Destiny was standing in front of the Selina, gawking. The thin golden posts which held up the font canopy shone in the sun, and the velvet carpet felt squishy and comforting beneath her shoes. Huge fern plants lined the side of the entrance, trying to look imposing. The front door, which was a revolving glass one, had "Selina" carved intricately one each section.
"You're staying here?" She managed to stutter. The Selina was the fanciest hotel for miles, and was unique to her city. It was ritzy, classy, and she knew most of the people inside were probably wearing fancy dresses, fur coats, and tuxedos.
"Yeah. Arthur booked it for us," Isaac remarked, smirking all the while. "What they didn't expect were five hyper kids."
Zac was asleep in Taylor's arms. Destiny decided they must have filled him with painkillers to actually put him to sleep. Isaac led the way, pushing the door slightly so Taylor could get by without much trouble. They carefully maneuvered Zac's leg around the doorframe, and then Destiny followed them in.
The lobby was madness. It was as Destiny expected: maybe a hundred men and women in fancy outfits loitering and mingling. She couldn't believe the place. She had never been anywhere so fancy in her life. A few velvet couches were scattered here and there, and well decorated tables with exquisite tidbits of food were right near them. The plants were there too, like the ferns from outside. And the same pleasant, almost unreal carpet was still beneath her feet.
Destiny followed the boys to the elevator, and was surprised when the thing opened almost instantly. They walked inside the empty elevator car. Taylor, who, at this point, was having a bit of trouble carrying his little brother, didn't talk at all. He just wore a look of intense concentration as he shifted his weight, and Zac's, from foot to foot. Isaac pushed the button for them. Destiny watched the 29th floor button light up, and in what seemed like no time, the door opened.
"Wait a minute," she said, confused. "I didn't feel it move."
"They grease it well," Taylor remarked mildly, stepping out of the car and into the corridor. Isaac and Destiny followed him. Isaac even offered to take Zac, but Taylor claimed it would wake him up, due to unneeded jostling. Destiny rolled her eyes.
Finally, halfway down the hallway, Isaac turned and pulled a key out of his pocket. Fitting it in the slot, he turned the doorknob and made his way inside. Taylor followed with a grunt, and Destiny, shaking her head sadly, came last.
Two little girls came rushing at them. Destiny didn't get a very good look at them, because they were all over the place, but she could tell the younger, shorter one was blonde, and the older one had light brown hair. She couldn't see much else. Some music was playing in the background, and Destiny recognized it as a really old Billy Joel song. Some things she remembered before having to live on her own.
"My gosh! Is Zac okay?" the younger girl asked anxiously. Then she was on the other side of Taylor, near Zac's head, and Destiny couldn't see her anymore.
The other one commented on Destiny's shirt, which was pale yellow, and then shot up onto Isaac's back. The older boy piggybacked her around, all the while answering questions about Zac.
That was when an older woman in her early forties walked onto the scene. She instantly shooed the two girls out, and Destiny managed to catch their names: Avery and Jessica. Then she came to help Taylor with Zac.
Taylor, by this time, was standing there, arms shaking, legs slightly bowed, trying to take the increasing weight. Zac was snoring lightly, blissfully oblivious. The woman swooped in and relieved Taylor of Zac, carrying him carefully to a nearby bed, then depositing him beneath the sheets after she pulled off his one shoe. After drawing the covers to his chin, she came back to where the remaining three stood.
"Hi, my name is Diana Hanson, I'm the boys' mother. You must be Destiny? They've told me a few things about you, but I really don't know that much... I'm looking forward to getting to know you better, dear. Now, if you three will step over here and tell me exactly what happened to Zac?"
Destiny immediately liked Diana. She was nice, but straight to the point, and took charge of situations easily. The four sat down at an ornate dining table, and Isaac and Taylor tried talking at the same time.
"Mom, I asked Tay to watch him, but I fell asleep--" "He was climbing on a wall, then he went up a tree--" "Tay woke me up and he'd disappeared--" "So I woke up Ike and went searching--"
"Whoa, hold it!" their mother commanded, swinging her arms out to the side with her palms flat above the table, signaling them to cut their banter. They did. The woman turned to Destiny. "I'm sure you'll make a bit more sense. Would you explain for them?"
"I uh--" After reassuring looks from both Taylor and Isaac, she decided she would try to explain. "When I got to the school, Taylor and Isaac were calling for Zac... he'd disappeared. They shot off in opposite directions, but I looked up into an oak tree nearby, and he was sitting in the branches. I told him to get down, and he started making his way towards me, but he fell from the second branch. He landed on me, so I guess it could have been worse. We didn't think he had done much damage at first, just a bruise, but when he tried to walk, he was limping, so I rechecked his leg and found it to be swelling really badly. I got Isaac to carry him to the car and we drove to the hospital." She shrugged. "I'm not sure what they did, they only let Isaac in."
Diana nodded thoughtfully. "Thank you, dear. But why was he up in the tree?"
The younger girl blushed. "I'm afraid that may be my fault, Mrs. Hanson... I'm not sure, but I think he climbed it to watch for me. I was late."
Taylor suddenly seemed to remember that fact. It hadn't been too important to him then, but now he was curious. "Yeah, I remember. Why were you late, Des?"
"Oh... I lost track of time," she muttered lamely. "I started writing a song and..." she broke off, her eyes widening. "Oh no! My gig starts in half an hour, and I only have three songs!" Then she corrected herself, "Well, three and a half... I broke off in the middle of one when I realized I was late. Man.. what'm I going to do now?" She slouched miserably in her chair and stared at the table top.
"That's no problem, Destiny, I'll call the restaurant for you and explain the whole thing. Knowing that place, they won't mind it happening once. Besides, I'd like you to stay for dinner, get to know more about you." She smiled, and Destiny felt at ease.
Dinner was confusing for Destiny. The course was salmon stuffed with crab, and it was delicious... Walker had prepared it and cooked it himself. That wasn't the confusing part. What really made her head spin was the commotion the family made, all the passing of butter, lemon, salt, pepper, hands constantly reaching to the center of the table for a napkin or somesuch, minor conversations between two or three different people, and being excused to go back to the mini kitchen for more. The two girls, who were hyper and couldn't sit still for an instant, were constantly shrieking, and their mother kept telling them to be quiet and not wake Zac up. It was a hectic meal for Destiny, who was used to eating alone.
After dinner the whole family, minus Zac, who was still asleep, sat around in the front room to talk to Destiny. The boys' manager was there as well, as he had rented a room down a few floors for himself, which was much smaller, but just as regal.
"So Destiny," Diana began, smiling at the younger girl, "please, tell us about yourself."
Destiny quickly became uncomfortable. She didn't like talking about her past, and telling Taylor earlier had been an effort, even though it hadn't seemed so. She didn't know if Taylor had told Isaac yet, but she assumed he hadn't, seeing as there wasn't any time when they were alone. She fidgeted and looked at Taylor for help.
"Mom, I don't think she really wants to talk about it," Taylor said quietly. Destiny shot him a look of gratitude.
"Nonsense Taylor, she can speak for herself," Walker reprimanded his son. He turned to the girl, who had tensed up again, and asked for her to continue. He realized Taylor knew something more than anyone else when her mouth started to open and close, but no words came out.
Diana understood immediately what Walker did not; the girl hadn't had an ordinary, run-of-the-mill life. When she thought about it, Destiny had acted very uncomfortable at the dinner table, something she had dismissed at the time as nervousness at meeting the family. She realized that she had never seen Destiny act like, or say anything remotely seeming like something her sons and daughters would say or do. She didn't act like a child. In fact, she was strangely very grown up, moreso than most overeducated girls her age.
"Walker, we'll talk to her about it later." Her husband instantly recognized the tone in her voice, and let her take over. "Destiny, Arthur would like to have a few words with you, is that all right?"
Destiny nodded, looking relieved. Arthur immediately sat forward and straightened his tie, then offered his hand to Destiny, who carefully shook it.
"Well, Destiny, I talked to the restaurant about you--" Destiny stiffened, but he didn't notice, and continued to speak. "And they say that you're very reliable, willing to please, and write your music completely by yourself. Is this right?"
"Yes, sir, it is."
"Then I think I have a proposition for you. I listened to you play the other night, and I'll put this bluntly, I'm amazed at your voice and guitar skills. I'd like to be your manager, as well as the boys', and try to get you signed to a label. How's that sound?"
Destiny blinked furiously, and her mouth started to open in disbelief. "Well I uh-- I mean, that is..."
"Say yes, Destiny," came a tired voice from the doorway. Everyone looked towards it, only to see Zac sleepily standing there, a smile plastered on his face. Diana quickly stood op and shooed him back to bed.
While she was gone, the conversation continued. "Yes, yes I'd love to, Mr. Spiel!" She hoped she remembered his last name right from dinner, when they had been introduced.
"Wonderful. Now I'll just have to call your parents to confirm--" At the darkened look on Destiny's face, he stopped, bewildered.
"That won't be necessary, Mr. Spiel." Destiny stood up. She started unconsciously chewing on her index finger nail, then started walking around a few of the chairs people were sitting in. Diana came back then, and took her seat, not knowing why everyone was silently watching Destiny. She figured she'd find out soon enough.
Destiny tapped her cheek thoughtfully. Then sighed. She proceeded to tell the story that she had told Taylor earlier, but a little bit more in depth. The story took twenty minutes to tell, and at the end, she was crying.
Diana stood up and moved to her side, as did Taylor. Both took her into a huge hug, Taylor's in friendship, Diana's in a motherly gesture. Destiny hadn't felt either sort for a long time, and she stood there, crying into their arms, finally realizing that she hadn't been completely happy with her life, and she needed more.
"Shh, dear, it's okay..." Diana tried to soothe the poor girl. No wonder she had acted like that at the dinner table, and no wonder she was so grown up. The other people in the room were all exchanging glances, not quite realizing the impact that telling the story had had on Destiny. Avery crawled into Isaac's lap and hugged her older brother, watching Diana, Destiny, and Taylor, who were standing together, comforting each other.
"I can't believe you're staying with us." Zac was finally fully awake, and had been told the whole story. He smiled at Destiny, who was sitting at the side of his bed. "Well, until you get signed, that is. I wish you could stay with us longer."
"Optimistic kid," Destiny thought, and gave him a punch on the shoulder. "Yeah, well, getting signed takes a while, bud, and they need an address to write to, or a number to call... and my place isn't quite the best to stay anymore."
Zac shrugged as best he could for lying in bed. "Who cares? Ah, whatever. I can't believe I'm still trapped in this stupid bed. Ooo!" He sat up straight, and looked at Destiny, his eyes shining. "I bet I'm all over the tabloids, huh?" He grinned, enthusiastically, as always. Then he laid back against his pillows.
Destiny grinned back, thinking ahead to the days to come. She would live with the Hansons in their house in Tulsa until she got signed, true... but she didn't think it would come so easily. They would be off frequently at interviews and gigs, and probably would travel fairly often, so they wouldn't be seeing much of each other, even if they were in the same house. Destiny sighed. Her life was changing before her eyes, and she was, to say the least, thrilled.
It had been two weeks since Destiny had moved into the Hanson house, and things were quiet. For her, at any rate.
For the rest of the family, it was chaos. She rarely ever saw them because they were usually across the United States somewhere, promoting their album. She didn't mind hanging out at their home alone, because she knew they would be back eventually.
Destiny opened the refrigerator, ready to raid it. It was really nice to be able to eat whenever and whatever she wanted, and she considered it a luxury, knowing the feeling of not being able to. After pulling out some leftover chicken, she slammed the refrigerator door shut and turned to the counter, where she deposited the meat. The Hanson family was getting back that evening, at nine, and it was almost noon. Destiny was looking forward to seeing them all again. Arthur had been around occasionally, to talk to her about what sort of songs she wanted to write for her demo tape, (she still wasn't keen on the idea of doing any songs she had actually sung before) but she really wanted someone her own age to hang around with.
After pulling a knife and fork out of the proper drawer, Destiny made her way out of the kitchen and into the dining room. She preferred cold chicken to hot. She sat at the table, just staring at the chicken, letting herself drool. Then the doorbell interrupted her thoughts.
Grumbling, she stood up and went to the door, wondering who would possibly be coming to see the Hansons. No one had been by for the past four days, since they'd left, and she figured that most people knew they were away. When she opened the door, she saw two figures.. one man and one woman.
She recognized them immediately. She struggled to keep her face straight, and not frown. They were workers from the foster childrens' center.
"Hello, Destiny, may we come in?" the woman asked politely. Destiny, however, detected a note of unplesantness in her voice. More like antagonism.
"Y-- yes, of course." Destiny swung the door wider and stepped to the side, motioning for the two to come in. They did, with hardly a glance to her. Destiny closed the door and waited.
"Now, Destiny, yesterday Randall and I stopped into the restaurant to see how you were doing. We realized that we hadn't checked up on your case for a while. The owner of the restaurant said you weren't playing there any more, and that you had switched addresses. He directed us here. Now we're very curious to know what's happened."
Destiny's jaw dropped. She could not believe this woman. She hoped she remembered her name correctly-- Lynette, if her memory served her right. She had to make a good impression and make Lynette and Randall believe that she was happy, content, and had a good life now. If she didn't, she could very well kiss her new home goodbye.
She proceeded to lead the two into the living room. After they sat down, she told the story of the past two and a half weeks, (they had stayed a half a week at the Selina, waiting for Destiny to pack her home up and finish playing at the restaurant) and all about her future plans. Lynette's lips were set in a disapproving line when she was finished. She was about to speak, but Randall interrupted her.
"And so you're really thinking that just because you're staying with famous people, your life will improve?" His voice had a certain sneery quality that Destiny didn't like.
"No, that's not what I--"
Lynette interrupted her. "We haven't even met these people, Destiny, how do we know if they would take care of you properly?"
"They're very ni--"
Again, she was interrupted, this time by Randall. "And you seriously believe that you can make it big, become famous like them, and suddenly have a perfect life?"
"You don't underst---"
"We can see they're very responsible, leaving you here to live by yourself. I think, Destiny," Randall went on, "that you had better come with us to the agency. Pack up your things, girl, because we'll be back for you in two hours."
They didn't listen to Destiny's protests as they stood up and exited the way they had come. Destiny slammed the door behind them, fuming to herself. There were still eight hours until the family came home. She made a quick decision, brought on by her infuriation with the agency. Bolting up the stairs, she ran into the guest room, which had been deemed her room for her visit. She yanked open her closet, grabbed a few clothes and a travel bag, then dumped them in carelessly. Pulling the drawers of her dresser open, she grabbed two pairs of jeans and seven different shirts. She stuffed those in the bag too. Then she took her brush and some spare cash (something rather new to her) off the dresser top and put it in as well. After zipping it up, she dashed back down the stairs and out the front door, slamming it behind her, carelessly forgetting to lock it. Then she took off into the city of Tulsa.
Five hours later, three before the family were coming home, Destiny finally sat down at a bus stop. She plunked her face into her hands and started to weep, now realizing the consequences of what she had done. But she couldn't go back, because the people from the agency were certainly looking for her. She now wished she had left some sort of note for Walker and Diana on their pillows or something.
The bus came, and Destiny stood up, got on, paid the fare, and took one of the seats in the back. She sat for a few minutes, still red in the face from crying. Then she glanced at the bag on the seat beside her. She didn't even know what she had brought, she had been so furious with the agency workers.
She unzipped it slowly, then poked around inside. Several of the shirts inside were newer ones that Diana had bought her when they had gone shopping. Diana had claimed that now that she lived with them, she was going to be treated just like a member of the family, and that meant tons of shopping. On their next shopping trip, Diana lavished Destiny with plenty of choices and clothes. Destiny had accepted gratefully.
Now she looked at the clothes sadly, wishing they didn't contain those memories.
Taylor followed his father up the front walk of their house. He stood on the porch patiently while Walker pulled out his key and fit it in the lock, only to find the door open. His father turned the knob and pushed it inwards, frowning to himself. Taylor didn't notice. He pushed past his father and into the house, calling, "Destiny, we're home!"
He didn't receive a reply, but figured that Destiny was probably up in her room, oblivious to all downstairs noise. He lugged his suitcase up the stairs and down the hall, dumped it on his bunk, then went and knocked on Destiny's door. When no call of "come in" answered him, he frowned and opened the door, much as Walker had done earlier.
No one was in the room. Taylor saw that immediately. He looked around quickly, noticing the open closet with empty hangers and a few clothes on the floor, the open dresser drawers with shirts and pants haphazardly strewn around. Fear immediately penetrated his mind. He didn't know what had happened, but something told him it wasn't good. His chest felt tight, and his brain whirled. He raced back down the stairs.
"Mom!" he called frantically, poking his head in every room he could find. Zac was sitting in the living room, reading a comic book, his suitcase lazily left by his side. Isaac was sitting next to him, reading over his shoulder and laughing. "Isaac, Zac, help me find Mom now."
The other two looked up, confused, but Taylor had bolted. They exchanged a glance, shrugged, then got up to help their brother search.
Taylor finally found his way into the dining room. Diana was standing there, a confused look on her face. Taylor saw the plate of cold chicken at the table, and the tenseness already in his heart grew. "Mom, Destiny's not in her room, and her clothes are strewn all over," he babbled, his words coming out in a rush.
Diana looked sadly at her son. "Taylor, we found a note on the front table, near the door... it seems the foster childrens' agency came to get her."
Now that Taylor knew where Destiny was, it seemed slightly less urgent, but he still wouldn't calm down until he had seen her again.
"There's just one problem honey." Isaac and Zac had come into the room, but Taylor didn't notice. His mother went on, "They didn't find her."
Isaac and Jessica were with their mother at the police department. All three were deeply worried about Destiny. They were supposed to meet two representatives from the foster kids' agency there, and try to figure things out. Jessica was sitting in Isaac's lap, and both were trying hard not to cry. Diana was pacing around impatiently, waiting for the agency representatives.
"Are you Mrs. Diana Hanson?" asked an African-American woman. Behind her stood a solidly build man with dark brown hair and uncomfortably gray eyes.
Diana nodded, then returned, "I take it you're Lynette," she pointed at the woman, "and you're Randall?" They both nodded.
"Mrs. Hanson, let us get right to the point." Isaac and Jessica disliked Lynette immediately. "What we saw earlier.. well, we weren't impressed. You left Destiny home alone, while you were doing what?" Diana opened her mouth to reply, but Lynette didn't let her finish. "Right now, Destiny is apparently thinking of getting signed by a record label. Do you really think that's going to happen? What are the odds of this? You're filling her head with nonsense."
"It's not nonsense, Miss.." realizing he didn't know her last name, Isaac just continued on. "Err.. It's really not. My brothers and I are signed to Mercury Records, with a double platinum album. Destiny is now sharing our manager, and we're paying him for her. She has every opportunity right now, and I'm certain that she'll be signed in a few weeks."
Lynette looked unimpressed.
Then Jessica asked innocently, "If you don't want Destiny home by herself in our house, why would you let her live on her own, where no one else was EVER home?"
The two turned distinctly uncomfortable. Then Randall said something to the effect of, "The restaurant looked after her well enough, and she was within walking distance of it..." his voice faded out.
"That doesn't matter, little girl." Lynette was not going to let Jessica know the truth; that the agency had completely forgotten about Destiny's case, and was only then going to get her and take her back.
Isaac frowned. He didn't appreciate Lynette calling Jessica a little girl, but he knew that she probably didn't know Jessica's name anyway. He sighed, and listened for what seemed like hours as his mother and the two workers talked about the appearance of the house when the family had gotten back.
When they were finished, Randall said, "Okay, that's all we need to know. We'll send out the police to bring her in later tonight. She couldn't have gone very far. Then we can take her back to Annapolis and try to hook her up with a family."
Diana frowned. "I think that, if Destiny approves, my husband and I would like to adopt her."
Lynette looked amused. "You think that we would approve of this, after you left her alone? And this is not Destiny's decision to make. We're going to try to get her head out of this music nonsense."
Isaac bristled. "Music is not nonsense. When you love it as much as someone like me does, there's no way you can pull their head out of the clouds... Destiny is no exception." His voice grew more emotional by the word as he delivered his speech. "Give my parents another shot. We won't leave her alone again. If we can find her now, that is. You two seemed to upset her pretty good earlier." He spat the words out bitterly.
The two exchanged a glance. "All right, it wouldn't hurt," Randall grumbled. Isaac knew they were both allowing Destiny to stay because it would keep her out of their hair for a while longer, while they figured out what to do. They both believed the family would blunder, and Destiny would be taken back within the next few weeks.
Isaac was determined not to let that happen. But first, they had to find Destiny.
