"Kevin! Give that back!"

"Zac, I'm only trying them out."

"Those are the new sticks, you can use the old ones." Zac glared at his best friend who was sitting at Zac's old drum set beating the crap out of his new sticks.

"You don't know how to do it."

"They're drum sticks. It's not like they come with instructions," Kevin said as he continued to pound on the snare.

Frustrated, Zac grabbed the sticks and pushed Kevin out of the seat. "Look, you do it like this." Zac began one of his drum rifts and Kevin stood by rolling his eyes.

"Okay, Zac. Fine, your the king of the drums. Can we go play video games now?" Kevin was about ready to leave Zac to his precious drums and find someone else to play with.

"Uuugh. Okay...wait!"

"What?!"

"I'm getting an inspiration." Zac squinted his eyes and wrinkled his nose. "Yes, it's coming to me. Ah ha!"

"What?!"

Zac started a slow beat on the bass drum and then added the snare. Soon he was in full swing pounding out a long and loud rift.

"Oh, man. Not again. Zac!"

Zac didn't look up, but continued his masterpiece.

"Zac!" Kevin sighed and decided to give up. When Zac got like this it was better to just let him be. He doubted he was going to get anything out of him today except an unwanted percussion lesson. "I'm leaving, Zac!" he yelled over the drum beat.

"Okay! See you tomorrow!" Zac screamed back not even bothering to notice the disgusted look on his friend's face.

"Man, I hate that," Kevin mumbled as he left the garage.

Zac continued to let the inspiration sweep over him as his pounding got louder and steadier. He didn't notice when the door to the garage flew open and a small, exasperated girl stomped in.

"Excuse me!"

Zac kept on drumming.

"Hello?! Excuse me!"

Zac snapped out of his daze when his eyes fell on the girl who was frantically waving her hands at him. "Are you talking to me?" he asked. Zac stopped his drum solo and set his sticks down.

"No, I'm talking to those dancing cactus's painted on the wall. Of course I'm talking to you! I'm desperately trying to do my math homework and all I keep hearing is that constant pounding."

"Who are you?"

"I live next door."

"I thought Rebecca Morton lived next door."

"No, stupid. The other next door. On the other side." She was starting to get a massive headache. "I just moved in 3 weeks ago. Of course, there wasn't that loud music constantly playing when I first got here."

Zac got up and stuck out his hand. "Zac Hanson. Good to meet you."

"What?" She brushed away his hand. "Look, for the past couple of days I've had to stand hours of this blasting music coming from this garage. I need quiet to study, and I couldn't do, like, anything this weekend because of it."

"Oh, sorry. What's your name?" Zac smiled, seemingly oblivious to her obvious distaste of him.

"Manda."

Zac perked up. "Amanda?"

"No, well, yes, techniquely, but nobody calls me that. It's Manda." She stared at the boy across from her. "Why am I having this conversation? Just tell your brothers that some people need quiet. Especially around this time because I just got home from school and this is the time I do my homework."

"Do you know who I am?" Zac knew the question sounded conceited, but lately he wasn't used to girls being so disinterested in him.

"Why? Are you so vain that you need everyone in the world to care about the fact that you're in Hanson?" She gave him a smug look.

Zac looked down at his feet. "That's not what I meant."

"Look, sorry or whatever. Just keep the noise down okay?" With that she backed out of the garage and left.

Zac decided that it was better just to shrug her off. She seemed like a jerk anyway. He headed back to his drum set and tried to get back into the musical mood he was in. It didn't seem to work. He was very bothered at the girl's rudeness. He put his sticks away and headed up the stairs and into the house. What a dork, he thought. How dare she come into our garage and start insulting me! The more he thought about it the madder he got. Why does her name have to be Amanda? What an insult to a beautiful name.

Zac plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV. "Like I care if she knew I was in Hanson," he grumbled to himself. "I don't need her to like me."

Taylor heard the muffled mumbles from in the kitchen and he poked his head around the corner to see Zac slumped over on the couch. "What are you doing?" he asked as he munched on an apple.

"Do you know what just happened?!" Zac sat up, glad that he could relate the horrid tale to somebody.

"What?" Taylor sat down beside Zac. It had been a pretty boring day so far and he welcomed any kind of excitement.

"This girl, Manda or whatever, walked into our garage...OUR GARAGE...and had the nerve to yell at me for making too much noise!"

"Were you making too much noise?"

"Maybe, but that's not the point! She didn't even ask me to stop. She just goes off and tells me and then yells at me and acts all rude!" Zac threw his arms up in the air in exasperation.

"Who is she?"

"She moved in next door apparently."

"Oh, I think I saw her. She's the red-head right. Your age."

"Who knows. I wasn't even paying attention. And I was even nice to her!"

"Zac, it's not that big a deal. Just calm down." Tay couldn't understand why his little brother was taking this so seriously. "So she's mean. So? Just stay away from her."

"What if she comes over again and complains and yaps and is all rude again?" Zac made sarcastic little faces to indicate his disgust.

"I don't know. Just forget it."

"Whatever!" Zac shouted as he jumped up from the couch and stomped to his room.

"That kid has got to take a chill pill." Taylor leaned back and took another bite of his apple. He stared at the TV. "Cool. Smurfs."

Isaac closed his eyes and sighed. He stretched out on the grass, soaking up the last bit of sun November had left. It seemed such a waste that the unseasonably warm day had to fall on a Tuesday.

"Ike, please come back inside. You haven't finished your trigonometry."

"Alright. I'll be there in a second, Mom." Ike opened his eyes and squinted at the sun. "I guess you'll have to wait."

He lazily got up and strolled inside the house. Taylor was sitting at the table writing furiously in his notebook. Jessica was mulling over her vocabulary list and Avery was drawing flowers all over her paper. Zac was staring off into space and fiddling with his pencil.

"Zac, pay attention." Mrs. Hanson directed Zac's gaze to a section of a big bound compilation of Shakespeare's work.

"Can't I just read the synopsis part. That'll tell me the whole story and I won't have to spend hours figuring out what the heck these guys are saying."

"No, Zac. You like this stuff. You're a very smart boy and you've read parts of Shakespeare before. Plus, this is a comedy."

"I wanted to do my math first," Zac whined.

"You can do my math, Zac," Isaac interjected as he sat next to Taylor.

"Sure!"

Isaac pretended to pass his book over to Zac. "Okay, boys. It's time to get down to work."

Isaac looked down dejectedly at his trig problems. Their math tutor wouldn't be around for the next 2 weeks while they were at home. His dad had unsuccessfully tried to explain to him 3 new concepts, but without some professional help he was just lost. Math was okay, but he loved literature and writing. Unfortunately, it seemed as if he was spending more time staring at numbers lately than writing his stories. "What about Tay? Doesn't he have to do his math?"

"I already finished it," Tay smirked.

"So, what are you doing?"

"Nothing."

Mrs. Hanson stared at Taylor. "He is supposed to be writing an essay for me."

"Well, Mom, unless your particular assignment entailed writing the words 'I can't get you out of my mind', then I don't think he's doing what he's supposed to."

"Gee, thanks Isaac." Taylor gave Isaac a dirty look.

"Jordan Taylor. You are not writing to that Rebecca girl again, are you? Don't even answer that. Honey, I thought we had this talk. You are getting a little too obsessed with this girl."

"Mom! Do you think we could talk about this later?" Taylor slumped down in his seat. By this time Jessica and Avery had stopped their work and were intensely watching the drama. Zac found the conversation a good excuse to not read the book he was already not reading.

"Then we can t>

Transfer interrupted!

"Yes, now, young man."

Taylor picked up his notebook and then slammed it back down on the table, hoping to make it perfectly clear that he felt this was completely unjust. He followed his mother out of the room and into his parents' bedroom.

"Sit down Taylor." Tay sat on the corner of the bed and his mother sat beside him. He was not looking forward to another lecture about Rebecca. He felt like he was the only 14-year-old in the world whose parents scolded him for expressing himself.

"Mom, I don't need to talk about this, especially not with you."

"Would you like to talk with your father."

"No. I don't want to talk about this at all!"

"There will be no shouting, young man."

"Uuugh! You treat me like a child."

"Last time I looked, you are a child." Mrs. Hanson felt for her son. She knew that he had all these feelings and he was just trying to express them. But she was also worried. It had been way too long since he broke up with Rebecca for him to still be writing love letters to her. "I've been talking to Isaac and he says that you've been thinking a lot about Rebecca lately."

"Since when is it any of his business?"

"He's just worried, Taylor. And so am I."

Taylor layed back on the bed. "It wasn't a love letter. It was...a story."

"Really. Well, why don't you go get it and read it to me then."

"Now?"

Taylor didn't even bother to hear his mom respond, her look was answer enough. He got up and left, returning with his notebook. "Okay. Here it goes." Tay started to read. When he was done he looked up at his mother, who seemed as if she was about to cry. "What? It wasn't good?"

"No. I mean yes. I mean it was very good. You wrote that?"

"Well, yeah."

"That's the most beautiful love story I have ever heard, honey. Two friends who don't realize that they love each other and how they waste all that time..." Mrs. Hanson's words got muffled with sobs. Taylor just stared confusedly at his mother. It was an okay story. It wasn't that great. In fact, he knew he stole the plot from about a billion different sitcoms.

"Mom, you get too hormonal when your pregnant."

"Oh, I know." She reached for a tissue on the night stand and wiped her eyes. She grabbed her son and gave him a big hug. "My son, the romantic."

"Yeah, okay mom. Uh, can I go now."

"Yes, yes." His mom continued to blow her nose.

Taylor left the bedroom and headed back to the table. I can't believe Isaac was talking about me behind my back. What gives him the right? He did the same thing to Zac. He sat back down and turned to Isaac who was trying to look busy figuring out a math problem.

"What is up with you lately, Ike? You can't stay out of anybody's business."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Isaac continued to stare at his paper.

"You were talking to mom about Rebecca. What gives you the right? And you did the same thing to Zac with Amanda."

At the mention of his name Zac perked up. "What?"

"Taylor!" Isaac gave Tay a frantic glare.

"Oh, that's right. Zac, you don't know what Isaac told Amanda, do you?"

"I want to know," Jessie interjected from across the table.

"See, Jessie wants to know. And I believe that she has the right to know!" Taylor said as he pounded his fist against the table.

"Yeah!" Jessica yelled.

"I want to know too!" Avery screamed, enjoying the little game.

"And now Avie wants to know. And, darn it, I think she should know as well."

Isaac shook his head and glared at Taylor. "Taylor, you said that..."

"And Zac, do you want to know?" Taylor interrupted.

"Heck yeah!" Zac was ready to burst.

"Well, here it is! Your good brother Isaac was kind enough to inform your lady love, Amanda, that you have an enormous crush on her. That's why she was, oh, so nice to you when she was here on Saturday." Taylor waited for Zac's reaction.

"Oh," Zac said and looked back down at his book.

"Oh?" Taylor was expecting an erruption, or at least a good shouting match. "That's all you have to say?"

Zac looked back up. "Well, it wasn't a very nice thing to do. But I told her the same thing on Saturday."

"You did?" Isaac couldn't believe his little brother.

"Yup. Right before you came in Ike. That's why I felt so stupid when you told me that she thought I was a cute little kid."

"So you're not mad at him?" Taylor was shocked. Usually Zac made the biggest deal out of the littlest things. He was being way too calm about it.

"Well, I should be, but I'm really not. I don't know. I must be getting over her." Zac smiled at his revelation. It was the first time since yesterday's episode in the garage that he brightened up.

Taylor, disgusted that his attempt at creating a fued had failed, got up and gathered his books. "I'm studying in the bedroom."

"Look, Tay, I'm sorry okay?"

"Forget it, Isaac. I just don't want to be around you right now. I don't hate you or anything, I'm just a little upset. So if you don't mind staying out of my way for a few hours."

"Sure." For the second time in 3 days Isaac felt guilty. He knew he had a problem minding his own business, but he really had been worried about Taylor and this Rebecca thing. He just wanted to look out for his brother. All he had to do was wait this episode out. Taylor never held a grudge for long. He tried to assure himself that everything would be fine by that night.

Tay set his books down on his bed. He didn't feel much like writing the actual essay his mom had assigned him. How could he get excited about NATO. He didn't even know what it was. Tay stared at the phone. He could just call her. Right now. He hadn't spoken to her in months and hadn't seen her since he got back, which was surprising since she lived right next door. At that moment he decided to do it. He would call her, just as a friend of course. He picked up the reciever and started to dial, but halfway through he stopped.

"Oh, my gosh. I forgot the number. How in the world could I forget her number." Tay fumbled through his address book for the missing 3 digits. "I know there was a zero and a one," he mumbled to himself. When he found her number he again dialed. "Oh, man, busy!"

Tay slammed the reciever down in frustration. I could go over there, just as a friend, of course. He jumped up and grabbed his jacket.

"Mom, I'll be right back!" he yelled as he ran out the door.

As soon as he reached the sidewalk he slowed down his pace. He gazed at her house, where he had spent a lot of his play time growing up. She'll be happy to see me, he tried to convince himself. She can't still be mad. He meandered along the sidewalk. "Man, it's hot out here," he muttered as he ripped off his jacket.

When he reached the front steps he hesitated and started to turn back. "No. You have to do this. Okay, here I go." Tay stretched out his hand and rang the doorbell. He waited...and waited. He swung around the jacket in his hands and tried to peek in through the windows. "Somebody has to be home, the phone was busy."

He rang the bell again. "Come on." He started to jump around nervously. Suddenly, he heard the sounds of someone fiddling with the locks. The door swung open and Rebecca stood there, her face all red.

"Taylor?" A tear streamed down her cheek.

"Rebecca, what's wrong?"

Before he knew it her arms were wrapped around his neck. "I'm so glad you're home."

"What's the matter?"

She let go of him and retreated in the house. He didn't know if he was supposed to follow or not. "Well, are you coming in or not?" he heard from inside.

Taylor let himself in and shut the door. He entered the living room where Rebecca was already sitting and sobbing. This wasn't the first time that Rebecca had burst into tears in front of him. In fact, it was a common occurance when they were together. She cried over everything. Unfortunately, Taylor was a sucker for it. He would lose every fight they had once the tears started to flow.

"Oh, Taylor. It was so horrible."

"What?" He sat beside her and put his arm around her shoulder.

"Max!"

"What? Who?"

"Max. You know the guy I've been hanging out with. He dumped me for Jennifer Walsh!"

"Oh." Taylor had two questions at this point. One, who was Max? and two, since when is she going with him?

"You're the only one I can talk to and we haven't spoken in such a long time. I thought you hated me or something." She grabbed his jacket and used it to wipe her eyes. Tay obliviously let her use the new coat as a hankie.

"Sure you can talk to me."

Taylor stayed by her side as she related the whole story. He winced whenever she mentioned how much she "liked" Max. Before he knew it he had been over at her house and away from his schoolwork for almost 3 hours. "Oh my gosh!"

"Yeah, I know, isn't it sad?"

"No! I mean yes it's so sad. But I have to go. My mom is going to kill me. Don't you have work to do too?"

"Well, my dad saw that I was so upset and he let me out of my schoolwork today." One thing Rebecca and him always shared was the fact that they were both homeschooled. It made it easier for them to hang out together.

"Well, Becca, my mom didn't let me out of my work and it's been, like, 3 hours. I even missed lunch. I gotta go."

"Oh, do you have to?"

"Yeah."

Rebecca lead him to the door. "I feel much better now that I've talked to you. Do you think we could hang out tomorrow after we finish our work?"

Tay stared at her long hair and wiped a stray tear off her cheek. "I would like that."

Rebecca leaned towards him and gave him a peck on the lips. "Bye, Taylor." With that she shut the door and Taylor was left to ponder Rebecca's new-found interest in him. He strolled back to his house. He knew he was dead the moment he walked in, but he didn't care. Rebecca liked him again...and that was all that mattered.