***Sam’s View*** We were all panting by the time we got to Taylor’s house. A car came around the corner when we weren’t paying attention. Lucky for us, I heard it just before it turned and they didn’t see us, but we ran as fast as we could to Taylor’s house, which was about 4 blocks away. As soon as we got to the backyard, I collapsed. “Ahh.... can’t.....breathe....” I gasped. I closed my eyes. I heard snickering so I opened them again. Jason & Taylor each grabbed one of my hands & flung me up, sending me sprawling across the yard. I tripped over my own feet & fell again. I could hear muffled laughs behind me. I groaned & pulled myself up. I looked up and about 15 feet above me I saw a big treehouse. “Whoa..” I whispered. Jason & Taylor came up beside me. “C’mon. Going up!” Taylor said, revealing a ladder. “Ladies first,” he said again. “Why thank you,” I said, curtseying. I climbed up the ladder into a huge treehouse. Well, actually, it was a tree-room, but it was big. There was a CD tape player, a small clock, a cooler, a few bean bag chairs, and a black bag. “Neato!” I gasped. I went over to check out what CDs were sitting by the player. A Aerosmith CD, Natalie Merchant, Alanis Morisette, some 50s tapes, Boyz II Men, a few Weird Al Yankovic CDs, Mariah Carey, and a TLC tape. “You like?” Jason asked. “Yeah, these people are cool..” I trailed off. “But what’s in the black bag?” I asked, plopping down in a bean bag chair. “Here, “ Taylor said, tossing it to me. I lunged out to catch it. “Sorry,” he whispered. I opened it & carefully poured out the contents. A lighter, a few notebooks, a pencil box, a flashlight, candles, a deck of cards, a blanket, a few books, and a wallet. “Who’s is this?” I asked, holding up the wallet. “Oh, we keep a few bucks in there in case of emergency.” Taylor said, situating himself in a chair. “Ohh,” I said, tossing it back in the bag. I took out a few candles & lit them. “Saving the batteries,” I explained, handing them each a candle. I spread the blanket out on the floor & started stretching. “What’re you doing?” Jason asked. “Stretching, duh,” I said, reaching for my toes. “Yeah, but why?” Tay asked. “Well, I like ta stay flexible. I was thinking of trying out for the basketball or volleyball team,” I explained. “Cool. I’d play ya one-on-one now, but it’s kinda inconvenient,” Taylor whispered. I laid back & rested me hands behind my head. “You know what would be really cool?” I asked them, staring at the ceiling. “Huh?” said Jason. “If you had a sunroof. So you could stare at the sky instead of the wood ceiling. You could put like clear plastic or something over it. So then when it rained it wouldn’t get soaked in there,” I said. I closed my eyes & stretched my hands up over my head, palms up. Suddenly, I felt burning on my hand. I shot up & examined my aching hand. There was a small puddle of now dry wax in the middle of my palm. I saw Jason standing near me, chuckling. So I wiped the wax off in his hair. “Ah! Man, this’ll take forever to get out,” Jason complained. “Oh shut up,” I whispered, “It was dry. All you have to do is shake it out,” I said. He shook his head like a wet dog. I giggled. “Careful,” Taylor hissed, moving his candle out of the way. I sat back down on the bean bag chair and folded up the blanket & put it away. “What time is it?” I asked. “1:15. We should leave for the field in about a half hour,” Taylor said. “Do you have any funny sneak-out stories. Then my mind rushed back to a few years ago. I gripped my flashlight tighter and flung the bag over my shoulder. I took a deep breath, and started on my way. No. I couldn’t think about that. “Yeah,” I said slowly. “Tell,” Jason said, scooting closer. We all sat in a circle, our candles in the middle in front of us. I leaned over so my hair was almost in the fire, so I tucked it into the hat. “Well, once, me, my friend Ashley, Kay, Troy, & his friends Dustin all snuck out one night because I had a friend over & Dustin was moving away. So we went out, oh, about 11:30. We were out till about 1:30. We were hanging out behind a bush by a church. We were getting ready to go home, about a block down the street, when a car drove by. Everybody ran back except me. There was a street light right at the corner we were on. They hid behind a bush in the shadows. I stayed there, standing up with my arms & head poking out from the branches of the tree. I didn’t dare move. After they were gone, I got ready to go but another car drove by. Then another. I was so scared. Finally, when it was clear, we all ran back home. It was like 2 by then!” I told them. Jason burst out laughing. “Wow, that must’ve been tough,” Taylor said. “Yeah. Be one with the tree.” he said. We all cracked up.

***Tay’s View*** We sat up in the treehouse telling sneak-out stories until 1:45. “Hey guys, let’s get goin. We’ll get there just as the cop leaves,” I whispered, standing up. “Let’s go!” Sam said, jumping up. “Errrrg,” Jason groaned, standing up. “OK.. I ca do this pretty well, I think. Follow me,” Sam whispered. We all got down from the treehouse & hurried down the street. “There’s construction going on on the next street,” I whispered. We carefully made our way down the street & got to the street across from the field. “Sam, what time is it?” I whispered. “1:58. Do you see them?” she hissed. I glanced around. “There,” I whispered, pointing across the field. There was a cop car slowly cruising down the street. “Hurry! Hide,” Sam hissed, racing behind a car down the street. We ran behind her, crouching down as low as possible. The car went around the field a few more times, then drove off. “Close. C’mon, hurry,” she whispered. We scurried across the street. “Let’s go to the middle. There’s less light there,” she whispered, We were halfway across the street when Sam paused. She tilted her head & then hissed, “Duck!,”, pushing Jason & I down. “Huh?” I whispered, but she motioned to me to shut up. We laid there on our stomachs for a few seconds before we saw a car drive by. We held perfectly still as it drove by. We waited there until Sam told us it was safe to get up. “Man, how’d you know that was comin?” Jason asked her. “I have good hearing. Like, really good,” she said. She got a really weird look on her face for a second & then returned to normal. “Let’s hurry,” she whispered, starting back to the middle. When we got to the middle of the field, Sam glanced around, and started flipping around. “What’s you doing?!?!” Jason hissed. “Well, it’s time to go crazy!!,” she said, flipping again. I joined her, running around & flipping. “You know what they say. If ya can’t keep ‘em from goin crazy, ahhh!” he said, running toward us, doing a somersault & lying down on his back, acting dead. “Get up, lazy bung-butt!” Sam said, running up & almost kicking him. He jumped up & ran around in circles. I tripped him & he dramatically fell down. “You cursed being! You’ve slain me!” he exclaimed, crumpling to the ground. Sam & I looked at eachother & ran up, attacking him. ***Sam’s View*** After about 15 or 20 minutes of craziness, we were all worn out. I looked at my watch. It was 2:24. “Guys. We better get back. I wanna be back before the cop goes by,” I said. “Oh, OK. Attention!” Jason commanded. Taylor & I jumped up & saluted. “One two three four!” he said & started marching. Taylor & I grinned at eachother & ran up ahead of him. We raced the rest of the way back. We were exhausted again when we got back. “We should do this everynite!” I suggested. “OK!” Taylor whispered. “We should go to the pond. Or do we have to cross a really busy street or something?” I asked. “She knows about the pond?” Jason asked Taylor. “I didn’t show her. She found it,” he told him. “No way! That place is like impossible to find!” Jason almost yelled. “SHH!” I hissed. “There was a path leading to it. I just followed it,” I told him. He shook his head. “Man, I never seen no path leading to it. Me & Taylor found it one day. Only me him & Ike know about it. And we never made a path. This is weird,” he said. Taylor looked at his watch. “Guys, it’s 2:42. We better get goin,” he said. “Yeah. Bye!” I said, turning toward my house. “Bye!” Taylor replied. “See ya!” Jason said, running back home. I snuck in the side door. I paused for a minute to make sure everyone was still asleep. I heard my father’s faint snoring so I knew it was safe. I closed the door & hurried downstairs. I changed & hopped into bed. As I was taking out my contacts I thought I wonder who made the path? I shook the thought away & went to sleep.

***Sam’s View*** I woke up again to the sound of a phone ringing. I turned on my radio all the way up & picked up the phone & held the receiver to the speaker. After a few seconds I turned off my radio & held the receiver to my ear. “How does that feel?” I asked him. “This is your father,” I heard someone say, their voice cracking when they said ‘your’. “Oh, I’m sorry daddy,” I said in a little girl voice. Then I turned my radio up again & held the phone to it. I turned it off again & said, “Do you like my pretty music?” in a little girl voice again. “Errrr... I can’t hear you...going deaf...” Taylor creaked out. I looked at my clock. “Can you please stop calling me at 8 in the morning? I need my beauty rest,” I said, rolling over on my bed. “I agree. You need all the beauty rest you can get,” he said, laughing. “Oh, that’s it Jordan Taylor Hanson! Your sorry little butt is dead!” I screamed, slamming the receiver down. I got ready in a record time, 10 minutes. I ran down the street & to the Hanson’s house. Zac & another boy his age were playing some gun game. “Can I go in? I need to kill your brother,” I asked, walking toward the door. “Yeah & which one?” he asked. “Your dumb-butt one,” I replied, walking in the door. I ran up the stairs to the boys’ room. I tried the door but found it locked. “There’s no use trying to hide, I’ll kill you anyway!” I screamed through the door. “Uh, Sam?” I heard Ike ask from inside. “Oh sorry Ike,” I said. “Do you know where Taylor is? I owe him a beating,” I said. A frizzy-haired tired-looking Ike opened the door. “So do I,” he said. “He woke me up at 6 by putting whip cream in my hair. I think it’s time to kill him,” he said, walking out. “Where’s your parents?” I asked. “Oh, they went out to talk to the people we’re recording the album with,” he said, rubbing his head. We roamed the house, searching for him. Zac, his friend, Jessica & Avie helped after a little while. We knew he didn’t leave, or else Zac would’ve seen him. Ike, Jessie & I took the upstairs while Zac, his friend, & Avie looked downstairs. Then, I got an idea. “Be right back!” I yelled to Ike. I ran downstairs to the back door. I went up to the treehouse & found Taylor sitting there, listening to an Aerosmith CD. When he saw me he jumped up & ran to the other side. “I’m gonna kill you!” I yelled, running toward him. He dodged me & I nearly ran into the wall. I grabbed onto his rat tail. “Now run away,” I laughed, wrapping it around my hand. “OK, OK!” he screeched. “I’m sorry I’ll never make you mad again pleeeeease don’t yank out my hair!” he whined, dropping to his knees. “That’s better,” I said, letting go. He grabbed his braid & tucked it in his shirt. He strolled over & turned off his CD & started toward the door. “Uh, I wouldn’t do that,” I said. “Why not?” he asked. “Well, Ike wants to kill you too & he might not let you go as easy as I did,” I said. “If he finds me, he’ll ask me where you are, & I don’t know if I’ll be able not to tell him...” I said grinning. “Fine. I know where we can hide,” he said. “Follow me,” as he walked back toward me. He reached up & pushed a board off the roof. He pulled himself through the small opening. I walked under it & looked up. “C’mon,” he said, offering his hand. “I won’t let go,” he assured me. I thought for a second & then grabbed his hand. He helped pull me up. “Here, put your foot on that big branch he said. I steadied myself & looked back at him. He was putting the board back on the roof. I glanced around. I saw that if I walked out on that branch I could jump onto the roof of the house. But I was so scared of falling I knew I couldn’t. It was almost impossible to see the ground because the branches & leaves were so thick. “Here, going up,” Taylor said, grabbing a branch over his head & pulling himself up. I tested the branch above me & did the same. We climbed up until we were up about 10 feet over the roof. “Can we stop?” I asked. “The branches are getting kinda thin,” I said, looking around. “OK, let’s just talk,” he said, sitting down on a branch. I moved to sit down. “If Ike gets mad because he didn’t get to beat the living crap outta you, I’m not taking the blame,” I said. “Don’t worry, he wouldn’t get a chance to anyway. I’m way to fast for him. He always gets me back some other way,” he said grinning. “Oh, guess what?” he said, grinning. “I dunno. I can’t think cuz SOMEONE woke me up after getting only 5 hours of sleep!” I said. He ignored my comment & said, “We start recording tomorrow. Neat, huh?” It took me a second to figure out what he was talking about. “Oh yeah, you’re recording ‘MMMBop’ tomorrow, huh?” “Yep. I asked my Dad before they left & he said you could come in & watch us record sumtime. Wanna?” he asked. “Cool! Yeah, that sounds fun,” I said.

***Ike’s View*** Sam had been gone for about 20 minutes. I had a feeling she’d found Tay & didn’t tell me. ‘Oh well’ I thought. ‘I’ll get back at them both then’. Jessie was getting very impatient with this whole thing. She was dancing around the room, singing some song she’d heard on the radio. “Jessie, wanna go outside?” I asked her. I was betting Sam went outside. “Yeah!” she said, running to the door. We went outside. She wanted to play kickball. Taylor was such a soccer-fanatic that he’d gotten Jessie hooked on the damn stuff. She got a small soccerball for Christmas, but since her birthday was coming up in a week, she was bugging everyone for one. “Ikey! I wanna play kickball! Come play kickball with me!” she whined. She was still too little to play real soccer, so we usually just kicked the ball back & forth. Mom said next year she was going to get her on a team. “Jessie, not now. How ‘bout you go in & find Zac. He’ll play,” I suggested, looking at the treehouse. “No he won’t! He has David over & all they do is play deadman! Tayles is missing so you hafta play with me!!!” she yelled, stomping her foot. Deadman was a game Zac & David made up. I never really understood it, they just took sticks & pretended they were guns & shot eachother. “I know where Taylor is. Go up to the treehouse. He’ll be up there. He’ll play kickball,” I said. “But it’s high up! I’ll fall!” she whined. “He’s the only person who’ll play. Now go get him or stop whining!” I said, pointing to the treehouse. She frowned, looked around the yard, & reluctantly climbed up the ladder to the treehouse. “Ikey! Mackie’s crying!” I heard Avie yell from behind me. “OK, you stay out here. Go up to the treehouse with Jessie & Taylor or something. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” I told her, running inside. I’d assumed that Zac would take care of Mac for awhile when he woke up, but I guessed he was outside again with David. As soon as I got upstairs I heard Mac’s sobbing. I crept into his room. “Mac-boy! Are you awake ALREADY?” I asked, picking him up. His crying subsided & he grinned. “Vood! Hundry!” he mumbled, yanking at my hair, which I’d forgotten to pull back in a ponytail when I’d gotten out of the shower. “No Mackie. Don’t pull hair,” I scolded. He stopped & started pressing buttons on my watch. “Mackie, don’t mess,” I said. ‘I swear’ I thought, ‘He’s gonna turn out to be just like Zac. And that’s the last thing we need is another loony bouncing off the walls nonstop.’ I changed him & went downstairs to get him some food. I got to the kitchen & grabbed some Gerber’s from the fridge. I got it ready & carried it outside with me & Mac. When we got out, Avie & Jess were playing a mild version of kickball since Avie was so small. Jess could play as aggressively as Tay sometimes. “Hey, where’s Taylor?” I asked Jess. “He wasn’t up there,” she said, running after the ball. I knew there were a billion & one places to hide up there & she’d only glanced in there before hurrying down to play ball with Avie. I sat down on the ground & put Mac in front of me. It took about 20 minutes to feed him. He was usually a good eater, but today he insisted that the mashed carrots looked much better all over my face & in my hair than in his mouth. I decided I couldn’t leave Mac here while I looked for Taylor & Sam & I had to clean up so I went in search for Zac. I hurried through the house, throwing away the empty container on my way. I got through the front door, finding nothing but the front yard. “Crap,” I muttered. Just then, I was attacked by a shower of leaves. Zachary Walker Hanson! It looks like by the end of today I’ll only have one brother,” I said, looking at Mac, who was grabbing leaves & stuffing them inside my shirt. “Or maybe none,” I mumbled, ruffling the leaves back out of my shirt. “ZAC!” I yelled, walking to the steps of the porch. “The asylum people called again. They said they have an empty room, as soon as we get over there,” I called out, searching the yard. “Boo!” he yelled, jumping up from the side of the porch. “Here,” I said, handing him Mackie. “You take care of him for a while,” I commanded, pulling some leaves out of my shirt. “Oh my GOD! What trash can did YOU crawl out of?” he asked, wiping some food out of my hair. “The same one you were born in. Gotta look for Tay & Sam,” I said, walking back inside. I wanted to have the killing over by noon, because that’s when Krissy said she’d be over. After I’d made myself look half-decent & get almost all of the carrot scent out of my hair, I emerged from the bathroom to the backyard. I found Jess, Sam, Avie & Taylor engulfed in an all-out game of kickball. Objects that could’ve once been humans raced back & forth. A tall, blonde figure ran out & past me. I took the opportunity & stuck my foot out. Taylor went flying at least 6 feet. Before he could get up, Avie tripped over him, causing a complete dog-pile. I just stood there & laughed at Taylor, whose face was beet-red & was screaming at everyone to get off him. Sam finally gave in, pulling Avie off. Jess tossed some grass in his hair & stood up. Taylor rolled over, groaning. ”Ohhh... I’ll never be able to walk again.....the agony....” he moaned, tossing from side to side. Sam grabbed his collar & pulled him up. Tay looked at me & burst out laughing. “Your hair! It’s Marge Simpson on steroids!” he gasped out, pointing to my head. I pushed him back on the ground & headed back to the house. “Stay out here,” I yelled over my shoulder. “Krissy’s gonna be over at 12,” & walked inside.