Ricki sighed. "Well, what do you want me to do?"

"Go get him." Mary Anne said.

"How?"

"We already discussed this." Mary Anne said.

Ricki laughed. "But how? I don't know where he lives, where he'll be...heck, I don't even know what to tell him if I did find him." Ricki said. She reached in her pocket and smacked a few dollar bills down onto the table.

Mary Anne smiled devilishly. Ricki narrowed her eyes. "What?" She asked.

"That's not a problem." She stated.

"Why not?" Ricki asked, frowning. She gave her friend a bewildered look.

"Because before he left this morning, Zac gave me this." Mary Anne said, reaching in her pocket. She pulled out a folded up envelope and slid it across the table to Ricki.

"What's this?" Ricki asked.

"Read." mary Anne said, nodding."

Ricki tore open the envelope. A small piece of paper fell out, and she placed it aside. She read the letter that was folded up inside.


Dear Ricki,

So much has happened, and I don't know where to start. Here goes; I'm sitting her, in the early hours of the morning, watching you sleep. I've never seen you look more peacefull. You look so perfect, I don't want to disturb you, so I'm writing you this. I want to tell you a thousand things, but I know if I tried they would only come out a jumbled mess and things would only get worse. But before I go, I have to tell you something. What happened between us that night was a mistake, I'll admit to that. But not entirely. It shouldn't have been done like that, in that manner. I would give the world just to try it again. I would also give anything to take back all the pain I have caused you. I know you probabally hate me; sometimes I think that if I weren't myself I would hate me. I've wished so many times that we wouldn't have been drunk that night; everything that was going on at the times only drowned out all memory and emotions. That's not how it was supposed to be, and I know that. Please give me a chance to make it up to you. I'm sorry, and if I could do anything to make it better, I would, and I will. I'm not sure what I expect you to do with this now; I just wanted you to know. Please find it somewhere in you to forgive me; I know I've been difficult. I want to hear from you. I know I'll miss you and I love you. I know that, at least. Not much else. I don't know when I'll be back, and I don't know if you'll ever see me again. I can only hope that you will.


I love you


Ricki sat down the letter. She picked up the small piece of paper. On it was written an adress. "Let's go." She said. With that, she jumped up, pulled Mary Anne with her, and started to run back towards the dorms. She had something to do.



"Mary Anne, what am I doing?" Ricki asked, flying back into her room. She threw the door open so quickly it baged against the wall of the dormroom.

"You're doing the right thing." Mary Anne said, skipping into the room after Ricki.

"Then why does my stomach feel like it's about to explode?" Ricki asked, turning to face her friend.

"It doesnt. You've just got....butterflies of excitement!" Mary Anne exclaimed, flopping down onto Ricki's bed.

Ricki dug in her closet for a duffle bag. She began throwing a few garmets into it, not bothering to fold or match.

"Then does it feel like they're spitting lead?" She asked, thowing an extra pair of socks into her bag.

"That's the love you feel for him." Mary Anne said, gazing at Zac's Hanson poster that still hung on the wall above his bed.

"Typical." Ricki muttered, running into the bathroom to pull her hair into a ponytail.

"He's a keeper." Mary Anne said, studying Zac's face on the poster.

"I know." Ricki said, emerging from the bathroom. "That's why I'm about to do the craziest thing I've ever done."

Mary Anne grinned. "I'll drive you." She said.



Zac sat in the airport, waiting. He had another fifteen minutes before he would even board the plane. Then it would be another twenty before it got off the ground. He sighed. He didn't think he could take sitting still that long anyway. He had walked around the airport at least twice in during his two hour layover and had about three cups of cheap, caffine charged black coffee. The man beside him looked at him sidways as Zac bounced his leg, causing the entire row of seats to shake.

"Sorry." Zac said. He smiled nervously, and crossed his legs.

"Nervous son?" The man asked. He looked over his glasses. He looked about seventy, with grey hair and an old but lively face. He sat with his legs crossed, reading a newspaper.

Zac shook his head. "No, no...not nervous really."

"Seem to have plenty of energy." He said.

"Yeah...yeah...I've got energy."

"Waiting for someone?" He asked.

"No. I'm leaving someone actually." Zac admitted.

"You don't look too happy about it." The man pointed out.

"yeah, well....I don't really want to talk about it." Zac said. He smiled awkwardly at the man.

"Alright." He replied. With that, he went back to his paper.



Ricki took a deep breath as she stood in line, waiting to board the plane. She shifted her weight nervously from one foot to the other. She took a deep breath and looked around. She saw mostly people sitting and waiting for their flight - they all looked tired and bored. She inhaled again and handed the woman her ticket.

Once she was on the plane, she looked for her seat.

"Excuse me." She said. She scooted in front of a kissing couple to get the her seat.

"Sorry." She said. They looked at her strangely, then went back to kissing. She sighed. I wish that could be me right now...maybe it would be, if I hadn't screwed everything up so badly...

She leaned back in her seat and waited for the plane to take off.



"So I left."

"You did? Why?"

"because I'm a rock star, I had to." Zac explained ten minutes later.

The old man frowned. "but you said you loved her. So why did you leave?"

"Because it's more complicated than that. I could't stay there. She hated me."

"But you loved her." He was trying to get Zac's story straight.

"But she hated me." Zac frowned. "I think."

The man sighed. "I'll tell you what. I've listened to your story three times and I'm still not sure what the hell went on, but I can tell you this. You don't seem to have much together, but you seem to go nuts for this girl. You're a mess without her. Just look at yourself. If you know you love her, then go get her. No need for all this mumbo jumbo. You're making it way to copmlicated. Hate is not good, but love is love. And I do know that."

Zac stared at him, bewildered. "You know what? You're right. You're absolutley right. I've got to go." he grabbed his bag. "I've got to go." He repeated. "Thanks. Thanks a lot!" He called over his shoulder.

Once the arrangements were made, he stepped into a corner of a waiting area and pulled out his cell phone, and dialed Taylor's number.

"Hello, Taylor? It's me. Listen, there's been a slight change of plans...."