“Ha! I told you so! He did say that!” Serena laughed and pointed at me. We were all sugar-high and for the most part loved it. Taylor and Zac laughed, and I smirked at her.
“Whatever,” I sneered, which made everybody laugh harder. Divided among the three couches, cracking up, eating pizza, and slurping Dr. Peppers, we were chatting about what Hanson really did say, or did not say.
“Is it true that Isaac takes a turtle with him on the tour bus?” Serena asked suspiciously. Taylor, Zac, and I all started chuckling again.
“Nooooo!” Zac howled. Everybody laughed.
“Is it true that… ummm… that Zac said ‘Peace, love, and bullet-proof marshmallows?” I asked. Zac looked at me with one eyebrow raised.
“And where exactly did you get THAT idea?”
“The Internet!” I nodded.
“Okay, well then something on there is correct!” Zac laughed. I felt my mouth drop open.
“Are you serious? You said that?”
“Yup!” Zac laughed proudly. Serena and I looked at each other and grinned. Suddenly Serena’s grin turned into a serious look, and she furrowed her eyebrows.
“Do you hear that? Oh dang, it’s the phone!” Serena shot up from the couch she and Zac occupied, and ran out of the room. I exchanged a glance with Taylor and shrugged.
“So, do you guys like your new house?”
“It’s okay. We’ll miss our old one, but still, this one’s nicer.”
“Cool… um, what about your tree house?” At first, Taylor looked at me like I was insane, then realized I was a fan, too, not just a girl he was talking with.
“Oh,” he chuckled. “The tree house… We brought it with us.”
“You brought your tree house with you… How is that possible?” I said. Taylor laughed.
“It took a lot of taking out nails, and hammering new ones into the tree house and the new tree!”
“Oh, okay!” I laughed, and nodded. I looked over at the hallway opening as Serena entered the room with the cordless phone in her hands. I raised my eyebrows as she stuck the phone out to me.
“It’s mom,” Serena said quietly. I groaned as softly as possible, and took the phone from her hands. I got up and went into the hallway, to Serena’s room.
“Hello?”
“Hi, honey!”
“Hi mom.”
“Serena said you had the Hanson brothers over?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow! So what are they like?”
“Normal people. Regular old people who happen to make CDs.”
“Really! And are they nice?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, that’s just wonderful! I can’t wait to meet them.” I frowned.
“When are you coming back?”
“Day after tomorrow, hon. I know, I know, just hold in there.”
“I was just asking, mom. Serena and I are fine.”
“Okay, I just worry about you two.”
“Well don’t… we’re fine.” My mom sighed.
“Why are you being difficult?”
“I’m not, mom. We have guests, therefore I have to go.”
“Okay, I love you.”
“Love you too, bye.”
“Bye!” my mom exclaimed. I clicked off the phone in a hurry, and sighed. I threw the phone down on the bed and went back to the living room. I found Taylor and Zac laughing hysterically and Serena looking bewildered. I looked at Serena questionably and she just shrugged, with her hands held at shoulder length, flexed.
“Beats me! I said something and they started to crack up!”
“What did you say?”
“Something about girls clothing and they just started laughing hysterically.”
“Isaac… he… he liked a shirt… on the rack for… our This Time Around video… and he wore it… and later we found out it was for the girls!” Zac explained, laughing in between his sets of words. A smile crept upon my face and I chuckled. Serena joined me, and our chuckles didn’t even conquer half the sound that Zac’s laugh made alone. Taylor had quieted down, and his laughter was reduced down to spurts of chuckles. I shook my head and glanced down at the empty pizza boxes.
“Gosh, that sure went fast!” I grinned. The rest grinned back at me, and I picked up the boxes, and was stacking the plates when Taylor sat up.
“Want help?”
“No, it’s okay. I can get it,” I smiled. But my refusal didn’t have an effect, and Taylor took the plates from me anyway. We walked into the kitchen, me first, Taylor second. I looked around for an empty spot and placed the empty boxes on the counter. Taylor walked over to the sink and started rinsing off the dishes.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that, really…” I went to turn off the water but he put his hand in front of the knob.
“It’s okay, I want to,” he said sweetly. I looked at him, bewildered and a little confused, and shrugged. I hopped up on a stool and watched him.
“How long have you lived in Tulsa?” Taylor asked. He set the wet plate down on the counter, and I grabbed a towel, to assist with drying.
“About three years. I used to live in California, but when my parents divorced, my mom just hauled us over here. I don’t really know why she chose Oklahoma. Actually, she’s probably more of a fan then me or Serena- I mean the music part. She doesn’t think you guys are hot, if you know what I mean!” Taylor blushed and crinkled his nose.
“That’d be nasty!”
“Yeah, I know! I’m exaggerating though. But she does love your music.”
“Well that’s good. If she likes the music, then, what can you say?”
“Yeah… So how long have you guys lived here?” As if I didn’t already know!
“Basically our whole lives, except for a few years when we lived in Equador and Trinidad-Tobago. But, that’s basically it. And we lived in California for awhile.”
“So you guys have lived everywhere! Wow. Where in California?’
“Los Angeles. What about you?”
“Um, same, sort of. We lived in Orange County, but it’s pretty close to L.A.”
“Cool.” All of a sudden Serena burst into the kitchen.
“Taylor, your brother is here. He says it’s time for you to-“
“Hey everybody!” Zac yelled, coming into the kitchen, with a pleasant looking Isaac following him. Isaac smacked his younger brother on the back of the head.
“Hey! What did you do that for?” Zac demanded, spinning around to look at Isaac.
“We always tell you Zac, don’t yell in other people’s houses! If you want to do it at home, fine. If you want to do it in the middle of the street, fine, but avoid cars,” Isaac said, with a phony serious expression on his face. We all laughed, except for Zac, who scowled at the wall.
“Hi, I’m Corrine,” I smiled, shaking Isaac’s hand when everybody had quit laughing.
“Hey, I’m Isaac. Nice place you got here,” he commented, smiling and gesturing around the kitchen.
“Thanks!” I grinned.
“Yeah. I um… I’m, uh, here to pick up my brothers.” I nodded at Isaac, and the brothers kind of grouped together, leaving Serena and I standing at the other side of the kitchen. There was a dead silence, the kind where you just met someone, and don’t know quite what to say. Although Taylor, Zac, Serena, and I had already been acquainted and even had dinner together, the silence still happened.
“Well, I guess we better go then,” Isaac nodded, breaking the silence.
“Okay,” I said, as we trooped to the door.
“Well, it was nice meeting you guys! I had a good time.”
“Me too,” Taylor and Zac echoed. Serena nodded.
“See you later!” We all said at the same time, then started to laugh at our chorus.
“Bye!” I yelled.
“Bye!” The three yelled. I shut the door, and turned to Serena. We looked at each other, and ran to the side window so we could watch them. The three brothers were chatting- actually just Zac and Isaac, Taylor’s mouth hardly moved- happily. Serena and I looked back at each other.
“That, my dear sister, was Hanson,” I said, trying hard to keep in my excitement.
“I know, I know, I know!” Serena squealed. We both started jumping up and down, squealing with excitement, and basically just plain freaking out.
“That was Hanson! That was Hanson!” We squealed, not caring who heard or saw us. The phone started ringing, and I ran over to it, and picked it up.
“Hello?” I answered, breathlessly.
“Hey!”
“Oh, hey Anna. Guess what!”
“What?”
“HANSON MOVED NEXT DOOR TO US!” I screamed. Dead silence on the other side of the phone.
“What?”
“Hanson- moved- next-door,” I spelled out, slowly.
“No WAY!” Anna started screaming, and I joined her gladly.
“So what were they like?”
“Sweet, cool, funny… the usual a perfect guy is!”
“Wait, which one are you talking about?”
“Taylor,” I said dreamily.
“Wait, did they go over to your house?”
“Yes, they did, and we had pizza!” I yelled. Anna shrieked.
“Hey, you wanna spend the night? I know it’s a little childish since we’re going to be seniors officially in three months, but screw that!” I laughed.
“Yes, I do! Hold on, let me tell my mom!” A few minutes passed and Anna came back on the phone.
“Be over there in ten minutes, okay?”
“Okay, Anna! See you!” I hung up the phone and ran back to the kitchen, where Serena was still staring at the Hanson house.
“Hey, Anna’s coming over!” Serena turned slowly and smiled.
“Great. Hey, um, Cory? I think that, um, I think Hanson’s bedroom window is right across from yours,” Serena said, looking at me with wide eyes. I felt my eyes grow to the size of a golfball.
“Are you kidding me?”
“No! Come on! Let’s go check it out!”
“Okay,” I said, a little nervously. Serena grabbed my hand and pulled me up the stairs. We ran into my room and stopped, right at the door. We looked at each other, biting our lips, and let go of each other’s hands. We strolled over to the window, looked out and gasped. Their bedroom window was across from my room’s window. And Taylor was standing, without a shirt and in his boxers, directly in front of it.
“Hey, Tay, I would not advise standing without your shirt and in your boxers in front of the window,” Isaac chuckled. I looked at him with one eyebrow raised.
“Why?”
“Because that girl Corrine, her bedroom window is right across from there, and it looks like they already know!” Isaac laughed. I looked out the window, already starting to blush.
“Oh,” I stepped back casually, blushing furiously.
“Taylor, for the love of God, it’s no different than seeing you at the pool! At least you weren’t naked…” Isaac laughed, hopping onto his bed, which was the top bunk. I looked at him curiously, slipping my pants back on.
“Is it just me, or is it hot in here?”
“It’s hot. Dad’s working on the air conditioner, though."
“Oh. Did you, um, did you think Corrine was pretty?”
“Yeah. Well, it’s not that she was pretty, but there was something about her. I can’t put my finger on it, but it made her seem pretty.” I nodded. Isaac always knew what I meant.
“Am I getting a vibe from you, Tay? Do you like this chick?” I blushed.
“Well, she was very intriguing and welcoming and sweet and nice and funny and-“
“Okay, Taylor, I get the point! Gosh! Hey, now there are three girls. The Silent Girl, Corrine, and another girl. Who’s kind of hot…”
“Oh, Ike!” I sighed, looking out the window at the three. Corrine and the new girl were talking with wide eyes, and kept hopping up and down. Serena watched.
“’The Silent Girl’s’ name is Serena,” I countered.
“Oh, well, yeah…” I rolled my eyes, and laughed.
“I’m going to go down to the basement. I keep having trouble with going flat on ‘If Only’. I’m getting kind of worried, because we have that promo at MTV coming up… Want to help?” I gulped.
“Later, right now I want to watch these girls!”
“Ikkkkkkkeee!” I whined.
“Oh fine, take me away from them. Come on…” Isaac pulled me out of the room with a groan, and we left the visions of Corrine and the mystery girl, for hours of playing the keyboards and guitar and straining our vocals chords to go to the peak.