Chapter 16- Tamara
The water war was over, for now, and everyone had boarded onto their seperate buses, starting the 8 hour drive through the night to the next city. It was about 10:00 pm and Tamara had just finished putting Avery and Mackenzie to bed. Jessica was out in the living room area of the bus, watching Men In Black with her parents. Tamara had to admit she was having a blast, even if she was working. It didn't really seem like work, the kids were so great and she got to be with him. She pulled the heart-shaped picture frame of Taylor out of it's hiding place in her bunk and stared at it.
Oh Taylor my love. How I love you so, but how mean I am to you. She looked at the picture of Tay's smiling face for one more minute and then put it back. She stretched out on her bed and sighed. This was like her dream come true, to spend the whole summer with him, but every time she talked to him, something mean would come out of her mouth. She turned on the small TV that was in her bunk. Hey Arnold! the cartoon on Nickelodion about inner-city kids Arnold, Gerald, Helga and their classmates was on. Tamara decided to watch it- it was pretty funny and the only other thing on at this hour was I Love Lucy or MTV's Grind.
"Move it football head!" yelled Helga to Arnold. She ducked behind some stairs and whipped out a heart-shaped picture frame of Arnold's smiling face. "I hate you!" she yelled. "But oh, how I love you. That football head, that blond hair..." Helga sighed.
Tamara stared at the screen in disbelief. It was like her life in a nutshell. (no! this is me in a nutshell! how did i get in this nutshell?) Helga was exactly like her! Tamara pushed the curtain on the window in her bunk out of the way and looked out the window. The other bus was right behind them and she could see Ike, Tay and Zac watching TV in there. They didn't see her, she was sure, because the lights were out in her bunk and was completley dark. She sat there watching her secret love for a while until she got tired and fell asleep.
The Next Day
The sun beat down on Tamara the next morning. She groggily got up and looked outside. They were in the parking lot at the next venue. She got out of bed and got dressed in a tank top and shorts. She pulled her hair into a messy ponytail and put on some makeup. Then she went over to where Avery and Jessica were and started helping them get ready. Diana was up too, helping Mackie get dressed.
"Oh, thank you Tamara. You've been a big help," Diana said.
"No problem," she answered. "It's been fun."
"I know it's been hard sometimes, with you and Taylor not getting along, but that's actually part of the reason we asked you. If he didn't like you, then there wouldn't be any teen romances or anything," Diana laughed. "We didn't want to stick the kids with an old lady, so you were the perfect pick."
"Oh," said Tamara quietly. "I'm sorry Taylor hates me so much," she mumbled.
Diana looked at her. "I'm sure he doesn't hate you. He doesn't hate anybody." They got out the breakfast and took it outside to a picnic table that was outside in the parking lot. "It's a beautiful day, let's all eat out here," Diana suggested.
"Okay! I'll get the others," said Tamara, eager for an excuse to see Taylor. "Wanna come, Jess?"
"Sure," she answered and the two ran over to the other bus to get the men. The whole crew was arranged on the buses by male and female, so all the Hanson's were on the other bus. Tamara and Jessica knocked on the bus door. Walker came over and opened it up.
"Good morning girls, come on in. Everybody's almost ready," said Walker.
"Diana said that we can all eat breakfast outside today," Tamara explained. "There's a really nice grassy area over there and there's a couple picnic tables."
Walker nodded. "That sounds good. Hey guys! Hurry up!" he yelled towards the back of the bus, which was closed off with a curtain.
"We're coming!" Taylor yelled back. He came out with his hair still a little wet from a shower and he was wearing a pair of baggy blue jeans and a white shirt.
Oh my...he looks so hot, thought Tamara. "No vinal pants today, Taylor?" she glared at him. She almost slapped herself. Why do I always do that?!
"No," he answered in an equally cold tone. "Not today. Maybe I'll wear them tonight, just to spite you." She made a face at him. Walker just watched this display of immaturity with a sigh and then said,
"Okay okay, that's enough you two. Come on, your mother's waiting for us." Ike and Zac came outside behind them, along with the other people along with them on the tour.
They all sat down on the benches and ate breakfast quietly. :Walker spoke up. "Okay, here's the schedule. Sound check on the stage at 10:30, then you'll have your individual writing sessions." It was a ritual for the Hanson's to go into quiet rooms and work on some new songs. He continued. "Around noon I was wondering if you guys want to go to the zoo."
"The zoo?" Ike said warily.
"Yeah, the Washington D.C zoo is one of the largest in the country. It'll be fun and it'll be a chance for you to get outside."
"That sounds good," said Diana. "It'll be fun."
The rest of the kids agreed, and soon it was time for the soundcheck. Ike, Tay and Zac went inside the stadium and Tamara watched them go.
"So," she said brightly to the kids. "What do you want to do?"
"Tamara?" said Diana. "I'm going to take a nap,okay?"
Tamara nodded and turned back to the kids. "Wanna go exploring the stadium?"
"Yeah! We can play hide and seek!" suggested Jessica. The other kids nodded their head in agreement.
"Okay! That's sounds fun," said Tamara as they waled inside the large building. "Just try to stay out of the way of the people setting up, okay?"
"We know!" said Avery. "We've done this tons!" Tamara had to agree.
"Who wants to be It first?" she asked. They did the Spit spit you are not It and soon everyone was eliminated except Jessica.
"Okay, I'm gonna count to 100!" she said and closed her eyes and started to count.
"Where should we go, guys?" They decided to stick together since they were pretty young and might get lost. They went behind the stage, where it was dark and there was a bunch of lighting equipment to hide behind. They split up and all went to different corners. Tamara hid behind a spotlight and she could hear the guys practicing 'Good Lovin'. It sounded good and listening to Taylor's voice made her dizzy. Oh my love, your voice is so sweet like a... like a, uh, nevermind. She was disgusted at how pathetic she was. She could hear Jessica yell that she was coming and Tamara started to drift into a daydream in which Taylor told her that he loved her and would die for her. It was just starting to get good when a voice above her made her jump about twenty feet in the air.
"What are you doing back here?" Taylor's voice asked. Tamara jumped up and smacked right into Taylor.
"Taylor! What are you doing...I mean, move it Vinal Boy, I'm playing hide and seek and you're gonna get me busted!"
Taylor backed away with his hands in the air. "Sheesh," he said as he went back to practicing. Tamara banged her head against the wall.
"I am such a retard. I'm such a moron. Ohhhh."
"Why?" asked a little voice. She looked down and saw Mackie standing by her.
"Oh, hi Mackie. I just...nevermind. Don't worry about it. Is the game over?"
"No, I just got found first, of course. I never find any good hiding places," he complained.
"Where were you hiding?" she asked him.
"In Ike's guitar case."
"Oh!" Tamara said, glad that he didn't suffocate and die in there. Ike was known to leave dirty socks in his case and they were often in there for months. They climbed out behind the spotlight, where Avery and Jessica were standing.
"Well, I guess I won!" said Tamara.
"Yeah. And winners get to be It," said Avery.
"What? That's not how you play it...oh well. Okay! I'm counting!" The kids ran off in seperate directions and Tamara leaned against a post to count. From where she was standing, she could see the stage perfectly and it looked like the guys were in between songs, trying to figure out which song they should practice next. She couldn't see Tay's face very well, so she decided to move closer to the stage without being too obvious. She ran down a flight of stairs and ended up by the side of the stage.
She was stepping on a chair so she could stand on it and see, when she felt a big hand on her shoulder. She fell of the chair and went crashing to the ground, making a loud noise.
"Just what do you think you're doing back here miss?" asked a big man. He didn't look familiar to Tamara.
"Who are you?" she asked rudely.
He pointed to his ID badge. "Venue Security. And you arn't supposed to be back here. This is authorized personell ONLY."
"But I AM authorized. Look, I have my pass right here," she said as she searched her pocket for the special card the Hanson's had given her. "Darn, I must have left it in the bus."
"Sure you did," he said dryly. "You'll have to come with me." He started to pull her towards the exit.
"Yo! Let me go. Excuse me, I'm the babysitter. Just ask the kids." She looked around for them, but they were nowhere to be seen. They were still hiding, waiting for her to find them. She looked over and saw Taylor going backstage. "Hey! Taylor!" she yelled to him. "He knows me," she said the guard. Taylor sauntered over to where they were standing.
"What's the problem?" he asked.
"Taylor," she said impatiently. "Tell this moron that you know me."
Taylor looked her eyes and said, "I have never seen this girl in my life."
"Okay, thank you," said the guard. "Come with me." He pulled her away.
"Taylor Hanson! I am going to get you so bad! You better watch your back!" she yelled at him.
The guard took her outside and locked the doors. She tried all the doors and realized that she was totally locked out. She ran back to the buses to get her pass.
Taylor Hanson was going to pay for this.