Chapter 1
Beep. Beep. Beep. Zac rolled over and clumsily hit his alarm clock.
�Grrr. 6:30.� Zac grumbled to himself.
�Get up Zac we�re leaving for the airport in an hour� Diana called from the bottom of the stairs.
Just then, Zo� ran in and jumped on him. �We going to Disneyland Zac,� she said in her sweet 5-year-old voice.
�Get off Zo,� he responded sleepily.
He pushed her off his stomach and she fell, landing on the ground with a �thud�.
�Mommy he pushed me!� Zo� began to cry.
Diana rushed in and picked up her youngest child and cuddled her.
�What happened baby?� she quietly asked the quivering child.
Sniff. �He pushed me off the bed.�
�Zac, did you push your sister?� Diana questioned him as if he were 5 as well.
�Yeah. Sorry Zo� he mumbled half-heartedly.
Diana put Zo� down and gave her a pat on the head saying �Sweetie, why don�t you go see if Jessie and Avery need help with packing.�
The little girl scurried out of her older brother�s room and down the hall to the room she and her 2 older sisters shared.
�Zac why did you�� Diana began.
�What? What the fuck did I do?� Zac barked at her.
�Zachary Walker! Watch that mouth of yours if you don�t want to make friends with the dove in the bathroom� Diana scolded.
�Mom, I�m 17. That threat doesn�t scare me anymore� Zac yelled back.
Tempers were on the brink of flaring. Then to Zac�s relief, a savior. Taylor walked in.
�Mom do you know what happened to the notebook that was on the kitchen table yesterday?�
�No. I have no idea Taylor,� she answered calmly. �Did you ask your father?�
�Yeah but he didn�t know� Tay answered.
�Have you asked any of your siblings?� Diana suggested.
�Yeah but they don�t know either� Taylor said. �Hey, Zac you seen it?�
�No!� his younger brother spat.
�What�s your problem?� Taylor asked.
�None of your damn business!� Zac said glaring angrily from his mother to his brother.
�Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed today� Taylor muttered under his breath.
�Zac, just get ready� Diana stated frankly and walked out.
Zac pulled the sheets up to his chin and closed his eyes. Taylor sat down on the edge of his bed.
�What�s up with you man?� Taylor asked looking concerned for his little brother. �You�re never this grumpy before we leave to go on tour.�
�Tay just leave me alone. I feel like shit� Zac whined.
�You felt fine yesterday,� Taylor said.
�Yeah well I don�t now!� Zac blurted.
With that, Taylor got up and pulled the sheets off his brother.
�Stop bein� a baby. Get up and be downstairs in 15 minutes or I�ll drag you there kickin� and screamin�.�
�Fine� Zac muttered.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As the Hanson family gathered outside ready to head to the airport Taylor still hadn�t found his notebook.
�This sucks. I had the lyrics to a great song in there� Tay complained. �And now I can�t show them to you guys.�
�Whose the baby now,� Zac snickered.
�Did I miss something here?� Isaac asked.
�No, its just Zac bein� an ass,� Taylor said.
�What is going on today guys with all this language?� Walker asked. �You mother was telling me you were mouthing off Zac.�
�Look, I don�t want to talk about ok,� Zac spat.
�Don�t give me that attitude Zachary,� Walker ordered.
�Go to hell!� Zac yelled in blinding furry.
With that said, Zac climbed into the family van and grabbed the seat in the back, as far from his parents as possible.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The ride to airport was a quiet one. No one spoke. Everyone was still getting over the shock of the morning�s events. Zac looked out the window as the van stopped at a red light and changed the song on his disc man. The song was a very loud one, �Anthem� by Good Charlotte.
�Zac, can you turn that down, Ezra is trying to sleep� Jessica whispered so she wouldn�t wake up her sleeping nephew in the next seat.
�Shut up Jessie. I don�t care!� Zac responded more loudly than perhaps necessary. �And I don�t care if you complain to mom and dad either.�
�Zac, please turn it down. Ezra has a bit of a cold and he really needs his sleep,� Natalie stated quietly.
�What, you think that just because you�re his mother that I�ll listen to you. Yeah right,� Zac said.
At that comment, Taylor unbuckled his seatbelt and turned around. He pulled the cord of Zac�s headphones out of the Walkman.
�Now listen you little jerk, turn the damn song down or I�ll...� Taylor began.
�Or you�ll what?� Zac interrupted rudely.
�Throw this piece of shit out the window!� Taylor said through gritted teeth. �If he was your son you�d be pissed off too.�
�Well he�s not. And who died and made you king of my life!� Zac practically shouted.
�That�s it!� Walker yelled pulling the van over on the side of the road. �The next person that swears in this car is grounded until we get back home. That means no TV, no computer, no video games, no Internet, no nothing!�
�Now I don�t want anymore talking until we are on that plane. Do I make myself clear?� Walker asked, his voice lowering.
�Yes sir� a chorus of voices said glumly, all except for Zac.
�Zachary, are we clear?� Walker asked looking at his son in the rearview mirror.
�Oh, you were talkin� to me. Well I�m not talkin� to you!� Zac said. �I hate all of you!�
�You don�t really mean that do you Zac?� Avery asked sullenly.
�Yeah Zac, you don�t mean it,� Mackenzie echoed.
Zac ignored his younger siblings and grabbed the end of his headphones from his older brother�s grasp and plugged it back in.
Taylor then noticed something in Zac�s open backpack; his notebook! He leaned over and made a grab for it. But before he could reach it Zac�s foot was on his hand.
�What are you doing?� Tay asked.
�Get your hands off my stuff you little thief� Zac replied.
�Zac, that�s my notebook, the one I couldn�t find earlier. Did you have it the whole time?� Taylor questioned.
�Maybe. But why would I give it to you when you all were bein� assholes this morning.� Zac retorted.
�Dad, Zac swore,� Mackenzie said.
Zac reached up and punched his little brother.
�Shut up you little twerp.� Zac muttered.
�He�s callin� me names� Mackie whined.
�Zac, leave you brother alone and Mackenzie didn�t your father tell you to be quiet?� Diana said.
With Zac distracted, Taylor took the opportunity to retrieve his confiscated notebook. This time he was successful. However, to Taylor�s utter disappointment Zac had added little comments all over the page. Taylor began to read them to himself:
�No one�s gonna listen to these lyrics.�
�Stop writin� about people that don�t even exist.�
�You suck at writin� music!�
Taylor had to close his eyes to control the anger that welled up inside of him.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As everyone got situated on the plane, Ike grabbed the seat next to Taylor.
�You ok man, you seem kind of out of it.� Ike said.
�He wrote all over my lyrics the little bastard!� Taylor whispered.
�Let me see, it�s probably nothing.� Ike responded.
Taylor handed Isaac his notebook and looked out the window. Isaac looked through the lyrics, first at what he knew Taylor had written and then at Zac�s scribbled remarks.
�Dude that�s harsh,� Ike murmured.
�No kidding,� Taylor told him. �Do you know what his problem is today?�
�No. All I know is what I heard in the car. But you�re right. He seems pretty off,� Ike commented.
Just then, Zac leaned in between the seats.
�Hey now, stop makin� out. We all you know you two have some real �brotherly love� goin� on but keep it clean. There�s little kids on this flight,� Zac said in his best airline attendant�s voice.
Taylor just gave him the finger. Isaac however turned around to face his brother. Ike reached through the seat and grabbed the front of Zac�s jacket and pulled him close so no one but the three of them could hear what he had to say.
�What is wrong with you today? You�re actin� like� like I don�t know what. But it�s not you,� Ike said.
�Get your perverted paws off me,� Zac said twisting himself free of his oldest brother�s grip.
�Why did you do it?� Taylor asked quietly. �What did I do to make you do it?�
Laughing, Zac answered �Get your wussy ass over it. I just didn�t like what you wrote.�
Zac caught his father�s eye and sat back. �This is going to be a long flight� Walker thought.
