The Second Section of Part 3
"I can't believe he said yes." Jazmine sat down on the bed and rested her crutches against the wall. "Your dad is just too nice."
Isaac sat down next to her and sighed. "He nearly didn't. I had to convince him Taylor was just being a pain. He always believes Tay. I'm surprised he did agree."
Jazmine took a deep breath and swerved, positioning herself so she was leaning against the headboard. "Well, I'm just glad he did." Isaac turned himself, and lay parallel to Jazmine. "I just can't believe Taylor said that. I knew he was mad, but I didn't think he'd say that. To think, I was defending him." She closed her eyes and sighed. "The more I get to know your brother, the more he reminds me of Jordan.
He rested his hand on the top of her thigh. "Well, his name is Jordan."
She giggled. "Yeah, that's what's so strange about it. He is Jordan. An annoying, self-righteous little twit, looking out to better himself, not caring about what he plows over to get there."
"Jazmine," he sat up. "He's not all that. The Jordan you're thinking about is long gone. Taylor isn't like that. Sometimes he's just... annoying. Wasn't your sister ever that way?"
"No." She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. "She was the one person that was always nice, always compassionate, and then my mom had to go and blow the best relationship I'd ever had." They both sat in silence for a minute. "I had what you had, before Susie left. I had a family. It might not have been as big as your's, but Susie was enough. I loved her so much, she was my best friend. Then Mom had to screw it up." She clenched her left hand into a fist. But then, as if a bad memory had never crossed her mind, she released her fist and started smiling. "But I'm going to get all that back. I'm going to have a family, and, and...." She picked up Isaac's hand and put it around her waist. His natural reaction was to get his other arm around her and pull her close. She put her arms around him, and gave him a soft kiss. Neither of them wanted to stop there, so they continued, intensely, until Jazmine pulled him down so he was laying next to her. She moved herself into him, and looked as if she was going to start kissing his neck, but she rested her head on his cheek and whispered, "And I'm going to have you."
Isaac put his hand behind her head and held it to him. He started kissing the bare section of her shoulder that was exposed by the wide-necked shirt. He moved his way up her neck and stopped before reaching her chin. Before releasing her head he whispered, "And you'll never lose me."
As Jazmine moved her head back to a pillow she smiled and closed her eyes. "I wouldn't want it any other way." She hadn't even realized she was tired, but almost as soon as she stopped talking she fell asleep, still in Isaac's arms. He moved his head close to hers, foreheads nearly touching. He took a deep breath and inhaled Jazmine's clean, sweet scent. He closed his eyes, but didn't fall asleep; he just lay there, relaxed and happy.
* * *
After Jazmine awoke, she and Isaac went downstairs and fixed some dinner. They were talking aimlessly when Dave came in, looking less than happy. From under his arm he pulled a magazine.
He turned himself to face Jazmine when Dave threw the magazine down in front of him. "Hot off the press. I think you should take a look." The main headline read "In an MMMBop, he's gone." Below it, in smaller letters, "Isaac Hanson leaves his home to live with new found lover. See article, page 3."
Jazmine had only seen the back of the magazine, but was reading the look on Isaac's face. She got up and leaned over his shoulder. "What the..." Isaac had turned to page three to see just what the scum of all press was saying. Both of them stared at the huge article, with scattered blurry and obviously ammature pictures.
Jazmine started silently reading as Isaac read aloud. "He and his brothers have been dubbed 'Pop's Clean Teens.' But has Isaac Hanson been living up to the title? Early this week it was discovered the eldest brother moved out of his Tulsa residance to live with a 'female companion.' At first, not much was known about this girl, but our sources have discovered much about this person who has crushed the hearts of thousands of young girls across the country. Jazmine Belmont, 15, had been a new resident of the Tulsa area, after moving there with her mother only a few days prior to this report. Filled with overwhelming anger, the mother of Ms. Belmont found her daughter and beat her to an extent where hospitilization was necissary. The mother is currently under prosecution, but where is Jazmine? Sources have said Isaac had frequent visits with Ms. Belmont during her hospitilization, took her back to their abode, just hours before this printing." He stopped, amazed at the quickness of the tabloid press. Tired of the article, he scanned the pictures. He was fairly shocked at them, recognizing the shots of he and Jazmine in the park, as well as leaving the hospital and getting out of the car.
Jazmine finished reading the article. "How did they get it to press so soon? And who got all these pictures?" They both scanned the two pages, looking for photo credits, for something that would tell them who was responsible. In the bottom right hand corner, in tiny, almost microscopic print, were the words "Photography By: Jennifer L. Conninwell." Isaac looked at the name, then closed the magazine and pushed it aside. Neither spoke, for they were both trying to figure out who had been spying on them.
"Well, I can answer one of your questions." Dave leaned against a counter facing Jazmine and Isaac. "I had to make a delivery to the Moonshine publishing company, and they offered me a copy of the draft of their latest edition. 'Big news,' the secretary told me. They're still working on it, apparently. It won't get into stores for a while."
Dave looked like he was going to continue when Jazmine spoke up. "Conninwell? That was the name of my nurse. This Jennifer was probably the one who..."
Isaac finished off her sentence "She was the one who made out with Tay." He turned to Dave. "How long would you say we've got until this comes to press?"
Dave shrugged. "I'm just a lowly delivery boy, and a lowly delivery boy who doesn't even work for the company. " Isaac and Jazmine sighed, both expecting a more helpful answer. "I'm sorry to say it, bud, but looks like you're in it deep this time."
Part 4