As I was passing Avery's room, I saw Ellie closing the door behind her. I snuck up and grabbed her from behind.
"Zac!" she whispered.
"Mmm?" I whispered back, kissing her neck.
"We need to talk." Ellie pulled away from me.
"Oh, no…what's wrong?" I asked.
"Have you…?"
"Ellie!" Gabby screeched, running towards my fiancé. "Have you seen this????"
When Ellie nodded, I grabbed the outstretched paper from Gabby. "Oh, no!" I said. "How did they…when did they…?" I looked at Ellie in shock. "Are you…?"
"No!" Ellie cried. "I'm not pregnant if that's what you're asking!"
"Good. I wouldn't have wanted to miss that." I winked and grabbed Ellie again.
"Stop joking around, Zac. This is serious!" Gabby said. But she let me continue holding Ellie in my arms. "What are you going to do?"
"There's not a lot we can do," Ellie sighed.
"I think we should just give it time. It may die down on its own. You know the press," I commented. Just then, Isaac poked his head out of his room.
"Gabby, did you ask Zac and Ellie about tonight?" he asked her.
"Oh, no. Thanks." Gabby turned to us. "Lord knows how he did it, but Isaac got all four of us and Taylor reservations at that new Italian restaurant tonight. You know Isaac and Italian food."
"I heard that!" Isaac shouted playfully. Gabby laughed.
"So, what do you guys think?"
I looked at Ellie. "We could have it be a sorta late engagement party."
"Yeah!" Ellie's eyes twinkled.
"All righty then. I'll see ya. I need to go see what's up with Avery."
"Oh, I just did," Ellie jumped in. "Just normal teenage stuff."
"Ah. Guess I can't be family counselor all the time." Ellie looked at me. "It was a joke! I'm not all that great at giving advice."
"No, Gabby, you just have that sixth sense." Ellie rolled her eyes playfully. We all knew Gabby was the best advice giver. Gabby laughed and went off down the hall.
I pulled Ellie into my room, where she went to my desk and looked at the watercolor of her in her dress. "It's so beautiful, Zac."
"Very shagadelic," I said. Ellie laughed, picked up a pillow and threw it at me. Soon, a huge game of pillow fight was beginning.
"Hey," Isaac said as I walked into his room. "You wanna come with us tonight to the new Italian restaurant?"
"Sure. Sounds fun." I picked up my notebook of songs and looked at my brother. He sat on the bed, the phone propped against his shoulder, absently flipping through a guitar magazine. "Who's on the phone?"
"Oh…I'm on flower duty for tonight."
"Oh." My heart sank a little.
"Shhh…it's a surprise." Isaac winked at me. "Something wrong?"
I sighed and plopped down next to him on the bed. "I just w…"
"Yeah, hi, I'd like two dozen red roses." Isaac held up a hand, indicating I should wait, but I got up and left. Tonight would be another of those lonely nights.
My papers fell out of my notebook, and I knelt, slowly picking them up. "Taylor!" Isaac said from behind. "What's up with you?"
Before I could answer, a huge screech drowned me out. Isaac and I jumped up and went to Zac's room, where the two were pelting each other with pillows. "All right, pillow fight!" Isaac yelled. I jumped right into the middle of the room, tossing a pillow at Zac.
"Stop!" someone was yelling. "Stop it!"
Ellie bent to pick up a pillow and Isaac jumped on her, throwing the pillow aside. All of a sudden, Gabby jumped on Isaac from out of nowhere.
"Ah, you wanna play too?" Isaac asked, jumping away from Ellie and playfully falling on Gabby. I busied myself with attacking Zac. "Guys, stop."
Isaac's voice made everyone but me stop. I hurled a pillow towards Zac, who moved to Ellie's side, and my pillow went through the window.
Gabby said, "Are you guys breaking up?"
When I had heard MTV's news program spurting the news about Hanson breaking up, I had been shocked. I knew how passionately all three were about their music. I had run upstairs to find Ellie and Hanson engaged in a huge pillow fight.
"No, we're not breaking up," Zac said to me as Isaac grabbed me and pulled me to my feet.
"Not you two…Hanson!" I said.
"Where did you hear that?" Taylor asked.
"It's all over MTV!"
"This rumor things is getting so out of hand!" Isaac said angrily. "First it's Ellie and now it's the band."
"Honey, we'll straighten it out," I tried to comfort him.
There was an uncomfortable silence before Ellie said, "Uh, Tay, what are you going to do about that window?"
We all looked at the window and laughed, breaking the tension in the room.
"At least Celine wasn't mad about the window," I laughed as I put my earrings on. Despite the rumors, we were still going to dinner. I knew Gabby and I were in for big surprises.
"Yeah, that's true."
There was a knock on the door and I jumped. "Here we go." Gabby was wearing a short red dress and the necklace Isaac had given her for her 16th birthday. I knew Isaac would be wearing his as well. I was dressed in a short black velvet dress. I opened the door to see Zac and Isaac. Zac was wearing black pants and a sportscoat. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail and his gaze lingered on me. "Wow," he breathed.
"Where's my date?" Isaac asked.
"I'm right here." Gabby appeared beside me and smiled shyly at Isaac.
"These are for you," they chorused, handing us each a huge bouquet of roses. I smiled up at Zac and gave him a quick kiss.
"Let's put these in vases on our way downstairs," Gabby suggested.
"Hey," Taylor said. "You guys look great!"
"Well, come on. I'm hungry!" Isaac stated. I laughed and followed Zac downstairs.
Rene, Mia, Diana and I had been sipping drinks at the kitchen table when Zac and Ellie came in, followed by Taylor and Isaac. Gabby went straight to the kitchen with huge bouquets.
"Picture time!" Diana said.
"Mom!" Zac groaned.
"You promised me, Zac. Now, take Ellie by that window."
I finally had to pull the camera away from Diana so the five wouldn't be late for dinner. "Thanks, Celine," Ellie said. "Night!"
Half-heartedly, I followed my brothers and their dates inside the restaurant. I was determined to make the best of the night, but my heart still felt empty. I reflected on Gabby's words: "When you least expect it, you'll run into someone."
Halfway through dinner, there was a huge uproar in the front of the restaurant. I looked up to see what was going on. A huge crowd of reporters were yelling and heading straight for us.
"Oh, man," I said. "Guys, we've gotta get out of here!"
"I'm not done through," Isaac grumbled.
"You're done unless you want to be eaten alive!"
"Let's set this straight right now,," Zac spoke up.
"How?" Ellie asked.
"Guys…" Zac paused dramatically. "It's showtime."
