Zac walked into the Oval Office at the White House half past noon the next day. It had taken a half an hour since he arrived just to weave through the place and the constant security checks until he was able to meet the president. Zac had immediately wondered what the heck the guy was doing that he was able to take the time to meet him. The nation was at war and this man had the time to personally call Zac and invite him to the White House. It didn't leave a good impression.
"Mr. Hanson," the president said, walking over to an overwhelmed Zac and shaking his hand. "Welcome to the White House. Take a seat." Zac took a seat where the man was pointing and watched as he sat behind his famous desk. Although Zac thought this guy was pure scum and the king of all idiots, it wasn't everyday he got to meet the leader of the country.
"If I may begin on a blunt subject," the president began, folding his hands on his desk, "Why did you go on that show last night?"
"I'd had a hard day," Zac began to explain. "It was Christmas and my family was not complete. My girlfriend said that she didn't believe in my cause and I got mad and left. I'd thought about going on that show and say the things I said, and that only fueled it. I didn't expect it to be aired simultaneously on seven different channels just previous to your address to the nation."
"And why would you refer to me as," he paused to look at a sheet of paper on his desk " 'that stupid idiot who doesn't know the difference between his ass and the button he has to push to send out his nukes?' "
"Because it's true," Zac replied.
"Well, Mr. Hanson, to prove you wrong, there is no button I have to push, and if there was, I think I would be educated enough to know the difference between my behind and it." Zac raised an eyebrow and shifted in his seat.
"I do believe, sir, that I never said you weren't educated. You could be the smartest man in the world and still be a blithering idiot," Zac retorted, a light smirk on his face. "And if I may, sir, why did you invite me here today? I know it wasn't to find out the reason why I don't like you. I'm just a seventeen-year-old punk kid with a few connections. I should mean nothing to you."
"You're more than just a kid, Zac," the president said. "You're the voice of the nation. You, my boy, are more powerful than some of the people in this building. I find that hard to believe but somehow you've done it. You're influencing my people and you're causing uproar among various communities. Peaceful protests have reached a record high since you've been touring and congressmen from all of the states have been receiving letters regarding the end of this war."
"Good."
"What are you trying to accomplish?"
"I'm trying to end the war. I'm trying to make you understand that what you're doing is wrong and stupid and if you won't listen then I'm just going to have to keep going until you get tired of hearing from me."
"South Korea needs our support. I can't back out on that."
"You're fighting an unfair battle. North Korea isn't being backed by China like it was the first time around. There's an unfair advantage."
"Even with that, we're still losing."
"Really? We're losing?" Zac said. "And what's that going to do to us? We're already in a recession, people are losing jobs all around the country, and you're putting us in a compromise that could substantially lower our standards even more? Didn't you learn anything from Vietnam, Mr. President? People lost faith in their nation and when that happens, you suffer."
"This is hardly Vietnam, son�"
"I think it is," he said. "You're getting involved in other people's business and once again you're not telling your country what's going on over there. It's because of people like me that they're hearing the facts. Your little news stations every once in a while give out a bit of information but most of the time we don't know what the hell is going on. Your censors block out any sort of information whatsoever in letters back and forth and we can't find out anything from the people who come back because with even the mention of Korea sends them into flashbacks. They're just kids over there, Mr. President. In ten months I could be over there. You're sending these kids fresh out of high school to get killed and to kill and you're ruining their lives. Were you in Vietnam, sir?"
"No, I wasn't. I�"
"That's what I thought. You don't know what it's like. My brother Taylor just came home two days ago and I know he's never going to be the same Taylor again. He's not my brother anymore. He's an empty shell of a person who has yet to live life and the only reason he's home is because they completely ruined his psyche over there. He was on the verge of killing himself, I'm sure, and I'm surprised they let him home because of that. I mean what's one more soul to add to the one million people being sent home in boxes, dying for someone else's country, not even their own. How can they be made a hero for that? They're dying so somebody they've never seen or cared about can stop being communist. You know what, relations were good between those countries until you interfered." The president looked at one of the other people in the room and immediately he walked up to Zac's chair.
"Mr. Hanson, President Smith has other things to tend to," someone else that Zac couldn't place with a position said. "I'll show you the way out."
"Oh, I see," Zac said, standing. "You don't like what I say so you get rid of me. It was a pleasure meeting you, sir." Zac shook President Smith's hand with a sarcastic smile. "Do think about what I said." The man who had spoken showed Zac the way out and the president sat back down.
"Punk kid."
Zac left the White House and returned to the airport where his jet was waiting for him. He'd planned on leaving that day to finish his tour dates anyway, so that morning he'd packed his things and said goodbye to his family, Taylor and Madison boarding the plane with him. Madison was going to stay with him until she had to go back to school a little more than a week later. Taylor was going to be touring with him for the rest of his dates and making an appearance on his album.
"So how did it go?" Madison asked as Zac walked onto the plane. They'd decided to wait on the plane; he said he wouldn't be long and he was right. He walked onto the plane only about an hour after he left it. "Obviously well because you're not calling us from a jail cell."
"Well he got me pissed off, like I knew he would, and I went off on him."
"You went off on the president?" Taylor asked, giving him a strange look. "How can you go off on the president? They've got secret service all around him and the moment something goes wrong they escort you politely out of the building."
"Well they allowed me to go on for a little while until they kicked me out," he said, sitting down. "And I even cut him off a few times. I was happy to leave. I didn't want to talk to him anymore." He pulled something out of his pocket. "And I got it all on tape."
"You recorded your conversation?" Taylor asked.
"Somebody had to. He said some priceless things."
"Like what?"
"Like we're losing the war." Madison and Taylor stared at him, silent. "I can use that to my benefit."
"Can't you get arrested for that?" Taylor asked.
"Nobody told me I couldn't do that. It's not like I'm going to do something stupid, like play it for a couple thousand people at my show tonight." Taylor gave him a look as he smiled.
"No way, Zac, you'll get arrested for that."
"I'm not going to play it. I'm just going to share my insights." He grinned as Taylor rested his head in his hands, sighing.
"So I talked to the president today," Zac said to over ten thousand people at his concert that night. He was a couple of songs into it when he decided to stop and sit down to have a chat with his audience. He played with the strings of a guitar hanging loosely down at his waist. He wasn't surprised when the audience started booing him. "I know, I know, but I didn't like it." His audience laughed. "No, I had to. After last night�I'm sure you all watched�I had to clear some things up with him. I tried but that guy is such an idiot he had no idea what a conscious thought is so he kicked me out when I was trying to make a point. I got to talk to him for a bit, told him the error of his ways, but he still isn't going to do anything. I decided I wasn't going to leave him alone until he does. I'm not going to sit around and let more people die because he's a fricken idiot. I'm going do something!"
"Yeah!!" came the loud response from the audience.
"I'm not going to let the people I love die because he doesn't know the difference between our war and somebody else's!"
"Yeah!!" came the loud response from the audience.
"He told me when I spoke to him that even though North Korea is unaided in their battle and we're backing up South Korea, we're still losing." The crowd, this time, grew silent. "What is that? How bad of a commander in chief is he is we outnumber them 5 to 1 and he's STILL losing? We're the ones who reserve the right to use nuclear weapons and we have better trained men and better weapons and we're still losing! Why the hell are we still fighting then?"
"Yeah!!"
"This is bullshit. I gotta stop talking about this," he said, running his hand over his short hair. "Hey, I got a new member to my band! Do you guys want to meet him?"
"Yeah!!"
"All right. He's really cool. You'll love him. Hey, new guy, why don't you come out here?" Zac asked, smiling to the side of the stage where Taylor was waiting, carefully hidden away. "Come on, don't be shy, come out here�" Taylor smiled and walked out onto the stage. Everybody applauded him but no one seemed to realize who he was. Zac's crowd had changed so much that they probably wouldn't have recognized him if he came out with his hair still in tact. Taylor had a microphone in his hand. "Why don't you introduce yourself to the people?"
"All right," Taylor said, and part of the audience already recognized his voice. "I'm Taylor Hanson, reporting for duty." He saluted Zac and the audience grew silent. Confused, Taylor looked at them, an eyebrow raised. "Wow, a silent audience�"
"They tend to do that a lot. Come on, guys, give it up for my brother, all the way from Korea!" The audience broke out into applause and the part of the crowd that were fans when Zac was still in Hanson cheered. "Gee, Taylor, what are you doing here?" Zac asked, poorly trying to act. It was all a joke anyway.
"They let me go."
"Really? And you've decided to join my band?"
"Of course. Who else would be better at stopping this war than someone who was forced into it?"
"Perfect."
"By the way, Zac," Taylor said, stealing Zac's stool. "That was really gay." He stole Zac's guitar as well and started the next song.
After the show Zac and Taylor met with some people who'd scored backstage passes. Most of them were men but there were two girls who were fans before Zac became a solo artist who were incredibly excited to see Taylor there. After a string on intellectual conversations with the men about music and the uproar Zac was about to endure, the girls came up and Taylor dismissed them quickly. "They look happy to see you're back," Zac said, smiling. "We're nearly a band again."
"Yeah, nearly," Taylor said, his eyes lowering. "You ready to go?"
"Yeah. Mad, we're going." Madison got off the couch across the room and ran over to them. They left the arena and went to the back of the Mercedes that Zac had been driving around at home beforehand. Drake sat in the front.
"Great show tonight, guys," he said, turning around and looking at Zac and Taylor. "Madison, you're not working out as well. I'm afraid I'm going to have to bump you down to the person who sits on the couch and reads magazines." Madison looked up from her magazine.
"What?"
"Never mind," Drake said, smiling. "Anyway, tomorrow's the last show, so you have to do something special. Come Monday we'll be in the studio."
"All right," Zac said. "I'll miss touring. This has been really cool." His eyes lit up. "Hey! Maybe I can do local shows! People can come around the country to see me instead of me going to them!" Drake shook his head. "Why not?"
"Zac, you're going to be busy recording."
"Oh, fine."
"As soon as you finish you can go back on tour. Until then, no." Zac huffed and sat back, pouting. "Zac�"
"Shut up. I'm not talking to you anymore." Drake rolled his eyes and turned back to the front. "So, Madison, what did you think of the show?"
"What show?" she asked, her nose stuck in her Cosmopolitan magazine.
"My show? The one in that arena we just left?" he asked.
"Yeah, yeah, honey, okay." He glanced at her magazine and shook his head. There was a half-naked chick on the front and several suggestions on how to get into a man's head and how to have better sex. "Hey, honey, look at this," she said, folding back the magazine and pointing to an article headline. He looked at it. Seven ways to make your sex life multi-orgasmic.
"What about it?"
"Wanna try?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No."
"Are you sure? Look at number four." He looked at number four and his eyes grew. Try a threesome. "So can we try it?"
"Um�really?" She nodded, glancing over at Taylor. Zac looked over and his face turned to disgust. "Ugh! Madison!" She began to laugh and put her nose back in the magazine. "You are so disgusting."
"What, and you actually thought we were really going to do it?"
"You sounded serious. I never for a minute thought you would."
"Sure, Zac."
"What are you talking about?" Taylor asked. They both began to laugh.