Chapter 1: Zac's Announcement

Late Summer 1996...

A very sleepy Taylor Hanson wearing nothing but striped boxers opened the door after Christina Starrdust rang the bell for the fifth time. He perked up a little when he saw who was standing on the doorstep.

"Good Morning sunshine!!" Christina said smiling.

"Shut up, you don't exactly look wide awake either," Taylor replied, yawning.

"Well what do you expect. It's like nine in the morning on a Saturday. I'm supposed to be curled up in my nice comfortable bed right now, not standing here talking to you," Christina said.

"What exactly are you doing here so early?"

"Zac called last night and said he had something 'superimportant' to talk to me about and it couldn't wait any longer. I didn't feel like sneaking out so i told him I'd come as soon as I could this morning. So here I am. Is Zac even awake yet?"

"Who knows. Geez, are you people ever NOT together? i dont spend half as much time with my friends as Zac spends with you"

"Hey, we get lonely. And ya know, i do live on the other side of Tulsa so it's a pretty long hike over here," Christina said, twirling her hair around her index finger.

"Yeah, but it hasn't seemed to stop you from making the trip EVERY SINGLE DAY," Taylor joked. Christina smiled and playfully hit Tay.

"Oh shut up Tay. You know you love having me around" Christina said laughing.

Yeah, if only she knew she was right, Taylor thought. He did enjoy having her over. In fact, he enjoyed having her over a little too much. He hated it when Zac was over at her house instead of her being at theres. The other day he had actually passed up the chance to go to laser quest with Joey and Toby just because Christina was over. Taylor wondered if it was normal for a 13 year old to like an 11 year old so much. He shuddered when he realized what he was thinking. Taylor just smiled at her in reply.

"Ummm, how long are you planning on making me stand out here?" She asked.

Taylor kicked himself. He hadn't even asked her inside.

"Whoops, I told you I wasn't very awake. Come in," Taylor said backing up and opening the door wider.

"Thank you," Stina said. She could hear water flowing through the pipes.

"Hmmm, i think I found Zac. i hear the shower running," She said.

"Congratualations Sherlock. Now that we've solved the mystery I'm going back to bed," Taylor said turning around.

"Oh no you don't," Christina said sharply. She reached out and snapped the back of his boxers.

"Hey!!!" Taylor screeched, whirling around. Christina grinned.

"I need company while I wait for Zac ya know. I get lonely, remember?"

Taylor looked at her groggily, and without saying a word he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.

"Taylor..."

"If you need company so badly, I'll keep you company while I sleep"

Christina decided not to complain, she was actually kind of enjoying the great view she had of Taylors butt. When they entered his room he tossed her onto his bed and crawled in next to her.

"Ya know Tay, if anyone saw us like this, they would really really really get the wrong idea," Christina said realizing she was in a bed with a half naked guy. He grunted in reply. Taylor was practically on top of her in the small bed. She slowly rolled out so not to disturb the 'sleeping angel'. Christina pulled out Zac's trundel bed and sat down. She glanced around the room. Dirty clothes, legos, and more dirty clothes. As usual. Suddenly the door burst open and there stood Zac, wearing nothing but a towel.

"Whoa..." Christina said, her voice trailing off.

"Oh, umm, hey. Uh, close your eyes for a second," Zac said. Christina quickly obeyed. She felt a damp towel being draped over her face.

"There, now you can open your eyes. Well, as long as that towel isn't see through," Zac said from across the room. A muffeled "Thanx oh generous one" cam from under the towel. Zac dug through his drawers for his lucky boxers. He found them and hopped into them..

"Hey wait a second. What was this towel just drying?" Christina asked. She was greeted by silence.

"Ewwww gross!! Zachary!! You sicko!!" Christina excalimed.

"Oh whatever. It's nothing that hasn't touched you before. We took baths together until we were like 7" Zac replied pulling Tays maroon Adidas shirt over his head.

"Ewww, nasty. And we weren't 7, we were like 3," Christina said chucking the towel at Zac's head. The two families had been friends since before Christina was even born. Their fathers worked for the same oil company, and were always transferred to the same spots. So they had even ended up living in Equader, Trinidad, and Venezuela together. Well, not TOGETHER, but you know what I mean. Zac pulled on a pair of jeans.

"Now what was so important that you made me get up so early?" Stina asked.

"We can't talk here, Tay's sleeping"

"Uh duh, i noticed. Hey where's Ike?" Christina asked, looking at Ike's unmade bed. The bed spread was in a ball on the floor.

"i think he's off with Max and Mara telling them the same thing i need to tell you" Zac said, trying to pull a brush through his tasseled blond hair.

"Wow, this must be extrememly major if Ike's off somewhere with Mara," Christina said sarcastically. Isaac and Mara were like her and Zac. About as tight as two friends can be. Mara's father worked for the oil company too, but they had never been transferred to Trinidad, just Venezuela and Equador. But they ended up in Tulsa the same time the Hanson's and Starrdust's did. So basically Ike and Mara were together 24/7.

"Shut up, this is VERY major. To the treehouse!" Zac said, 'flying' out of the room and out the back door. Christina got up and followed, tripping over an old shoe on her way to the door. Once up in the tree house Zac sighed.

"Ok, my announcement...". Silence.

"Well?"

"We're going to do it" Zac said. Christina frowned.

"Huh? What are you talking about? Do what?"

"Record an album. With Mercury Records. We're leaving in a couple weeks for LA," Zac said. Christina's jaw dropped.

"No Way. Your lieing to me. Like, an actual album that's gonna be sold all over the country? And make you famous?" Christina said, shocked.

"Well, I'm not so sure how famous it's going to make us, but yeah, that type of album. We'll be gone for a couple months" Zac said. Tears filled Stina's eyes. She quickly looked away so Zac wouldn't see the tear falling from her eye and down her cheek.

"Who am I supposed to hang out with now? Your my best friend in the whole world," She said. She kicked herself realizing how pitifull she sounded. Zac looked confused.

"Hey, it's only for a couple months. Nothing will have changed when I come back"

"Yeah right Zac. haven't you thought about this? You're going to record that album, and everyones gonna fall in love with you. You won't be able to go out in public anymore without being mobbed for autographs. The media will constantly be chasing you, and you're going to forget all about the life before fame. And you'll forget all about me," Christina said as another tear rolled down her cheek.

"Don't you ever say that!! I will NEVER ever forget you, no matter what happens. We are always going to be best friends," Zac said. No one said anything. Christina sat there silently crying until Zac finally put his arm around her. He started giggling.

"Whats so funny?" Christina asked looking up. Zac gazed at her tear stained face.

"Remember a couple years ago for Halloween when we were a cop and robber?" Zac asked. Christina snorted.

"yeah, i insisted on it being cop and hooker, because i thought that a hooker was a more 'feminine crime'," She said, cracking a small smile.

"And those cheap handcuffs we bought at the costume store got stuck, so we ended up having to sleep handcuffed together that night. Good thing my dad found those shrubbery cutters in the garage the next day or else we might still be chained together," Zac said laughing.

"yeah, i woke up the next morning soaking wet because you had drooled all over me"

"hey shut up. It's not like I had any control over that," Zac said. He hugged her. They sat their without saying a word for a few minutes.

"Promise never to forget me?" She asked.

"Never. Here, i'll give you my dad's cell phone number so that way you can reach me anytime," Zac said. Christina smiled.

"Congratualations by the way. because I know you're going to be successful," She said.

"I wish" Zac said, pulling her to her feet.

"Let's go get some ice cream from Dairy Queen"


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