CHAPTER 37
Isaac was still moping around the house when he realized that it had
been a while since he had written in his journal. He leaned over to the
bedside table, and opened the drawer, and pulled out the covered
notebook. Isaac immediately noticed that Taylor had been writing in it
almost every day, and his entries were long. Zac was the same. But Isaac
was a good brother-he never read anything that his brothers had
written-unless they gave him permission. Isaac pulled a pen from his
pocket-it was the one that Katie had given to him...it said "K loves I
4ever." and he felt the anger build up inside him, and he flung the pen
across the room.
"Argh!!!! How could I have been so stupid?" He yelled to himself, and
then took a deep breath. A new pen in his hand, he opened to an unused
page, and began to write.
Dear Journal,
My thoughts everyday are filled with one thing: Katie.
I just can't get her out of my mind....ever. I wish that she hadn't seen
what she had-and that we could still be together. But that is almost
entirely impossible. I've tried everything in my power-but it seems that
she doesn't want me back. Not now, not ever. She believes that my actions
were unforgivable, and I understand. But I can't live life without her!
Why, oh why????
Zac has been acting weird ever since Stephanie left-and he told Gwen
that he likes someone that she knows- which suggests to me that he might
have feelings for Katie-which could lead to complications. But....I
can't blame him-she is beautiful.
What can I say? Tay and Gwen....they are perfect together. How I wish
I could have achieved that kind of relationship with Katie......but I
doubt it. Well....I should go work on my novel...and check the mailbox.
I am alone in the house. Everyone else is out. Tay and Gwen (I am trying
to think of a friendly nickname-Tay calls her g-girl.) are on a date,
Katie and Zac are at LazerQuest (again) and Mom, dad, and the others are
at the mall. So.....farewell.
~ Ike
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isaac put his pen down, and walked out of his room, down the hall, and
outside to the mailbox.
"Bills.....letter...bills....junk........magazine.....letter." He
said as he looked through what he had pulled out of the mailbox. there
was a letter for Taylor, and one for Gwen. And one from Geoff-who was on
vacation. Isaac, once inside the house, set all other mail on the
kitchen table, and opened his letter.
* * * * * *
"That was soo cool! Can we do that again?" Gwen exclaimed when she and
Taylor departed the ride. They were at the Tulsa state fair.
"Uh...no. Let's go get some cotton candy." Taylor suggested. He
pushed Gwen around, until he spotted a cotton candy vendor. After buying
2 huge helpings, he took Gwen to a bench, when the two could sit down.
(Actually, where he could.) 10 minutes later, the 2 were on their way
to an exhibit on whales. But Taylor's attention was elsewhere...
"Look-it's mom and dad!" he said, pointing to his right. Gwen turned
around in her chair.
"Yeah! I thought they were at the mall?" Gwen asked.
"They were...here they come." Taylor said, and started to wave. The
5 figures approached, and Taylor noticed at once that Diana was holding
Zoe.
"Hello you two. We were finished at the mall and thought that we
should join you! Are you having fun?" Walker asked.
"Yeah....we just got cotton candy. What do you guys want to do?"
Taylor asked.
"I wanna ride the rides!!!!!" Mackenzie exclaimed.
"Yeah!!!!!" Jessica and Avery agreed.
"I guess that's what we want to do!" Diana said, and she and her
husband followed their excited children.
"Do you want to stay?" Gwen asked Taylor. She was getting bored.
"No...let's go home. It's more private there." Taylor said, getting a
mischievous look in his eyes.
"Okay....just a sec." Gwen said, and picked up a flyer from the
exhibit. "We should tell your parents." She continued.
"Okay.......I'll be right back." Taylor said, and ran off to inform
his parents of his departure. He was soon back.
"Let's go." He said. Approximately 20 minutes later, the 2 were right
outside the Hanson household door.
"I wanna make sure Isaac is okay..." Taylor said, and he and Gwen
walked inside the house.
"Isaac? You home?" Taylor called. Isaac came down the hall.
"Yeah....what are you guys doing here?" He asked.
"We got bored...any mail?" Gwen asked.
"Yeah....it's on the kitchen table. Help yourselves." Isaac said,
and returned to his room.
"Hey-you got something-but there's no return address. I'm surprised
it got mailed. I got a letter too.....uh oh. It's from HER." Taylor
said. Gwen tore open her letter.
"Oh my gosh......I..........." She said, her voice trailing off.
"What is it?" Taylor asked, sounding concerned.
"I got another death threat....from the same person....." Gwen said.
"Read it."
"It says.....it says.......Dear bitch...... I hate you. Remember me?
Yeah....that's right. It's your secret admirer. When I get through with
you, you won't be able to breath..let alone walk. You and Katie. Taylor
is mine....he always will be...don't you dare touch him, because if you
do....you know what'll happen. And you can't escape me.....I'll be in
Tulsa next week, and I'll get you. You can run, but you can't hide. Your
secret admirer." Gwen said. But now, she was crying. Taylor got up, and
then leaned down to comfort her.
"I'm sorry-it's okay. I won't let her hurt you."
"W-what does yours say?" Gwen said, calming down. Taylor looked at
the envelope in his hand, and tore it open.
"Oh gosh-it's got little hearts on it!" He said, sighing. Gwen
nodded at him.
"Read it to me...I need some humor." Gwen said. Taylor looked at the
letter and rolled his eyes.
"Dear Tayles..Hi. I still can't believe you don't remember me.
Anyway...I miss you a lot. But I'll get to soo you soon..I'll be in
Tulsa next week, so I get to say hi! You can meet me at the airport on
Monday at 9:00 (Delta airlines, flight 34599) or I'll be in town, and
we'll probably meet up. Hope to see you soon! Love and kisses, Vanessa."
"Wait-did she say she'll be in Tulsa next week?" Gwen asked.
".............yeah. Why?" Taylor asked, puzzled.
"Well....my note said the same thing..do you think that it could be
Vanessa who is sending me the death threats?"
"I don't know...maybe. I can take it to be fingerprinted..if you
want."
"No...that's okay. But we might want to stay out of town for the
next week...to avoid any...problems."
"You're right. Hey-I know what'll cheer you up." Taylor said.
"Huh? Oh.......okay......" Gwen said, smiling like a sly fox.
CHAPTER 38
"Wait right here" Tay said, running off.
Gwen wheeled over to the Kitchen counter and grabbed an apple. Tay returned afew seconds later, a small box in his hand.
"For me?" Gwen asked. Tay nodded.
"Open it!" he said impatiently. She set down the apple, and tore off the wrapper, revealing a gold necklace.
"Ooooh Tay, it's beautiful. Put it on" Gwen breathed. Tay undid the clasp and slid it around Gwen's neck.
"Thanks" she said, pulling him down into a hug.
* * *
"Hey Zac, what's up?" Katie said, coming around the garage corner
and seeing Zac standing in the driveway, dribbling a basketball.
"Nothing. I'm really bored."
"Me too. Whatda ya wanna do?" Katie said in a mock-slurred voice.
"No offense, but I just wanna be alone" Zac said, not making eye
contact.
"OK. Bye" Katie walked inside, and flopped down on the couch. She
was
(again) bored.
"Man, this sucks" Katie said, sighing.
"What does?" said a voice. Katie whirled around and saw Ike
standing behind
her.
"I'm bored"
"Oh. Me too"
"Oh. That makes two of us"
"Three of us" Katie said. "Zac's bored too"
"Wanna go to LazerQuest?"
"No, but thanks for asking. I think right now I'm just gonna lay
around"
"OK. Call me if you change your mind" Ike said, retreating to his
room. Ike closed the door and leaned on it, sighing. Was Katie ever gonna
forgive him? Could they at least go back to being friends, like they used
to? Right now, Ike needed a friend more than anything in the world.
* * *
"Hey Kates, wuzzz up homie?" Gwen said, wheeling into the living room and
finding Katie lying on her back on the floor, staring at the ceiling.
"Did you know there are 743 little bumps in a square foot of
ceiling?" Katie said in a bored voice.
"God, you must be bored if you're counting ceiling bumps" Gwen said,laughing.
She leaned over and pulled Katie to her feet.
"Come on, let's go find Tay and Zac and see what they're doing"
Gwen said.
She wheeled towards the Hanson brother's bedroom, dragging a
reluctant Katie behind her.
They met Tay right outside the door, and the trio went in together.
"Just let me find something guys, hold on a sec" Tay said, digging
around in the piles of stuff on the floor.
"Why don't you just clean up?" Katie said. "It'd be much easier.
in fact, I'll do it for you."
Tay and Gwen just looked at Katie, their jaws on the floor.
"What?" Katie asked, noticing their looks. "I'm just that bored."
"Yeah, oooooookayyyy..." Taylor resumed his rummaging.
"Hey, what's this?" Tay said, pulling out a piece of folded paper
from all
the trash. The words "Love, Zac" were visible.
Tay scanned the piece of paper for a minute.
"It seems our little Zaccy is in love!" Tay said.
"Tay! Give that to me!" Zac said, appearing in the doorway.
With an evil look on his face, Tay began reading the letter.
But before he could finish, Zac snatched it up again.
"Leave this alone! It's mine! My personal property!! I don't want
anyone to see it! Now leave me ALONE!!" Zac said, screaming the word
and running from the room
"Wow....." Gwen muttered.
"Oh gosh.....I guess now we've got 4 people mad at eachother."
Taylor said.
"What did it say?" Katie asked, looking quite concerned.
"I only read the words 'Zac loves' and that's it! He got it from me
before I could finish." Taylor said. Katie and Gwen sighed with
disappointment.
"Well......I think it's best if we just drop the subject, and not
try to pry it out of him. It's obvious we embarrassed him beyond
measure." Katie said. The other 2 teens nodded.
"Now what was it you wanted to get?" Gwen asked, surveying the
mess again.
"Um......you know I can't remember. I guess it's not important.
Let's just go......jam in the garage. I feel like playing." Taylor
said. That lit up Gwen's eyes.
"Cool! But do you mean just you and Kates, or me included?" Gwen asked.
"You too, babe! I wouldn't want it any other way!" Taylor said, putting on a surfer dude accent.
"Like...totally cool!" Gwen said, in her best airhead voice. Katie
just rolled her eyes at their antics.
* * *
"What should I play? Katie is playing the guitar, and you have the
keyboards......what's left for me?" Gwen said. Taylor thought for a
brief moment.
"Well......you can play the drums. Zac's microphone headpiece is
hanging on the little hook over the bass." Taylor said. Gwen reached
down and moved the tiny stool out of the way, and rolled in front of
the drumset, and put on the headpiece.
"How do you turn it on?" She asked.
"I'll help you." Taylor said, walking over and adjusting it for
Gwen.
"You okay Katie?" He asked.
"Um.......yeah......is this hooked up to an amp?"
"I think so.......yes it is. Reach down to the bottom of the
guitar, and right where the cord plugs in, you should feel a button,
on the right side. Push it once." Taylor said, his eyes on the
amplifier. A little red light came on.
"Good......now for the keyboards......and they are on!!"
"What do you want to play?" Gwen asked, looking at Katie and then
at Taylor.
"I dunno........you pick." He said, looking at Katie. She played
the beginning chords to a Nirvana song.
"Um......I don't know the words to that!" Taylor said.
"I do." Gwen said, and began to sing. Taylor joined in on the
keyboards, but didn't sing. Gwen happened to glance over to her right,
and saw Isaac standing in the doorway. He noticed her, and put a
finger to his lips. Gwen nodded. Once the song was finished, Isaac
clapped. Taylor and Katie whirled around in surprise.
"How long have you been there?" Katie asked.
"Long enough. I heard your voice, and I followed it here. You
sounded great you guys. Especially you." Isaac said, only looking at
Katie. She began to smile, but stopped.
"Whatever." She muttered, and quickly tore off the guitar, and
ran out of the garage, shoving Isaac out of her way.
"It seems like we are the only 3 people still talking to
eachother." Gwen said.
CHAPTER 39
"Yeah" Ike said, looking at Gwen sadly.
"Hey...don't look like that. I don't think Katie meant it personally." Gwen said.
"Yeah...whatever" Ike said, turning away. Gwen groaned in frustration as he left.
"I'm cursed!" she shrieked.
"Oh my God! Get away!" Tay said in a mock scared voice.
"Shut up" Gwen replied.
"What's wrong?" he asked, now concerned.
"I'm just so sick of this!" she said.
"What?"
"Ike and Katie not getting along! And Zac being too emotional! Everytime Ike talks to Katie he gets sad and depressed! And everytime Katie talks to Ike, she gets mad! And everytime anyone talks to Zac, he refuses to make eye contact! We HAVE to do SOMETHING Tay" Gwen said.
"Ya wanna try the 'I talk to her, you talk to him' approach?"
"Na, do it vice-versa. Then we'll both talk to Zac"
"OK. I'm gonna go find Ike. Good Luck" Tay said, and they solemnly shook hands before parting.
* * *
Gwen rolled around the garage corner and almost rolled on top of Katie.
"Gosh-I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed.
"I think I'll live" Katie said, clutching her stomach. "But ya might wanna start making funeral arrangements" she grinned up at Gwen to show she meant no harm.
"I just have a question to ask you, just please don't get mad, and whatever you do, don't walk up a flight of stairs cause I can't follow you"
"Shoot"
"When are you and Isaac gonna make up?"
"I forgot to add the word 'me' to the end of 'shoot'" Katie said, groaning and flopping back down to the ground. "I thought this was something important"
"Well, it is to me and Tay, at least. We all can't even hang out in a group from now on cause Zac'll get sad about something and run off, you'll get mad at Ike, and Ike'll be too depressed from you being mad at him to have much fun"
Katie sat back up. "Ike really gets depressed when I'm like this?" she asked, her eyes searching Gwen's face, looking to see if she was telling the truth or not.
"God, if you'd've seen the looks on his face after you leave, you'd probably be crying"
"I’m depressing? I didn’t know I was depressing….where is he?"
"Upstairs" Gwen said. She couldn't help letting out a small cheer of victory against Katie's back.
* * *
"Hey Ike, I need to ask you something. How long are you going to stay sad at Katie?"
"Forever, I guess"
"Is that healthy?"
"Is all those twinkies Zac eats healthy?" Ike meant it as a joke, but Tay detected some seriousness behind it.
"No, but those don't make Zac sad and depressed, just hyper"
"Which is just as much as a health hazard as this"
"W-Well, no!" Ike sputtered, clearly frustrated.
"So, can you guys-"
"You're right!" Ike said, cutting him off.
"Huh?" Tay asked, a frown creasing his face.
"I don't need her! Why am I moping around? There's plenty of beautiful girls around! In fact, Geoff's cousin is over there right now! I'm gonna go see her!" Ike said. He walked down the hallway and bumped into Katie coming up from the stairs.
"Ike, I need to talk" Katie said.
"Why didn't you think of that when I wanted to talk? Too late now, I'm off to see Geoff's cousin, who’s supposedly drop-dead gorgeous" Ike said, stampeding down the stairs and shutting the front doorway with a bang, leaving behind 2 very confused teenagers.
* * *
Gwen reached the top of the stairs using her crutches in 3 minutes. An all-time record. She made a mental note to celebrate later. She had dragged her wheelchair up behind her, and using her strong arm muscles, climbed up in the chair. She wheeled to the boy's bedroom, where sobbing was coming from.
"Kates?" she asked. Katie was laying face down on Taylor's bed, crying her eyes out.
"H-How could I've been so blind?" she hiccuped. "A-and now we'll never be friends!" she said, crying even harder. Gwen pulled her up off the pillow and hugged her.
"Shhh, it's OK. There are other guys. You'll be fine...it's OK" she soothed.
A few minutes later Katie's cries had toned down into sniffling.
"T-Thanks you guys"she said, half laughing, half crying, pulling Tay and Gwen into a hug.
* * *
"Hey Tay" Ike said, strolling in an hour later. Gwen had made Katie's sniffling stop, and was now in the livingroom, trying to make her crack a smile.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Tay said.
"Huh?" Ike said, confused by the look in Taylor's eyes. He looked half mad, half concerned, and alittle bit sad.
"Katie had come to make up, and you made some stupid remark about how it 'was too late'! And she's been bawling her eyes out for the past half hour!"
"God Tay, your ears sure can get red" Ike said grinning. He immediately stopped when Tay shoved him up against the wall.
"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Ike said, throwing back Tay's earlier comment.
"Someone who cares. You made Katie really sad this afternoon, and I don’t like to see my friends hurt”
"Then where were you when I was hurt? Huh?!”
"I was there for you! I listened to your side of the story. And I've also listened to Katie's. You can pull out of depression quickly but-" Zac walked in, interrupting everything.
"What's going on?" he asked, looking from his brother's red faces, and getting a very confused look on his face.
"Go to the living room. I need to talk to you"
Zac just eyed Tay dubiously for a minute, then complied.
"You too" Tay said, looking at Ike. Something in his voice told Ike that he hadn't mess with him yet. He slowly walked into the livingroom. Zac was sitting as far away from Gwen and Katie as possible, and looked nervous. Ike sat down next to him, and Tay sat next to the two girls, across from Ike and Zac.
"Now, Taylor and I are hating this right now!" Gwen said. "Nobody can hang out together anymore, cause Zac'll get all jumpy, Ike'll get sad, and Katie'll get mad!" Gwen said. She surveyed everyone's face-Zac, who looked like he was about to jump up and run away any moment, Katie, who had red eyes and stringy hair, which she got when crying, Ike's mad, sad, and frustrated look all rolled into one, and Tay's half annoyed, half caring look.
"Now, we are all staying in this room, until Ike and Katie share at least one hug, Zac tells the person he likes that he likes them, or at least gives some sort of sign, and everyone basically has a group bonding moment!"
Everyone looked at Gwen, jaws on the floor. This was not AT ALL like her.
"But I-"
"Zac, for the sake of your sanity, you have to let out what’s up. Somehow we're gonna find out anyways, and you CAN tell us, we’re your friends." Zac shared an uneasy look with everyone.
"Fine...here goes..." he said.
* * *
The silence was unbearable. For what seemed like an eternity, Zac looked
around the room, obviously trying to find the right words. Then he
cleared his throat.
"I like.......I like.....um......I liked both of you girls for a
while, but I don't know. I guess I just picked one."He said. There were
completely confused faces all around.
"So.....what does that mean?" Gwen asked.
"I liked Katie at first. She just seemed really cool-not that you're
not cool Gwen. But about 2 weeks ago, my feelings changed. I still have
a crush on Katie, but now....I like you, Gwen." Zac said, staring at the
floor.
"Um......I guess I'll take that as a compliment." Gwen said,
completely flattered. She had never had 2, (or even 1 until recently)
guys like her at the same time. And Katie was beaming like she had just
been told that she made the sky light up with her smile, and guys around
the world worshipped her. (Wait-that was true!)
"Well....I'm sorry Tay, but that always happens to me...I fall for
the girl that my friend is going out with. It's happened a total of 4
times already!" Zac said.
"I'm not mad at you." Taylor said.
"Zac-I used to have that problem too. But I grew out of it. I don't
mean to disappoint you, but I can't go out with you-it would be wrong.
Okay?" Gwen said. Zac nodded, and for the first time in, like, weeks,
he looked happy.
"Well...there's that done." Katie said.
"Okay......Ike and Katie....kiss and make up. That is an order
from Agent G of the love police and navy regiment." Gwen said, saluting.
"Yes, Drill Saaar-GENT!" Isaac said. Katie cracked a smile, but
neither of them moved.
"Okay.....come on, come on, we don't have all day!" Taylor said.
"Um........I'll speak first." Katie said. She cleared her throat.
"I'm sorry that I was mean to you. It's just that when you did
something wrong, it hurt really bad, because I care about you so much.
I'm really sorry. I hope we can still be friends." Katie said. Then
she sat down. Isaac stood up, and looked at Katie deeply.
"I'm sorry about everything that I have done. I really love you
a lot, and I would hope that we could go back to being boyfriend and
girlfriend, but if you just want a platonic relationship, that's okay
with me." Isaac said, and he and Katie shared a hug. It looked like
things would be back to normal.
CHAPTER 40
"Hello Seattle!" Katie said into the microphone to the 15,000 screaming fans. They had just started a 5 month long tour around the world, which meant crappy hotels, bad food, and being tired. It also meant fun fun FUN!
"Our first song is going to be 'Gimme some Lovin!" The band started into the now familiar tune.
Gwen watched from the wings. She especially paid close attention to Katie. She had noticed something different about her, but hadn't quite figured out what yet. Hopefully Katie would come to her in due time. She pulled out her Discman and journal and began to write.
* * *
"Gwen! Gwen!" A voice said, then yanked the headphones off Gwen's head. She had fallen asleep backstage.
"What?" she said groggily, looking up and seeing Katie standing in front of her, arms crossed.
"Time to go!" Gwen allowed Katie to wheel her outside to the tourbus. Gwen silently thanked God for earplugs, which she had stuffed in her ears on the way out. The fans were no less than 10 feet away, screaming their lungs out. Gwen didn't mind too much though, cause it showed that the band had caring fans.
"Katie!" screamed a few people, so after helping Gwen into the bus, she went over to sign a few autographs. She stood there for 10 minutes, before Ike, Tay, and a blur shaped like Zac ran out and into the bus. Everyone waved good-bye and the bus pulled out.
"Gwen, can I talk to you?" Katie asked, in a worried voice.
"Sure"
"Alone?" she said, stressing the word, and nodding to the other side of the bus, where nobody was at.
"What's up?" Gwen asked.
"Well, I was climbing up onto the top bunk to get something on the shelf, and a notebook fell down and opened. I glanced at it and couldn't help seeing some sentences."
"And..." Gwen's voice trailed off, as she wondered why Katie was so upset by this.
"I read something I shouldn't have" Katie said.
Gwen stared at Katie. 'What could she be getting at?' Gwen thought.
"What do you mean?" Gwen asked, trying not to sound upset.
"Um.....well, it was an entry that Taylor had written. Are you sure
that you wanna hear it?" Katie implied.
"I'm sure it's nothing. Go ahead." Gwen said, although, deep in
her soul, she wished she had not said that.
"Well....I knew it was written by Taylor because his handwriting
is different than Isaac or Zac's. But anyway, it said-"
"Guys! Why are you over there all alone? We're staring the 99
bottles song, and we can't do it without you two!" Isaac said. Katie
and Gwen both sighed with disappointment.
"We were.....uh.....talking." Gwen said. Katie nodded.
"Yeah! Talking...."
"Well....come on! We need you!" Isaac said. Katie and Gwen
reluctantly got up and followed Isaac to the front of the bus, where
Zac and Taylor sat on the 2 couches. Taylor was laying down across
one, and Zac was on the arm of the other. Isaac took his place next to
Zac, and motioned for Katie to join him. She sat down, and glanced at
Gwen, who was busy positioning her wheelchair.
"Okay....here's how this works. We go clockwise. Since Taylor is
sitting on that couch, he goes first,and sings the first verse. Then
it goes to Gwen, who does the 2nd verse, and so on. Okay?" Isaac
asked. There were nods all around.
"Go ahead, Tay." Zac said.
"mmmmm gahgakkdlkjlj." (Or at least that's what it sounded like.
Taylor was clearing his throat.) "99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99
bottles of beeeeer, you take one down, and pass it around, 98 bottles
of beer on the wall." He sang, as badly as possible. Gwen was too busy
thinking to realize that it was her turn.
"Gwen? Hello? It's your verse!" Katie was saying.
"Oh....98 bottles of beer on the wall....."
* * * * * * * *
After 5 hours of being in the tour bus, it arrived in the next
state. The bus driver located the hotel, and parked outside it.
"Eeeeeverybody out!" Zac said, and went up and down the bus
shaking people to wake them up. Out of 5, he was the only one up.
He knocked on every bunk, and then went back to the front. By now, everyone was out
of the bus. 20 minutes later, the family, crew and managers had rooms. All the girls
in one, all the boys in the other. While Gwen and Katie were
unpacking, there was a knock on the door.
"Oooh-I'll get it!" Gwen said, and raced to the door in record time.
When she opened the door, Isaac Taylor and Zac stood in front of her.
Each had an apron on, and each was carrying some sort of cleaning
device or product.
"Hellooo, we are your room service maids! What would you like done?"
Zac said.
"Um, go next door, and kill these 3 guys who answer to the names of
Harry, Barry, and Larry." Gwen said. Taylor blew his cover and burst
out laughing.
"Hey, I hear that there is an arcade-wanna go?" Zac asked.
"Sure. Katieeee.....we're going to the arcade....come on!" Gwen
said. Katie came running out of her room, and smiled when she saw who
was at the door.
"Oh....the 3 morons! Hi!" She said. Taylor laughed again. Katie
turned around, and went to inform an adult about where the 5 teens
were headed, and then returned to the door. Almost at once, all aprons
and cleaning stuff was thrown into the room next door, and the kids
left for the arcade.
"Katie?" Gwen asked. She and Katie were way behind Isaac Taylor and
Zac.
"Yo."
"Um.....what did the journal say?" Gwen asked. Katie looked at Gwen
with a sad expression on her face.
"Well....."
"Tay's been going on about some secret thing. I didn't get the chance to read it all before my conscience overwhelmed me, but it basically said 'Oh, I hope that nobody, especially Katie finds out. It could mean trouble for everyone, especially Kates. If only she knew though...' And that's all I saw" Katie finished.
"Well, why-"
"Kaaaaaatieeeee!!!! Gwweeeennnn!!!!!" called Ike. The girls looked ahead at the boys who were staring back at them.
"Ruuuuunnnnn!!!!!" Tay said.
"And roll!" Zac added. Gwen immediately started rolling her chair to catch up with the guys. Katie started jogging forwards, but couldn't help but glance back. About 25 feet behind her and closing was a mob of about 50 girls-all screaming their lungs out.
"Oh my God!" Katie said. She ran for her life. The arcade owner about 2 blocks ahead saw the teenagers coming, and anticipating their thoughts, motioned for them to come in the arcade.
The group ran (and in Gwen's case, rolled) into the arcade and the owner locked the door just in time. Katie bent down, resting her hands on her knees to catch her breath. She looked up a few seconds later to see a group of about 10 adults standing there looking shocked. Katie glanced form their faces, to the hysterical mob outside, back to the adults. She couldn't resist a huge smile dawning on her face.
"Um...hi" she said to the adults, then turning to the rest of the group "Anyone up for Pac-man?"
* * *
"Well, Larry, curly and Mo, who wants to face the crowd first?" Gwen asked. They had spent almost 2 hours in the arcade, and half of that time was spent trying to get ahold of someone who could get extra security down where they were at. They had finally gotten ahold of Jason-their chief of security, and he had done all he could, but nobody was available. The fans had been put behind a barricade(thanks to the arcade staff) , but Katie had doubts about the masking tape once they went out. She walked over towards the door. Immediately 40 flashbulbs went off. She smiled and waved for a minute, then walked back towards the group.
"Got anymore money Ike?" Zac asked. "I wanna play another round of Earthworm Jim"
"No"
"Tay?"
"Nope"
"Gwen?"
"Nada?"
"Katie"
"Sorry Zac"
"Help a brotha out here!" he said.
"It's time to go anyways, we better leave before the tape breaks. And did I mention there's about 30 press cameras out there?"
Zac gulped and hopped down from the stool.
"OK guys, on the count of 3! Katie goes first, I'm behind her, then Zac, Gwen and Tay, in that order. Leave in 2 second intervals. Got it?" Ike asked.
"No, I'll go last" Katie said.
"OK...everyone fine with that?"
Everyone nodded.
"Stand and pose for a total of 8 seconds-behind the door, then run! In the order I said!"
"Why 8?" Katie asked.
Ike shrugged. "Seemed like a good number"
"Good enough for me" she replied.
We all went over towards the door and smiled while the camera snapped away. Under our breath we all counted to 8.
"OK guys, on 3!" Zac said.
"One...two...three!"
Tay threw open the doors and started running. Ike followed after two seconds, then everyone else in the order Ike had specified. No sooner than Katie had started running, then the fans had started pushing, pushing, and had overwhelmed the barricade. "Remind us to send that man some money for his troubles!" Katie shouted to Gwen.
"OK!" Gwen shouted back. The group reached the hotel in record time. The security locked the doors, and since everyone felt bad for the overly excited crowd below the window, th group had opened it, and talked, threw autographed CDs out, and even sung a few stuff to the crowd for about 30 minutes.
"Tay, I need to talk to you" Katie said, after they had closed the window, and were sitting on Katie's bed, playing Nintendo. Ike, Zac, and Gwen had went to see if the kitchen was still open downstairs.
"About what?"
"Um.....I was up on your bunk bed trying to find something, and a
journal fell on the floor. It was your latest entry." Katie said.
Taylor's once happy face diminished, and in it's place was a look of
worry.
"And you read it? Katie, that was private, how can I ever trust you again?" Taylor accused befpre
striding out of the room. Katie sighed and flopped down on the bed.
CHAPTER 41
"Yeah.....right! It's like every single time somebody makes up,
somebody else gets mad!.........right........totally! Gosh, I hate
being in the middle of things! At least Tay isn't mad at me. That
would NOT be good.......yes.....okay, I will. Bye!" Gwen said to her
best guy friend Kevin. They had been best friends since birth.
Just as she hung up, she heard a scratching at the door to her hotelroom. She found a cat sitting on her doorstep.
"Hi! What's your name?" Gwen asked, leaning over and placing the cat
in her lap. The cat purred. Gwen felt around the cat's neck for a
collar, and she read the tag.
"Othello. 555-7634" She said. After getting herself inside the
hotel, she rolled over to the phone, and dialed the number.
"Hello?" A young man's voice asked.
"Have you by any chance lost a cat named Othello?"
"You found him? Where was he?" The man said.
"On my doorstep. What number is your room?" Gwen asked, petting
the cat.
"I live in 362." the man relayed, and agreed to let Gwen watch
Othello for the rest of the day. She would be heading down his way to
go out to eat anyway.
"Well...Othello...let's see if I have any tuna."
* * *
"Hey Gwen" Katie said, bounding in. Her and the guys had just come back from an autograph signing session. They were going out to eat, then tomorrow were leaving Seattle and going to New York.
"What's up?"
"Obviously not my life. I'm tired of everyone being mad at me. For once, I want normality" She said, sitting down on the kitchen chair.
"I know what you mean. First Tay wasn;t talking to you, then you weren't talking to Ike, then Ike wasn't talking to you, then Zac wasn't talking to you, and now Tay's not talking to you again" Gwen ticked off the people on her fingers. "That's five different times"
"Just make me feel bad!" she stood up and swatted Gwen playfully on the shoulder.
"Well, I'm just gonna live with it. I'll talk to him, and if he doesn't respond, that's his problem. Oh yeah, and the whole point of me coming here was to tell you we're leaving in 30 minutes."
"Is it a fancy restaurant?"
"God yeah. You're gonna need a dress, makeup, the works" Gwen looked at Katie's faded denim jeans and long-sleeved T-shirt with the words www.kissme.com on it.
"So do you" she said.
"I know. Hey...I'll do your make up and hair if you do mine"
"OK with me"
"Alright then"
Gwen set down Othello and the two girls began to get ready.
* * *
"Did it take you girls long enough?" Zac asked, when the girls came downstairs and into the hotel lobby.
"It was worth it though" Ike murmured, looking at Katie and taking in her look. She was wearing a dark blue, short baby doll dress, and matching heels. Her shining blonde hair was up in a ponytail, while a few curls framed her face.
"Looking good Gwen" Tay said. She was wearing a very long black shimmery dress and had on wedge shoes. Her dark brown hair was done up in a french twist.
"You too Kates" Ike said, leaning over to hug her.
"You look great also Ike" The boys were all wearing tuxedos-without the ties. Zac's was midnight blue and he had a dark purple shirt with it. Tay had a red silk shirt and a pinstriped tux. Ike was wearing a green silk shirt and a black suit.
"Mom sent us this note-it says that she won't be joining us because she feels tired, and neither will anyone else cause dad's taking the kids to McDonalds. He said they'd rather go there and eat cheeseburgers then go eat frog legs" Tay said to Gwen, ignoring Katie.
“Dad says we can still go, and take the limo if we want" Ike added.
Katie glanced down at her dress and shrugged. "Might as well. I don't really like getting dressed up but when I do, it better be worth it"
"OK then, it's settled" Tay took Gwen's hand and walked beside her as Zac pushed her out to the limo. Ike wanted to hold Katie's hand, but instead shoved his own in his pocket. He felt a small box in there. Inside it was a ring that Ike had bought earlier that day. He was looking for something to buy for her birthday-it was coming up in 2 weeks-but he knew he couldn't wait that long. He also had planned to ask her back out that night, as soon as they got a moment alone.
Everyone got into the limo. Some Jazz music was coming from the speakers.
"Anyone mind if I change stations?" Katie asked as they pulled out of the hotel driveway. "I never really cared for Jazz" Nobody objected so Katie flipped through stations until she found an easy listening one that was playing an instrumental mix of ‘Girl On TV’ by LFO, one of Katie’s favourite bands. Ike hummed along. The limo soon pulled up at 'Creme de la creme', which was the restaurant they were eating at.
"Reservations under Walker Hanson" Ike said.
"Ahhh...a table vour fvive. Fvollow me pleaze" The host said with an extremely heavy French accent.
"Vet's fvollow him" Katie whispered to Gwen, and giggled.
He sat them down, handed them menus and told them he'd be right back. Sitting on the table was a plate of breadsticks, and everyone grabbed one.
"Have vous decided vat you're going to ordear?" The waiter said, returning a few minutes later to an empty bread basket.
"Um...I'll have a fettuchine alfredo and a medium Ice tea" Katie said. Everyone agreed with her.
"Fvive Fvettuchinie Alvfredos. Yvour fvood vill be heare in about 30 minutes." he said, and walked off.
"How could you understand him?" Zac asked.
Katie shrugged. "I just guessed"
"Good guess!"
"I guess" Katie said, meaning no pun whatsoever.
"Very funny" Zac said.
Katie looked momentarily confused, then grinned. Tay turned around and started talking to Gwen, ignoring everyone else completely.
"Katie, let's go walk in the gardens out back, since our food won't be here for awhile" Ike said.
"Um...OK" she stood up and the pair walked outside.
"Can I ask you something?" Ike asked, whirling around and facing Katie, no more than 5 inches from her face.
"Sure. What?" Katie asked.
* * * * * * *
"So....where were you two?" Zac asked Isaac when he and Katie came
in the room.
"We were.....uh.....talking. Is the food here yet?" Isaac replied,
looking at the table expectantly.
"It'll be here in a minute." Gwen said, motioning for Isaac and
Katie to sit down.
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Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
3+1=HITZK Survey
The sequel, MOE part one
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