Nikita Marie McQuoide was one of the few people who were always lucky. She grew up in a privileged home. Her parents were well off, she lived in a nice neighborhood and the people around her were nice too. There were four children in her family. Two girls and two boys. She was the second oldest. Her oldest brother, Mark, and the other brother, (who was the youngest) Nathan, never fought. In fact, even Nikita herself, who goes by the name Niki, and her younger sister Abeline, Abby for short, got along really well. The boys didn't pester the girls, and the girls didn't bother the boys.

Growing up Niki had only moved twice, but never far from the last home. She had kept the same friends since the third grade. Never losing any, always making more. She was sweet, she was naive, and she was pretty.

During the summer and spring breaks her family would always go on vacations. Sometimes to Disney Land, sometimes to Italy, sometimes to visit relatives in London, or in Florida. Either way, Niki got to travel a lot, and she loved it.

Mr. McQuoide was a producer. He owned a recording studio, and he worked part time for an ABC sitcom. Niki would often go with her Dad to the studio to meet some of the bands that would come in, or she'd go and watch the actors at the sitcom. He worked with Aerosmith, the GooGooDolls, and even Hanson. Niki had never met any of those bands. She only got to see the one's who were starting out. Still, it was fun, and who would complain about that?

So where's the story? It's sickening, isn't it? This girl, this pretty, sweet, little girl has everything, she has no flaw. Right? Well, she's missing one thing. Her mother.

Niki's mother died when she was 13 years old. Funny, just as she hits puberty that's when her mother leaves her. Mrs. McQuoide had brain cancer. There was nothing anyone could do for her, and she died in a lot of pain. Now, at 16 years old, Niki never spoke about her mother. It was too painful.

The story starts when Niki turned 16 Hanson was working on their second album, actually their fifth CD release. They were doing some work in her Dad's studio, and he had let her come down. All she had to do was be quiet.

Nikita sat in a room full of food. A table, which was half, covered in candies, a quarter covered in drinks, and the remaining quarter sprinkled with vegetables. Hanson would come in after recording, they'd probably say 'Hi' and then maybe she'd get to talk to them. If she did, great, if she didn't, oh well. They were just supposed to get a snack and then go back to discuss some things about the album.

She stretched and sighed. She had been sitting on the same couch in the same position for over an hour. Last night she had sat in front of the mirror, trying to decide which position made her look the best. It was a silly thing to do, and the position she had chosen wasn't that comfortable, but it made her look good. And that was all that mattered. She had one chance. First impressions were everything.

"I'm telling you, you're off. Every time on the same line. You're off!"

"Yeah, Zac, I so need you telling me how to sing." Taylor walked into the room and grabbed a soda.

"Obviously you do, because you keep messing it up."

"Well, if you know it so well why don't you sing it?"

Zac just rolled his eyes and grabbed a drink for himself.

Isaac following in a few minutes later. They hadn't even noticed her. She tried to rearrange herself a little. Without ruining the position but making just enough movement to grab their attention. She smoothed her skirt. Isaac had his back to her and Zac and Taylor sat on his sides.

"I like the way this song is turning out though." Isaac commented.

Taylor groaned. "Even though I'm singing it wrong." Zac got up and grabbed some candy.

"Well, just on that one part." Isaac said.

Zac turned around and his eyes fell onto a tiny little blonde girl sitting on the couch. "Uh, hi." He said. He sounded confused.

Taylor turned around and looked at her too. "Hey." He managed, rudely.

Isaac was actually the only one who smiled. "Hi. You want a drink?"

"No, I-i-I'm fine."

"Why are you sitting like that?" Taylor pointed.

"It doesn't look very comfortable." Zac said.

She looked forlornly at the ground. This wasn't how she wanted this to go at all.

"Why don't you come have a seat?" Isaac motioned to the seat across from him. "Four chairs, and four people, it's perfect."

Timidly Niki got up and walked to the chair. Zac pulled it out for her and pushed it in. Then he smiled.

"What's your name?" Isaac began to make conversation.

"Nikita Marie McQuoide."

Zac laughed, she was nervous. "Is that what you want us to call you?"

She blushed. "You can call me Niki, if you want to."

"Look, Niki, it's nice to meet fans and all that. But we have some things to discuss..." Taylor grabbed for a napkin and began to scrawl his name across it.

"That's fine, I can go back to the couch."

He looked up at her, standing up. "Actually, I meant, that you should leave. We need to talk about some business stuff."

A little taken back, she accepted the napkin which Isaac and Zac had managed to sign. "Okay. Maybe some other time." She smiled.

"Maybe." He took another drink of his pop, as she staggered out the door.

Nikita wiped her eyes in the bathroom. She tried to get her mascara and eyeliner off as fast as she could. That way, when she couldn't hold back the tears anymore they wouldn't smear the makeup. He was mean. You would just look at him and you'd know he was full of himself. He was "Taylor Hanson" and "Taylor Hanson" was a God. As least he was in Taylor Hanson's eyes. Isaac was nice, Zac was civil, but Taylor was cruelty at it's best. She was a fan. She didn't deserve to be treated this way. She was a fan! But what could she do? Taylor was one of those people who always got his way, he'd always gotten his way and he always would. You can't win against beautiful people.

"Niki! Come one, get up."

"Dad, I don't want to." She turned in her bed, as her dad ripped the sheets off of her.

"I've got to get to the studio."

She sat straight up in bed. "Why do I have to go?"

"Because, Mark and Abby and Nathan are all gone. And I don't feel like leaving you home alone. So you're coming."

"I'm 16! I'm old enough to stay home alone."

"Not when I say you're not. Besides Hanson will still be there." He trailed off, trying to entice his daughter to come to work with him.

She sat thinking. If she told her dad what had happened, he'd confront Taylor. Taylor would deny it; her dad would believe Taylor and then get mad at her for giving such a lame excuse to not come. She sighed and got out of bed. Mr. McQuoide grinned and patted her head, then left.
_______________________________________________________

"You chose to wear that?"

"What's wrong with it?" She looked at her baggy jeans and old, white soccer jersey.

"You took so much time yesterday, getting ready. Today it was only 5 minutes. You're not even wearing make up."

She tried to laugh. "I don’t wear make up every day, Dad."

"You okay, babe?"

"I'm fine."

"Liar."

"What makes you think I'm lying?"

"I just know."

She smiled and looked at him. "I'm fine. Just a little tired. That's all. I got dressed fast because I didn't want you to be late."
Her father shrugged and nodded. "If you're sure everything's fine."

"Of course it is."

"You're here again?" He was rude and nearly hostile. He acted like he owned the whole studio. It was her father's studio! If anyone was close to owning it, then it was she!

"Yeah." She looked shyly at the floor. Letting her anger burn.

"Look, I'm sorry, but we've got things to do. We can't have crazed fans stalking us. Now please just go ask whoever brought you here to take you home." He turned and walked into the recording room.

She hadn't seen Zac or Isaac yet. She had walked in after her father, who was probably already in his office. He'd collect some papers and then he'd go and work with the boys for a little while. She was supposed to "enjoy the food", "relax", and do whatever she wanted. Which was fine, except that she had a blonde demigod breathing down her back at all times.

She sighed and turned around. Zac stood there, fuming. "God! Okay, I'm sorry! I'll just ask my dad to take me back."

"Oh no, it's not that." Isaac emerged from the back room. "Tay and Zac just had a little…"

"Fight?"

"Yeah, and so Taylor is a little testy and Zac is a little angry." Isaac tried to make it seem as nonchalant as possible.

"A little? Taylor just told me I was a crazed fan he didn't have time for and to go home, and Zac looks like he wants to rip my head off." She began to tear and wiped at her eyes.

"Taylor's just stressed out."

"Is he always stressed out?"

"No."

"But he's always like that." Zac entered into the conversation. "He's always a condescending asshole. He thinks he's better than us, Ike, and I can't take it anymore!"

"Zac!" He made a gesture towards Nikita.

"She knows. She's not stupid Ike, she can tell the way he treats her. Why do you think she's crying?"

"ZAC!" Isaac put his hand against her shoulder and guided both she and Zac back into the back room. "He'll hear you."

"He needs to hear someone."

"Would he hear me?" Niki's voice was quiet and shy.

"What?"

"I mean, not me, me. But me the fans. If we told him, then would he hear us?"

Zac shrugged. "Who knows? I think the only person he'd hear is himself. That's the only person that matters to him."

The next day Nikita walked into the studio, again Taylor was the first person she met. He glanced at her. Her jeans and tee shirt evidently didn't impress him. She walked up to him.

"Hi."

"I thought I asked you to stay home."

"You did."

"So why are you here?"

"That was yesterday. I thought maybe we could start over, today." She smiled.

He smiled; it was one of those smiles, which was obviously forced. "Would you give me a second, please?" He walked over to Isaac and Zac and a one of the security guards that worked at the studio. He whispered something to them and the guard laughed. Taylor glanced over his shoulder, scowled and walked away.

Niki walked towards them. "Did he ask you to kick me out?"

The guard continued to laugh and Zac smiled and nodded.

She turned to Isaac. "Can you tell him that I felt really, really bad for bothering him, and that I left?" She winked at him.

He smiled and nodded. "Yeah, no problem."

"Hey dad!" Nikita looked up from the pork chops she was cooking to welcome her dad home from work.

"How did you get home?"

"I took a cab."

He looked shocked.

"Don't worry, I got home just fine, see?" She turned around in a circle and laughed.

He laughed too. "Isaac and Zac left me this for you." He passed her a manila envelope with her name on it.

"Thanks. Did Tay say anything or give me anything?"

"No, actually he wasn't even there when I left. You know, honey, that boy's got a lot of talent, but he's not very social."

"Or very polite." Niki muttered.

"Huh?"

She smiled as he took over the cooking. "Oh, nothing."

"Taylor, you could have at least tried to be nicer." Isaac was heard pleading on the micro tape.

"What's the big deal?"

"She felt really bad, about the way you treated her."

"Yeah, you should have seen her. She was crying, and she was so upset." Zac put in.

"I hate it when girls cry."

"You don't even care that she was crying over you?"

Taylor laughed. "They all cry over me for one reason or another. It doesn't make a difference."

"Tay, she's a fan. We have to be nice to them."

"No we don't. They worship us; we can do whatever the hell we want. We can treat them however we want, they won't ever care."

"Without them we're nothing."

"Without us, they have nothing." A door could be heard closing.

"Well, Niki, I hope this was good enough." Ike's voice could be heard.

"Good luck." Zac said. And then the tape clicked off.

'So what do I do with it now?' she thought. She leaned against the back of her chair and glanced around. The computer, the computer has the internet. The internet has the fans. She rewound a bit.

"…us; we can do whatever the hell we want. We can treat them however we want, they won't ever care."

"Without them we're nothing."

"Without us, they have nothing." She stopped the tape.

Turning on her computer she signed onto AOL and began an e-mail.
"Hi, all Hanson fans. For the past three days I gotten to see Hanson, they've been working at my Dad's studio. I just thought you'd like to know what kind of guys Hanson really are. Isaac is a wonderful person. He makes all those uncomfortable moments a little easier. Zac is unique, and complicated. He's got so much going on inside him you'll never understand completely. Although, I guess a lot of people are like that. Zac is nice, but not outright friendly like Isaac. Taylor, on his part, is a rude, self-inflated, condescending asshole. I'm attaching a WAV of him talking to Isaac and Zac about us, "the fans." I think we should let him know that we are not his play toys and he is not God. Take down your Taylor Hanson pictures. Send him letters. Don't scream when he tells you to, don't ask for his autograph. For all those in the LA area they will be doing an autograph signing on August 26th. Don't say anything to him; give him the cold shoulder. Taylor Hanson doesn't mean anything to us. Just listen to this WAV. We are everything without him, and he won't be anything without us. Please help me with this!"

She then recorded the tape to a WAV.

"She felt really bad, about the way you treated her."

"Yeah, you should have seen her. She was crying, and she was so upset." Zac put in.

"I hate it when girls cry."

"You don't even care that she was crying over you?"

Taylor laughed. "They all cry over me for one reason or another. It doesn't make a difference."

"Tay, she's a fan. We have to be nice to them."

"No we don't. They worship us; we can do whatever the hell we want. We can treat them however we want, they won't ever care."

"Without them we're nothing."

"Without us, they have nothing." A door could be heard closing.

Nikita sent the e-mail to 40 of her Hanson fan friends and to over 100 other fans. "Down with Taylor Hanson" she said as she sent the e-mail who's subject was "Beauty is the Beast, read about Taylor Hanson."

The next day Niki checked her mail, only to find it completely full. She had expected it to be so. Her friends, as she knew, were completely with her and they all vowed to do exactly as she asked. "Whatever it takes, that asshole's got to learn!" They said.

But there were others. There some which said "I've heard all this before, and I think it's really sad that the little teenies like you are so desperate for attention you've got to make up this kind of thing about Taylor. Go find a hobby."

Others were more like "You fucking bitch, I don't have enough God damn free time to read this fucking shit. Taylor can act however he wants. Why the fuck do I care. If you bug me with this nonsense shit again I'm going to TOS your ass right away."

And there were still some "How do you know this? I don't know if I believe you or not. I just don't think that Taylor would be like that. He seems like such a nice person."

And there were others that didn't quite fit into a category, some which supported her and most of which didn't. She sighed. She was losing. But you knew that Niki, you knew you'd lose when you started.

It was August 25th, their last day at her dad's studio. She had come; "just for kicks" she had said. Isaac introduced her to his parents.

"We're looking forward to tomorrow afternoon." He smiled.

"How come?"

"After that we get to go back to Tulsa and get some rest." He rubbed Zac's head. "Right?"

"Yeah, Dad."

She laughed, then sighed. "My mom was from Tulsa."

Isaac smiled, "Ah, the nostalgia of those 'good ol' days."

Mr. Hanson smiled and called to Taylor who sulked against the wall. "Did you hear that? Her mom's from Tulsa too."

Taylor smiled and walked over. "Isn't that nice."

"Taylor."

Niki glared at Taylor, and Taylor only smiled more. It was a sweet, sinister smile. The smile of a little child who's playing with your head and they know that they're winning.

"Yeah, it is nice." You're not going to get to me. She thought.

Mr. Hanson walked away and Taylor let his smile fall. "Getting in good with my dad, and my brother's makes no difference to me. And I don't even give a shit where your mother's from. She was probably an outcast whore, just like you." He spat. Isaac and Zac stood wide-eyed. Taylor was snobbish, and condescending, but he'd never been outright cruel before.

She sobbed. "You fucking asshole. You don't know my mother, you don't know me, you don't know anything."

He rolled his eyes.

"My mother's dead. She died from brain cancer. My God, what did I do to you?" She sobbed.

Taylor wasn't moved, and held back both Zac and Isaac who instinctually wanted to comfort her. "You know what you did. Were you trying to ruin me?" He frowned at her tears. "Stop your crying. I don't have any pity for you." He left the room.

"Hi." She turned to some girls near the front of the line. "My name's Niki." She shook the girl's hand. "Have you ever met Hanson?"

"No."

"Really? I have. But um, there's a problem. You see, Taylor wasn't very nice."

"Really?" The girls looked shocked.

"Here listen to this." She played the tape. "And he insulted me and my mother, who died of brain cancer 3 years ago. And so, just please be nice to Isaac and Zac, but just act like Taylor doesn't even exist. Please." The girls sort of nodded and Nikita moved down the line.

"Ladies and Gentlemen we'd like to welcome Hanson today. Please form a single line, and we'll try to get you all some autographs and a handshake."

The girls started moving up the line. Niki watched from the side. A few of the girls did manage to avoid Taylor's eyes. He was civil to all of them. And when she got up the line he even managed to smile, but she looked away.

"Hey." He had said, shaking her head. "Have a good day." He smiled.

She watched girl after girl smile at him. The held onto his hand as long as they could.

"I think you're amazing." Some would say.

Some would stare, speechless.

"It is SOOO nice to meet you." Others would breathe out.

She wanted to cry. It was no wonder he was the way he was. They adored him. She even caught herself thinking about how gorgeous he was. She was probably an outcast whore, just like you. The words stung like knew. She closed her eyes. She had lost, even in herself.

Zac had looked over, and tried to smile. Even some of her friends couldn't help but smile at Taylor. Nikita left.

"Me too." She looked at a picture of the three of them in the window. He was incredible. That under the beautiful flawless face that smiled at her lay a monster who hurt those who loved him. She cried.

"I'm sorry about what he did, really, I am so sorry." It was a girl. Just a girl with her hand on Nikita's shoulder.

"I just wanted to show him we could do without him."

"I know."

"Why can't people just stop?"

"Stop hurting each other?"

"Well, yeah, and stop liking him."

"Because they don't know him. They can't comprehend the way he is."

"Can you?"

"Only because I've met him. I used to live in Tulsa. I knew them."

"He's a good actor." She gazed longingly at the poster."

"A very good one." The girl sighed. "We all want to believe that he is the way he's acts."

Nikita cried. "More than anything."

"But he's not."

"Not even close."

"And of course that will always be the problem."

"That he doesn't have to be anything like he acts."

"Exactly, because hearts don't beat beauty."
"You fall in love with his face so much, what his heart's like doesn't matter anymore."

"And he knows it."

"And so those of us who have hearts that hurt from him," Nikita held the girl's hand.

"Will never be able to beat that pretty face. None of us can, none of us ever will." The girl left. It was true. It had always been true, and it always would be.

Hearts don't beat beauty, especially not that of Taylor Hanson.


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