Chapter Five

"Lucy Was Not Written About Your Mangy Mutt!"

"Sure, I'll be there. Uh-huh. See ya." Zac hung up the phone then thundered upstairs to his room. He raced inside and promptly started rummaging through his drawers.

Taylor looked up from his book, startled by the imposition of Hurricane Zac. He watched as his brother quickly raked through several of the drawers, leaving them in a state of disaster. "Zac, what are you doing?" he asked.

Zac didn't reply, but pulled open another drawer.

"Hey! Get outta my underwear!" protested Taylor.

Zac looked down, realizing for the first time that he was looking through his brother's boxers and socks. "Oh." He shut the drawer. "Sorry."

"What are you doing?" asked Taylor for the second time.

"Have you seen my swimsuit?" Zac pulled open another drawer. "I can't find it."

Taylor laughed. "I don't think it's gonna be in the drawer with the art supplies, Zac."

"Oh." Zac slammed yet another drawer shut. "Have you seen them?"

"They're kinda hard to miss…like the rest of your wardrobe."

"Leave the fashion sense! Have you seen them?"

"Yeah, they're in the closet, in the box full of Lego," replied Taylor airily.

"What are they doing in there?"

"Search me." Taylor turned back to the magazine. "Where you goin'?"

"Round to Corey's. We're gonna mess about in the pool. Wanna come?"

Taylor thought about it. "Um…nah. I think I'm just gonna hang here."

"You seeing Gabbie today?" Zac retrieved the swim shorts and kicked off his baggy jeans.

"Maybe. She said she'd call."

"So you're gonna sit by the phone?" Zac pulled on the fluorescent orange eyesores, known to him as his swim shorts and everybody else as a health hazard.

"No."

"You're gonna sit on the phone?" Zac teased, ducking as a pillow came flying his way.

"I'm just gonna hang here," Taylor repeated.

"Where's Ike?"

"Out with Neil. They said something about driving down to Muskogee."

"Erm…why?"

"There's supposed to be this great restaurant they want to check out. Ike's taking Honey and Neil's taking Miranda."

"Miranda Hoffman?" Zac raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah."

"Scha-wing!" crowed Zac. "She's a mega babe, man!"

"Tell me about it…"

"I would never think about pairing her up with Neil…I'd think someone like Scott Allcorn."

"The typical Barbie and Ken of Tulsa," stated Taylor.

"Exactly," agreed Zac.

"But would you pair off Honey and Ike?"

"I guess not," admitted Zac. "But he's happy."

"He sure is," murmured Taylor.

There was a knock on the bedroom door.

"Enter at your own risk!" yelled Zac.

A brown-haired head popped round the side of the door. "Hey, your mom said I could come on up."

"Hey, Libby," squeaked Zac, suddenly very aware that he was half-naked.

"Nice suit," she smirked, nodding towards the orange shorts. "Hey, Tay."

"How ya goin' Libby?" nodded Tay in acknowledgement.

"Good, good…Zac, are you going swimming?"

"Yeah, at my friend's house. We're having a bit of a party." He thought for a minute, not sure if he should say what he was planning on saying, then eventually deciding that he was gonna say it anyway. "You wanna come?"

Libby's eyes seemed to light up. "Are you sure? I mean, I don't wanna impose…"

"They'd never notice you were there, anyway," muttered Taylor. "The Prices are filthy rich."

"Who?"

"Corey Price," replied Zac. "He's a sort-of friend of mine, I guess."

"His house is like a mansion," added Taylor.

"Are his parents gonna be home?" asked Libby.

"No, but his older brother will be. He's Ike's age. So you coming?" asked Zac.

"You bet! Give me two minutes to change, 'kay?" Libby practically bolted out of the room, yelling, "I'll be right back over!" behind her.

"Ooh, Zac," teased Taylor.

"What?" demanded Zac irritably.

"Not a thing," smiled Taylor. "Not a damned thing."

***

"Take a left," commanded Isaac.

"Left? Are you sure? This looks kinda familiar, Ike." Neil steered a left anyway.

"No, Neil, I'm not sure! I'm a singer, not a navigator!" Isaac leaned back in the seat.

"Well, you would have thought you could at least read a map!" shot back Neil.

"Guys!" interjected Miranda. "Quit yelling, okay?"

"You sound remarkably like my brother," muttered Isaac.

Neil started to laugh, tapping his fingers off the steering wheel.

"Anyway, it's kinda hard navigating from the backseat," continued Isaac.

"You're the one that insisted on sitting beside Honey," Neil reminded him.

"Yeah, well…" Isaac knew he was beaten.

Honey slid over and took his hand in hers. "Smile. We're almost there."

"Look! A sign!" Miranda pointed. "'Pete's Ribs, three kilometers,'" she read. "Just turn that way."

Two minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot outside the crowded restaurant. It seemed to be filled with teenagers, all eating, laughing and having a good time.

"Okay, Ike, what's your name this time?" asked Neil, twisting round in the seat.

"Um…call me…Johann."

"God, Ike, why don't we just call you Ludwig? Then you won't stick out so much!" Neil rolled his eyes.

"Okay, okay, point taken. Call me…um…George."

"George?" Neil raised his eyebrows, then sighed, "Okay, George it is."

"Huh?" asked Honey and Miranda in unison.

Neil grinned. "Rule number one of eating in public places with Isaac Hanson: Call him something different. Today, Isaac is to be known as George Banks."

"He was in 'Father Of The Bride'," Isaac pointed out.

"So? Call him that. Rule number two: Don't protest when he wears sunglasses inside. And rule number three: Hide from the screaming nine year olds." Neil looked them over. "Are we clear?"

"Sure."

"Okay. Ike, you coming?" Neil climbed out of the car.

"Uh…yeah." Isaac got out and stretched, having been stuck in the car for quite some time now.

Neil led the way into the diner, everyone else following closely behind. Immediately, they were stopped.

"Excuse me? Are you Isaac Hanson?" A girl of about twelve stood in front of them, looking uncertainly up at Isaac.

"Isaac Hanson?" repeated Isaac. "No."

"You look awfully like him," she persisted.

"I'm George. George Banks."

"Yeah, he is," interrupted Neil. "And don't you go insulting him by comparing him to that gay boy Hanson! Don't you think he gets it enough?"

"Uh…sorry." The girl looked terrified.

"So you should be!" growled Neil. "Now scram!"

The girl did, beating a hasty retreat back to her friends.

Isaac turned to Neil. "That was harsh, man."

Neil laughed. "It worked though."

"She looked terrified! She's one of our fans, man, don't treat her like that."

"George Banks doesn’t have fans," Neil reminded him.

"Oh, yeah…" Isaac narrowed his eyes. "But that gay boy Hanson does!"

Neil smiled awkwardly. "Sorry, man, just trying to be convincing."

"Yeah…" muttered Isaac. "C'mon, let's sit down."

The waitress seated them at a small table for four near the window, giving Isaac a few strange looks, but not saying anything. She took their order, then reappeared a few minutes later with the food.

"So, Neil, what's Rhia doing today?" asked Isaac, taking a bite of a French fry and slipping his arm behind Honey.

"Uh, she's out with Jake, I think."

"Jake the jock?" Isaac raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, she's been mooning after him since Martin's party. Talking of Martin's party, I hear your little brother got a sex proposal." Neil took a long drink of his soda, raising his eyebrows at Ike.

"What brother?" asked Isaac.

"Mackenzie," deadpanned Neil, rolling his eyes. "What brother do you think? We're talking Tay."

Isaac almost choked on his rib. "Tay got laid?"

"I didn't think he was like that." Miranda frowned, twisting her straw round in her fingers.

"He's not…" Isaac trailed off, looking puzzled. "Are you sure?"

"I said he got a proposal. I did not say he acted on it," Neil reminded him.

"Oh…who?"

"Three guesses." Neil rolled his eyes.

Isaac, Honey and Miranda all spoke at once. "Katie."

"Is she still crushing on him?" Miranda's dark eyebrows knitted together.

"Looks like it." Neil swallowed a mouthful of rib. "I saw her all over him. He looked none too happy."

"I'll bet. He can't stand her," Isaac told him. "I'm surprised he didn't tell me."

"I think he might have had other things on his mind." Neil grinned slyly.

"Like what?"

"God, Ike, get a clue! Where were you that night? In the Goddamn closet?"

Isaac and Honey exchanged looks, trying not to laugh.

"He was getting very friendly with this older girl," continued Neil. "I can't remember her name, but she's been round a few times to see Rhia. They were playing a very active game of tonsil hockey."

"Tay?" Isaac raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

"Sure. What's her name again…Maddie?"

"Gabbie?" Isaac's eyebrows shot sky-high.

"Yeah, that's it! Thanks, Ike! That was bugging me!"

"Gabbie Young?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Tay and Gabbie Young!" Isaac's eyeballs looked as if they were about to drop out of his head.

"Ike, honey, what's up?" Honey laid her hand on Isaac's chest.

"She's like, nineteen!"

"Ike, get over it." Neil took another sip of his soda.

"But he didn't even tell me."

"He's a big boy now, Ike," pointed out Miranda. "He doesn't have to report to you with everything he does."

"Anyway, you've hardly been in, have you?" Honey laid her head against Isaac's shoulder. "You've been with me."

"Yeah, when was the last time you spoke to him?" chimed in Neil.

"A couple of nights ago. We were all up in the middle of the night cos Zac heard a noise. The night we went to the cinema, Honey." Isaac frowned. "But he would have told me."

Isaac was really hurt that Taylor hadn't told him. Ordinarily, Isaac would have been the first person to know, being his brother and his best friend. Maybe he had been spending too much time with Honey and not enough time with his brothers, but was that really any excuse for not telling him? He'd need to talk to Taylor when they got home, he decided. They could have a talk that was long overdue.

***

"I'll see you later, Mom!" yelled Taylor as he closed the front door behind him and jumped down off the porch.

"Where're you off to?" asked Mr Hanson, switching off the lawnmower.

"I'm going to the movies, then to McDonald's, then back to Jon's house." Taylor leaned on the handle of mower.

"Okay. Well, have fun, be careful and be back for eleven."

"Sure. Bye, Dad."

"Bye, Taybear." Mr Hanson ruffled his son's hair affectionately then turned the mower on again.

Taylor walked down the drive, smoothing down his hair. He hated to lie to his family, but he didn't think that his parents would take too kindly to him seeing a nineteen year old girl. And anyway, he was going to the movies and then to McDonalds. He was just going to Gabbie's house after it and not Jon's.

He turned left onto Independence Street, kicking lightly at the few leaves scattered on the ground. He hoped he looked okay. He wasn't dressed very differently, in any case. Blue jeans and a red shirt. His hair was loose, brushing off his shoulders when he tossed his head and he smelled of Tommy Hilfiger cologne.

Taylor smiled slightly, thinking about seeing Gabbie again. He'd seen her a couple of times since the night that Zac was sick, and was becoming increasingly fond of her. When he wasn't with her, he was thinking about her and when he was with her, he was all over her. He loved the way she smelled, the way she looked, the way she tasted, and the way that she was just so mature, being three and a half years older than him. He wanted to be with her all the time, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year.

He was crazy about her; he'd be the first to admit that. He had never felt so strongly about anyone before, ever. Gabbie just seemed so right for him, so…perfect.

It was pretty scary, the way he felt about her. It was first-time love - new, exciting and downright terrifying. His situation reminded him of a Belinda Carlisle song. He began to sing quietly as he turned onto Gabbie's street.

"I'm in over my head, and it scares me so…"

Then again, Taylor thought that maybe his situation wasn't so similar. Sure, he was scared, but he didn't think he was in over his head. He could handle this love business. He was Taylor Hanson. He could handle anything, couldn't he? Couldn't he?

***

"No way! There is absolutely no way that I'm doing that!" shrieked Jayne Faulkener, pushing Corey Price off the edge of the sun lounger.

"It's a dare, Janey. Either you do the dare or you have to sing solo."

"You know, that's not a good forfeit," spoke up Matthew Torwood. "Zac sings for a living. He makes, like, gazillions of dollars every day by bashing drums and wailing about leaving my dog."

"Matt, how many times do I have to tell you that 'Lucy' was not written about your mangy mutt!" Zac flicked a damp towel at his fourteen-year-old friend.

"Oh yeah?" challenged Matt.

"Yeah!" grinned Zac.

"Okay, we need a new forfeit!" Corey steered the conversation away from Matt's pet and back to the problem. "How about…we hold your head underwater for a minute."

Everyone murmured in agreement.

"So, Jayne, you want ducked, or you gonna do your dare?" taunted Matt.

"I am not running down the street topless!" Jayne grasped firmly onto the straps of her bikini top, as if she were afraid that someone would snatch it off.

"Well, you're going under!" crowed Corey. "Get her!"

Jayne screamed and ran up to the back of the garden. Corey, Matt, Steven and Kim Johanssen all ran after her, eventually catching her and dragging her over to the pool.

Libby turned to Zac. "I'm going to get a drink. You coming?"

"Sure." Zac got up off the ground where he was sitting and led the way into the Price's kitchen. Outside, they could hear everyone else chanting, "One! Two! Three! Four..." as Jayne's blond head was held underwater.

"So, how ya findin' it?" asked Zac as he fetched two glasses from the corner cupboard.

"Good. Everyone's really nice. Especially Jayne and Kim."

"Yeah, they're cool," replied Zac.

"I think Jayne likes you," teased Libby.

"Jayne? No way." Zac frowned. He and Jayne had been friends for about five years or something. He didn't know her too well and had met her when she was going out with Corey. "She's still got a thing for Matt. But he's got a thing for Kim. But Kim's only got a thing for Taylor."

"Taylor? As in your Taylor?" Libby hoisted herself up and perched on the kitchen counter.

"Yeah. Honestly, Tay has so many girls after him. This girl, Katie Gibson, has been mad on him since we were, like, seven. She's kinda obvious though. Kim isn't. In fact, Taylor has no clue that Kim likes him. Kim only admitted it to me cos I blackmailed her." Zac poured two glasses of Coke from the bottle on the table.

"Does Tay get more girls than you or Ike?" Libby slid off the counter and picked up her glass of soda.

"Yeah." Zac took a slurp of his Coke. "If you add together all the 'I Love Zac' signs and the 'I Love Ike' signs, then multiply them by two, you'll get the number of 'I Love Tay' signs." He leaned against the counter. "It doesn’t bother us though. Tay doesn't like it, cos he thinks it'll make us mad, but it really doesn't."

"I don't see why." Libby put down her glass of soda and walked towards him.

"You don't see why it doesn't make us mad?"

"No, I don't see why he gets more girls than you. You're so much cuter, Zac." She put her hand on Zac's cheek.

"I…uh…Libby…I…" Zac trailed off as Libby pushed her lips against his.

She pulled back. "Come on, Zac. Don't tell me you don't want to…" She leaned forward again.

This time, Zac kissed back, his mouth moving in synchronization with hers. He closed his eyes, feeling happy, exhilarated, nervous and terrified all at the same time. This was his first kiss. Well, his first proper kiss, not counting ones from his mom, dad, siblings, relatives or pets. So this is what Ike and Tay are always going on about, he thought, slipping his tongue into Libby's mouth. Yeah, I could get used to this.

Libby was wearing cherry-flavored lip balm, and he could taste the sweetness in his mouth. Right now, he wanted this kiss to go on forever, but eventually he pulled back. "Wow," he whispered.

"Yeah, wow," repeated Libby. "We better get back out there."

And, with that, she disappeared, leaving Zac wondering what the hell happened.

"Oh, Lord!" he hissed to himself, pushing back his hair from his face. "What was that?"

He knew fine well what it was. It was a kiss; any fool would know that. And a great kiss at that. But he had always imagined that after his first kiss, the person he was kissing would take him in his arms and hold him, telling him that she loved him. Okay, so maybe he watched too many movies, but he certainly didn't expect whoever it was to pull a David Copperfield and disappear in front of his eyes.

He sighed, pushing himself up off the counter and heading out into the back garden.

"Hey," he smiled, sitting down next to a very wet looking Jayne. "Did you make it?"

"I got fifty-four seconds. They let me up after that." She pushed her dripping fringe up off her forehead.

"Oh, that was good of them!" Zac rolled his eyes sarcastically.

"Yeah, I know," smiled Jayne.

"Hey!!! You two! Get over here! We're about to do the next dare!" Matt was waving madly from the side of the pool.

Zac and Jayne got up and wandered over to where the rest of the group was seated in a circle, an empty Coke bottle in the center.

"Come on!" yelled Kim, practically bouncing on the concrete, her short blond ponytail bobbing up and down rhythmically. "Let's spin!"

Matt leaned over and spun the bottle as Zac and Jayne squeezed into the circle. It stopped spinning after about ten seconds, pointing at Libby. Matt whistled through his teeth. "Okay, Libby, I dare you to…um…I dare you to kiss Corey."

Libby grinned. "That's all?"

"Yeah, but you have to kiss him for a minute," added Kim. "No stopping."

Zac looked at Libby in disbelief. Surely she'd refuse. After all, what had just happened between them in the kitchen was not to be taken lightly, and after that had happened, she wouldn't want to kiss another guy.

"Okay, that's easy enough," agreed Libby breezily.

Zac felt like he'd just been kicked in the teeth. Obviously, what had happened between them wasn't as special to Libby as it was to him.

He watched as Libby adjusted her green and blue check bikini top and pulled up the skimpy bottoms. She elegantly walked over to Corey, grabbed him, and pushed her lips onto his, closing her eyes and pushing him back on the sun lounger.

"Woo!" yelled Matt. "Price, you lucky dog!"

Zac sat in silence and looked on as Libby and Corey got deeper and deeper into the kiss. It was blatantly obvious that they were using tongues, and even more obvious that they were both enjoying it. Corey's hands were wandering everywhere and Libby's weren't any better. They were in each other's hair, up and down each other's backs, up and down each other's fronts and Zac could feel himself getting close to tears.

Mentally scolding himself, Zac fought the tears back. He never let his friends see him cry. His brothers, sure, no problem. His family, the same. Heck, Zac had even cried in front of a magazine journalist for Top Of The Pops. The one that was in Tulsa, Tokyo and the Middle of Nowhere and Taylor was impersonating her accent. When they were in Germany, and she had been with them, Zac had got himself a right yelling at from Chris Sabec after running out of the TV Studio, and had been reduced to tears. But he would never cry in front of Corey and Matt. For one thing, he wasn't particularly close to Corey, and, although they hung out together, they didn't really talk all that much. Besides, the two-year age gap was still yet to be bridged, with Corey acting so much more mature than Zac, being a worldly fifteen years old. And for another thing, they'd probably think he was a girl.

Anyway, why should he cry over this? It wasn't like he and Libby were married. So they'd kissed. Once. But boy, was that a great kiss. And Zac had really though that it meant something to Libby too.

"Okay, that's a minute!" yelled Matt.

Libby and Corey didn't break apart. In fact, Libby seemed to push herself even further down Corey's throat.

"I said, that's a minute!"

Corey raised his arm up and waved Matt away.

Zac felt the tears pushing on again, not so much out of hurt, but out of confusion. And hurt as well, obviously. He looked down at his wrist. "Oh, gosh, look at the time!" He tried to sound shocked, but he knew that his voice sounded funny. "I have to get home. I'll see you guys later!" He picked up his stuff and ran out of the back gate, trying to push the image of Libby and Corey out of his mind.

As he raced down the street, he finally let the tears spill forward, wiping them away with his wrist. Only then did he realize that he wasn't actually wearing a watch. Not that anybody would have noticed anyway; they were all to busy watching the porn show in front of their own eyes.

"God, I hope Tay's still home," he sobbed to himself. He knew Isaac wouldn't be there, having taken the trip down to Muskogee, but maybe, if he was lucky, Taylor would still be sitting in their room and ready to make him feel better.

***

Isaac gazed out of the window, watching the Oklahoma scenery and foliage whiz by. A quick look at his watch told him that it was almost seven-thirty. Honey was leaning against his arm, sleeping. In front, Miranda and Neil were jabbering away quietly about something or other.

"Ike, you got the map?" called Neil.

"Yeah. Why?" asked Isaac, taking the map out of his pocket and unfolding it.

"Just wondering."

"Are we lost?"

"No."

"Yes, we are," spoke up Miranda.

"No, we're not, Mandy."

"Neil, we've passed that tree four times at least. I'd say we’re lost."

"Mandy, we are not lost!" muttered Neil, through gritted teeth.

"Fine." Miranda folded her arms and scooted along the seat, away from Neil.

Isaac sat in the uncomfortable silence, thinking about Zac. When Isaac had phoned home, to say he was going to be a little later than planned and not to worry, Zac had answered. He'd sounded depressed, and his throat had been making that scratchy noise it makes after you've been crying. When Isaac had asked what was wrong, Zac had denied that he was upset and insisted that he was fine.

Isaac knew that was a lie. Why wouldn't Zac talk to him? Was he completely losing touch with his little brothers? Taylor hadn't told him about Gabbie, and now Zac was keeping this from him. When he got home, Isaac was going to have to have a long heart-to-heart with both of his brothers. One that was probably long overdue, and the root cause of the guilt that he was feeling right now.

Suddenly, the car shuddered to a halt.

"Shit!" cursed Neil, banging his head off the steering wheel.

"What?" asked Isaac, leaning forward.

"We're out of gas," Neil told him.

"Oh, great!" muttered Miranda.

"I thought I had enough to make the trip there and back," continued Neil.

"So what do we do? Where's the nearest gas station?" Isaac was trying to remain calm.

"Oh, I saw one about thirty miles back." Neil agitatedly ran his hands over his short blond hair. "And I don't think there's another one for ages. This is kinda a deserted road."

Isaac groaned. Suddenly, he had a funny feeling that it would be quite some time before he got to have that talk with his brothers.

Chapter Six
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