Laurie must have called Halley10 times finding out what she was going to wear. First, she decided on her blue striped shirt and blue shorts. Then, she decided on all black. She thought that was too punk, so she changed again. She changed her outfit 4 more times before deciding on her blue and yellow striped shirt and her short shorts that were blue. She slid into her Adidas shoes and brushed her short hair. After being satisfied with her appearance, she ran down the stairs to hug her Mom and Dad good bye.
"Bye Mom, Bye Dad," she said giving each one a hug and a kiss.
"Bye sweetie. Have fun," said her Mom.
"Bye, sweetie," said her Dad.
"Bye!" Laurie shouted as she ran out the door. She hopped on her bike and rode the 3 blocks to Halley's house. Halley flung the door open. She was wearing her 3E Blind shirt and carrying a huge sign that said "I LOVE STEPHEN JENKINS!"
"Hi Laurie!" said Halley.
"Hi Halley. You definitely look ready for the concert," she said.
"Yep. Ready to go?" she asked.
"Definitely. Lets go!"
They hopped into Mr. Green's car and Mr. Green drove them to the concert.
"Excited, girls?" he asked them on the way.
"Definitely!" the said unanimously.
"Great! I heard it's going to be good."
They pulled up to Oreck Theater, where 3E Blind was supposed to be playing. They went directly to their seats. Laurie then realized she had to go to the bathroom.
"Hey, Halley, I'm going to go to the bathroom."
"Okay, I'll be waiting for you," she said.
Laurie got up and walked over to the exit. She was headed for the bathroom when she accidentally bumped into a guy about 15 years old with kinda long blond hair.
"Oh, I'm sorry! Are you okay?" the boy asked.
"I'm fine, thanks. Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Let me help you up." The boy gave Laurie his hand and helped her up.
"Thank you," she said.
"You're welcome. What's your name?" he asked.
"Laurie. You?"
"Taylor. Are you a big fan of 3E Blind?"
"Yes, I love them. You?"
"I like them, but I came here-"
All of a sudden, two boys came up to him. "Hey, Tay, lets go," said the older one. He looked about 17.
"Okay. This is Laurie," he said.
"Hi Laurie," said the older one.
"What's up?" asked the little one, who looked about 11.
"Not much," she said.
"I wish we could stay and talk, but we gotta go," said the older one.
"Okay. Maybe see you later," she said.
"Maybe. Bye!" they said. The three boys ran off in the direction of the stage. Laurie watched them go, and she headed for the bathroom. She came back quickly and joined Halley back at their seats.
"Welcome back. What took you so long?"
"Oh, I met this one guy and his two brothers. We bumped into each other, and talked until they had to go," she explained.
Before Casey could ask any questions, the lights dimmed in the arena. The crowd burst into cheers.
A few seconds later, a guy came up to the microphone. "Hello, St. Louis! Are you ready to rock?" He asked.
"YES!!!!" The crowd responded.
"Please welcome 3E Blind's warm up band, from Tulsa, OK, here comes HANSON!"
Laurie clapped with the rest of the crowd, and then her mouth dropped open. Hanson was those three boys she met! She gaped as she saw them on the stage.
Taylor grabbed his microphone. "Hi, St. Louis! I'm Taylor Hanson, and I play keyboards. This is Isaac Hanson on guitar, and Zachary Hanson on drums!" To make his point, Zachary gave a little drum roll.
Laurie nudged Halley. "Halley, those are the guys that I met!" She said excitedly.
"Yeah, right Laurie. I'm sure," she said.
"No really! I'm serious," she said.
Just then, she saw Taylor looking at her. She smiled. He smiled back, and pulled a guard over and whispered something in his ear. The guard nodded and came toward Laurie and Halley.
"Which one of you is Laurie?" he asked.
Laurie gulped. "I am," she said nervously. The guard was the side of a small refrigerator!
He nodded, and pulled something out of his pocket. "Taylor Hanson wanted me to give this to you." He handed Laurie a backstage pass. "Here's one for your friend and her dad," he said. Laurie handed them to Halley, who was shaking.
"Thank you very much," she said.
"No problem. After Third Eye Blind is done playing, I will meet you at your seats and take you backstage," he said. Then he walked away.
"Whoa, that was awesome," said Laurie.
"I am so, so, so sorry I didn't believe you, Laurie," said Halley.
"It's okay now." Suddenly, Laurie heard Hanson's music playing. She listened to Taylor's voice sweetly sing the lyrics to a song.
"You have so many relationships in this life,
Only one or two will last.
You go through all the pain and strife,
You turn your back and they're gone so fast."
Laurie was absorbed into Hanson' music, and found herself disappointed when Hanson was done singing. She decided to ask them if they had a CD she could buy.
Third Eye Blind started setting up and playing. Halley was jumping around waving her sign. Stephen Jenkins looked right at her and smiled. Halley almost fell down.
"Did you see that Laurie?"
"Yeah," she said. She was actually thinking about Taylor and his brothers.
Laurie didn't pay too much attention to the rest of the concert. Finally, though, 3E Blind was done and the guard came over to their seats and led them backstage to Hanson. He opened the door for them and let them in.
Taylor was opening a soda. He grinned when he saw Laurie.
"Hey, Laurie! Who's your friend?"
"Hi Taylor. This is Halley Green and her dad."
"Hi, Taylor," they said.
"Hi," he said. Then Isaac and Zachary came in. Everyone was introduced. Taylor and Laurie were talking for awhile about music and sports.
"Hey, Taylor. Do you guys have a CD?"
"Yeah. It's not out in stores, though. It's called 3 Car Garage and we have one in stores called Middle of Nowhere," he said.
"Cool. How much does Middle of Nowhere cost?"
Taylor handed Laurie something wrapped up. Laurie unwrapped it, and there was a copy of Middle of Nowhere and 3 Car Garage, all autographed by Hanson.
"Wow, Taylor. Thank you SO much!" she said. She gave him a hug. Taylor smiled.
"You're welcome, Laurie. I hope you like the CDs," he said.
"I loved your guys' concert. It was great," she said.
"Thank you," he said. Then Zachary and Isaac came over and they all talked.
"Thanks you guys, for the CDs," she said.
"No problem," said Isaac. "You can call me Ike, if you want."
"Okay," said Laurie.
"You're welcome," said Zachary. "You can call me Zac," he said.
"Okay, Zac."
Just then, a security guard came over. "Sorry, guys, it's time to leave," he said.
"Are you serious? Do we really have to go?" asked Taylor.
"Yes, I'm sorry boys."
"Bye Laurie. It was nice to meet you," said Ike.
"It was shagadellic," said Zac.
Laurie laughed. "Thanks, Zac. Nice to meet you too, Ike," she said.
Taylor didn't say anything. Then he turned to the guard. "I'm going to walk Laurie out," he said. Before the guard could say anything, Taylor hopped out and walked with Laurie.
They didn't talk much on the way to the car. Halley and her dad got in and Taylor turned to Laurie.
"Good bye, Laurie. I'm glad I got to know you for this short time," he said.
"Good bye, Taylor. I'm glad I bumped into you," she said.
He smiled. Then, he handed her an envelope. "Open this when you get home," he said.
Laurie took the envelope. "Thanks again for the CDs," she said.
"No problem," he said.
They hugged each other for a few minutes, but what seemed like it took a second. Then, they let go and Laurie got into the car. Taylor watched the car go by until he couldn't see it.
"What do you have?" asked Halley. She reached for the envelope, but Laurie moved it away just in time.
"Just a letter from Taylor," she said.
"Ooh, Laurie's got a boyfriend," she teased.
"No, I don't. Taylor probably has a girlfriend back in Tulsa," she insisted.
"Whatever. What else did you get?" she asked.
Laurie handed her the CDs. "He gave me copies of their CDs," she said.
"Lucky! They're even autographed. I want one!" Halley said.
"You can only get Middle of Nowhere at some stores. 3 Car Garage isn't in stores yet," she said.
Halley handed her the CDs back. "Cool, you are so lucky, Laurie."
"Yep," she said.
Mr. Green pulled up into the Woodman's driveway. "Here you go, Laurie. Thank you for coming with us," he said.
"Thanks for inviting me. Bye, Halley," she said.
"Bye Laurie. Talk to you tomorrow!"
Laurie waved, and holding her CDs and the letter, she raced up the steps and into her house. Her Mom and Dad were watching a movie with the boys.
"Hi, Laurie. How was the concert?" Mr. Woodman asked.
"It was great, but I'm tired." Laurie kissed her parents good night and ran upstairs to her room. She opened the Middle of Nowhere CD, and the 3 guys had autographed a message to her.
"Laurie, thanks for liking our music! Keep on listening! Love, Ike."
"Laurie, thanks for listening and caring! ROCK ON! Love, Zac."
"Laurie, I'm glad I got to meet you. I hope we meet again. Enjoy the music. Love, Taylor."
Laurie then opened the 3 Car Garage CD.
"Laurie, okay, what do you think about this CD? Hope you enjoy it! Love, Ike."
"Laurie, LISTEN TO OUR MUSIC PLEASE!! WE REALLY NEED FANS J!! Love, Zac."
"Laurie, hope you enjoy this CD. Remember me by it. Love, Taylor."
Laurie sighed and put Middle of Nowhere in her CD player. Then, she flopped on her bed and opened the letter from Taylor. It was 3 pages, front and back. He told her all about him and told her some stories. He then wrote how much he was glad to meet her, and he hoped they would meet again. He gave her his e-mail address and his phone number. "Please do not give these out. I know you won't, but I want to double check. Thanks again! Until next time, Taylor Hanson."
Laurie read and reread the letter. She then immediately wrote him a letter from her AOL account, 3EBlind1. His screenname was TayHanson. After that, she flopped on her bed and fell asleep to Taylor's voice.
Chapter 3
Chapter 1
I Knew Them When
Kelly's Hanson Stories
