“It’s My Life”

by Lori G

This story is a direct sequel to “Prelude to a Kiss”.  Any comments or questions should be emailed to the author,  any problems with the page should be emailed to [email protected]

 

"Hey Lori," Taylor stopped the tape, looking up at me, "You were off just a bit, raise your tone just a bit, try  smiling while you sing." He said. I nodded again. I thought harmonizing with three other girls was hard,  but harmonizing with yourself on a tape was even harder.

"All right." I nodded, taking a deep breath. I had made it through the music tracks, playing the piano part for  the song, as well as the guitar and percussion for it. It was the vocals that were screwing me up. I wiggled  my arms out at the side, flopping my arms around and rolling my head in circles; stretching my neck.

I had already done two shows with the guys; Tulsa and Dallas. I was supposed to open for eleven shows.  They already had another band scheduled for the rest of the tour after that. Washington, DC, would be the  last concert I performed with them in, and I was ecstatic.

We had decided to record something of mine to sell at the concerts, the fans were asking for things. So,  here we were in Houston, the night before a concert, in a recording studio downtown. We had decided to  record four of my original songs and one cover. I had a total of seven of my own songs that I could play at  the concerts, so we were good to go. This was the last song we were recording.  

We arrived in Houston around two thirty that afternoon and had gotten to the studio at three. It was almost  three o’ clock in the morning, and we had to be at a sound check in five hours.  

The music started again and I took a deep breath silently and listened for my cue. I knew the note I had to  hit; and I could hit it; I knew how to hit it. The years I had spent in choir had made me able to sing the note I  needed to sing no matter what other sound was around. My teacher used to say I had perfect pitch, but  I couldn’t tell you anything if you asked me.  

"You were late." Zac said, hitting the little button that let him talk to me. They were producing the small  record for me. I nodded, realizing I had missed it, I was –  

"You’re thinking too much." Taylor said next, finishing my thought. I smiled at him.

"I know. One more time." I said, determined. The music started again, and I listened, tapping my foot  silently and jerking my head to the rhythm. I opened my mouth and sang, hitting a note a third higher than my  pre recorded voice. I had my eyes closed, holding it out while the piano changed keys. I kept holding it,  knowing the beat I had to cut off on, and I was smiling, knowing this would be the final take. I cut off, at  the right time, and opened my eyes to smile at Taylor and Zac in the recording booth. The man who owned  the studio turned the music off.

Zac burst in the door, Taylor following. "You got it!" Zac cried. I was smiling even wider, taking off my  headphones. Taylor smiled and grabbed me around the waist, hugging me and kissing my neck playfully.

"You’re a recording artist now!" He joked, setting me back down on the ground. I noticed Zac packing up  my guitar and I went over to help him. I squatted down, shoving my electric Yamaha in its black cloth  case. Zac put his hand on my hair and rubbed it playfully.

"Welcome to the big time." He said, picking up my acoustic guitar, he had already put it inside its case. I  walked over to the grand piano and picked up my glow-in-the-dark tambourine.  

"Whatever." I snorted, "Just because I’ll be selling a few CD’s after I open for you guys doesn’t mean I’m a  superstar." I said, sliding my sandals back on. "Besides, I thought I was only brought along for my back  rubs." Zac laughed.

"No, it’s cool to have you along, it’s weird without the rest of the family," Zac mentioned. This was the first  time Walker and Diana had not toured with them. "You’re like a fourth member or something." He <b> joked, rubbing my back.

"Are we done?" Isaac asked cheerfully, coming into the sound booth with five styrofoam cups on a tray.

"Yep." Taylor said, taking two from him and walking back towards me. He handed me one cup, taking a  drink of his. "Aahhh… coffee…" Taylor sighed. I slung my guitar over my shoulder, and held my coffee in  one hand. I noticed Isaac handing one to the man inside the sound booth. I walked into the studio, behind  Taylor, and Zac behind me.

"So, we’ll be back later today," Taylor started, "What time do you think you can have them ready?" The guy  leaned back in his chair, sighing, looking like he was doing math in his head.

"Well, I could have them ready by four, is that good?" He asked. Taylor nodded; he was like a <b> businessman, the way he was handling everything for me. He was telling me what to do and what not to do  while I was recording, he was giving me tips, he was negotiating with the owner, and he was doing it  so professionally.

"Ya, we’ll be here to get them then." Taylor agreed, taking another drink of his coffee.

"You wanted five hundred, right?" The man asked. My eyes bulged out and I looked at Taylor.

"Right." Taylor said.

"I thought we were only going to make a hundred!" I almost shouted, I was shocked at the huge number,  and didn’t want them to spend so much money on me.

"Nope." Taylor said, smirking at me. "We’ll sell all of them tonight." He said, wrapping his arm around my  shoulder. I shook my head in disbelief.

"I don’t think so." I said, "Five hundred? We couldn’t sell all of them…"

"We’re playing for five-thousand people tonight, and the way people have been reacting to you in the other  cities…" Taylor looked me in the eye. "You can do it." He reassured me. He turned back to the owner  of the studio and took his hand from my shoulder and offered it to him.

"Thanks a lot." Taylor said, shaking his hand. "See you at four!" He said cheerily as he wrapped his arm  back around me. We walked into the night air, and it hit me hard in the face, reminding me of Arizona.

I had made a record with Allana, Nelli and Gracie in Gracie’s father’s studio. We made fifty copies, and  couldn’t even sell those. I had no idea how we could sell five hundred. Taylor kissed me on the cheek, trying  to snap me out of shock.

"Five hundred…" I mumbled. He laughed at me. As we reached the cab that Isaac had taken to the coffee  shop and back. The driver came and opened the trunk for us, and Zac set my guitar case in the trunk, and  I slipped my electric off my shoulder.

"They’ll all be sold tonight, and if we sell them at fifteen each…" Taylor trailed off, doing the figures in his  head.

"Seventy-five hundred." Zac said, walking around to the passenger side door of the back seat.

"Thanks." Taylor said. I could tell from their tones; Zac was starting to get in a bad mood, and Taylor was in  a very good mood. "Then he’s only charging us one hundred to burn them, since we gave him the  blanks. Then we take the money for the studio time," Taylor shut the trunk and we walked over by Zac. "And  then whatever cost the cases are going to be." He had his arm around my waist.

"What are we going to do for the cases?" Isaac asked. He was always the practical one, thinking of the  little details of things.

"We could use cardboard slips instead of plastic cases." Zac shot out quickly, opening the door. I climbed  in first, climbing to the opposite side of the back seat, and Taylor followed. Zac got in after us, and Isaac  last, shutting the door behind him.

"That’s a really good idea Zac!" Ike said excitedly. "We could design something and then take it to Kinko’s  or something in the morning! Double Tree Resort." He said to the cab driver, and the car started. I  swung my legs over Taylor’s, and sat sideways with my back against the door.

"Scoot over, make more room." I commanded sleepily. Taylor moved over, and Zac moved slightly,  allowing Isaac to spread his legs slightly. I wrapped my arms around his shoulder and rested my head on  them. He leaned his head against mine, drinking more of his coffee.

"You did really good today." Taylor complimented me.

"Thanks." I accepted, "But I think I could have done better. The Beatles recorded their first album in the  same time it took me to record five songs."

"There were four of them." Isaac added. "You could have recorded twenty songs if there were four of you."  He joked, staring out the window. I laughed a little, the long day starting to catch up with me. I watched Zac  for a few minutes; he sat staring out the front window, spinning his glass of hot chocolate in his hand  slowly. He didn’t like coffee. He looked sad, troubled. He looked over at me, his eyes were tired. He  seemed surprised that I was already looking at him, and he smiled awkwardly, then looked back  out the window.

Taylor sighed, I guess he had been looking out the window as we drove. We were all tired, all waiting to get  back up to our hotel rooms and sleep for the few hours we could. We had been sitting in silence for  minutes, almost like we were falling asleep.

Taylor kissed my nose, and I looked up him smiling. I smiled back and he kissed me quickly, then again. We  started to kiss heavily, more seriously, and it was only the third time we had ‘made out’ like other  couples our ages did.

"Stop it, guys." Zac barked, "That’s gross." He sounded agitated, but Taylor made no efforts to stop, he just  ignored him. I pulled away and kissed him on the cheek, leaning my head on his shoulder again as we  pulled into the hotel. We climbed out of the cab quickly, paying the driver and getting my instruments out of the  trunk. We didn’t bother to put them on the bus, just carried them up to the hotel room.

I went into my room, I had my own room on tour, we all agreed that it didn’t look good to the public to have  us in the same room. I set my guitars down on the sofa and locked the door. I was pulling my shirt off, just  as the door that led to their room was opened. Taylor was standing there when I had taken it off all  the way.

"Sorry." He said, closing the door almost completely, leaving it open a crack to talk to me through.

"You’ve seen me in less." I stated, remembering the pool party briefly, unzipping my suitcase.

"Ya… but it’s different." He said, keeping the door closed. I pulled out gray shorts and an undershirt I had  stolen from him in Dallas.

"Come one in, I’ll go change in the bathroom." I offered, heading towards the small room that held the toilet  and a shower. I closed the door and changed quickly. I came out a few moments later and stepped over  to the sink to brush my hair.

Isaac was sitting at the desk in my room, logging on to his laptop. He had plugged it into the wall so that the  battery wouldn’t go dead. Taylor was standing over him, leaning on the desk, holding a small camera in  his other hand. He looked up and smiled at me as I walked towards them. Taylor was wearing a white  shirt; identical to the one I had stolen from him, and slightly baggy khaki pants. He looked so tall and  trim, very becoming.

"What are we doing?" I groaned. I wanted to get as much sleep as I could before we had to go back to  work. I admit that life on the road was exhausting, but it was also fun as hell, and I loved it. I hated that I  would only be doing eleven shows with them.

"Making your cover." Isaac said, involved in what he was doing. Taylor smiled and pointed to the bed.

"Sit." He said. I raised an eyebrow and sat down, looking at him strangely. I sat, and he posed me,  brushing strands of hair out of my face and telling me which direction to look. I followed, and he took the  picture, looking down at the screen on the back of the digital camera.

"Stupid lamp." He growled as he ran over and turned it off. "Back lighting." He said. "Damn… that was  good too." He said. Taylor was actually a very good photographer. He posed me again, similar to the first  pose, and turned on the camera’s flash. He pulled it away from his face and smiled, sitting down next  to me.

"There." He said, holding the camera in my direction. He always made me look good whenever he took  pictures of me.

"That’s really good. I like that." I said. Taylor stood up and plugged it into the laptop. Isaac hit a button, and  the picture appeared on the screen. He looked back at me.

"Can I just do… whatever, and if you don’t like it, we can erase it." He asked. I nodded, trusting Isaac to do  a good job. That, and I wanted to get to sleep.

He clicked on one tool, then dragged the mouse he was using, and put a square around my face. He  clicked another button and the picture zoomed in, cutting out the rest of the picture. Isaac clicked on  something else in the tool bar, darkening the picture, giving it a very gray tinge, and then he moved up to  the tool bar again, clicking on ‘color’. He moved down to an option called ‘soften’ and clicked it. When the  picture reformatted, it had taken the sharpness of the color, and toned it down.

"Like it?" Isaac asked, looking up at me. The picture was gray toned, and you could still slightly see the  color, but just barely. It gave the appearance of an old black and white picture.

"Yes!" I cried excitedly. Ike smiled, that huge smile of his and clicked on another button, putting a white  frame around it, and he resized it, and clicked on the upper area.

"Pick one." He said, pulling up a window full of sample colors. I glanced over them and pointed to a  cranberry colored box. He clicked on it, and then another window popped up with all different types of font.

"Ummm…" I looked over them, motioning for him to scroll down, then pointed again to which one I liked  best. He moved both his hands down to the keyboard section of his laptop and quickly typed in my name.

We figured out that it would be better without a title, but just the dates that I would be playing with them.  Then we designed the back, a simple white background with just the titles of the tracks in the center of the  screen, with a picture of me Taylor had taken on the same camera in Tulsa. Ike cut down the picture, and  gave it the same color treatments, then put the picture of me leaning against the brick wall in the center of the  design. It looked really good, and very simple. He saved it on a disk and shut down his computer.

"Time for sleep." He moaned, unplugging his computer and moving towards the door. Taylor followed, and I  followed him to close the door behind them. Taylor reached up and put his hand on the door, closing it  firmly and turning back to me. He smiled evilly and lowered his head, kissing me again, continuing what we  had started in the car.

"Didn’t want to gross Zac out." He joked after he pulled away. "See you in the morning." He smiled, rubbing  my cheek and opening the door.

"Goodnight." I sighed while I smiled as I shut the door, happy to have him in my life.

The next morning was hectic, like the last five days had been, we went to the sound check, Taylor waking  me up. It was the first time I had seen him look tired, but he did. He was still dressed in the same pants he  had been in last night, and his shirt was on the desk.

"Hey gorgeous, time to go." He said softly, rubbing my arm. I opened my eyes, knowing I had to get up, but  dreading it. He was putting his shoes on; they were at the side of the other bed. I sat up, pushing my hair  out of my face.

"Did you sleep in here last night?" I asked. I didn’t really know where the question came from, but I seemed  to already know the answer. He looked up from tying the laces on his right boot. He looked me in the eye,  awkwardly.

"Ya." He finally answered. I nodded, confused. "Zac was snoring real loud, and Isaac was talking in his  sleep again. And my mind was just racing a mile a minute, so I came in here." He started to explain,  grabbing his other boot. I looked at the bed. I had slept on the edge, and sure enough, the other pillow had  been moved and used, and I could see where he slept on the white sheets.

"I won’t do it again, I just…" He trailed off, trying to offer an excuse.

"It’s okay, I don’t mind." I said. I surprised myself, I actually didn’t mind. I thought for sure it would bother me  that I was already sharing a bed with a boy I had only been dating for two weeks. He smiled, finishing  putting on his other boot.

"No, really, it won’t happen again. I don’t know what came over me, I just thought, y’know, maybe I would be  able to sleep better in here, with a bed all to myself and no snoring, but…" He sighed. "I saw you, and  y’know, thought maybe if I held you…" He trailed off again as he started to blush. "Sorry."

"That is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me." I said. It was so romantic. The door opened, and  Zac stood there, with a surprised look on his face. He looked at Taylor, shirtless, and me in a shirt identical  to the one Zac had seen Taylor wearing last night.

"Sorry." He apologized and started to close the door.

"No, no, no!" I shouted after him, "It’s okay. We didn’t do anything." I explained. Zac reopened the door and  looked again at the two of us, and then at the bed, with the sheets all messed up.

"We didn’t, Zachary." Taylor said harshly, scolding him almost. He stood up and walked towards the desk,  where his shirt was sitting, and started to pull it on.

"Okay! Time to -" Isaac cut off as he came into the room. "Go." He said slowly, looking at Taylor and I and  the bed. Taylor looked over at him with and aggrivated look on his face.

"We didn’t do anything." He repeated, shoving his arms through his shirt and pulling it on aggressively. I  threw my legs off the side of my bed, and pushed open the suitcase for clean clothes.

Isaac took the design he had come up with over to Kinko’s right after the sound check was done. I decided  to go back to the bus and nap while the guys practiced and went over the final set list. I went with Taylor to  pick up the CD’s at four, and then we took them back to the bus. Taylor was pulled away as soon as he got  back, apparently, one of the stage hands had dropped his favorite keyboard and broke something,  so he had to go back and figure out how to get another one.

Meanwhile, I sat on the bus alone, with five hundred CD’s and five hundred cases. I started to shove them in  quickly, looking down at my watch. It was already half past five, and the show started at seven, but they had  a ‘Meet and Greet’ at six, and I wanted to be there.

The bus door opened and Zac stepped in. He smiled when he saw me, and I smiled back.

"Want some help?" He asked, sitting next to me.

"Yes, please." I said. He grabbed a CD from one box, and a cover from the other.

"These turned out nice." Zac said, slipping the blue bottomed CD into the cardboard case he was holding.

"Ike did a good job." I replied, putting a completed CD and case combo in a pile on the table. I sighed, as  Zac and I sat there in silence for a minute on the warm bus.

"Are you okay?" I asked him honestly. He hadn’t been himself lately, and it had me concerned.

"Ya, I’m fine. It’s just getting back on the road, the ‘getting’ part is the hardest. Once I get used to it again I’ll  be fine." He said, stacking the CD’s on the table.

"Okay. You just seemed kind of down lately." I explained. "I was worried."

"Mush pot." He said, nudging my leg with his, under the table. I laughed, but he was silent again. He sighed  after a moment and asked, "What happened last night?" It was his turn to sound concerned.

"Nothing happened." I started to explain, "Taylor couldn’t sleep last night, and he came into my room and  he was able to fall asleep." I explained, putting another CD in a case.

"But he slept in your bed?" He asked again, he still sounded worried. His voice was higher, and it sounded  tense.

"Yes, but nothing happened. And nothing will happen, like that, for a long time." I assured him, setting  another CD case on the finished pile. We probably had close to fifty done already, in the short time we  were talking. This was going to go a lot faster than I thought it would.

Zac nodded and looked down for a while, just thinking. He was thinking about it too much, I guess it was  kind of weird for him. One of his friends and his older brother. Maybe he just wasn’t thinking that he would  have to face that some day. I know I’m not going to handle it very easily when my brothers lose their  virginity.

"No winky-doodle for Taylor." Zac teased.

"Winky-Doodle?" I laughed. "Where did you get that?" I criticized.

"It was the first thing that popped up!" Zac chuckled, "Heh, heh." He laughed at his erection joke. I kicked  him under the table. I shook my head as we concentrated on putting the CD’s in cases for a moment.

"Winky-Doodle…" I muttered. "You couldn’t come up with anything more clever?" I asked. "I mean, you  ARE Zac Hanson." I joked with him.

"Ya, that’s all I could come up with right then." He laughed. "I told you I’m out of it." He said, setting another  CD case on the pile. "I’ve lost my touch." He cried mockingly.

"Whatever slave boy. You’re working for me now." I joked.

"Ya! You’re my pimp!" He chuckled. "That makes me a giggilo."

"Nuh huh! You’re a man whore!" I joked back with him. He laughed, and tossed his hair over his shoulder  with a flick of his head. He whipped me in the face with his long, golden blond hair.

"Ow! Watch it Cher!" I teased him, and he laughed as he set down another CD.

"Sorry." He smiled as he slipped in a CD.

"Good thing your hair isn’t in those little braids anymore." I said.

"Or in those pigtails. Those things were fat." He said. I laughed.

"I dare you to let me do it again and go onstage with them in." I said, setting down a CD.

"NO." Zac said sternly. "Only if you go out on stage in your blue bikini."

"No deal." I laughed. We had done a lot of CD’s and I could tell we would finish just in time for the ‘Meet and  Greet’.

"Ike and I are going to shave Taylor’s legs tonight after he falls asleep, do you have any objections, I mean,  you are his girlfriend and everything." Zac informed me. I laughed.

"As long as you don’t do anything to me." I joked. I pitied Taylor, but I pitied Isaac and Zac after Taylor woke  up.

"Well, pranks are inevitable on tour with us, but since you asked, I won’t do anything to you. Now, Ike and  Tay…" Zac trailed off. I laughed again.

"Well, I’ll just do stuff to you guys, and then it will only be retaliation." I joked with him, my mind suddenly  racing with things I could do to them.

"That’s fine, but I’m immune on my birthday." He notified. "And you can’t do anything that would interfere  with a concert. Like, permanent markings and such."

"Nothing noticeable anyway." I added slyly.

"Ya, like you could shave our legs, for example." Zac said. I smiled slyly, planning my first prank. Zac and I  bantered on, finishing the CD’s at 6:07. He was almost ten minutes late, but he didn’t care.

"Let’s go." He sighed. "Time for a Grip and Grin." He really didn’t enjoy them too much. I sighed too and  stood up. I was still wearing the shirt I had slept in, only I put a bra on underneath it. I stretched, reaching my  arms over my head and leaning backwards. I could feel my shirt clinging to my lower back. I looked over  at Zac as he walked out the bus door, and saw his shirt was also wet in the back. We jumped  off the bus, into the early October air. It was cooler outside than it was on the bus.

"I forgot my pass." I said, slapping my damp forehead. I started to turn back to the buss, but Zac grabbed  me by the arm.

"Here, use mine." He said, putting his around my neck. "I don’t know why I need the damn thing." He joked. I  laughed and dropped behind him.

"Gimme a piggy back ride!" I demanded. He stopped and put his hands slightly behind him, ready for me  to jump on his back. "Really?" I asked. I had only been joking, but I knew he would be able to carry me. I  hadn’t been carried in a really long time, not since I was small.

"Get on!" He shouted. I jumped up on his back, and he hooked his hands under my thighs, carrying my  around to the side entrance. We weren’t allowed to go in through the front entrance, because that’s where  all the fans were milling around, waiting to go inside. He walked up the stairs easily, he seemed to not have  a problem carrying me.

"You are way to easy to entertain." He said as I giggled madly. We continued to walk inside, into the  backstage area.

"Much too easily." I laughed. I was smiling continually and so was he. Zac pushed open a door with his  hands and we saw a whole crowd of girls inside, gathered around Isaac and Taylor. Isaac looked over,  happy to see that Zac had arrived, but then did a double take when he saw me on his back. I jumped down  quickly, realizing that I shouldn’t be on Zac in front of fans.

We both stopped smiling, and I looked down awkwardly, trying to move away from Zac as quickly as I could  through the crowd of girls that had swarmed to him. As I was walking towards Taylor, I felt someone grab  and yank on my ponytail. I turned around to see who had done it, but it was impossible. I turned back  to look at Taylor, the crowd around him had thinned and he was smiling at me.

"If they knew you were dating me it would have been a cat fight." He joked. I smiled halfway, knowing it was  true.

"Now there will be rumors about you and Zac dating." He said, signing an autograph for a girl that walked  up to him.

"You’re not dating Zac?" The girl asked me. I shook my head.

"No, I’m dating one of the roadies. How do you think I landed this job?" I lied and joked with her. She  smiled.

"Ya, I know, I saw you in Dallas on the first." She said. "You were great."

"Thank you!" I said, touching her arm. I was amazed that I had a real fan, someone I didn’t know that liked  my music.

"Will you sign this for me?" She asked. I eyes grew wide and my mouth hung open.

"I… uh -" I stuttered. I looked over at Taylor, who was beaming. "Sure!" I laughed, taking the concert poster  she had in her hands. I had seen where Taylor and Isaac had signed it. I signed down towards the bottom,  underneath the date, as small as I could. I felt bad that I was signing one of their things.

"I was hoping to get Zac’s, but I don’t think I will before it’s time to go." She sighed. "This ends in ten  minutes." I looked up at her, smiling evilly.

"Well, Zac was late…" Tay trailed off, looking at me.

"He was helping me put the CD’s in the covers." I explained. The girl held out her hands for her poster and  her sharpie. I didn’t give it to her, but turned around and walked towards Zac. I moved over to the side,  almost behind him, where the crowd had thinned. There were people wondering back over to Isaac and  Taylor already. The girl followed me.

"Hey Zac!" I handed the stiff minature poster to him. "Sign this!" I said, handing it to him over his shoulder.  He signed it quickly and handed it back to me, and I passed it on to the girl that had asked for my  autograph. I started to walk back towards Taylor and Isaac. I felt my hair pulled again, and I spun around.

"I AM NOT DATING ZAC!!!" I screamed into the crowd of ten or so girls that were standing around him.  "LEAVE ME ALONE!" I said, stomping off in Ike and Tay’s direction. Zac had a stunned look on his face,  as well as the fans around him. He was smiling at me, shocked that I had done something like that. I could  tell he had been wanting to scream at that type of fan since he was eleven.

"You can’t yell at the fans like that, Lori." Isaac informed me in a low voice, leaning in closer to me so that  the six girls standing around him and Taylor wouldn’t hear.

"Well," I smirked, adreniline rushing, "I just did." Taylor laughed, as well as too of the girls standing near us.

"I know what you mean. I hate girls like that." The brunette fan standing closest to Taylor said. I shook my  head.

"I know." I answered.

"I hate being next to people like that in the audience." The other girl said.

"I know! I was next to this one girl at my first concert, and she was like, ‘I’m just here to screw Taylor.’ Only  she didn’t use language that nice." I said, raising my eyebrows. I had my hands on my hips, with my thumbs  through the belt loops on my jeans.

"Nice." Taylor sneered. "Great to know she spent money on a ticket when some one else, who wanted to  hear the music, could have had it." He said, glancing over at me and catching my eye. I smiled back at him.

"So who are you dating?" The brunette asked. I looked over at her.

"Oh, no one. I’m the opening act." I said, looking her straight in the eye and lying. I shoved my hands in my  pockets nervously. "Zac’s just a nice guy who like to give his friends piggy back rides." I joked. She and  the other girl laughed.

The ‘Meet and Greet’ ended soon there after, and we shuffled the girls out, going over to a small  refrigerator and pulling out water bottles. It was still warm in Houston, even in October.

"That was close." Zac joked, opening his water bottle and squirting it into his mouth. I rolled my eyes.

"I know, I’m sorry." I apologized. Drinking my own water.

"I loved the way you just bit her head off like that. Good job." Zac laughed. Ike and Tay looked ill.

"I can’t believe someone would pull my hair like that." I said.

"Well, that’s why we don’t say who our girlfriends are." Taylor said, leaning over and kissing me quickly on  the lips.

"Mush, mush, mush." Zac teased. "C’mon, it’s showtime." He said, grabbing my arm and pulling me  towards the door.

I did a good job, I sang five songs, the five that were on the CD, and walked off back stage. I noticed a group of two or three girls in the front row, giving me dirty looks. I figured they were probably from the ‘Meet and Greet’, but smiled when I realized my seat was right next to them. I had a seat in the front row for every concert after I got done, so I could watch. They guys had been having amazing concerts, just as good as the first concert of theirs I was. I remember the first one, and Taylor looked right at me for the first time. It was a year before I move to Bixby, but it was amazing.

I walked to the side of the stage, where Taylor was standing, watching me. He looked so proud of me, and I loved it. He smiled as the lights dimmed and I skipped off stage towards him. I kissed him quickly on the lips.

"Break a leg!" I whispered loudly, rubbing his arm as I walked away. I went out front and saw a stream of girls pouring out to the front of venue. I walked over to the table and saw Ashley Greyson sitting behind the table, selling my CDs, as well as Amanda, one of their cousins that had a job as a roadie.

"How’s it goin?" I asked, stepping over behind him.

"We sold twenty one before the concert, from the girls that were in Dallas and Tulsa." He said, taking a twenty dollar bill from a girl, and handing her a CD and her change.

"Really?" I asked, the line growing longer and longer.

"Yes, and you better start signing them." He informed me. It was hilarious to watch all these girls, who would kill to get backstage, non-chalantly talk to Ashley, not knwoing who he was.

"Can you sign this?" A girl asked me. I looked down and grabbed a black sharpie sitting by the cash box and signed the cardboard cover. Another line formed, one for me. I was astonished, there were girls lining up to get my autograph. I had been dreaming of doing this; touring and signing autographs, all my life.

I heard the concert start, and half of the line dispersed, half of the girls going into the venue. I finished signing for the girls that remained. I smiled as they made conversation with me, even though I knew their real motive was to get me to take them back stage.

I walked into the concert, the first medly of two songs finishing, and the audience patter started.

"How y’all doing tonight?" I heard Taylor shout. I threw my head back and laughed, he said that at EVERY concert. I reached my seat at the front, standing in front of my seat, leaning against the stage, putting my elbows up on it.

"It’s great to be here in Houston." Isaac said. I continued to smile, they were so predictable. I looked up at Taylor, waiting for him so see me. Sure enough, he looked down and smiled.

"Make sure you all go buy Lori’s CD." He said to the audience, I laughed at him, and blushed. "She’s been working really hard." Taylor said, still smiling at me. I saw that Ike and Zac were looking at me as well, both smiling. "Are you guys ready to rock!?" Tay shouted again into his microphone, sending me into another laughing fit.

The concert progressed well, and Isaac only broke two guitar strings; this was way below average. The first set ended, and they ran off stage. I had learned that they used this time to get drinks, go to the bathroom if they had to, refill their water bottles, reapply anti-perspirent, and occasionally, Taylor would make out with me briefly if I was back there. He was always so energized by the concerts. They wore him out, and at the end of the night he was dead on his feet, but until then, he was superman.

The lights came back on, and the three walked out and sat on their stools for the acoustic set. They played their slow songs, including a few from This Time Around, and ‘With You In Your Dreams’. Then Taylor looked right down at me, smiling.

"This next song is a special one, we really like this guy’s music, and it’s a great song to play, really fun." He rambled on. He punched a few buttons on his keyboard and started playing. He continued to look right at me as he started the Billy Joel song.

"She’s got a way about her, don’t know what it is, but I know that I can’t live with out her." He looked right into my eyes, playing the angelic chords and singing right to me. I could feel tears swelling in my throat and I smiled back at him. "She’s got a way of pleasing, don’t why it is, but there doesn’t have to be a reason anyway."

I felt the first tear roll down my cheek, and I wiped it away quickly, hoping the evil girls next to me wouldn’t notice. I wanted to look at Isaac and Zac, to see the expressions on their faces. Ike would probably kill him, but he was playing the guitar along with Taylor, so it wasn’t completely unexpected. I knew then that they had planned this out, that Taylor wanted to sing this just to me.

"She’s got a smile that heals me, I don’t know why it is, but I have to laugh when she reveals me. She’s got a way of talking, don’t why it is, but it lifts me up when we are walking anywhere. She comes to me when me, when I’m feeling down, inspires me, without a sound," He sang smoothly and beautifully, looking right into my eyes. I had butterflies in my stomach. "She touches me, " He seduced me, "And I get turned around." He growled, reaching his voice up into it’s higher range. I was starting to shake, and I loved it.

"She’s got a way showing, how I make her feel, and I find the strength to keep on going." He smiled at me, playing his keyboard gracefully. He smiled even bigger, looking at me in the most loving way I’ve ever seen anybody look at someone.

"She’s got a light around her, every where she goes, a million dreams of love surround her, everywhere." I felt like I was melting, right there on the concert floor. I wanted to get up on the stage and kiss him; hold him; anything.

"She comes to me when I’m feeling down, inspires me," He emphasized, "Without a sound. She touches me," he growled again seductively, "And I get turned around." He almost shouted happily, "She’s got a smile," he sang ‘smile louder than the rest of the words, "That heals me, don’t why it is, but I have to laugh when she reveals me," I sounded like he was singing a sigh. "She’s got a way about her, don’t know what it is, but I know that I can’t live without her…" He held it out, and I noticed for the first time that Zac and Isaac were harmonizing with him. The audience burst into applause and screaming, but I couldn’t hear any of it, I could only hear Taylor’s smile.

I left the concert early, walking back to the back of the hall halfway through the last song so I wouldn’t have to fight the crowds. I walked around and back to the busses behind the venue. I heard the concert end, and the screaming and chanting as they waiting to go back out for the encore. They finally went back out and Zac sang "Bad Moon Rising" by Creedance Clearwater Revival. He sounded so good, he sang so effortlessly; I envied him.

The concert finally was over, and I saw them walk down the equipment ramp, and Taylor came out first; almost running to me. I met him, almost slamming in to him, and started kissing him. I wasn’t even thinking about how I was kissing him, or what our mouths and tongues were doing, I just wanted to be with him, with every ounce of my body.

He pulled away and took my cheeks in his hands. He was smiling so broadly. "I love you." He said. I smiled, tears starting to form in my eyes again.

"I love you so much." I answered him, he was smiling the biggest I’ve ever seen him smile. He seemed so extremely happy. I kissed him again briefly, knowing there would be a few fans coming back; the ones who had won contests from the fan club or from the radio stations. I jumped onto the bus, flopping down onto the couch with a heavy sigh. I stared at the ceiling, thinking that it should be much closer, I felt like I was floating. I started to laugh madly, every part of my body shaking. I was so giddy.

Zac popped his head in the bus door. "Do you think we could take a golf cart to Subway?" He asked playfully. I laughed and sat up, looking at him.

"Why not?" I asked, grabbing my wallet from my purse, which was sitting on the end of the couch. I jumped up and hopped down the stairs. Zac stepped aside and let me bounce off the bus. I skipped over to a white golf cart, and jumped in the passenger seat.

Taylor and Isaac were still signing autographs and talking to the fans. Zac had been growing tired of the crowds, and of the fans. He thought they were too malicious and manipulative. I didn’t blame him; sometimes they were.

We walked into Subway, and were immediately recognized by a booth of girls. They ran over to us, holding out CDs and sharpies, waiting for Zac to sign them. Two of the three girls held my CD in my direction.

"You were great tonight!" The blond said to me. I blushed and looked at her astonished.

"Thank you." I answered exasperated, I signed the cases for them, and Zac and I got in line. I drummed along to "Tell Her About It" as it played on the speakers of the store.

"Foot-long meatball sub, a foot-long roast beef, and two foot-long clubs…"Zac turned to look at me.

"Ummm, and a six inch turkey." I ordered. The girl behind the counter nodded, and pulled a small half loaf of bread from the bin.

"Six inch?" Zac sounded disappointed. I looked at him with my mouth gaping.

"Excuse me, I am not a bottomless pit, like some certain boys I tour with." I said.

"Well, I guess you just can’t handle a foot-long…" He trailed off suggestively. I smacked him in the arm as I made my shocked little noise.

"You’re horrible!" I said. He just laughed.

"Taylor will be disappointed." He tried to say through his laughter and I hit him again a few more times. The song ended and "Uptown Girl" came on over the radio.

"Man, this is just Billy’s night." I sighed.

"Actually, I put in my CD since I’m the only one working." The girl said as she squirted mayonnaise on the roast beef sandwich.

"Ya, I have this back on the bus, Greatest Hits, volume two." I said, taping my foot and shaking my hips back and forth as I danced and sang along. "And makes up her mi-yi-yind." I sang. I was dancing and jumping in rhythm.

"God, you’re hyper tonight." Zac commented.

"Ya, well, something about Billy Joel songs does that to me!" I joked, referring back to the acoustic set.

"He is so cheesy sometimes." Zac groaned.

"But it’s cute!" I said, "With an Uptown Girl!" I sang at the top of my lungs, then broke off laughing like an idiot. Zac smiled and shook his head.

"You’re a dork. You fit in so well with us." He said, handing the girl behind the counter a twenty dollar bill. I continued to laugh, bordering on hysteria. "What was the girl next to you smoking?" He asked in a comedic tone. He only made me laugh harder.

"He who stands on toilet is high on pot!" I laughed. Zac chuckled, taking the bag of sandwiches. "Hey," I said as we got back into the golf cart. "I was going to pay for mine." I said.

"Not the brightest crayon in the box, are we?" He said, driving out of the parking lot. "Don’t worry about it. I am Zac: I have deep pockets." He joked.

"He with holes in his pockets feel COCKY all day." I laughed, grabbing my sides as they started to hurt.

"What the hell? Were you born in a fortune cookie or something?" Zac shook his head as we pulled back into the venue’s parking lot, and we pulled up next to the busses. We walked towards the bus door, and opened it.

"Hey, do you think Isaac and Tay wanted a sandwich?" He asked. I stared at him with my mouth open, remembering the four sandwiches he bought at Subway. He smiled and continued into the bus. He set the first bag down on the table in front of Isaac. Taylor was laying on the floor, reading To Kill A Mockingbird.

"Your’s and Tay’s." He said plopping down on the couch next to him. He opened the bag remaining in his hand. "Mine, and… mine!" He sounded so surprised. "Oh," He sounded disappointed again. "And Lori’s dinky little thing." He said, tossing it on the table.

"What’s the matter? Couldn’t handle a foot-long?" Isaac teased in the same incriminating tone Zac had. I snorted and smirked at him.

"Ya, Taylor’s gonna be disappointed, right?" I joked back. Ike’s eyes almost popped out of his head as he started laughing.

"Don’t flatter me like that." Taylor blushed, smiling.

"Jeez, you guys get in such moods after shows." I said, laying down on the floor next to Taylor.

"It’s all the girls screaming and wanting to rip our clothes off, y’know." Zac replied through a mouthful of sandwich.

"Well, there’s my problem, no body wanted to rip my clothes off." I sighed.

"Not in the audience anyway." Zac teased. Taylor laughed evilly, in a joking manner, but I could tell that it wasn’t that far from the truth. I put my head on his chest as he held his book in one had, using his forefinger as a bookmark and rubbed my temples with his other hand. He kissed me on the top of the head and opened his book back up.

I laid there on the floor with him, for what must have been minutes. Zac and Ike and he were all talking, probably about the show, but I don’t know. I was listening to his heart beat, and his breathing, and the way his chest echoed whenever he spoke. I noticed his heart beat was starting to speed up a little bit, and his breathing was also getting faster, more shallow.

"Don’t get too excited by the book, Tay; it’s upside down." Zac pointed out to Taylor. I looked up at the book, and sure enough, saw Taylor slowly spinning the book around until it was right side up. I had absent-mindedly run my hand up underneath Taylor’s shirt, and I found myself playing with the thin trail of hair along his stomach. I looked down and noticed the bulge in his pants.

I felt my face instantly burn red and pulled my hand quickly out from under his shirt, and I draped my arm across his chest.

"Man, your kids are going to be born blushing." Isaac joked. Taylor put the book over his face and grabbed my arm with his right hand.

I didn’t get to sleep until late that night. We were already on the road again, on our way to New Orleans. I had plotted out my first prank, and I was going to play it tonight, knowing we had a concert again, and they wouldn’t be able to get the marker off completely.

I took the sharpie, and went over to Isaac’s bunk first. He was the lightest sleeper. I uncapped the sharpie as quietly as I could, and carefully drew back his curtain, he was lying on his stomach, with his face towards the hallway. I slowly and gently started to draw on his arm, low enough that he wouldn’t be able to hide it with a shirt. I drew a ‘U’ shaped magnet on his right arm, and then wrote ‘BABE’ in capital letters over it. I snickered silently and closed his curtain.

I tip-toed over to Zac’s bunk, and pulled his curtain back. He was sleeping on his back, so I took his right arm first, drawing a big ‘S’, and then a huge ‘E’ underneath it. I draped my arm across his stomach, carefully writing ‘X’ and ‘Y’ on his left.

Finally, I got to Taylor’s bed. He was directly across the aisle from Isaac, and they were both in the middle. He was sleeping on his side, also facing the aisle, so I drew on his left arm happily, the one that would be towards the audience. I wrote ‘Hot Stuff’ styalized, drawing flames on top of the words. I smiled and recapped the marker, bending down and kissing him on the cheek.

"I hope for your sake it’s clever." He whispered. He scared me slightly, but I smiled anyway.

"Go to sleep, brat." I whispered back, kissing him on the lips gently before climbing up into my bunk, directly above his. I fell asleep quickly, rocked to sleep by the swaying of the bus. I felt cold all night while I slept, realizing how well I had slept the night before, at the hotel, with Taylor’s arms around me.

I woke up the next morning, smelling coffee. The bus had stopped, I guess at a rest stop. I flung my curtain open swung my legs over the side, letting them dangle in front of Taylor’s bunk.

"Jumper!" I shouted, a rule on the bus, we had to let the people below us know when we were jumping out of bed. I rubbed my forehead, and looked at my watch, 7:23. I had fallen asleep the night before, roughly around twelve thirty. Zac was sitting on the couch closest to the kitchenette.

"You got tagged." He said, poking my belly-button. I looked down, sure enough, the word ‘HOTTIE’ had been written in a circle. "I poked you in the stomach, you’re supposed to giggle." Zac whispered.

"He, he." I muttered unenthusiastically, it was too early to be joking. "Look at your own arms." I grinned evilly.

"Look at your ear." Zac said, pointing to my head. I walked back towards the bathroom, looking in the small mirror that was mounted on the wall. Taylor’s name was written in tiny letters on the edge of my ear lobe.

"Welcome to the Hanson tour bus." Zac smiled.

We drove through from concert to concert, until we got to Atlanta, when we finally rented hotel rooms for one night. I had started my period in Orlando, and it was one of the heaviest I’ve ever had, meaning I had ovulated this month, even though I was on birth control pills for my wacky ovaries. Zac was right, after a few shows into the tour he was back to his old, goofy, wild self. Taylor and Isaac were in a state of perpetual bliss, walking around with permanent smiles on their faces, and here I was, lying in my dark bunk all day, dealing with horrible cramps, and demanding that we stop at every rest stop we came to, and sometimes in between.

I had my own room again in Atlanta, but Taylor slept in his own room, to my disappointment. I woke up the morning we were supposed to leave for North Carolina with a sore throat. I was barely able to eat any breakfast, because my throat was almost swelled shut. I nursed hot tea all day, but by the time we checked into the hotel in Columbia, I was running a high fever.

Luckily, Columbia was one of the ‘Weekend Cities’ as we called them. We arrived on the eleventh, and the concert wasn’t until the thirteenth. Unfortunately, with my poor immune system, I wasn’t able to sing by concert time. I wasn’t even feeling up to going to the concert at all. I stayed at the hotel, and took and hour and a half bath. I had lost my voice earlier that day, while I was writing a new song. I used Isaac’s laptop, and e-mailed my friends. I signed on to Hanson.net to check out the forums. I clicked into the Concert message board, and found them raging. Everyone was talking about the Houston show, how Taylor had looked at one girl the entire time he was singing ‘She’s Got A Way.’ The reaction was good to the performance, but it seemed like everyone was enraged that he looked at me for the entire song.

Rumors were flying hot and heavy about Zac and the girl that was on his back when he arrived at the ‘Meet and Greet’, and the same girl was seen with him at a Subway later that night. I couldn’t help but laugh at the fact that no one knew it was me. There were a lot of ‘Concert Hoppers’, the fans that followed the guys for two or more concerts, that said they had seen the same girl, me, at a lot of shows, but now one recognized me as the opening act. What was funnier, was that everyone thought I was Zac’s girlfriend.

I fell asleep at six, and woke up again and ten, and were surprised that they guys weren’t back yet. I had a cup of tea and e-mailed my mother. At quarter to eleven, when I was starting to feel sleepy again, the boys came back, coming into their hotel room loudly. I tried to yell a salutation, but all I could do was croak.

"Hi Froggy!" Zac shouted, sticking his head into my room briefly. He had been calling me that since I lost my voice yesterday.

"Knock it off, Zachary." Taylor scolded, coming into my room and tossing his coat on the other bed in my room. He kissed me on the forehead. And sat down on the unused bed.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, concerned, as he unlaced his shoes and slid them off.

"Like shit." I whispered hoarsely, as loud as I could. He smiled and reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a bulging, small manilla envelope.

"This will make you feel better." He smiled as I opened it. Inside, there were stacks of twenty, fifty, and hundred dollar bills. There was a piece of paper, folded in half, underneath all the money. I pulled it out and unfolded it. I unfolded it curiously and read it. It was a list of all the cities we had been to, and how many CDs I had sold in each one.

<c><i>Houston – 500

New Orleans – 384

Orlando – 271

Atlanta – 326

Columbia – 22

Total Gross - $22,545.00

Cost of production - $5,753.19

You get - $16,791.81

"Oh my God." I muttered. I looked up at him in shock, he was beaming. "Sixteen thousand dollars?" I screamed as much as I could.

"You have better record sales than we do!" He teased.

"Sixteen thousand dollars!" I repeated. "Wha?… How?" I asked.p>

"You don’t have a record company to pay, so you get to keep most of it." He explained, "And Island is paying for our tour, and technically you’re on our tour, so you don’t have to pay for the hotel rooms or anything." He explained. He knew everything about everything if it had do with the industry.

"Sixteen thousand dollars…" I muttered, almost silently. I had sold CDs when I wasn’t even performing. Taylor laughed.

"That’s not all of it, that’s only the seven hundred something. The sixteen thousand will be sent to your parents. Make sure you tell them it’s coming." He warned.

"Sixteen thousand dollars…" I mumbled in shock. Taylor continued to laugh at me and stood up, walking over to me.

"You’re cute." He said, kissing me on the top of the head. I nodded, and went over to the phone to call my mother.

Taylor came back into my room after he changed into his normal sleeping attire, a white undershirt and his boxers. He closed my door and climbed into bed next to me. I was underneath the sheet, as well as the cover and the quilt. I was freezing to death, even though I had a fever. Tay didn’t get under the sheet, he stayed above it, so that there was a blanket inbetween us.

I was so nervous. I remembered how comfortable I was that night in Houston, and how good I slept, but that night I didn’t have to deal with him climbing in bed next to me. I could feel my breath getting faster, and my muscles tensing. I reached over and turned off the light, leaving us in total darkness.

"If you’re uncomfortable, I’ll go back into the other room." Taylor whispered into my ear, sending chills down my spine. He had his arm wrapped around my stomach, we were ‘spooning’ as I had heard it called.

"No, don’t leave." I answered quickly. I didn’t want him to leave, even though I was scared to death of what might happen tonight. I felt myself breaking into sweats, and my breathing was still rapid.

"You’re so hot." Taylor said. "Feverish." He clarified. He could tell I was uncomfortable, even though I hadn’t said anything. I grimaced as I started cramping.

"Are you okay?" He asked, propping himself up on his elbow quickly.

"Cramps." I answered hoarsely. He put his head back down on his pillow, and moved the hand that was on my stomach down, below my belly-button. He pressed in with his fingers periodically.

"Jeez." He said, as he found that area that was cramping. I closed my eyes, breathing in as he spoke right next to my ear. I think he had no idea how much he was turning me on. He wasn’t really trying to, but he was. He rubbed my stomach with his first two fingers, helping rub out my cramp.

"Feel better?" He asked. I nodded, the cramp was gone. He slid his hand back up to rest on the middle part of my abdomin. He wasn’t going to do anything, he wasn’t going to try to get anything from me. I was surprised. I knew Taylor was a gentlemen, but I didn’t know he had so much control over his hormones.

"I love you." I whispered to him as I started to fall asleep.

"I love you too." He answered, kissing the back of my ear before he put his head back on his pillow. I sighed, so much in love with him.

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