By the next morning, Zac was on speaking terms with everyone in his family. Like Diana had predicted, once Jess caved the rest of the kids did too. Gwen was getting along with everyone in the family as well. Jess was in awe of Gwen's fashion sense and supermodel looks, and was following her around. Gwen appreciated the attention and even took Jess down to the beach.
At noon Joe and Bill called to say they were coming over. Zac hadn't said anything yet to Jess and figured he should say something before she stopped talking to him again. Diana was cooking in the kitchen and Jess was sitting at the counter, eating carrots and pretending that she was helping.
"Who was on the phone, dear?" Diana asked.
"Oh," Zac said. "That was Joe and Bill�the group I'm working with." Jess looked over. "They were supposed to go back to New Jersey but they ended up staying at the last minute. They were just going to order a pizza so I told them to come over."
"What?!" Jess yelled. "They're coming here??"
"Yeah," Zac said, trying to keep a straight face.
"Oh my God, why didn't you tell me sooner? When are they going to get here?"
"Um, a half hour?" Jess got up and ran out of the room. Zac smiled. "I meant to tell her sooner," he explained to his mother who was giving him a strict look. "I really did. She's not going to freak out, is she? I'm out here behind the scenes so I could get away from that for a while."
"She has met them before, hasn't she?" Diana asked, turning back to the food.
"Yeah, once," Zac said, sitting down at the counter. "When they did their mini-tour last March. I took her with me."
"Well did she freak out then?"
"No."
"Then I don't see why she would this time."
"Well that time there was a whole bunch of other people there and she only spoke to them for a few minutes after the show, before they had to leave. This time they're coming over as people to have dinner."
"True. I hope she doesn't embarrass herself."
"Oh, she will," Zac said. "I can almost guarantee that."
"So what have you been up to, dear? You haven't told me anything about what its like out here," Diana said, looking back at her son.
"Well all I've really been doing is work. I take Gwen places on the weekends�she's never been here before so every chance we get I have to take her out so she can see everything. Um�work is good. I really, really like what I'm doing. These guys I'm working with are absolutely amazing and they want me involved with so much that it's hard not to have fun. It can get tedious at times, like at the end of the day when you're just going to finish one more take and you keep messing it up, but that's just normal. I haven't really done much of anything else. Peter, one of the execs, called me up a couple of weeks ago and mentioned that I'm wanted as a presenter for the Grammy's in February."
"Really? They let you know this far in advance? The last time you were performing and you didn't know until much later," Diana said. Zac shrugged.
"Apparently I'm a big issue. I don't listen to the radio or watch MTV or anything, so honestly I don't really know what's going on in the music world. I know I really should keep up with it, but I just haven't lately. But from what Peter tells me, since I left the band everybody's been wanting to talk to me and I've already stated that I don't want to talk about it right now."
"So are you going to do it?" Diana asked.
"Yeah! I always like going to those things and since I'm not doing anything musically I'm not nominated for anything so I don't have the stress of if I'm going to win or not. Plus I'm taking Gwen and she's so excited it's hard not to be."
"Gwen's so what?" Gwen asked, walking into the room. "I heard my name."
"I was just saying you were excited about going to the Grammy's with me," Zac said.
"Oh. Yeah, I am," she said. She sat next to Zac at the counter. "Zac, I love your sister."
"Which one?" Zac asked.
"All of them! And your brother too. Diana, Zo� is the cutest little girl I have ever seen in my entire life," Gwen said. "I think we're going to keep her here."
"Go right ahead," Diana said. "You'll get tired of her by the time we leave." Gwen shrugged.
"Anyway," Gwen said. "Jessica is freaking out, Zac. I think you should go calm her down." Zac groaned.
"I knew it." Zac got up and walked over to the guest bedroom that Jess was sharing with Avery. Jess was digging through her suitcase for something to wear. "Jess, calm down. They're just people." Jess gave Zac a look. "Oh, come on! Whenever you're with me and someone acts the way you are acting right now, I don't hear the end of it. This only slightly hypocritical."
"Zac!"
"If you embarrass me when Bill and Joe are here I'll bring you in here and you can stay in here for the rest of the day until they leave."
"Zac! You're being a little extreme."
"And so are you." Jess sighed and sat down on the bed. "What you're wearing is fine. You're sixteen years old anyway, it's not like Joe is going to walk in the door and fall madly in love with you like you think. It's illegal."
"It could happen!" Jess said. "It happened with you and Ginger, didn't it?" Zac froze and Jess quieted quickly.
"And look where that ended up," Zac said. "It doesn't always work like you want it to." Zac sighed. "Do what you want. Bill and Joe need the attention anyway." He turned and walked out of the room.
A half-hour later Bill and Joe arrived. Bill and Joe were a classic duo, like Rosencrantz and Gildenstern; people were constantly mixing them up. Zac even sometimes had problems remembering who was who, especially early in the morning or after a really long day. Jess stayed by her mother, nervous, and Zac could only play with it. Zac introduced the two of them to everybody who was there, saving Jess for last. "�And there behind my mother is my sister Jessica."
"Oh," Joe said, looking around Diana to Jess. "So this is Jess?" Jess blushed and Zac pulled her out from behind Diana and placed her in front of Bill and Joe. "Nice to meet you." Jess giggled nervously but didn't say anything. Zac took a step back, a hand over his mouth so he wouldn't burst out laughing. He was so used to being the focus of this kind of behavior that he'd never really gotten to see it from an outside point of view. It was incredibly hilarious. Jess was red and giggly, and Bill and Joe were eating it up. They were never popular enough to get this kind of attention on a massive scale, although Zac was positive this kind of situation would pop up a number of times in the future.
Zac watched Jess embarrass herself further for a few minutes before he broke it up. "Come on, Jess, let's go into the living room so we're not all huddled around the door," Zac said, placing his hands on his sister's shoulders and leading her back towards the living room. "Calm down, lil' sis. They're just like me."
"Pfft," she whispered, "they're so much hotter than you."
"I'll mention you said that."
"Don't you dare!" She hit him. Zac set her down on the living room couch next to Gwen, who was trying very hard to watch football with Walker, however she could only keep her eyes on the players, not the game.
"Guys, this is my girlfriend Gwen," Zac said. "Gwen, this is Bill and Joe."
"Nice to meet you," Gwen said, shaking both of their hands. "Zac's said a lot about you."
"You too. In fact, he doesn't shut up about you." Gwen could only blush and give a look to Jess that nobody else in the room really understood. Bill and Joe settled on the couch and began to watch the game. Bill and Joe were the all-American kind of boys; they were into sports. Zac, however, had never had the time to get into sports so he never really bothered.
In about ten minutes Gwen and Jess left the room. Once they were gone, Bill leaned over to Zac. "Hey Zac," he said. Zac looked over. "About Gwen�is she a model?" Zac laughed.
"No," Zac said, a smile spreading over his face, "no she's not."
"Hmm�" Bill said. "She looks like one."
"I know. She gets that a lot," Zac said, and that was the end of it.
At four o'clock dinner was served in the dining room. Now that Bill and Joe were there, they had ten people to sit at the table, and although that wasn't unusual for Zac, it was unusual for the table. The table was crowded, more crowded than usual, and Zo� ended up on Gwen's lap, the two of them eating off the same plate. Bill and Joe sat next to Zac, with Jessica on the other side, still in awe.
After dinner the sun was setting over the ocean and everyone had gathered in the living room. The television was still on and Zac was sitting on one side of the room with Bill and Joe. It was the first time the entire night that the conversation had steered back to work. "�I don't know," Zac was saying, "it's an awesome song and everything, but I don't think it's a good first single. Possibly, possibly the second or third, but not first."
"What song?" Jess asked from a few people down.
"Gravy Fries."
"Oh�why not?" she said, her voice slightly whiny.
"It's just not single material," Zac explained. "This is your first album. On first albums you can't take chances like that and Gravy Fries as the first single is a big chance. It should be one of the new songs you've written." Joe was shaking his head.
"I don't know. It's a good song."
"It is a good song! I'm not saying it's not. However, I don't think it's single material. That's just my opinion, though. I'm not the one who inevitably makes this decision. Ultimately, if you don't agree with me, then you can do what you want."
"Maybe if you just heard it again. We did change it around a bit since the last time you've heard it."
"Maybe," Zac said. "Why don't you play it for me when we go back�"
"How about now?"
"All right," Zac said. He stood up. "I think I have two acoustics in the music room." Bill and Joe stood up as well. Jess tugged on Zac's shirt as he passed by. He stopped and looked at her. She gave him a big, pleading smile. It made Zac smile. "Come on, Jess." She bolted up and followed Zac out of the room. "If you guys don't mind, Jess is going to sit in awe of you for a little while."
"No I'm not," Jess muttered. Bill and Joe both smiled.
"That's fine." The four walked into the music room. The music room was pretty much just that, a room with musical instruments in it. Zac didn't have this much when he and Gwen moved in, but over the past month he found himself getting more and more, and if he didn't stop he would soon need another room.
"Here we go," Zac said. He pulled out two guitar cases. Jess sat on the floor against the wall while Bill and Joe took the only two chairs in the room, a few feet in front of Jess. A loud commotion from the living room made Zac crinkle his nose and he closed the door. Bill and Joe began to tune the guitars while Zac sat next to Jess against the wall.
"How're the acoustics in here?" Joe asked.
"Besides the bathroom, the best in the house."
"Really? How'd you figure that out?"
"Well," Zac said, "basically when Gwen and I moved in, I went into every room and sang a couple of lines and this sounded the best. They're not all that great, but it's the best you'll get in the apartment, unless you want to go into the bathroom."
"Nah, this is fine," Joe said. "So, Jess, what's your favorite song?"
"Of yours?" Jess asked. Joe nodded. "Spilled Milk." Joe nodded again.
"Well then, Zac, we'll have to make sure that gets on the album," Joe told Zac.
"I already promised her it would," he said. Joe turned to Bill, who nodded and counted off. When it started, Jess stifled a giggle of excitement that only Zac heard, and could only shake his head. Jess loved every minute of it and Zac was trying to listen to the new version of the song. The song was different, that was evident, but it still wasn't Zac was looking for.
When they finished, Zac looked at Jess. "What do you think?"
"I like it."
"I know that," he said, rolling his eyes, "but do you think it's single worthy? Think of all the songs they have, and obviously there's some that you haven't heard yet, and tell me if this is the song you would pick to introduce them to everybody. Do you think radio would play it? Do you think MTV would play a video for it?"
"Yeah," Jess said, looking at Bill and Joe. "I think he's right. I don't think it's really good as a first single."
"And the new version's great," Zac said. "It's just not exactly what we're looking for." Joe shrugged.
"Well, I guess we're going to have to come up with something else," he said.
"You're not even sure what songs are going on the album; you have plenty of time to decide," Zac said. "And it's not like you're going to pick a really bad song. You guys are going to catch on quickly; everybody I play your music for is a fan for life. I got Jess hooked on one song."
"Which song?"
"Telephone Wires," Zac said. "As a matter of fact, isn't that what you played for me earlier?"
"You play?" Joe asked. Jess pulled her knees up to her chest in a shy and embarrassed motion. She nodded a bit. "Why don't you join us?"
"No, no," Jess said, shaking her head. "I'm not good enough. I just started a little while ago."
"She's amazing for just starting," Zac explained. "I think she just picked it up, what, a month ago?" Jess nodded. "And she's never played any instrument before." Zac motioned for Joe's guitar. He handed it over and Zac gave it to Jess. She gave Zac a look.
"I'm just going to embarrass myself, but, whatever," Jess muttered.
"No you won't," Bill said. "You play Joe's part and he'll just sing. It'll be fun." Jess looked at Joe, who gave her a thumbs-up sign, and she sighed, agreeing. "On three." Bill counted off and Jess began to play, almost perfectly, with him. Both Bill and Joe were impressed by Jess's natural skill, but no one expected it when Jess began to harmonize with Joe, and she was on key. Zac could only smile; his sister could really amaze when she wanted to.