Chapter Three

"They Have Lawnmowers For That, You Know."

3:17. In just a few hours, people would be beginning to get up and start their day. But Taylor wasn't even asleep yet. He couldn't sleep. His mind was racing; not to mention his pulse. Every time he closed his eyes, he would see Gabbie. Oh, wow, she was beautiful. He had found out a lot about her. She'd moved from Ohio to study at the University of Tulsa, where she was doing a biochemistry degree. She had two sisters, Tracey and Jane, and a brother, Mike. When she was five, she had wanted to be a ballerina, but now she wanted to be a researcher. It was her lifelong ambition to discover a cure for the common cold. Now that Taylor thought about it, that was kinda weird. The common cold? If Taylor had ever wanted to do such a boring job as a medicinal researcher, he'd want to find a cure for cancer, or AIDS or something. Mind you, Taylor couldn't exactly see himself becoming a medicinal researcher. He had the brains, sure, but he just didn't want to.

His mind wandered back to Gabbie. She'd spent a year in England, and had become fond of their 'indie' bands, like Ocean Colour Scene, Blur and the Stereophonics. Taylor had heard of Blur and knew a few of their songs. But Ocean Colour Scene? What sort of name was that for a band? And the Stereophonics? Like, what? Gabbie had referred to it as Britpop. Taylor himself tended to refer to it as weird. Then again, he had to remind himself that the name of his band was hardly original. Just their last name. Which wouldn't be very handy if you had one of those weird British names like Ponsonby-Smythe or Kidderminster Harriers. Oh, wait. That was a soccer team, wasn't it? For some reason, the name had just stuck in his head, along with Wolverhampton Wanderers and Inverness Caledonian Thistle. What strange names for soccer teams.

Taylor sighed, rolling over. It was 3:23 now. He looked at the small table beside the bunk beds. He looked at the napkin, lying on it. He picked it up, knowing full well what it said; he'd only read it about a hundred times all ready. There, in neat script, was '446 8524. Call me! Love, Gabbie.' Taylor smiled to himself in the darkness, feeling all gooey inside. He knew he was being a wuss, but he felt something special when he was with Gabbie.

He was definitely going to call her. Tomorrow. No doubt about it. Happy with his decision, he rolled over and fell asleep, dreaming of Gabbie, parties, and drunken sex proposals and, for some reason, the Village People…

***

"Hi, this is Gabbie. You nearly got me, but not quite. Talk to me after the beep, though, and I'll get back to you ASAP. Bye!"

Taylor sighed, hanging up the phone. Damn answerphone! Why couldn't she be in? He slumped down at the kitchen table, feeling decidedly cranky, partly through lack of sleep, and partly through lack of Gabbie. He heard someone come into the kitchen, open and close the fridge, then sit down next to him, eating noisily.

"Do you have to eat that thing so loudly?" he grumbled.

"Well, it's a celery stick. Celery is naturally crunchy and therefore it crunches when you eat it, and although I am a genetic engineering mastermind, there's not much I can do about it right now. So, yes, I have to eat it so loudly."

"Zac, you're such a smartass."

"I try my best," shrugged Zac. "Tay, are you busy?"

"Uh-huh."

"Doing what, exactly?" demanded Zac. It didn't exactly look to him like Taylor was doing anything, except moaning at him for ridiculous things, like eating celery loudly.

"Pondering my existence," replied Taylor.

"Hmm! Miss! Miss! I know this one!" Zac raised his hand and started jumping around excitedly. "You're here to write, sing and play music and to exercise the salivary glands of every female under the age of sixteen in the world. Okay, now we've finished doing that, and what fun it was, can you take me to the mall?"

Taylor looked up. "Ask Ike."

"Ike! I don't wanna go with Ike! I wanna go with you! Please, Tay," he begged. "We can get the bus in."

"Why do you need to go to the mall? You hate the place."

"Mom's making me get new clothes."

"So you want my fashion advice?"

Zac snickered. "No! I like to be able to breathe, and to keep some things private."

"What’s that s'posed to mean?" demanded Taylor.

Zac draped his arm over Taylor's shoulder. "Put it this way, big brother. Those tight pants don't leave much to the imagination, do they? Remember…"

"Yes, Zac, I remember! You promised never to mention it again!" Taylor shook off Zac's arm.

"Mention what?" Zac smiled innocently.

Taylor swatted him across the head. "Okay, I'll go with you. I'm not doing anything better anyway."

"Precisely. You have no life, Tayles."

"What, with you being the social butterfly that you are?"

"Yeah. You gotta get out more…be like me!"

Taylor laughed. "The day I turn into you is that day I kill myself."

"Gee, thanks, Tay." Zac rolled his eyes.

"Honestly, Zac, one of you in the family is enough," teased Taylor, as they headed out of the doorway.

***

Three hours later, they were still sitting on a bench in the mall, swallowing ice cream and watching for cute girls.

"Where's Jason?" asked Zac, scanning the crowded mall for their bodyguard.

"Oh, he's around somewhere," replied Taylor breezily. He turned to Zac, looking him square in the eye. "Okay, little brother. Why are we really here?"

Zac stared innocently at Taylor. "Why, Taylor, what on earth do you mean?"

"Zac, don't play the innocent. We've been here for ages, and you haven't bought anything."

"I bought this." Zac held up his half-eaten Sno Cone.

Taylor narrowed his eyes. "I bought you that. That's a buck fifty you owe me!"

"What, you can't even buy your own little brother an ice cream without wanting reimbursed? Tay, you're so Scrooge!" Zac quickly scarfed down the rest of the ice cream, as if he was afraid Taylor would take it off him.

"Sure I can. But only if he tells me why we're really here."

Zac sighed. "Okay, okay. Do you remember Libby Reynolds?"

Taylor creased his brow. "Oh, yeah! She used to pick on you all the time! Remember that time she made you eat a spider? Oh, God, that was funny!"

"Yes, Tay, I remember, well, you see-"

Taylor cut him off. "And remember she used to tell you that if you planted a nickel, a nickel tree would grow?! God, and you fell for that, too! Remember?"

"Yes, Tay, I remember," replied Zac testily. "Now shut up!"

"Sorry." Taylor slapped his hand across his mouth, trying to stop laughing.

Zac sighed. Taylor was turning pure red in his efforts to keep from exploding into fits of giggles. His eyes were watering, and he looked like he might either pass out or spontaneously combust any minute now. "Look, do you want to know or not?" snapped Zac, turning away.

Taylor instantly stopped laughing. He'd gone too far, and now Zac was mad at him. He put his hand on Zac's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Zac. Really," he assured him. "Tell me."

"She's coming back," Zac told him flatly.

"Oh. But that's not so bad. You and Libby always used to hang out."

"By force, Tay, not by choice. You and Ike used to spend practically every day hot enough those years in Josh's pool. I couldn't swim and Mom wouldn't let me go. Libby didn't like swimming. I think she was scared of the water. We never liked each other or anything."

Taylor took a breath. "Okay, so what does that have to do with why we're here?"

"Umm…Mom wanted me to be there when she arrived. I'm s'posed to show her around when she gets here."

"Which is…"

"Umm…try an hour ago?" Zac grinned apologetically.

Taylor stifled a laugh. "Oh, Zac!"

"Yeah, bummer, huh?"

"So, you tell me we're gonna get clothes and all we're doing is dodging some girl?"

"Kinda…"

"Well, guess where we’re goin', little brother…"

"The movies?" asked Zac hopefully.

"Yeah, you wish! We're goin' home."

"Aww, Tay!"

Taylor got to his feet. "C'mon."

"Noooo…" whined Zac.

"Yep, move. On your feet, boy!" He grabbed Zac's arm and pulled him up, dragging him in the direction of the bus stop.

***

"I don't wanna do this!" grumbled Zac. "I don't like her! She don't like me! We don't like each other!"

"Zac, don't be so melodramatic!" Taylor rolled his eyes.

"Well, you shut up, cos right now, I don't like you!" moaned Zac as they turned onto their street.

"Zac…"

"What?" Zac's face was like thunder.

"You are so-"

"Talk to the hand!" Zac shoved his hand in Taylor's face, punching him in the nose.

"Gee, thanks, Zac!" exclaimed Taylor, bringing his blood-covered hand down from his nose. "Bust my nose, why don't you?!"

Zac looked up at his bleeding brother. "Sorry, Tay. I didn't mean that."

"Yeah, well, just calm down! Mom's not asking you to marry her, she's asking you to show the girl about a bit. One day, Zac." Taylor pushed open the front door. He could hear female voices in the kitchen. "Okay. I'm going to get cleaned up. You, little brother, are going in there." He pushed Zac towards the kitchen door and then disappeared upstairs.

Zac watched Taylor disappear upstairs, hand still covering his bloody nose. Zac did feel bad about doing that; he hadn't meant to burst Taylor's nose, or even make contact with him at all. Zac slumped against the wall, delaying going into the kitchen for as long as possible. He sat down and unlaced his Docs, slipping them off and sticking them into the closet. He smoothed down his hair, spit-washed his face and pulled up his jeans. He decided that there wasn't much else he could do to put off going into the kitchen. He walked in, slumping his shoulders deliberately.

"Zac! Where have you been?" demanded Mrs Hanson. "I told you to be here almost two hours ago!"

"Taylor took me to the mall," mumbled Zac, still not looking up. He dove into the fridge, appearing with a root beer.

"Oh, did he indeed?" Mrs Hanson stood in front of her son, her hands on her hips. "Taylor wouldn't take you to the mall of his own accord if it killed him. You must have asked him."

"Uh…I needed to pick some things up," stumbled Zac.

"Okay, well, you're here now. Zachary, meet Libby…again."

Zac slowly spun round, looking at Libby for the first time in seven years. He had to physically try to keep his mouth from dropping open. Libby was gorgeous. Long, brown hair, hanging in waves around her face; large, clear, green eyes, framed by thick, dark lashes. She'd grown in the past seven years… in more than one place. She was now about five feet and six inches, and had the same sturdy frame, except now she looked voluptuous instead of stocky.

She smiled at him, revealing white, even teeth. God, the wonders of orthodontistry. "Hey, Zac." She stuck out her hand.

"Um, hi, Libby…are you still Libby, or are you Elizabeth now?" Zac could've kicked himself for asking such a dumb question.

"I'm both, I guess. Elizabeth to teachers at school, Libby to all my friends." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Just then, Taylor wandered into the kitchen, having washed the blood from his face, changed his shirt and stopped the bleeding from his nose. "Hey, Mom," he nodded. "Whoa…hey, Libby!"

Libby blushed. "Hello, Taylor."

"Looking good!" Taylor grinned approvingly.

Libby's coloring deepened even more. "Thanks. You too."

"Really? Aww, shucks…Mom, do we have any cake?"

"Cake?"

"Yeah, you know, it's like spongy stuff, hopefully chocolate with vanilla frosting?"

"No, we don't Tay," replied Mrs Hanson. "Have an apple instead. It's better for you." She threw an apple across the room and Taylor caught it, taking a huge bite out of it.

"Thanks, Mom. Okay, well, I'm going upstairs. Is Ike there?"

Mrs Hanson didn't look up from the onion she was chopping. "No, he said something about going to buy some honey, I think."

"Honey?" asked Taylor and Zac in unison.

"Yeah, honey."

"Oh, God!" crowed Taylor. "Ike and Honey! This I have to find out about!" He turned and bolted out of the room, upstairs to his own room, hoping Isaac would have left a note. As an afterthought, he stopped in the doorway and called, "Nice to see you again, Libby," then ran up the stairs, faster than an Olympic champion.

Sure enough, on his bed, was a note from Isaac.

Tay and Zac,

I got a date with Honey! Finally! I'm off to the mall, then dinner, then the movies! And you said I'd make an ass of myself! Go eat your words, Tay! Okay, well, don't wait up…I plan on being late…very late…

Ike

"Literate and charming as usual, Ike," muttered Taylor, shaking his head. He couldn't believe Isaac had finally gotten a date with Honey! Then he remembered the 'bruise' on Isaac's neck. The one he'd gotten when Neil Davidson had socked him one, apparently. Now Taylor was starting to doubt it. The bruise had looked suspiciously like a hickey. Was it a present from Honey? Taylor was dying for Ike to get home, so he could bug him about all the details. He fingered his own little reminder of last night under the collar of his shirt. He looked in the mirror, seeing it was turning from purplish-red to a more brownish-yellow color. Sighing, he dived across the bed, retrieving the cordless phone from a pile of dirty clothes. He remembered his mom had been looking for it earlier. Oh well, too late now.

Taking a deep breath, he punched in the numbers.

Gabbie answered on the second ring. "Hello?"

"Hi, Gabbie?"

"Yes, who's this?"

Taylor felt a bit hurt that she didn't know who it was, then remembered that they hadn't exactly known each other for ages or anything. "This is Taylor, Taylor Hanson."

"Oh, hey, Taylor. How are you?"

Taylor frowned. He had no idea what to say now. "I…I'm fine, I guess…" What if Gabbie regretted last night? Well, there was only one thing he could do. "Um…I…I was wondering…I wondered if…" He took a deep breath. "Do you wanna go out sometime?"

Gabbie laughed.

Taylor started to babble. "It's okay if you don't wanna, I mean, it was dumb of me to ask, and I'm sure you've got better things to do than hang about with a Brady Bunch reject like me…"

"I'd love to."

"…And I'm really sorry and I'll go now. Okay, I'm gonna hang…You would?"

Gabbie laughed again. "Sure!"

"You mean it?" Taylor couldn't believe it.

"Yes, Tay, I mean it. After last night…"

"Did you like it? Last night, I mean?" Taylor kicked the door shut with his foot. He didn't really want anyone listening in to this particular conversation.

"It was great," replied Gabbie softly. "Taylor, you're sixteen, aren't you?"

"Is that a problem?"

"No, but you do know that I'm nineteen, don't you?"

"Yeah…" Taylor had actually thought she was eighteen, but that didn't matter.

"Is that a problem for you?"

"Noooo…is it a problem for you?" Taylor threw the question back in her face, not entirely sure that he wanted to hear the answer.

"Not at all." He heard her take a breath. "So, are you free tonight?"

Taylor raised his eyebrows. Tonight? Cool. "Um, yeah, I am."

"Do you want to come over? We could rent a movie, get in some take out, whatever."

"That'd be great, Gabbie. Where do you live?"

She gave him the address, then added, "Come any time you like."

"Okay, I'll be there soon," he replied.

"Fine. Bye."

"Bye…" Taylor pushed the hang up button, flopping back on his bed. This was something he couldn't believe. Two minutes ago, he'd been bored and lonely; now he had a date with someone who could possibly be the girl of his dreams. Now…what to wear?

***

Zac pulled out a handful of grass and threw it down, letting it fly everywhere.

"They have lawnmowers for that, you know."

"Huh?" Zac looked up at Libby. "Oh, yeah, right. Lawnmowers. Ha-ha." He blushed, knowing he sounded like a total geek. He looked over at Libby, who appeared to be engrossed in making a daisy chain. She looked totally great. Her long brown hair was falling in front of her eyes, and Zac had a sudden urge to tuck it back behind her ear. This was scary. For the first time in his life, he was attracted to a girl. And it had to be Libby, the bane of his existence many years ago. This was all too confusing. In her green top and denim short overalls, she looked fantastic though.

After the embarrassing meeting in the kitchen, Zac's mom had suggested that they go outside to catch up, hence the reason that they were now sitting on the front lawn with a tray of cookies and lemonade in front of them, and not much to say.

"So, you guys are pretty famous now, huh?" Libby put down the daisies and squinted at Zac in the late afternoon sunlight.

"Yeah, I guess…"

"Do you get stalkers?"

"Sometimes," replied Zac. "There was this girl who just stood outside out house for hours on end. It was kinda freaky, actually. All we wanted was some peace, but every time we looked out of the window, she was standing, um, over there, I think." Zac pointed to a tree a little way over, underneath his bedroom window.

"Wow, when was that?"

"You know what? It was before Mercury signed us. When we used to play Mayfest and the schools and water parks and all. I think I was nine."

"So, does she still come?" Libby gazed up at him, seeming fascinated by the story.

"Nah, she kinda stopped after one day, and never came back…" Zac tried not to laugh.

"Why, what happened?"

"Um…Tay threw a bucket of water over her," Zac giggled.

"He didn't!" Libby started to laugh.

"He did! Just don't tell my mom!"

"But you guys always say stuff like 'We love our fans!' and all." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you lying?"

"No," Zac assured her. "We do love our fans. We really appreciate them; we wouldn't be where we are today without them, but that was unreal. How would you like it if you couldn't go shoot hoops with your brothers, or kick a soccer ball about, or get changed, or go out with your family without someone being there?"

"I don't have any brothers or sisters," Libby reminded him.

"Theoretically speaking?"

"Okay, I'd hate it," Libby admitted. "It would bug me so much. You know what, Zac?"

"What?" Zac lay down on his stomach, resting his chin on his folded arms.

"Whenever you guys were on TV or the radio or anything, I used to be so proud. I used to say to all my friends that I knew you guys years ago and stuff. They never believed me, though."

"How come?"

"Well, you see some guys on TV and go, 'oh the one in the braids used to be my best friend' and people are gonna be like, 'yeah, right'." Libby lay down on the grass, her hair spilling out around her head.

"I was your best friend?" Zac stared at her incredulously.

"Sure. Zac, we used to practically live in each other's pockets, didn't we?"

"Yeah, but you were always so mean."

"I was just goofing around." Libby pushed her hair out of her eyes. "I hope we can be friends again, Zac." She stared at him seductively.

Zac gulped. "Sure," he squeaked, looking away. This was making him pretty uncomfortable.

Libby smiled. "Oh, look, there's Tay."

Zac spun round, glad for the distraction. "Two minutes," he said to Libby, excusing himself. He ran over to Taylor. "Where you goin', Tay?"

"I'm going to Jon's," replied Taylor.

"Smelling like that? I don’t think so!"

"Do I smell?" asked Taylor, looking alarmed and sniffing under his arms.

"Yeah, like a Lynx ad. You're gonna meet a girl, aren't you? It's that girl from last night, isn't it? Woo, go Tay!"

Taylor blushed. "Don't say anything to Ike!"

Zac looked at Taylor innocently. "Would I do that?"

"Yeah…so how's Libby? You getting on?"

Zac grinned wryly. "Well, I haven't digested a single spider yet."

"That's a plus. Look, I gotta go. Talk to you later, okay, little buddy?"

"Sure, Tay."

Taylor slugged Zac lightly on the shoulder. "See ya, man." He jogged down the path and turned onto the street, blue shirttails flying behind him.

Chapter Four
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