A loud banging noise interrupted Taylor from his peaceful slumber. Yawning groggily, he sat up in his bed, and looked around the room. Finally remembering where he was, he still couldn’t believe that he had this huge room all to himself for the summer. Most of the rooms on the third floor had balcony views, and this room wasn’t any different. Looking out onto the balcony now, Taylor could make out figures by the white picket fence surrounding the horse coral, and they were apparently working on it with hammers.
Grabbing his watch by the nightstand and reading the black digits, he instantly threw his head back down on his pillow. “7 freaking o’clock,” he muttered into the cotton. You had to be crazy waking up at 7:00...especially in the summer.
“I’m siiiingin in the rain! Just siiiiiingin in the rain!!!” Zac practically screamed from the bathroom adjoining his and Taylor’s rooms. The next thing he heard was the light gushing sound of water coming from the shower, and of course, Zac’s singing came considerably louder. “UUGGGHHH!” Taylor moaned, and buried his head deeper into the pillow. It looked like Zac was in one of his demented moods. That should probably explain why he was up at the crack of dawn...at home, Taylor had to practically drag him out of bed, and that was usually at noon.
The country smell of bacon and eggs suddenly overcame Taylor’s nostrils. His head instantly popped up, and looked at the closed door at the other side of the room. How long had it been since he had had an actual cooked breakfast? “Too long...” he muttered, and flung his legs over the side of the queen size bed. He wasn’t about to settle for cold cereal and pop tarts, as he had had to deal with in the trailer he was used to sleeping in on the road. Walking towards the door to go downstairs, he stopped short. Jessica’s beautiful face instantly overcame all of his senses. No way was he going down there in boxers, and a tank top.
As he laid back down on his bed while waiting for Zac to get out of the shower, he began to think about the occurrences the night before. Never in his life had his emotions completely caused him to lose his touch with reality. If a genie popped out in front of him, and gave him one wish to use, he would definitely wish to meet Jessica Sarka all over again. He wasn’t even sure if his heart had completely gotten over it’s intense pounding. He had never felt that way for any girl before, and he had fallen before she had said one word.
What he didn’t understand though was the sudden disappearing act she pulled after that quite embarrassing moment. Sure, Taylor even wanted to crawl under a rock, but he knew well enough to look problems in the face. He had just figured that she was incredibly shy, and tried as hard as he could to leave it at that. But deep inside, he was sure that he had seen terror in those incredible green eyes of hers. Just seeing that in her, he wanted to somehow wipe all the pain away...without even knowing what that pain was.
Incredibly enough, dinner had been quite well. Jessica had appeared from the other room when the group had started to get their plates ready, and she had pretended like nothing had happened at all. To the others that is. Whenever their eyes crossed, which happened a little more than they should of, Taylor could sense she was asking for forgiveness. He didn’t know why either. She was allowed to be embarrassed, and she didn’t have to be sorry for it. Besides, if anyone was going to apologize, it was going to be him. He had probably looked at her as if he hadn’t seen a woman in his entire life. Although, his brain wasn’t letting his body have that much control at that moment.
After dinner, Jessica had then dragged Taylor out onto the deck where they first met. Of course, by then, Taylor couldn’t care less. She could probably yell obscenities at him for a whole hour, and he wouldn’t care. But he did begin to start when she began to talk...
“Okay...” she started. Taylor could see her swallow nervously even in the dim light from the mosquito zapper. (author’s note: hehe) “I brought you out here because I wanted to apologize...that was incredibly rude of me to leave like that when we had just met and all...”she trailed off. Taylor, his eyes wide, opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off. “I was just embarrassed. I mean, I know that you probably don’t even care, but I just wanted to say that,” she ended. Taylor again opened his mouth, but only to shut it again. “I guess I was just weirded out, you know? I mean...I felt...erg, I don’t know how to say this...” she trailed off again. Of course, Taylor was thinking that this was incredibly cute at the time. He should have spoke, but was too interested in the way she bit her lip when she was thinking...
“Okay,” she started again, making Taylor jump out of his stupor, “I want to start over. I mean, we are going to be staying here all summer together, and I don’t want to be embarrassed every time I see you. So...” she said, holding out her hand, “I’m Jessica. I’m 16 years old, and I tend to make a fool out of myself very easily.” Taylor just stared at her hand for a minute, getting just a bit excited at the thought of touching it. Reaching out his own, he clasped her small one, and instantly felt a surge that was enough to knock out the entire New York City. He cleared his throat, and told himself to spew out some words.
“I’m Taylor. I’m also 16 years old, and I tend to make beautiful girls run in terror...” he stated, giving a small smile. “Taylor...” she began, but now it was his turn to interrupt. “Wait a minute, I’m not done yet,” he told her, and she instantly closed her mouth, which by doing this, had Taylor totally forget what he was going to say next. “Um...” he started, “oh, yeah. I also seem to make them want to apologize for something that was entirely not their fault," he said, putting special emphasize on the last words, “ which also includes all those things which were not even faults at all. Jessica, you didn’t have to apologize,” he ended, dropping her hand, but only because his brain was telling him to, “there was nothing to apologize for.”
She had sighed then, telling him that she was even more embarrassed. “I know,” she replied, “but I’m a straightforward person. And besides, I wasn’t about to get any sleep without telling you that, so there ya go.” “Okay, fine,” Taylor had said, “then I’m sorry too.” Jessica seemed confused. “For what?” she asked him. “Um...” Taylor said, starting to feel a blush come up from his neck, “um, for...” He looked her in the eye, suddenly feeling brave. “I think you know...” he finished in a quiet voice, still staring into the light green depths. She had swallowed again, and had began to start to respond, but instead, Gloria’s head had popped out of the sliding door. “Ice-cream, guys, come and get it!” she said, cheerfully. Jessica had turned around, and told her grandmother that they would be there in a minute.
Only slightly turning back around, she asked Taylor, “ever eat homemade vanilla?” Her voice was soft. Taylor only shook his head. “Okay, then,” she had said, which had then ended their earlier conversation, “you definitely don’t wanna miss this.” And with that, she headed toward the door. Taylor of course followed, but all night he had wished to hear what she would have said if she hadn’t have been stopped.
Once inside, Taylor had met a new person...one that wasn’t at dinner. Angela had told him that she was upstairs taking a bubble bath while everyone was eating. “I wanted to make a good impression on the new people!” she had said annoyingly cheerful, while taking a manicured finger, and running it up and down Taylor’s arm. Taylor had just looked at her. He wasn’t the type to be pulled in with fakeness. Behind her, Zac had jumped up from his seat on the carpet, and began to imitate Angela by flipping his long hair back, examining his nails, mouthing the words, “I broke a nail,” and pretended to die on the spot. When Angela had looked behind her when Zac hit the floor, she instantly “became” annoyed, and left the room. Luckily, his mother wasn’t in the room, or else he would have been grounded for eternity.
Hearing the shower tap turn off, and Zac suddenly lowering his shower voice, Taylor snapped out of his daydreaming. He jumped off the bed, pulled some clothes out, and headed for the bathroom. Suddenly, there was nothing that he wanted to do more than see Jessica again. Hopefully, he could control his own thoughts and actions today...
**************************************************************************
After taking probably the fastest shower in his whole life, Taylor bounded down the two flights of stairs to the huge country kitchen. He was amazed at how different everything looked in the daylight. Even though the O’Donnell Ranch looked to be made of money, Gloria had decorated it to be a nice country home. She had put flowers throughout, making if feel a little more lived in. Except for the summer months, Gloria lived in the big house by herself with only two housekeepers, who were more like members of the family. But starting June every year, her house was always packed with family. Two of her daughters lived in Ohio already, but were still some hours away, and it was a family tradition to stay the summer at the ranch. The only family who couldn’t keep the tradition going was Jessica’s family. Sure, they visited in the summer, but they never stayed throughout. Jessica’s father, Michael, had a job in Tulsa that he couldn’t leave for an extended period of time. This year, was different, Taylor was told. Michael was staying in Ohio for his job this year, and the family could stay the summer. Taylor had met him last night at about 10 o’clock, coming in from work. Apparently, he had left early in the morning, to get started on his day.
Stepping into the sunny kitchen, Linda, one of the two housekeepers, set him down immediately with a homecooked breakfast, commenting on how a growing man needed protein in his diet to be strong. Taylor smiled at this, but somehow his attention wasn’t on the pancakes and waffles in front of him. Out the window of the breakfast table, Taylor spotted Jessica sitting on a wicker chair on the screened in porch. She seemed to be having a tough time keeping her eyes open, while at the same time, trying to devour her own huge breakfast. The look on her face told him she wasn’t going to succeed. Suddenly, she pushed back her plate, and immediately placed her head face down on the table. Taylor grinned, not noticing he was being watched. He heard a laugh behind him. “Taylor and Jessica, sittin in a tree...K-I-S-S-I...” Taylor rolled his eyes. “Zac, shut up,” he muttered, and started on his eggs. It was a good thing no one else was in the room at the time. Everyone was either out on the patio, or not awake yet. If they were though, Zac would have been dead by then.
“Oh, come on, Tay,” Zac said, sitting down opposite his brother, having finished his breakfast already, “I know you like her, give it up!” Taylor just gave him a look, but of course that didn’t phase Zac. Taylor gave up. “Okay, fine, I admit it...” he said, looking his brother straight in the eye, “but your no different, bud. What about Sara?” Zac just shrugged. “She’s funny...she’s hyper...and she’s cute,” he responded, “things are lookin up!” Taylor laughed. “But unlike you...” Zac continued, “I like to get to know a girl first before I make my move! What was with that zombie look last night?” Taylor shrugged. “I couldn’t help it,” he muttered. Zac continued to stare at his brother. “Don’t look at me like that!” Taylor exclaimed, shoving a bite of pancake in his mouth. “Aren’t you forgetting someone?” Zac asked him. Taylor’s heart thumped, and he swallowed his bite. “I’m not forgetting her...” Taylor said, “I’ve just been busy. I mean, we just got here.” Zac shook his head. “Okay, well, all I know is that if I was talking to a girl for 2 years, and she suddenly blew me off, I would be quite pissed.” Taylor stopped eating. He suddenly wasn’t that hungry anymore. Zac pushed his chair back, and stood up. “Man, dude, I’m starting to sound like Ike, here,” he said, scratching his neck, “I’m not going to bug you anymore, k?” He left the room in search of Sara.
Taylor placed his fork down on the placemat, and looked out the window again. Jessica was still sleeping at the table. Taylor too, pushed his plate back. He had never felt so guilty in his life. Here he was, in love with Jessica, while liking Jessica. Taylor groaned and placed his head in his hands. “This is way too confusing...” he thought. It’s not like he didn’t think about his computer Jessica. He knew that if she was here now, ranch Jessica didn’t stand a chance. But Jessica wasn’t here, and another Jessica was. Somehow he had put together the two, but he didn’t know how. He liked ranch Jessica because of her shy, and nice personality...not to mention the fact that she was beautiful. But he LOVED his Jessica because even though he had never seen her, he knew her heart.
Linda, the housekeeper came in the room then. “You done, hun?” she asked him, in a kind of southern accent. Taylor looked at her for a minute. “Oh, yeah,” he blurted out, standing up and carrying it over to the sink. “I got it, hun, you go rest...you look pale,” she said, taking the plate. “Thanks,” he muttered, and began to walk from the room. At the foot of the stairs in the hallway, he stopped when he heard the sliding glass doors open from the patio. “Hey Linda,” he could hear Jessica say. “Hey! How’s my baby doing today?” Linda respond. “Peachy!” Jessica said in a sarcastic tone, “waking up with the sun is not me, I guess.” “Peachy...” Taylor repeated to himself. Suddenly, a conversation that he had had long ago came back to him...
JTH_77: Hey, babe, how are you?
Angel_22: Peachy, how are you:)
JTH_77: LOL Peachy? What kind of word is that?
Angel_22: You making fun of me?:)
JTH_77: Um...yes!
Angel_22: Well, isn’t that just
Angel_22: Peachy!
Angel_22: hehe, I forgive you
JTH_77: So is peachy like your word or something?
JTH_77: LOL
Angel_22: Yeah...you got a problem with it?
Angel_22: hehe
JTH_77: Me? No, of course not! It’s endearing actually...to say you are fruity
Angel_22: That was below the belt:)
JTH_77: Better believe it:)
Angel_22: What am I going to do with you?
JTH_77: Keep me, I hope
Angel_22: Okay, you’ve pulled my arm...
Angel_22: You know, I couldn’t have said...peachy keen
JTH_77: Hmmm...glad you didn’t
JTH_77: too corny
Angel_22: oh, so I’m corny now? (mock disgust)
JTH_77: No...your peachy, remember?
Angel_22: yeah, yeah:)
“Taylor? You gonna go up?” he could hear someone say to him. Looking up from his daydream, he saw Jessica standing next to him, with an amused look on her face. He cleared his throat. “Um...yeah, sorry, after you,” he replied, embarrassed. “Don’t worry, I get caught doing that all the time,” she said, hoping up the stairs. Taylor slowly started up behind her. “Idiot,” he thought to himself. At the top of the stairs, Jessica turned around. “You ride?” she asked him. “Horses?” he asked. “Yup,” she answered. “I think I have before...but not a lot...why?” “Cause the whole family is going out riding at noon,” she said, “your sister is so excited about it. She said she wanted to ride one with you.” Jessica was smiling. He smiled too, remembering the dressing room where his Avery had asked to ride with him. “She’s never ridden before,” he explained to her, “every time she goes to the library or something, she brings home all these horse books,” he said, shaking his head. Jessica laughed. “Hey, don’t mock it! I used to do that too... a loooong time ago!” Just then, a door opened at the end of the hallway. A tired looking Angela walked out, wearing nothing but a little nightie set. Her eyes immediately brightened at the site of Taylor. Seeing Jessica tense up, he instantly knew that Angela wasn’t just putting on an act last night. She probably WAS a self-centered, snobby, rich girl. Although Taylor hated the thought of this, he decided he was going to make the best of it anyway.
“Hey Tay! You don’t mind if I call you Tay, do you? I mean, that’s what all your fans call you...” she purred, as she met him on the stairs, completely disregarding Jessica. “No...” he thought, not the fans... He swallowed. “Course not,” he replied coolly, glancing at Jessica. She had a confused look on her face. When she noticed Taylor looking at her, she mouthed the words, “bye!” and took off around the corner to her bedroom. He turned to Angela. “So you know...” he asked her quietly. “Yupper!” she replied, moving her body closer and closer to him. He would have moved then, but the wall trapped him. “Of course I do! I mean, everybody knows Taylor Hanson! Even Jessica...” she replied, twirling a piece of hair around one of her fingers, and looking at him like he was her prey. He looked around, uncomfortable. “Jessica knows?” he asked her, trying hard to not look her in the eye. “Of course she does, silly!” she swatted him on the arm, flirtatiously, “Sara told me that she has full-length posters of you guys all over her wall at home...including her ceiling!” she wiggled her eyebrows for more effect. Taylor didn’t know how to respond to this. Something told him that Angela was lying, but he still didn’t know Jessica enough to know the real answer. “Um...I’m going to go to my room, now, excuse me,” he replied, stepping out of her path, and heading for his bedroom door. Halfway there, Angela called back a reply, “Bye, Mmmbop Boy!...” and giggling, went down the rest of the stairs. Taylor’s hands immediately clenched. “I don’t hate her...” he told himself, “I just dislike her immensely!” Throwing open his bedroom door, he planned to indulge himself by taking a short nap. But that idea was completely diminished when he noticed his laptop open on the wooden desk. Thinking “what the heck” he walked over, and logged on. Sure enough, Jessica was online again...
Angel_22: Hey, you, I just got on
JTH_77: Cool...so how are you?
Suddenly, Taylor remembered the last conversation they had had. “Oh, crap!” he muttered, incredibly embarrassed. How could he have forgotten?
Angel_22: good
JTH_77: good
For awhile none of them spoke. Obviously, Jessica had also remembered. Finally, Taylor found some courage.
JTH_77: This is weird
Angel_22: Yeah...it is
Angel_22: Look, Taylor, I’m sorry about what I said last time we talked
Angel_22: Maybe I shouldn’t have said it or something
JTH_77: Is it the truth?
Angel_22: Yes, but that’s not the point
JTH_77: And what’s the point?
Angel_22: I shouldn’t have said it! I mean, listen to us! We are never like this! Just forget I ever said it, k?
JTH_77: Yeah, right, like that’s going to happen
Angel_22: Well...
JTH_77: Okay, babe, look. We both know that we feel the same way now. I still love you...hopefully you love me.
Angel_22: I do! I didn’t say I didn’t...
JTH_77: Okay, good
JTH_77: I love you too
Angel_22: This sucks. I mean, why is it that the only caring and loving guy that I have ever “met” is someone I can never meet!
JTH_77: Your right...we can’t
Angel_22: I know
Taylor sighed and closed his eyes. This was incredibly hard. If only he had told her right from the beginning who he really was, then this would have never happened. Heck, they lived in the same city! But Taylor knew that if she ever found out that he was “Taylor Hanson” that he would lose her. Her couldn’t let that happen. She meant too much to him. Now he was glad that she had to leave right when he was about to tell her the truth.
“Everybody, let’s go!” Gloria yelled up the stairwell, “we’re going riding now! Hurry! You have two minutes!” “Man,” Taylor muttered, looking at his watch. It was only 9:00. He guessed they had wanted to go when it was still cool outside.
Angel_22: Tay, I have to go now
JTH_77: Yeah, me too
Angel_22: I’m not leaving because of...you know
JTH_77: I know, me neither
Angel_22: Bye...I don’t know if I should say it or not
JTH_77: lol, okay, then, I will
JTH_77: I love you
Angel_22: I love you too:)
JTH_77: Bye
Angel_22: Bye
****I am in no way associated with Hanson or Mercury Records. What you are reading is purely fiction. F-I-C-T-I-O-N.****
