Mary Anne stopped pacing for a few moments to pound on the door. "Well?" She shouted at the closed bathroom door. Ricki had been in there nearly twenty minutes.

When she heard no answer, she went over to Ricki's bed where Zac sat, his elbows propped on his knees, his head in his hands.

"I dunno, Zac." Mary Anne said.

Zac looked up. He looked tired and stressed.

I would be too... Mary Anne thought.

"How long is this gonna take?" He muttered, getting up to pace like Mary Anne had been.

"I don't know." She repeated, staring at the Hanson poster above his bed. If she really is pregnant.... Mary Anne looked at the carefree and happy pictures of Zac in the posters. ...his life sure is gonna change...

Suddenly the door opened and Ricki emerged. Both Zac and Mary Anne searched her blank face for any trace of a hint.

"I'm not pregnant." Ricki said in a monotone voice.

Zac let out a sigh, and Mary Anne jumped up to hug her friend.

"Thank god." Ricki said, her body starting to shake with sobs. She hugged her friend tightly.

"It's okay sweetie." Mary Anne said, hugging her friend. "It's okay."

Zac could only watch awkwardly as the two girls hugged, oblivious to him. The silence in the room was deafening.



Zac sat on his bed the next day. It had been three weeks since 'the accident.' That was what he and Ricki called it. Because that was what it was. An accident.

Right? He couldn't convince himself of that. He also couldn't deny the feelings he had towards Ricki. He sat on his bed and watched her roll her socks together in pairs on the floor.

He liked her. It wasn't the normal kind of 'like'. It wasn't like Zac would go to a club or see the girls wearing skimpy clothes waiting for them backstage after a concert. He couldn't hit on Ricki. He couldn't touch her or flirt with her, or treat her like any other girl. He didn't know why.

He didn't really want to, anyway. Ricki wasn't like that. He had feelings for her. Strong ones. But how could he tell her? She was so mad at him. She had been, for what seemed like the longest time.

Ricki looked up at Zac. He was sitting on his bed, staring blankly into space. He had been doing that a lot. She couldn't tell what he was thinking about from the expression on his face, for it was completely blank and motionless.

"Zac?" She asked. He jumped a bit and looked up at her.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"You okay?" She asked timidly.

Zac took a deep breath and smiled wearily. "Yeah." He said. The two locked eyes for a moment. They were both frozen for a few seconds, then both looked down, embarassed.

"Can I ask you something?" He asked.

"Yeah." She said, looking up again. She went back to folding socks.

"You promise not to get mad?" he asked.

Ricki swallowed hard. "Yes." She said quietly, keeping her eyes on the rolled up socks.

"Do you....Do you remeber anything about that night?" He asked.

Ricki paused a moment. "No." She said.

"Anything?" He asked.

"I remember drinking...and then being drunk. And a little bit....walking home. And I remember going in the dorms and some of the elevetor....but no. Other than that, no." She said.

"Oh." He said. He didn't even remember that much.

"Yeah." She said.

"I'm sorry." he said, looking down at his hands.

"I am too." She said.

Zac watched her finish rolling her socks, and then put them in the drawer. She didn't say anything after that. His feelings would have to go untold. Again.



Zac was awakened from his Sunday evening nap later on that day by his phone ringing. He blindly fumbled around on his nightstand to find it.

"Hello?" He croaked.

"Zac?" Taylor asked.

"Yeah?"

"What are you doin?"

"Sleeping." Zac muttered.

"Really?"

"Not now." Zac said, rubbing his eyes and sitting up. He looked around the room for Ricki, but she wasn't there. She must be over at Mary Anne's. Again.

"Oh, okay." Taylor said nonchalantly.

"What's up?"

"Well, since you're up, I might as well tell you now." Taylor said.

Zac rolled his eyes and yawned. "Okay. Shoot."

"Can you take your leave anytime?"

"I guess." Zac said.

"Well, we need you to leave tomorrow." Taylor said.

"What?" Zac was awake now.

"Tomorrow. We've got you on an eight o clock flight to LA tomorrow morning."

"Crap." Zac said.

"Well, we got the stuff you sent us, and we were able to work it in, now we need to do the demos. Then we can have the album out by October." Taylor said.

"Oh Tay...." Zac whined.

"Zac, the fans have been going nuts. We've kept them waiting. They havn't heard shit from us since last summer. The tour wasn't as great as we thought, so we gotta get busy." Taylor pointed out.

"Oh..."

"Is this a bad time?"

"You have no idea...."