Isaac stood in front of the mirror studying his reflection. His hair was getting long. He needed a shower. He needed a tan.

"What are you doing?" Zac asked walking into the room.

"Let's go get haircuts," Isaac said to his younger brother.

Zac eyed his brother suspiciously. Why was he acting so weird?

"I don't need a haircut," Zac said. "And neither do you. But I would highly suggest taking a shower." He threw a dirty towel at his brother and left the room.

"Yeah, whatever," Isaac muttered. 555-0110. The clock said 1:32 PM. He didn't know if Danielle was home, or even if she remembered him. He decided to go for it. He grabbed the phone off of the dresser and dialed the now familiar number. When it began to ring his heart started to race. What if she didn't like him?

"Hello?" A man's voice answered.

"Uh, is Danielle there?" Isaac asked, sure the man was her father.

"Yeah, hold on a second."

Isaac took in a deep breath and anticipated hearing her voice. What would he say to her?

"Hello?" Danielle greeted.

"Hi, Danielle, this is Isaac, from the store. Remember me?"

"Oh yeah, hey. I thought you weren't going to call. It's been a few days," She smiled into the phone. Isaac was glad she had remembered him. And she had waited for him to call, that meant she must like him.

"Sorry, I've been busy," Isaac apologized.

There was a short moment of silence that bothered Isaac. He needed something to say. Anything.

"I've been kind of busy too," Danielle said breaking the silence. Isaac was secretly grateful. "I got a new horse, and I've had to work with her."

"You have horses?" Isaac had never really ridden a horse. He hated to admit it, but they scared him.

"Yeah, I have three. Kara, Jesper, and my new one, Colly," Danielle said.

"Cool. I have a cat," Isaac said. He had no concept of what it was like to raise horses. His cat was all he knew.

"I got some of those too," Danielle laughed. "And I have a dog named Lily."

"We had a dog, but it died. It got really sick. We've never had good luck with dogs. Cat's are a lot easier."

"Yeah, they are. But we've had Lily since she was a puppy. She's six now."

Isaac thought about asking her to do something. Was it too soon? They had just met, and this was their first phone conversation. Would she turn him down?

"So, why would I know who you were?" Danielle asked, still wondering about what he had said at the grocery store.

saac almost choked. She remembered it! God, I am so stupid!

"Oh nothing. I was being stupid. Just forget I ever said that," he attempted at making her forget.

"No, I wanna know. Have we met or something?"

"No, we've never met."

"Well, what is it? Are you famous or something?"

Isaac held his breath. He could tell her.

"Uh, kinda," he decided that was enough.

"What kind of famous? Around here famous, or around everywhere famous?" Danielle asked.

"Everywhere," Isaac mumbled. He couldn't understand why he was embarrassed. If she didn't know he was famous, he didn't want her to know. It would ruin everything.

"What?" Danielle hadn't heard him.

"Everywhere," he said.

"What do you do?" Danielle asked.

Isaac knew it was over now. She would know who he was and then she would only want to hang out with him to get closer to Taylor, or to get money or something. He decided to just tell her.

"I'm in a band," he said.

"What band?"

"Hanson."

There was a short silence.

"I've never heard of them," Danielle said.

Isaac's face fell. He was sure that it was going to be over and she would never want him just for him, but she didn't even know who he was.

"You haven't?" He was slightly glad.

"Well, my dad is the pastor at my church. I only listen to Christian music," she told him. Never had he ever been so happy about something.

"Well, you're not missing much. We're not that great. Maybe I'll have you listen to our CD sometime."

"Yeah, I would like that," Danielle said.

She would like that. There was a future for them.

"Well, what are you doing later?" Isaac decided to bite the bullet and go for it. She had already said she wanted to hear his album, maybe she possibly wanted to come over and take a swim, or catch a matinee.

"Nothing. Nothing all day. Why, you wanna do something?" Danielle flirted.

"I was thinking about it," Isaac flirted back.

"Well, what did you have in mind?"

"You like to swim? I have a pool. You like movies? I know where the theater is. It's up to you," Isaac said praying she would have a preference. He hated choosing the things to do, there was always something wrong with them.

"I'm hot. Swimming sounds nice," Danielle said.

"Well, if you tell me where you live, I can come get you. Unless you want to get a ride here."

"Getting to my house is a piece of cake," Danielle smiled.

Isaac was happy. She had accepted. He didn't know if this was an actual date, but it was a start. Something in him knew this would be good. He could tell by the way she flirted with him, and the way she told him about herself. Never had he ever been more excited about a girl than he was with Danielle.

He got the directions to her house and hung up the phone with a promise to be there in an hour. He ran to the surprisingly empty bathroom and took a quick shower, following up on Zac's suggestion.

After the shower, he grabbed some clean clothes from his dresser drawers and threw them on. He still had to convice someone to go with him. Convincing people in his family was always a chore. There was always a catch.

Isaac ran down the stairs to see Zac and Peachy munching on some apples at the kitchen counter.

". . . and everytime I would look at her, she would tell me to duck. So I ducked, and this brick flew over my head and landed in the pile of sand. I walked over to the sand, and I was looking at it and I could see my reflection," Zac was telling Peachy.

Isaac walked over to them and grabbed an apple slice.

"You guys wanna go with me?" He asked taking a bite.

"Go with you where?" Zac asked.

"I'm going to pick up my friend Danielle and we're gonna go swimming. I would love it if you came, because I have only met her once and it scares me to be in a car alone with her so soon. Please come with me, no catches. Just do it because you are nice people," Isaac pleaded. He couldn't help but smile at the desperation in his voice.

"I'll go," Peachy offered. She was actually happy that she got a chance to get out of the house, no matter how short it was for.

"Only if I can go swimming with you," Zac said. Isaac knew there was going to be a catch.

"I don't care," he said in exasperation. "Just come with me."

"Fine."

The living room was empty when Taylor came down to watch TV. He had heard Isaac's car leave and had assumed that Zac and Peachy went with him. He hated that he wasn't invited along, but he didn't want to face Peachy. He wasn't ready. It was all he could think about. At times he wanted to just run to her and finish what they had started, but he would shake the desire as soon as it appeared. He didn't want the feelings he was feeling. He felt like he was betraying Reggie. His best friend since kindergarten. Things were getting so complicated.

Taylor flopped down on the couch and turned the television on. After a few seconds of channel surfing he determined there was nothing on, and the screen went blank. He had to find something to do before Peachy got home. He didn't want to have to be in the same room with her. He wished they could have been working in the studio that day so he wouldn't have to worry about running into her.

"Hey pig," Jessica greeted as she walked through the room.

"Hi Jess," Taylor mumbled.

"What? Are you bummed that you didn't score with Val last night?" Jessica asked as she sat in the seat across from him.

"Jessica, shut up. You wouldn't even know."

"Oh yes I would, Tay. You're hornier than Zac. You're the horniest of them all. I better tell Peachy to watch out," Jessica said with an evil grin. She picked up a pillow and threw it playfully at her older brother, then stood up and walked out of the room.

Taylor sighed in exasperation. He was not that transparent. And he was not horny. He proved that last night when he stopped everything. He still couldn't shake the feelings of guilt. His chest felt as if it were giong to cave in whenever he thought of her and what they could have done. He wanted it just as much as her, he couldn't deny that. All of his conflicting emotions were hitting him. He had wanted it, but he had stopped it. He felt guilty for not going on, but also guilty that he almost ruined his friendship with Reggie. Taylor couldn't decide what to feel.

He stood up and headed back up to his room. Maybe taking a nap would help him sort out his feelings.

"The pool is huge! It has a diving board and a slide off to the side a little. You'll love it," Zac told Danielle. She smiled and followed him through the house and out the back doors with Isaac and Peachy close on their heels.

"How long have you lived here," Danielle asked no one in particular.

"About a week," Zac said.

"Where are you from?"

"Well, we live in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We're just here recording the demos for the new album," Zac said as he led Danielle to the side of the pool.

"So you guys sing, and dance, or what?" Danielle asked, still not quite sure what kind of musicians she was dealing with.

"No, we can't dance worth crap. We play instruments. I play drums, Ike guitar, and Tay keyboards. We all sing, but Taylor takes lead mostly."

"Isaac plays guitar? Is he any good?" Danielle asked.

"A lot better than me. I don't think he gives himself enough credit though," Zac said.

"Hey,. I heard that," Isaac said coming up and standing next to Danielle. "And I do suck. I shouldn't be labeled a 'great' guitarist, that's for sure."

"Shut up you guys, I'm going to put my swimsuit on and come back out. You all better be in the pool when I get back," Peachy called over her shoulder as she headed into the house. She liked Danielle, and she was glad that Isaac had met her. This was a pleasant change for him, and everyone in his life. She could tell he was happier. He even invited her and Zac to go with him to pick her up.

Peachy found her bathing suit hanging up in the bathroom and quickly changed into it. She made sure she took her eye make up off and then opened the door, and without thinking ran into a solid figure.

"Oh, sorry," she apologized as she looked up and realized it was Taylor she had collided with.

"S'okay," he said. But before she could utter a response he was in the bathroom with the door shut and locked behind him.

Peachy frowned in confusion but quickly desregarded it and went back outside to Zac, Isaac, and Danielle.