Section Four

     Zac burst into his front door. For a while he stood there trying to catch his breath.
Taylor walked into the room to see Zac doubled over with his hands on his stomach. "What happened to you?" he asked.
     "Well, I just had a little run in with Tabitha’s mom," Zac replied between breaths.
     "Where did you meet her mom?"
     "At her house."
     "And what were you doing at her house?" Taylor tilted his head in inquiry.
     "I was painting her fence." Zac’s breathing was finally returning to normal.
     "Well, why would that make her mom mad?" Taylor joined Zac as he sat down on the couch.
     "Well, cuz I painted her too..." Zac trailed off, a grin broke on the surface of his lips.
     "You what!?" Taylor screeched, "You painted her mom?"
     Zac was finally able to let out the gushing laugh he’d been holding in since he saw the look on Mrs. Miller’s face. "It was an accident, I didn’t mean to... Though, those colors looked good together, navy blue and white are perfect."
     "I hope you didn’t get Tabitha in trouble. You don’t realize what her parents are like."
     "Oh, yes I do. I just found out that I’m a punk scumbag."
     "And what else is new?" Taylor grinned sardonically.
     "Yeah, well, maybe I’ll call her later to make sure she’s okay," Zac said with a mischievous grin.
     "Call her? What do you mean call her? You don’t even have her phone number." Taylor’s brow crinkled in confusion.
     "Oh, yes I do," Zac replied still grinning.
     "How can you have her phone number? I don’t even have her phone number!"
     "Well, I guess you’re just out of luck then," Zac taunted.
     "You know, Isaac did warn me about you..." Taylor trailed.
     "What do you mean?" Zac asked, his eyes narrowing.
     "Well, all Tabitha is is a pretty face to you and I actually care about her," Taylor replied.
     "Who said I didn’t care about her?" Zac asked defensively.
     "Well, if Tabitha was your girlfriend, what would you do for her?" Taylor raised his eyebrows and folded his arms across his chest.
     "I just think she’s interesting and I’d like to get to know her more, but you’re in my way," Zac said looking exasperated now. "That’s why I asked her to the carnival on Saturday."
     "But I was going to ask her!" Taylor sputtered.
     "Well, looks like I beat you to the punch line." Zac got up and began to walk off.
     "I’m gonna show you a punch line!" Taylor growled. He jumped off of the couch and took off after Zac.
     "Isaac!" Zac screamed since he knew that Isaac was the only other person in the house.
Isaac walked out of his bedroom in time to be shoved in between Zac and Taylor by Zac. "What is going on?" he asked annoyed.
     "Taylor’s gonna punch me!" Zac cried. He clung to Isaac like a lost puppy to its newfound owner.
     "Darn right I am!" Taylor yelled. "You knew I was going to ask her, yet you go and do it behind my back!"
     "Well, you should’ve asked her sooner! You knew I wanted to go with her too!" Zac shouted back.
     "Shut up, brat!" Taylor hollered. "You just shut up!"
     "I don’t have to shut up!" Zac screamed, then he darted into his room, shutting and locking the door behind him.
Taylor pushed Isaac out of his way and started pounding on the bedroom door. "Let me in you little..." Taylor caught himself before he let go a string of curses.
     "Taylor!" Isaac snapped, he grabbed Taylor by the shoulders and pulled him away from the door.
     "Let go of me!" Taylor shrieked, he kicked out and barely missed a shot in Isaac’s groin.
     Isaac dropped him. "Will you just stop this? Jesus, Taylor, you’re arguing over a girl with Zac. Can't you see how stupid you’re acting?"
     "I’m not acting stupid, Isaac. Zac knows I like her, and then he goes and tries to take her from me!" Taylor huffed and puffed and folded his arms.
     "Zac can’t take her away from you, Taylor. You never had her, you’re just friends with her," Isaac placed both his hands on Taylor’s shoulders and looked him right in the eye. "You’re just friends."
     Taylor’s bottom lip trembled, "You’re wrong, wrong!" he said resistantly. He broke from Isaac’s hold and stalked off.
     Isaac looked helplessly after his brother and a short time later he heard the backdoor slam. With a defeated sigh, he knocked on the bedroom door. "Zac?"
     "What?" Zac said, he sounded apprehensive still.
     "Unlock the door and let me into my room. If you’re afraid of Taylor, forget it, he walked out." Isaac sighed again and rubbed his forehead. His head was starting to ache now.
     Zac cautiously opened the door and peeked timidly out. "Are you sure he’s gone?" he asked.
     "Yes, Zac. He’s gone." Before Zac could stop him, Isaac pushed in the door. Zac shut it lightly behind him.
     "You guys have got to stop this. Fighting over some girl ... it’s getting ridiculous. She’s just a girl, and she’s not worth the turmoil she’s causing between you two." Isaac stretched out on his bed and stared at the ceiling. "This is getting to be too much, you should know that, Zac."
     "I don’t care. Taylor treats me like some child, and he keeps me away from her because he knows she likes me too. And he knows that there’s a possibility that she might want me more than him. I can’t stand it. And when I finally do something to try and get closer to her ... he acts as if I just committed some sin. Well, I’ve got news for him; I’m going with her no matter what he thinks. She said she wanted to come with me, so we’re going and that’s final." Zac folded his arms and leaned against the desk.
     Isaac sighed. There was nothing else he could say.

~*~

     Tabitha lay in bed staring at her ceiling. Her mother had grounded her for the incident earlier and there was no way she could call Zac until after school the next day. It really sucked that she couldn’t go with him now. She had been looking forward to it. Now she wasn’t getting to go at all. She looked over at the clock on her desk. As she watched it the red numbers flashed 8:13 then to 8:14. It would be forever until tomorrow afternoon came.
     She clicked on the little light she had attached to the headboard of her bed. From underneath her pillow she pulled out her journal and began to write.
     Well, today was certainly interesting (Apr. 20, 00). Zac came over to help me paint the fence and he ended up painting my mom (HAHAHA!). She had it coming anyway. He asked me to the carnival and we exchanged numbers, but now I can’t go! All because of my stupid mother. She grounded me because I laughed when Zac smeared the white paint all over her shirt. Well, I can’t help that it was funny!
     ~ Sigh ~ I have another bruise for Taylor to fuss over. This one over my right eye. Only this time, not from my mom. Steve hit me. He hit me because I talked back when Mom grounded me. Well, what was I supposed to do? Was I supposed to just take my punishment that I didn’t deserve? No. And I wasn’t going to take it sitting down. So I told her I didn’t think that it was fair for her to punish me for something my friend did. That’s when Steve basically just punched me in the face. I know it’ll be a black eye tomorrow. Not just the little bruise it is now.
Oh, well, though. Nothing to be done. I’ll just skip school tomorrow and call Zac to tell him I can’t come Saturday. He’ll obviously question why and I’ll just tell him the truth, that I’m grounded. I won’t tell him why though, that would only make him feel guilty.
     Well, I’m going to stop here. It’s getting past 8:30 and mom will be up to check on me shortly. Good night.
     Tabitha shut her journal then shoved it back under her pillow. With a deep sigh, she shut off the light and closed her eyes.

~*~

     Zac laid back into his pillow. He could hear Isaac snoring in the bed across the room. Taylor was sleeping in the living room. He’d gotten totally disgusted with Zac and refused to even look at him, much less sleep in the same room. Thinking back on it, Zac hadn’t meant to make Taylor so mad. He was just having a little fun with him. Was that a crime?
Apparently to Taylor it was. He had shot looks of daggers at Zac whenever they locked eyes.
     Zac sighed. It was too early to be up. Three o’clock, that was what the clock in the hall had said when Zac had gone to the bathroom about twenty minutes ago. Since then he had not been able to go back to sleep. And since then his mind had been working overtime. He thought about his fight with Taylor ... then his little mishap with Tabitha’s mom earlier. He hoped she was doing all right, he hadn’t meant to cause her any grief. If he had caused her to get grounded -or worse- he didn’t know what he would do.
     Yawning, Zac rolled onto his side and folded his arms underneath his head. He pulled the blanket up around his shoulders. Thinking of Taylor’s cold stares, he couldn’t get warm. After a few minutes of twisting and turning Zac ended up completely entwined in the covers. Finally, he was comfortable ... a little at least.
     At last his eyes closed and sleep fell upon him.

~~**~~*~~**~~

     She got off lucky. Her mom came up to check on her the next morning and said she could go ahead and stay home since her eye had swollen up a little. Tabitha was surprised, she had expected to be whipped out of bed and shoved off to school no matter what. Maybe her mom had a "compassionate" side after all.
     Thankfully also, her mom left early because she had to take Steve to work. They hadn’t had the time to go and get new tires put on the car. Tabitha still wondered who had done that ... then she silently thanked them. Steve deserved it.
Then she thought back to the day before when Zac had painted her mom. That was too funny and she wished she’d had camera. Of course... taking a picture would have only meant worse trouble for her. Oh, well, it would have been worth it.
With these thoughts of course came the thought that she couldn’t go to the carnival now. She was grounded for two straight weeks. That was going to suck major. Sighing she got up and walked across her room to her stereo. She put in her MatchBox 20 CD and pushed "play." She would have put in "This Time Around," but her mom took that CD away as extra punishment.
     She longed to hear Taylor crooning out "Save Me," or maybe just the sweet harmonies of "Song to Sing." Unfortunately she didn’t have a clue as to where her mother could have put the CD.
     Lost deep in her thoughts, Tabitha almost missed her favorite song on the CD. "Long Day," it seemed to be an anthem for her ... a little at least. She sat down at her desk and began to sing along.
     "Reach down your hand in your pocket, pull out some hope for me ... it’s been a long day, always ain’t that right. Well, no Lord, your hand won’t stop it, just keep you trembling, it’s been a long day, always ain’t that right..." She sighed. The chorus fit her life anyway. That and the chorus to the ninth song, "Kody."
     With another ragged sigh, Tabitha stood up and walked back over to her bed and lay down. Yeah, it’s gonna be a long day, she thought.

~*~

     Zac looked down at Taylor who was still asleep on the couch. He looked so angry still. Zac figured it must be harmful to look that mad when you went to sleep. It was impossible to imagine all the dreams Taylor could have had. He sighed then. At that moment Taylor’s eyes shot open. "Get away from me," he snapped.
     Zac looked away hurtfully then walked off. Taylor stared after his brother who looked genuinely apologetic. Well, he thought, if the little brat hadn’t done anything in the first place I wouldn’t be mad at him. Then he tossed off the covers and stretched. Time to go see if Mom had something cooking for breakfast.
     Unfortunately, Mrs. Hanson had been too tired from the night before to bother with cooking. Taylor could see that she had already told Zac to get a bowl of cereal, obviously because he was doing just that. Taylor sighed; he wasn’t in the mood for cold cereal. "Mom, is it okay if I go to Dave’s?" Taylor asked referring to his long time friend.
     "Sure, be home before 2:00, though, okay?" Mrs. Hanson looked up from her cup of coffee.
     "Yeah, Mom." Taylor gave her a forced smile then went to go make himself at least halfway presentable. After a bit Diana and Zac heard the front door open and shut.
     Zac himself didn’t feel like staying at home, so once he finished his cereal, he asked Diana if he could go to Trevor’s. She agreed giving him the same instructions as Taylor. A few minutes later he was gone.

~*~

     Around noon, Isaac was sitting at the desk in his bedroom when the telephone rang. "I got it!" he called to his mom and he grabbed the extension on the corner of his desk. "Hello?" he said placing the receiver to his ear.
     "Um, may I speak to Zac?" a soft female voice asked.
     "He’s not in right now, can I take a message?" Isaac replied.
     "Oh, well, just tell him that Tabitha called," she said quietly.
     "Oh, so you’re the culprit!" Isaac exclaimed much more loudly than he had intended.
     "Huh? How am I a culprit?" Tabitha asked sounding perplexed.
     "Oh, nothing, it’s something we’re used to around here. But all I’ve heard about for the past week is the pretty little redhead, so I was wondering what kind of magic you’ve cast over my brothers. Because they’ve been acting weirder than usual lately..."
     "Weirder in what way?" she asked.
     "Well, just the usual slamming doors, ‘I’m gonna kill you,’ and ‘you little brat’ only it’s escalated a bit."
     "Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know I was causing any trouble," Tabitha said ruefully.
     "Oh, don’t worry about it, just remember you’re messing around with two Hanson brothers that still have a lot of growing up to do."
     "Have I done anything to make them mad at me?" she asked timidly.
     "Oh, no. Just the exact opposite. There’s one thing I want to know though, were the colors of your mom’s shirt really pretty?"
     Tabitha chuckled, "I thought they were ... Mom kinda hated the fashion though. Well, that’s why I needed to talk to Zac. So, do you know when he’ll be back in so I can talk to him?"
     "Well, it should be-" Isaac stopped as he saw Zac walk into the room, "Actually, here he is now." Then he turned to Zac, "Hey, Zac. Tabitha’s on the phone, she needs to speak with you."
     Zac nearly yanked the phone from Isaac’s grasp. Isaac shook his head, "It’s just a phone, Zac ... jeez."
     "Hey, Tabitha," Zac said completely ignoring Isaac.
     "Well, hey, Mr. Picasso," she said with giggle. "I’ve got some good news and some bad news."
     Zac laughed a bit then said, "Well, go ahead and give me the good news. Then I’ll debate whether I want the bad or not."
     "Well, the good news is we know you’re not going to be the new fashion designer for Style magazine..."
     Zac interrupted her, "But that was some of my greatest work!"
     "Mom didn’t think so, and that’s where the bad news comes in."
     "Well, if she wants me to buy her a new shirt I can."
     "That wouldn’t do any good. She’s decided that I’m restriction for the next two weeks."
     "But that’s not fair! I’m the one that ruined the shirt!"
     "Well, according to Mom, her shirt would’ve never gotten ruined if you hadn’t been there doing my work. So, technically, it’s my fault."
     "Boy, you do have a warped mom."
     "I tried to warn you."
     "Hey, wait!" Zac said suddenly in realization, "That means you can’t go to the carnival with me!"
     "Exactly why I called you," Tabitha said with a "well, duh!" tone to her voice.
     Zac’s voice softened, "Well, you’re not mad at me are you?"
     "No, Zac. It was the most fun thing that happened to me all day that day. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world even if it meant being grounded for a month instead of two weeks." Tabitha laughed quietly.
     "Well, when do you think we’ll get a chance to hang out together?"
     "We’ll figure out something to do once I get off restriction. In the meantime, go have fun at the carnival ... eat a candy apple for me, with lots of ooey gooey caramel... Well, I better get off of here. If my mom calls and finds me on the phone that’ll just mean more restriction. Oh, and by the way, what’s Taylor doing?"
     Zac frowned, "Uh, well, uh ... he went somewhere."
     "Well, can you tell him I said hello when he gets in? And let him know I’m on restriction and all?"
     "Oh, I’ll tell him as soon as I see him." All the while Zac was thinking, Yeah, I’ll tell him next week.
     "All righty, well, I’ll talk to you later. Take care, Zac. Bye!"
     "Bye, Tabitha." As Zac hung up the phone he noticed Isaac still sitting there at the desk. He was watching him.
     "Hey, Zac, just let me give you fair warning, I think you’re barking up the wrong tree when it comes to her."
     "What makes you say that?" Zac said rather sarcastically.
     "Because I’ve never seen Tay act that strongly about you getting involved in something. The last time I saw him react the way he did was when someone tried to give him a hard time about his music. And you know how serious he is about that. So, if you just think this is for fun, you better cut it out and stop to think, because he’s taking it serious."
     Zac remained silent and he watched Isaac’s back as he walked away. Plopping into the desk chair, Zac began to think.      What if Isaac’s right? I’ve never seen Taylor want to rip my throat out before. Maybe he is serious about her, but it’s up to her to choose who she wants. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.

*One day at a time...*