"Tay got a girlfriend," Marie sobbed.
"Tay Who?"
"Hanson," Marie replied, still crying.
"Are you sure?" Audrey questioned. Marie shook her head yes. She picked up her VCR remote from her night stand and rewound her tape a little bit, then she pressed play.
Confused, Audrey looked at the screen. It was a Hanson interview. "So, Tay," the interviewer asked, "Is it true you have a new girlfriend named Mona from New Jersey?"
"No." Tay replied, "Her name is Stephanie, but she is from New Jersey." The tape showed the audience. Most of the girls were crying hysterically. Some of them were even getting up and leaving!
"How long have the two of you been dating?" The interviewer asked.
"They've been going out for about two and a half weeks," Ike replied.
Marie stopped the tape. Audrey turned toward her, "It's not like they're gonna get married," she said, trying to cheer up her little sister.
"What if they do?" questioned Marie, "I read in a magazine that Tay said he thinks Steph is the one."
"Nonsense," Audrey exclaimed, "Those magazines are never right, you know that." There was a moment of silence. "Besides," Audrey pointed out, "Zac is more your age, anyway."
"He's too young," Marie sobbed in protest.
Marie's mom, Linda, called from downstairs, "Marie, Audrey, dinner's ready." Marie wiped away her tears and the two girls ran downstairs and ran into the dinning room. They sat down across from one another.
"Where is everyone?" Audrey asked.
"Daniella is eating over Cara's, Jordana is on her way home, and your dad left for New Jersey today."
"Where's Nick?" Marie asked.
"Nick, "her mother answered, "is at basketball practice." Her mother brought a bowl of Macaroni and Cheese to the neatly set table and then went back into the kitchen to get the rest of the meal.
Once Linda had brought everything into the dinning room, she sat down at the head of the table. The phone rang. "I'll get it," Marie exclaimed as she raced to the kitchen phone, "Hello?"
"Hi, Marie," the voice said, "this is Akeela, did you hear about Taylor Hanson?"
"About his girlfriend?" Marie asked.
"I guess you heard," Akeela said sympathetically, "do you want me to come over?"
"I'll call you back when I'm done eating," Marie said. Then she hung up the phone.
She walked back into the dinning room and sat back down. "Who was that?" Linda asked.
"Akeela," Marie replied, "She wanted to know if she could come over." "What'd you say?" Linda questioned.
"I told her that I'd call her back once I finished eating." She took a big scoop of the Macaroni and Cheese and started eating it.
"Aren't you going to have any of the fish?" Linda asked, realizing that her daughter wasn't taking any fish, which was her favorite thing to eat. Marie shook her head no and burst into tears. "What's wrong?" Linda asked.
"Tay likes fish!" Marie sobbed, "It's his favorite food!"
"It's not the end of the world because he got a girlfriend," Linda said, trying to make her daughter understand that there are other guys in the world. Outraged, Marie stood up and ran out of the house. She quickly ran up the street to Akeela's house.
Akeela's sister answered the door. "What's wrong?" Shaznay asked. "Tay got a girlfriend."
"Oh, that," Shaznay said, kind of disappointed, "Akeela," she screamed, "Marie is here."
Akeela came running down the stairs and over to the front door. "Come in," she directed.
Marie walked in and they both ran up to Akeela's room. Marie plopped down on Akeela's beanbag that was in the corner between Akeela's bed and the wall. Still crying she explained why she came over, "I hate her."
"Who?" Akeela asked.
"My mother," Marie explained. "She always criticizing me, everything that means a lot to me means absolutely nothing to her!"
"What did she do this time?"
Marie wiped her tears away with her arm, "She's just like ‘Just because Taylor Hanson got a girlfriend doesn't mean the world is ending.' She just always finds someway to offend me!"
"All moms are like that," Akeela said, "You're a teenager, that makes her your natural enemy. She's just trying to make you feel better."
"Sure! Take her side!" Marie screamed as she stormed out of the room and then out of the house.
She walked outside and just kept walking up the street, away from her house. As she turned the corner at the end of the street, she noticed a girl that was crying on her porch. Marie thought for a minute. She knew that she knew that girl, but who was it?
After a second, she remembered who the girl was. It was Christine, Audrey's friend, Elena's, younger sister. She was 15, a year older than Marie.
Marie walked over to the girl, "Hi. Christine, right?" Christine shook her head yes. "I'm Audrey's sister, Marie. Are you crying about Taylor Hanson, by any chance?" Christine shook her head yes. "Thank God!" Marie exclaimed, "I thought I was the only one that actually cried about it in this town."
"I have," Christine sobbed, "I just got backstage passes to the concert tomorrow when I found out. I spent $1500 for no reason!"
"$1500?!?!" Marie questioned.
Christine wiped away her tears and shook her head yes, "my friend Sarah was supposed to go with me, but she's not a Hanson fan because he got a girlfriend." There was a brief silence, "Do you know anything about the girl?" Christine asked.
"Her name is Stephanie," Marie replied, "She's 14 and she's from New Jersey."
Suddenly, Audrey ran up. "Are you two okay?" They both shook their heads yes. "Mom feels so bad. She's on the phone trying to get you front row tickets to the concert tomorrow." She paused, "Are you going to that, Chris?" "Yes," Christine replied, "I got backstage passes."
"Really?" Audrey said, shocked.
"Yup. I wasted $1500 on them."
"You didn't waste the money," Audrey said, "Who knows, maybe Taylor will like you more than that girl from New Jersey!" Linda pulled up in the car, "Marie," she yelled, "I got you front row seats to that concert!"
"Ahhh!!!!" Marie screamed.
"I have to go pick them up now, do you want to come?" Marie shook her head no. "Okay," Linda said. "Just be home before seven. We have to get you something to wear tomorrow." She smiled. "Audrey, do you want to come?"
Audrey shook her head no, then Linda pulled away.
"What row did you get?" Marie asked Christine.
"My mom is on the phone trying to get me some tickets now."
"Can I use your phone?" Marie asked.
"Sure," Christine replied, "if my mom isn't on it right now." Christine stood up and opened the door to her house. She led Audrey and Marie into the hall over to the phone. Christine picked it up, "Okay, she's not on it."
Marie picked up the phone and dialed her mom's cell phone number. Her mom picked up during the second ring, "Hello?"
"Hi mom, this is Marie, how many tickets did you get me?"
"Two," her mom replied, "I figured that you'd like to bring Akeela."
"Okay. Cool. I'll see you later." She hung up the phone and turned to Christine, "Christine," Marie began excitedly, "my mom got me two tickets for tomorrow, both front row, one for me and one for Akeela." An excited look appeared on Christine's face as Marie continued, "But, I'm mad at Akeela, so why don't you come with me?!?!"
"Do you mean it?" Christine asked. Marie shook her head yes. "Mom," Christine screamed.
Her mom ran in, "what's wrong?"
"Marie is going to give me one of her front row tickets for tomorrow!" She exclaimed, "So, instead of Sarah, I'm going to give her the other pass!"
"Okay," her mom said, "That sounds fair." Audrey, Christine, and Marie all screamed with joy and started to jump around screaming the lyrics to Hanson's song, "MMMBop."
Suddenly, Marie stopped. The other girls stopped also. "Audrey," she asked, "why are you so happy?"
"Because I'm glad to see you two so happy, and besides, I'm happy for you because you're going to get to meet Hanson."
"Now I feel bad," Marie said.
"Why?" Audrey and Christine asked simultaneously.
"Because I'm getting to meet my favorite band, Hanson, but you're not getting to meet the Backstreet Boys."
"Don't worry," Audrey answered, "Mom is helping me find tickets to their next concert around here. We're going to reserve them Five of them for my birthday. It'll be part of my party."
"Oh," Marie said, "I don't feel bad any more." She paused for a second, "MMMBop!" She screamed. Christine and Audrey repeated her. "Wait," Marie said, "Why don't you sleep over tonight, Christine."
"Call me Chris," she answered, "and sure. I'll go get money from my mom so I can get a new outfit when you do and the other stuff I need, then we'll leave for your house."
"By the way," Audrey asked, "where's Elena?"
"She went out with Jeff to the movies for a night alone, away from me," Christine said, "Call her cell phone and tell her mom got me the passes while I get my stuff."
Audrey picked up the phone as Christine ran out of the room. She dialed Elena's cell phone number.
When they had all finished doing what they had to do, they went back to Audrey and Marie's house.
They sat down in the living room and waited for Linda to come home. "This is going to be awesome!" Christine exclaimed.
"I love Hanson!" Marie said.
"Who's your favorite?" Christine asked.
"Taylor," Marie quickly replied.
"He was mine," Christine said, "but, since he has a girlfriend, Ike is." They heard the door open and all of them took a deep breath, expecting it to be Linda.
Jordana walked into the living room. They all let out a sigh of disgust. "What did I do?" Jordana asked.
"Nothing," Marie explained, "We're waiting for mom to come home. She got us tickets to the Hanson concert tomorrow."
"What's the point?" Jordana asked.
"Seeing Hanson live, stupid," Marie replied.
"No, I mean," Jordana explained, "Taylor has a girlfriend, and if you saw the interviews that Angela has on tape, then you know, he's going to leave her for anything."
"What do you mean?" Marie asked. "He's only talked about her on one interview."
"No, Angela has about three," Jordana said.
"Is she going to the concert tomorrow?" Marie asked.
Jordana shook her head yes, "She got front row seats and backstage passes from the radio."
"See if she wants to sleep over," Marie said, "So we can all go together."
"All of you are going?" Jordana asked.
"No," Audrey said, "Just those two."
"Who is she?" Jordana asked, pointing at Christine.
"I'm Christine," She said, "I'm Elena's younger sister."
"You like Hanson?" Jordana said, "You look too old."
"I'm 15," Christine quickly snapped
"Anyway," Marie said, "Call Angela and see if she'll sleep over."
"Okay." Jordana said as she walked into the kitchen.
"How old is Angela?" Christine asked.
"She's 12," Marie replied, "She's totally obsessed with Hanson."
Jordana walked back into the room carrying the cordless phone. "Angela said she has to go shopping for an outfit first."
"Tell her we have to go also," Marie said, "Tell her we're going as soon as mom comes home."
Jordana repeated what Marie said then she walked out of the room, still talking to Angela.
Five minutes later, Jordana walked back in, "She said to have mom pick her up when you go, then she'll just come back here." She paused. "Are you sleeping over too?" she asked Christine. Christine shook her head yes. "You don't talk very much, do you?" Christine shook her head no.
"Well, hello," Jordana said, "I'm Jordana. I'm 12 years old and I don't like Hanson as much as you do, so don't sit there and say Hanson this and Hanson that and Hanson this, and so on. I can't stand that. That's all that I hear from Marie's mouth!" She rolled her eyes.
Marie's face immediately turned red. "I'm not that bad . . . Am I?" She asked, looking at Audrey.
"Well," Audrey said, "You're somewhere around there." Tears built up in Marie's eyes.
Finally, Linda walked through the door. She walked into the living room and held out two tickets. Marie ran up to her and squeezed her. "Thank you!" She exclaimed. She grabbed the tickets and started screaming the song "MMMBop."
"You have so many relationships in this life . . . "
Linda interrupted her, "Come on," she said, "we have to go get you something to wear."
"Mom," Marie asked, "Can we pick Angela up on the way?"
"Sure," Linda replied, "Audrey are you coming?" Audrey shook her head yes as her and Christine stood up.
As they walked out, Marie turned around to face Jordana, "Call Angela and tell her we're on her way and to bring her tape."
"Okay." Jordana picked up the phone as everyone else walked out, leaving her alone in the house.
Marie got into the backseat of the car and Linda quickly pulled away. Audrey reached forward and turned on the radio.
"I don't like this song," Marie complained, "Can you put on my Hanson CD."
"Where is it?" Audrey asked.
"It's in the glove compartment," Linda replied.
When they had finally finished picking up Angela and getting their outfits, the girls were more hyper then ever.
They sat on the floor in Marie's room eating Twinkies and drinking loads of Diet soda.
"It's funny," Marie commented.
"What is?" questioned Angela.
"How just hours ago me and Christine were crying hysterically about Tay getting a girlfriend, and now, we're having a good time," Marie explained.
"Yeah," Christine agreed. "This is funny." Linda walked into the room.
"You girls plan on sleeping tonight?" She asked, looking at her watch.
"I guess," replied Marie. "What time is it?"
"Three in the morning," Linda answered.
"Okay," Marie said. "We'll go to sleep in a little bit."
"Okay," Linda said, as she walked out of the room.
"So," Christine asked, "Who's your favorite Hanson, Angela?"
"Zac," she answered, "he's so cute and funny! Who's yours?"
"Ike," Christina replied, "It was Tay, until I found out he had a girlfriend."
"Oh yeah, do you guys want to watch my tape with those interviews on them now?" Angela asked.
"I forgot about them!" Marie exclaimed. "Where's the tape?" Angela got up and walked over to her bag. She took out a tape and handed it to Marie. Marie ran over to her entertainment center, turned off her radio, turned on her TV and put the tape in the VCR. "Does it have to be rewound?"
Angela shook her head no. Marie pushed play and then sat down.
After a few seconds of waiting in anticipation, the first interview finally came on. "We have a wonderful show tonight," the interviewer said, "Hanson is here!" The audience started to scream. "But first, here's" the interviewer paused, "here's Hanson, everyone!"
The three blond brothers ran out onto the stage and sat down on three chairs set up by the interviewer's desk. "So," the interviewer asked, "How is everything?"
"Great," Zac exclaimed.
"Is it true that, Tay, you're no longer available?" the interviewer asked. Tay shook his head yes, smiling. "What can you tell us about this new girl in your life?"
"She's short with long blonde hair, blue eyes, her name is Steph, she's 14, and she's from New Jersey," Tay replied.
"And when did you two start dating?"
"About two weeks." Tay answered.
"Does she travel with you?" The interviewer questioned.
"Yeah," Tay answered, "but isn't this interview about me and my brothers?"
"Yes," the interviewer said, "but, I'm sure that the girls at home and the audience want to know everything about the girl that was lucky enough to steal your heart."
"Well," Tay said, annoyed, "If they want to know, then they can ask me some other time."
The interview changed to a different one and the settings were different. Marie guessed that it was the second interview on the tape. "So," the second interviewer asked, "I heard Tay got himself a girlfriend."
"That's correct," Ike said.
"Do you think that she's the one for you?" The interview questioned.
"Yes," Tay replied, "but this interview isn't about her. If you want to know about her, ask her."
The third interview came on, "So, Tay," the interviewer began, "Love is a strong word. Do you love your new girlfriend?"
"Yes, I love her," Tay said, really annoyed, "but this isn't about her. This is about Isaac, Taylor, and Zac Hanson. Not Isaac, Taylor, Zac, and Steph."
Another interview came on. It was the same one that Marie had.
Once the fourth interview was over, Marie and Christine both had a few tears running down their faces. Marie wiped her tears and got up. She ran over to the VCR and pressed stopped, then pushed the rewind button. She walked back over to where Christine and Angela were sitting on the floor. "We better get some sleep now," Marie suggested. The other two girls agreed.
Chapter 2
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