"Corrine? Corrine, wake up! We're going out to dinner so you have to get up!" Serena shook me awake and I groaned, batting her hands away from me.
"Go away," I mumbled, burying my face into the pillows. I did not want to wake up to go eat dinner and be chastised by little Zachary Hanson for saying no. There was almost no way I would be left alone.
"Do I need to get Taylor to come tickle you? Because I'm sure he'd love to run his fingers over your bo-"
"Okay, okay, I'm up," I interrupted, sitting up and shoving my little sister over. She glared at me, and I stuck my tongue out at her. Taylor was suddenly right next to me.
"Morning, Sleeping Beauty," he smiled timidly. "They're going to McDonalds, but I figured we could go to this nice, quiet little diner one of my friends told me about. I think we need to talk."
Serena raised her eyebrows at me and walked away.
"Yeah, that's fine," I responded, smiling at him.
"But we can't leave with them, because if we want to go there alone, we have to wait until all the groupies are gone. They'll figure that I'm with them, so they won't think to stay and wait and see."
"Okay," I nodded. I sat back down on my bunk, and pushed the curtain over more so Taylor could sit down next to me. He did, and I pulled some lip-gloss off of the shelf and applied it.
"I'm sorry," I sighed. I leaned back against the wall and pulled my knees up to my chest. "I've just been through a lot." I started to cry and Taylor pulled me to him, stroking my hair. Hearing the rest of the people on the bus leave, I tried to calm down a bit. I smelled his smell, a mix of soap, cologne, and shampoo.
"Do you just want to stay here?" Taylor asked, pulling away and tilting my chin up to look at him. I nodded and started to cry again. It was odd- I didn't even really know why I was crying. Just that I needed to.
"I'm sorry," I said, brushing some tears off of my cheeks. "I don't know why I'm crying. I guess it's just a mixture of stress and memories."
"Will you tell me your memories?" Taylor whispered. I nodded and laid down. Taylor laid down next to me and wrapped his arms around me.
"When I was about 13 I was involved in a band called 'Blue Clouds'. We actually were pretty good, and I was the lead singer. I played the piano, keyboards, organ, and I was the lead vocalist, as I already said. We were playing one night at the Silver Dollar, this café that has local bands play, and a scout from Virgin Records was there. He wanted to sign us. Of course, being naïve 12, 13, and 14 year olds, we jumped at the chance. All of our parents were okay with it. So we got some demos done and when I played them for my mom, she laughed at our songs and my voice. At first I ignored her. I don't know if you heard our songs, but they were played on the radio. Our first and only single, 'Memories', rose to number 23 on the charts. But my mom's words started to break me down. We weren't touring or anything yet; our album hadn't even been released. Just when we got to where we wanted to be, I got a few hate letters and it killed me.
"I broke down and lost all of my self confidence. I started beating myself up mentally and cried every day for the longest time. So finally, I just quit. I locked myself in my room and refused to come out. Three or four days later, my dad literally hacked down the door and told me he had terminated my contract. The rest of the girls didn't want to do it without me, so we were gone. And that's why I freaked out when you gave me the offer." I sighed after telling Taylor my story. Really, it was kind of dumb, but it was the truth. Taylor kissed my neck and squeezed me tighter.
"I'm sorry. You shouldn't have believed your mom and those stupid people." Taylor laughed. "If only you saw how many hate letters we get. But you know why we're still here today? Because we don't listen and concentrate on the good stuff. Some people love us so much, that they give us foosball tables and lava lamps and puppies. I'm not going to push you into signing. But you still have the option."
"I know." Taylor's stomach grumbled, and mine followed. "Should we go to the diner now?"
"Sure, if you want to." We got up and walked to the door, holding hands.
Taylor and I walked in the bus door after our dinner. It was pretty good: I always loved good old-fashioned cheeseburgers, fries, and ice-cold milk shakes. Sharing them with Taylor Hanson made it even better!
"Taylor, you were such a pig back there!" I laughed. He shrugged innocently and quickly shut the bus door behind me, as to not let any fans in. We had only been attacked twice, and I was only asked five times who I was, and when Taylor answered, I only got five more sickening glares. One girl couldn't even glare: she just scrunched up her face. It was nice though, because two people congratulated us and acted very happy for us. Those fans Taylor hugged enthusiastically. The others, when they asked, just received a "I'm sorry, but I have a girlfriend now."
"What can I say? I'm a growing boy!" Taylor rested his arm on my shoulders and we marched into the heart of the bus. As we entered the back of the bus, otherwise known as the "living room", Serena, Anna, Zac, and Isaac's laugh greeted us.
"Hey guys, what's cookin'?" Zac asked when he noticed us.
Taylor sniffed the air. "Hmm… I don't smell anything cooking. Would you like me to go check?"
I laughed and Zac smirked. Taylor and I sat down on the floor, Taylor leaning against the wall, and me leaning on him.
"Aww, isn't that cute?" Anna squeaked. I rolled my eyes and buried my head into Taylor's shoulder. He smelled so good, it was almost like I wanted to stuff him up my nose!
"So what are you guys doing?" Taylor asked.
"We were just joking around. Oh, Corrine, about that harmony, I saw Chris Sabec- you know who he is right?" Zac asked, frowning. I nodded in acknowledgment. Of course I knew who their manager was! "Okay, I saw him and sung it for him, and he thought it was great. Just to let you know."
I smiled at Zac from Taylor's shoulder and sighed. It was about time to call it a day.
"I think I'm going to go to bed," I mumbled, getting up and stretching. It was almost 11:00, and we had to get up early the next morning. The bunch nodded back at me, following my lead and standing up.
Getting ready for bed was quite interesting. Diana and Walker had already hit the sack, along with Zoë, Mac, Avery, and Jessica. But the rest of us hadn't, obviously. So I tumbled into my bunk, after consulting my bag and getting PJ's, and started changing. I had my Pajama top half way on (it was covering my chest, luckily), when the curtain flew open and there stood Zac. His eyes bulged and he shut it quickly.
"Taylor," I heard Zac hiss. "I just saw your girlfriend's booobbbiiiieeessss!!!" My face turned bright red, and I finished pulling the shirt on.
"What?" Taylor yelled. I cringed at his voice, and covered my face with my hands.
"Taylor, keep it down!" Diana yelled from the other side of the row of bunks. I giggled and took my hair down from the messy bun. As I expected, the curtain flew open once more, and I was greeted with the wonderfully angry face of Taylor Hanson. He climbed inside my bunk and shut the curtain.
"What happened?" he demanded. "Um, I was changing and was halfway on with my shirt when Zac opened the curtain. And for your information, Zac, in fact, did not see my boobies, thank you very much." I kissed Taylor's cheek and patted it. "No worries, TayBear. If anyone on this bus sees my boobies, I can assure you you will be the first and only." A satisfied look overcame Taylor's face, and I shooed him out. I finished changing and getting ready for bed, and after saying good-night to everyone and telling Zac to shut up, I slipped into my new bed, and fell into a deep sleep.
I woke up to arms slipping around my waist, and someone settling down beside me. I figured it was Taylor, and mumbled a weak, "hello".
"Hi," Taylor whispered back. "Is this okay?" I nodded into the pillow and nestled into Taylor's arms. We soon fell asleep.
Once again, I found myself waking up. This time only to Zac running through the bunk area screaming, "I Want You To Want Me", and Serena going, "I'll want you, Zacky." Taylor wasn't in my bunk anymore and I vaguely wondered if it had only been a dream.
I threw my curtain open and was greeted by bright lights. Judging by it being 5 in the morning, I figured it was still dark out. I yawned suggestively and started lying back, when Serena ran over, shoved me out of the bunk, and shut the curtain.
"You are not going back to sleep young lady. No-sir-ree-bob. Anyway, we have to leave in a half an hour, so I'd suggest getting ready now," Serena explained. I nodded from my place on the floor.
"Where's Tay?"
"Bathroom. He steamed up the mirror and drew little hearts and 'I love Corrine's' all over it."
"How nice," I yawned, getting up and trudging in to the kitchen.
"Nice hair, Corrine!" Zac laughed, pointing at my morning do.
"Shut up, just shut up. Your hair isn't any better, so you shouldn't be talking," I frowned.
"Whoa, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed."
"No, it's just I'm not used to getting up hours before even the birds are up thank you very much. Where's the milk?" I asked, grabbing a bowl and cereal off the table. Zac pointed at the mini-fridge and I opened it and grabbed what I had been searching for. As soon as I shut the refrigerator door, Taylor strolled into the room, searching for breakfast.
"Hi," he smiled at me, giving me a smack on the cheek. I smiled back, and poured the milk into my cereal bowl. Starting to eat, I noticed Zac eyeing my chest. I looked down, but there was nothing abnormal or a bug sitting on my right boob or something. Then I remembered last night. I slowly started to feel uncomfortable and crossed my left arm over my chest, continuing to eat with my right.
"Are you alright?" Taylor questioned, sitting down next to me. He frowned, staring at me.
"I'm, um, I'm fine, I'm just, um, cold and um, yeah."
Taylor glanced from left to right, clearly showing his disbelief. "I see."
"Yup. Well, I'm done," I mumbled, getting up from the table. I didn't move my left arm as I got up from the table, and walked back to my bunk. Serena followed me, with a confused look on her face.
"What was that all about?"
"Um, Zac was kind of making me feel uncomfortable."
Serena frowned. "How so?"
"You remember what happened last night?"
"Yeah… he didn't see anything."
"I know, but he was just staring at my chest. A lot."
Serena frowned harder and stared at the ground. "He didn't mean anything, Corrine, get over it. I'm sure he hadn't meant to."
"If you say so." I turned from my sister, trying to assure myself that Serena was right. As I opened the curtain, Anna strolled by. She tapped me on the shoulder, grinning.
"Yeah?" I asked, turning around.
"Go see the bathroom. Taylor decked it out with his lovely artwork."
I grinned. "That was my next stop."
"I guess it's safe to say this guy's yours. The poor fans. He's not up for grabs anymore. Lucky duck."
"The fans? They never stood a chance against me! Mwahahaha!" I cackled jokingly, rolling my eyes, and grabbing my clothes and shower, hair, and make-up supplies.
"No, you're right. You had him from, what was it, the third day?" Anna asked, staring at me incredulously. Taylor strolled by us, stopping for a minute.
"Anna," Taylor started, grinning at me. "Corrine had me before I was even born." He continued on as a round of "aw's" could be heard throughout the bus. I laughed and went to go shower.
"Mackenzie, remember to hold your sister's hand when we get out. Jessie, don't lose sight of Avery and Mac, and try to keep them and yourself with the group. A bodyguard will be standing behind you, but still… I don't want you to get lost, honey. Cory will have Zoë, and she will be watching you four during the press conference and radio performance."
"Mom, we know," Jessie insured, rolling her eyes. She grinned at me, shaking her head. "She gives us that little speech every single time. I mean, we've only done this kind of thing for three and a half years." I chuckled a little and adjusted Zoë on my hip.
"Okay. Corrine, you're sure you know where to go?" Diana asked, talking over the voices of the Hanson brothers. They were warming up. When they were done, Taylor strolled over to me.
"Smile, give me all your heart, and we'll never be apart…" Taylor sung quietly into my ear, with this cute little half smile on his face. I grinned at him as he walked quietly away, back to his brothers.
We were in the VIP room at the radio station in Chicago. It was really nice. The station had an upright Yamaha piano, a telephone, breakfast pastry trays, fruit trays, and the most appetizing, candy, in the room. I was amazed by the treatment the Hanson's received. They could have any kind of bottled water, soda, fruit juice, or any other liquid available. And not only did they give the boys whatever the world they wanted, it was free!
A lady walked lazily into the room. She looked bored and messy, with her slouched back and messy hair. Her eyes were half-open and her mouth hung open. Not bad for six A.M.
"Are you ready?" the lady asked in a monotone voice. She spoke directly to Taylor, opening her eyes wider and trying to look awake. I felt bad for her.
"Yes, I believe so," Taylor smiled, looking back at his brothers, and then winked at me.
"Good. Bobby wants you at the table in five minutes."
The boys filed out of the room with Mr. and Mrs. Hanson and the bodyguard. Jake, the bodyguard, shut the door behind him, leaving me to fend for myself with Anna, Serena, and the Hanson kids. I set Zoë down and sat on the couch. Zoë plopped back down on top of me, curling up into a ball.
"Well, guys, what do you want to do?" I asked, smiling, as the rest of the group found places to sit.
"Sleep," Anna moaned, throwing her head back against the back of the chair.
"Okay. What do the people with the last name Hanson want to do?"
"Play a game!" Zoë gurgled, laughing.
"What game?" I smiled, looking down upon the shape on my lap.
"Landy Cand!"
"Do you guys want to play that?" I asked, looking at the rest of the Hanson kids.
"I'll play," Mack said, getting up and sitting next to me.
"I will, too," yawned Serena, scratching her shoulder.
"Avery and I are going to dance," Jessie informed. Following Jessica's words, Avery and Jessie got up and went to the table to use it as their barre. This was going to be fun.