I closed the website and sighed. What a good Hanson story. True, the plot was the basic same as the others I had read - parents tell kid they have to move out to Tulsa, kid moves next door to Hanson's, becomes friends with them, goes out with one, and the end. This one, though, had an interesting plot twist. The girl met the guys at a concert they were playing at before they got famous, then they moved out to Tulsa, and she wanted to go out with one of the brothers, but the guy didn't want to go out with her, then the guy liked the girl but she had fallen for another brother, and that caused a small conflict, and it was just a good story. You have to read it.
Oh, by the way, my name is Kelly. Kelly Settle, to be exact. I'm a 14 year old girl born in San Diego, CA. I've lived here my whole life, and I love it here. It's always the perfect temperature, and my family all lives around here, except for my brother Nick. He's 22, and he's off in Phoenix, Arizona for college. He's going to major in journalism. He's an awesome writer, I've read some of his stuff and it's amazing. Nick and I have always gotten along, and I miss him.
"Kelly! Dinner's ready!" Dad called me. I raced down the stairs and into the kitchen, where Dad swept me up in a huge hug.
"I have a surprise for you," he said with a twinkle in his eye.
"Cool, where?" I asked.
"In the living room. Close your eyes and follow me." I closed my eyes and Dad lead me into the living room.
"Now, when I tell you to open your eyes, open them."
"All right, Dad," I said.
"Dad, you don't have to make her do that, that's mean," a male voice said.
"NICK!" My eyes opened and I ran over. He wrapped me up in a bear hug and I hugged him back.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him.
"Well, it's May 15th and my exams were last week, but I know you remembered that," he said teasingly.
Gulp. It had slipped my mind, but I played it cool.
"So, you're going to stay here?" I asked him excitedly.
"Well, yeah until I find a house here."
"Oh okay-- wait, until you find a house here? Fill me in, I've missed something. And what about the surprise you said that you had for me?"
"Whoa, whoa Kels, calm down a second. First of all, I got a job at the newspaper and I'll be writing sports. The job pays well, so I decided to cut out my last year of college and take the job here."
"That's awesome! Congratulations!" I said. I just remembered that Dad was still in the room. He was standing off to the side, smiling and taking it all in. I smiled back at Dad and turned to Nick.
"Lets see, your surprise....your surprise..." he said in a teasing way.
"Yes?"
"You will be getting it after dinner, after I unpack," he said.
"Nick!" I complained.
"Don't worry, it'll be worth waiting for," he promised.
Just then, Mom walked in the door. "Hi everybody, I'm sorry I'm late. My last patient came in late, and there was nothing I could do about it."
"Hi Mom," Dad and I said.
"Hey Mom, what's for dinner?" Nick asked.
"Oh, Nick you're home!" she exclaimed. She and Nick gave each other big hugs.
"How's my boy?" she asked.
"I'm really good, how are you?"
"I'm fine. Did you tell Kelly your news?"
"Yep, she knows that I am taking the job and staying in San Diego."
"Great." Mom then moved on to me. "Hi sweetie, how was your day?"
"It was fine. I have a little homework in English, and in gym I hit a home run in softball, and I looked up some more stories on the web," I responded. Mom smiled and ruffled my hair. "Sounds like a pretty full day."
Then she moved onto Dad. They kissed each other and then we all sat down to dinner. Dad made tacos. I set myself up with a hard shell taco, meat and tomato. I slid into my usual spot at the table, left side in the back next to the empty spot, only this time a body occupied the empty spot.
I took a big bite out of my taco, chewed, and smiled. I looked around at my whole family, Mom eating her meat, cheese, and lettuce taco, Dad eating his meat and cheese taco, and Nick, the purist of the family, eating his meat only taco. It was great to have my big brother back, and great to see my whole family at the table. It may sound weird for me to go on about this, but with all the parents getting divorced these days, I've learned to appreciate my parents who have been married for 25 years and still going strong.
"So, Kels, how is the English story coming along?" Nick asked me.
"It's pretty good. I'm having a little bit of writer's block, though." Nick was referring to the story that I was writing for English. It counts as 1/2 of my grade. I had sent Nick everything that I had written via e-mail.
"I'll try to help you a little tonight, okay?"
"Cool, great. Thanks," I said.
"No problem."
We all talked a little bit, and then Dad brought up the subject of vacation.
"Well, everybody, I've been trying to think of the perfect spot for our vacation, and I have came up with one. It's going to be expensive, but I want to have at least one last big vacation trip with all of you before it's too late."
"That's great, Dad. Where are we going?" Nick asked.
"Yes, honey, you haven't even told me yet," Mom stated.
Dad's grin spread out across his face. "How does two weeks on the beautiful, clean, white shores of Hawaii sound to everybody?"
"Oh Dad, you're kidding! This trip will be excellent!" I exclaimed.
Dad grinned back at me. "Think it's a good idea, Sport?"
"Yeah, an awesome one!"
"That is really a good idea, honey," Mom said with a grin on her face.
"Yeah dad, excellent," Nick chimed in.
"That's great. I had a feeling you all would go for it," he said. "Now, I'm planning on going the second and third week in July, that way we can still get our big 4th of July party in like we usually do."
"That sounds great, dear," Mom said.
Nick turned to me, grinning. "Boy, Kelly you're going to be having a day full of surprises. First, me showing up-- although I do believe you knew about that-- the Hawaii trip, and my surprise which you will get later."
"Oh, you didn't tell her what it was?" Mom asked Nick.
"Nope."
"Oh. Kelly, you will flip when you see what it is," Mom said.
I grinned. I really do have the best brother in the world.
"Well, I'm stuffed," Nick said.
"So am I," I replied.
"Okay. Take your plates up and wash your hands," Dad said.
Nick and I put our plates in the sink, rinsed them off, and washed our hands. Then we went upstairs. I started to head into my room, but Nick pulled me back.
"Want to help me unpack?" he asked.
"Sure, why not?" I said. I followed Nick into his room. He already had his TV back on his dresser, the stereo back in the cabinet, the computer on his desk. He just needed to unpack some things and he would be set.
Nick opened a bag. "Here, we can start with my clothes," he said. "You can hand me stuff, and I'll put it away, okay?"
"All right," I said. I started to hand him his shorts and shirts, when suddenly I came across a big manilla envelope that said "Kels" on it in big bold letters.
"Hey, Nick? Is this my surprise?" I asked him, showing him the envelope.
"Why yes it is. You may open it after we're done, okay?"
"You really like to torture me, don't you?"
"Hey, I couldn't torture anyone in the dorms like I could to you," he said in a sugary sweet voice.
"Aw, gee thanks Nick. What would I do without you?" I asked him.
"Good question."
I hit him with a pillow and he grinned back and hit me back with one. We then started to put some stuff away, Nick's saxophone (he minored in music at ASU), a bunch of clothes, some books, and a bunch of other stuff. Finally, when we finished about an hour later, we plopped down on his bed. Then Nick got up and handed me the envelope.
"Here is your surprise, Kels. Be careful when you open it, okay?"
"All right, Nick." I opened the envelope and reached inside. I found some photographs taken of Zac, Taylor, and Isaac Hanson!
"Nick, where did you get these?" I asked.
"Stick your hand back inside, there's more," he promised.
I did exactly what he said, and pulled out a 8 x 10 glossy photo of the three guys, autographed!
"Nick......" I started.
"Okay, before you take anything else out, I have to tell you a story. Remember in March when Hanson was going to be down playing a concert in Arizona?"
"Yeah, how could I forget? I begged Mom and Dad to let me go down, but they wouldn't let me."
"Well, because I was doing some intern work at the Phoenix Sun at the time, they had me cover the Hanson concert. I got to go down there and hang with the guys."
"AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME ABOUT THIS?" I shrieked.
"Hold on, child, there's more. I got to have a nice conversation with them, and I told them about you. I told them how you were a fan of theirs, and I told them about your interests and stuff, and they seemed very interested in you. But before I say more, here's the gift that I didn't want to put in the envelope." Nick reached inside his dresser drawer and handed me a CD, Middle of Nowhere. I opened the CD case and on the CD cover, Ike, Tay, and Zac had each autographed a message to me!
"Now, close your eyes and reach into the envelope," he instructed me. I did that and felt two thin, long pieces of paper. I pulled them out and gasped. Front row seats to the Hanson concert here on June 18th!
"Nick, how did you manage this?"
"The guys wanted me to give them to you. I also have backstage passes for us, and you'll get to meet them after the concert."
"Nick, you are the best brother in the world! Thank you so much!" I gave him a big hug and even kissed his cheek.
"Thank you, Kelly. I knew you would enjoy it. You and I will be going on June 18th, so you better be ready!"
"Oh I will. And thanks a lot Nick, I really appreciate it."
"No problem. Oh, I have some other pictures from when I went. You can look through them." Nick handed me a packet full of pictures from the concert. I sat on his bed and flipped through them one by one. There were pictures of the guys singing, pictures of them backstage, and pictures of the guys and Nick together. I gave him the envelope back.
"Want to put these in your Hanson scrapbook? I got doubles, so it won't really matter."
"Okay. Thanks a lot Nick! I'm going to go tell Mom and Dad!" I gave him another hug and kiss and went out of his room. I ran into my room and pulled my scrapbook out from under my bed. I flipped through the pictures, articles, and drawings and came to the next blank page. I put the pictures in the book and put the book back under my bed. I sighed. I couldn't believe that in about a month I was going to meet Hanson.
Chapter 2
Delicate Strands of Friendship
Kelly's Hanson Stories
