Zac

“Turkey on rye, no tomatoes, please,” Bob ordered. I crinkled my nose. Eww. Rye bread.

Bob’s twin (who we had finally come to know as Clint) was next. “Um...Ham and swiss on white, easy on the mayo.” That sounded good.

“I’d like to get a loaded turkey club, please.” I rolled my eyes. I hadn’t known the Moffatts for more than a few hours, but I could already tell Scott was a player. I watched him work his magic, almost in awe of the way he grinned at the girl behind the register and got her to blush. He just looked at her, and already she was drooling over him. Good God, I wish I could do that.

“Yeah, um...I’ll have, geez...I’ll just get a...” Dave was obviously not ready. Seven pairs of eyes stared at him impatiently. “Um...Sorry. I’ll just get a turkey club, easy mayo,” he finally decided.

“Okay, that’ll be $20.14,” register-girl said.

Scott dug deep into his pockets and came out with a dollar and a couple of pennies. “Umm...guys?”

“Scott!”

“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me...”

“But Dad gave you the money! What’d you spend it on?”

I almost laughed. But that was before I realized that Scott wasn’t kidding; that was all he had. Then I almost laughed again.

“See, there was this CD for sale at this store down the street from the hotel,” he started to explain.

All three of his brothers groaned and shook their heads, already digging in their own pockets. Dave came up with the most: a ten-dollar bill. All together they had seventeen bucks and some loose change.

“Listen guys, don’t worry about it.”

Dave

So embarrassing. So so embarrassing. Here we were, in public with Hanson of all people, and we couldn’t even pay for our own lunch. I watched in humiliation as a long, golden arm dropped $21.00 on the counter. Taylor was buying our lunch. What kind of an ass am I...

And of course, I just kind of stared at him. I finally looked up into his face and he smirked at me. He smirked. At me. Holy shiznitz. “Um...Thanks,” I managed to mumble.

“Yeah, dude. We owe you,” Bob chimed in. “Here.” He grabbed the money from Clint’s hand and reached for Taylor, who promptly backed away.

“Nah, man. Don’t worry about it. You guys can pick up our dinner,” he laughed. Such a weightless laugh. It floated through the air and crept into my brain; seemingly seeping into my blood stream. Taylor Hanson was like crack. And I was now addicted, more than I ever have been, to him.

“Alright,” Scott answered for everyone. No doubt that the money he was promising would not be his own. Most likely, it would be mine. But hell, who was I to complain? I was being allowed to buy Taylor Hanson’s dinner. Kick. Ass. “How about pizza?” he asked them. “We’ll order in. You guys can come kick it at the hotel with us tonight.”

“Cool,” Taylor answered easily. The words just rolled off of his tongue. His tongue. Wow. Taylor... “Where are you staying?”

I blinked. Stop, I told myself. I knew I was going to end up drooling or passing out or something if I didn’t quit obsessing over him. “Um...The Sheraton at Universal Studios.” I finally had the guts to say something.

“Oh, really?” Isaac answered, turning away from the cash register. He had just ordered for all of his brothers. I guess they go to that deli a lot. “We’re staying at the Hilton, just up the hill. There’s like, an elevator between the two of them.”

So close. So close to Hanson. I had to mentally kick myself again. This was going to be one of the hardest shows I’d ever done. And one of the hardest days I’d ever had, the hardest night’s I’ve ever tried to sleep through, and one of the hardest secrets I’ve ever wanted to keep. Damn. Life was just hard.

And if I didn’t stop staring at Taylor, I was going to be hard, too.

Bob

Bitchin. The Hansons were supposed to be over in about ten minutes, and I was bouncing off the walls. I’d already had three Pepsis, and Scott hadn’t even broken out the beer yet. The night was young, and it was going to get crazy before it was over; I just knew it.

Over lunch Zac and I had discovered our mutual love for Final Fantasy and Tomb Raider games. Play Station is my fucking God, man. I was digging through my travel bag trying to find my Final Fantasy collection when they knocked on the door. I abandoned my search in favor of our guests and sprinted into the living room.

"DUUUUDE!" Zac yelled across the room at me.

"BROOOOO!" I yelled back at him.

"Hey! Is that an old James Bond movie?" Isaac skipped introductions altogether and glued his eyes to the screen. "Sean Connery is awesome."

"Yeah, I know..." Scott mimicked in his best Sean Connery voice.

I gotta tell ya, I am so sick of hearing Scott's Sean Connery impression. Jesus.

"Okay, anyways," I rolled my eyes, trying to divert attention from my attention-seeking older brother. "So, did you bring Tomb Raider?" I poked Zac with my elbow.

"Of course," he said, whipping it out of his jacket with a flourish. He showed it off like he was one of Bob Barker's "The Price is Right" girls. I poked him again and punched me in the shoulder. "Where's your playstation, man?"

"Back in my room. Come on."