"Guys, what if we don't win?" Zac whined to his brothers a few weeks later.
"Then we don't win, Zac, why is this such a big deal?"
"Because it seems like we loose to Backstreet boys every year, and I don't want to loose again." Zac said.
"Does it matter?" Taylor asked. THey were in their basment/MOE office, and Zac was sitting at the computer. Isaac sat in the corner absentmindedly strumming his guitar.
"Yes." Zac said. "Besides, Grammy online says we're the favored ones for ablum of the year, but then we're beind the Backstreet Boys in the online poll." Zac said to no one in particular. "I just don't get it."
"Zac, do youself a favor." Taylor said, flipping the computer off.
"Hey, I was working there."
"No you weren't."
"Okay, so i wasn't." Zac said, holding up his hands in mock defense.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Taylor said.
"Oh come on, I draw all the cartoons." Zac said.
"Yeah yeah." Taylor said. He looked over at Isaac, who was still strumming.
"Ike..." Taylor said.
He didn't look up.
"Ike!" Taylor said a little louder.
"Ike...." Taylor said in a girly southern voice, mocking Wendy.
Isaac's head snapped up. "What?"
Taylor and Zac laughed. "What?" He demanded, setting his guitar down.
"Oh nothing." Taylor said.
"If you're poking fun at Wendy, stop it." Isaac said sternly.
"What?" Taylor asked. "Just trying to get you out of your daze, that's all." He said.
"Sorry." Isaac said.
"What's up with you?" Zac asked, flipping the computer on again.
"Oh...nothing." Isaac said, twisting his guitar pick in his fingers.
"Come on...we know you have a thing for Wendy." Zac said.
"A thing?" Taylor asked. "A thing? Heck, the boy is over there twenty four seven." Taylor said.
"I am not!" Isaac piped up.
"You are too." Taylor said with grin.
"I'm over there...often." Isaac said.
"Uh huh." Taylor said, leaning back on the couch.
"So do you guys think I should ask her out?" He asked.
"Well, yeah, if you like her." Taylor said.
"It's just that, I don't want to spoil what we have, ya know?" Isaac said.
"Oh." Taylor said.
"What do you mean, 'oh'?"
"It's one of those." Zac said.
"Those what?" Isaac asked.
"On of those, oh we have a beatiful friendship but i'm a horny ass so i asked her out and now she thinks i'm...horny." Zac said.
Taylor and Isaac just looked at him.
"Long story." Zac said.
Taylor gave him a wierd look, then turned to look at Isaac again. "So what's the problem?" He asked.
"Well...it's just that...I feel like I know her, but i have a feeling there's something she's just not telling me." Isaac said. "But I don't want to press her, but I need to know, because I think she could be the one."
"Really." Taylor said, raising his eyebrows.
"I know I haven't known her that long, but we just talk so much and about so many things...I just feel like I've known her for years." Isaac said.
"Does she know about us?" taylor asked.
"The band?"
"Yeah." Taylor said.
"Amazingly enough, no." Isaac said. "She must have been living under a rock back there."
"Uh huh." Taylor said.
"Well I have no idea what to do, so if you think of anything, just tell me." Isaac said.
"Okay." Taylor said. But truthfully, he didn't really have any great ideas either.
Wendy smiled as she watched her kittens playing. They were so cute, and she loved the company. She giggled as Mousy climbed up the leg of her jeans. He squirmed and struggled, until she bent down to pick him up.
"You're Isaac's favorite." She said.
The kitten looked at her sweetly.
"You're a cutie too." She said. Ever since Isaac had brought him back from being lost a few weeks ago, the kitten loved him. Every time Isaac came over, the kitten would run to him and demand to be held and petted the entire time of Isaac's stay.
He told her he had never had a cat before, just dogs. He would sit on the floor, leaned up against the couch, holding the kitten in his hand against his chest, stroking his little head ever so often. She smiled when she thought of Isaac. He was so sweet and kind, and he loved to talk with her for hours on end, sometimes about nothing at all.
They would talk about books and literature mostly. She had been bored and read a lot back home, and he read all the time on the tour bus. He knew a lot about a lot of things, and sometimes Wendy felt insuperior to him. Most of the time though, he was polite and sweet, and they just talked. She didn't have a job yet, but she was looking for something.
She knew she wanted to do something artsy, but she had only completed through the eleventh grade before dropping out to get married. Dark thoughts suddenly flashed in front of her head, and she knew that she din't have to think about it anymore. Dan would never find her here. This was the last place he would look. Little old Tulsa Oklahoma. Right?