SECTION TWO
DREW
Everything was happening so fast. I mean one day we're at Mayfest and the next we are sitting in the Hansons' living room. Mel had gone into the kitchen to get Mackenzie some potato chips and I heard an unfamiliar pair of footsteps coming down the stairs. It was Isaac and Zac. They walked into the living room.
"Hi, who are you?" Ike asked.
"I--" I started to tell him who I was but Zac had already taken over.
"She's Drew," he plainly stated and smiled shyly.
"Yeah...I thought you wouldn't remember me considering we've never met officially."
"Well I did." He blushed. About that time Ike got bored of listening to us talk and he walked back upstairs.
"I thought you were too busy or preoccupied to even know I was there." I was hoping I wasn't too harsh considering I was crazy about Taylor.
About that time Mel came running into the living room and grabbed Taylor's hand. I was in complete shock. She's never been that blunt about anything towards a guy before. I followed them down the hall and noticed an all-too-familiar picture on the wall. That was when I noticed that Taylor was the little boy Mel was talking about. The one she used to be best friends with. "Oh, hey, Mel. You've got that picture on the wall at your house."
Mel looked up at the picture of the boy and her at the beach. I could almost see her stop breathing. "That's me in that picture," she said in a calm but quiet voice. Finally she had found him. I was so happy for her! She hugged Taylor and finally she snapped back into reality and, being the Mel that she is, she smacked Taylor.
I, for the life of me, couldn't comprehend what had just happened. 'Oh hell no...she didn't even go there,' I thought. 'She just smacked the one and only Taylor Hanson!' I laughed at her nerve. When I finally snapped back, I was alone in the hall.
I walked into the living room where I found Zac. I saw him smile and blush when I walked in almost as if he was being shy toward me. Then I thought, 'Zac Hanson, shy. Ha ha ha!' I sat down beside him hoping that I wasn't too close.
"Hey," he said, looking over at me. "Are you going to be around later?"
"Yeah," I said, trying not to act too excited considering who I was talking to. I didn't want to scare him off. I had to admit, he was getting cuter with every smile. But why was I attracted to Zac? I was supposed to be head over heels for Tay.
"Good. There's something I wanted to talk to you about. Okay?" he asked.
"Sure," I said.
"Zac, Taylor, Isaac, come on we're going to be late," I heard Diana say.
Zac patted my hand that was on my leg, smiled, and walked to the front door. I followed closely behind him where I saw Taylor and Isaac and Mel all coming in through separate doors. And then they were gone. Diana had told us that they'd only be gone for a few hours.
The few hours dragged by. I couldn't stop thinking about Zac. And as much as she wouldn't admit it, I knew Mel was thinking about Taylor. Until finally I heard Zac say, "We're home!"
"Finally an end to the waiting!" I said, walking out of Zoe's room. I had just put her down for a nap and I wouldn't wait to see Zac. I walked downstairs and into the kitchen and saw Taylor talking to Mel and Zac sitting at the kitchen table.
"Hey, walk with me!" he said.
"Okay," I answered. We walked down the hall and out the front door.
We were sitting on the front step when he finally spoke again. "Do you just like me because I'm Zac Hanson?"
"No," I said, a little unsure of where the conversation was going.
"Well then why do you like me?" he asked.
"Why do you like me?" I asked in a smart aleck voice.
"I don't know, it's still too early to tell," he answered. "So why don't we do something to even tell whether we have some compatibility."
"Like what?" I asked.
"Well do you like pizza?"
"Who doesn't?"
"A big fat loser! So let's go!" he said, grabbing my hand.
"Shouldn't we tell someone where we're going?" I asked as he was pulling me across the yard.
"Nah! They'll never know we're gone," he said, laughing.
We walked for what seemed like forever and finally got to the pizza place. He told me stories about crazy fans and stories about the cool ones, too. We stayed there from about 3:00-5:00 just talking, getting to know each other. When we decided to leave Zac told me he was really glad that we had met and that he wanted to keep in touch. That's when he asked me for my phone number. I gave it to him and he walked me to Mel's house. On the walk I told him about my father dying. He was really comforting even though I didn't need it because I barely knew my dad.
"So I guess this is it?" he said, taking my hand.
"Yeah," I said. "I had fun."
"Me, too!" he said.
"So you'll call me?" I asked him, almost regretting it because I didn't want this "thing" we had to move too fast.
"Of course," he answered. That made me feel a little better.
"Okay, well bye," I said, hugging him.
"Bye," he said as I walked in the door to Mel's house.
And almost as soon as I had shut the door I was brought back into reality by Mel's younger brother. "So," he said, acting like a jackass. "Who's the guy?"
"None of your business, asshole," I said with a smile.
"I love you, too, honey," I heard him say in a sarcastic voice as I walked up the stairs to Mel's room where I heard Hanson's CD playing through the door.
___________________________________________________________________
MEL
Okay, I didn't know WHERE that girl had gone to but she was gonna get it. Leaving me alone with Tay like that. Not only was it uncomfortable, but everything about him make me want to smack him again. The way he'd space out for no apparent reason, or his need to be sarcastic when it wasn't called for. All in all, the guy made me cringe.
I pushed pause on my CD player when Drew walked into my room. She had a huge grin on her face. "WHERE have you BEEN?" I asked. "The least you could've done was TELL me you weren't riding home with me so I didn't have to stand there and talk to Tay! Luckily Ike was there to keep me occupied."
She didn't seem phased by my scolding. "Zac and I went out for pizza." Then she hesitated. "WHAT is SO bad about Taylor?"
"Everything."
"Mel, wake up. You just reunited with this guy you've been obsessing over all your life and now you decide you don't LIKE him? And even more, he turned out to be TAYLOR HANSON!"
"I don't CARE who he is. He's come off as a real jerk towards me and I don't care to take that. I finally discovered who he is and I'm satisfied now."
"You are such a liar," Drew said, sitting on my bed. "Don't you see the way he looks at you?"
"What, like I'm contagious? Yeah."
"No! He looks at you the same way you look at him when he's not looking." I didn't have anything to say to that. She'd noticed? "But you're too blind to notice what's right in front of you," she continued. Then she sighed. "Whether you like or not, you two are gonna have to get together and talk."
Okay. I'd decided that I didn't want to talk about it anymore. "I'm sick of this. So how'd it go with Zac?"
Drew grinned and straightened up. She was all ready to give me details when all of a sudden we heard this god-awful roar outside. We gave each other a Look and ran down the stairs.
We looked out the screen door to say Tay parking his black motorcycle in my driveway. I groaned. "Oh god, what NOW?"
"Mel, be nice," said Drew.
Drew stayed on the porch as I stormed across the yard to Tay. "What are you DOING here?" I asked.
Tay swung his leg over his bike and stood in front of me. He shoved his hands in his pockets and gave me a Look. "You wanna tell me what that little episode was about this morning?"
"Which one? This one?" I slapped him again.
"WHY are you always DOING that?" Tay yelled.
"Where have you been for the past thirteen years, Tay?"
"I moved to South America!" he said defensively. "And then the whole record contract thing got started..."
"You never made an attempt to contact me!"
"YOU never made an attempt to contact ME," he argued.
"I didn't know where you were! And I've been in the same place I've been since you left. It's been so long that I even forgot your NAME!"
"What? I never forgot YOURS."
That silenced me for a second. Then I said, "Do you know how many sleepless nights I've spent wondering where you were and if you were okay? Did you know that after so many years of not seeing you, I STILL cared for you? But you're making that very hard for me now."
"You think I haven't been through the same?"
"I thought you'd forgotten me."
He jerked his head up and looked at me. "I never forgot you, Mel."
"Then why didn't you try to get in touch with me?"
He shifted his weight to his other foot and began to look uncomfortable. "I don't know. I guess I didn't think you'd remember me."
This guy was unreal! This was getting ridiculous. Finally I sighed. "Go home, Tay. All right? Just--just go."
He got on his bike and started it up. The roar was unbelievable when you stood right next to it. Tay gave me a Look and, without a word, pulled out of the driveway and took off down the road.
As I stared after him and the empty road when he was out of sight, I wondered what I had just done. I felt my heart slowly breaking. But WHY?
I walked past Drew and into the house. "What was that all about?" she asked.
"I made him leave," I said.
She gaped back at me. "WHY?"
"I don't wanna talk about it."
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Later on, Drew and I went to our Nana's house to tell her all the past events. Nana was mine and Drew's old nanny. Since Drew and I lived so close together Nana would babysit for us at the same time. We loved Nana. Since we're too old to need a babysitter now, Nana's there if we need someone to talk to. She's like mine and Drew's third musketeer.
--------------------------------------------------
That night after Drew went home, I did my relaxing ritual--take a long, hot bubble bath, then light some candles in my room and turn on some soft rock and just lay there.
I was laying there, recalling the events that happened earlier that day when my phone rang. Oh, GOD, WHAT?! I picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"May I speak to Melody please?" said a guy's voice.
"This is she."
"Hey, Mel, it's Ike."
"Oh, hey, Ike. How are you?"
"Oh, I'm fine, thanks. Kinda worried, though. Where's Tay?"
"What do you mean? Did he not go home?"
"So he WAS there."
"Yeah, WAS. He left about two hours ago."
"Well he never came HERE. He hasn't even called."
"I'm sorry. I don't know where he is. To be honest, I made him leave."
"Why?"
"It's complicated."
"Yeah, I noticed some uncomfortable vibes between you two. Are you two okay with this new...reunion?"
"I don't know. I really don't."
"Well I hope things work out between you two. It takes awhile for Tay to come through. I'm gonna go, though, all right?"
"Okay. Talk to you later."
"You, too. Hey, if you hear from Tay, tell him to come home, okay? We're beginning to wonder."
"Okay, I will."
"Thanks."
We hung up and I lay back down. I tried to continue my thoughts, but the phone call bothered me. He hadn't gone home yet? Where was he? Despite what a jerk he was, I DID care about him and I began to worry.
I reached over and fished in my pocket book for Tay's pager number that he had given me at his house earlier that day and paged him.
Not much longer than two minutes later, my phone rang. I picked it up. "Hello?"
"You paged me," Tay said.
"Tay?"
"Yeah. What do you want?"
"Where are you?"
He sighed. "I'm on a pay phone at a gas station. Why do YOU care?"
"Because Ike called me, wondering where you were. Your family's worried sick."
"Well I'm fine. I've just been driving around. Doing nothing. Just driving."
"For two hours?"
"Yeah, so? What's it to YOU?"
I hesitated a little. "Maybe I was a bit concerned myself."
"Yeah, well, don't trouble yourself. You may have an emotional breakdown," he said sarcastically. Then he hung up on me.
Oh the NERVE!
---------------------------------------------------------
I didn't want it to be like this with him. I REALLY wanted us to get along. But he was making it very hard for me to be nice to him.
Drew had been dragging me to their house so she could see Zac. So I was forced to be around Tay against my will. We fought like cats and dogs. There was NEVER a time that we saw each other and we didn't argue. Everyone noticed it--his family, my family, Drew, Ike, Zac. They all had tried talking sense into us, but it never worked. The more they talked, the worse it got.
One day, Drew had dragged me over there and Tay and Zac were the only ones there. So when we arrived, it was just the four of us. GREAT.
To make it even worse, Zac and Drew went outside and left Tay and I sitting there alone. We shared an uncomfortable silence and we couldn't even LOOK at each other. Then, without a word, he got up and went upstairs.
'Fine,' I thought. 'I'll just sit here and twiddle my thumbs.'
So I sat there, prepared to be bored, when Tay came back down the stairs. Instead of sitting back down in the arm chair he had gotten up from, he sat beside me on the couch and handed me a folded-up sheet of paper. "Uh--it's...finally finished," he said uncomfortably.
I took the paper. "What's this?"
"It's something that's...taken me quite a while to write. I hate that it's taken so long and things are the way they are. Just--read it, okay?"
"Now?"
He wiped his palms on his jeans. "Uh--yeah."
I unfolded the paper and began reading the letter.
"Melody,
I decided that the only way you'd probably ever listen to what I have to say is if I didn't say it at all. So here goes:
It's been thirteen years, as you're well aware of, and I've dreamed of meeting you again every night since then. But I never dreamed that our meeting would be as stormy as this has been and I hate it.
I realize that we started off on the wrong foot and believe me when I say this--I want to start over. I didn't mean all the things I said to you and I apologize for it. You're really not like any of those names I called you. You're really a great person. I just found it scary that I had to get to know you all over again. After all, we're not four anymore.
So if you'll accept my apology, I'd really like to be your friend again. We'll probably never be as close as you and Drew, but I just want you back in my life. As a friend, not an enemy.
Even if you won't accept, please consider what I've said. I'd be forever grateful and I understand if you never want to see me again.
Sincerely,
Taylor"
I couldn't help but smile after I'd read the letter. He'd written exactly what I was feeling. Of COURSE I was gonna accept his apology!
I looked up at Tay and grinned. "I accept your apology." Tay smiled back at me. "And I feel the same way. I'm sorry for all the arguing and being so rude. It just kind of weirded me out finding you again and being who you are..."
Tay ran a hand through his hair and glanced in the other direction. Then he looked back at me. "That--doesn't really matter," he said.
I smiled at his modesty. "I really want to be friends, too." I held out my hand. "Truce?"
He took my hand and pulled me close and hugged me. "Nah! How 'bout friends?" he asked.
"Okay," I laughed.
-------------------------------------------
So that was it. We were getting along. But we never got around to telling anybody. Probably because every now and then we still had our little tiffs. Especially when we were around other people. Being under their influence sort of made us feel like...we had this rep to uphold or something. So basically, we gave the public what they wanted.
But when we were alone we got along better than I had ever imagined. I had NEVER had so much fun with a guy before. And we were perfect together. It was like a balanced relationship. We could play around and laugh and joke, and the next thing we knew, we could be engaged in a really deep conversation.
Mostly we'd go to each other's houses when there was no one home. His tree house was our special meeting place. But after awhile, we got bored. We decided to try sneaking out together. We'd go to the park, the mall, arcades, museums. Sometimes we'd just drive around for hours and just talk.
Obviously we were pulling it off really well because everyone else still thought we hated each other. We weren't really paying attention, but we realized it when we came home to Tay's house and there was a video tape on top of the TV. With it was a note. It said, "Please watch this instead of arguing. Love, Mom."
Tay popped the tape in the VCR and we sat down on the couch together. Suddenly visions of two little kids came on the screen. I covered my mouth and grinned. "Aww, that's us!"
Tay smiled. I curled up close to him and he put his arm around my shoulder. As we watched, he twirled my hair around his finger.
There were scenes of us at my house, his house, the beach, park, zoo, you name it. There was one where Tay and I were taking a nap on the floor. We were laying on our stomachs and we had our heads turned away from each other. But Tay's fingers were twirling my hair.
I glanced at his fingers in my hair just then and grinned up at him. "You're still doing that."
He shrugged. "Habit, I guess."
"With all the girls?"
"No. Just you."
I smiled to myself.
----------------------------------------------------
For the next few days, we watched videos and looked through old pictures and toys. We were sitting on the couch one day, Tay's arm around me, twirling my hair, when we came across a video of us in Tay's yard. His dad was filming us and we were talking to the camera. Tay put his arm around my shoulder. "This is Melody," he said into the camera. "She's my best friend." I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. He wiped it off. "Yuck! You can be my best friend but you can't KISS me!" said Tay. I was giggling my butt off. Walker laughed behind the camera. "Aww, Melody, do you love Taylor?" I giggled and ran away.
When the scene was over, I reached up and kissed Tay's cheek. "Hey," Tay grinned. "What was that for?"
"Just seeing how you'd react," I said.
"Well that whole kissing statement has long since expired." He stopped the tape, gently turned my head toward him, and softly kissed my lips.
I was so startled that I didn't even kiss him back before I pulled away. I bit my lip and looked down nervously. "Why did you do that?"
"Because I should have done it a long time ago," he said. I still couldn't look up. "Please let me," he said.
I looked up slowly and Tay took my face in his hands. And then we kissed. This time it didn't scare me. Actually, it felt so right. So comfortable. So...romantic.
We sat there, kissing softly and slowly, savoring the taste of each other's lips and feeling his warm breath. He was right. This SHOULD have happened a long time ago.
We pulled away, grinning at each other. "Wow," Tay said. "That was...nice."
"Yeah. I liked it a lot." Then I glanced at the clock. "Uh, oh, look. I better go. I gotta be home soon."
"Oh yeah. That's right." He walked me to the door. "Sorry I kept you."
I stepped out the door, turned around, and looked into his eyes. "Don't be. I'm not. I had a lot of fun today. I enjoy being with you."
Tay smiled, but he didn't look so shy this time. Good, progress. "I enjoy being with you, too. Hey, uh, you wanna go out to dinner one night? I mean, not like...lately. But something more...serious?"
"Yeah, sure."
"How about Friday?"
"Pick me up at seven?"
"I'll be there."
We said bye and I drove home happy. We were going on a real date! I was DYING to tell Drew. But then I stopped myself. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. I wasn't sure why, but it just didn't feel right.
Omigosh! What was I gonna wear?!
_____________________________________________________________
DREW
Well things were going great with Zac. The weeks were flying by. Dating became a normal thing. Every Friday and Saturday night we were together. Flirting got to the point where people were staring at us and we kept getting closer and closer.
One Sunday afternoon I was thinking about Zac and suddenly an idea popped into my head. Why not re-paint my room? It hadn't been painted in years and the old, faded shade of pastel blue just wasn't cutting it. I decided it needed a new look. Pink to match my dancer motif. About that time my phone rang. It was Zac. I told him what I had been thinking and he decided to come over around 3:00 and help out.
I got dressed and ran to the hardware store. I picked out the cutest shade of pink. By the time I got home, Zac was sitting on my front porch. "Hey, baby," he said, standing up and hugging me.
"Hey yourself." I glanced back at him as I walked into my house.
My mom was out of town on business. Surprise, surprise. That's how this whole thing was possible.
Zac was wearing a white wife-beater and khaki cargo shorts. (Damn!) I couldn't believe how good he looked. Part of me just wanted to walk over and kiss him. But I didn't know why considering I had been "talking" to him for about a month. I just wanted to take everything slow. For Zac.
We walked up to my room and started painting. I walked out halfway through painting and got us a drink and when I walked back in I saw Zac drop a little bit of paint on his face. He went to wipe it off and it smeared all over his face.
"Zac, come here, let me help you," I said. He walked over to me and put his arms around me. I started to wipe his face off with a towel. Then out of nowhere he kissed me on the lips. So soft it was almost like there was nothing there. He pulled away.
"Well that wa--" he started to say but I interrupted him with another kiss. After that things got better and better even though we weren't dating.
___________________________________________________________________
MEL
Tay was the sweetest guy in the world. Our first date was that Friday after he kissed me.
He arrived before I was ready. (Oh yeah, I wore a knee-length black skirt, a green sleeveless shirt, and a pair of sandals.) He didn't come to the door, but I didn't mind. I preferred that he didn't.
I came down the stairs as Tay beeped the horn. My brother heard it. "Who's that?"
I rolled my eyes. "Tay."
"Why are you so dressed up?"
"We're going out," I said.
My brother started laughing. "Yeah. Right. YOU and TAYLOR are going out?"
"It's not like I have much of a choice. His mom's making us," I lied.
My brother laughed again as I opened the door. "Whatever. Have fun," he said sarcastically as I walked out the door.
I smiled at Tay as I got in his car. "Hey," I said.
"Hey," he smiled back. "You look great."
"Thanks. Sorry I kept you waiting. You were a little early."
He gave me a little-boy grin. "Well I couldn't wait to see you."
I watched him as he drove us down the road. I liked what he was wearing. A pair of well-fitted jeans, black shoes, and a red shirt with a black leather jacket over it. "I like your jacket," I said, feeling the shoulder.
"Oh, thanks," he said.
We rode in silence until we reached the place he was taking me to. We had dinner, then coffee, and then afterward we went walking on the high school track. Luckily no one was there.
He took my hand as we began to walk. "We ought to do this again sometime," he said. "I've had a lot of fun tonight. I really enjoy being with you."
I smiled shyly. "I enjoy being with you, too."
We walked a couple of laps, just talking and holding hands. Sometimes we'd just walk in silence, enjoying each other's company.
The last time around the track, I broke the silence. "I'm gonna be at this place every day next year. Something I'm NOT looking forward to."
"Aw, that's right," Tay whined. "I won't get to see you as much."
"Oh, so we have a future now," I said.
"Well, yeah," Tay shrugged. "Don't you think we've reached the point where seeing other people would be considered wrong?"
"Do you wanna be at that point?"
"I'm already there," he said. "I can't imagine some other girl in your place."
I smiled to myself. "THAT just cemented my decision.'
"So I get you all to myself?"
"I'm all yours."
"All right!"
I laughed.
--------------------------------------
Tay dropped me off at my house. "Tonight was great," he said.
"Yeah, it was," I said. "Thank you."
"Uh, I'll call you."
I smiled. "I'm looking forward to it."
I opened the door to get out, but he grabbed my elbow and pulled me back in. "Don't deprive me of the best part of the evening." He brushed my hair out of my face and kissed me. "Goodnight," he said softly.
I smiled and bit my lip. "Goodnight." I got out and walked in the house. As soon as I got in, he drove away.
No sooner had I turned on my bedroom light when my phone began to ring. I smiled. No WAY Tay had gotten home so quick. And even if he did, he had JUST seen me! "Hello?" I answered.
"Was that TAY'S car I just saw you get out of?!" Drew's voice shrieked on the other end.
I felt my blood run cold. "Uh, you saw me?"
"YES, I saw you! I thought you couldn't stand him?"
"Well, duh!" I said, searching for a cover-up. "Nothing's changed. His, uh, parents made us go out. They, um, they thought it'd be good for us."
"So how did it go?"
"We had dinner and coffee and walked the school track."
"Wow, THREE places."
"We just did it to stay out longer and humor his parents."
"Well you sure were dressed up to be FORCED to go out."
"Drew, PLEASE. Just because I don't like the guy, doesn't mean I'm not gonna look good."
"So this didn't improve your relationship at all?"
"You can't teach an old dog new tricks."
"Uh, Mel. I don't think that saying applies to you."
"Why not?"
"Well, because. The old dog would be you and Taylor when you were four. You two were best friends. The new trick would be..."
"What I'm trying to say is that everyone is so involved in us that it's getting on our nerves and it's getting worse between each other. We're older and we're different. We're not little anymore. We've changed. And we're obviously having a hard time adapting to that. I think that if everyone left us alone, something might happen. You know, 'leave them alone and they'll come home, wagging their tails behind them,' Why do you think the sheep ran away in the first place?" I said. I was hoping she'd buy it. That was probably the biggest mouthful of lies I'd ever fed someone. And I wanted to tell her the truth SO bad!
Drew sighed. "Yeah, I guess you've got a point. It's getting late, I'm gonna go to bed. I'll see you tomorrow."
I glanced at the clock. Almost half past eleven! I didn't even know we'd stayed out THAT late!
I hung up with Drew and got ready for bed. After I got in the bed, I lay there, thinking about Tay and the fun that we'd had that night. I'm not sure when I fell asleep.
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The next morning, Drew came over and we went walking in our neighborhood. Drew couldn't stop talking about Zac. To try to veer off subject, I asked, "You wanna do something today?"
"Sorry. I can't. Zac and I are going to the pool. We're going with Ike and some girl named Marianna. We asked Tay to go, but he said he had other plans. Hey, you wanna go with us?" she asked.
"No thanks. What plans?"
"You mean Taylor?"
"Yeah. I mean, not that I care or anything. I'm just curious."
"Oh, I don't know, I--" then she sighed. "Okay, I'll tell you. Tay's seeing some girl. He said he was gonna try to get together with her today."
"Uh, really? What's her name?"
"I don't know. He didn't say."
"Where did he meet her?"
"I don't know. He said he's known her for awhile."
"Oh," I said. I knew what she was talking about. I was bursting to tell her.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" she said. "I know you say you don't like him, but I also know you sort of have a crush on him, too. I shouldn't have said anything."
"It's fine," I said. "I was bound to find out somehow."
Later on I went to see Nana. She was happy to hear that Tay and I were finally together. I'd taken him over to her house a couple of times and he loved her to death. She told me she thinks we're adorable together.
Soon after I got home, my phone rang. "Hello?"
"Hey, doll," Tay said.
"Hey," I said, grinning from ear to ear. "Um, please. Don't call me doll."
"Why not?"
"Sounds kinda cheesy."
"Okay. Hold on, let me write it on my handy maintenance list."
I laughed a shocked laugh. "What? Is that supposed to be an insult?"
"Did it insult you?"
"No."
"Then, yes, it was. Now that I know you can take a joke..."
"I'm not high maintenance," I said.
"So I'm not gonna have to work so hard to make you happy?"
"No. Although there ARE things you're gonna have to work hard for to make YOURSELF happy," I flirted.
"Ohh. And what's that?"
"You know what I mean."
"I just wanna hear you say it."
"If I said it, you wouldn't be on that phone right now."
"Oh, really? You think you know so much. Why don't you put your money where our mouth is?"
"You couldn't handle it."
"Is that a promise?"
"That's a very solemn promise."
He chuckled. "So what do you wanna do today?"
"I wanna drive your bike."
"Okay, there is no WAY you're driving my bike."
"Aw, why not?" I pouted.
"Because, I just--uh-uh."
"Well can you at least take me for a ride?"
"I can do that."
I smiled. "Oh good."
"What time do you want me to come over?"
"Uh...give me an hour or two?"
"Jeez, how long does it take a girl to get dressed?"
I laughed. "It's not just that. It gives my parents time to leave for town. I don't want them asking any questions."
"Yeah, good point. All right, well then, I'll see you in a couple of hours."
"Okay, bye."
"Bye." We hung up and I began searching through my closet. I picked out a pair of jeans and a pink tank top. Simple, yet cute. I pulled my hair up into a bun and went into the bathroom to work on my god awful face.
When I went back into my room to clean up (and kill time) my dad knocked and came in. "You got any plans today?" he asked.
"Yeah, Drew and I are going skating." Which didn't really sound like a bad idea. I'd have to bring that up later.
"What time are you leaving?"
I glanced at my clock. "An hour and a half?"
"Okay, well, the little ones are at friends' houses. Nick went camping. Lock up before you leave and make sure everything's off."
"All right. What time will you be home?"
"Probably not till late. We're visiting some friends."
"Okay, have fun," I said. 'I know I will,' I thought.
--------------------------------------------------
The house was empty when I heard Tay's motorcycle pull up in the driveway. I headed out the door, after following my dad's instructions, and got on the bike behind Tay. Once again, he looked great. He never ceased to amaze me.
"Hold on tight," Tay said over his shoulder.
"You know it," I grinned. I wrapped my arms around him tightly and he began pulling out of the driveway. Soon we were flying down the road. I held on tightly and laid my head on his back. I just sat there, enjoying the ride.
He took us down a long, deserted road with nothing but green fields on either side. I lifted my head to watch the scenery racing by me. I peeked around Tay to watch him drive. He was so beautiful. His face was in complete concentration as he watched the road and worked the gears. I wanted to drive.
"Pull over!" I shouted.
"What?" he shouted back.
"PULL OVER!"
He pulled the bike over and the noise softened to a purr. "What's the matter?" he asked.
"I wanna drive," I said.
"Mel, I already told you--"
"PLEASE, Tay! Please! I wanna try it. I've never done it before."
"Exactly," he said.
"Tay! Just a few yards. I promise nothing will happen, I promise!"
He studied my face as he thought about it. "Oh, all right." We got off and switched places. "I could get in a lot of trouble for this."
"You won't. I promise," I said. He walked me through everything and soon I was driving it. I was a little slow at first, but I never even got up to full speed when I decided I didn't want to do it anymore. I pulled the bike over.
"Why'd you stop? You were doing fine," he said.
"I don't think I'm cut out for this," I said. "I think I like it better when you drive."
"So do I," he said, smiling. He got off and we switched places. He put the kickstand down and sat backwards on the bike, facing me. He took his gloves off and put them behind him.
He sat there and didn't say a word. He just stared into my eyes. It began to make me uncomfortable, so I glanced over at the field. "I'm so glad we made this work," he said finally. The sun was beginning to set.
"Me, too," I said. "I was afraid you'd always hate me."
"I never hated you. It just kinda scared me, how you all of a sudden come out of nowhere after thirteen years--I just didn't know how to handle it." He glanced at his hands and smiled shyly as his face turned red. "I was sorta trying to impress you."
"You impress me by insulting me? Why do guys always think that works?"
Tay shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. It's just a thing we do, I guess."
After a short silence, I said, "I really do like you, Tay..."
"But?"
"But what?"
"The way it started--"
"I wasn't gonna say 'but,' " I smiled at his shyness. "I was gonna say 'so.' "
"So?"
"Just listen!" I laughed. "SO...I don't want you to feel uncomfortable about things. I mean, I'm not gonna laugh at you or think you're crazy."
"Oh, I know. You don't need to tell me that."
"Well, it's just that sometimes the way you look at me, or when you talk to me you seem a little uncomfortable. I just wanted to let you know."
"Well everyone has their insecurities. It's nothing personal, that's just the way I am."
I smiled and took his hands. "Then loosen up."
He grinned at me. "You wanna see me loosened up?"
"Yep."
"How for do I need your permission to go?"
"Um...until I make you stop?"
He took each of my legs and draped them over his and then he pulled me close by my lower back. "Chicken?" he asked.
I giggled. "I didn't know you knew how to play that game."
"You'd be surprised at a lot of things. Chicken?"
"No."
He ran his hands up my thighs. "Chicken?"
"No."
He let his finger slide just under the seam of my jeans. "Chicken?"
"No." But the way he was looking at me was turning me on.
He slid a hand up my shirt up to my waist. Then he tickled my side. "Chicken?" he smiled.
"No!" I laughed. "Ticklish!" I took his hand out of my shirt.
He got serious again. He slid his hands up my arms and stopped at my shoulders. His fingers caressing my bare skin gave me chills. He leaned over and nuzzled my neck a little. Then he began kissing it. He stayed there awhile, but I was enjoying it too much to stop him. Finally, he lifted his head and kissed my lips. Somehow he managed to twirl my hair around his finger at the same time. Tay worked in mysterious ways. That's the one thing that kept me hooked.
Soon I pulled away, but I kept my face close to his. By this time it was dark. "Hey," I said quietly. "Nobody's home at my house. My parents won't be home till late. Wanna keep me company for awhile?"
"And what would we do when we got there?" he asked flirtatiously.
I pulled back a little further. "Uh, Tay, I'm not ready to...go all the way yet. I hope you don't mind."
"No, it's fine. It's too soon for that, I agree," he said.
I smiled to myself. But he wanted to...
"Yeah, I'll come over."
-----------------------------------------------------
When we got to my house, Taylor made himself right at home. He took off his shoes and jacked and plopped down on the couch. I sat close to him and he wrapped his arms around me. I turned on the TV and started to channel surf. Then the phone rang.
I started to get up, but Tay tugged me back. "Let the machine get it. I just want to sit here." I sat back down and considered it. But I HAD to get it.
"Sorry, Tay. But I really need to get it."
He sighed. "Okay. But hurry."
I picked it up. "Hello?"
"Hey, Mel," said Drew.
I could hear Zac's voice in the background. "What's he DOING there?!"
Drew laughed. "So how did Taylor end up at your house?"
"Uh, oh. My parents left and they had Tay come over to stay with me."
"I thought he was going out with that girl?"
"He said she stood him up."
Taylor looked at me funny. "It's Drew," I said.
He jumpted to attention. "Is Zac over there?"
"Yeah, he's there," I said.
The blood drained from his face. "Drew hold on," I covered the mouthpiece with my hand. "Don't worry, I took care of it," I whispered. "They don't know."
"Are you sure?" he whispered.
"Yes!" I hissed back. Then I started talking to Drew again. "Uh, how did you know he was here?"
"We heard his bike. So how's it going?
"Honestly? Tolerable. We're not fighting yet."
"That's good. Well I'm gonna go, then, okay? Zac says hi."
"Hi, Zac!" I said. We laughed. Then I hung up with Drew and reclaimed my place in Tay's ams.
____________________________________________________________________________
DREW
Everything was happening so fast. I mean one day we're at Mayfest and the next we are sitting in the Hansons' living room. Mel had gone into the kitchen to get Mackenzie some potato chips and I heard an unfamiliar pair of footsteps coming down the stairs. It was Isaac and Zac. They walked into the living room.
"Hi, who are you?" Ike asked.
"I--" I started to tell him who I was but Zac had already taken over.
"She's Drew," he plainly stated and smiled shyly.
"Yeah...I thought you wouldn't remember me considering we've never met officially."
"Well I did." He blushed. About that time Ike got bored of listening to us talk and he walked back upstairs.
"I thought you were too busy or preoccupied to even know I was there." I was hoping I wasn't too harsh considering I was crazy about Taylor.
About that time Mel came running into the living room and grabbed Taylor's hand. I was in complete shock. She's never been that blunt about anything towards a guy before. I followed them down the hall and noticed an all-too-familiar picture on the wall. That was when I noticed that Taylor was the little boy Mel was talking about. The one she used to be best friends with. "Oh, hey, Mel. You've got that picture on the wall at your house."
Mel looked up at the picture of the boy and her at the beach. I could almost see her stop breathing. "That's me in that picture," she said in a calm but quiet voice. Finally she had found him. I was so happy for her! She hugged Taylor and finally she snapped back into reality and, being the Mel that she is, she smacked Taylor.
I, for the life of me, couldn't comprehend what had just happened. 'Oh hell no...she didn't even go there,' I thought. 'She just smacked the one and only Taylor Hanson!' I laughed at her nerve. When I finally snapped back, I was alone in the hall.
I walked into the living room where I found Zac. I saw him smile and blush when I walked in almost as if he was being shy toward me. Then I thought, 'Zac Hanson, shy. Ha ha ha!' I sat down beside him hoping that I wasn't too close.
"Hey," he said, looking over at me. "Are you going to be around later?"
"Yeah," I said, trying not to act too excited considering who I was talking to. I didn't want to scare him off. I had to admit, he was getting cuter with every smile. But why was I attracted to Zac? I was supposed to be head over heels for Tay.
"Good. There's something I wanted to talk to you about. Okay?" he asked.
"Sure," I said.
"Zac, Taylor, Isaac, come on we're going to be late," I heard Diana say.
Zac patted my hand that was on my leg, smiled, and walked to the front door. I followed closely behind him where I saw Taylor and Isaac and Mel all coming in through separate doors. And then they were gone. Diana had told us that they'd only be gone for a few hours.
The few hours dragged by. I couldn't stop thinking about Zac. And as much as she wouldn't admit it, I knew Mel was thinking about Taylor. Until finally I heard Zac say, "We're home!"
"Finally an end to the waiting!" I said, walking out of Zoe's room. I had just put her down for a nap and I wouldn't wait to see Zac. I walked downstairs and into the kitchen and saw Taylor talking to Mel and Zac sitting at the kitchen table.
"Hey, walk with me!" he said.
"Okay," I answered. We walked down the hall and out the front door.
We were sitting on the front step when he finally spoke again. "Do you just like me because I'm Zac Hanson?"
"No," I said, a little unsure of where the conversation was going.
"Well then why do you like me?" he asked.
"Why do you like me?" I asked in a smart aleck voice.
"I don't know, it's still too early to tell," he answered. "So why don't we do something to even tell whether we have some compatibility."
"Like what?" I asked.
"Well do you like pizza?"
"Who doesn't?"
"A big fat loser! So let's go!" he said, grabbing my hand.
"Shouldn't we tell someone where we're going?" I asked as he was pulling me across the yard.
"Nah! They'll never know we're gone," he said, laughing.
We walked for what seemed like forever and finally got to the pizza place. He told me stories about crazy fans and stories about the cool ones, too. We stayed there from about 3:00-5:00 just talking, getting to know each other. When we decided to leave Zac told me he was really glad that we had met and that he wanted to keep in touch. That's when he asked me for my phone number. I gave it to him and he walked me to Mel's house. On the walk I told him about my father dying. He was really comforting even though I didn't need it because I barely knew my dad.
"So I guess this is it?" he said, taking my hand.
"Yeah," I said. "I had fun."
"Me, too!" he said.
"So you'll call me?" I asked him, almost regretting it because I didn't want this "thing" we had to move too fast.
"Of course," he answered. That made me feel a little better.
"Okay, well bye," I said, hugging him.
"Bye," he said as I walked in the door to Mel's house.
And almost as soon as I had shut the door I was brought back into reality by Mel's younger brother. "So," he said, acting like a jackass. "Who's the guy?"
"None of your business, asshole," I said with a smile.
"I love you, too, honey," I heard him say in a sarcastic voice as I walked up the stairs to Mel's room where I heard Hanson's CD playing through the door.
___________________________________________________________________
MEL
Okay, I didn't know WHERE that girl had gone to but she was gonna get it. Leaving me alone with Tay like that. Not only was it uncomfortable, but everything about him make me want to smack him again. The way he'd space out for no apparent reason, or his need to be sarcastic when it wasn't called for. All in all, the guy made me cringe.
I pushed pause on my CD player when Drew walked into my room. She had a huge grin on her face. "WHERE have you BEEN?" I asked. "The least you could've done was TELL me you weren't riding home with me so I didn't have to stand there and talk to Tay! Luckily Ike was there to keep me occupied."
She didn't seem phased by my scolding. "Zac and I went out for pizza." Then she hesitated. "WHAT is SO bad about Taylor?"
"Everything."
"Mel, wake up. You just reunited with this guy you've been obsessing over all your life and now you decide you don't LIKE him? And even more, he turned out to be TAYLOR HANSON!"
"I don't CARE who he is. He's come off as a real jerk towards me and I don't care to take that. I finally discovered who he is and I'm satisfied now."
"You are such a liar," Drew said, sitting on my bed. "Don't you see the way he looks at you?"
"What, like I'm contagious? Yeah."
"No! He looks at you the same way you look at him when he's not looking." I didn't have anything to say to that. She'd noticed? "But you're too blind to notice what's right in front of you," she continued. Then she sighed. "Whether you like or not, you two are gonna have to get together and talk."
Okay. I'd decided that I didn't want to talk about it anymore. "I'm sick of this. So how'd it go with Zac?"
Drew grinned and straightened up. She was all ready to give me details when all of a sudden we heard this god-awful roar outside. We gave each other a Look and ran down the stairs.
We looked out the screen door to say Tay parking his black motorcycle in my driveway. I groaned. "Oh god, what NOW?"
"Mel, be nice," said Drew.
Drew stayed on the porch as I stormed across the yard to Tay. "What are you DOING here?" I asked.
Tay swung his leg over his bike and stood in front of me. He shoved his hands in his pockets and gave me a Look. "You wanna tell me what that little episode was about this morning?"
"Which one? This one?" I slapped him again.
"WHY are you always DOING that?" Tay yelled.
"Where have you been for the past thirteen years, Tay?"
"I moved to South America!" he said defensively. "And then the whole record contract thing got started..."
"You never made an attempt to contact me!"
"YOU never made an attempt to contact ME," he argued.
"I didn't know where you were! And I've been in the same place I've been since you left. It's been so long that I even forgot your NAME!"
"What? I never forgot YOURS."
That silenced me for a second. Then I said, "Do you know how many sleepless nights I've spent wondering where you were and if you were okay? Did you know that after so many years of not seeing you, I STILL cared for you? But you're making that very hard for me now."
"You think I haven't been through the same?"
"I thought you'd forgotten me."
He jerked his head up and looked at me. "I never forgot you, Mel."
"Then why didn't you try to get in touch with me?"
He shifted his weight to his other foot and began to look uncomfortable. "I don't know. I guess I didn't think you'd remember me."
This guy was unreal! This was getting ridiculous. Finally I sighed. "Go home, Tay. All right? Just--just go."
He got on his bike and started it up. The roar was unbelievable when you stood right next to it. Tay gave me a Look and, without a word, pulled out of the driveway and took off down the road.
As I stared after him and the empty road when he was out of sight, I wondered what I had just done. I felt my heart slowly breaking. But WHY?
I walked past Drew and into the house. "What was that all about?" she asked.
"I made him leave," I said.
She gaped back at me. "WHY?"
"I don't wanna talk about it."
--------------------------------------------------
Later on, Drew and I went to our Nana's house to tell her all the past events. Nana was mine and Drew's old nanny. Since Drew and I lived so close together Nana would babysit for us at the same time. We loved Nana. Since we're too old to need a babysitter now, Nana's there if we need someone to talk to. She's like mine and Drew's third musketeer.
--------------------------------------------------
That night after Drew went home, I did my relaxing ritual--take a long, hot bubble bath, then light some candles in my room and turn on some soft rock and just lay there.
I was laying there, recalling the events that happened earlier that day when my phone rang. Oh, GOD, WHAT?! I picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"May I speak to Melody please?" said a guy's voice.
"This is she."
"Hey, Mel, it's Ike."
"Oh, hey, Ike. How are you?"
"Oh, I'm fine, thanks. Kinda worried, though. Where's Tay?"
"What do you mean? Did he not go home?"
"So he WAS there."
"Yeah, WAS. He left about two hours ago."
"Well he never came HERE. He hasn't even called."
"I'm sorry. I don't know where he is. To be honest, I made him leave."
"Why?"
"It's complicated."
"Yeah, I noticed some uncomfortable vibes between you two. Are you two okay with this new...reunion?"
"I don't know. I really don't."
"Well I hope things work out between you two. It takes awhile for Tay to come through. I'm gonna go, though, all right?"
"Okay. Talk to you later."
"You, too. Hey, if you hear from Tay, tell him to come home, okay? We're beginning to wonder."
"Okay, I will."
"Thanks."
We hung up and I lay back down. I tried to continue my thoughts, but the phone call bothered me. He hadn't gone home yet? Where was he? Despite what a jerk he was, I DID care about him and I began to worry.
I reached over and fished in my pocket book for Tay's pager number that he had given me at his house earlier that day and paged him.
Not much longer than two minutes later, my phone rang. I picked it up. "Hello?"
"You paged me," Tay said.
"Tay?"
"Yeah. What do you want?"
"Where are you?"
He sighed. "I'm on a pay phone at a gas station. Why do YOU care?"
"Because Ike called me, wondering where you were. Your family's worried sick."
"Well I'm fine. I've just been driving around. Doing nothing. Just driving."
"For two hours?"
"Yeah, so? What's it to YOU?"
I hesitated a little. "Maybe I was a bit concerned myself."
"Yeah, well, don't trouble yourself. You may have an emotional breakdown," he said sarcastically. Then he hung up on me.
Oh the NERVE!
---------------------------------------------------------
I didn't want it to be like this with him. I REALLY wanted us to get along. But he was making it very hard for me to be nice to him.
Drew had been dragging me to their house so she could see Zac. So I was forced to be around Tay against my will. We fought like cats and dogs. There was NEVER a time that we saw each other and we didn't argue. Everyone noticed it--his family, my family, Drew, Ike, Zac. They all had tried talking sense into us, but it never worked. The more they talked, the worse it got.
One day, Drew had dragged me over there and Tay and Zac were the only ones there. So when we arrived, it was just the four of us. GREAT.
To make it even worse, Zac and Drew went outside and left Tay and I sitting there alone. We shared an uncomfortable silence and we couldn't even LOOK at each other. Then, without a word, he got up and went upstairs.
'Fine,' I thought. 'I'll just sit here and twiddle my thumbs.'
So I sat there, prepared to be bored, when Tay came back down the stairs. Instead of sitting back down in the arm chair he had gotten up from, he sat beside me on the couch and handed me a folded-up sheet of paper. "Uh--it's...finally finished," he said uncomfortably.
I took the paper. "What's this?"
"It's something that's...taken me quite a while to write. I hate that it's taken so long and things are the way they are. Just--read it, okay?"
"Now?"
He wiped his palms on his jeans. "Uh--yeah."
I unfolded the paper and began reading the letter.
"Melody,
I decided that the only way you'd probably ever listen to what I have to say is if I didn't say it at all. So here goes:
It's been thirteen years, as you're well aware of, and I've dreamed of meeting you again every night since then. But I never dreamed that our meeting would be as stormy as this has been and I hate it.
I realize that we started off on the wrong foot and believe me when I say this--I want to start over. I didn't mean all the things I said to you and I apologize for it. You're really not like any of those names I called you. You're really a great person. I just found it scary that I had to get to know you all over again. After all, we're not four anymore.
So if you'll accept my apology, I'd really like to be your friend again. We'll probably never be as close as you and Drew, but I just want you back in my life. As a friend, not an enemy.
Even if you won't accept, please consider what I've said. I'd be forever grateful and I understand if you never want to see me again.
Sincerely,
Taylor"
I couldn't help but smile after I'd read the letter. He'd written exactly what I was feeling. Of COURSE I was gonna accept his apology!
I looked up at Tay and grinned. "I accept your apology." Tay smiled back at me. "And I feel the same way. I'm sorry for all the arguing and being so rude. It just kind of weirded me out finding you again and being who you are..."
Tay ran a hand through his hair and glanced in the other direction. Then he looked back at me. "That--doesn't really matter," he said.
I smiled at his modesty. "I really want to be friends, too." I held out my hand. "Truce?"
He took my hand and pulled me close and hugged me. "Nah! How 'bout friends?" he asked.
"Okay," I laughed.
-------------------------------------------
So that was it. We were getting along. But we never got around to telling anybody. Probably because every now and then we still had our little tiffs. Especially when we were around other people. Being under their influence sort of made us feel like...we had this rep to uphold or something. So basically, we gave the public what they wanted.
But when we were alone we got along better than I had ever imagined. I had NEVER had so much fun with a guy before. And we were perfect together. It was like a balanced relationship. We could play around and laugh and joke, and the next thing we knew, we could be engaged in a really deep conversation.
Mostly we'd go to each other's houses when there was no one home. His tree house was our special meeting place. But after awhile, we got bored. We decided to try sneaking out together. We'd go to the park, the mall, arcades, museums. Sometimes we'd just drive around for hours and just talk.
Obviously we were pulling it off really well because everyone else still thought we hated each other. We weren't really paying attention, but we realized it when we came home to Tay's house and there was a video tape on top of the TV. With it was a note. It said, "Please watch this instead of arguing. Love, Mom."
Tay popped the tape in the VCR and we sat down on the couch together. Suddenly visions of two little kids came on the screen. I covered my mouth and grinned. "Aww, that's us!"
Tay smiled. I curled up close to him and he put his arm around my shoulder. As we watched, he twirled my hair around his finger.
There were scenes of us at my house, his house, the beach, park, zoo, you name it. There was one where Tay and I were taking a nap on the floor. We were laying on our stomachs and we had our heads turned away from each other. But Tay's fingers were twirling my hair.
I glanced at his fingers in my hair just then and grinned up at him. "You're still doing that."
He shrugged. "Habit, I guess."
"With all the girls?"
"No. Just you."
I smiled to myself.
----------------------------------------------------
For the next few days, we watched videos and looked through old pictures and toys. We were sitting on the couch one day, Tay's arm around me, twirling my hair, when we came across a video of us in Tay's yard. His dad was filming us and we were talking to the camera. Tay put his arm around my shoulder. "This is Melody," he said into the camera. "She's my best friend." I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. He wiped it off. "Yuck! You can be my best friend but you can't KISS me!" said Tay. I was giggling my butt off. Walker laughed behind the camera. "Aww, Melody, do you love Taylor?" I giggled and ran away.
When the scene was over, I reached up and kissed Tay's cheek. "Hey," Tay grinned. "What was that for?"
"Just seeing how you'd react," I said.
"Well that whole kissing statement has long since expired." He stopped the tape, gently turned my head toward him, and softly kissed my lips.
I was so startled that I didn't even kiss him back before I pulled away. I bit my lip and looked down nervously. "Why did you do that?"
"Because I should have done it a long time ago," he said. I still couldn't look up. "Please let me," he said.
I looked up slowly and Tay took my face in his hands. And then we kissed. This time it didn't scare me. Actually, it felt so right. So comfortable. So...romantic.
We sat there, kissing softly and slowly, savoring the taste of each other's lips and feeling his warm breath. He was right. This SHOULD have happened a long time ago.
We pulled away, grinning at each other. "Wow," Tay said. "That was...nice."
"Yeah. I liked it a lot." Then I glanced at the clock. "Uh, oh, look. I better go. I gotta be home soon."
"Oh yeah. That's right." He walked me to the door. "Sorry I kept you."
I stepped out the door, turned around, and looked into his eyes. "Don't be. I'm not. I had a lot of fun today. I enjoy being with you."
Tay smiled, but he didn't look so shy this time. Good, progress. "I enjoy being with you, too. Hey, uh, you wanna go out to dinner one night? I mean, not like...lately. But something more...serious?"
"Yeah, sure."
"How about Friday?"
"Pick me up at seven?"
"I'll be there."
We said bye and I drove home happy. We were going on a real date! I was DYING to tell Drew. But then I stopped myself. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. I wasn't sure why, but it just didn't feel right.
Omigosh! What was I gonna wear?!
_____________________________________________________________
DREW
Well things were going great with Zac. The weeks were flying by. Dating became a normal thing. Every Friday and Saturday night we were together. Flirting got to the point where people were staring at us and we kept getting closer and closer.
One Sunday afternoon I was thinking about Zac and suddenly an idea popped into my head. Why not re-paint my room? It hadn't been painted in years and the old, faded shade of pastel blue just wasn't cutting it. I decided it needed a new look. Pink to match my dancer motif. About that time my phone rang. It was Zac. I told him what I had been thinking and he decided to come over around 3:00 and help out.
I got dressed and ran to the hardware store. I picked out the cutest shade of pink. By the time I got home, Zac was sitting on my front porch. "Hey, baby," he said, standing up and hugging me.
"Hey yourself." I glanced back at him as I walked into my house.
My mom was out of town on business. Surprise, surprise. That's how this whole thing was possible.
Zac was wearing a white wife-beater and khaki cargo shorts. (Damn!) I couldn't believe how good he looked. Part of me just wanted to walk over and kiss him. But I didn't know why considering I had been "talking" to him for about a month. I just wanted to take everything slow. For Zac.
We walked up to my room and started painting. I walked out halfway through painting and got us a drink and when I walked back in I saw Zac drop a little bit of paint on his face. He went to wipe it off and it smeared all over his face.
"Zac, come here, let me help you," I said. He walked over to me and put his arms around me. I started to wipe his face off with a towel. Then out of nowhere he kissed me on the lips. So soft it was almost like there was nothing there. He pulled away.
"Well that wa--" he started to say but I interrupted him with another kiss. After that things got better and better even though we weren't dating.
___________________________________________________________________
MEL
Tay was the sweetest guy in the world. Our first date was that Friday after he kissed me.
He arrived before I was ready. (Oh yeah, I wore a knee-length black skirt, a green sleeveless shirt, and a pair of sandals.) He didn't come to the door, but I didn't mind. I preferred that he didn't.
I came down the stairs as Tay beeped the horn. My brother heard it. "Who's that?"
I rolled my eyes. "Tay."
"Why are you so dressed up?"
"We're going out," I said.
My brother started laughing. "Yeah. Right. YOU and TAYLOR are going out?"
"It's not like I have much of a choice. His mom's making us," I lied.
My brother laughed again as I opened the door. "Whatever. Have fun," he said sarcastically as I walked out the door.
I smiled at Tay as I got in his car. "Hey," I said.
"Hey," he smiled back. "You look great."
"Thanks. Sorry I kept you waiting. You were a little early."
He gave me a little-boy grin. "Well I couldn't wait to see you."
I watched him as he drove us down the road. I liked what he was wearing. A pair of well-fitted jeans, black shoes, and a red shirt with a black leather jacket over it. "I like your jacket," I said, feeling the shoulder.
"Oh, thanks," he said.
We rode in silence until we reached the place he was taking me to. We had dinner, then coffee, and then afterward we went walking on the high school track. Luckily no one was there.
He took my hand as we began to walk. "We ought to do this again sometime," he said. "I've had a lot of fun tonight. I really enjoy being with you."
I smiled shyly. "I enjoy being with you, too."
We walked a couple of laps, just talking and holding hands. Sometimes we'd just walk in silence, enjoying each other's company.
The last time around the track, I broke the silence. "I'm gonna be at this place every day next year. Something I'm NOT looking forward to."
"Aw, that's right," Tay whined. "I won't get to see you as much."
"Oh, so we have a future now," I said.
"Well, yeah," Tay shrugged. "Don't you think we've reached the point where seeing other people would be considered wrong?"
"Do you wanna be at that point?"
"I'm already there," he said. "I can't imagine some other girl in your place."
I smiled to myself. "THAT just cemented my decision.'
"So I get you all to myself?"
"I'm all yours."
"All right!"
I laughed.
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Tay dropped me off at my house. "Tonight was great," he said.
"Yeah, it was," I said. "Thank you."
"Uh, I'll call you."
I smiled. "I'm looking forward to it."
I opened the door to get out, but he grabbed my elbow and pulled me back in. "Don't deprive me of the best part of the evening." He brushed my hair out of my face and kissed me. "Goodnight," he said softly.
I smiled and bit my lip. "Goodnight." I got out and walked in the house. As soon as I got in, he drove away.
No sooner had I turned on my bedroom light when my phone began to ring. I smiled. No WAY Tay had gotten home so quick. And even if he did, he had JUST seen me! "Hello?" I answered.
"Was that TAY'S car I just saw you get out of?!" Drew's voice shrieked on the other end.
I felt my blood run cold. "Uh, you saw me?"
"YES, I saw you! I thought you couldn't stand him?"
"Well, duh!" I said, searching for a cover-up. "Nothing's changed. His, uh, parents made us go out. They, um, they thought it'd be good for us."
"So how did it go?"
"We had dinner and coffee and walked the school track."
"Wow, THREE places."
"We just did it to stay out longer and humor his parents."
"Well you sure were dressed up to be FORCED to go out."
"Drew, PLEASE. Just because I don't like the guy, doesn't mean I'm not gonna look good."
"So this didn't improve your relationship at all?"
"You can't teach an old dog new tricks."
"Uh, Mel. I don't think that saying applies to you."
"Why not?"
"Well, because. The old dog would be you and Taylor when you were four. You two were best friends. The new trick would be..."
"What I'm trying to say is that everyone is so involved in us that it's getting on our nerves and it's getting worse between each other. We're older and we're different. We're not little anymore. We've changed. And we're obviously having a hard time adapting to that. I think that if everyone left us alone, something might happen. You know, 'leave them alone and they'll come home, wagging their tails behind them,' Why do you think the sheep ran away in the first place?" I said. I was hoping she'd buy it. That was probably the biggest mouthful of lies I'd ever fed someone. And I wanted to tell her the truth SO bad!
Drew sighed. "Yeah, I guess you've got a point. It's getting late, I'm gonna go to bed. I'll see you tomorrow."
I glanced at the clock. Almost half past eleven! I didn't even know we'd stayed out THAT late!
I hung up with Drew and got ready for bed. After I got in the bed, I lay there, thinking about Tay and the fun that we'd had that night. I'm not sure when I fell asleep.
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The next morning, Drew came over and we went walking in our neighborhood. Drew couldn't stop talking about Zac. To try to veer off subject, I asked, "You wanna do something today?"
"Sorry. I can't. Zac and I are going to the pool. We're going with Ike and some girl named Marianna. We asked Tay to go, but he said he had other plans. Hey, you wanna go with us?" she asked.
"No thanks. What plans?"
"You mean Taylor?"
"Yeah. I mean, not that I care or anything. I'm just curious."
"Oh, I don't know, I--" then she sighed. "Okay, I'll tell you. Tay's seeing some girl. He said he was gonna try to get together with her today."
"Uh, really? What's her name?"
"I don't know. He didn't say."
"Where did he meet her?"
"I don't know. He said he's known her for awhile."
"Oh," I said. I knew what she was talking about. I was bursting to tell her.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" she said. "I know you say you don't like him, but I also know you sort of have a crush on him, too. I shouldn't have said anything."
"It's fine," I said. "I was bound to find out somehow."
Later on I went to see Nana. She was happy to hear that Tay and I were finally together. I'd taken him over to her house a couple of times and he loved her to death. She told me she thinks we're adorable together.
Soon after I got home, my phone rang. "Hello?"
"Hey, doll," Tay said.
"Hey," I said, grinning from ear to ear. "Um, please. Don't call me doll."
"Why not?"
"Sounds kinda cheesy."
"Okay. Hold on, let me write it on my handy maintenance list."
I laughed a shocked laugh. "What? Is that supposed to be an insult?"
"Did it insult you?"
"No."
"Then, yes, it was. Now that I know you can take a joke..."
"I'm not high maintenance," I said.
"So I'm not gonna have to work so hard to make you happy?"
"No. Although there ARE things you're gonna have to work hard for to make YOURSELF happy," I flirted.
"Ohh. And what's that?"
"You know what I mean."
"I just wanna hear you say it."
"If I said it, you wouldn't be on that phone right now."
"Oh, really? You think you know so much. Why don't you put your money where our mouth is?"
"You couldn't handle it."
"Is that a promise?"
"That's a very solemn promise."
He chuckled. "So what do you wanna do today?"
"I wanna drive your bike."
"Okay, there is no WAY you're driving my bike."
"Aw, why not?" I pouted.
"Because, I just--uh-uh."
"Well can you at least take me for a ride?"
"I can do that."
I smiled. "Oh good."
"What time do you want me to come over?"
"Uh...give me an hour or two?"
"Jeez, how long does it take a girl to get dressed?"
I laughed. "It's not just that. It gives my parents time to leave for town. I don't want them asking any questions."
"Yeah, good point. All right, well then, I'll see you in a couple of hours."
"Okay, bye."
"Bye." We hung up and I began searching through my closet. I picked out a pair of jeans and a pink tank top. Simple, yet cute. I pulled my hair up into a bun and went into the bathroom to work on my god awful face.
When I went back into my room to clean up (and kill time) my dad knocked and came in. "You got any plans today?" he asked.
"Yeah, Drew and I are going skating." Which didn't really sound like a bad idea. I'd have to bring that up later.
"What time are you leaving?"
I glanced at my clock. "An hour and a half?"
"Okay, well, the little ones are at friends' houses. Nick went camping. Lock up before you leave and make sure everything's off."
"All right. What time will you be home?"
"Probably not till late. We're visiting some friends."
"Okay, have fun," I said. 'I know I will,' I thought.
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The house was empty when I heard Tay's motorcycle pull up in the driveway. I headed out the door, after following my dad's instructions, and got on the bike behind Tay. Once again, he looked great. He never ceased to amaze me.
"Hold on tight," Tay said over his shoulder.
"You know it," I grinned. I wrapped my arms around him tightly and he began pulling out of the driveway. Soon we were flying down the road. I held on tightly and laid my head on his back. I just sat there, enjoying the ride.
He took us down a long, deserted road with nothing but green fields on either side. I lifted my head to watch the scenery racing by me. I peeked around Tay to watch him drive. He was so beautiful. His face was in complete concentration as he watched the road and worked the gears. I wanted to drive.
"Pull over!" I shouted.
"What?" he shouted back.
"PULL OVER!"
He pulled the bike over and the noise softened to a purr. "What's the matter?" he asked.
"I wanna drive," I said.
"Mel, I already told you--"
"PLEASE, Tay! Please! I wanna try it. I've never done it before."
"Exactly," he said.
"Tay! Just a few yards. I promise nothing will happen, I promise!"
He studied my face as he thought about it. "Oh, all right." We got off and switched places. "I could get in a lot of trouble for this."
"You won't. I promise," I said. He walked me through everything and soon I was driving it. I was a little slow at first, but I never even got up to full speed when I decided I didn't want to do it anymore. I pulled the bike over.
"Why'd you stop? You were doing fine," he said.
"I don't think I'm cut out for this," I said. "I think I like it better when you drive."
"So do I," he said, smiling. He got off and we switched places. He put the kickstand down and sat backwards on the bike, facing me. He took his gloves off and put them behind him.
He sat there and didn't say a word. He just stared into my eyes. It began to make me uncomfortable, so I glanced over at the field. "I'm so glad we made this work," he said finally. The sun was beginning to set.
"Me, too," I said. "I was afraid you'd always hate me."
"I never hated you. It just kinda scared me, how you all of a sudden come out of nowhere after thirteen years--I just didn't know how to handle it." He glanced at his hands and smiled shyly as his face turned red. "I was sorta trying to impress you."
"You impress me by insulting me? Why do guys always think that works?"
Tay shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. It's just a thing we do, I guess."
After a short silence, I said, "I really do like you, Tay..."
"But?"
"But what?"
"The way it started--"
"I wasn't gonna say 'but,' " I smiled at his shyness. "I was gonna say 'so.' "
"So?"
"Just listen!" I laughed. "SO...I don't want you to feel uncomfortable about things. I mean, I'm not gonna laugh at you or think you're crazy."
"Oh, I know. You don't need to tell me that."
"Well, it's just that sometimes the way you look at me, or when you talk to me you seem a little uncomfortable. I just wanted to let you know."
"Well everyone has their insecurities. It's nothing personal, that's just the way I am."
I smiled and took his hands. "Then loosen up."
He grinned at me. "You wanna see me loosened up?"
"Yep."
"How for do I need your permission to go?"
"Um...until I make you stop?"
He took each of my legs and draped them over his and then he pulled me close by my lower back. "Chicken?" he asked.
I giggled. "I didn't know you knew how to play that game."
"You'd be surprised at a lot of things. Chicken?"
"No."
He ran his hands up my thighs. "Chicken?"
"No."
He let his finger slide just under the seam of my jeans. "Chicken?"
"No." But the way he was looking at me was turning me on.
He slid a hand up my shirt up to my waist. Then he tickled my side. "Chicken?" he smiled.
"No!" I laughed. "Ticklish!" I took his hand out of my shirt.
He got serious again. He slid his hands up my arms and stopped at my shoulders. His fingers caressing my bare skin gave me chills. He leaned over and nuzzled my neck a little. Then he began kissing it. He stayed there awhile, but I was enjoying it too much to stop him. Finally, he lifted his head and kissed my lips. Somehow he managed to twirl my hair around his finger at the same time. Tay worked in mysterious ways. That's the one thing that kept me hooked.
Soon I pulled away, but I kept my face close to his. By this time it was dark. "Hey," I said quietly. "Nobody's home at my house. My parents won't be home till late. Wanna keep me company for awhile?"
"And what would we do when we got there?" he asked flirtatiously.
I pulled back a little further. "Uh, Tay, I'm not ready to...go all the way yet. I hope you don't mind."
"No, it's fine. It's too soon for that, I agree," he said.
I smiled to myself. But he wanted to...
"Yeah, I'll come over."
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When we got to my house, Taylor made himself right at home. He took off his shoes and jacked and plopped down on the couch. I sat close to him and he wrapped his arms around me. I turned on the TV and started to channel surf. Then the phone rang.
I started to get up, but Tay tugged me back. "Let the machine get it. I just want to sit here." I sat back down and considered it. But I HAD to get it.
"Sorry, Tay. But I really need to get it."
He sighed. "Okay. But hurry."
I picked it up. "Hello?"
"Hey, Mel," said Drew.
I could hear Zac's voice in the background. "What's he DOING there?!"
Drew laughed. "So how did Taylor end up at your house?"
"Uh, oh. My parents left and they had Tay come over to stay with me."
"I thought he was going out with that girl?"
"He said she stood him up."
Taylor looked at me funny. "It's Drew," I said.
He jumpted to attention. "Is Zac over there?"
"Yeah, he's there," I said.
The blood drained from his face. "Drew hold on," I covered the mouthpiece with my hand. "Don't worry, I took care of it," I whispered. "They don't know."
"Are you sure?" he whispered.
"Yes!" I hissed back. Then I started talking to Drew again. "Uh, how did you know he was here?"
"We heard his bike. So how's it going?
"Honestly? Tolerable. We're not fighting yet."
"That's good. Well I'm gonna go, then, okay? Zac says hi."
"Hi, Zac!" I said. We laughed. Then I hung up with Drew and reclaimed my place in Tay's ams.
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