The drama continues!
"Why thank you for clearing that up for me, Mr. Roberts." Isaac rested his forehead in his hand for a few seconds, then jerked up to a standing position, nearly knocking over the chair he had been sitting in. He stuttered a while, then leaned against the counter where Dave was. "If, if this gets out, everything, all our hard work, it'll all be a waste. We'll be wiped off the face of the earth. No one will respect us, all because of me."
Jazmine got up and put her hand on his shoulder, but he shook it off. She looked down at the floor, feeling all too responsible for this. "Well, there's got to be something we can do." She sat back down and put her chin in her hand. For a while, no one said anything. Jazmine's eyes grew wide and she got up, slowly pacing as she told her idea. "Ok, you could call your dad and get him to call your manager, or call your manager yourself. Get him to bring up a suit against the magazine publishing company for publishing the names of minors. Isn't there some law against that? You can't publish the names of minors without the consent of the proper authorities?" Jazmine stopped and looked at Isaac, who looked at Dave.
"Dave, could it work?"
"It sounds kind of vague, Ike. But it'd probably work. Jazmine's name shouldn't be in there." Without hesitation, Isaac went to the phone and called his father.
The phone rang for quite some time, but eventually Zac picked up. "Yo, Zac, is Dad there?"
"Yeah, I'm sure he's somewhere in the house. What's up?"
"I'll explain later, could you just get him?"
Zac agreed and set down the phone. While he was chasing down his father Taylor picked up the phone. "Hello?"
Isaac really didn't want to talk to Taylor, for he still held against him what happened at the house. "Tay?"
"Ike?" He sighed. "What's up?"
"Nothing yet. I'm just waiting for Zac to get Dad."
"Oh." He was about to put the phone back where he had found it when curiosity overtook him. "What do you mean, nothing yet? What's going on?"
"Tay, it's nothing. Just get Dad on the phone." He rolled his eyes and tried to make his annoyance obvious to his brother on the other end.
"Ike, what is it?" His father finally picked up, but on another line. "Taylor, you can hang up now." Taylor had the phone almost on the stand, when he became even more curious. He pressed the mute button and listened in.
"Dave was on a delivery to Moonshine publishing and they gave him what they called a big story, which just happened to be a huge page long article about how I moved out of the house to live with my, and I quote, 'new found lover.'"
"You're serious? Moonshine stooped that low?"
"Yeah. But look, I was wondering if you could call up Steve and get him to put up a suit against them."
"Isaac, it's a lot harder then just that. If there's only an article and it doesn't mention the name of the supposed lover,"
"It has Jazmine's name clearly printed, along with some bad, blurry, pictures taken by the daughter of Jazmine's nurse at the hospital who had a grudge against her, yet found it easy to make out with Tay."
He sat quietly and thought for a while. "Well, that's a different story. I'll get him on it." Neither of them said anything for a while, while his dad jotted down some information in shorthand to tell his son's manager. "So, does Dave know when the story should go to press?"
"No, but knowing them, it'll probably be about a week. I mean, if they could get this detailed an article out in hours, they'll have a whopper of a story done in a week. And you know them, they'll stop at nothing less than the biggest and juiciest story." Neither of them said anything for a while. "Dad?"
"Yeah, Ike?"
"If this does get out, could the band be over?"
"Oh, it would put some pressure on you, but if things work out, nothing should happen."
"But what if things don't work out?"
His father sighed. "If things don't work out, well, to be quite honest, I don't know. It would be pretty bad."
Taylor looked horrified. He couldn't bare to listen to any more, and hung up. He flung himself on the sofa and sighed. "I can't believe this."
"Can't believe what?" Zac came strolling in from the kitchen.
"Nothing, Zac. Nothing."
"Why is everyone always telling me that? I have a right to know! What's going on?"
Just as Taylor was about to tell Zac precisely why people wanted him out of their business, their father interrupted from the stairs. "You do have a right to know, Zac. It concerns you too."
* * *
"But why? Why did they do it? Do they hate us that much?"
"Zac, it's not because they hate you, it's the business they're in, it's not pleasant. They've got to dig up the stories that will make people interested, and this, they think, will get people interested."
"Of course people will be interested," Taylor interjected. "Why wouldn't they be? We're supposed to be 'The Golden Boys of Pop', not sleeping around with people we barely know."
"Taylor, you can't blame this on your brother."
He rolled his eyes. "Why shouldn't I? If he hadn't gotten involved with her, none of this would have happened, and we wouldn't have to worry whether or not come tour time people will be interested."
"Taylor, you're no puritan either. So you shouldn't be talking."
"Oh, what? Now you believe that lie he told you? I didn't do anything with her, he's the one that's causing all the trouble."
His father stood up. "Taylor, you go to your room right now."
Taylor gasped and stood up. "What? Why?"
"Not only did you just admit to listening in on your brother and my conversation, but you're blaming your brother for something he couldn't control, in a time where you should be supporting each other."
Taylor realized he had convicted himself, which caused a surge of anger to run through him. "I'm sure Jazmine's giving him all the support he wants right now, Dad."
"Jordan Taylor Hanson, you go to your room this instant." Taylor stormed up the stairs to his room and flung himself on his bed. When his father came in he turned away from him, determined to give his father the silent treatment. "Taylor, I can't believe you. You seem to care so much about the band, however you show so little compassion for your brother. It's hard on him too, you know."
Taylor sat and thought for a while. He wished his father hadn't made any sense, but unfortunately, he agreed with every word. He hung his head down, then lay back and closed his eyes, not willing to face his father.
* * *
Jazmine emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in the thick red robe she had worn before. She sat down in front of the unlit fire and closed her eyes. Isaac had gone somewhere; he said he needed time to think about things. Jazmine couldn't argue with him. She felt she was responsible for everything, and wished she was back in her real home, with her sister, and that none of this had ever happened. "Why is it that bad luck seems to follow me everywhere?" She said aloud to herself. Silently, she listened for a response, assured that someone would have overheard her. Nothing.
After laughing to herself for being so paranoid she got up and looked through the night-stands, hoping to find something to keep her mind occupied. The only thing in the first one was an old telephone book. She made her way over to the other one and looked in. When she did, she pulled out a small hard-bound book. The title on the front and side had faded away, leaving only faint indentations where the letters had been pressed into the cover so long ago. She sat down on the bed and opened to where a thin paper bookmark had been placed. As she looked at the top of the page she saw the book title, Jane Eyre.
She skimmed the page until a certain line caught her eye, which she read a few times over. "I wish the present hour would never end: who knows with what fate the next may come charged?" Absently, she picked up the bookmark and noticed something scrawled on it. "This experience, I don't want it to end. If I thought of it to extent, the harsh realities of my world would come crashing into the reality of her world, and all this would be over. For now, I'll just absorb all I have with me, and pray that fate will be kind as the new year comes."
* * *
Isaac came in the house at around 8, shivering and rubbing his hands together. Mike met him in the kitchen. "Man, it's harsh out there."
"Yeah, but what would you expect at the end of December?" Isaac didn't respond, taking the question as a rhetorical one. He went upstairs, prepared to curl up in front of the fireplace in his room. However, he found the fireplace in the main room was lit, and Jazmine, Michelle, Dave, and the other housemates were sitting around it. He shed his jacket and playfully tossed it into Jazmine's unsuspecting lap.
"Well, Ike, nice to see you've come home in one piece. Care to join us?" Dave caught Isaac's jacket, which Jazmine threw at him, and replaced it onto Isaac's head.
"Sure, but hold on a sec." After tossing the jacket in his room, he came back and sat down next to Jazmine. "So, what've you been up to?" He asked everyone.
Michelle responded, "We're in the preliminary portion of our New Years Eve celebration. We figured we couldn't start anything without everyone here, so I guess we can begin now?" She looked at Mike, who looked at Dave, who looked at everyone else; they nodded.
"Well, I guess we should first select the music to be played. Contribute what you wish."
Jazmine picked up a pillow and readied herself to throw as she commented, "Anything except him." She said, finally throwing the pillow at Isaac.
The pillow hit Isaac's face, which caused everyone to laugh. "I hear no objections to that! We hear enough of him already!" Mike piped in between chuckles.
"Hey, don't expect me to be offended! One thing I don't want to hear starting off the new year is my bratty little brothers, or me for that matter. I know this may come as a shock, but I'm getting sick of hearing about me. "A solemn look came onto Jazmine's face, but everyone else continued laughing, not understanding the significance of what had been said.
Dave made the first effort to start something and went to his room to get some CDs. When he came back he tossed them on the floor in front of the coffee table. The others did the same, and by the time all had thrown in their options, the pile consisted of about 35 CDs. Michelle sat down in front of the pile and sorted through them. "Ok, we have 10 dance mixes, 15 standard rock, 5 ska, 3 way alternative, and 1 unrecognizable cheesy looking thing." She turned to Dave. "How many do you have room for in your system?"
Dave smirked. "My wonderfully large system has room for 50. So hand 'em over." Michelle
proceeded to give Dave the cases. "Well, while I'm getting this arranged, I'd suggest changing," he turned to Isaac. "Especially you, man. You reak of exhaust fumes and gasoline." Isaac chuckled at Dave and went into his room with Jazmine, as the others did with their respective rooms.
After a few minutes everyone emerged from their rooms, dressed a little more formally than before. Dave was sitting on the sofa with a remote. "Ok, someone, pick a number, any number. Let's get this thing started." Someone called out 8 and Dave started it up. A loud, booming base started up, followed by some serious drums.
"Metallica?" Mike said. "Come on, people. How can you listen to this and not want to dance!" He started moving around in joking dance movements. Everyone laughed, and all the guys joined him. Their female counterparts stood there, shocked, but still laughing. Michelle whispered something to Jazmine, who nodded and went into Michelle's room. She searched for a while, found the camera Michelle had asked for, and came out, finding the guys still dancing as they had before. Jazmine discreetly gave the camera to Michelle who snapped about five pic's before they noticed and Mike came at her, reaching for the camera.
She tossed it back to Jazmine, who grinned. "Now, now. Come on, boys. All in good fun." Mike, along with the other guys, glared at Jazmine, but laughed and pulled each of the girls to them and started back to their dancing, urging them to join. Michelle was the first to start, less wild than the guys. Everyone else followed her lead. After two songs Dave switched the system to random play. The song that started up was slow, with heavy bass and drums, and had an overall dim tone to it.
They all stopped, a little disappointed in the choice of songs, and sat down. "Whose idea was it to put in Nine Inch Nails?" Someone asked. Isaac looked at Jazmine, who was leaning her head back on the sofa and had her eyes closed, oblivious to everything. "I'm going to change it," they said, and grabbed the remote from Dave.
Before he could do anything, Isaac took the remote from him. "Kyle, let it be." He looked back at Jazmine, who was still in the same position. "It'll be over soon enough."
"Ike," Kyle whispered. "Why are you of all people defending Nine Inch Nails. I thought you hated them."
"Because," Isaac whispered back and nodded to Jazmine. "It helps her, and she needs all the help she can get right now." Kyle shrugged, said something about taking the spare time to get some food, and went downstairs. Isaac sat down next to Jazmine and put his arm around her; she didn't notice. After the song was over, the CD switched to a ska song and everyone got up to dance, except Jazmine and Isaac. He stroked her hair. "You ok?"
Jazmine opened her eyes and sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just kind of forgot what effect that had on me." As Isaac was about to say something Kyle came up the stairs, in one hand a 3 liter container of Coke, with cups upside-down on the top of it, and in the other hand a huge bowl of chips.
"Now come on, people. Let's party!" He put the food on the table and started dancing along with everyone else. Isaac stood and helped Jazmine up. They didn't dance as carefree they had before, the mood being slightly dulled. That was, until the song switched to a cheesy 80's song. Everyone was startled and looked around. Kyle chirped up, "Hey. Couldn't help it, '88 was the day, man!" Everyone laughed and resumed dancing as they had at first.
* * *
It was 11:45. Kyle, mid way through the dance selections, had made his mission statement of dancing into the new year, and he, along with Mike, Michele, and Jane, Kyle's girlfriend, were the only ones who were still up dancing, at least, dancing with noticeable movement. Dave and his girlfriend Cindy were standing, kind of swaying, which looked awkward with the ska beat. Jazmine and Isaac were leaning against the wall near the fireplace, sipping their Coke and talking about nothing in particular. The song ended and Dave looked at his watch. "I'm gonna get the TV Gotta watch Dick Clark, tradition man." He turned down the system, almost muted.
Everyone sat down except for Kyle and Jane. "Aw, come on people! Dance!"
"Man, Kyle, why are you so hyper tonight?" Isaac questioned.
"Why not? In a month and a half I'm turning 18, can legally be on my own, and become Jane's 'legal guardian.'" He put his arm around Jane's waist.
"Oh, I see. But what about school?"
"Ike, Ike, Ike, I graduated early, special circumstances. Didn't you know that?"
"Sorry, I don't keep up with school functions."
"Oh yeah, you're the lucky homeschooler. But I guess you're going to have to get used to 'regular school', for at least a year and a half."
"Why should I?"
"You mean, you're still going to keep at the homeschool thing? I thought you wanted to get away from your bratty little brother."
"I'm not going to get away from him, that would be kind of impossible if I wanted the band to stay together."
"Yeah, I guess. But what about Jazmine? She's not going to join your exclusive little study group, is she?"
"I'm going to a regular school, like I planned to when I came here. I wouldn't want to be a burden on his mother." Jazmine explained.
"Doesn't that make things a bit difficult? I mean, come tour time, is Jazmine just going to sit around here?"
"She's going to come with us. The schoolwork shouldn't be a problem, she'll get the assignments in advance."
"Ike, isn't that starting up the very problem you're trying to get away from? People are going to notice when she's away for three months."
Dave emerged from his room, lugging the TV "It's nowhere near the same problem, Kyle." He put down the TV and plugged it in. "His problem was the public announcement that he moved out of his house to live with his girlfriend. Jazmine going along with them isn't going to prove anything. The teachers are going to know that his parents are her legal guardians, and her going with them would be natural."
"Dave, how long has it been since you were in school? 'Cause you're sure acting like you don't know what would happen. Kids are going to notice how Jazmine's absences strangely coincide with the long awaited Hanson tour."
Dave, while still kneeling down, turned on the TV, muted it, and turned off the stereo system. A small clock was seen at the bottom right hand corner of the screen, and Dick Clark was yapping about some band. "Look, Kyle, let's just drop it for now, ok? Not exactly the thing to be talking about to start off the year."
"Oh, god, look who's on!" Jazmine pointed at the screen, where the Spice Girls were starting to sing.
"Aw, come on, Dick. Couldn't you have done better than that?" Mike shouted at the screen.
Isaac started laughing. "Ya know, we were supposed to be doing the New Years Eve thing, but we had to decline 'cause mom was too close to her due date. That's who he got to replace us."
"I bet your brother's glad, too. Didn't he admit to liking one of them?" Jane questioned, half laughing.
"Yeah, he likes the blonde, Emma, isn't that it? Oh, he's probably loving this." Kyle joked. "Dave, turn it up! Need the cheesy dance music!" Everyone laughed and started dancing as Dave turned it up. After the song was over, Kyle was still anxious to keep his promise of dancing all night. "Come on, man, need some music!" Dave muted the T.V, grabbed the stereo remote, and pressed random play.
Kyle wasn't pleased when the song came on. "Ok, who was the wise guy who put in Savage Garden? You can't dance to 'Truly, Madly, Deeply'! Come on! Dave, switch the..." he was cut short by Jane, who had elbowed him in the side. "Ow, Jane, what was that for?" She glared at him, then nodded in the direction of Isaac and Jazmine. They stood, wrapped up in each other's arms. Jazmine's head resting on Isaac's shoulder, his head was bent down, and both had their eyes closed as they swayed to the music.
"You ruin that, Kyle, and you're sleeping in here tonight" Jane whispered to him. Everyone watched Isaac and Jazmine, though they didn't notice anyone. Michelle took the opportunity, as everyone else started dancing, to pull out her camera that had been forgotten since the first dance. Mike pulled her arm, wanting her to dance, but before she did, she snapped a shot of Isaac and Jazmine.
Everyone was so interested in who they were dancing with, they didn't notice the time until the song was over. Kyle looked up at the TV screen and saw the ball drop and the clock hit midnight. "Yo, people, happy new year." They all looked up, shocked that time had gone by so quickly. They wished each other "Happy New Year," all, that is, except for Jazmine and Isaac. They were resting their heads on each other's forehead, eyes still closed. "Yo, earth to Hanson boy, you there?" Kyle said, rather loud.
Both Isaac and Jazmine looked up, a bit embarrassed. "Sorry," they both mumbled. "What time is it?"
"12:01. Happy New Year, guys." Cindy smiled as she told them. They said the same, and sat down.
"Ok, who's up for some New Year's partying?" Kyle said, excitedly.
"Oh, come on, Kyle," Mike said, collapsed on the love seat next to Michelle. "Who are you kidding? You dance as much as you want, but as for me, I'm going to bed." He stood up, said goodnight to everyone, and went to his room.
Michelle got up after him, but before she left she gave the camera to Jazmine. "When you can, could you get this developed for me?" She nodded and Michelle smiled and left.
Dave bent down next to the T.V, turned it off, and unplugged it. "Gotta say the same for me, Kyle. I'm beat, and I gotta work in the morning." He picked up the TV. and went into his room.
Cindy stayed for a while, talking to her friend Liz, who hadn't said much all night. "You ok? Usually you're the loudest mouth here."
"Oh, I'm fine. James left a while ago, though. Said he had to lie down. I've been kind of worried. So, if you don't mind, I'm gonna go see if he's ok." She said her goodnights and left. Almost as soon as she did, Cindy did the same.
Kyle and Jane were still standing, dancing to the music they had started up again, at a lower volume. "Come on, Ike, Jazmine, dance some."
"Sorry, Kyle, I'm not really in the mood for more dancing. My ankle's been really bothering me. Tying to dance would take serious effort." She got up and started to leave. Isaac helped her limp off. They said goodnight, went in their room, and closed the door.
Jazmine hopped over to the bed and sat down. Isaac followed her and did the same. "So, how was your evening?"
Jazmine sighed. "Tiring, but that last dance, well," she reached out her hand and stroked the side of his face. He took her hand and held it tight. They leaned into each other and kissed gently. "Happy New Year, Isaac."
He smiled. "Yeah, you too, Jazmine." She got up, and went to change. When she came back Isaac was already in bed, covered up, with the main light off and only the lamp on his end table on. He had a small notebook out and was writing. He barely noticed her until she climbed in bed. "Oh. I hope you don't mind, I just wanted to work on some songs, since I'm not really that tired."
"Oh, go ahead," She turned off the lamp beside her. "Goodnight, Isaac." She slid down in the covers and closed her eyes, as if to go to sleep, but before she did she propped herself up on her good arm. "Oh, Isaac?"
"Yeah?"
"So far, I think fate has been very kind." She smiled at him, curled her arm back into her, and went to sleep.
* * *
Taylor lay sprawled on his old bed, cordless phone in his hand. After a moment of silence he started dialing. "Hey, Jade?"
"Yo, Tay, haven't heard from you in ages how are things going?"
"Things suck right now. I needed to talk to someone about it, hoped you wouldn't mind..." he trailed off, ending in a hopeful, pleading tone.
"Of course. You know you can tell me anything."
"Well, you know a few days ago, when we went blading? Well, you know how you ran off, and I had to take off my skates to go after you?"
"Hey, you didn't have to! Not my fault you can't take a dare."
"Oh, come on, you didn't exactly leave me much choice."
"Get over it, Tay, no harm done... right? Get on with what you're trying to say."
"Well, Isaac had to go on one of mom's little welcoming errands, and the girl he was showing around got her heel caught between them and ended up breaking her ankle."
"Man, bet there was a major law suit for that."
"No, not then. Ike brought her home, then took her to the doctor. She was so beat she fell asleep, ended up spending the night, and, well, when I came down for my usual after midnight meal, the two of them were curled up together. Didn't think much would come of it, but she ended up staying another night 'cause her mother abused her. By that morning, Ike had taken her, and, well, he hasn't been here since."
"He moved out? I knew your brother was an idiot, but that's pathetic."
"That's not the half of it. Well, her mother found her at the place she and Ike had moved into, and seriously beat her, to the extent that she needed to go to the hospital. To make things worse there'd been these two obsessive girls following the two of them around, even found her at the hospital. The oldest one had a serious grudge, made up rumors, took pictures of the two of them, and gave them to Moonshine."
Jade gasped with disgust. "Gosh, some people give females a bad rap."
"This girl was so disgusting. One day she came by the house, and had the nerve to tell me and Zac that she had walked in on Ike and the girl."
"Eww! That's just wrong. Why should you care? You're not your brother's keeper, what he does in his spare time is his business."
"That's exactly what I said, and she got mad about that."
"God have mercy on that girl's soul. Don't see how anyone could care about that girl, feel anything towards her but disgust." She pauses a moment, putting her hand over the mouthpiece of the phone as she talked with someone in the room. "Look, Tay, I've gotta go... is there any more to this story?"
"There's a lot..." Taylor ran over in his mind the moment in the hospital waiting room, and tried to figure out a way to explain it to his friend. "But it can wait. I'll talk to you later, ok?"
"Yeah, see ya bud." As she hung up Taylor sighed. He wanted to tell someone about how it started, what was going through his mind when it happened, and Isaac, who had been his main confidant over the years, probably wouldn't want to listen.
He closed his eyes and started talking aloud to himself. "Why is it when I need him he can't stand me? I've gotta tell someone..."
"You can always tell me." Taylor opened his eyes to see his older brother standing over him.
Part 4 Continued