Chapter 9

The next morning… I was awakened by the faint sound of the doorbell. Rolling over, I checked my watched. 6:06 am. Who could be here so early? I wondered. It rang again. Afraid it might wake Zac up, I quickly got up and left my bedroom. Zachy, who had also heard the sound, opened the door of his parent’s bedroom and looked at me with sleepy eyes. “Ding Dong.” He whispered. I went to him and took him in my arms. Peering into the bedroom, I saw that mom and Jeff were still asleep. I closed the door soundlessly and flew down the stairs. This time, I heard a persistent knock. I quickly turned off the alarm, unlocked the deadbolt, and opened the front door. Zachy, still in my arms, cringed and wrinkled his nose at the lady who stood before us. “Can I help you?” I asked, irritated. She took a legal pad out of her oversized purse and a pen from behind her ear. “Good morning! My name is Gale, reporter of The Oregonian. Someone phoned our paper this morning supposedly having seen the 3 members of the music group ‘Hanson’ enter this house. Can you tell me, ma’am, if this is true. For the first time, I noticed a man holding a camera standing behind her. The blue light of his flash blinded me. “I…don’t know what you’re talking about!” I stammered.I started closing the door, but she pushed it open again. “Can you please tell us whose car is parked in front of your house? Does the blue mgb belong to Hanson?” “What is it Mel?” Zac asked, coming from behind touching my shoulder lightly. “It’s him! One of them! Start shooting!” The man behind Gale started taking several pictures of us while she shot questions at Zac. “Mr.Hanson! What brings you here in Portland, Oregon? Is this woman your girlfriend? When did you arrive? How long will you stay? Where are your brothers?” He looked at her patiently. “We are visiting friends. Please leave us alone.” He shut the door and locked it. Gale’s face appeared in the window. “Mr.Hanson! Will you sit in for an interview?” “Come on Mel. The best thing to do is ignore them.” Zac took my hand and led me to the kitchen. Repeated knocking on the door kept me wondering exactly how nosy reporters were. “Great!” I told Zac. “Now we can’t go out anywhere in Portland without being mobbed!” My pouty lip made Zac laugh. “Don’t worry, we’ll be fine!” “Sorry she woke you up,” I said, looking at him. He was wearing boxers and a tee shirt. “It’s alright. Sorry she woke you up.” I smiled. “She woke him up too, but he seems to be taking it lightly!” I said, mentioning Zachy who had fallen back asleep sagging on my shoulder. “Go put him in my bed.” He said. “Don’t you want to go back to sleep?” I asked.“Nah, it’s alright. I usually get up around this time with Zoë and Mackie to watch Sesame Street anyway.” I smiled. “Ok, well, you’re sure it’s alright?” “Yes! Go ahead. You can go back to sleep with him too if you like, I’ll just check out what’s on TV.” “What else is on TV before 10:00 that’s not cartoons!” I asked sarcastically. He laughed. “I’ll be fine Mel.” “Ok then!” I gave Zac the remote and left. I slowly opened the door to his room and went to the bed. Laying Zachy down gently, careful not to wake him up, I slid in beside him. The bed was still warm with the faint smell of Zac’s cologne in the sheets. ‘This isn’t right.’ I thought. ‘I’ve got to get up.’ I carefully pulled the sheets up to Zachy’s chin and went back in the living room to join Zac. He didn’t notice me come in. “Too busy watching Elmo’s World I see.” I whispered to myself, trying to contain my laughter. I sneaked up behind him slowly and grabbed his shoulders. “Uh, What?!” he yelled jumping. “It’s okay Zac! It’s just me!” “Oh. Hi! I thought you were going back to sleep!” He said. I laughed. “Couldn’t sleep. Zachy is just fine though. Thanks for letting bunk there. I know if I had tried to bring him back upstairs, he would have protested and woke up everybody.” “No problem,” he said smiling. I sat on the couch next to him. “So what would like to see today?” I asked. “The museums, the Rose Garden, just around Portland? Downtown is really neat.” Zac pondered. “We should wait for the others to wake up before we start deciding.”“Yea, your right.” I replied. “Wanna check out Jeff’s DVD collection?” I asked. “Sure.”We walked to the entertainment center and looked in the cupboard. “Holy!” Zac said. “He owns lots of them!” he looked impressed. “I know! He buys like, 5 every time he goes to rent one! I lost track of what we even have.” He looked deeper and dug one out. “The Whole 9 Yards! That’s the greatest show! Have you seen it?” I took the box from his hands, examining it carefully. “No, I don’t think I have. What is it about?” “Matthew Perry is this dentist who can’t stand his wife.” He laughed. “It’s great. I know you’ll love it!” “Okay Zac, pop it in!” I grabbed a pillow and settled on the couch. After he had turned on the DVD, Zac joined me. We watched with great interest and tried not to laugh too hard at the funny parts. When it was over, I glanced at my watch. Just under 8 o’clock. “You’re right.” I told Zac. “It is a funny movie! I love Chandler, I mean Matthew Perry.” He laughed. “Me too. He’s really funny!” “Melo?” The sound came from Zac’s room. “Uh oh, Zachy’s up.” He looked at me with an arched eyebrow. “Melo?” “Yea, it’s what people call me in french most of the time.” “Oh, I like it, it’s cute!” “Melo!” the cry came more urgently. “He’s probably disoriented. I’ll go get him and be right back.” “Okay!” Zac said, smiling. I walked away from the couch and towards his room. Opening the door, I looked down to find Zachy clinging to on of Zac’s pillow. Silent tears streaked his face. “Oh, baby!” I said, bending to pick him up. He burrowed his face in my neck. “It’s okay Zachy! You were sleeping in Zac’s bed! Remember, he’s here with Ike and Taylor.” Zachy’s face lit up suddenly. “Zac who plays drums?” he asked me in an adorable voice. “Yes,” I replied laughing. “The Zac who plays the drums.” “I wanna go see Zac! I wanna!” he yelled joyfully. I carried him out to the living room. “Hi Zachy!” Zac met us at the door. “Hi, hi!” he replied. He reached over and basically jumped out of my arms and into Zac’s. “Whoa little man! Don’t hurt yourself!” Zachy hugged him fiercely, and then he backed up and just looked at Zac. “You’re here, you’re here!” He exclaimed. Zac laughed. “Yes! I’ll be here for a long time okay?” “You come to my house for a long long long long time, please Zac?” Zac laughed again. “Okay Zachy!” “Man, you two act as though you’ve known eachother your whole lives!” I exclaimed. “Well, in a way, we kind of have. I mean, Zachy’s known about us basically since he was born right?” “Yea, you’ve been a big part of his life. I bet he thinks it’s just natural for you to be here.” Zac looked at me with soft eyes. “I’m glad we’re here Mel.” “I’m glad you’re here too Zac.” “Good morning!” We both spun around in surprise. Taylor was standing in the doorway wearing only his boxers. “Tay! Taylor!” Zachy climbed down from Zac’s arms and launched himself at Tay. He caught him easily and threw him up in the air. “Hi Zachy!” I walked over to him. “Good morning lover.” I whispered. He smiled and kissed me. “Hey Zac. Sleep well?” he asked his younger brother. “Yea, until some reporter decided to ring the bell!” Tay frowned. “Already?” “Yea. She dissected Mel.” Taylor took me in his arms. “I’m sorry honey.” “It’s okay! I guess I was kind of expecting it, but not so soon.” “Don’t worry. We’ll take care of it as soon as…” Ding, Dong. Tay was interrupted. “Oh no…” I groaned. “Stay here, I’ll take care of it!” Tay started towards the front door. “Dressed like this? Forget it! They’ll invent all sorts of things in the tabloids! It’s a reporter’s dream! Taylor!” He ignored me and kept walking.

Chapter 10

Frantically, I ran to his side and took his hand. “Taylor! Listen to me! Please give me Zachy and stay away from the windows!” Ding Dong. The bell rang again. “Let me deal with it Mel. You stay away from the windows!” “But Taylor!” I protested. “Mel, you in there?” It was Jawnell’s voice. I breathed a sigh of relief. “God..” I whispered. I smiled at Taylor. “You can come with me now!” He took my hand smiling and we headed to the door together. We were inches from it when Zac flew ahead of us and opened it. “Hi sweetheart!” he hugged Jawnell. “Good morning girls!” I smiled at them. “Hey Mel! Where’s Ike?” Mellisa asked. “Sleepy head he’s being!” I replied. “Well, come on in!” We all walked to the living room and sat down. “Well, you guys are here pretty early!” I said, checking my watch. It was 8:37. “Yea, sorry! We couldn’t stand it! We had to be with the guys!” “Oh really?” “You too Mel!” Mellisa added quickly. I laughed. “I wanna go play the banany game upstairs, can I?” Zachy asked me. “Sure Zachy! See you later!” “Bye everybody!” he disappeared upstairs. “Are you guys hungry? I’ll make breakfast!” I suggested. “Hmmm. Sounds great Mel,” Zac said. “Let me help.” Jawnell offered. “No, no. You stay out here with the guys. I can handle it!” I replied. “Are you sure?” Mellisa asked. “Of course. You guys wait here, it’ll be done before you know it.” I left them in the living room and went into my kitchen. Reaching into the fridge, I pulled out all that I needed. Eggs, bacon, frozen hash browns, and tomatoes. I bent down to the cupboard for 3 frying pans when I bumped into somebody. I turned around, not surprised at all to see Taylor. “Hi babe! Why you in here?” He kissed my forehead lightly. “I want to be with you Mel, and I love cooking!” I laughed. “You? Cooking? I’ve never seen you cook!” “Well, we’ll just have to change that now, won’t we. I’ll cook you a dinner you’ll never forget.” I smiled at him sweetly. “In the meantime, let’s get started on this. Okay. I’ll take care of the eggs and bacon, you can slice the tomatoes and fry the hash browns.” “Yes ma’am!” I laughed. We worked silently for a while. When everything was ready, we brought it out on the kitchen table. Everyone soon came in, lured by the smell. “Why don’t you go get Ike Mel, there’s enough for him too.” “Okay, I’ll be right back.” She went upstairs quickly. On the 8th step, she slowed her pace. “Ouch!” Her hand fell on her stomach. She drew a breath through clenched teeth. After a few minutes, she felt fine again. “Wow, you’re coming soon aren’t you?” she said to her stomach. “Not too soon, please!” She hopped lightly up the remaining steps. She returned to the kitchen a few minutes later, hand in hand with Ike, who still looked asleep. The scent seemed to wake him up. “Hmm! It smells good in here!” We sat down to eat. “Did you sleep well Ike?” I asked. “Yes, thank you. Your bed is very comfortable.” “Yea you slept well! I got kicked all night!” Tay complained. We all laughed. “It smell’s like something’s burning.” Jawnell said, sniffing the air. The scent was obvious to me too, now that she had mentioned it. “Oh crap! I left the burner with the bacon pan on!” I yelled, getting up quickly. Taylor was at my heels as I entered the kitchen. The smoke was bellowing. It was hard to see and breathe. Tears sprang to my eyes. “Mel!” I heard Tay behind me. “Stay away Mel! I’ll take care of it!” He flew past me, toward the stove. “Tay, be careful!” I warned.

Chapter 11

He rushed forward and tried to grab the handle of the pan. It tipped dangerously toward him. I squinted and spotted him. “Tay! Watch out!” He turned to the sound of my voice. The edge of his elbow brushed the handle. “Taylor!” I screamed. The burning oil spattered around him, a few drops landing on his chest. His pained cry burned through my heart hotter than the oil on his flesh. Ike ran in, Zac close behind. Ike managed to take a hold of Tay and dragged him into the living room. Zac used a big plastic bowl to spray water on the licking flames. The fire alarm started suddenly, adding to the cacophonous chaos. I ran into the living room with ice cubes melting in my hands. I fell to my knees by Taylor. Ike was already gone to get a cold rag. “Oh Tay,” I whispered. He looked up and smiled. “I’m okay, really!” He tried to sit up, but his face twisted in agony. “No, no. Stay down honey, stay down.” I spread my freezing hand carefully over his burns. “What the hell is going on down here?” Jeff burst through the living room door. “Taylor’s hurt! Please help!” Jeff ran to his side. “Does this hurt?” he asked, pressing near the wounds. Tay winced. “Not too bad.” Jeff took a longer look. “You’ll be okay Taylor. This will heal in a couple of days. Won’t even leave a scar.” He promised. “Mel, keep putting ice on it. I’ll go check what’s happened.” I followed him into the kitchen for more ice cubes. Mellisa, Ike, Jawnell, and Zac were all working on cleaning up. Nothing was damaged, amazingly. Only the pan was too burned to reuse. They opened all the windows and doors, and the smoke cleared in minutes. I returned to Taylor’s side. “How are you feeling baby?” I asked, kissing his forehead. “I’m fine. It stings, but I’ll live.” I put more ice on it gently. The red splotches on his chest were now only on the worst burns. My lips brushed the skin near his left nipple. I held his hand. Jeff came back into the room. “Mel, how did that happen?” I bit my lower lip. He was going to be really angry. “I…I left the ring on. It was an accident, I didn’t mean too! I was trying to get everything on the table…I, I’m sorry.” “Hey! It’s okay Mel! Accident happen.” I stared at him, dumbfounded. “You’re not mad?” “Nothing is damaged, it was and accident. It’s okay!” I smiled At him, relieved. “Is everyone alright?” mom came into the room. When she saw Taylor, she gasped. “Oh my gosh! Are you alright? Jeff! Do something!” I already checked on him. He’ll have to be careful for a couple, it’ll hurt for a couple of days, but they’re minor burns.” Mom sighed in relief. They went back upstairs to shower and get dressed. Everyone was awake now, thanks to the fire alarm. Tay went to his room and got a light shirt. We all returned to the table. “Well, our food’s cold!” Zac joked. Mellisa, Jawnell, and I decided to heat it up in the microwave. Soon enough, we were all around the table again. “Hmm, it’s delicious!” Ike commented. “After much trouble, I must admit it’s great too!” Tay said, smiling. After we were done, we cleared the table and scrubbed the kitchen clean of any residue soot. “Mel, can I borrow your shower?” Ike asked. “Of course! I think no one’s there, but if that’s the case, call it next. That’s what you’ve got to do around here.” Ike laughed. “Mel, can I check my email?” Jawnell asked. “Yes, yes! Go ahead!” Ike went to the upstairs bathroom, Mellisa, Jawnell, and Zac into his room to use the computer. Taylor and I were left alone in the kitchen. I went to him. “I’m so sorry this happened to you Tay.” He smiled at me. “It’s not you fault Mel, just an unfortunate accident. It feel better already, but it’s hot. Here, feel.” He took my hand and guided it under the thin cotton shirt slowly. His flesh was flamboyant beneath my fingertips. “I hope you feel better soon angel.” “I do! So, what are we going to do today?” he asked, taking me into his arms. “Well, I was thinking we could go visit downtown, but after that annoying reporter showed up here this morning, I don’t this it’s possible.” “Of course it is! We can just disguise!” he joked. “We could go to the mall, but that would probably be dangerous too.” “It’s okay Mel. It wasn’t that bad in Tulsa, remember?” “You’re right.” I sighed. “I just don’t want anything to happen to you guys!” He kissed me softly. “Stop worrying so much baby, let’s go have some fun!”

Chapter 12

“Did I hear fun?” Mellisa asked, coming into the room. “Let’s go to the mall!” she suggested. “We were just thinking about that.” I told her. Ike joined us soon after. “Holy!” I said looking at him. “You’re fast!” He stood every inch of his 6 feet in front of me. He wore beige chinos and a navy blue muscle shirt. Doc martin sandals were in his feet. “Yea, you have to be used to that. You know, always on the run. Tay still holds the record. 4 minutes and 39 seconds!” “You actually time eachother in the shower?” I laughed. “Uh huh.” Ike said matter-of-factly. I smiled at Tay. “So what’s up for today?” Isaac asked. “The mall maybe. We were just discussing it.” “Hey! That’s a great idea!” he exclaimed. “You don’t get a say, because you would agree to anything Mellisa would suggest!” I joked. We laughed. “Let’s do it! It’ll be fun! I’ll go tell Jawnell and Zac what’s up.” He left. “Well okay then!” Tay said. We went upstairs to get dressed. It took us an hour to get ready. We all met downstairs when we were finished. “Should we take the car?” Ike asked. “We could, but we’d probably get stuck in the afternoon traffic.” Jawnell said. “Yes, probably.” I agreed. “Well, we could take the max!” Mellisa suggested. “The wha--?” Zac asked. I laughed. “The max. It’s the express train. It’ll take us right to the mall downtown.” “Well, let’s do that then.” Ike said, pulling on a light jacket. Taylor still wasn’t downstairs yet. “You guys go ahead and put on your shoes. I’ll go get Tay and ask mom if she can take us to the station in the van.” “Alright!” I climbed the stairs and went to Tay’s room. “Honey, you in there?” I asked, knocking. “Yes, come in!” he said. I opened the door and went to him. He was sitting on the bed, slowly applying aloe lotion to his burns. “How does it feel?” I asked. “It still hurts, but this makes it feel good.” “We decided to take the max train. Are you almost ready?” I asked, rubbing his shoulders. “Yes, I’ll be down in a few minutes.” I kissed him quickly and went to my mom’s room. She was making her bed. “Mom, we decided to go to Lloyd Center today, is that okay?” She smiled at me. “Of course!” “By any chance, could you take us to the max station?” “Sure Mel. I’ll be there in a little while.” I went to check on Tay, but he had already gone downstairs. I went to join him and the others. “Mom said she’d be down in a few minutes.” I told them. “It shouldn’t be too bad, right Ike?” Zac asked. Isaac seemed to consider. “Well, if it will be on the news, it won’t be on until 12:00, and the story won’t be in the paper until morning, so we should be okay.” The last thing I wanted that day was to be mobbed. The thought of the fan’s frantic hands grabbing at Tay haunted me. If one of them accidentally hit his chest, it would take even longer to heal. Images of it played cruelly in my head. “Mel, are you okay?” he asked. “Yea, I’m fine. Just afraid someone might accidentally hurt you today. You don’t have Jason around anymore.” He took my hand. “Don’t worry, we’ll be okay.” “Okay guys I’m ready. Let’s go!” mom said, coming into the room. I shrugged off the bad feeling and smiled.We followed her outside to the van and all climbed in. The ride to the max station took only 10 minutes. Mom stopped the van and asked, “What time will you guys be back? In time for dinner?” “Yes, I have to be home by 5:00. My family and I are taking Zac out to dinner.” Jawnell said. ””You are?” Zac looked surprised. She smiled. “My parents loved you! They want to get to know you!” Zac swallowed nervously. “Ok then!” mom laughed. “So I only have to fix dinner for Mel, Taylor, Ike, Mellisa, are you staying too?” she asked. “Not, I have to go home.” Mellisa said politely. “Alright then! Go have fun guys!” We climbed out of the van and onto the platform. We waved to mom as she drove away. The next max train only took a few minutes to arrive. “This thing’s cool!” Zac exclaimed. We bought tickets and went on. We found seats near the back. “The doors are closing.” A voice said loudly over the intercom. The max sped away towards Portland. “Well,” said Ike. “this should be a fun day! All we’ve seen of this city before was the 4 walls of a ‘Holiday Inn’!” I laughed. “You’ll like it.” Jawnell promised. Many people got on, but didn’t disturb us. We arrived at Lloyd Center before we knew it. We walked to the mall entrance swiftly, avoiding the pedestrian traffic. Once we were safely inside, the boys looked around. “Well, where do you want to go first?” Mellisa asked excitedly. “Let’s just walk around.” Zac suggested. I took a hold of Taylor’s hand and followed the others forward. Ike wanted to stop at ‘Baby Gap’ to look for baby clothes. I smiled at Mellisa. She was beaming. Isaac was overwhelmed with all they had. He didn’t know where to start. He raced excitedly from one place to the next, holding up tiny boots, bonnets, and frilly dresses. Tay laughed out loud. “Can you believe this?” he asked. “It’s adorable!” Jawnell whispered. Mel and Ike both decided that they wanted to pick out the baby’s first outfit now. They wanted her to be cute, but well dressed, not too stuffy, but warm. After long debates, they opted for a light pink fleece jumpsuit, with a matching hat, and tiny white leather boots. Overall, it was very nice. They paid for it, and we headed out of the store. Zac wanted our next stop to be at Sam Goody. “Yes!” he screamed. “It’s here!” He raced to the display case of the store. “It’s finally here! You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for this game! I knew I should have brought my Play Station!” He let out a grunt of frustration. “OV has a Play Station. He’s never home, and even if he way, I’m sure he’d let you use it.” Zac looked at me with a glimpse of hope in his eye. “Are you sure Mel? He didn’t look like he liked us very much.” “Yes, I am sure Zac. OV’s an asshole, but he can be nice sometimes too. I’m sure he’d let you use it. Go ahead and get the game if you want it. Actually, it might be a good way for you guys to start getting along. He doesn’t know you as a person. Just as the ‘drummer’ from Hanson.” I smiled at Zac. It took barely half a second of hesitation before Zac went running to the clerk.

Chapter 13

After the game was bought, we talked about the plans of the day. “We could go ice skating!” Jawnell suggested. “Forget it, I suck!” Zac declared. “What? It’s the exact same thing as roller bladding except you glide!” Tay exclaimed. “I’m all for it.” Ike said. “Yea, me too.” Jawnell said smiling. “Come on Zac!” I said. “Okay, okay I’ll go.” We laughed. We headed down to the rink leisurely. A group of 5-year-old girls were getting lessons. We sat on a bench by the rink and watched, “They’re adorable!” Ike exclaimed, looking over to Mel. Soon, the lessons were over and the rink was opening up for free skate. We went to the counter to get our skates. “Well ladies and gents, what can I do you for?” the man at the counter asked. “How much is it for an hour?” Tay asked. “For how many?” “Six.” Tay replied. “That would be…18 dollars.” “Okay girls, let’s go!” Ike said, handing the man a $20 bill. “Now, what size skate do you guys all need?” he asked, giving Ike his change. “13 please.” Tay and Ike said at the same time. We laughed. “There you go.” He handed them each a pair. “And you sir?” he asked Zac. “11 please.” “Comin’ up!” The man disappeared behind a door that read ‘employees only’. He returned shortly. “Sorry man, we’re out of size 11 in men. All I got is a size 12 women…” He looked at Zac hesitantly. “Well, that takes care of that then, I’ll watch.” “No way Zac! I’m not going out there without you!” Jawnell said. “But Jawnell…” Zac said through clenched teeth. “Look, I’ll let you in free if you wear these skates.” The man said, smiling. “Money’s the not the object here..” He looked into Jawnell’s pleading eyes. “Okay, okay. Just for you.” He took her hand. Ike laughed. “Hey, shut up Ike! If it was for Mellisa, you’d do it!” Ike raised his hands defensively. “True!” Jawnell, Mellisa and I got our skates quickly and joined the guys on the bench. Ike and Tay were already lacing up. Zac just sat there, with the pretty white skates in his hand. “Zac, are the skates going to put themselves on?” Jawnell asked. “No.” “Then why don’t you help them a bit.” He shook his head as he carefully stuck his left foot in one. “Come on Zac! It’s not that bad!” Taylor said. “We’re the only ones that know about it anyway.” Ike reminded him. “Yea, but everyone is gonna be looking at me funny!” Zac whined. Jawnell sat by him. “You don’t have to do it Zac. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to!” “Of course I’ll do it!” He finished putting on his skates quickly. Soon, we were all on the ice. Ike, Zac and Tay all sped away quickly, made a full rink and came back. “Hey! These actually feel pretty good!” Zac joked, circling around Jawnell. I took a tentative glide in Tay’s direction. “See, you’re not bad!” he said. “Well, I did take lessons when I was 8. I think it’s coming back slowly.” My steps were now sure and even. I sped up. “Yea, I got it!” I smiled and took a tiny hop to speed up even more. “Wow Mel!” Tay smiled as he reached my side. We stopped quickly, making a small cloud of snow appear. Mellisa was talking to Ike. “Honey, I can’t fall down, I don’t want to hurt her.” Isaac rubbed her stomach. “Don’t worry, we’ll go slow.” He took her hand and they began to make their way around the rink slowly. Zac was trying to detach Jawnell from the side rail. “Come on Jawnell! It’ll be fun! Just let go, trust me!” She carefully took a small and grabbed Zac’s hand. He pulled her forward half and inch. She gasped and started to lose her balance. Her arms started to make larger circular motions. “Zac! Help me!” she cried. He laughed and caught her easily. “Don’t be scared! You just gotta go with the flow! Take sliding steps. It’s not that hard you’ll see.” Jawnell braced herself. “Okay, okay.” Making sure Zac was holding her and wouldn’t let go, she took a few steps. Soon, she was getting better. And 20 minutes later, to our amazement, she was racing Zac! Ike and Mellisa were still making slow oval turns near the edge. Tay and I went to take a little break. “I’ll go get us a bottle of water. I’ll be right back.” He left. I sighed deeply. I was having so much fun! 10 minutes later, Tay still hadn’t returned. “Where is he? I’m thirsty!” I whispered to myself. I waited 5 minutes more, then decided to go look for him. I went to the refreshment stand and looked around. At the corner of my eye, I spotted a table with maybe 12 or 15 girls sitting around it. ‘No.’ I thought. I looked around some more. “Can I help you?” the clerk asked. “Thanks, but I’m just looking for my boyfriend.” “What’s he look like? I could tell you if he’s been around here.” “Umm, he’s about 5’9, has long blond hair, blue eyes…” “Ah! You’re talking about the Hanson boy! He’s right over there! Yea, your boyfriend’s over there.” He pointed to the table I had seen earlier and snickered. I turned around sharply. Then I saw him. There he sat, calmly talking to the excited girls. “Thank you.” I whispered between clenched teeth. I stood back and watched. I was too far to hear anything, but I could see him laughing. Anger welled inside me. ‘Calm down Mel,’ I thought. ‘There has to be a reason why he just left me there. He must be talking to fans.’ I reasoned. I sneaked closer. “Who are you here with?” I heard a girl squeal. “Oh, just my brothers.” “Cool! Hey, what are you doing tonight?” another asked. He smiled. “Nothing…why?” My eyes filled with tears. I turned around to run back, but I tripped on my skates and fell. Tay saw me. “Mel!” he screamed. “Who’s that?” the same girl asked. “My umm…friend!” he exclaimed getting up quickly. “Taylor wait!” someone else yelled. He ignored them. “Mel! Wait!” he screamed after me.

Chapter 14

I got back on my feet and tried to run. I got as far as the gate. Tay caught me in his arms. “Mel! Mel!” he yelled. “Listed to me!” I tried to fight him off, but it was no use. Tears streamed down my face. I turned to face him. “So, you just forgot about me?” I asked bitterly. “No! Listen to me!” I tried to calm down, but pain filled my heart. “So, I’m just a friend. That’s always nice to know.” He searched for words. “I’ve been waiting for you for 15 minutes! I come to look for you cause I’m worried about you, and I find you sitting, having a chat with like, 20 girls! What am I supposed to think Taylor? You tell me!” “I’m sorry, I just…” “No! I don’t want to hear excuses! Why don’t you go back to those girls! I’m sure they’d be thrilled!” “Mel! What’s wrong?” Mellisa and Ike were beside us. I flew into her arms and hid my face in her shirt. “Dude, what happened?” Ike asked Tay. “I, I was just…God Mel, I’m sorry.” He tried to reach for me, but I moved away. “Let’s go talk about it.” Mellisa guided me away and signaled for Tay to stay back. “Don’t worry, Mellisa will talk to her. What did you do?” Ike asked. Tay looked down. “I,…I left her alone for a second to go get water, and ended up meeting a bunch of girls. We sat down for a while. I guess Mel came looking for me and found me with them.” “That’s not everything is it?” Isaac asked instinctively. “Well, she heard me tell them that I was just here with you and Zac. And one girl asked me what I was doing tonight, and I said nothing.” Ike looked at his younger brother intently. “Tay, do you like Mel?” “Of course I do! I love her!” “Are you sure you’re not looking for love in the wrong person? If you have any doubts, it’s time to tell her now before you hurt her more.” Taylor seemed to hesitate. “Taylor…” Ike placed his hand on his shoulder. “Hey guys! What’s up?” Zac and Jawnell came up behind them. Ike took Zac aside and whispered something in his ear. “No! No, stop it! I love her! Listen to me!” He choked on his words. “I…, I made a mistake. I can’t explain why, but nevertheless, I made it. Nothing is ever gonna stop me from loving Mel.” Isaac smiled and hugged Taylor. “Umm, what’s happening?” Jawnell asked. “I think we’ll have to explain later.” Zac said, pointing. Tay, Ike, Zac and Jawnell looked up to see all the girls rushing towards them. “Oops, let’s go!” Zac took Jawnell’s hand and started to run back toward the rink. Ike and Taylor followed them quickly. “Dude! Please let us in! Quick!” Zac yelled, knocking on the door of the little cabin where they gave us skates. “What’s going on?” the man asked, poking his head out the window. “No questions please! Let us in!!” The man looked passed them, at the girls. “Um, okay. Come on is I guess.” He unlocked to door slowly and they rushed in. “Now, can you please call security?” Ike asked. “Sure!” The man picked up the phone and dialed. “So, the mall wasn’t such a good idea after all.” Jawnell whispered. Meanwhile, Mellisa was trying to calm me down in the bathroom. “Mel, Mel, whoa! What happened? Come on, you know you can talk to me.” There was a ball in my throat. “He lied. He said he loved me.” I muttered. “What are you talking about? Tay loves you.” “Apparently not.” “Come on Mel…” “I want to go home.” I told her. She took my hand and looked at me for a few seconds. “Okay, let’s go home.” Fresh tears appeared in my eyes. “He’s...he’s only been here for one day, and look at us! Why did he do it?” I sobbed. Mel took me in her arms and held me while I wept. “Don’t worry. It’ll be okay.” She whispered soothingly. I stood unsteadily and brushed the tears away. I walked to the sink and sprayed cold water on my face. Mellisa and I walked out of the bathroom together and headed back to the rink slowly. As we turned the corner, we saw the cluster of girls and guards. “What the…” Mellisa whispered. Ike’s head suddenly emerged from the crowd. “There they are! Those two girls over there! Get them!” he shouted. Two guards rushed to us and made a barrier with their arms. I clasped Mellisa’s hand. The human shield was terrifying. We couldn’t see, or hear anything, the screams were too loud. We were hustled to the nearest exit and released. “Good luck!” a guard shouted as we ran from the building.

Chapter 15

We raced to the max station. “Ouch!” Mellisa fell. She rubbed her left foot. “Here honey! I got your shoes!” Ike picked her up and ran to the train that had just pulled up. I stared down at my feet and realized that I didn’t have any shoes on either. Mel and I had taken our skates off in the bathroom. “Mel! I’ve got yours, come on.” Tay tried to take my hand. I ran from him, following the others on the train. I purposely chose to sit between Zac and Jawnell. Tay sat limply, across from me. He handed me my shoes. I had the decency to at least say thank you. He smiled at me hopefully, but I looked away. It was still too hard to look at him in the eyes. I couldn’t help but think that he was just pretending. I mean, why would he have said that to those girls otherwise? Just thinking of it pained me. I discretely looked over to him. He was staring out of the window, his expression blank. My soul ached with sudden desire. I wanted to be cradled in his arms. I needed his love. A single tear rolled down my cheek, and a sob escaped my lips. Tay looked up. Jawnell pulled me into a tight hug. “Oh Taylor!” I cried. I stood and ran to him quickly. He stood, and just looked at me. He took my trembling hand in his and kissed it softly. “Mel. I am so, so sorry. Please forgive me. I don’t know what I was thinking. I love you! I always will love you. I…” I silenced him with a kiss. I looked around and realized we were stopping. People started getting on. “The doors are closing.” The train started, and Tay and I were hurled forward. He held me against him. We came back to where he was and sat together. “Are you guys okay?” Mellisa asked. I managed a smile. “I’m okay. You?” I asked Taylor. “I’m great.” He wrapped an arm around me. “So! Now that everyone loves each other again, where to?” Zac asked. “Well, we could go see if Jeff, mom, and my brothers are gone yet. If not, we could go on the boat with them.” I suggested. Ike smiled. “Boating! Yes!” “Okay. Let’s go back to Gresham.” Jawnell said. I leaned back on Tay’s chest. His steady heartbeat echoed in my ear. I sighed deeply, trying to fight back waves of uneasiness. “Should we stop at our houses to get swimsuits?” Jawnell asked. “Uh, no way am I wearing a swimsuit!” Mellisa said quickly. “I don’t even have one that’ll fit me!” she exclaimed. “So let’s buy one.” Ike said, matter-of-factly. “Oops, here’s our stop.” I jumped to my feet and ran outside, Tay at my heels. “Hmmm. The sunshine feels good!” Jawnell said. It was actually quite warm out. “Problem. How do we get home?” I asked. Zac pulled out a cell phone from his shirt pocket and waved it in the air. “Got it just before we came for emergencies like these.” I smiled gratefully at him and dialed home quickly. It rang 3 times. I began losing hope when Sam answered. “Sammy! Are you guys leaving soon?” I asked. The phone was taken from him. “Hello?” it was Jeff. “It’s Mel, are…” “We’re on our way out Mel, what is it?” I cringed. “Can you guys take on 6 extra passengers?” I asked quietly. “Why? What’s the problem?” “Well, I guess you could say we had complications at the mall.” “Well, we’re leaving!” “Please?” I pleaded. “Okay, Okay. I’m on my way to pick you guys up. You’re at the max station in Gresham?” “Yes.” “I’ll be right there.” “Thank you!” I screamed into the phone. I turned to the others. “He’s on his way to get us! But we’ll have to go right away cause they were on their way out.” “But what about Mellisa’s bathing suit?” Ike asked in disappointment. Mel smiled at him and took his arm. “Honey, trust me. You don’t want to see me in a bathing suit right now.” He wrapped his arms around her. “Of course I do! Baby, you’re beautiful!” she blushed. “Anyway!” I said laughing. “I imagine mom packed sandwiches, so we’re okay about lunch. You guys have your swim suits don’t you?” I asked the boys, handing the cell phone back to Zac. “Yea, at your house.” He answered. “Jawnell, I can lend you an extra, but Mel, I’m sorry, none of mine will fit.” “Don’t worry about it.” Jeff pulled up and honked. We ran to the van quickly. I climbed in the front, and the others in the back. “Thank you so much Jeff!” He smiled at me, but added with seriousness, “We have to leave now to put the boat in the water. Can you guys really hurry, get your suits on, and meet us at the dock in 20 minutes at the most?” he asked looking at Ike. “Of course.” Isaac replied. Satisfied, Jeff nodded. The ride home was short, and in silence. When we pulled up in the driveway, everyone was outside. The boat was pulled out of the garage, waiting to be hooked to the van. We jumped out of it and ran towards the house. Mom caught me by the arm. “Mel! Are you guys okay? What happened?” I debated over telling her what had happened with Tay. “Oh, not much mom. Some fans just started to get a little excited that’s all.” She detected the ounce of pain in my voice. “Are you sure you’re all right?” she asked, placing a hand on mine. I nodded. “Okay then! See you guys soon!”

Chapter 16

I turned around and realized Tay was standing right behind me. He took me in his arms and held me tightly. I looked up, surprised to see tears in his eyes. “Tay!” I said alarmed. “What’s wrong?” He smiled through his tears. “You’re so…precious to me.” A bolt of pain hit my heart. “Taylor, don’t.” I said firmly. “Please, it still hurts.” He stroked my cheek softly, brushing a tear away. “I want to forget about this, start over.” “How do you expect me to forget about it?” I whimpered. “I…, I don’t know. I thought you forgave me.” He asked quietly. “I want to. But you have to promise me one thing.” “Anything!” he said quickly. “No, listen. I’m serious. I want to put this behind us too, but you have to promise me that you’ll never play with my feelings. You know I love you. I love you more than anything Tay, but if you ever have any doubts, please tell me.” I could no longer control the flow of my tears. “I promise, I promise.” He whispered in my ear. A sob escaped me and I pulled him tightly into an embrace. He cried with me. I looked up to see him smiling. “I missed you Mel. Sometimes it was so hard to face the days without you that I cried like this.” I kissed his lips softly. “Well, I hate to end this moment, but we have to go.” He whispered. I nodded in agreement. I slipped my hand in his and walked into the house. Jawnell came rushing out of Zac’s room quickly. She smiled at our tear-stained faces. “Mel, where’s that suit?” she asked. “Come on upstairs with me.” Both she and Tay followed me up to my room. I dug into my top drawer and pulled out my spare swimsuit. “Here you go. You can go change in the bathroom.” I said, tossing it to her. She smiled at me gratefully and left. I took my own out and flung it on my bed. Tay eyed it, and then me. I crossed the room to him. “Taylor, why don’t you go change?” I suggested. “It’s okay, I can wait here.” “Go on!” I said, shooing him out. He laughed as I closed the door. I slipped into my suit quickly and went to the linen closet. I took out towels for everyone and put them in my giant beach bag. I went downstairs quickly and found Mellisa sitting at the kitchen table, glumly. “What’s wrong?” I asked. She looked down at her clothes and shrugged. “I just feel like swimming all the sudden.” “Well, you could always go skinny dipping.” I joked. “Ah, ha. Very funny.” I sat down with her and looked out the window. That’s when it hit me. “Hey!” I cried. “What?” Mellisa turned and looked at me with an arched eyebrow. “My mom. She still has all her maternity clothes from when she was pregnant with Zac! She was gonna donate them, but never got around to it. I’m sure she has a bathing suit in there!” Mellisa eyes lit up. “Come on!” I took her hand and we ran to my mom’s room quickly. I opened the door to her closet and looked on the top shelf. Sure enough, there were the 4 paper bags full of clothes. We took them down and went through them. When she found it, Mel laughed with delight. “Yes! Thank you Mel!” We hugged quickly, and I waved her to the bathroom. I sat on my mom’s bed and waited for her. Soon, she timidly came out. The swimsuit fit her perfectly. She looked great! She looked through the bags again and found a pair of shorts. Zac popped his head in the room. “Hey girls! Are you almost ready? We’re gonna be late!” he urged. “Coming!” We put the bags back and rushed out the door. Tay and Ike were coming out of their room. When Ike saw Mellisa, he grinned. “Honey you found one! You look great!” she smiled at him. I went to Tay. He was wearing swimming trunks and a light cotton tee shirt. “Come on you guys! There’s no time to spare!” Zac shouted. He ran down the steps ahead of us. “Yea, we should get going.” Ike said, looking at his watch. “We have about 8 minutes or so to get there.” “Oh yea, let’s go!” I pulled Tay after me. In the kitchen, Jawnell was putting sandwiches and pop into a cooler. “Your mom didn’t know we were coming so I figured we should make our own lunch.” She explained. I smiled at her. “Thanks babe.” I walked to the pantry and tossed her a bag of chips. “Thanks, the last ingredient to a healthy lunch!” we laughed and closed the cooler. Gathering everything we needed, we went out the door. I locked it. “Okay, let’s go!” Ike pulled down the roof and we piled in. I gave him quick, simple directions, and he started the car. It was a beautiful day outside. The sunshine filtered through the trees and played on our faces. As we turned onto the highway, the breezed picked up. I snuggled closer to Tay. “So, we’re going on a river right? Which one?” Zac asked. “The Sandy River. It’s very beautiful. We’re going to stop on an island for lunch and swim there.” “Cool!” Ike said. “In a few more minutes, you’ll be able to see it.” I told them. As we made a wide turn for the parking lot, the river came into view. “It is beautiful.” Tay agreed. We found a space, closed the roof and locked the doors. “Let’s go! Come on!” Zac grabbed the cooler, Jawnell’s hand, and started running toward the water. “Wow! Zac doesn’t want to miss his ride!” Mellisa laughed. “Oh well!” Tay shrugged. “Let’s play along!” He took my hand and started after his brother. We arrived at the dock breathless, to find Jeff pulling up the anchor. “Right on time guys! Hop on!” “Nice boat!” Tay exclaimed. “Thanks.” Jeff beamed with pride. He helped Mellisa on, and the rest of us jumped over the edge. “Oh you thought about your lunch! Thank God! I wanted to call you and tell you to pack one, but I left my cell phone at home.” Mom said, greeting us. I smiled at Jawnell. “Hey!” I said to the guys. “Hey! What happened at the mall?” Sam asked eagerly. I laughed. “Oh, not much. Just some girls realized that Hanson was in ‘their’ mall. Pretty much what I would have done if I didn’t know them.” I joked. “Oooo, that’s scary!” Tay laughed as I made a face at my brother. The motor roared to life as Jeff yanked on the string. I settled back against my seat and propped my beach bag under my feet. “This will turn out to be a great day, I promise.” I whispered to Taylor.

Chapters 17-24

Email: tays_baby_4_always@hansonhouse.com