‘Hey Mom, How Bout A Snow Day?’ Tay Joked. He Was On Tour With His Brothers
And It Was Late November. They All Sat At The Table On The Tour Bus Doing They’re
Schoolwork And It Was Obviously Snowing Outside. ‘Taylor, Snow Days Are For Kids
Who Go To An Actual School Building, And When They Cant Even Get To School
They Have These Little Things Called Snow Days, Which Means They Stay Home!’ Ike
Said Sarcastically Rolling His Eyes. ‘Yes Sweetie, Or When They’re Snowed In And
Cant Get Out Of They’re House!’ Diana Said Added. ‘Heh, Mom Said Snowed In...Didnt
We Have A CD Called Snowed In?’ Zac Asked Blankly. ‘Yes Zachary’ Diana Replied
Laughing. They All Laughed It Off As Zac Being, Well Zac. All Of Them Except Taylor.
He Knew Better, He Knew Zac Was More Then Likely Stoned Out Of His Face. Tay
Had Caught Him Getting Stoned Once Before And Promised Not To Tell On Him. He
Knew It Wasnt Zac’s Fault, It Was Basically The Fans Fault. Zac Had Actually Broke
Down Crying Practically In Hysterics That Day Tay Caught Him. Zac Explained He
Couldnt Take It Anymore, And This Was His Own Way Of Dealing. Taylor Understood
And Thats Why He Wouldnt Tell Anyone, But He Was So Worried About Him. Zac
Promised Tay It Was Only Pot Occasionally. But The Fans Got Worse Everyday And
Taylor Noticed Zac High More Frequently. ‘Alright Boys. Put Your Books Away And Go
Sit In Your Bunks. Dad Wants To Talk To The 3 Of You Together!’ Diana Said Packing
Up Her Teaching Books. Ike And Zac Groaned As They Cleaned Up, But Tay Just
Picked Up His Notebook And Pen And Walked Down To Where They’re Beds Were.
He Threw His Stuff On His Bed And Hopped Up. Maybe This Little Talk Would Get His
Mind Off How High Zac Was, And How His Little Brother Could Barely Make It Up To
His Bed. Tay Shook His Head. ‘Boys, This Is A Very Serious Conversation...And I Want
All Of Your Attention!’ Walker Said Sternly. Zac Giggled To Himself And Everyone
Looked Over At Him. ‘And What Exactly Is So Funny Zachary?’ Walker Said Alot More
Stern. ‘Oh, Uh..Nothing..I’m Jus Remembering Tays Face When That Guy Jumped On
Stage In That Dress And Tried To Kiss Him!’ Zac And Ike Burst Into Fits Of Mad
Laughter As Tay Sunk Into His Pillow And Went Beat Red. Walker Looked Over And
Noticed The Pain In Taylor’s Eyes And Yelled At Zac And Ike. ‘YOU TWO STOP IT
RIGHT NOW! How Old Are You Isaac? 20 Or 12?’ He Was Really Mad. ‘Sorry Dad,
Sorry Tay..’ Ike Said Quiet. ‘This Is Not Funny Anymore! Its Kind Of Scary Actually, I’ve
Ordered Double And A Half Security And Were Setting Limits On What You Can Do On
Stage. Were Not Sure If It’s Safe For Yawl To Leave Your Instruments!’ Tay’s Eyes
Filled Instantly With Tears And He Discreetly Wiped Them On His Sleeve. Diana
Noticed This. ‘Tay Sweetie, Come Down Here..I Wanna Talk To You Alone For A
Second. Walker, You Keep Talking To Ike And Zachary.’ Walker Nodded And Diana
Stood Up As Tay Hopped Down Off His Bunk. He Walked Towards His Mother Averting
His Brothers Eyes. Diana Let Tay Walk In Front Of Her As She Closed The Curtain And
Followed Him To The Table. They Sat Down Across From Each Other. ‘Tay, Hunny..I’m
So Sorry Its Come To This..’ She Said Compassionately. He Looked Up At Her, Eyes
Overflowing. ‘Mom, When We Started This..We Did It Because We Loved It..And I Still
Do..But We Also Started Because It Was Fun..Mom..Its Not Fun Anymore..When
Performing Starts To Get Scary..It’s Gone To Far..I’m Even Scared For Mackie, Jessie,
Avie And Zoe Now! I Didnt Tell You But In Toronto, Some Girls Had A Sign That Said,
‘We Wanna Mack On Mackie!’ Mom, Mack Means They Want To Sleep With Him!
They Were All About 17-18..MACKENZIE’S 6!’ Tay Started Crying Really Hard Now.
Diana Put Her Hand On His And Her Own Eyes Filled Up Because Of The Pain And
Suffering Her 3 Oldest Babies Were Going Through. ‘Tay, Your Dad And I Were
Talking..And’ She Took A Deep Breath. ‘We Told You All From The Beginning If You
Wanted To Stop You Could..And If You Dont Have The Passion Anymore..And If What
You Once Loved So Much Makes You Cry, I Dont See Torturing Yourself..Besides, Its
Not JUST You..We’ve Noticed Big Changes In Both Your Brothers, They Both Got
Moody And Tempermental..Zac’s Never Home When We Go To Tulsa, And Isaac Bites
Our Heads Off Every Chance He Gets! And I’ve Seen You 3 Fight In The Past 6
Months More Then I’ve Seen The 7 Of You Fight In Your Whole Lives. Thats Not You
Guys. So..Maybe You 3 Should Talk, Then Tell Dad And I What You Want To Do..’ The
Tears Spilled Over On To Her Cheeks, She Squeezed His Hand. ‘I’ll Talk To Them..I’m
Not Even Sure Anymore If This Is What I Want To Do..Thank You So So Much For
Understanding Mom...’ He Stood Up And Hugged Her. ‘Your The Best, Well..You And
Dad!’ They Both Smiled Through They’re Tears. ‘No Matter What You Boys Decide, I
Love You, And So Does Dad!’ She Said Holding Him Tight. ‘We Know Mom, We Love
You Too..’ Tay Let Go And Walked Back Over To The Curtain And When He Opened
It, Walker, Isaac And Zac All Stared At Him. ‘Um, Dad, Could I Talk To Zac And Ike For
A Little Bit?’ Tay Asked Nervously. ‘Yeah, Sure Tay...’ Walker Said Standing Up And
Walking Threw The Curtain, Pulling It Closed Behind Him. Zac And Ike Stared At Tay
Still, He Cleared His Throat. ‘Um..Alright, Guys..We Seriously Have To Talk
Here...Mom Brought Up An Interesting Point. I Told Her, The Only Reason We Became
Hanson The Band Was Because We Loved Singing, And Playing And Whatnot...And
Because It Was A Ton Of Fun. To Go Out On A Stage And Sing And Do
Whatever...But Now That Has To Be Limited? I Mean, Dont Get Me Wrong Guys..I Still
LOVE Doing It..But Itz Not Fun Anymore, And Like Dad Said..Itz Actually Kinda Scary.
So Mom Said...We Should Talk..And If We Wanna Stop...’ He Took A Deep Breath.
‘We Can....’ Zac And Ike Both Looked Down, And Ike Said Quietly, ‘So...You Think We
Should Stop? You Dont Wanna Do This Anymore?’ He Looked Up At Tay. ‘No Ike, I DO
Wanna Do This..I Want To Be The Keyboard Player For Hanson, With My Brothers
Playing Drums And Guitar...More Then ANYTHING In This World! I Dont WANT To
Stop..But I Think, Personally..Thats What Its Come Down To...’ He Stared Straight In
Ikes Eyes. ‘I’m With Tay...’ Zac Said Quietly. Whatever High He Was On, He Was Just
Brought Down. ‘The Fans Are Crazy...Why Didnt We See It Starting Back In 97 In
Jakarta? Or At The Paramus Park Mall? Guys, They’re Just Getting Worse...I Dont
Know How Much I Can Take..I Mean I’m 15 And I’ve Been Told By Over 100 People
They Wanna RAPE ME! Thats Not Cool Ike!’ Zac Said Sternly. His Eyes Filled Up And
Tay Got Up And Went Over To The Edge Of Zac Bed, He Put His Arms Around Him
And Hugged Him As Zac Cried On Tay. It Was Like He Was 3 Again, Tay Decided
Then That It Was Over. ‘Well, Ike...Whatever You Decide, I’m Out...’ Tay Said As His
Own Tears Spilled From His Eyes On To His Cheeks. ‘Me Too’ Zac Said In Between
Sobs. ‘No Guys, I’m With You...’ Ike Said Standing Up Walking Over To His Little
Brothers. He Put On Arm On Each Tay And Zacs Back. ‘I’m Not Going To Let You Two
Be Put Through This..Your 17 And 15 And Dont Need To Be Exposed To This..Itz Not
Right...’ ‘Thanks Ike..’ Said Said Crying. ‘ Tay, It’s Fine..Maybe One Day, When The
Fans Mature And Calm Down We Can Try It Again, But For Now..No They Need To
Learn That Were People..’ Ike Said. ‘And That They’re Crazy!’ Zac Said Trying To
Lighten It! Tay And Ike Chuckled. ‘Can I Come In?’ Diana Asked Opening The Curtain.
‘Yeah For Sure Mom.’ Tay Said Still Hugging Zac. ‘Mom, We’ve Decided To Stop..At
Least For Now..’ Ike Reported. ‘I Thought So..And Maybe You Should Just Call It A
Leave Of Absence For Now..So Your Options Are Open For Whatever You Decide.’
She Always Had The Right Things To Say Tay Thought. ‘Awesome Idea..We Will..’ Tay
Said. ‘Aw, Zachary Hunny...Come Here..’ Diana Said Softly. Zac Let Go Of Tay And
Hopped Down Of His Bed And Straight To Diana Who Put Her Arms Around Him
Immdidiatly. Tay Looked At Ike And They Both Walked Over To Diana And She
Enveloped All 3 In A Hug. This Was One Of The Biggest Decisions They Had Ever
Made..And Tay Just Prayed To God It Was A Good One.
