"And here's the restaurant. We have reservations for seven o'clock... let's tell them we're here." Arthur Spiel opened the door for the famous pop group, Hanson, and their family. Isaac, Taylor, Zac, Jessie and Avery made their way in first, with the two girls nearly bouncing up and down with the anticipation of dinner. The two parents, Diana and Walker, followed them in, with Diana holding Mackenzie in her arms. Arthur stepped inside and shut the door behind him.
Taylor, the fourteen year old and second oldest, took in the restaurant carefully. It was fairly large, with twenty to thirty tables of the circular four-person style. Groups filled nearly every table but two or three, and all were talking and enjoying their meals. The entry way had a bar and a cash register, and there were two men of about twenty five standing behind the counter. The atmosphere was cozy, like the people really got along with each other. In fact, Taylor occasionally spotted some people lean over to other tables and start to laugh and talk.
What really interested him, though, was the sound stage. It was a normal kind of in-a-restaurant style stage, but it had some pretty nifty music equipment on it, such as a top-of the line synthesizer, a twelve-string guitar, a huge mixer, and a good sound system. Sitting on a stool near the side of it was a girl, plucking on the strings of an acoustic guitar. Around her were three men of the thirties age range, all listening to her playing and, apparently, sounding it by ear. The tallest guy, who had a mop of red hair, was furrowing his brow and moving his hands in motions for the keyboard, though he didn't have one in front of him. Taylor thought that was odd. Why didn't he just read the sheet music?
Taylor nudge his brothers. "Hey guys, what do you think those four people on-stage are doing?" He pointed them out.
Zac frowned, cocking his head to the side. "I dunno, but that girl is pretty."
Isaac snorted, trying not to laugh too loud. "Zac, she's got to be at least eighteen. Way, way too old for you! Me, too. Though I agree, she's very pretty."
"You still haven't answered my question." Taylor glanced around to see where their parents were. Diana was sitting to the side with Mackenzie on her lap, and Walker and Arthur were talking to the man behind the counter. Avie and Jessie were lying in the middle of the entry way, hoping people weren't going to step on them. Taylor turned back to his brothers.
"Um, well, my guess is that they're consulting about some musical piece or something that they're going to play tonight." Isaac tapped his cheek thoughtfully. Then he glanced around like Taylor had done, but for a different reason. ìI bet someone around here knows."
"Yeah, I was thinking that too," Zac said, a little too hyper for Taylor's liking. Suddenly, without warning, Zac shot out into the crowd of people.
"Oh, maaan," Taylor groaned. "Not again."
"That kid runs on a motor," Isaac muttered. But he and his brother ran off to follow their sibling into the groups of people. After a few minutes and a joint search, they found him sitting at a table with a woman, man, and a younger boy. Isaac supposed the two were the parents, and the boy their kid... but, he reminded himself, that wasn't always the case and he shouldn't jump to conclusions.
"Hey guys!" Zac waved wildly, completely unaware of the fact that his brothers weren't all happy. "Meet Kimberly, Jason, and David. Kim, Jase, Dave... these are my brothers, Isaac and Taylor."
Taylor blinked. "You mean you just ran up, sat next to them, and they didn't mind?î He was kind of jealous of Zac, actually. He didn't quite believe his little brother was that social, and he was so shy. When he remembered that there were three strange people staring at him, he quickly became reserved and stepped back slightly behind Isaac.
His older brother knew Taylor's quirks, and understood that to mean that he should take over. "C'mon, Zac, let's go before mom and dad get worried about us. I don't know if they even saw us dash off. Oh, and nice to meet you." He smiled to Zac's company, and they smiled back.
Kimberly started to speak before Zac could get up. "Oh, we don't mind him sitting here. People do it all the time... that's the way this restaurant is. We're pretty much all friends, and if we don't know each other, we always introduce ourselves." David smiled his agreement.
"But still, we should tell our parents where we are and what we're doing--" Isaac was confused and lost for words. This was a strange restaurant, and he wasn't quite sure how friendly he should be. Taylor nudged him and gave him a look, then reached for Zac.
"Hey, man, lay off," he said, shrugging his brother off. He turned to father, apparently David. So, who's the girl on-stage? And what're those guys doing with her?"
Isaac turned to glance at the stage, and saw that they had moved from the position they had been in before. The man who had been fingering keyboard moves before was, in fact, checking the keyboard wires, and the other two were getting their instruments ready; bass guitar and drums. The girl was walking between them all, dictating some lecture or other.
"You haven't heard of her?" David looked flabbergasted. Then he smiled. "Well, then we get to show her off. That's unusual... people ordinarily come in here looking for her and to listen to her." He turned to look at the girl, who had stopped talking to the other musicians and was passing out sheet music.
"Is she that good?" Taylor wondered aloud. He blushed when he realized that he'd done so... he hadn't meant for anyone else to hear.
"Good?" Kimberly laughed. Taylor liked her laugh. It wasn't condescending, but friendly. "She's spectacular. She's kind of... of a legend, in her own right, I guess. Every day she sings five, six... sometimes seven new songs that she's written that morning. She's been trying to find good sight readers for months. She doesn't like repeating songs... I've only heard her do so three times, and that was because the crowd liked them so much the restaurant forced her to. On top of that, she's got a marvelous voice... she can sing from alto to falsetto."
"You're kidding?" Isaac gasped. "That's amazing."
Zac was unfazed. "I bet she gets someone to help her write. Or she doesn't really write them. She probably only sings really unknown songs." He toyed with Jason's drink, not even thinking about it.
"No, or someone would've recognized one eventually. That many songs, and this many people... something's gotta click." Kimberly smiled at Zac. "Believe me, she's very good. The people really like her, and she's very nice."
David grinned at the kids. "You'd better get back to your parents. They'll be worried."
Zac got up reluctantly. "I still don't believe it," he said. Then he shrugged. "Oh, well, like it really matters anyway. If she's good, who cares what she sings?" His face broke into a huge, oftenly seen smile, and he darted back off through the crowd.
Taylor and Isaac exchanged a look, then rolled their eyes at the antics of their sibling. They waved to David, Kimberly, and Jason, then made their way back. They were aware of the friendly waves and the thumbs-up signs from the crowd.
"Augh, Matt, stoppit! You're driving me bonkers!" Destiny was getting upset, so Matt stopped his air-keyboard playing. She nodded. "Okay, now, make sure you catch this small solo in measure twenty six, Trevor. In this song the drums aren't really supposed to stand out, so play kind of quietly before that, got it?"
"Destiny, I don't see this part, here... I just... Oh, I can't do this. Your songs are way complicated, and to sight read them twenty minutes before performing..." Randy shook his head.
"The bass part isn't that hard, you just have to get the hang of the rhythm. Don't worry, you'll get it." She smiled encouragingly, her anger abated. She didn't want to lose another player. She had watched five walk out the door in the previous two months. She stretched, then glanced at her watch. It was nearing seven. "Okay guys, time to set up your stuff... ten of seven," she answered as Trevor opened his mouth to ask. He closed his mouth again and nodded, then stepped across the stage to his bass guitar and silently fingered out the rhythm he'd be playing. Matt mumbled out some of the words he'd be singing for backup as he took a closer look at the sheet music Destiny had been showing him. Then he took his sheets and strode over to his keyboard, where he started hooking up the wires.
"Umm, Des, I have a question..." Randy started. She had been walking to the center of the stage but she turned and looked at him with raised eyebrows. They weren't surprised looking, just interested. "You only gave us four songs. Are there any other ones tonight?"
She gasped, then grimaced. "Oh, no!" she groaned miserably. She quickly went to her backpack and opened it, producing another song. "I guess we can only do five. I'm sorry, Randy... I just don't know what I was thinking... I suppose I got wrapped up in explaining the other four." She frowned, then walked to her front music stand, where she put the new sheet music. She then went from person to person, as Randy situated himself back behind the drums.
"Matt, remember. In Cry For Help, you have a very powerful voice solo... Sing a little louder than usual. I know you have a soft voice, and it's hard, but it'll be okay. Then in Time, make sure you hit the chimes at the right time."
She went from person to person, reminding them of important sections before they began. Then she went around again and handed out the sheet music she'd forgotten, with a quick apology to each player. Randy and Matt accepted theirs willingly, if a little resigned, but Trevor looked a little annoyed. Destiny pretended not to notice. She walked to the mike.
Taylor looked up at the stage again as the waiter seated them. The girl was just going to the mike. He thought Isaac's view on her age was a little off... she looked more sixteen to him, not eighteen. He wondered what everyone else in his family thought.
"Hey, everyone, how old do you think that girl is?" She hadn't said anything yet. Instead, she had picked up her guitar and was playing some chords to warm up. Arthur looked on, somewhat amused, as the family gave their answers.
"Oh, ninteen," Walker said. He looked at her for a few minutes, as the rest chimed in.
"Nonsense, she looks fourteen," Diana said. Avery and Jessica squinted their eyes at the girl, then agreed with their mother.
"No way, she's eighteen," Isaac said, not to be outdone.
"Sixteen," Taylor put in. He really didn't think she was older than Isaac. She could be. And his brothers were right, she was very pretty. Her soft brown hair was shining from the light of the lamps, and fell halfway down her back. It was slightly curly, and had very soft, almost unseeable blonde hilights. Her eyes, from across the room, couldn't be seen, but Taylor could tell that they were bright colored. Her complexion was fair, even slightly peachy. He could tell that she didn't have any freckles. She was short; or, at least, shorter than he was, which was five foot seven. Her face was a delicate shape, and her body was gently curved, but nothing too drastic. She was wearing a pair of stonewashed jeans, which were slightly baggy, with holes in the knees, and scrunched around her bare feet. Her shirt was sleeveless, and emerald tie-died. It came just to the top of her jeans. In that sense, it could be considered a baby-tee, but it didn't show her stomach.
"Ten?" Zac said hopefully.
Taylor smirked. "Right, bud, you wish."
Zac laughed, winked, and said, "How'd you guess?"
"So Arthur, how old is she? You seem to know, since you're not guessing." Walker took his gaze from the stage and laid it on the boys' manager.
"Mmm. Her name's Destiny. She's fourteen." He nodded to Diana. "I suppose girls know girls, ehh? I haven't actually heard her play before, but I've heard of her... seems she's some kind of miracle singer or something."
Diana smiled back, nodded, and then said, "Oh, she's going to talk." All the table focused their attention on the stage, and suddenly noticed that the room had grown quiet in anticipation. They hoped they hadn't been overheard.
"Hey, everyone, how's it hanging?" The girl waved to her audience. Calls of greeting came from everywhere, and lots of people waved back. "Okay, cool. Well, I wrote eight this morning, but I'm only playing five," she paused as the crowd booed. "Well, sorry! I forgot to hand the sheet music out for the fifth one, even, so they're winging it. Be happy you got that many!"
Instant apologies sounded across the room. One man even called out, "You know we love you, Des!"
She seemed to accept the apology, because she smiled. "Yeah, yeah, you guys are all loons," she joked. "Okay, enough chatter. I'm going to play Quest first... I think you'll all like it." She played a few chords on her guitar, and suddenly the rest of the musicians were playing with her, in a haunting melody. It sounded like wind across the trees. Then, suddenly, Destiny began to sing, in a voice higher than Taylor could have dreamed. And he had heard pretty high. But this girl was singing upper falsetto, even threatening to go into a higher octave, and she was completely on key.
"Ride the wind, and come to me/Tomorrow we journey, today we're free," she sang. Her voice was unearthly, eerie. It made Taylor want to curl up and drift away, floating on the current of the wind. He looked around the table and saw the same feeling etched on the faces of his family and manager. Even Zac looked impressed.
They didn't move until the piece was over. The joined in with the mad clapping from other tables, the cheers, the whistles, and the screams. Destiny looked completely blown away by the reaction to the song. She was about to say something, but the waiter came to their table to ask what they wanted to order, or if they wanted anything to drink. Taylor turned his attentions from the stage, finally looking at the menu for the first time.
"Uhh... I think I'll have the salmon with capers, please?" The waiter nodded, and turned to the rest of the family. After all the orders had been placed, they sat in silence, listening to the new song, which was a more upbeat, maniacal melody about lost love. The voice range wasn't nearly as high, and the person at the keyboards was singing along-- at short intervals, so were the other two.
"She's good," Isaac said quietly, and only Zac heard him.
The eleven year old was kind of blown away, even for who he was. He couldn't believe that the girl standing on the stage had written all these songs, and so many, so quickly. And she was only fourteen. "But that doesn't mean anything," Zac thought to himself, a little angry. Here he was, a famous musician in a famous band, and he was only eleven, after all. But even he and his brothers, with all three of them put together, couldn't write an average of six songs a day. And this girl had a wonderful voice. She was playing the guitar without even looking at the strings, smiling out at the crowd as she sang her lines. And the crowd was entranced.
He shook his head. Even with all his imagination, something didn't fit in. But he wouldn't admit it. He clapped along with the rest of his family, then glanced sidelong at Taylor. He was staring, his eyes open wide, his sunshine blonde hair barely falling into his crystal blue eyes. Impatiently he pushed it away. Zac knew they were sometimes called girls, because of their looks, and there were points to Taylor that echoed that belief-- His creamy, flawless skin, his small nose and rose-colored lips. But he knew his brother was extremely strong and muscular, also, and incredibly unflexible. He looked to Isaac, who was slightly different than Taylor.
Isaac's hair was wavy, even to the extent of curly, and much more brown. It was shorter, too. His face was wider, and didn't seem quite as delicate, but definitely more grown and experienced. His eyes were more deeply set, and dark mahogany brown. His skin was just as flawless, but a slight bit more tanned and not as peachy. And he was at least two inches taller than Taylor was.
"I'm too short!" Zac cried, very aware that everyone heard him, and extremely happy to break the mood. Isaac smiled, dismissing his brother's usual complaint and turning back to the stage. Taylor took no notice whatsoever, and his parents merely laughed. His sisters were trying to mimic Destiny, and were playing air guitar to the best of their abilities. Zac refrained from sighing. He wasn't getting attention, which he thrived on-- this Destiny person was threatening his character. He stood up from the table and walked towards the front door. When he turned back to his family, he was angry to see that no one had noticed. He took a deep breath and left the building.
"That's the set for tonight, guys... sorry it's so short, but I did the best I could." Destiny was still plucking her guitar strings. It was a bad habit of hers, and she didn't even know she was doing it. When she moved her hand to wave, she finally realized where it had been, and started laughing. "Oh well, looks like I haven't broken that habit yet... see you all later." She smiled, and left through the side door on the stage.
She loved making music, singing in front of such great people, making such great friends, and she put her heart and soul into it. Her parents had died two years before in a car wreck, when she was twelve, and she didn't have any other family members that she knew of. When the police threatened to put her in a foster children's center, she declared that she could take care of herself, and wanted to prove she could do it. So they had given her three months to do so.
Destiny hadn't any idea where to begin. She was still mourning for the deaths of her parents, and had written a song for them, which she titled, fittingly, In Your Deaths. She still missed them terribly, but knew there wasn't any way to bring them back. When she played the song, she realized she could get a job at a restaurant making music and playing it. She tried several places, but they wouldn't let her play for her age. Finally, two months after her parents' deaths, she had found this restaurant. The atmousphere was so friendly, and no one cared about age or ability, so she had stayed there. Her paycheck was just enough to rent a small apartment, (where she managed to convince her landlord she was eighteen) and buy herself food, clothes, and guitar strings.
And now, near two years later, she was still singing and on her own. And she loved it.
Destiny opened the door to her small backstage room. There were some clothes lying on chairs, guitar picks scattered everywhere, and sheet music was haphazardly strewn across the desk. What surprised Destiny was the boy standing in the room.
He was shorter than her; maybe five foot two. He had long, blonde hair, nearing his shoulders, which was thick. His face still held the shape of a much younger boy, and was slightly rounded. He looked young, too... twelve, maybe? His eyes were a rich brown color, shown off by his red shirt, which had yellow streaks across it. And, she thought jealously, he was wearing Doc Martens. But she didn't know what he was doing in her back room, and stood in quiet shock.
"Do you actually write all those songs yourself?" he asked suspiciously. He looked at her with his eyes furrowed.
"Umm, yeah. You can see the sheet music, if you want." She waved her hand towards the desk. He glanced over, but didn't move. Then he looked back at her and smiled.
"I already did. I'm sorry. I guess I'm just being stupid." He giggled. His hyperness was starting to take over, and he realized that he had just been jealous that Destiny was getting attention, and he, the loud prozac boy, wasn't getting any. He got over it very quickly, and bounced up to her, startling her. "Hi! I'm Zac." His smiled was huge.
"I'm ahh--"
"Destiny, I know!" He grinned, taking her hand. "Wanna meet my brothers?"
She was getting used to his personality. It didn't take a genius to see he was an off the wall kid. She smiled back at him, curtsied, and said, "Well, Zac, that'd be swell. Could you bring ëem back here, though? Because I have to get ready to go."
Zac blinked furiously, then shrugged. "Yes Ma'am!" He shot out of the room.
"Hyper kid," she said to herself. She doubted he would be back, so she rooted through the mess on her floor for her backpack.
"Hey, hey, hey," Zac said, rushing up to his table and startling his family, who didn't look happy. "Anyone--"
"Zac, where have you been?" Walker asked his son angrily. "You had us worried sick! Now sit down and eat your dinner before it gets too cold." Zac turned to Diana, but the look on her face prevented him from asking her. After a minute of eating, Zac nudged Taylor, who was on his right.
"Hey, Tay," he whispered quietly.
"What?" His brother was eating the salmon with reckless abandon, obviously enjoying it. It looked nasty to Zac.
"Want to meet Destiny? I was just talking to her. She's really nice." Zac eyed his food, decided he wasn't entirely hungry, and looked at his brothers. Isaac was eating spaghetti, and getting his face covered in the sauce. Taylor was being neater, caring more for appearances than either of his brothers.
"Meet her? Sure, when?" He turned from his fish for a few minutes. Then, after a brief thought, turned to Isaac and asked if he wanted to see the girl too. Isaac stopped eating too, noticed his face felt grimy and messy, and wiped it with his napkin.
"Like, now! She's going to go soon, so we have to hurry." Zac bounced up and down in his chair impatiently. His brothers ate way too slow, he thought, annoyed. "Hurry, hurry!"
"Sorry Zac, you know we're hungry," Taylor said. He carefully took another bite of salmon. "Does she know we're coming?" Zac nodded. "Did she say she'd wait?"
"No. That's why I'm worried. She said she needed to get ready to go, that's why I had to bring you back there. C'mon, guys, step it up!" Zac shoveled the rest of his food in his mouth at a rapid pace, barely stopping to taste it. He blinked, noticing the mess on his pants. He blinked again, noticing his napkin on the table. "Awwh, man!" He grabbed the napkin and started furiously rubbing his pants.
"Serves you right, bud," Isaac said, grinning. "Don't force us to hurry now." But Isaac and Taylor were done anyway. The two stood up, but got a look form their father.
"Where do you think you two are going?" Walker asked.
"Zac said he could take us to meet Destiny," Isaac said. "And since all three of us were finished with dinner, we figured we could go now. Is that okay?"
His father looked at all three for a minute, and when Zac stood up, he nodded. "Yes, that's fine. Just don't stay too long." He paused for a second. "Is that where you were, Zac?"
Zac smiled, then replied, "Yeah, I was talking to her for a few minutes. Sorry I didn't tell anyone I was leaving. I wasn't feeling so good." His father smiled back, and Zac knew he was forgiven. The three bounded off.
Zac knocked on the door for the fourth time. Frowning, he put his ear to the door, feverently hoping Destiny would open it. He sighed and turned to his brothers. "I told you you ate too much!"
"Sorry Zac, I know we're huge pigs," Isaac replied, grinning. "But she didn't ever say she'd stay, did she?"
"Well, no... but she did say to bring you both back here. Oh, man, I wish you could've met her. She curtseyed at me! I should try that sometime. I just need to try a skirt." Zac's eyes became unfocused as he was whisked off into the land of daydreams.
"I always said you'd make a cute girl, Zac," Taylor laughed, poking his brother to wake him up. "I guess we'll just have to--"
"There she is!" Thanks to Taylor's prodding, Zac had come around in time to see Destiny walk down a corridor the crossed over the one they were standing in. He dashed off like a rocket. "Destinyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"
"What kind of fuel do you suppose he uses?" Isaac asked, his eyes following Zac until he was lost around the corner.
"Definitely a nuclear reaction," Taylor replied, starting off after his brother.
Destiny stopped and turned around. Her eyes widened, her mouth opened, and BAM!... she was on the floor. Groaning, she sat up, roughly pushing Zac off of her. "Remind me never to answer to my name again," she grumbled, brushing herself off. "Man, am I gonna have some bruises tomorrow."
"Sorry," Zac said sheepishly. "I was just glad I caught you. We were knocking on your door for like, forever." He grinned. Zac's smile was infectious, and Destiny had to smile back. Then she started laughing.
"Oh, Zac, that's okay," she said, pushing herself up. She reached down her hand for Zac. "Just try not to do it again, otherwise my skin'll be black and blue before you know it."
"Okay, Des, these are my brothers," Zac said. Destiny was surprised. She hadn't seen the two walk up. "This big lug here is Isaac, and he plays guitar too. He's sixteen." Zac took a fake swing at Isaac, which the older boy ducked. Then he reached out his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Destiny," he said, smiling. The two shook hands.
"And this girl over here-" Taylor was blushing, "-is Taylor." Zac grinned evilly at his brother.
"Wait a minute, I'm confused," Destiny said. "I thought you said he was your brother? Hold on..." She didn't know how to refer to Taylor. Then, noticing his face had turned a remarkable shade of red, (rather that of a brick,) she blushed back. "Oh... I get it. That was a joke. I'm so sorry!"
"Yeah... that's okay," Taylor said. He didn't offer hands or say hello. He just kind of stood there looking at the floor. Destiny felt awful. She could tell that her misinterpretation had affected Taylor, and what was worse, he wasn't all outgoing either. She could tell he was shy around people he didn't know. She bit her lip, feeling very awkward.
Isaac didn't help matters any. "Why don't you come meet our family, Destiny?" She couldn't understand why Taylor looked relieved.
"Sorry, but as I told the little munchkin over here, I've gotta scoot... maybe I'll see you guys sometime else? Do you live around here?" Destiny was surprised to see confused glances exchanged by the brothers.
"You don't know who we are, Des?" Zac asked cautiously.
"Uh, no, should I?"
"Do you have a television?" Isaac asked. Destiny shook her head. "A radio?" Another shake.
"Do you hear any music by other people at all?" Zac asked, clearly baffled.
"No, not really, unless it's playing in the restaurant." Destiny didn't want to tell them about her history, and certainly not her meager budget. "Look, I've really got to get out of here. Let me write you my phone number." She only had a phone line because the restaurant payed for it, just so she could call them informing them of what time she needed to set up, or if she would be sick for the night. She yanked a pen out of her backpack and tore a sheet of paper out of her music notebook, not realizing she could have very well ripped a new song in half. Luckily, she didn't. Quickly jotting down her number, she passed it off and sprinted down the hall.
"Where do you suppose she's off to?" Zac wondered aloud.
"Probably meeting her parents or something," Isaac replied as the three made their way back to their table.
