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Childhood Memories

PART I
Amy Sabec sat on her couch as she dialed the number of Taylor Hanson, one of her best friends and also a member of the music group, 'Hanson'.
After the fourth ring someone answered the phone.
"Hello?"
Amy recognized the voice as Isaac's, Taylor's older brother.
"Hi Isaac, is Taylor there?"
"Sorry Amy, he's out with Robin, I'll tell him that you called though, ok?"
"Thanks. Bye."
"Bye."
Amy hung the phone back on it's base and sighed.
Ever since she had first known Taylor she had been attracted to him.
But Taylor had recently started going out with Robin Strephon, a girl who had just moved in a few streets away.
Amy could still remember the first time she had seen Taylor with Robin. She had been on her way back from the library when she spotted Taylor across the street. Right after she walked over to say 'hi' she noticed Robin. As Taylor introduced them Amy could see how Taylor would like Robin over her. Robin was petite with wavy red hair and light brown eyes, she always acted like she was so perfect. Amy thought about her own straight auburn hair and dark green eyes, she couldn't see how anyone could think that she was pretty, especially not Taylor.
Amy got up off of the couch and forced herself to stop thinking about Taylor.
Meanwhile, at the mall, Taylor was sitting with Robin in the food court.
Robin seemed to be distracted but Taylor didn't notice.
"Anyway, as I was saying, after that Zac asked if she had mentioned that Isaac was still single. It was so funny." Taylor thought back to the previous month when Amy's cousin Kelea had come to visit. In the end Kelea and Isaac wound up falling in love.
When Robin realized that Taylor had stopped talking she spoke up, "What happened next?"
As Taylor proceeded to tell the story Robin drifted back into her own small world.
Just the Robin noticed someone else walk into the food court.
"Umm.......Taylor, I just remembered I was supposed to help one of my friends with their homework. I'll call you later." Robin hurriedly gathered her stuff and exited the food court as Taylor just sat there.
As Taylor threw away the rest of his food he thought to himself, "Man, this is the second time this week that Robin has abandoned me like that. I wonder what's up?"
Suddenly Taylor's beeper went off.
When he glanced down the display was flashing with the message: 'Help. Mom went to store. Come home now.'
"Perfect timing." Taylor sarcastically thought.
When Taylor got home he wasn't prepared for the chaos that met him.
Avery was crying because she said Jessica had her doll, Mackie wanted something to eat, Zac was upset that his LEGO™ fort got wrecked, and Isaac was in the middle of it all.
"Thank goodness you're here," Isaac shouted over everyone else, "could you get Mackie something to eat? Hold on Jessie, Avie! don't do that! I'll try and handle things in here."
"Sure," Taylor said laughing as he hung up his jacket, "come here Mackie!"
About twenty minutes later Taylor and Isaac finally had everything and everyone under control.
As Taylor cleaned up were Mackie had eaten Isaac walked in, "Hey Tay, I forgot to tell you earlier, but Amy called about an hour ago."
"Thanks, I guess I'll call her back when I'm done cleaning up." Taylor replied as he put the dirty dishes in the sink.
Just as Taylor was about to call Amy, Zac walked in.
"Hey guys," Zac yelled as he held up two pictures, "Which one of these do you think I should give to Lucy?"
"I like that one." Isaac said pointing to the picture in Zac's left hand.
"Thanks." Zac said walking back out of the room. Suddenly he turned back around, "Is that TV performance tomorrow or the day after that?"
"Tomorrow."
"Great."
Taylor decided to call Amy from the tree house with the cordless phone.
After the second ring Amy picked up.
"Sabec residence."
"Hi Amy!"
"Oh, hi Tay." Amy said sounding slightly surprised.
"Ike said you called earlier, I guess I was out with Robin."
"Yeah. Hey, do you think I could come over? My dad just got home from work and I don't think he'd appreciate me being on the phone."
"Sure. Just come around back, Isaac's watching everyone else inside."
"Ok, I'll be right there. Bye!"
"Bye."
As Taylor hung up he thought about Amy. He had known her for most of his life. She had always been there for him, she was one of his best friends.
A few minutes later Amy climbed up the steps and into the tree house.
"Hi Tay!"
"Hi Amy, sit down." Taylor said as he moved over.
"Thanks." Amy replied as she sat down next to Taylor.
"I haven't seen you around here lately."
"I know in-between school and your performances we haven't really hung out a whole lot."
Taylor and Amy spent a few more minutes just talking about life in general, how school was going, Taylor's upcoming performances, and other typical teenager stuff.
Taylor leaned against his seat and sighed, "You know what Amy? I don't think I'll ever understand you girls."
"What?" Amy said slightly taken aback by the sudden shift in the conversation.
"Sorry," Taylor said slightly embarrassed by his sudden shift in the conversation, "It's just Robin, she's been acting really strange lately."
Amy cringed when she heard Taylor talking about Robin but she could tell he was upset. As much as it hurt her to think about Taylor and Robin it hurt her even more to Taylor that upset.
"What do you mean by strange?" Amy forced herself to ask.
"Well," Taylor paused to collect his thoughts, "I mean, she'll just leave for no reason, outta nowhere she'll just up and say 'gotta run, call you later' but she never calls me, I coulda promised she called me Collin the other day. Just weird stuff like that."
Amy was kinda secretly pleased at what Taylor was telling her but she also realized that Taylor was coming to her for help so she forced herself to think about Taylor's feelings and not her own.
"Well," Amy tried to figure out how to phrase what she was thinking, "it sounds like maybe she's preoccupied, like she has something else on her mind. I don't know what it could be. Why don't you ask her about it?"
Taylor thought for a moment about what Amy had just said to him, "I guess you're right, but what if I ask her about it and she gets mad at me? Then what?"
"Then you didn't have a very good relationship to begin with. I mean, if she gets upset that you want to talk, then something wrong."
"True. I'll talk to her when we get back from our TV gig tomorrow."
"Speaking of your performance, what time will you be getting back?" Amy inquired.
"Oh man," Taylor sighed, "I forgot, we won't be getting back until almost midnight. I'll have to talk to Robin the day after that."
Amy glanced at her watch, "Oh shoot, Taylor, I've gotta run, it's almost nine o'clock."
Taylor jumped up, "It is? Man, I still have to get ready for tomorrow. Thanks for all your help Amy, it means alot to me."
"No problem Tay." Amy was trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to start falling any moment, "Call me when you can!" she called over her shoulder as she left for her house.
Taylor watched as Amy left. He had a strange feeling inside him, it wasn't anything like what he felt for Robin, it was different, he just couldn't quite place what it was.

PART II
The next evening while Isaac, Taylor, and Zac were gone for their TV appearance, Amy called her cousin Kelea, who lived in Hawaii.
~Ring~ ~Ring~ ~Rin......~
"Hello?"
"Hi Kelea, it's me Amy just calling for a friendly chat with my favorite cousin in the whole world."
"Ok, what's up Amy? When you start talking like that I know you have something in particular in mind that you want to talk about."
"You got me. I called to talk about Taylor."
"Taylor? What about him?"
"Well, nobody knows this, but I have always liked Taylor. You remember his girlfriend Robin right?"
"Yeah, what does she have to do with this?"
"Everything. See, I guess she's been acting strange lately, so anyway, yesterday I was talking to Taylor and somehow we wound up talking about him and Robin."
"Way harsh, so how'd you handle it?"
"Ok I suppose, I gave him a little bit of advice, leaving out what I really think is going on."
"What do you mean 'what you really think is going on'?"
"Well, Taylor mentioned that Robin had called him Collin. Collin is this boy at my school, I know that Robin likes him. I could tell ever since she first moved here, she's always flirting with him."
"So let me get this straight. You like Taylor, Taylor's going out with Robin, you think that Robin is cheating on Taylor with Collin, Taylor is coming to you for advice, he doesn't know how you feel, you don't want to break him and Robin apart if they're happy because you're the kind of person who's always putting other before you, yet you think they're going to break up, and you're stuck in the middle. Am I right?"
"I guess. So what should I do?"
"Hold on while I think.......I know, Isaac's calling me after they get back. I'll talk to him about Taylor and get back to you later. Ok?"
"Yeah. I really appreciate this Kelea, and you really are my favorite cousin."
"Thanks, look kiddo, I've gotta run, I still have homework to finish."
"Ok, bye Kelea!"
"Talk to ya soon, bye!"
~click~
When Amy hung up she felt alot better. "I hope Kelea can come up with some sort of answer for me." Amy though to herself.
The day passed and before she knew it, it was the next day.
At the Hanson household the next afternoon at three thirty, Taylor left to go meet with Robin at the mall, their parents went shopping, and Isaac was stuck watching Avery, Jessie, and Mackie along with Zac.
Just before four o'clock the phone started ringing.
"I've got it, I've got it!" Zac shouted as he ran through the house trying to find the cordless phone. Finally he found it hidden under Mackie's blanket.
"Now what was that doing under there?" Zac thought to himself as he answered the phone.
"This is Zachary Hanson speaking, how may I help you?"
"Hi Zac, it's Kelea, is Isaac home?"
Zac was really happy to be able to talk to Kelea so he wasn't about to give the phone to Isaac that easily.
"Yeah he is. So, when are you goin' to come and visit us? Isaac's always talking about you, everyone else misses you too."
"Really? Do you miss me or is it just everyone else?" Kelea asked in a joking voice.
"Of course I miss you, what kind of question is that? You and Amy are sorta like the older sisters I'll never have."
"How sweet. Look Zac, as much as I enjoy talking to you I really need to talk to Isaac, it's urgent."
"Oh, all right, hold on."
Zac put down the phone and called Isaac, "Isaac! Your girlfriend is on the phone and she says its urgent!"
"I'm coming!" A moment later Isaac came running into the room and took the phone from Zac, "Could you please leave Zac?"
"Ok." Zac reluctantly left the room.
"Hi Kelea, what's up?"
"Well, I'm worried about Taylor."
"Taylor? Why?"
"Amy called me yesterday and told me about what's been going on with Taylor and Robin."
"She did?"
"Yeah, look Isaac, don't tell her I told you this but she really likes Taylor. She doesn't know what to do because she doesn't want to break Taylor and Robin up but she thinks that Robin is cheating on Taylor."
"Wow, actually Taylor left a few minutes ago to go and talk to Robin. I can't believe that Amy likes Taylor. I mean, I know they're good friends but I thought that was as far as it went."
"Well, it's not. I'd really appreciate it if you could talk to Taylor about all of this."
"I will. Is that all you wanted to talk about? I mean, I'd love to talk longer but my parents aren't here and I'm baby-sitting the rest of my siblings."
"To bad.....I guess that was all really. I'm just glad I got to talk to you."
"Ok, well I've gotta run, I think Avery just woke up."
"Bummer, oh well, tell everyone I said hi and tell Zac I miss him too and that I'll come visit as soon as I can. I love you Isaac, Bye!"
"Bye Kelea, I love you too!"
~click~
Isaac sighed as he hung up, even though Kelea had only been gone for a month it felt alot longer than that to him.
Suddenly his thoughts drifted back to Taylor, "I wonder how he's doing, if what Kelea said is true then he'll be heart broken."
At that very moment Taylor sat in the food court waiting for Robin to show up.
Robin finally showed up at fifteen after four.
"Robin, hi." Taylor said pulling out the chair for her.
"Yeah, hi." Robin quickly sat down.
"I have to talk to you Robin, about us......" Taylor started.
"Taylor, wait a minute. Before you get started I have to tell you this. The past few weeks have been great but I don't think we should see each other anymore."
"What?" Taylor cried out in shock.
"I've been trying to drop hints by leaving all the time but you never figured it out. It's just to hard on me with you always leaving to go and perform. I need someone who will always be there, someone like Collin. I'm sure you can relate to that, wanting someone who will always be there no matter what. Anyway, I can't stay, I'm supposed to meet Collin in ten minutes. I know this is really sudden but I just think it's best for both of us, you need someone who won't care if you're always gone. We can still be friends though, Ok?"
Taylor just sort of nodded his head, inside he was being torn apart by what Robin had just said.
Robin continued to rattle on, "Well, I've gotta run, see you around. Bye!" With that she walked out of the food court and out of Taylor's life.
After a few minutes Taylor got up and started the walk home.
"Why? Why me?" Taylor thought to himself, "Why didn't I see it coming?"
The lyrics for the song 'speechless' suddenly came to his mind.

'Everybody wonders and some people know I guess that I'm some people 'cause baby it shows When will you do it? And why will you go? If you've already decided then deliver the blow
The way you walk around me. The way you talk around me. You act so speechless. You've got nothing to say. The way you walk around me. The way you talk around me. Makes me wonder. If this was only play. And I wonder will you still love me? Do you still love me, like you did before.'

"I can't believe it, she never loved me, I can't believe I never realized it. Why didn't I see it?"
Taylor finished the rest of the walk home with a heavy heart.
When he got home he ignored his older brothers calls and went straight to the tree house.
Zac wanted to see what was wrong with Taylor but Isaac wouldn't let him out of the house.
Isaac knew that Robin had broken up with Taylor and he knew that Taylor would want to be alone for awhile.
It was almost ten o'clock when Taylor finally came inside.
He stopped long enough to grab a quick sandwich before he stumbled into his room.
Taylor didn't even bother to change out of his clothes before he laid down on his bed and slid under his covers.
He soon fell into a restless sleep.

PART III
The next morning Taylor woke up before everyone else and packed some food in his backpack.
Before he left he scribbled out a quick note for his family.

'Everyone, Went out for a while, be back later. Don't worry, I'll be ok, I went to a childhood memory. Don't look for me. I just need to be alone for a while.'

Your son and brother,
Jordan Taylor Hanson

After he left the note he packed some more stuff and then he quietly opened the back door and went out.
A while later Zac woke up.
"I wonder how Taylor's doing?" Zac thought to himself as he rolled out of his bed, "Taylor. Taylor?" he called as he stood up.
"Isaac!!" Zac screamed when he realized Taylor wasn't there, "Isaac, Taylor's gone!"
"Wha? Zac, what are you talking about?" Isaac mumbled as he sat up, "What do you mean Taylor's gone?"
"I mean he's gone! Not here!" Zac ran out of the bedroom in order to see if Taylor was out there.
A moment later he ran back in, "He's not out there either! But look, he left a note."
Isaac pulled on his shirt and held out his hand, "Let me see that Zac."
Isaac took the letter from Zac and scanned over it, "A childhood memory? What is Taylor talking about?"
Zac impatiently waited for Isaac to tell him what the letter said, "Come on Ike, what does it say? I didn't get to read it. Is Tay Ok?"
"Yeah, he's fine." Isaac absent mindedly said.
After they woke up their parents and showed them the note Isaac and Zac tried to concentrate on what they were supposed to be doing.
At around noon the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it!" Zac hollered across the house, "Maybe it's Taylor." he added to himself.
When he opened the door he found Amy and Lucy standing on the other side.
"Oh, hi Amy, hi Lucy. Come on in." Zac said not even trying to hide the disappointment in his voice.
"Zac," Lucy said in a concerned tone, "are you Ok?"
"I'm sorry," Zac apologized, "It's just Taylor. He's missing."
"What?" Amy spun around from where she had hung up her coat, "Since when?"
Isaac walked into the room, "Since this morning, he left while we were still asleep. Here's the note he left."
Amy read the note out loud. When she finished reading she paused for a moment and then read the note again.
"A childhood memory?" Amy pondered over that phrase, "Oh my gosh, Isaac, I think I know where he is!"
"Where?"
"I can't tell you," Amy said as she put her coat back on, "I'll be back in a little bit."
Before Isaac had a chance to stop her she was already back out the door and halfway down the driveway.
About twenty minutes later Amy walked into a small clearing in the woods. Taylor was sitting with his back against one of the trees.
Amy slowly approached him, "Taylor?"
Taylor looked up but didn't say anything.
"What's wrong? You look like you're carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders."
Taylor sighed and then started talking, "You were right, something was going on. Robin dumped me for Collin. She said she needs someone who will always be there for her. I guess I kinda know how she feels, I mean, with all my traveling and stuff I'm barely around anymore. Robin said I need someone who won't care if I leave all the time."
Amy thought to herself, "I don't care if you leave Taylor, I won't dump you like that. I never would, I care to much."
She figured now wouldn't be the best time to admit to Taylor how she felt so she started to talk about something else.
"Nobody could figure out what you meant by a childhood memory, I guessed it though. I still remember all time we spent playing around here. This is were we promised to always be friends, do you remember that?"
A small smile appeared on Taylor's face, "Yeah, I remember."
Amy saw the smile and decided to keep going.
"How about the time we were playing tag and you tripped and skinned your knee, do you remember what I did?"
Taylor thought for a moment before he answered, "I remember, I was sitting on the ground and you came over to see what happened, I couldn't answer you, I was crying to hard. You brushed me off and helped me up."
Amy prodded a little farther, "What else?"
"Then you kissed me on the cheek, I asked why you did that and you said your mom always kissed you when you got hurt."
Taylor looked up at Amy with a smile on his face.
"That was the first time I kissed a boy you know." Amy teased.
Taylor just looked back down at the ground.
Amy sat down next to him and tried to figure out how to cheer him up again.
Without even realizing it she started to sing the opening lines of 'I will come to you'.

'When you have no light to guide you and no one to walk beside you I will come to you Oh I will come to you'

Taylor looked up and after a moment he joined her in singing the rest of the song.

'When the night is dark and stormy you won't have to reach out for me I will come to you Oh I will come to you
Sometimes when all your dreams may have seen better days
When you don't know how or why, but you've lost you way
Have no fear when your tears are fallin' I will hear your spirit calling
And I swear I'll be there come what may'

When they got to the line 'cause even if we can't be together, we'll be friends now and forever' Amy stopped singing.
When Taylor looked over Amy had tears running down her cheeks.
"Amy, what's wrong?"
Amy didn't answer, she just threw her arms around Taylor and didn't let go.
Taylor stopped talking and wrapped his arms around Amy.
In his heart Taylor felt something he had never felt before.
Slowly he pushed Amy back.
"Come on Amy, what's wrong?" Taylor asked as he wiped the tears off Amy's face.
"Taylor....I don't know. I'm happy and sad at the same time." Amy finally managed to say.
"Why are you sad?"
When Amy didn't answer Taylor put his hand under her chin and made her look straight at him.
"Amy....." Taylor started again looking right into her eyes.
Amy carefully chose her words, "I'm sad because.......well, I'm sad for you."
"For me? Why?" Taylor asked as he pushed back a loose strand of Amy's hair.
"Well, you just broke up and everything."
"Amy, I'm not upset over that anymore." Taylor said as he leaned against the tree.
"You're not?" Amy said in surprise.
"No, I'm not. Robin never loved me and I never loved her. I may of thought I did but I didn't. But Robin was right about one thing, I need someone who will always be there for me. Someone like you." Taylor added softly.
"What?" Amy cried out in shock, "What do you mean?"
"I mean I love you Amy, you've always been there for me. Even when I came to you with the trouble I was having with Robin. Isaac tried to talking to me yesterday, I basically ignored him. But I did hear him say that you like me. I know how hard it must of been talking with me about Robin. I've always just thought of you as a friends but over the past few days I realized that my feeling for you went alot deeper than that."
Amy just stood there in shock the whole time Taylor was talking, but she finally found her voice.
"You mean you've liked me all this time? But what about Robin? I mean, you two were so close and......"
Taylor stopped Amy from talking by putting his finger to his mouth and whispering 'shh'.
"Amy, I don't want to talk about Robin right now, right now all I want is to be with you."
Taylor reached over and pulled Amy close to him, Amy allowed herself to be embraced by him.
Slowly she wrapped her arms back around him and just held him, "I love you Taylor."
"I love you too Amy." Taylor answered her as he tightened his embrace.
A few minutes later Taylor pulled away from her, "I think we should get going Amy. I don't want people worrying about us."
Amy didn't say anything, she just leaned over and gave Taylor a quick kiss on the lips, "That's kiss number two." she whispered into his ear.
Before Amy even knew what was happening her kiss was returned by a slightly longer one from Taylor.
"Number three." Taylor whispered back into her ear.
Right after he said that he grabbed his backpack and started walking back home.
Amy hurried to catch up with him, and then they walked home hand in hand.
When they got back to Taylor's house everyone wanted to know what had happened.
"Oh nothing much," Taylor said as he gave Amy a quick smile, "just thinking about old times."

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