“Hmm? Go ‘way,” I murmured, sleep filled. Someone tapped me on the forehead and I pushed the hand away before rolling over face-down into my pillow.
“Isaac, I need a favor,” the voice persisted. I paused for a moment, contemplating ignoring the person, but finally rolled over and opened my eyes. Zac was peering down at me. I groaned.
“What time is it?” I asked.
“4:30,” Zac replied.
“God, Zac, can’t you ask me for favors at normal times of the day? Say, like, noon or something?” I groaned, closing my eyes again. Zac shook my arm.
“I’m sorry, but this is really important,” he insisted. I pushed his hand away. “Isaac! Please, this is serious. I wouldn’t have come to you if it wasn’t.”
“Okay okay, I’m up. What do you want?” I asked, sitting up and rubbing my eyes a little.
“Don’t get mad,” he started. I chuckled. “That’s a great way to start off,” I commented.
“I need to borrow some money from you,” he said. I gave him a look of disbelief.
“You got me up at 4:30 to ask me for money?” I repeated. He nodded, and I sighed, then reached for my wallet in the bedside table. “How much? $40.00? $50.00?”
“$600.00,” he corrected. I whipped my head around and gave him a wide-eyed look.
“$600.00?! What for?”
“I can’t tell you,” he said. I narrowed my eyes a little, and he shook his head. “It’s not what you’re thinking. It’s not for drugs or anything. I just need it.”
“I don’t know, Zac…” I trailed off. He gave me a pleading look.
“Please Isaac? I wouldn’t have asked you if I didn’t really, really need it. And I’ll pay you back, with interest. I swear,” he insisted, air-drawing an X over his heart with his finger. Something inside me knew that I shouldn’t give him the money, but I trusted him. He was my brother, and if I couldn’t trust my own brother, who could I trust? I finally nodded, and a smile of relief passed over Zac’s face. “Thank you. You have no idea how much I appreciate this. I will pay you back, I swear it. I’ll pay you interest even.”
“No, Zac, that’s okay. Just do me one thing,” I said, reaching for my checkbook. Zac nodded eagerly.
“Anything,” he agreed.
I gave him a serious look as I paused before writing out the check. “Don’t make me regret doing this.”
“How did you get up here?” I asked. She pointed at the railing.
“Ike, the ground’s like, 6 feet down. I climbed,” she answered with a grin. She sat down in the chair opposite me and gave me a thoughtful look. “So you never answered my question.”
“Which was…?” I trailed off, trying to look anywhere but in her eyes. I was still a little agitated that she hadn’t returned my call the night before.
“What, did you have a hot date last night or something? You look tired,” she said. I shook my head and sighed a little.
“If you must know, I stayed at home by myself last night because I was waiting for you to return my call so that we could do something,” I replied. Willow’s eyes widened as an “o” of surprise formed on her lips.
“Oh my God, Ike, I’m so sorry! I forgot…” I gave her a hurt look, and she shook her head. “No, I didn’t forget. I didn’t have time…”
“Oh, yeah, thanks. That makes me feel a lot better,” I shot back, standing up and walking into the house. I really wasn’t that hurt, but I was feeling in a pouty mood. Willow followed me.
“Isaac… I’m sorry! Don’t be mad,” she said, putting her hand on my arm.
“Yeah, and so I was up late doing nothing, and then Zac woke me up at the crack of dawn to ask me for $600.00. So forgive me for not being the poster child of happiness this morning,” I grumbled. I paused and looked at her. “Where were you last night?”
“Wait, what did you say about Zac?” she asked, ignoring my question.
“He asked for $600.00. Why?”
“Did he tell you what it was for?”
“No, he wouldn’t tell. But I trust him; he wouldn’t do anything bad… Why are you asking this?” I questioned her, feeling confused. The intense look in Willow’s eyes softened, and she shook her head.
“No reason. Just curious, is all,” she replied. Then she switched gears. “Did he mention if things with Reagan were okay?”
“No… why would he? What’s going on with Reagan?” I was now confused.
“I don’t know, I just-”
“Wait a second, what are you doing? You are confusing me. Why do you keep changing the subject?” I shot out questions at her. “Where were you last night?”
“Why is that so important?” Will shot back.
“I don’t know. Just curious is all,” I said, mocking her. A look of hurt flashed in her eyes and I willed myself to bite my tongue.
“That’s real mature, Ike,” she spat, then turned away from me. I grabbed her arm to stop her.
“Look, Will, I’m sorry. Let’s not do this, I don’t want to start this with you,” I said softly, defeated. I was just too drained that morning to get into an argument with her. Willow eyed me cautiously before nodding and pulling her arm out of my reach.
“Okay,” she agreed. She paused and we were silent for a moment. “And if you must know, I was out with our friend Johnny Lang last night.”
“What?” I asked, her words catching me off-guard. She shrugged a little and gave me an innocent look.
“He called me on my cell on my way home from work and asked if I’d like to go grab a bite to eat. So I said yes,” she explained. I felt my chest tighten a little, unwillingly. “Oh yeah, and he invited me to his show tonight. You’re going to it, right? I thought you and I might go together.”
“Um, yeah. That would be great,” I agreed distractedly. Since when did Johnny and Willow get to be so great of friends that they would hang out together without me? Something just wasn’t clicking right, and I knew that I had to talk to Johnny.
“Hey,” she greeted. I returned her smile.
“How are you feeling?” I asked. She closed her eyes for a second and stretched.
“A little better, no thanks to the amazing care I was given today,” she replied, looking at me again. I shrugged a little.
“Really, it was nothing. Just wait until you get my bill, though. I’m sure you’ll think differently,” I joked. Megan laughed a little entwined her fingers with mine.
“I’m sure whatever the bill is, I’m willing to pay it,” she said. I raised my eyebrows a little at her, grinning.
“Ooh, I’ll be sure to hold you to that,” I teased, leaning down and kissing her forehead. “In the meantime, are you feeling up to going out for a little while? Johnny Lang invited us to his concert tonight. We can just stay home if you’d prefer.”
“No, no. Don’t stay in on my account. You go out and have a good time. I’m just gonna go back to sleep, nothing really exciting,” she assured me. “Tell Johnny I say hi and that I’m sorry I can’t make it. Next time, I promise.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. She nodded, and sighed deeply as if to prove her point. I nodded a little and leaned down to kiss her forehead once more before going to get ready to leave. Once I reached the theater where the concert was to be, I looked around outside for any signs of Isaac or Zac. After about 10 minutes, I saw Ike and Willow walking towards me. I smiled at them in greeting.
“Hi Tay,” Will said, giving me a hug.
“Hey guys, where’s Zac?” I asked. Willow gave Isaac an uneasy look, and I sighed. “Uh oh. What’s going on?”
“I have no idea. He’s not coming though,” Ike stated curtly, then turned and walked towards the entrance. I shot Will a confused look, but she just shook her head and followed Isaac. Still feeling left in the dark, I followed them. We gave our names to the man who was taking tickets and he checked his list, then let us pass.
“Where’s Megan?” Willow asked once we were inside.
“She’s sick. I think it may be the flu,” I replied.
“Oh, that’s horrible. Tell her that I hope she feels better,” Will said. I nodded, and we went to find some seats. The concert went great. I always enjoy being the person in the audience for a change. Not that I didn’t like performing, because that is the greatest thing, but it’s definitely a nice change. You really appreciate the music more once you know what really goes on both onstage and backstage. After the concert, Ike stood up and said that he was going backstage.
“Oh, good idea. May I join you?” Willow asked, standing up as well. Ike turned to her, and I noticed something strange in his look.
“No, you stay with Taylor. I’ll be right back,” he replied before walking away.
“Ike, wait!” Will called, taking a step after him. When she realized that he wasn’t waiting, she turned to me with a perplexed look. “What did I do?”
“Nothing, Willow. Something is bothering him, and the best thing to do is just let him be,” I replied. “Come on, we’ll wait for him outside.” I led the way out through the doors with the mass of people who were also leaving. Once outside, I looked up at the starry night sky and took a deep breath. Large groups of people made me nervous, a newly developing claustrophobia that I had been feeling ever since our early days of teeny bopper fans.
“So what’s going on with Zac?” I asked finally. Will laughed a little, rolling her eyes, then leaned against the building beside me.
“That poor boy, he is turning Isaac’s life upside down…”
“Hey, Ike. I’m glad you made it,” he greeted, approaching me with his hand out for me to shake. Instead, I merely nodded.
“Thank you for inviting me,” I replied. A little awkwardly, Johnny retracted his hand, then shrugged it off as he accepted a bottle of water from a roadie.
“So, how did you like the show?” he asked, motioning towards the couch beside us. We sat down.
“It was just as great as it was the first time I saw it back in New York,” I told him. His brow crinkled a little when he looked at me, and I looked away carelessly.
“Is something bothering you, man? You seem…” he trailed off, searching for the right word.
“Irritated?” I suggested. “Offended? Upset maybe? Or maybe betrayed? Do any of those sound right?”
“Whoa, calm down. What’s going on?” Johnny asked, fidgeting nervously.
“I was going to ask you the same thing,” I replied coolly, looking back at him. He looked puzzled.
“What are you talking about, Isaac?”
“I’m talking about Willow Carter,” I told him. His eyes widened a little and he held his hand up.
“Look, we hung out. That’s it, I swear,” he insisted. I blinked slowly and shook my head. “Dude, you told me that you were friends. I didn’t know you had a thing for her, honest. I wouldn’t do that to you, I’m not like that.”
“Yeah, well, do me a favor,” I stated, standing up and looking down at him. I was seething. It was bad enough that he had gone behind my back, but to do it knowing how I’d felt about Willow was a different thing. He knew my feelings for her; I had talked about it enough with him before I had ever introduced them.
“Anything,” he agreed, a little hesitant if anything.
“Stay away from her.”
The sound of footsteps caught my attention and I froze, listening closely. “Zac?” I whispered. A figure appeared in front of me, silhouetted by the light cast from a streetlight across the street.
“It’s me,” he replied, and I sighed a little. He came closer, and in the dull light I could just make out the features of his face. “Are you ready?”
“Yes, I’m ready,” I agreed quietly. I reached down and picked up the small bag that I had packed, and Zac took it from my hands.
“I parked down the street so that we wouldn’t wake your parents up,” he told me. I cringed a little when he mentioned my parents, but I nodded. He stepped away, but I reached through the darkness to grab his arm.
“Wait,” I said, and he paused. I crept quietly back up onto the porch and tucked the note I had written into the mail box beside the door, and then rejoined Zac. He took my hand and gave it a gently squeeze, and I nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”
As we walked away, I cast one last look over my shoulder at the house, then turned and proceeded on towards Zac’s car with him. We managed to get out of the neighborhood okay, and before I knew it we were on the highway headed out of Tulsa. By the time the sun began rising in the sky, dying the horizon with a faint pink glow, we had reached the Tennessee border.
“How are you doing?” Zac asked, glancing over at me in the passenger seat. I offered him a weak smile.
“I’m good, how about you?” I replied. He nodded.
“Fine. A little nervous, but fine,” he answered with a forced chuckle. I gave him a worried look as he drove, and he glanced over at me. He rested a hand on my knee. “Don’t worry, Reagan. Everything will be fine. You’ll see.”
“I know,” I said quietly. As the morning wore on and the sun rose higher, I started feeling worse. Around 8:00, I asked Zac to find a place to stop so I could get out of the car and get from fresh air. We pulled off into a little rest stop area and he parked the car.
“Are you okay?” he asked, concerned. I nodded, then got out of the car.
“I just need some air,” I replied. He still didn’t look convinced. “I’ll be fine.”
“Okay. I’m gonna go get some coffee. Do you want anything?” he asked. I shook my head, then walked over to the curb and sat down slowly. For just riding in a car for 10 hours, it sure was tiring. I closed my eyes for a minute and took a few deep breaths, calming my nerves. I knew that by now my parents were up back in Tulsa, and had most likely found my note. I wondered what they were doing now, what they were thinking. I wondered what Zac’s parents were doing. After a minute, I turned my head and looked over to see Zac approaching, a steaming Styrofoam cup of coffee in his hands.
“Ready to keep going?” he asked, giving me a smile. I nodded and stood up, brushing grass clippings off of my pants. Zac came over and put his arm around me, holding me tightly. “I love you, Reagan.”
“I know,” I replied, turning and getting back into the car. Around noon, we stopped again to get something for lunch. We entered a small diner hand in hand and sat down at the bar, and the woman behind the bar handed us some menus. Zac looked his over, but I wasn’t really that hungry, so I diverted my attention elsewhere. There was a TV mounted on the wall at the end of the bar, and it was turned on to a news station. As I watched, a picture of Zac suddenly appeared on the screen. I tensed up and reached over to tap Zac.
“What?” he asked, looking at me. I pointed to the TV and he looked, and his jaw dropped. “You have to be kidding me! We’ve only been gone for 12 hours!”
“What are we gonna do?” I asked, giving him a nervous look. He shook his head and grabbed my hand, leading me out of the diner.
“We have to keep going, and we have to be careful. No one can recognize us,” he stated. We started out on the road again, but had only been driving for 15 minutes when we heard a siren behind us. Zac sighed and pulled the car over, and the police car pulled behind us. “This is just perfect…”
“May I see your license and registration please son?” the male police officer asked him. Zac handed over the required items, and tapped his fingers on the steering wheel nervously. “Do you know why I stopped you?”
“No sir, I do not,” Zac replied.
“You were going 50 in a 35 zone…” the officer trailed off and looked over at Zac, then peered into the car at me. I offered a small smile. “You’re that Hanson kid, aren’t you? The one they’re looking for?”
“Look, officer, I know you’re just doing you job, but we really need to be somewhere. I have…” he leafed through his wallet and took out some bills. “Five hundred and seventy-five dollars that I will give to you if you pretend that you never saw us.”
The officer hesitated for a second before finally shaking his head. “I’m sorry, son, I just can’t do that. You’re wanted for kidnapping.”
I gasped quietly, and Zac’s eyes widened. “What?!”
“They’re going to be so angry,” she whimpered. I patted her hand lightly.
“No, don’t worry. They’ll be fine,” I tried to sooth her, although it was hard to sound convincing when I knew that she was right.
“My parents are going to hate you,” she said in a small voice, and I laughed a little.
“You know, I’m already getting used to that fact. It doesn’t scare me as much now as it used to,” I stated. I looked over at Reagan and a tear slipped down her cheek. I sighed and reached over to brush it away. “Don’t cry, Reagan, I’m just kidding.”
“Miss. St. Pierre? You parents are on the phone,” a secretary interrupted us, holding out a phone to her. Reagan took a shaky breath before accepting the phone from the woman.
“Mom?” she started. I watched her for a second, but turned away when I saw her tears fall more rapidly. “No mom, I’m okay… No, he didn’t, I wanted to go with him… Don’t cry, mom…”
“Mr. Hanson?” I looked up as a police officer stepped in front of me.
“Yeah?” I replied.
“They’ve dropped all charges against you, but we’re still going to hold you here until your parents arrive,” he told me. I sighed a little, and chuckled.
“I’d be better off in jail,” I joked. The officer smiled a little, then turned and walked away. When I turned back to Reagan, she had already hung up the phone. I reached over and took her hand again. She looked at me uneasily.
“I am so grounded,” she complained miserably. This brought a smile to my lips as I pulled her into my arms to hug her.
“For some reason, I don’t think that you’re the only one,” I informed her.
“Moment of truth, baby,” I stated. She groaned a little as she stretched.
“Don’t call me that,” she scolded, and then stood up as our parents hurried up to us.
“Oh sweetie, we were so worried,” Mrs. St. Pierre gushed as she pulled Reagan into her arms. I looked at my parents uneasily. They did not look happy.
“Well, Zac, let’s go home,” my father said. I blinked, having already prepared myself for him to start yelling and punishing. This threw me for a loop.
“Wait, what?” I asked, hurrying to catch up with him as he walked towards the door.
“I said let’s go. Ike, you and Diana take Zac’s car. He’s going to ride with me. We have a few things to talk about,” my father’s voice was cold, and I stopped short, swallowing thickly. This wasn’t going to be a fun ride home. My father rarely got this angry, but when he did, it was frightening. I turned around and gave my mother a wide eyed look. She put her hand on the side of my face and kissed my forehead before following my father out the door. Isaac walked up to me and raised his eyebrows a little at me.
“Zac, you promised me that you wouldn’t make me regret lending you that money,” he said quietly. I gave him a guilty look.
“I’m sorry, I-” He stopped me, shaking his head. I handed him the keys to my car, and he too disappeared out the door. I looked across the room at Reagan, who was watching me sadly. Her father intercepted our look and moved to block her from my view, scowling at me. I looked down at the floor, wishing that it would open up and swallow me. But no, Life is not that fair, so I turned and headed out to the parking lot to face my fate with my father. He was waiting for me in the family car, and I silently got into the passenger side.
“Buckle,” he ordered, and I obeyed. We started driving and not a word was said. It was torturing silence, the kind that was worse than if he’d been yelling his lungs out at me. After about 20 minutes, I couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Dad, say something,” I pleaded. “Yell, scream. Just don’t be silent. I can’t stand that.”
“I’m not going to yell,” he replied, his voice low. “I’m going to leave that up to the record company to do at your meeting tomorrow.”
“Meeting?” I asked cautiously. Dad nodded, then glanced at me.
“Yes. You’ve caused quite an uproar with this little stunt,” he told me. I looked down at my hands awkwardly. “Heck, Zac, if you wanted to throw your music career away, all you had to do was tell me. We could have found an easier way to do it.”
“I don’t want to throw it away,” I mumbled.
“Really? Then why on Earth would you take off like that? Did you even think about the consequences? Did you think of the people it affected, like your brothers for instance?” he asked, his voice still low and level. I fidgeted with my fingers, twisting them around and around each other.
“I guess not. I didn’t think it would really matter. I was just concerned for Reagan…”
“And Reagan! How did she get herself involved in this? Did you see how frightened her mother was? You weren’t there at 7:30 this morning to hear the phone call I got from her frantic father when he woke up and found his youngest daughter was missing,” he continued.
“Dad, you don’t understand,” I stated, frustration showing in my voice.
“Well then, please do enlighten me.”
“We were going to Kentucky to get married,” I told him. Dad glanced over at me, a surprised look on his face.
“What?”
“We were going to elope,” I explained to him. “We were going to come back, we just wanted to get away for a little while.
“Why would you do such a thing?” he asked. I shook my head, looking out the window at the darkness as we headed back toward Tulsa. “Zachary, what’s going on?”
I sighed and closed my eyes, resting my head against the cool glass of the car window. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to avoid his question forever. “Reagan’s going to have a baby.”
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