+chapter.three+

Not too long after Noelle arrived home, Felicity and Col were there. Noelle’s mom, Carol, let the two girls go up to Noelle’s room as she usually did when they came over. Felicity and Col went up to Noelle’s room, dropped their things in the corner, and began to warm up their voices. After warm-ups, they sang some of their songs a capella. After a half an hour of voice lessons, Noelle, Col, and Felicity headed downstairs to watch some movies. They put in “Scream” to mock. They did this just for a few laughs. They really loved the movie. As Felicity and Col had Noelle laughing hysterically at one of the parts, the doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” Noelle said between gasps. She was doing her psychedelic hyperventilation laugh as she opened the door to three blond guys. Noelle’s eyes were tear filled which made her vision blurry. “H-Hello, c-can I help you?” Noelle asked, trying to calm down.

“Yeah, I’m the guy that ran into you earlier,” Zac replied.

“Oh, hi. Come in,” Noelle said, allowing the three to enter.

“Thanks,” Isaac said.

“Um, you aren’t here to like, tell me you’re suing for damages, are you?” Noelle asked, looking into the living room where her friends were still giggling away.

Isaac, Taylor, and Zac laughed. “No. More to apologize really,” Taylor said. Noelle looked at them. It was the first time she had seen them really well. “Why do you guys look so familiar?” she asked.

“You do know us!” Zac exclaimed.

“We’re from that band, you know, Hanson,” Isaac said.

“Dude,” Noelle said.

“Now that we’ve jogged her memory,” Zac laughed. “Are you gonna scream?”

“Do you want me to?” Noelle asked.

“Eh, why not. Carry on the tradition for me,” Zac replied.

So, Noelle screamed. Pretty loudly, too. “Good enough?” she asked.

“Hehehe, yeah,” Zac replied. By now, Col and Felicity were standing in the front hall, too.

“Noe, you okay?” Felicity screamed as she ran to her friend.

“Yeah,” Noelle replied. “Col, Lic, this is Isaac, Taylor, and Zac. These are the dudes I ran into up the street.”

“Ummm...hi?” Col said.

“Yeah, what she said,” Felicity replied.

The three boys laughed. “Guys, these are my friends Felicity and Collette,” Noelle introduced them.

“You can call me Lic for short,” Felicity said.

The room suddenly became very quiet. For a short moment, Isaac’s and Noelle’s, Taylor’s and Col’s, and Zac’s and Felicity’s eyes met. At that very moment, they all knew they would be great friends. “Do you guys wanna watch the end of ‘Scream’? We’ve been sort of mocking it and actually it’s pretty fun,” Noelle broke the silence first.

“Yeah, sure,” Isaac answered immediately. So, they went into the living room and sat down. Felicity and Zac sat on the couch, Taylor and Col in the two recliners, and Ike and Noelle on the floor. After about twenty minutes, the movie was over.

“Are you three the band Noelle was late to practice with earlier?” Zac asked.

“Yup,” Felicity replied proudly.

“Can you sing for us?” Isaac asked.

“What?” Col asked.

“Can... you...si—“ Isaac was cut off by Noelle.

“Sure, I guess. Um, how about ‘Out of the Darkness’?” Noelle asked her band mates.

“Yeah, sure,” Felicity and Col agreed. They began to sing the first few bars of the song. This time, Noelle didn’t screw up. They sounded perfect. After a few verses they stopped. The boys looked astonished.

“Well, were we that bad?” Noelle asked expectantly.

“No, no. You were, well, sensational,” Taylor said.

“Thanks,” Noelle said, blushing a bit.

Isaac glanced at his watch. “Guys, we better get going. Mom wanted us home before seven.”

“Okay,” Taylor and Zac replied.

Noelle grabbed a sheet of paper and began scribbling furiously. “Here. This is my room phone number, Lic’s address and number, and Col’s address and number,” Noelle said and handed it to them.

“Thanks,” Isaac said and took the pen from Noelle. “This is our address and phone number.” He handed the paper and pen to Noelle, and then left along with his brothers.