"Okay, Avie, you can be Ken, but then I get to be Birthday Barbie." Jessica and Avery sat in the middle of the living room with their Barbies scattered all over the floor.

"But she's the prettiest!"

"So. You get to be Ken." Jessica grabbed the Barbie and started to brush her long blonde hair. "Hey, I know. We can pretend that Skipper is Taylor."

"But Skipper's a girl."

"Yeah, but she's got the same hair. And we can just put Ken's clothes on her." She took out the smaller doll and dressed her in the baggy Ken clothes.

"Jessie, Tay doesn't wear that." Avery stared at the doll which was dressed in a suit and tie. Jessica ignored her sister.

"Okay. 'Hi. I'm Tay'," Jessie said in a low voice as she moved Skipper's head back and forth. "'I love Rebecca.' Here, Avie, you be Rebecca." Jessie threw a naked Barbie at Avery.

"She's naked!"

"So put some clothes on her then."

Avery dressed the Barbie in a ball gown. "'Hi Taylor! I'm Rebecca'."

"'Oh, Rebecca, I love you soooooooo much! You are sooooooo pretty.'" Jessie and Avery started to giggle at their little show. "'Come, let's kiss Rebecca. Because you are sooooooo beautiful.'" Jessica put Skipper up to Barbie and made a kissing noise.

"Ew, gross Jessie!!"

"It's not Skipper, it's Tay."

"It's still gross."

Just then, Taylor entered the room carrying his notebook and two large library books. Avery and Jessica looked up at him and started to laugh. "What?" he asked as he plopped down on the couch.

"Nothing," Jessie said as she tried to control her giggles.

"Yeah, nothing Skipper!"

"Avery!" Jessica yelled while still laughing.

"Skipper? You guys are strange, you know that." Taylor opened up his notebook and tried to drown out the giggling girls who were still staring at him. He had to spend the entire night working on his essay as punishment for skipping out of his work that afternoon. "NATO, what is NATO? Who cares, I say." he mumbled to himself.

"Avery, he's talking to himself again," Jessica whispered.

"Yeah, talking to himself."

"I can hear you guys," Taylor interjected without looking up from his book.

"So, we don't care," Jessica said in a proud, sarcastic tone.

"Could you just play somewhere else, please?"

"We were here first."

"Yeah, we were here first!" Avery repeated.

"Uugh!" Taylor slammed his book shut and stomped out of the room. "I can't get any quiet around here!"

"Somebody's in a bad mood." Jessica and Avery looked at eachother and started to giggle again.

Taylor went back into his bedroom only to find Isaac chatting up a storm on the phone. Tay sat on his bottom bunk and stared at his older brother. "Who are you talking to?"

Isaac gave Tay a wave to indicate that he was not answering questions at that time. "Gee, you think you would be a little nicer to me after you've been so obviously rude lately."

Isaac looked up. "Just a sec, Tay, okay. This is important." Ike returned to his conversation and Tay rolled his eyes. He opened up his books again and tried to find NATO in the index.

"NATO, NATO, NATO, ah ha! Page 345." He turned to 345 and started flipping through the section. He glared at the pages of miniscule type. He counted 30 pages of nothing but text and no pictures. "Fabulous."

"Okay, Rick, I'll talk to you later." Isaac hung up the phone and turned to his brother. "I didn't mean to be rude. Rick was just telling me about his new guitar."

"Oh, you're right. That is sooo important."

"It is to me. Look, sorry, 'kay. And I'm sorry about butting in and all."

Taylor finally looked up from the monsterous book. "Yeah, fine, I accept."

"But I still think that Rebecca is no good."

"Isaac! You just had to put that in didn't you. Couldn't resist it." Tay pushed his books off his lap and turned away from Isaac. "It just so happens that I think Rebecca likes me again."

"Tay, you're dreaming. Besides, who cares if she likes you again. She's boring and annoying and she's always whining about one thing or another."

"She is not!"

"Oh, come on Tay. You said yourself that she always has to get her way. She uses you."

"Isaac, do me a favor and get a life, please. You are a little pathetic. All you do is sit around the house all day long and complain about everybody else. Get yourself a girlfriend or something. Geez, the biggest part of your day is when Rick, a guy that you even said you didn't like a lot, calls you and tells you he's got a new guitar. Do you know how pathetic that is?"

Isaac thought about that for a moment. "You know, you're actually right."

"What?" Tay looked up, surprised. Nobody he insulted had ever agreed with him before.

"I do need to get a life." With that Ike got up off the floor and headed out of the room.

"Where are you going?"

"To get a life." Isaac gave his brother a sly smile.

"Oh, yes, done!" Taylor looked proudly at the 3 page, typed essay. "Mom! I'm done!"

Mrs. Hanson poked her head into the room. "Taylor, it's 9 o'clock. Your sisters are sleeping."

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I'm done, though." He smiled and handed the papers to his mother. "It's pretty good, too."

"Oh, is it. Well, I think I have to be the judge of that. I'll read it tomorrow."

"No, read it now," he whined. "You made me work all night on it. I want you to read it now."

"Taylor, I'll read it tomorrow. Now, why don't you be smart for a change and get a good night's sleep. You boys stay up way too late."

"Actually, I have a phone call to make."

"Alright, but if your brothers come up and want some sleep, you get off the phone."

"'Kay. Think you can close the door when you leave."

Mrs. Hanson sighed. She could guess who he was calling. "Fine."

The moment the door shut, Taylor grabbed the phone and sat on his bed. He stared at it for awhile. He had waited all night to call Rebecca. He knew he had just seen her today, but he couldn't resist. He smiled and put his hand on the reciever.

Rrrrrrring!

The ringing startled him. It took him a few seconds to pick it up. "Hello?"

"Hi, Tay!"

"Oh, hi Leigh-Ann." He loved talking to Leigh-Ann, but he was anxious to talk to Rebecca. "What's up."

"Oh, I don't know. I just wanted to talk. I knew your parents had a rule about calling after 9:30, so I thought I would call now."

"Um, well, I have..."

"Taylor, do you know what I heard? You're gonna love this."

"Uh, what?"

"They are showing the Star Wars trilogy at the Cineplex, one after another. It's the old ones, not the redone ones. Isn't that cool. That place has got the biggest screen and the best sound. So, you wanna go?"

Tay was interested in this and for a moment forgot about his urgent phone call. "When?"

"Tomorrow. It starts at 3:30. I'm gonna have to rush to get there after school, but I think I can do it."

"Yeah, sure!"

"Rob and Ashley are coming too. And maybe my sister, Cheryl, but I don't know."

"That sounds cool. I..." Taylor paused. He remembered what he had promised Rebecca this afternoon. "Wait. Actually, I forgot. I have plans tomorrow."

"What? What are you doing?"

"I'm..." He couldn't tell her what he was actually doing. Rebecca was the whole reason their friendship went bad in the first place. "I'm gonna...could you hold on a moment. I think I hear my mom calling me."

Taylor held his hand over the phone. He had to think. He really wanted to go with Leigh-Ann to the movies. But Rebecca was just so pretty. "Okay, who am I gonna have more fun with." He took a deep breath and put the reciever back up to his ear.

"Leigh-Ann?"

"Yeah."

"You know...I can get out of it."

"Really? Cool! Okay, so how about I meet you at the theater at 3:15."

"Yeah, okay." Taylor's voice trailed off.

"Tay? Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah."

"No you're not. I can tell. What were you going to do tomorrow?"

"You want the truth, or do you want a lie that won't make you mad at me."

"Rebecca, huh."

"Am I that transparent? Geez, why does everybody always assume it's Rebecca."

"Because it always is, Tay. Look, I'm not going to pretend that I like her, or that I think she's good for you. But if you really want to go with her tomorrow, then that's okay."

Taylor thought about this for a moment. It was really nice of Leigh-Ann to even say that, much less mean it. At that moment, he realized how much he truly missed her when they weren't speaking. "No, Leigh-Ann. I want to go to the movie. Rebecca and I didn't have definate plans."

"Okay, if you're sure."

"I'm positive."

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Tay."

He hung up the phone. Suddenly he felt tired. He layed back on his bed and closed his eyes. In a few moments he was asleep, his hand still grasping the reciever on the phone. For the second time that day, his phone call to Rebecca had failed.

"I am Zac-Man! Da da da DA!" Zac threw the blanket around his shoulders as a cape and started to jump around the room. Mackie sat on the ground laughing. "See me fly through the air with the greatest of ease! Weeeeeee!"

"Zac! Make me fly!"

Zac grabbed his little brother under his arms and spinned him around and around. "More! More!"

"You are Mack-Man! Da da da DA! You are my trusty side-kick." He set Mackie down.

"What's a side-tick?"

"No, SIDE-KICK. It means that you will follow me everywhere and rescue me when I get into trouble. And I'll rescue you when you get into trouble."

Zac picked up Mackie again and started the spinning. Just then, the doorbell rang. "Zac-Man will get it! Da da da DA!" He ran to the door, still holding Mackie with one arm. When he opened it he started into his mantra: "Da da da..."

Standing with her arms folded was Manda. He looked at her for a moment, and then realized that he still had his cape on and had a four-year old under his arm.

"He's Zac-Man!" Mackie yelled.

Zac put Mackenzie down and scrambled to get the blanket off his shoulders. "Don't tell me we were too loud again."

"Well, no. My mom sent me over."

"Why?"

"She wants me to apologize."

"Really?" Zac smiled.

"I told her what happened, stupidly thinking that because she was my mom that she would see it my way, but apparently she likes to torture her children because here I am."

"So?"

"So, she said that I have to say 'sorry' for going into your garage without asking and 'sorry' for being rude, or whatever." She turned to walk away.

"Wait!"

"What?" She turned back with a defeated look on her face.

"I was really mad at you."

"Who are you?" Both had forgotten the little person standing next to Zac. He tugged on Zac's shirt. "Zackie, she's pretty," he whispered loudly. Mackie turned to the girl. "You're pretty."

She didn't know exactly what to do. "Uh, thanks."

"Well, anyway, back to what I was saying." Zac gently pushed his brother behind him. "I was really mad at you. But you know, I thought, I should be a bigger person."

"You're right. You could stand to grow a few inches."

Zac didn't know if that was an insult or a joke, but shrugged it off and continued. "I should be better than that. You know, holding a grudge and all."

"You have looooong hair," Mackie said, poking his head from behind Zac.

Zac turned around and bent down. "Look, Mack-Man. I have to talk for a little while. I bet Mommy wants your help in the kitchen. Go ask."

"Oooooooo. Is she making cookies?"

"I bet so. Go ask." Zac gently shoved Mackie in the direction of the kitchen. Mackenzie ran off yelling 'Mack-Man' and waving his arms in the air.

Zac turned back, almost hoping that Manda had left during his short chat with Mackie. She was still standing there, though, her arms still folded in front of her. "'Kay, like I said..."

"Do you accept my apology or not?"

"Fine, but..."

"Okay, see you later."

"Why are you like that?"

"Like what?"

"Rude."

She looked down. "I'm not rude."

"What do you call that, then?"

"Look, I don't meen to be, okay." For the first time she seemed sincere.

"Well, you sure act rude, whether you meen to or not."

"Sorry, okay. It's just...nevermind."

"No, what?"

"Nevermind. I have to go. My homework is waiting." She turned around and raced off, not wanting to be stopped again.

Zac shut the door. "That girl is wierd." He headed towards the kitchen. "Mom! Are you making cookies?"

"Why does everyone keep asking that? No, I'm making bread."

"Oh." He looked down in dissapointment. Suddenly, Taylor burst into the kitchen.

"Mom, I'm late and I need candy."

"What? Why?"

"For the movie. The stuff they sell is gross and expensive."

"Look in the cabinet. Who are you going with?" She turned her head to look at her son sifting through the shelf.

"Leigh-Ann, Ashley, Rob, and maybe Cheryl."

Mrs. Hanson breathed a sigh of relief.

Taylor didn't notice as he stuffed his back-pack full of food. "Okay, bye mom." He kissed her on the cheek and ran out of the kitchen.

"Well, Zac. At least he didn't say 'Rebecca'"

"Yeah, she's a dork."

"I don't like you calling people names." She tried to give him a stern look, but her smile ruined it.

Taylor arrived at the theater 5 minutes before the movie was about to start. His friends were all standing out front. "Sorry, I had to get candy." He held up his bag.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway. They canceled the movies," Ashley said, grabbing Tay's back-pack.

"What? Why?"

"They found rats in the theater and they're exterminating them." Rob grabbed at the bag too, trying to pick out the good candy.

Leigh-Ann put her arm around Tay's shoulder. "Sorry, bud. But you probably still have time to hang with, uh, what's her name again?"

"Oh, gosh! I forgot to tell her that I wasn't coming over."

Ashley broke his concentration from the food. "That wouldn't be Rebecca would it?"

"Oh, shut up, Ash."

"Look, she probably forgot all about it. I heard that her and, um, what was his name, Matt?" Ashley stuffed a Tootsie Roll in his mouth.

"Max?"

"Yeah, that was it," he mumbled. "She got back together with him last night."

"What? But I talked to her yesterday afternoon."

"What can I say?" Ashley turned his attention back to the candy. "Oh, good! Snickers!"

Leigh-Ann stared at Tay's sullen face. "You're better off."

"Yeah, whatever. You wanna get something to eat?" He needed to do something to get his mind off Rebecca.

Rob grabbed a bunch of Sweet Tarts and stuffed them in his pocket. "I know I'm hungry."

They headed across the street to McDonald's. "Hey, Tay. Isn't that Isaac?"

He looked down the sidewalk. Sure enough, Isaac was standing there, his arm around a dark-haired girl. "Who is he with?" He ran down the sidewalk. "Hey, Ike!"

Isaac turned around. Tay got a good look at his female companion. "Hey, Tay."

"Oh, my gaaaaaaawd! You're Taylor!"

"Uh, yeah, and you are?"

"Amy."

"Amy is my date. We're going to the arcade." Isaac had a huge grin on his face. Amy couldn't stop giggling.

"Isaac, could I speak to you for a moment?" He gave a slight smile to Amy and pulled his brother away. She giggled and waved obliviously. "Ike, what in the world are you doing?"

"You told me to get a life."

"But where in the world did you find her?"

"I met her just now."

"What?"

"Don't be cruel, Tay. Actually, I've spoken to her before. When you told me to get a life, I went to check on some of the email we got. She wrote. She's from around here and she sent her phone number so I called." Isaac looked back at Amy. She giggled and waved and Isaac gave her a huge wave back.

"But she's, um, she's giggling way too much. I don't trust anyone who giggles that much. Ike, she could've been a psycho. Actually, I'm still not sure about that one."

"Rebecca always giggles, except when she's crying."

"Ha ha ha." Taylor gave him a sarcastic look. "Ike, that's not what I meant by 'get a life'. I just wanted you to not always butt into mine all the time."

"I'm not gonna date her or anything. I'm just going to the arcade with her. She said she was really good, so I challenged her."

"If you're sure."

"Yeah, who knows. She may be nice once she stops giggling and screaming and everything." They both looked at her and then at each other and laughed. "You're friends are waiting."

"Okay, tell me how it goes."

Isaac turned and headed back towards Amy, who was still grinning. "Bye, Taylor!" she yelled.

"Uh, bye." Taylor jogged back to his friends.

"Who was that?" Leigh-Ann questioned.

"Amy."

"Oh."

They piled into McDonald's, ordered their food and sat down at a booth. Taylor grabbed the spot across from Leigh-Ann. "So, where's Cheryl?"

"She didn't feel comfortable coming."

"Why not?"

"Well, unlike your family, where you all hang out with each other, Cheryl believes it's beneath her to hang out with her baby sister and her friends."

"Man, that sucks. Isaac's never treated me like a little brother. Well, not most of the time. He can get over-protective."

"Yeah, but that's cool. Cheryl could care less whether I was screwing my life up."

"That's not true."

Ashley rolled his eyes. "As stimulating as this conversation is, do you think we can talk about our beautiful siblings later on. And after that we can all discuss our feelings." He stuffed a fry in his mouth.

"So, what do you want to talk about, Ash?"

"Um, have you seen Lacey Calbert's" He made a gesture at his chest region. "Man, she grew up overnight!" All of the guys started to laugh.

"You guys are gross. That is not the part of a female that you should pay attention to." She continued to pick the onions off her cheeseburger, not noticing when all three boys turned their gaze at her. She looked up and saw where their eyes were, and they weren't on her face. "Oh, god! Stop it. You guys are perverts. Taylor!" Taylor blushed and looked away.

Ashley moved his eyes up. "Sorry, Leigh-Ann. But you knew that we had to look. That's the way guys are. We look. We can't help it. Not like we had anything to look at." Leigh-Ann flung a pickle from across the table.

"Okay, Ash, that's enough," Taylor said as he picked the pickle from Ashley's hair.

"It's a really good thing that I'm a good sport." She started to munch on her burger. Taylor looked back at her, but this time at her eyes. He had never really thought about the way she looked. She wasn't gorgeous, like the models you see in magazines. But she had a pretty face and sweet eyes. She looked up at him and saw him staring.

"I guess I should be glad that your eyes have moved north."

"Oh, sorry."

"No, that's okay." She gave him a big smile.

After eating they headed towards home. Ashley and Rob lived a block down and so they left Leigh-Ann and Taylor to walk alone. "My dad's gonna be happy that I'm getting home so early. He was kind of upset when I said I was gonna miss practice today."

"Yeah, my mom yelled at me before I left for school this morning about how I was conveniently skipping my chores today. She'll be thrilled."

They walked slowly for awhile saying nothing. Taylor stuffed his hands in his pockets. For some reason he felt anxious.

"So, when do you leave again?"

"Not for another week and a half. Then we'll be doing a bunch of stuff to promote the Christmas album. That's coming out really soon."

"Can't wait."

"Yeah, it's really sweet. I can play some of it for you if you want. I mean, I do have more than one copy."

"Sure, it'll get me in the Christmas mood, and then I'll get all depressed because the break isn't for a long time." She laughed.

They reached her house and walked up her drive. "You wanna come inside? We can play on my PlayStation."

"Nah, I better go practice."

"You are way too dedicated, Taylor Hanson." She turned and started to walk into the house when Taylor grabbed her hand. He pulled her towards him and without thinking he leaned in and kissed her. Shocked, she pulled away and stared at him with a glazed look on her face.

"What was that?"

"Oh, gosh. I'm so sorry. It was..." But he didn't know what it was, or why he did it. It just felt right. He took a step towards her. She didn't back away.

"Taylor, you're starting to freak me out a bit."

Taylor tried to shuffle through all of his mother's cheesy romantic movies to come up with something to say. "You...you...have ketchup on your shirt."

"Oh, gosh! And this is my favorite shirt." She unsuccessfully tried to rub the stain off. Taylor watched her. "I gotta go and put this in the wash. I'll talk to you later Tay." She disappeared inside the house and the door shut. Taylor stood out on the lawn for a moment. Then he slowly turned and headed back home. He'll have to figure this one out later.