"Not the red one, the blue one. You know the navy blue one with the squiggly white logo things on it." Taylor hounded his mother while she hopelessly rummaged through the boys' disasterous closet.

"Taylor, I can't help it if you keep losing your clothing. I'm not responsible for every lost item in this house."

"Mom," Tay whined. "I really love that jacket. Maybe you took it to the cleaners or something and then put it somewhere."

"No Taylor, I didn't. As I recall, that jacket is new. I wouldn't take it to the cleaners." His mom started to straighten the closet.

"No, don't do that. Look for my jacket."

"I'm sorry. You're just going to have to wear the red one."

Taylor huffed and threw himself down onto his lower bunk. "But that means I have to wear the red leather pants 'cause that's the only thing that matches."

"So wear them."

"They cut off my circulation in places where I don't want my blood to stop flowing."

Mrs. Hanson sighed at her son's mild temper tantrum. "Taylor, since when have you not wanted to wear leather pants. As I recall, you're the one that was so hyped up on buying them."

"Yeah, because they're cool. But I need to be comfortable tonight."

Mrs. Hanson turned away from the closet and faced Tay, who was spralled out on his bed. "Actually, I've been meaning to talk to you about this date you have tonight. About Leigh-Ann in particular."

Taylor was in no mood to talk to his mother about girls. The thought made him sick. "No. Uh uh. No way we're getting into this."

"Here, scooch over so I can sit down." Diana slowly leaned back onto the bed. It was getting harder and harder for her to move around since she reached her ninth month of pregnancy. Taylor sat up and grabbed on to his pillow for moral support.

"Why do you need to talk to me?" he moaned.

"You know that I like Leigh-Ann. I think she's very sweet. But I heard some stuff about you two that kind of disturbs me."

Taylor froze. Had Zac betrayed him? "What...what do you mean?"

"You aren't having sex are you?"

"What?! No! What did you hear?"

"I was talking to Kevin's mother and she told me something about you and Leigh-Ann sneaking off during the funeral last month..."

"Oh my God." Taylor stuffed the pillow into his face. Maybe if he squeezed hard enough he could die before she had a chance to say anymore.

"I need you to tell me the truth. You know that you can come to your father or I about anything. I mean anything, sweetheart."

All Taylor wanted was for this conversation to end. "No, we are not having sex, Mom," he mumbled through the pillow.

"Okay. Fine. I believe you. You boys are just growing up so fast. Sometimes I worry that all that is happening to you is making you grow up too fast."

Taylor removed the pillow from his face. He looked at his mother who was gazing down on him sweetly. "Mom, believe me, I'm as immature as the next 14-year-old. Okay?"

"That doesn't make me feel better."

"You can trust me. Haven't I proven that to you? Geez, you and Dad got lucky. You got some of the tamest kids on the face of the earth."

Mrs. Hanson couldn't help but laugh. She knew she was lucky, but she still worried. "I know." She pushed herself up off the bed and returned to the closet. "Oh, look at this. It was staring us right in the face the whole time." From the back of the closet she pulled out a navy leather jacket.

"Thank God."

"Taylor, why do you always have to use the Lord's name that way?"

"I was just thanking Him."

"Fine, fine, get dressed or you'll be late for your...ehem...date." She flashed him a smile and left the room.

"Hello, Manda. No...hey Manda! Hey Amanda! Hello my darling...that really sucks." Zac stared at himself in the bathroom mirror. He picked up his comb and tried in vain to pull back all of his hair into a ponytail. No matter what he did, it all ended up back in his face. "Man, I wish Mom could braid it."

Isaac stepped up behind Zac and began to fiddle with his own hair. "Hurry up, Zac. We're leaving in 10 minutes."

"I don't want to go."

"What?"

"I can't do it. Forget the whole thing." Zac pulled the rubber band out of his hair and let it all fall down into his eyes.

"We are not going to forget it. You are going out tonight and you are going to love it."

Zac turned around and grabbed Ike by the collar. "No! I can't do it, man! That girl scares me to death!"

Gently, Isaac removed Zac's hands from his shirt. "You will do fine. It's only a girl."

"Only a girl?!"

Taylor jumped onto the tile floor of the bathroom and slid along it using his socks as iceskates. "What is he freaking about?"

"Guess."

"Move aside guys, I need to get ready." Taylor pushed his way through the two and grabbed a brush laying on the sink.

"That's mine," Zac yelped.

"So?"

"So, that's gross. Don't use my brush."

"My hair is clean," he said as he began to brush.

"Taylor!" Zac tried to grab at the brush, but Taylor held it over his head, preventing the shorter boy from reaching it. "You suck!"

"Zac, will you stop acting so weird." Ike grabbed his younger brother and pulled him out the door.

"But my hair..." Zac cried as he was torn away from the mirror.

"Finally some peace." Taylor looked at himself in the mirror. Ever since he cut his hair, his ponytails didn't quite work the way he wanted them to. He pulled his tail over his shoulder. "To braid or not to braid...to braid."

"Tay, we don't have time for that," Ike said, poking his head around the bathroom door. "You're dressed, let's go."

"But I'm not ready."

"Too bad. If we don't pick them up and get to the restaurant soon, we're gonna loose those reservations."

"But my hair looks horrible."

"It looks the same as it always does: straight and blonde. Now can we go?"

"Aw, man, fine. Now where did I leave that jacket?"

"I can't believe we're picking them up in the van." Taylor stretched out in the far backseat of the van as it drove the 2 meters to Manda's house next door. They pulled up into her driveway. "Zac, why couldn't Manda just meet us at our house."

"Because that's not how it's done. Sheesh, don't you know that?" Zac nervously fidgeted with a button on his black long-sleeve shirt.

"Well, don't you know that you now have to get out and go to the door?"

"Huh?"

From the drivers seat Isaac turned to face Zac. "Yeah, Zac, go get her."

"Um, okay. Anybody wanna come with?"

"No," the two older boys shot back in unison.

Slowly Zac opened up the sliding van door and hopped out. He weakly smiled at Ike who was motioning for him to go on up the driveway. Zac reluctantly walked over to the front door, looking back in terror at his older brothers, who seemed a bit too amused at his situation. The front door opened and Manda's mother smiled down at him.

"Hello, Zac, it's so good to finally meet you. I've heard and seen so much about you." She looked like Mrs. Cleaver on Leave it to Beaver. Her hair was swept back into a bun and she seemed too dressed up to be a normal mom. She had an enormous amount of makeup on her face. She grinned from ear to ear, looking down on Zac as if he was some cute puppy that she had just found. "Amanda dear! Your cute little date is here!"

From the back of the house Zac could hear Manda groan. "Oh, my God Mom, will you stop it." She appeared from around the corner wearing a short flowered dress and boots. Quickly she grabbed her jacket and pushed her way out the door. "Come on, let's go," she whispered to Zac as she passed. She grabbed his hand and pulled him away from her mother.

"So that's your Mom?"

"Yes," she moaned. "She is so embarrasing sometimes."

Zac looked back at the woman who was still smiling obliviously, waving and yelling 'bye darling.'

"Does she always dress like that?"

"No. I think she just does that when she knows my friends are coming over. That way she can be certain to completely humiliate me."

The two reached the van and Manda immediately hopped in. Zac followed, still looking stunned and confused. They sat next to eachother in the middle seats of the van. Zac made sure not to sit too close to Manda, for fear she would get the 'wrong impression.' He still had to play it cool.

"Are we all set then?" Ike said from the front seat.

"Yeah, let's go. Leigh-Ann is next." Tay was still spralled out in the back of the van, looking none too excited to be there.

The van made it's way to Leigh-Ann's house, about a block away. Tay stared out the window as they pulled up. Luckily for him, she was waiting outside. She waved at her Dad who was standing at the front door and then jumped into the van and joined Taylor in the back.

"Hey, I wanted you to wear that skirt."

"What skirt?"

"You know, the one your friend gave you. The one you were wearing when you came over yesterday morning."

"The really tiny one? Dream on, Taylor Hanson." She laughed and punched him in the shoulder.

"Ouch! Hey, it was only a suggestion."

Zac turned back to stare at them. "Now I don't want to see anything here in this van that will give me nightmares."

"What?"

"Just keep your hands to yourself, Tay. It will make my evening a lot more pleasant." Zac turned back around. As soon as he was facing away Taylor stuck out his tongue. The two in the back started to laugh.

"Hey, you two back there. Do you want me to turn this van around," Ike joked.

"Ha ha ha ha. Very funny. Just drive will ya'."

About 15 minutes later the van was still nowhere near Ginger's house.

Zac sighed. "Ike, I thought you knew how to get there. We're gonna be late."

"I do. I do. I'm just trying to feel my way around okay. I've never been there before."

"Well, feel faster." Zac was feeling the pressure. He had no idea what to talk to Manda about. He thought that at least if they were in the restaurant they could talk about food or something. Manda sat quietly looking out the window. Her hair was brushed back into a long french braid. Zac noticed how extremely shiny it was. He almost wanted to reach out and touch it, but he managed to inhibit the urge. He looked back at Taylor and Leigh-Ann who seemed to have no trouble talking. They had been jabbering away the whole time about the silliest things. Zac huffed and faced forward. "Isaac, get a move on."

"Okay, I think this is it."

"Finally."

"Geez, it's huge!"

The van pulled up to what seemed to be a mansion. He couldn't even drive up the driveway because the house was protected with a large gate and a security system. Isaac rolled down the window and pressed an intercom button. A few seconds later, a girl's voice answered. "Yes, may I ask who is there?"

"Uh, my name is Isaac Hanson and I'm..."

"Ike! Hi, it's me. Okay, I'm gonna open the gates."

They waited awhile and the gates opened. Zac gazed out the window at the enormous peice of property. "You know what this reminds me of? That castle we stayed at in London when we were recording Snowed In. This is huge. How come you didn't tell us she was rich?"

Stunned, Ike pulled through the opened gates. "I had no idea. She never told me."

From the back, Leigh-Ann spoke up. "Well, it's not like you guys aren't rich now too."

Tay turned to her. "Yeah, but we don't live like this. We hardly even see the money we make."

They pulled around to the front door and Isaac got out. He walked up and rang the bell. He half expected some stuffy butler guy to answer, but instead Ginger opened the door. "Hey, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine. My goodness, when you gave me directions Ginger, I guess you failed to mention that your house was...well your mansion."

"I said it was the big house on the corner."

"Ginger, do you know the meaning of the word 'understatement'?" he said as he smiled and put his arm around her shoulder.

Inside the van, Manda stared at the property. "How rich do you think they are?"

"Millionaires obviously. Wonder what her dad does. Or her mom, I guess."

"Are you millionaires?"

"Um, I don't know. Everybody keeps telling me that we are. But I still get the same allowance that I always did."

"That's weird."

"What?"

"That your rich and everything. You're set for life practically."

Zac shrugged. "I guess I never really thought about it."

"Yeah, right," she said in shock. "How could you not think about it? If you quit music right now you could still live comfortably forever."

The thought bothered Zac. "Why would I want to quit?"

"I didn't say that you wanted to, I was just saying that...nevermind," she sighed. She didn't want to put her foot in her mouth again.

Ginger got into the front seat and the van pulled out and away from the large house. They were finally on their way to Zac's 'romantic dinner.'

"Who did you make the reservations under?" Isaac stared back at Zac who was fiddling with his shirt button again. They all stood in the front entrance of Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.

"What?"

"The reservation. What name did you make it under?"

"Zac, of course," he said matter-of-factly.

Isaac rolled his eyes. "Oh, of course."

The young hostess finally looked up from her book and smiled brightly. "What's the name, sir...oh my goodness, you're Hanson!"

From the back, Taylor heard the girl's shriek and sighed. "Uh, oh."

Leigh-Ann punched him in the shoulder. "Stop being that way."

Isaac tried to play the incident down, hoping that the whole restaurant hadn't heard what the girl said. As much as he loved the fans, this wasn't the time to be signing autographs. "Yeah, we are. We have reservations for six under...uh...Zac."

"Oh, I'm sorry, of course. Will your parents being joining you?"

Isaac looked confused, but then realized that this girl was obviously older, probably around 22. Of course she would think that 'kids' like Hanson would always be flanked by their parents. Nobody ever bothered to notice that he was less than a year away from being an adult himself. He was automatically grouped into the 'little kid' category by the press. He tried to be as polite as he could. "No, um, we're alone." Ginger just giggled.

"Okay, right this way."

The six sat at the table staring at one another. For the longest time nobody said a word. Zac began to launch sugar packets using his spoon. Manda's eyes were fixed on his every movement.

"Hey, did you know that if there is a group of more than 4, then the conversation will automatically break up into two seperate conversations?"

"Tay, you and your pit of useless knowledge," Ike said as he swallowed a piece of bread.

"Well, nobody else is saying anything. And I think Zac is about to break the record for the farthest sugar launch."

"Don't you hate ackward silences?" Ginger looked up at Ike and smiled.

"I wouldn't call this ackward, I would call it a purposeful pause."

"What the heck is that suppose to be?" Tay asked.

"It's a silence that is meaningful."

"This silence is meaningful?"

"Yeah, it gives us all a chance to reflect on the fact that we're actually sitting here on our dates with our brothers. It's a very weird thing. Besides the fact that during the silence I was able to notice that there is a man over there by the potted plant that has been snapping our photo the whole time we've been here."

"What? Where?" Taylor turned his head.

Leigh-Ann pushed his head forward. "Don't look. He'll just get a better picture."

"Hey, Ike, do you think he's from the press or just some guy?"

"Who knows? Who cares? If our picture shows up in the tabloids tomorrow, then at least we will be shown with 3 very beautiful ladies."

Zac and Taylor looked at eachother and rolled their eyes. Ike always had to be the sweet romantic. Ginger just smiled wider and sighed wistfully.

"So, Leigh, you know what you want?"

"I don't know." She lowered her voice. "How are you guys paying for this? I can always pitch in."

"No, no. This is on us. I invited you so I pay."

"So if I invite you then I would pay?"

"Well...if you want to." Tay gave her a sly grin. He stroked the top of her hand. A shiver ran up her spine.

Across the table, Zac could see Manda out of the corner of his eye. He wanted to say something to her, something sweet. But absolutely nothing popped into his head. He couldn't understand why he could always think up the joke in almost every situation, but he couldn't think of two words to say to this girl.

"Zac, um..." Manda paused to think up the right words. "Um, this is a nice restaurant."

"Yeah, it's really nice," he said quietly without looking up from the menu.

"And I like steak."

"Steak's really good. It's a...good meat." He nodded and smiled nervously.

"Except when they have that Mad Cow disease."

Zac's eyebrows curled up. "Yeah, that would be a bummer. No steak."

"Yeah, no steak."

"Mad Cow disease sucks."

"Yeah."

"Yeah." They both looked down at their menus again.

"Zac?"

"Yeah?" he said immediately as he looked up at her, wide eyed.

"What are you gonna eat?"

"Um, probably...chicken. This honey-glazed chicken thing here." He pointed to it on the menu.

"Oh, yum." She smiled.

"I like chicken," he said.

"Chicken is good. It's the other white meat."

"No, that's pork. I think chicken is the original white meat."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot."

Sitting across from them, Taylor and Leigh-Ann watched the conversation. He was trying his best to hold in the laughter. Leigh-Ann leaned in towards him. "Isn't that cute!? They're so nervous."

"Cute? They're talking about meat."

"I know. They can't think of anything else to talk about."

"So if I suddenly became speechless and fidgety and started rambling about meat products you would think I was cute?"

"No, I would think you were psycho, but on Zac it's cute."

"Oh, yeah, makes sense," he said sarcastically.

"Just pick out what you want, Tay," she laughed.