Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20
Hanson Through My Eyes
Chapter 16
I got up sometime during the night. I pulled the blankets back and swung my knee over the edge of the bed. The gauze prevented me from bending my knee very much, so standing took a bit of effort. When I was coming out of the bathroom, the light cast a shadow over the room and I noticed there was a person sleeping on the chair in my room. I was a bit afraid but when my eyes focused on it, I noticed it had long blond hair. I left the light on and shuffled across the room. The person had its back to me so I couldn’t tell who it was at first. I leaned over the chair and pulled the hair back from its face. I smiled to myself, Zac. I took a blanket off of the bed and put it over him. He rolled over and opened his eyes for a second.
"Go back to sleep. It’s still early." He only made an indistinguishable mumble before closing his eyes again. I went to turn the bathroom light off before heading back to my bed. After a few minutes, Zac’s voice cut through the darkness, "Are you all right?"
"Yes, I’m fine. I thought you went back to sleep."
"No, I’m awake." I could see by the light in the window that he had turned his head to face me and was almost fully awake. I found this odd because Zac never wakes right up, he usually mopes around for an hour before you can even speak to him.
"Why are you in here?...Not that I mind but I was just curious."
"I wanted to make sure you were all right. After we were in New Jersey, I had nightmares for a week."
I smiled to myself. That’s so sweet, I thought. I cleared my throat and said, "No, it isn’t that bad. It only hurts a little."
"Av’ry and Jess were asking for you last night. They wanted you to read to them again. They’re getting used to that."
"Do they know what happened?"
"No, Mom said that you fell but she didn’t go into details. How bad is it?"
"It’s not that bad. I’ve had worse." I could see his head pop up over the back of the chair and he asked, "Really? Taylor said you looked like you were run over by a bus."
"Oh thanks, he’s so kind...Yeah, really...How did you get in here? Won’t the other two know you’re gone?"
"My mom took your room key with her last night and I took it off their desk before I went to bed. We were supposed to go to bed early and I waited for Tay and Ike to fall asleep and then snuck out."
"Thank you, that was very sweet of you but you can go back to your bed if you want. I’m sure the chair isn’t very comfortable."
"No, that’s all right. Besides if I go back now, I’ll probably wake them up."
"Well here, you can sleep at the foot of the bed." I sat up and pulled one of my pillows out from under me. He thought about it for a minute and then got off the chair. I moved my legs so he could fit and gave him the pillow. It didn’t take very long for him to fall asleep. I heard his quiet snoring only a few minutes after he came over. I, unfortunately, did not go back to sleep and was awake just thinking, for almost an hour. I finally gave up on sleeping and went to the corner of the room. I picked the laptop off the desk and sat on the floor. I turned it on and quietly logged on to the Net. Thankfully Chrissy was on-line and after a few minutes of talking to her, I felt much better. I explained the fiasco.
Snap456-Was it scary?
Bop97-Yeah, I’ve never seen anything like it. The restaurant filled up SO fast. There were so many people.
Snap456-You’re all right though?
Bop97-Yeah, just tired. Zac fell asleep on my bed but I can’t sleep so I figured I’d hop on.
Snap456-You know that Jamie’s going to flip, right?
Bop97-Yes, I know. He’s my brother, remember? He’s going to want to come to Jakarta and find the person that did it. I don’t even know who did it. Honestly, I don’t care, it was an accident and I’m fine. I’m not worried about it.
Snap456-Sami, Jamie’s going to be ripped. Your Dad’s not going to be too happy either.
Bop97-I know. I’m not looking forward to having to call and tell anyone. Don’t say anything until I get a chance to call.
Snap456-I won’t but I wouldn’t want to have to tell them.
Bop97-Thanks, you’re a real help.
Snap456-I really miss you. Liz is in the middle of a crisis and she’s really moody. When are you getting home?
Bop97-After Jakarta, it’s off to Bali then I head home. Everyone else goes on to Toronto and I have to meet up with them in New York after my birthday.
Snap456-Yeah, I know we’re all getting excited about your birthday. We have a surprise for you. You’re going to love it. Hehehehe....
Bop97-Yeah, I should be home by the 14th or so. I haven’t gotten my plane tickets yet. Susan is dealing with that and when she gets them, I’ll have more specifics.
Snap456-Okay, well, I’m tired so I’m getting off but I’ll talk to you later. I called your mom and I’m coming to the airport when they go to pick you up. I really hope you feel better and good luck when you call your family.
Bop97-Thanks, I’m going to need all the help I can get. Bye.
I put a sweatshirt on and quietly picked up the key Zac discarded onto the floor in front of his chair. I opened the door and slipped out into the hallway. The brightness of the lights temporarily blinded me before my eyes adjusted. Walking was not that difficult but I looked a little stupid. I took the elevator down to the lobby and waved to the woman behind the desk. She was there when I came in the night before and she ran over and was offering her help when I got out of the car. I didn’t go very far outside the hotel. I only walked around the block to get some fresh air. I figured that people would be looking for me so I walked back into the hotel after awhile. The woman behind the desk called me over and asked me how I felt and if I needed anything. She was very nice, a far cry from Ursula in London. I assured her I was okay and went back up to the room. I checked on Zac and he was still asleep. I took my CD player and went out onto the balcony. The sun was almost up and I was looking out across the city. I was thinking about how lucky I was. I was halfway around the world with an incredible bunch of people. I baby-sit the most polite children in the world (except for the occasional Barbie argument).
The balcony had a thick concrete wall. I laid down on it while listening to some music. I crossed my ankles and was propped up on my elbows. I watched the city wake up. I thought it was so fascinating that just beyond Jakarta were rural villages without running water. I kept looking down at the city and then lifting up my eyes to see the mountains and the small villages.
The music must have been loud because I never heard them come up beside me. All I felt was an arm go around my waist and hold me down. I screamed so loud and seriously considered punching the guys. They scared the daylights out of me. I whipped my head around and saw the three guys laughing.
"You had to see your face. It was so funny."
"God! Why the heck did you do that?"
"We have been calling your name for five minutes and we didn’t know any other way to get your attention without you falling. We’re on the top floor."
My anger subsided a little because I knew they were right, "Oh."
Zac was wiping sleep out of his eyes and said, "Taylor wanted to throw something at you but we thought you’d fall." Taylor gave Zac a swift slap in the stomach for that comment.
Isaac walked over to the edge of the balcony where I was laying down and asked what I was looking at.
"I was just thinking. I was watching the city wake up. Is anyone else awake yet?"
"No, I didn’t hear anything from the other rooms so I’m guessing everyone is still asleep."
"Why are you guys awake?"
"Tay, got up a while ago and realized that Zac was gone. He woke me up and we called your room to find out if he was in there."
Zac was still rubbing his stomach from Isaac’s slap, "I woke up when the phone rang and they said they were coming over. Are you all right? Did you sleep at all?"
"Yeah, I’m fine. Just a little tired. I have to call my parents today and I don’t know what I’m going to say."
"Yeah, Mom and Dad were talking about that last night. They were going to call them but thought it would be better if you told them."
"Ugh! (yes I actually said ugh!) I don’t want to tell them. My brother’s going to flip and my Mom’s going to want me to come home."
Taylor turned around to face me, "We talked about that too last night. We weren’t sure if you wanted to go home or not. Susan’ll get you a ticket for Boston as soon as she can if you want."
I had to think about it for a second. Did I want to go home? I’d get to see my friends but I’d miss the kids. I wouldn’t be able to see Bali either, "No, I think it’s best if I stayed. These will heal between now and the time I go head home. And even if they don’t heal completely, they’ll look a lot better."
We talked for a while after that. About the summer and stuff, just kind of chatted. We stayed out on the balcony until we heard the rest of the troops wake up. The guys had left my door open and I heard Mackenzie running down the hallway. We were all still standing on the balcony and I leaned over to see around the curtain. I caught sight of Mackenzie running through the room toward us. I was just about to tell him to stop running when he got to the edge of the room. There was a groove in the floor where the sliding door was and Mackenzie, in his haste to see his brothers, ran into it and tripped. It was in slow motion, I knew he was going to trip on it but I couldn’t get to him fast enough. He fell forward and landed onto the concrete. We all rushed over to him. I got to him first and picked him up. He was crying and my heart broke, I hated to see him in pain. I brought him into the bathroom with the guys following right behind. By the time we had made it to the bathroom, everyone else had come in because they heard him crying.
"Taylor, go and get the plastic bag from my suitcase. It has band-aids and ointment in it." Taylor went to get that and Isaac and Zac were hovering around, checking him to see if he was all right. I got a face cloth and was wiping away the little bit of dirt on his hands and knees. He had on shorts so when he fell, he scraped his knee a little and the heels of his hands were scraped also. Mrs. Hanson came in and was helping me with him. He was sitting on the sink, picking at his hands. Isaac was standing next to Mackenzie and telling him to squeeze his hand if it hurt. It was the cutest thing to see Mackenzie trying his hardest to squeeze Isaac’s hand. He was using both of his hands, trying to squeeze Isaac’s. Taylor brought the bag in and Mrs. Hanson made sure that I got all the dirt out of the cuts and helped me put Bacitracin on them. He loved the fact that I had Garfieldâ band-aids with me (I grabbed them from my cabinet before I left home, thinking they might be useful). Later in the day while we were watching television, Mackenzie turned to me and said, "Sami, now we have matching bruises." He pointed to his leg and fingered the gauze around my knee, "You need Garfield though." He is just the sweetest thing.
After the excitement of Mackenzie’s fall died down, we all went down for breakfast. The girls were psyched to see me. They were asking me all kinds of questions and kept wanting to see the cut on my back.
"Please, I want to see it."
"I’ll show you upstairs. It’s not something you want to see during breakfast." They were content with that but stayed with me for the rest of the day. They were like glue, they didn’t leave my side the whole day. I’m not sure where they thought I was going but every time I moved, they asked me what I was doing.
After breakfast all the adults met in my room to talk about the Hard Rock and what was going to happen next.
We pieced together what happened. I wasn’t really lectured but everyone kept telling me how I had to be careful and what might happen and so on. I was asked if I wanted to go home or if I would rather stay.
"I’d rather stay but I should talk to my parents. I need to call them and tell them what happened." The room cleared and I picked up the phone. After going through at least five operators, I was put in touch with my brother Joshua.
"Hey Josh, is Mom or Dad there?"
"Yeah, we’re eating, hold on." I heard him calling my mother and when she picked up the phone, I took a huge breath and let it all out. She was silent through my whole monologue and only after did she speak, "Are you all right?"
"Yes, I’m fine. I only have those two marks, other than that I’m okay."
"Here, I am going to put your father on. I think you should tell him what happened." I wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean. Was she angry? Did she blame me? I wasn’t sure.
As soon as I heard my father’s voice, I lost it. I made it through the screaming fans, the Psycho Doctor, Mackenzie’s fall-I made it through all that but as soon as I heard my father’s voice, I fell apart. Maybe it was my exhaustion I don’t know. I was crying so badly that my mother had to tell him what happened while I sat on the other end, crying hysterically. I actually took the phone outside onto the balcony because I was afraid someone was going to hear me and think something happened. My father was not happy but he took it better than I thought he would. He asked basic questions about the restaurant, the security and the rest of the family. He wanted to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Hanson. I got up off the floor and went to find them.
I knocked on their door and the whole family was in there. The first thing that Jessica noticed when she opened the door was that I had been crying. She latched onto my arm and asked me what was wrong. I mumbled that my parents wanted to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Hanson. Jessica walked with me back to my room and Mr. Hanson picked the receiver off the desk. He stood and talked while I sat down on the bed. Jessica had grabbed onto my arm and curled up next to me. She had her head on my shoulder and kept telling me that it was going to be all right. The rest of the children followed us in and one by one they came to sit on the bed. Mackenzie stood in front of me and asked me, "Sami why are you crying? Does your bruise hurt? Maybe you need Garfield." I pulled him up onto my lap and Avery came and sat on my other side. I felt someone tugging at my hair and looked up to see Zac’s reflection in the mirror on the wall. He was absently playing with my hair, listening to his father, "No, I understand, she is a strong girl and she took it well." I wasn’t sure if that was a compliment or not, but I let it slide. Mackenzie was playing with my necklace and the two older boys were pacing around the room, not sure of what to do. Mrs. Hanson was sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for her turn on the phone.
Essentially, my father wanted to know exactly what happened and how I was. He talked to both Mr. and Mrs. Hanson and then he made me get back on the phone.
"Samantha, they are leaving this up to you. Do you want to come home? We are not sure if it is best for you or not. I don’t know how comfortable you’d be on a plane for thirteen hours."
"No, I think I’ll be fine to stay here. Everyone has been really good to me. I feel fine, just a little stiff. I’ll be all right."
Mrs. Hanson ushered the children out of the room while I was on the phone. Jessica was protesting this. She wanted to stay and make sure I would be okay, "No Jess go with your mom. I’ll be done in a minute and then I’ll be in to talk to you."
I was left in my room alone and when I was done telling my older brother what had happened, I hung up. I sat down on the bed and just starting crying again. I didn’t want to cry but I think I was just so tired and emotionally wrung out, it was the only thing I could do. I was only crying for a few minutes when I felt someone’s reassuring hand on my back. I took my hands away from my face and looked down at their shoes, Isaac. He sat next to me on my bed and was rubbing my back. I took his hand away when he got dangerously close to the bruise. "Thanks, I think I needed that."
"That’s where the cut is? I’m sorry."
"Yeah, don’t worry about it. It doesn’t hurt." He really is a nice guy. He has a good heart. I turned on the bed and put my knee up on the comforter. He did the same to face me and asked me if I wanted to talk about it.
"Well what do you want to know? I’m sure you have been filled in with parts of it."
"I just wanted to hear you tell me. I’m not happy about this whole thing. I feel bad that you got hurt." He was not the happy, carefree Isaac I was used to seeing. I had seen that look before on my brothers and I knew it wasn’t good. I tried spin control to get him to calm down.
"Isaac, it’s no one’s fault but my own. I was the one who went inside. It was an accident, no one’s fault. It could have happened to anyone."
"I know but it happened to you and it shouldn’t have happened at all." I went on to tell him everything that happened. He sat and listened, not really saying anything at all. He waited until I was finished and then he spoke, "I’m sorry."
I was surprised, "Why are you sorry? You didn’t do it."
"We should have been watching you."
"Isaac, I’m a big girl I can take care of myself. I chose to go inside, not you. Unless you cut me, you shouldn’t feel guilty. I have two brothers at home, so please don’t feel the need to follow me or protect me. Jamie and Joshua do that enough, thank you." I rolled my eyes and attempted a little humor. It worked and he softened. He really was a sweetheart. I would have loved to have sat there forever. As much as I tried to deny it, it didn’t work. I had a huge crush on him but I was still the baby-sitter and he was still...well...Isaac Hanson. I spent almost every waking hour with him and he just got under my skin.
We sat for a while just talking about anything and everything. We compared scars and war stories from when we were younger. If I couldn’t be his girlfriend then I was content being his friend.
I laughed a little, "What the heck were you doing in a tree? How did you fall out of it?"
"Don’t ask, it’s a long story."
"I’m not going anywhere, spill it."
He told me about him falling out of a tree.
"You really split your tooth in half?" When I was two I fell headfirst into the concrete and broke my front tooth.
"Yup, split it right up the middle." I opened my mouth and attempted to show him which tooth. We were laughing and joking while the others started coming in. It was still somewhat early in the morning so I had everyone climb onto my bed and we watched TV. If there is one thing I despise about hotels it is when they bolt the clicker to the desk. Isn’t that the whole point of a remote control-that you get to move around with it? I felt bad, every time I went to change the channel I had to have Taylor move his head.
"Taylor, you make a better door than a window."
"Sam, this is annoying."
"I know but that show was boring."
Jess was attached to my side again and Isaac was on my other side. We were sitting with our backs against the wall. Mackenzie was sprawled across Zac’s back. Taylor was sitting on the corner of the bed and I was scratching Avery’s back. I started to feel myself falling asleep and was fighting to keep my eyes open. Jessica was leaning her cheek against my arm and I started to drift into sleep. I woke up a few minutes later with my head against Isaac’s shoulder. I pulled my head away and apologized.
"It’s okay. I don’t mind." I tried to fight it but a few minutes later I fell asleep again. I don’t know how long I was out but when I woke up Mrs. Hanson was standing at the foot of the bed. My head was still resting on his shoulder and as much as I didn’t want to, I sat up. The children were slowly getting up and going back to their rooms. The guys had a few interviews and then they were going sight-seeing. Isaac was still sitting next to me and asked if I was going to be all right.
"Yes, I’ll be fine. I need to get up anyway." I turned my attention to Mrs. Hanson, "Can you help me change the bandage on my back?"
Those were like the magic words, all the kids came back into the room asking if they could see.
"You guys are sick, you know that? It’s nothing special, it’s just a scratch. You’ve all had scratches before." They weren’t going anywhere so I changed into a tank top and let them see. The kids watched intently while Mrs. Hanson pulled the bandage away. It was the funniest thing to watch their faces in the bathroom mirror. You’d think they were looking at a famous monument or something. Taylor stepped forward and was looking at my shoulder, "Sam, you can see the fingerprints on your shoulder." He put his fingers on it and traced where the person had grabbed onto me.
Mrs. Hanson was putting ointment on it, "Sami, it looks a lot better this morning." I could see Isaac’s face in the mirror and I caught his eye and smiled. He didn’t return the smile and he looked angry again. I prayed for Mrs. Hanson to hurry, Isaac was only getting more and more agitated as he looked at the cut. I didn’t know what to say in front of everyone. No one seemed to notice that he was fuming. I was leaning against the sink and slowly the children started to leave. Avery literally pushed Isaac out of the way but he never wavered in his vision. His eyes pierced into my back like a knife.
"Okay, all done." Mrs. Hanson was cleaning her hands with a towel and turned around, "Isaac, why the face?"
He finally snapped out of his mood and blinked a few times before turning his attention to his mother, "Oh sorry, I was day dreaming."
I don’t think she believed him but she ushered Mackenzie back to her room for a bath. He protested the whole way and was trying to dig his heels into the rug, "Mom, Garfield will get wet." I finally unlocked myself from Isaac’s gaze and squeezed myself between him and the door frame, "Mackenzie, I have more band-aids, don’t worry."
His head spun around and he turned while still in his mother’s grip. He had his arm above his head because it was still attached to his mother’s hand. It was so cute seeing him try to talk around his arm which was dangling in the air, "Promise?"
"Yes, Sweetie, I promise." With that he let himself be dragged back down the hall. I silently said to myself as I turned around, "Okay, four down-one to go." Jessica was still in the room and showed no signs of leaving. I wanted to talk to Isaac but that wasn’t going to happen with Jess in the room. How do I get rid of her without hurting her feelings? I was still thinking when she asked the question, "Can you braid my hair?" My mind was racing, "Okay good. I can braid it and she can be out in, like, ten minutes." I grabbed my brush from off the desk and sat down on the edge of the bed. I brushed her hair to get all the knots out and started to the task. I was thinking about Isaac and what I would say. I didn’t want him to think of me as a sister. That was not what I wanted at all but I thought that was how he saw me. I felt so stupid, I had a crush on this guy and he was treating me like his sister. I didn’t realize how agitated I was until Jessica meekly asked if I could stop pulling her hair. I yanked myself out of my thoughts suddenly, "Oh Jess I’m sorry, are you okay?" "Yes, but don’t pull so hard please?" I slowed down and made sure as to not pull her hair. When I finished it, she stood up and was about level height with my face. I put my forehead right against hers and figured the best thing I could do would be to be honest.
"Jess, I need to talk to Isaac for a few minutes so can you go back to your room for a little while and get ready. We should be leaving in about 20 minutes."
She smiled, "Yes. So you are coming with us today? Mom thought you might not want to come." "Of course I’ll come, I’ll be over to your room in a few minutes, okay?"
After she left, I carelessly tossed the brush back onto the bed and walked across the room. I stopped about five feet away from him and glared right back at him, "Isaac why are you looking at me like that? You knew what happened, you saw me last night. Why are you so angry?"
He unfolded his arms from across his chest and stood up straight, "I’m sorry." I misinterpreted his expression as anger. He was only concerned. "I just didn't think it would look that bad." He really seemed concerned which kind of shocked me.
"My back? It's not that bad."
"You can see the fingerprints though...on your shoulder, I mean."
"I know what you mean. And yes you can see them but it doesn't hurt. It's okay." I was in heaven, I had his undivided attention and I was happy.
Unfortunately at that moment, Avery decided to peek around the corner and see if we were okay. I had my back to the door so I had no idea she was there but Isaac saw her. He looked over my shoulder and I followed his gaze.
"Hey, Avie, why are you sneaking around?"
"Nothing, I’m bored." The moment was over so I turned my attention to Avery. Isaac picked her up and gave her a piggy back ride back down the hallway to their room.
I walked down to the kids’ room and helped them get ready. I helped Avery brush her hair. Mackenzie was struggling with his sneakers so I had him put his foot on my leg and I tied the laces. Isaac dropped Avery off on her bed and went back to his room but not before apologizing to me one more time. I stared at the door even after he went through it. It was hopeless, I had a huge crush on him. I almost regretted having to leave him in Bali. I wanted to go to Toronto with him and cheer him on. It was so pathetic I almost started tearing up that the summer was almost over. I had to go back to my real life and he got to continue on without me. Before I started crying and making a fool of myself I brought Mackenzie back to my room for his Band-Aid.
He was sitting on the edge of the sink, playing with my necklace, "What’s this?"
"It’s my birthstone." He was examining my necklace closely.
"What does it say?"
"You are generous" I have a silver necklace that I wear around my neck that has a fancy design on the front and opens to show my birthstone and the inscription written inside.
"What does generous mean?"
"It means that I give people things."
"Oh." He loved playing with that necklace and had done so since he originally found it around my neck in New York. I finished with his knee and washed his face too.
"Come on, let’s go find Zac!" His eyes brightened at the prospect of finding his brother.
The day was pretty hectic, girls were flocking to see the TOT. They would try to grab onto them or pull their hair. It was pretty bad, the girls were kind of obnoxious. It took both Jason and Louis to pry some girl off of Taylor’s arm. She was pathetic.
Indonesia is beautiful. I didn’t know that much about it before we arrived but it is pretty. Jessica was holding onto my hand for most of the day and would not let go. I stole quick glances at Isaac but he was a little busy trying to keep the fans at bay. I had to laugh at one point when Isaac was looking at the interpreter then back to a girl that was trying frantically to speak to him. I was laughing a little, it was really sweet. I felt bad for the girl though. I think she would have sold her soul to be able to speak English at that moment.
When we got back to the hotel, the kids wanted to go swimming. We were leaving early in the morning for Bali so we could only go down for a little while. I took the bandages off and brought the girls down with me. Mackenzie opted to stay and wait for his brothers. He was so cute sitting on the edge of Taylor’s bed in his dinosaur bathing suit with a towel around his neck.
This time I brought my bathing suit and decided I would dive in before I was thrown in. Avery watched me as I dove head first into the deep end. When I surfaced, I saw her walking over to the steps at the shallow end.
"Avery, you coming in?"
"Yes. I’m going to use the stairs."
"Why? Don’t you know how to dive?" Her lack of an answer told me.
I swam over to her and pulled myself out of the water, "Do you want me to show you how to dive?" She let me take her hand and I led her over to the deep end. Just as I was showing her how to hold her hands over her head, the guys came in.
I straightened and mockingly said, "It’s about time you guys showed up."
Taylor was holding Mackenzie’s hand and Zac and Isaac were arguing about something. Mrs. Hanson had come down a few minutes later with Mr. Hanson.
I went back to showing Avery how to dive when the guys came over to terrorize us. I was standing at the edge of the pool showing her how to push off the edge of the pool with her legs. Isaac was being a moron so I just pushed him into the pool. He didn’t find that funny at all and got out of the pool quickly. A brief dispute ensued but when it was done, Isaac was the one in the pool again and I went back to helping Avery. Not to be outdone, Isaac got out of the pool again and tried to come after me again. He was still teasing but he was a bit more adamant at getting me into the pool. I backed away from him and was trying to rationalize with him, "I’m just getting you back. You did it to me first." Needless to say, he caught up with me when I tried running and got his arm around my waist and pulled us both into the pool. I could have died happy at that moment. He disengaged his arm as we hit the water. After he surfaced, I spit water at him, "Happy now?"
He had a Cheshire-cat grin on his face and he replied, "Very."
I swam back to the edge of the pool with the stupidest grin on my face. I tried to wipe it off by the time I got back to Avery. Taylor was attempting to show Avery but with little success. She announced that she wanted Sami to help and he looked a bit hurt but went to harass Zac and Mackenzie. After about ten minutes of diving practice, Avery was satisfied with her improvement and let me go over to Mackenzie. We and the guys were attacking each other, splashing and acting like idiots. Even Avery took time out from her mission of learning how to dive to come and fool around with us. Mr. and Mrs. Hanson were sitting on chairs on the side of the pool and Zac came up with the great idea of splashing his parents. Everyone else thought it was a great idea but I opted to stay out of it. I went under the water and swam to the other side of the pool. Taylor put Mackenzie up on the edge of the pool. While the other five lined up along the shallow end and heaved handfuls of water at their parents. It was funny to watch, Mrs. Hanson grabbed one of the towels and tried in vain to keep herself dry. Mr. Hanson got off the chair and backed away against the glass that enclosed the pool area. They took it for a few moments before parental behavior overtook them. Mr. Hanson gave a stern look of disapproval but you could see under his mustache that he was smiling. The children were doubled over in hysterics. Their laughter was only heightened when Mr. Hanson went to sit back down in the chair and sat in a small puddle of water. The look on his face was priceless. Even I couldn’t keep a straight face, I started laughing hysterically. Mrs. Hanson was turning her head away, wiping the tears of laughter from her eyes. I was so engrossed at the two adults that I never saw him swim toward me under the water. I didn’t realize it until I was underneath the water. I frantically scrambled to kick at the hands that pulled at my legs. I grabbed his hands and dragged him to the surface, "Taylor!" I put my hands on his shoulders and dunked him under the water before swimming away. We played for a while longer before heading back up to our rooms.
We all got out of the pool and were drying off before leaving. I hadn’t brought shoes down with me even though it was against hotel policy to be barefoot in the pool area. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do until I got an idea. Zac saw the devilish grin on my face and gave me a "what are you going to do?" look. I giggled a little, slid my feet into Isaac’s battered sneakers and ran for it. They were big so running took a bit of effort. I ran the length of the hotel in an effort to get to the elevators. I could hear him right behind me and I prayed that the elevator doors would be open. They were and I was frantically hitting the close doors button when I saw Isaac slide across the floor in front of the elevator doors. Just as he doors were about to shut, he hopped inside and hit the back wall of the elevator. He was gasping for breath and pointing to the sneakers. I was laughing at him, his hair was still dripping and he was nursing his elbow because he hit it when he jumped in. We were laughing about it when we got to the top floor. Our laughter was ended when Mr. Hanson caught up to us. They have a rule that the guys ride in elevators together with a bodyguard or their father and no one else. We broke that rule and Mr. Hanson was not happy. He yelled at us for it and told us never to do it again. The two of us found it kind of funny and we were trying to hide our smiles while he was talking to us. After he left us, we just burst out laughing. I laughed all the way down the hall and into my room.
I was still giggling when the girls came running in, dripping on the carpet and I picked Avery up and dragged Jess into the bathroom. I handed them fresh towels and let them dry off. We were laughing and joking. I was teasing them about all the girls that, "would just die to swim with Hanson!!" The girls think it is so funny when fans cry when they see the guys. They can’t understand why people get so emotional. I don’t really know either really. Crying doesn’t bother me as much as screaming does though. Screaming at them is just plain rude.
I sent the girls back to their room with clean towels and told them to put pajamas on. When they came back, I combed their wet hair and we were eating TONS of junk food. We watched television until it was time for their story and I walked them back to their room. As I was walking them down the hall, I could here Isaac’s guitar and Zac’s pounding out a beat on the rug. I sent the girls into their room to brush their teeth.
I pushed the guys’ door open a little more so I could see them. They were sitting cross-legged in a circle on the rug, Isaac was facing me while the other two had their backs to me. There was an open notebook on the floor facing Taylor with what looked like random notes written in it. Isaac was playing a chord over and over, looking down at the floor. Zac was hitting the palms of his hands on the rug, trying to get a certain beat. Taylor was quietly trying to hit a note. As his voice went up the scale, his hand would go up higher and higher in the air; as if his hand would help him hit the note. Isaac cleared his throat and told them to try it again. I didn’t realize it at the time but they were writing the song Christmas Time. It was at the harmony part in what would eventually be the middle of the song. As they were singing, my eyes looked among the three of them. They each had such distinct personalities and qualities that sometimes it was hard to see that they were brothers. Yet at other times you would swear that they were robots programmed to do all the same things.
They each have qualities that I luv about them and qualities that make me want to pull my hair out. With Zac, Taylor and Isaac it’s either all or nothing. To quote and old saying, "You need to take the good with the bad." I am not saying that they are bad all the time, they are quite the opposite. I think that because they show their negative qualities so infrequently that when they do it is a shock to see them. I rarely see any of them angry and have never seen any of them get violent. They really do love music and have a definite reverence for it.
Avery came out of her room and down the hall to find me, "What are you looking at?" I put my finger to my lips to signal her to be quiet and moved a little so she could see them. She peeked in just as they were starting the chord again. She turned her head up to me and said, very matter-of-factly, "They’re just practicin’!" I had to smile, thousands of girls would give their right arm to see them practice like that. She spun on her heels and walked back down the hall into her room. I could hear her say to Jessica, somewhat snootily, "She’s watching them practice." I shut the door again and went to read their story. I walked into the room and the girls were getting ready for bed. Jessica was sitting on her bed, "You know they’ve been practicing for an hour, can’t they stop?"
I laughed. She just cracked me up sometimes. It wasn’t what she said, it was the way she said it and the face she made. She scrunched up her face and looked really funny. I think you had to be there but it was funny.
I read to the girls and went on my hunt to find Mackenzie. I thought he might be with his parents, so I went to their room first. He wasn’t in there so I headed for the guys’ room. The guys’ had since stopped playing and were watching television on the floor. I knocked and opened the door and was about to ask about Mackenzie when Taylor put his finger to his lips and pointed over his head to one of the beds. Mackenzie was curled up in a ball sound asleep.
I waved goodnight and was going to go back to my room but they asked me if I wanted to watch TV. We were all watching music videos and laughing at the absurdity of some of them. When one of us laughed too hard, the rest of us would shush them. It was amazing that Mackenzie didn’t wake up because we were really loud. Mrs. Hanson came in after about a half an hour. She scooped Mackenzie up to take him back to his room. I said my goodnights to the guys and followed her out. We walked back down the hallway in silence. Mackenzie woke up when she picked him up but fell back to sleep in her arms. It was cute, he had his arm dangling out straight in the air. I stopped at the door of the room and was a bit annoyed to find the girls still awake. They tried to act as though they were asleep but I could hear their muffled giggles from under the covers. I leaned into the room and said goodnight one more time before heading off to my room.
Getting everyone ready and to the airport was not the problem, the plane was. I have seen cars that were bigger than this thing and I was not too happy at the thoughts of flying in it. I am not afraid of flying but I was a bit confused as to how they were going to get a plane that size in the air. It wasn’t much better inside either. It had seats for about twenty people and nothing else. It was a charter flight so we were the only ones on the flight. Not that they could fit any more people on the plane, it was cramped with just us on it. I sat down in my seat and lucky for me, I got the seat without the overhead compartment so I had to sit with my bags on my lap. To add to my enjoyment, everyone that passed by, commented on it. "Sami, that looks uncomfortable." I smiled a little while inside I was screaming, "YA THINK?!?!?!"
I sat in the corner not speaking to anyone. I just wasn’t in a good mood and didn’t feel like snapping at anyone so I stayed away. It wasn’t that difficult, most of the children slept during the hour flight. Everyone was getting extremely tired and I was hoping that they would be able to relax on the island. I kind of felt a bit guilty that I was able to go home and take a break while they had to continue on.
I was sitting, staring out the window trying to imagine going back to my life without any of the entourage. I had grown so close to them during the summer and was going to hate leaving them in New York. I didn’t want to have to go to college while everyone got to go on to London to record. My self-pity party was in full swing when Taylor came to sit down next to me.
"Hey"
"Hey"
"What’s wrong? You look really angry."
I turned my attention to him and shifted my weight underneath my bag, "Nothing, just thinking. I am not too keen on this whole plane situation and I’m a little nervous about how they’re going to land this thing."
"It won’t be that bad." His sense of calm drove me nuts at times. He is normally a hyper person but when it comes to things that would drive an otherwise normal person insane, he is totally calm. I was sitting there stressing about how we were going to live through the landing of our pregnant roller-skate of a plane while he was calm as could be.
I stared at him, trying not to be too obvious. I found it so odd that so many girls around the world were so entranced by all of the guys. They were just the TOT to me. I still hadn’t grasped the whole severity of their popularity yet. It was just Taylor, how could you be so emotional about him? This was the same boy who can chug a whole can of Dr. Pepper (yuck) without taking a breath. I remember while we were in Melbourne and at lunch. He sat down at the table with a can of Dr. Pepper. We spent the next half an hour arguing about the drink. It was so stupid and we were only teasing but thinking of it made me smile. I had seen him at his worst times and he had seen me at some of my worst times (which was mostly every morning). I couldn’t imagine lusting over him, he’s only Taylor. I think my staring was making him uncomfortable, "Why are you smiling?"
I snapped out of it and tried to laugh it off, "Just remembering our debate over your choice of sodas."
He rolled his eyes and sat back in his seat. He turned his face forward and laughingly said, "I can’t believe we got into such an argument over soda."
"That was funny though. I think we were just tired and bored. That’s the only way I can explain it because the whole thing was asinine."
He was pulling at a loose string on the seat in front of him.
"Are you psyched about Bali?"
"Yeah, I just a little tired though." As if he planned it, he started to yawn just as he spoke. I laughed a little, Taylor is really a great person. I hate hearing people’s remarks about him. I have heard all three of them singled out in criticism and I don’t really understand it. I have come to the conclusion that people who criticize them for stupid reasons (i.e. sexual preference, looks, style etc.) are just ignorant, rude people. I gave up trying to argue with them long ago. It’s not worth the aggravation.
Well we lived through the landing. It felt like we hit an animal on the way down but we landed nonetheless. I swear our pilot was only about nine years old. Granted, Jessica is a great girl but I really don’t want her flying the plane.
Bali is absolutely beautiful. I really can’t describe it actually. I never really thought that much about Indonesia but after being there, I realized how underestimated it is. If you have ever seen the movie, South Pacific, it looks a lot like it.
Our hotel was right on the water. The hotel had a private beach that we were free to use at any time without the threat of overzealous fans. The hotel was nice, it was almost a house. All of the rooms were connected so we could go freely between all of them. Problem though, not enough bathrooms. Seven kids and two bathrooms just doesn’t work. I had to get up at the crack of dawn to take a shower.
As soon as we got there the kids wanted to go out to the beach. The guys had an interview with a television show so we waited for them and then went. The guys’ schedule in Bali was a bit relaxed, it was more of a vacation for them.
We hit the beach and had a lot of fun. The beaches were so nice, the sand was almost totally white. Isaac brought his video camera with him and insisted on taping, yuck! I am the least photogenic person there is so I ignored him-well at least ignored him as best I could. I still snuck in a few glances here and there. I had sunglasses on which made staring a lot easier because no one really knew what I was looking at.
Avery and I searched the beach for seashells and tried to find sandollars while everyone else went in the water.
"What’s a sandollar?"
"It’s a shell that we have on beaches in Massachusetts." She still didn’t really get it so I drew a picture of it in the sand with my finger.
"Oh. I’ve seen those before but never knew what they were called."
We continued on down the beach until we got to where it wasn’t private anymore and walked back. Avery had a few shells and I had a bunch of my own.
The guys were warned about the sun but for some reason they chose to ignore it and ended up a little sunburned. Mrs. Hanson made the younger children but sun-block on but she couldn’t hold down Zac, Taylor or Isaac so they got burned. Needless to say, the guys were hurting a bit. They weren’t too bad, mostly their shoulders and Zac’s nose got a bit burned. That night after they had gotten out of the sun, I gave them my Noxzema and let them go to town with it. Zac spent most of the night with a white nose. As humorous as it was, he was a bit cranky about it.
Also that night, Avery left her shells on the bathroom counter and it stunk up her whole room. I can still see Jessica coming into across to my room and announcing that she was moving into my room because she couldn’t stand the smell. I walked back down the hall with her and saw that Mrs. Hanson had already taken the shells outside and the smell was going away. The girls stayed in my room while we were in the hotel the rest of the time we were on the island. Jessica was angry because she had to sleep in the room with "the smell" as she so eloquently put it. Every time she went into her room, she plugged her nose with her hands and complained about the smell. Even after it was gone, I think she just liked complaining about it.
The next day was sightseeing for the whole time. It was a lot of fun, I’d never been anywhere tropical so this was a first. The guys climbed up the side of a ridge to jump into a lagoon. I watched and got a kick out of seeing them jump. It was so great, they looked so relaxed and calm. No one was bugging them to sing or sign autographs. It was great. The guys went into these caves while I opted to stay with the children on level ground. We sat on the rocks, sunbathing while the guys went exploring. Jessica and I were laying back on the rocks with sunglasses on, looking up at the clouds. We were searching the clouds to see what shapes they made. When the guys came out of the caves, Isaac was still wet and thought it would be funny to wring out his shirt over my head. "You are so dead." And so started the chase. Down the rocks and out to the road. I chased him, barefoot might I add, until I was out of breath. Eventually I gave up and let him go but I was still going to get my revenge.
Mr. Hanson was taping the scenery and caught Taylor on tape for a few seconds after they came out of the caves. I was blown away. I was fooling around with his camera later that night and saw it. He was coming up the ridge and looked so relaxed and rested. It was the best I had ever seen him.
When we finally got back to the hotel I passed out on my bed. My eyes were closed and I was half-asleep when I felt someone watching me. I opened my eyes just in time to see Mackenzie climb onto the bed and curl up next to me.
"Hey Sweety"
"Shhh...." I watched him for a few minutes and then rolled over to sleep myself. I dreamed about staying in Bali and getting to go to Toronto. It was so great, but it was only a dream. I woke up sometime in the late afternoon because the sun was already starting to set when I opened my eyes. I stretched a bit and was confused as to why my heel brushed up against something. Okay, last time I checked Mackenzie wasn’t that tall. I quietly rolled over and was shocked to find Isaac in Mackenzie’s place. I wasn’t sad, by any means, just a bit shocked. Okay, two options-Get up and chance waking him or stay and get some good day dreaming in while I still could. Which do you think I chose? Well I chose to stay. I folded my hands under the side of my face and let my thoughts drift. I was thinking about all the things we did-some funny and others just plain stupid. I really had the most fun with him. The whole family is great, but Isaac always makes me laugh.
I watched him sleep, he looked really peaceful. After a few minutes, his brows twitched and he started to frown. Before even thinking about it, I brought my hand over and gently brushed my finger across his forehead. I was glad that he didn’t wake up because I wasn’t sure how I would explain myself. I don't know what came over me, maybe I was just looking for an excuse to touch him, I don’t know. His frown softened and after moving a bit he continued sleeping. As much as I loved watching him sleep, it killed me because I knew that I had to leave two days after that. I really had no idea what was going to happen. All I knew was that I was going to dread having to get on my plane. I felt tears starting to form in my eyes so I got up to wash my face. I quietly sat up and slid off the bed. As my bare feet sank into the rug, Mrs. Hanson opened the door. I wiped a stray tear off my face and tried to play it off.
She whispered and kept her hand on the doorknob, "Oh, you’re up."
"Yeah but Sleeping Beauty’s still out cold. Where’s Mackenzie, he was there when I fell asleep?"
"I sent Isaac in to get him around 4 and then he fell asleep. I was just coming to get you both, we’re leaving in awhile for dinner. You might want to brush your hair or something." That was her nice way of saying, "Sami, Dear Lord do something with yourself before we have to be seen in public with you." Hehehe, Mrs. Hanson is the best, she always has a nice way of saying things.
"Umm...You can wake Isaac up, no way am I doing that."
"Thanks, make me do it."
Dinner went well, we got to go to this marketplace. There were Indonesian dancers and things, though I was starting to get homesick for American food. I would have killed for a piece of pizza. We all sat down at a table and were talking about stuff that happened during the day. Avery and I were discussing the fish that we saw in the lagoon when Taylor sat down with his food. I turned around just in time to see Taylor dig into his food. Apparently it was a bit warm because the look of shock on his face was indescribable. I was sitting across from him at the table and was the first to see him and react. I stood up, knocking my chair over in the process, grabbed my drink and shoved it in his face. You’d think the Pope died-the whole entourage swarmed him like bees to honey. He was swatting people away, I think he was a bit embarrassed by the whole thing. Thank God the dancers didn’t stop or I think he would have crawled under the table. When everyone realized he was okay, they slowly started to disperse. Zac went to say something, most likely a snide remark but Taylor cut him off before he even started. Taylor talked with an exaggerated lisp for a few days after that.
We got back to the hotel late so the kids were sent right off to bed. I read to them and was glad that Little Women was almost finished because I only had one more day in Bali and then it was off to Boston. I read a little more than usual just so I could finish the book before I left. I was just about done for the night when Avery decided she wanted to prolong the evening and started asking questions.
"So when do you leave?"
"I leave the same day you leave, just earlier in the morning. You guys will most likely still be asleep when I go."
Jessica got a bit nervous when I said that, "You have to wake us up. You need to say good-bye."
"It’ll be really early guys. My flight leaves at 5 so I need to be out of here by 4 at the latest."
I was leaning against the wall and Jessica got off her bed and wrapped her arms around me, "You have to wake us up."
Well if that wasn’t enough to tear my heart out. I almost started crying right there. "Yes, I’ll wake you up. I promise."
I said my goodnights and headed off the see what the guys were up to. I am a glutton for punishment. I was on the verge of tears as it is and seeing Isaac wasn’t going to help me. They were out on the balcony, trying to skip rocks into the ocean. I watched them from behind and was smiling at how seriously they were taking it. I stood unnoticed for a few moments before I was snapped back to reality by Zac’s voice, "Sami?"
"Oh, sorry, what?"
"You wanna play? I’m winning."
"No, I don’t know how. My brothers tried to teach me when I was younger but I never mastered the skill." The guys looked shocked and Zac came over and grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side of the balcony. They had a bunch of rocks sitting on the banister and Zac grabbed one and handed it to me. The other two continued trying and weren’t really paying attention. He tried his damnedest to get me to do it right but it was a lost cause. Once my rock hit the water it just sank to the bottom. Isaac came over and tried to show me for a minute but even he couldn’t help me. Not that I was really paying attention to where the rock was going but that’s besides the point. I stayed where I was and just kind of stopped skipping. I was having more fun watching Isaac do it anyway.
I don’t know what possessed me to do it but I rested my head on his arm. He didn’t seem to mind so I stayed there. I was looking up at the star, wishing that I could stay like that for as long as I could. Mr. Hanson chose that moment to come out on the balcony and said, "Zac I don’t mind you out here but put a sweatshirt on, it’s windy." A collective ugh was heard and as much as I hated it, I straightened up and silently walked inside to my room. I came back and handed my oversized sweatshirt to Zac. This thing is big on me so you can imagine how big it is on him. He practically swims in it. I rolled it up and slid it over his head. The arms hung over his hands so I had to roll them up so he could continue skipping. Little did I know he would fall in love with the sweatshirt and I would never see it again, except on him.
Isaac was now leaning over on the railing and spitting over the side, oh how attractive? Although he did seem embarrassed that I caught him doing it. I stood there, not knowing if he would object to me putting me head back. I really didn’t need to worry. He put his chin on my shoulder. I was surprised, at the act itself and that the other two didn’t say anything about it.
"When are you leaving?"
"Same day as you, Tuesday morning."
"oh...." What could you say? Nothing really, so we just stayed there. I couldn’t believe that a few weeks before I was complaining about having to come with them. Now I was dreading the fact that I had to go home. The summer was so much fun and the family was so nice.
The next day, we went to an animal reserve. The animals were really cute and they were a lot of fun.
The birds that were there were very pretty. Their feathers had such bright colors. They were just staying around with nothing keeping them from flying away. I remember being a bit amazed that the birds didn’t mind being so close to the public. I was used to zoos where all the animals were caged and the birds were kept in buildings. That was not the case here. It was fun but Avery almost got her hand scratched by the monkeys that were there. They were feeding them and Avery was inching closer and closer till she was only about a foot away. The food she had in her hand had dropped to the ground and the animal lunged at it. Luckily she backed away and she was fine.
That evening we stayed in the hotel and packed to go back to North America. I tried in vain to get my sweatshirt back from Zac but he was wearing it and I didn’t feel like ripping it so I let him keep it. The girls were helping me pack up stuff but soon I realized my collection of seashells was slowing disappearing.
"Girls, don’t even think about it. Put them back in my bag and leave them there."
Avery was whining a bit, "But you found the best ones. Mine aren’t as good."
"Well I’m sorry, if you had told me earlier we could have gone out to look for more. It’s dark out and you’ll never find any now."
They continued helping me in silence and finally I broke down and let them each take two shells. I couldn’t put up with the silent treatment any longer. We finished and went in search of the others. The guys were practicing in their room so we stayed in the girls’ room and fooled around. They, unfortunately found out I was ticklish. I tried to make it through the whole summer without them finding out but when they did it was torture the baby-sitter. I was rolling on the floor trying to fend off the girls when Mrs. Hanson came in and saved me. She took me to see Susan about my plane tickets and stuff. I was leaving early in the morning and Susan was bringing me to the airport.
I got back to my room and grabbed clothes to sleep in. After changing, I walked back to the girls’ room and took my usual spot for reading. The girls were on either side of me and I was determined to finish the book. An hour later, I was down to three pages. The girls were now hanging onto my shoulders for support so they didn’t fall asleep. I asked if they wanted me to stop and they perked right up. And finally after what seemed like ages-we finished. I said my goodnights and after promising at least four times that I would wake them up before I left, I went in search of Mackenzie. As usual, he was with the TOT, actually it was the TOT minus one-Isaac was nowhere in sight. With the help of Taylor, I picked Mackenzie up and took him back to his room. I tucked him in and said another goodnight to the girls. So began my evening of good-byes and goodnights.
I walked through my room and out onto the balcony in search of Isaac. He was sitting on the sand facing the water with his back to me. I decided to seek my revenge for his soaking me with his shirt. I went back into my room and stuck my hand in the ice bucket to get a piece. A lot of the ice had melted so it was all water in the bucket. I found a few pieces and grabbed them. I ran out to the balcony and walked down the steps to the beach. I snuck up behind him and stuffed the ice down his shirt. I turned and ran as soon as I did it. Only problem was, he didn’t follow. I turned back toward him and he was still sitting there. I was a bit confused, maybe it was a trap. I stood there for a few moments until it became apparent that he wasn’t getting up. I slowly walked back and stood in front of him. I hate to see him sad, it depresses me.
"Boy, you know how to ruin somebody’s fun."
"Sorry." He looked really bummed.
"What’s with you? Sad to go? Toronto’s going to rock for you guys."
I leaned over him and shook the ice cube out of his shirt and it dissolved onto the sand. I sat behind him and started playfully hitting his back. I really didn’t know what to say because I didn’t know what was wrong with him. I moved to sit in front of him and tried to get him to open up. I was making weird faces, trying to make him laugh and finally when I thought my pride was nonexistent, he cracked a smile. Yes, I love that smile!
"Come on, I hate it when you get like this. What’s wrong?"
"I guess I’m sad to see you go." You could have blown me over with a feather at that moment. I thought I forgot how to breathe for a second.
"Oh come on, I’m only going to be gone for like five hours before you."
"Well I am going to-we’re all going to miss you in Toronto. It just won’t be the same without you there, biting your nails being nervous for us."
I smiled, "Yeah, you guys won’t know what to do with yourselves."
"It’ll be so weird not having you screaming at us to wish us luck."
"Hey, it’s not my fault you guys wear ear plugs, you couldn’t hear me any other way."
"Trust me Sami, we can hear you."
I swatted at him for that comment. We sat and talked for what seemed like forever. At least when talking to him, I could stare without fear of getting caught.
We were talking about how the guys attempted to play cricket while they were in Sydney. Hehehe...it was so funny to see the guys try to play, "I can’t believe you really hit that guy with the ball."
His eyes got really bright and he burst out, "I didn’t mean to. Are you ever going to let me forget that?"
"Nope, I tried to tell you not to hit it like a baseball. Poor guy, didn’t even know what hit him. At least it was only a mild concussion."
I thought he was going to toss me in the water. I was being obnoxious on purpose, "You lie so bad. I did not give him a concussion. He had a bump, yes but no concussion."
"Isaac, you knocked a grown man off his feet by hitting him with a ball, obviously he got a concussion."
"You lie so bad. He was fine, he got up."
"Yeah after your father picked him up. Man, that guy must have had one helluva headache the next morning."
"Okay, stop, I feel bad enough already. Talking about injuries, how’s your back?"
"I’m okay. You really can’t see it that bad. My mom will check it over with a magnifying glass when I get home but I’ll be fine. Don’t worry, Dr. Mom will be on duty as soon as I get back to Boston." I tried to make light of it because I really didn’t want to get into a huge deep discussion over me. He let it die thankfully and we went on talking about the summer and all the stupid things we had done.
I’m going to miss you guys. Massachusetts is going to seem so boring compared to the rest of the world."
"Yeah, I know. I don’t know what Jess is going to do without you and your books. I’m not reading to her and I doubt the other two will want to."
"Maybe she can read to Av’ry. I’ll talk to her in the morning before I go. She begged me to wake her up before I left."
"You’re going to wake us up, right? I know the other two will want to say good-bye."
"Yeah" I joked, "Let me get the whole family up at the crack of dawn."
He didn’t say anything and I wasn’t sure what to think. Damn, he was running hot and cold that night. He was either ecstatic or depressed, there was no in between. I saw Zac come out onto the balcony and was about to wave when I saw him slink down the stairs unto the sand. Apparently, he was trying to scare Isaac like I did. As he got closer, he put his finger to his lips and inched closer. He got about ten feet away, bellowed and bolted right for Isaac. Zac attacked Isaac from the back, I leaned over to the side so as to not get squashed. Isaac flipped Zac and this started their fight. I was laughing at the two of them when I saw Taylor come down the stairs.
"Wanna join in the fun?"
He was eating a piece of fruit, "No, I think they’re doing fine for now."
He wasn’t standing for very long though. Zac latched onto his legs and dragged him down to the sand.
"Zac! I was eating. Oh now you’re gonna get it!"
Well so much for my alone time, "Taylor please don’t kill him. I really don’t want blood on my sweatshirt. I think the sand is enough."
I sat and watched them until Mr. Hanson came out onto the balcony and let out the loudest whistle I have ever heard, "BOYS! Let’s go-Bed-Now!!" He could wake the dead with that bellow, I didn’t have to wonder where the guys got his strong vocal chords from.
Zac tried jumping onto Taylor but only succeeded in getting a mouthful of sand when he landed on the ground. We said our goodnights on the balcony and went our separate ways for the night. The next day was not going to be fun.
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