby looked longingly at the lyrics and closed the book. "What do we do now?"
"Stop pretending," I told her.
"What are you talking about?" she snapped.
"Gabby, your breakup has to be killing you!" She looked away. "Please tell me how you feel."
Gabrielle looked back at me. "I feel sad, mad, insanely jealous and very depressed. Ellie, how could I have been so stupid? I'll never trust another guys again. This hurts way too much."
"You weren't stupid! Jeremy's the one who's stupid! He blew you off. Gabby, you'll trust again. You just need time."
Gabrielle threw her head back. "Tell me more about Hanson," she said.
"Okay." I knew she was changing the subject. For now, it was safer. "What do you want to know?"
"Everything."
"Why don't I show you?" I said, a mischievous grin on my face. "Come on."
I led her downstairs, where I threw in The Road to Albertane, Hanson's second video all about their Albertane tour last summer.
"Who's talking?" Gabby asked me.
"Zac." I sighed. "Do you know his birthday is only 2 days before mine?"
"Really? When's Isaac's?"
"November 17…2 days before yours!"
"Cool! What song is this?"
"It's their customary opening to a concert, Gimme Some Lovin."
Gabrielle grabbed the remote and paused it. "Is that Isaac?"
I glanced at her. "Yup, that's him."
Gabrielle allowed herself the smallest of smiles and played the tape again.
Good, I thought. Maybe getting into Hanson could help Gabrielle overcome all this pain she was in. I glanced over at my friend, and found her lying back on my bed, all dreamy-eyed. When the song ended, I paused the tape again and rotated disks in my CD player, and flipped to number 10 on my "Middle of Nowhere" CD.
Ike's voice once again filled my room. "Yeah, that's him," I supplied to Gabby, before she asked. I turned and smiled mischievously at her.
"What?" Gabrielle exclaimed, blushing slightly. "He has a great voice." I nodded knowingly. All too soon, the song ended. I turned the TV back on. "Come on, Gabby. Sit up," I instructed. "You've got to watch them too to get the full picture here!"
Gabrielle pushed herself up and stuffed a pillow from my futon behind her back. "So, you like Zac the best?" she questioned me.
"Dude, yeah!" I exclaimed.
"Isn't he…well…a little young?"
"He's only two days less than 2 years older than I am," I explained. "Besides, he likes older girls. And since I know what you're going to ask next, Ike is a whole three years and two days older than you…eighteen."
"Hmmm," Gabby sighed. "Well, what's your favorite song?"
"Oh, gosh. I have sooo many favorites, but of course, I can't help but like one called "Lucy", since it's one of the only songs where Zac is the lead." I smiled. Gabrielle smiled back. I could see the first of her pain sliding away, but I knew it would be a long time before she completely recovered.
After my two Hanson videos and about twenty-five songs later, Gabrielle and I fell asleep listening to Soldier.
