Yes I remember boy cause after we kissed I can only think about you’re lips Yes I remember boy the moment I knew You were the one I could spend my life with Even before all the fame and people screamin your name I was there and you were my baby
I left Tulsa the last day of spring break. I called Zac when I got home and we talked for hours on the phone. Needless to say i didn't want to go to school the next day but my mom made me. When I got home she sat me down and told me that she put restrictions on my cell phone and that I couldn't call anyone after 8 on a weekday. I got really upset because Zac and I usually didn’t talk until 9. Zac and I couldn't talk at all during the week anymore. I was upset with my mom and Steve for a week and would only talk to them when they asked me questions but it didn't do anything and the restrictions on my cell phone were still there. I got to call Zac on Saturday but he could never talk and same with Sunday and Friday nights. We only talked about once a month but then I got grounded and my parents took away my phone. Since I was grounded for so long I forgot to pay the cell phone bill so I had to get a new number and everything. The day I was finally ungrounded I tried calling Zac but I got some weird guy in Michigan. Then I knew that Zac had to switch his cell phone number because some fan must have gotten it. I searched through my room until I found their house number. After I found it I remembered that they change every number, including the house phone, after one of the numbers is discovered. Then I felt like I was going to throw up. I had no way to call Zac or get a hold of him any more and its not like I could just go visit because when they go somewhere the whole family goes. I laid down on my bed and just cried I had lost my best friend. At 4:30 I had to go to a friend’s house for a party. I didn't want to but it was her 18th birthday so I dragged myself out. I got downstairs and tried to leave without being noticed but I was unsuccessful. My mom caught me "where are you going?"
"To Tina's"
"Oh were you crying?"
"Yes! Now leave me alone" I snapped
"No you aren't leaving until you tell me what is wrong"
"You want to know what’s wrong!! You made me lose my best friend!!!!!" I opened the front door and left slamming it behind me. I drove to Tina's and tried to not ruin her party. No one noticed how upset I was until half way through the party. Dereck finally figured out that something was wrong when i started crying when he hugged me.
"What’s wrong?" he asked
"I… I hate my mom and Steve" I stuttered i began to tell him about Zac but i couldn't so I said the next best thing
"Why?"
"Because they took away my phone and forgot to give me the bill so I had to get a new number and Zac's number was changed so now I can never talk to him again" I said completely breaking down and turning around and just sobbing in Dereck's arms
"shhh, its ok we'll figure it out" I am sure he is the only boy friend who would say that most other guys would say 'its okay you still have me' After I finished crying Dereck found Tina and told her we were leaving she understood and said that she thought something was up and that she'd talk to us later. Dereck drove me to the park and we just sat in his car. He let me cry; when I stopped he leaned over and kissed me
"Dereck don't not now" I said he looked really offended he started the car and sped off. He dropped me off at my house and told me that we were over. I didn’t understand why but now I understand I was really mean and he was sick of taking a back seat to Zac.
When I went inside I cried myself to sleep I didn’t even change out of my clothes from that day. The rest of senior year went by really slow and I slowly stopped talking to all my friends. They weren't really good friends anyway so I told myself it didn't matter. I had applied to Oklahoma State University and Tulsa Community College I was going to be a music major Zac had convinced me that I had a good voice. I got in to both and decided to go to OSU because it was really close to Tulsa. The day I moved back to Tulsa was the happiest day of my life. I was staying in the dorms and my mom was paying for everything because she still felt really guilty. She even sent me a check every month for food. On my first weekend there classes hadn't started so I decided to take a trip to the old neighborhood. The people we sold the house to were still living there but one thing took me by surprise. The Hanson's house was for sale. There were 2 cars that I didn't recognize in the driveway. I saw people coming out of the front door. I walked over to them.
"Hello can I help you?" The woman in the suit said I assumed she was the realtor
"Um yeah could you tell me why this house is for sale?"
"Because the owners moved to a larger house"
"Oh, how much is it selling for?"
"90,000"
"Oh" I was really shocked that the Hanson's were selling their house "is there anyway that I could talk to the previous owners?"
"No I'm sorry"
"Why not?"
"Because their sons are famous and they don’t want to be bothered by any fans I'm sorry"
"Okay" I started to feel a little light headed and I wasn't thinking straight "has anyone put a bid on the house yet?" she looked at the couple standing next to her
"Yes I'm sorry this couple just did"
"How much"
"The asking price"
"Um can I put a bid on the house?" I had enough money in a savings account to cover the closing costs and a substantial down payment and having some left over just incase i couldn't come up with the mortgage payment one month.
"Wouldn’t you like to see the house first?" she questioned very unsure of what I was thinking
"No i practically grew up here"
"Oh if you would like to place a bid on the house you could visit my office in one hour"
"Okay thank you" I said I climbed into my car and went to talk to my bank. I got it figured out so I could buy the house if my bid won. I drove to the real estate office and asked to talk to the woman in the suit. I gave them a better description than that. After about an hour we had it all written out if no one put in a bid higher than mine in 2 days I would have the house. I sat in my dorm room all weekend nervously worrying about the house. On Monday morning right before I was about to leave for my first class I got a phone call from Mrs. Begore, the real estate lady. She told me that the closing on the house was the next Monday, I would have to miss a class but I didn't care. I thanked her profusely and then asked her if there was anyway that I could talk to the Hanson's she still said no. I gave up and went to class. I called my mom when I got home and explained the situation she told me that i could have the rest of the room and board money. I was so excited plus she said she would still send me checks for food and that she would pitch in for furniture. The week went by really slow all I could think about was the possibility that one of the Hansons would be at the closing. When the next Monday rolled around I was very excited. I went to the closing expecting to see someone with long blonde hair but I had no such luck. I asked Mrs. Begore if one of the owners would be attending and she crushed every hope I had with one two letter word. No. that was all she said. The closing went fine and the old Hanson house was mine within the hour. I went back to my new house and walked out back. I climbed up the ladder and into the tree house. To my surprise they had left it fully 'furnished', if you can say that but it still had everything in it from the last time I was there. I laid down on the bean bag and pulled the blanket over me. It smelt like Taylor, and Zac and Ike all rolled into one. Before I knew it I had fallen asleep. I woke up to the doorbell ringing. I quickly got up and ran around to the front of the house being careful not to trip over anything because it was starting to get dark. My mind was racing as to who could be here because the only people who knew I was here who lived in Tulsa were Mrs. Begore and the Hansons. I started to run faster and when I got to the front of the house I stopped dead in my tracks standing at my door was someone with long blonde hair. The person obviously heard me and turned around. The smile immediately fell from my face "Hi" I said walking closer to the girl
"Hi, I just wanted to introduce myself, I live next door, I'm Leigha, but most people call me Lei"
"Its nice to meet you, I’m Elizabeth but everyone calls me Liz" Someone hollered from her driveway
"I have to go, that’s my ride but ill see you later, let me know if you need anything"
"Thanks, bye" I was slightly disappointed but she seemed like a nice neighbor. The next couple weeks flew by between classes and getting settled into the house I was extremely busy. It turned out that Leigha was in a few of my classes, she was music major too. She had invited me out with her a few times but I hadn't had a chance so I invited her over for a girls night. She came over and we watched some movies and talked all night.
"Do you have a boyfriend?" She asked me
"No, my boyfriend broke up with me after I came back from Tulsa after spring Break"
"You came to Tulsa for spring break?"
"Yeah I used to live here, right across the street actually"
"Cool"
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
"Yeah"
"What’s his name?"
"Dan"
"Dan Collins?"
"Yeah, do you know him?"
"Yeah we used to be friends in middle school and high school"
"That’s weird"
"Yeah"
"Liz?"
"Yes"
"would you mind if I called you something other than Liz cause every Elizabeth I know is always called Liz how about Beth" I gasped when she said that and she looked at me really confused
"Could you just call me Liz because there is only one person who calls me Beth and I haven't talked to him in 6 months"
"Oh okay I'm sorry I brought it up"
"No its okay its just it really hurts because he was my best friend since I moved here when I was 8"
"I’m sorry, does he still live in Tulsa?"
"Sometimes"
"Sometimes?"
"Its hard to explain"
"Okay well maybe we'll run into him at some parties"
"Maybe but I doubt it."
Over the next year Lei and I went to a lot of parties and we became really close friends and Dan and I became friends again. I couldn't believe I had been living in Tulsa for a year. I had started going out with a guy in one of my classes, named Todd. He had brown curly hair and blue eyes. We started going out shortly after Christmas. I kept tabs on Zac and Tay and Ike through the many fan sites and their official website. After a few months of checking the sites once a week there was news about a tour. I found out when they were going to be playing in Tulsa and immediately bought tickets. Then I went to the local music store and bought 4 copies of their new cd "Underneath", one copy for me one for Lei one for Dan and one for Todd. We were all going to go to the concert in 2 months.
It started when we were younger you were mine (my boo) Now another brother's taken over but it’s still in you’re eyes (my boo) Even though we use to argue it’s all right (my boo) I know we haven’t seen each other in a while But you will always be my boo
It was the night before the concert and we decided that we would go and stay the night outside the venue. We packed up some food and cards and our sleeping bags and left for the venue at noon the day before the concert. I wanted to be the first one in line. When we got to the venue there were already a few people there. I was not surprised after having been to several concerts on their first tour. That night none of us got much sleep between the chatter of 100 Hanson fans and the cement sidewalks no one would. Around noon the next day more people started showing up. By the time the doors opened there were at least 400 people standing outside the venue. When we were let in we walked right up to the front in the center, because everyone else wanted to buy merchandise we were didn't have to fight for a spot. The first opening act was really good and I wanted to get their cd, since I didn't particularly like the second opening act I went over to the merchandise table and bought the groups cd. I told Todd, Dan, and Lei to make sure they saved my spot. After I got my cd I worked my way back to the front receiving many dirty stares along the way but most people let me through. I also bought 4 bottles of water so it was obvious that my friends were up there. That’s why most people, although reluctant, let me through. I got back to my spot about 15 minutes before the guys were supposed to come out. I was really nervous and I didn't know why. The concert went by fast. We were the only people in the front row that didn't scream and jump around when the guys came out. During the show I made eye contact with Ike and Tay a few times but I honestly don’t think that they can see who anyone is while they are on stage because it’s so dark. After they left the stage we headed out to the tour bus. I knew they always did an encore but I needed to get out to the tour bus and be in the front. I told Todd, Dan, and Lei that they could wait in the car if they wanted. They all went to the car since they didn't want to be run over by anxious fans. The guys came out about half an hour later and I was right next to the door of the tour bus. As they were getting ready to get on the bus Zac glanced over in my direction and whispered something to Tay. Tay just nodded and got on the bus with Ike. Zac walked past all the screaming girls and over to where I was standing. He signed a few cds for people and then he took mine. "Hey"
"Hey" I said not knowing why I didn't scream it’s me
"What’s your name or who should I sign this for?"
"My name's Elizabeth, everyone calls me Liz or Lizzie but you could sign it to El or Beth" He just glanced up at me and smiled. He handed me back the cd and then got on the bus. Since there were so many people the bus couldn't leave until the crowd dispersed. I couldn't go anywhere because there were people crammed up against me. I looked at the cd to see what it said. I almost screamed and jumped up and down when I read it but I figured that would draw too much attention to myself, since all the girls stopped screaming when the guys got on the bus. He had written on the inside cover of the cd booklet. It said
~To El: its been a while, if you want to wait after everyone leaves I'll come back out or you can leave and call me Love Zac ~ then inside the cd booklet it had his number. I decided to wait so I took out my cell phone and called Lei.
"Hello"
"hey Lei its me um I talked to Zac and he said to wait until everyone left so if you want to come back here in 5 minutes everyone should be gone by then" I whispered into the phone
"What Liz I can't hear you"
"Come back in 5 minutes okay I have to go see you soon"
"Bye" we hung up and I watched as the large group of girls slowly left until eventually it was just me. Lei and Todd and Dan showed up just as the last girls were leaving. I filled them in on what had happened. Lei gave me a hug and said she was really happy for me. Dan said it would be 'sweet' to see Zac again. Todd just walked back to the car. I told Lei that if Zac came out to tell him I'd be right back and not to let him leave. I followed Todd to the car.
"Todd! Wait a second" he slowly turned around
"Yeah"
"What’s wrong?"
"Nothing"
"Todd just tell me what’s wrong?"
"It’s all of this" he said waving his arms around
"This what? me getting to see my best friend again" he just looked away from me "Todd just because my best friend is a guy doesn't mean he's going to take me away from you, I love you and Zac isn't going to change that, if anything he is going to be happy for me" Todd just stared at me "what?"
"I love you too" that's when it hit me. That was the first time I told Todd I loved him without him saying it first, and we had been going out for 8 months. I stood on my tiptoes and gave him a kiss.
"Will you please come with me?"
"Yes" I took his hand and we walked back over to Dan and Lei. Zac wasn't out there yet but Lei said that she saw someone look out the windows on the bus a few seconds ago. We stood there for a few more minutes and then the shades on the bus moved and I saw a pair of eyes look out at us. 2 seconds later the door to the bus opened. Zac walked out and stood in front of me. No one said anything. Zac and I just stared into each other's eyes. I could feel the tears starting to fill my eyes. I gave Todd's hand a little squeeze before I let go of it. I stood there for a few more seconds and then I just couldn't fight back the tears anymore. I jumped into Zac's arms as the tears fell. We just stood there hugging until Lei tapped me on the shoulder.
"Yeah?" I said turning my head around but not letting go of Zac
"We’ll be waiting for you in the car"
"Okay" I said. As I turned my head back around I saw a look in Todd's eyes that I had never seen before. After a few seconds I realized what it was. Pain. He seemed really upset at how excited I was to see Zac. After they all were in the car I broke down and started crying, but they weren't happy tears anymore.
"Beth? What’s wrong?" Zac asked sitting down next to me on the curb
"I'm sorry its just Todd is upset with me and I know he won’t say anything about it"
"What’s he upset with you for?" Zac asked beginning to rub my back. I leaned into his shoulder
"Because I was so happy to see you"
"What’s wrong with that?"
"well nothing really, but when we first started dating I went to LA for a couple weeks and when I came back I wasn't as excited to see him as I was to see you tonight and I think that hurt him and he probably thinks I love you more than I love him"
"If you want to go straighten things out with him I understand" Zac said pulling away from me. I just stared at him in shock as he sat next to me with his arms folded around his knees
"Zac, he knows how important you are to me and how important he is to me, I want to hang out with you tonight will you wait 5 minutes for me?"
"Yeah" I thought I heard him mumble something else but I guess I was wrong
"Okay I'll be right back" I walked over to the car and stuck my head in the back window where Todd was sitting. I kissed him "Zac and I are going to hang out for a little while. If you want I could stop by lei's before I go to my house to see if you're still there"
"Sure" Lei said I could tell that Todd was mad
"Todd you can be mad at me if you want to but I'm still going to hang out with Zac and I'll see you at lei's, love you" he didn’t say anything so i carefully backed up and walked over to Zac. A few seconds later I heard the car peel out of the parking lot. I started crying.
"Beth, come on" Zac said taking my hand and helping me onto the tour bus. He walked over to one of the couches and sat down. He pulled me down next to him and just let me cry. When I finally stopped I just looked up at him
"Thanks Zac"
"For what?"
"Being there for me whenever I cry"
"Your welcome and that is what friends are for" just then I realized that Ike and Tay were sitting on the other couch. I got up and sat back down in between them. They both bounced as i flopped on the couch this made me laugh.
"What have you two been up to, have you been torturing my Zac?" I asked laughing
"Nothing not even torturing your Zac" Tay said
"Wow, I'm surprised, can we go back to my house, you guys can hang for the night if you want, i know you'll love it there"
"Sure" they said in unison. I walked up to the driver and whispered in his ear where I lived. He laughed and then drove us to my house. As they walked off the bus they all gasped
"El, why are we here this isn’t out house anymore"
"I know its mine" They all just looked at me. I walked over to Zac and whispered in his ear "I told you I'd come back" we hung out at my house the rest of the night. I called Lei to tell her to bring the guys over but she said they left and she had a class the next morning. So it was just me and the guys, again, I loved it.
I was in love with you when we were younger you were mine (my boo) When I see you from time to time I still feel like that's my baby (my boo) You can see it no matter how I try to hide i can't hide it (my boo) And even though there’s another man who’s in my life You will always be my boo
As I spent more time with the guys it began to feel like everything was back to normal. The more time I spent with the guys Todd would get more and more jealous. One night in October when I was hanging out with Lei at her house my cell phone rang "hold on a sec Lei I got to get this"
"ok but make it quick its girls night remember"
"Ok" I opened my phone "hello"
"Hey"
"Hey Todd, are you okay you sound funny"
"Yeah I'm uh fine"
"Okay so why did you call?"
"I needed to tell you something" There was a long silence I figured that he was going to continue but when He didn't I said
"And that would be?"
"I think that we should uh see other people" Tears started to form in my eyes but I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing he hurt me when he couldn't even tell me to my face so I fought back the tears
"Oh, well if that’s what you want"
"Yeah it is"
"What made you decide this?"
"You never spend time with me anymore and when we do hang out you always talk about Zac or Tay or Ike, they are cool guys but if my girlfriend is going to hang out with them and talk about them when she's with me it just doesn't seem right"
"Okay fine I'll talk to you later, I love you" He hung up no goodbye and no I love you too it was a strange feeling all my calls to my friends ended in I love you its just something you get used to after a while. I walked back into the kitchen where Lei was making popcorn and sat down on the barstool. I rested my elbows on the counter and put my head in my hands. All the tears started to pour out of my eyes. No matte how hard I tried I couldn't stop them but I was able to let them be silent. Lei didn't even noticed until she turned around with the popcorn in a bowl and a few pieces stuffed in her mouth
"Whas wong?" she finished chewing the popcorn in her mouth "I mean what’s wrong?"
"Todd" was all I said
"What about Todd Hun?"
"He broke up with me"
"When?"
"Just now"
"He broke up with you over the phone, oh just wait until the next time I see that boy" she continued to mumble threats to Todd to herself
"No you can't I don't want him to know that he hurt me especially if he couldn't even tell me to my face"
"Okay, so what did he say?"
"he said that he wants to see other people because all i ever do is hang out with the guys or talk about them when I'm with him, which isn’t true" Lei looked at me kind of skeptically "I do not and when I talk about them most of the time its because other people ask about them"
"True, I'm sorry what do you want to do now?"
"Do whatever we had planned he's not going to ruin my night"
"Ok" Lei said grabbing my hand and pulling me into the other room. We watched romantic comediesuntil 3 in the morning when we finally fell asleep I dreamed about Todd and then I had another dream about Zac. They were both strange dreams but I just contributed them to the fact that lei and I ate ice cream at 2 am and were eating candy and popcorn right until we fell asleep. The next day Lei and I were woken up at 7 am by her phone ringing. Lei wasn't moving so I got up to answer the phone
"Hello" I mumbled into the receiver
"Hey Lei sorry I woke you up" I pulled the receiver away from my ear and just stared at it
"I'm not Lei" then I hung up. It was Todd I couldn't talk to him. I walked back into Lei's living room and flopped back down on the couch
"Who was on the phone" Lei mumbled
"The biggest jerk in the world" I said with a surprisingly bitter tone. Lei's head immediately popped up at my comment
"Why the hell was Todd calling?"
"I don’t know I hung up on him" Lei was trying to muffle a laugh "its not funny" I said throwing the remainder of last nights popcorn at her
"Ok well why don’t you take a shower and then I'll take one and we can go to star bucks for breakfast"
"Ok sounds good, Ill be down in about 5 minutes" I climbed of the couch and headed upstairs to take a shower. Stopping for a moment at the hall closet to grab a towel. When I came back out of the shower I heard Lei on the phone with someone
"why did you call earlier....I don't really want to talk to you right now...yes I know.... yeah.....no....look I have to go but don’t call me later I really don’t want to talk about this with you... bye" She hung up and turned around and saw me standing there "how much did you here?"
"Enough to figure out you were talking to Todd and that he wanted to talk to you about us breaking up"
"You’re good, I'll go take a quick shower and then we can leave"
"Ok make sure its quick you have 3 minutes before I flush the toilet"
"Yes mommy" when she left I just sat and stared at the phone I picked it up and hit redial. The phone on the other end rang 3 times before someone picked it up
"Hello" the voice i least wanted to hear said
"Hey Todd " I said trying to put on a cheery voice
"Oh its you"
"What the hell does that mean??"
"Nothing sorry"
"So what’s up?"
"Why did you call Lei?"
"Because I wanted to talk to her about something"
"What?"
"Its nothing really"
"Oh so us breaking up is nothing"
"That’s not what i meant"
"sure it is otherwise you wouldn't have said it you know what I thought maybe we could still be friends like we were before we started going out but if you're going to be a jerk about it I don't know how that’s going to work look I have to go before Lei gets out of the shower bye"
"Bye El"
"DONT EVER CALL ME THAT AGAIN!!" I screamed into the phone and then I slammed it down on the base. I turned around to find Lei standing there
"What’s wrong?"
"I was stupid and called Todd"
"What did he do that's got you so mad?"
"I asked him why he called you and he said it was nothing and then I said so our breaking up is nothing and he was like no that’s not what i meant then I told him how i was going to try to still be his friend like we were before but now i didn't see how it could work because he was being a jerk and then i said bye and he said bye El" I started crying
"Why can't he call you El?"
"I’ve explained this to you, only one person has ever called me that"
"Oh right Zac"
"Yeah" I wiped away my tears "let’s go get some coffee I could really use some"
"Me too" Lei said we walked to the closest star bucks because it was only 5 blocks away. When we walked past the front window I thought I saw Taylor and Zac but I knew that my lack of sleep had to be making me see things because they were overseas until Ike's birthday, I wish they would be back for Zac's birthday. Lei noticed me staring in the window
"What are you looking at?"
"Oh it’s just I thought I saw Tay and Zac but I couldn’t have they are overseas"
"That is strange; maybe you need the coffee more than I thought"
"Yeah I probably do" We walked into star bucks and up to the counter to order our drinks. I kept looking over my shoulders to see if I hadn’t been seeing things and they really were there
"Liz you said yourself that they couldn’t be here"
"I know but i guess I just really want them to be here"
"Yeah maybe" The girl brought our drinks to the counter then we walked over to a table by the window and sat down. We talked about everything that had happened and she tried to convince me that Todd was just a jerk and I deserved someone better someone who was funny, nice, sweet, caring, hot (I laughed when she said that, all she said was well it definitely wont hurt), and someone who gets me and wont get jealous of me spending time with other guys. After she finished one person who fit all of that popped into my head. Zac. I figured the coffee hadn't helped enough so I went to get another cup. I was sort of day dreaming and not paying attention to where I was going and I walked into someone. They were my height and had short shaggy brown hair. "Sorry" I said continuing to walk past the person. I walked over to the counter and ordered another coffee. Then someone stepped up behind me in line so i stepped to the side so they could order
"Could I get two coffees one black and one with extra sugar" I laughed to myself because that is exactly what Zac and Tay always ordered when they went to get coffee. I would know because most of the time if the three of us went together they would make me order for all of us.
"Miss? Miss!?"
"Oh sorry" I said taking the coffee from the girl working she looked very frustrated. I paid and went back to mine and lei's table "i feel sorry for the people who have to work here" I said sitting down
"Why?"
"Because they have to deal with people like me who are completely out of it in the morning until they get their coffee"
"True" Lei looked over at the counter and then back at me and then she did it again
"What?" I asked trying to figure out what she was thinking
"That guy who was behind you is really cute"
"You think, I didn't really look at him"
"Yes, go talk to him, ask him out or something" She said pushing me out of my chair
"Fine I'll go" as I walked away I heard her laughing with someone else but I couldn't figure out who I just shrugged it off "excuse me" I said tapping the person on the shoulder
"Yes" he answered starting to turn around
"I just wanted to apolo.." I dropped my coffee as my moth dropped open "Zac!" I screamed giving him a big hug. My scream elicited a few stares from people reading the paper. I grabbed his hand and ran back over to the table completely ignoring the fact that I had dropped my coffee. As I got closer I realized that there was someone with blonde hair sitting in my seat "Leigha Marie, Jordan Taylor I am going to hurt both of you" they both just looked at me and laughed "and Taylor get your scrawny little but out of my chair" I said jokingly as Zac dragged 2 chairs over from another table
"Nice to see you too" He said standing up to hug me. I gave him a hug but then before he could sit back down I sat in his seat. But he felt like being cute so he sat on my
"Taylor" I whined
"What?"
"Get your own chair and I don’t mean me"
"Oh all right" He said patting my head. "What are you two up to?"
"Just getting some coffee" Lei said
"Yeah we need it after last night" I said after I said it I covered my mouth realizing what i had said
"Why what was last night" Zac asked lei quickly covered for me
"It was girl’s night and we only got 4 hours sleep thanks to someone calling at 7 am"
"Who called?"
"I don't know Liz just picked up the phone and then slammed it back down it was really funny"
"Yeah she never has been a morning person" Tay said
"Like you are?!" Tay just stuck his tongue out at me "what are you guys doing in town i thought you weren't supposed to be back until the 16th next month"
"Umm Zac's birthday" Tay said looking at me like I was stupid
"Well someone told me that he wasn't coming home for his birthday" I said throwing a packet of sugar at Zac. I knew that it was a mistake to do that because it ended up that all of us were in a sugar throwing war which got us kicked out. As we walked out the door we were all laughing. We started walking back to Lei's as we turned the corner I saw a truck sitting in my drive way. "Crap" Tay and Zac just looked at me " I forgot I had to take care of something at home why don’t you guys go to Lei's and I'll meet you there"
"Okay" Zac said eyeing my wondering what was up. I ran ahead and into my driveway as I ran past Todd I said
"Come on" He followed me inside. After he was inside I shut the front door "what do you want?"
"Who were you with?"
"Lei and Dan and his friend from out of town Jack" I said coolly
"Oh"
"Now what do you want?"
"I just wanted to say I'm sorry" He said stepping towards me so I backed up. He tried to hug me but i just pushed him away " I was wondering if we could get back together?"
"No we can't"
"What? Why not?"
"Because you really hurt me and if you are constantly going to make me feel bad about hanging out with my best friends then it’s never going to work"
"But I won’t"
"Yes you will, you did it before and you'll do it again"
"No I won’t"
"look Todd I don’t care anymore whatever you say wont make me change my mind, what we had was great but you decided to be jealous and ruin everything I'm not setting myself up to get hurt again now please leave"
"Fine" he said giving up and walking out the front door. When I heard his truck pull away I breathed a sigh of relief and flopped down on the couch. I thought about what just happened and wondered why I didn't take him back. Last night I would have, what changed. I sat there thinking for a little bit. I heard a soft knock on the door
"It’s unlocked" I hollered from the couch. I heard the door squeak open. I turned my head to see who had come in. It was Zac. I scooted over so he could sit down next to me he just stared at me for a few seconds "what?" I asked
"Why do you have a huge smile plastered across your face?"
"I don’t"
"Yeah you do"
"Oh I didn't even notice" That’s when I realized what had changed. All my feelings for Zac had come back.
"Okay, I was wondering what you were doing tonight?"
"I think i have plans"
"With Todd right?"
"Umm no hold on a second though" I got up and walked into the kitchen. I looked on the calendar to see if I had anything important going on. The only thing there was a study group for a test. I decided that spending Zac's birthday with him was more important I ran back out to the couch and flopped back down with my legs over Zac's "nope nothing at all"
"Really? Cause I thought I saw Todd leave a couple minutes ago"
"He did"
"But you didn't make any plans to go out for dinner or something?"
"No why would we?"
"Umm because you're going out" Zac said looking at me funny
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"I am just trying to figure you out"
"Well how about you ask me what you want to know it will probably be a lot quicker" I said tossing a pillow at him
"True, so what’s the deal with you and Todd you kind of cringe when ever I say his name"
"Okay 1 i do not cringe it’s more of a shudder Just Kidding!! And we broke up and he was over here trying to get me to go back out with him even though he broke up with me"
"oh I'm sorry"
"Don’t be he broke up with me over the phone because he was jealous" after I realized what I had said I looked around the room anywhere but at Zac. I knew what he was going to ask and I didn't want to tell him because then I would also have to tell him what I had realized moments after he arrived After a few minutes I ran out of places to look and Zac caught my eyes and I got lost. I hated how he could do that to me but yet I loved it at the same time.
"Who was he jealous of?" that was the question I didn't want to hear and it seemed to come out of Zac's mouth very very slow
"Umm you"
"Me?"
"Yeah" I said staring at the floor
"Why?" another question i wasn't ready to answer
"Because he thinks I spend to much time talking to you or hanging out with you when i should be with him and he says I talk abut you too much"
"Oh I'm sorry" He said pulling me into a sitting position and hugging me
"It’s not your fault Zac"
"Well it kind of is" he said really quietly
"What are you talking about?"
"Nothing never mind" its then I knew that I wasn't supposed to hear his comment
"Zac come here" I said getting up. I grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and took his hand. We walked out back through the kitchen. He seemed to have no idea where we were going until we got there. When we got to the base of the tree house he let out a slight laugh. He was probably remembering the same thing I was. When I came to visit him over Spring Break and we spent the night in the tree house. I climbed up the ladder and then he climbed up behind me. I grabbed the two bean bag chairs and pulled them closer together so Zac and i could share the blanket. I sat down and Zac just stood there staring at me. I patted the bean bag chair and laughed as a smile crossed his face. Zac sat down and I leaned over and put my head on his shoulder. He put his arm around my shoulder. I pulled the blanket over us and we just sat there in silence. Zac started to run his fingers through my hair and it was putting me to sleep. I woke up about half an hour later. Zac had fallen asleep too. I was lying across both bean bags with my head on his lap. I sat up and resituated my self under his arm. He woke up from me moving around so much "Sorry" I whispered
"Why are you sorry?"
"Because I woke you up"
"Its okay, I don't mind being woken up by you" He didn't say anything but I am pretty sure I started to blush. I stared at Zac for a few seconds. I snapped myself out of my trance like state and realized that he was looking at me but something was different.
"Zac"
"Yeah El"
"I need to tell you something"
"Ok go ahead" He said flashing his amazing smile. I wondered if he knew what he was doing to me
"I know you have a girlfriend now but I think that you should know that I think my feelings for you are coming back" I couldn't bear to look at him so i just stared out the door
"Elizabeth.. I..." He started. I bolted when he called me Elizabeth. I jumped out of the tree house and ran inside to my favorite room , which happened to be Zac's old room. It had my guitar and my piano in there. I locked the door and started to play a song on the piano. After a couple minutes I heard Zac coming up the stairs. I heard his footsteps stop in front of the door. I stopped playing the song I had chosen to play and began to play another song. It was Michelle Branch's song 'You Set Me Free'. After I played the first few chords I heard Zac sit down outside the door and take a deep breath. I started to sing
"Can’t you see?
There’s a feeling that’s come over me
Close my eyes
You’re the only one that leaves me,
Completely breathless
No need to wonder why
Sometimes a gift like this you can’t deny
‘Cause I wanted to fly
So you gave me your wings
And time held its breath so I could see, yeah
And you set me free
There’s a will, there’s a way
Sometimes words just can’t explain
This is real, I’m afraid
I guess this time there’s just no hiding, fighting
You make me restless
You’re in my heart
The only light that shines there
In the dark
‘Cause I wanted to fly
So you gave me your wings
And time held its breath so I could see, yeah
And you set me free
When I was alone
You came around
When I was down
You pulled me through
And there’s nothing that
I wouldn’t do for you
‘Cause I wanted to fly
So you gave me your wings
And time held its breath so I could see, yeah
And you set me free"
When I was done I stood up and unlocked the door. I knew that Zac would still be sitting there. He knew that when I was upset I played and no one could stop me before I was ready to be stopped. I also knew that he was sitting out there trying to rethink whatever it was he was going to tell me, mainly because when we were little Ike or Tay would lock the door so we couldn't get in and Zac would pick the lock so I knew he could get in the room if he really wanted. I walked over to the futon I had in there and sat down on it staring out the window with my back to the door. It was a few minutes before I heard it open. Every second that passed I dreaded what was going to happen more and more because I was afraid I would lose my best friend again I was mentally kicking myself for telling him. "El can I sit down" I nodded scooting over "I need to tell you something but you can bolt like you did before promise?" I looked at him and nodded. he wiped away tears that had fallen on my cheeks. I hadn't even realized I had been crying until he did that. I leaned over and put my arm on the arm rest and set my head in my hand and stared out the window, knowing that if I was to look at him I would start to cry again and I would get lost in his eyes again "Elizabeth" I lost control I started to cry. Zac pulled me closer to him and hugged me so tight "shh stop crying" I was able to stop crying after a few minutes and I looked up at him waiting for him to continue "when you had to leave it felt like a part of me had died, seriously, you and I had been inseparable since the day we met. After we completely stopped talking I wasn't the same anymore I'd pretend to be happy but I really wasn’t eventually i convinced everyone and even myself that i was really happy but these last few months I have been really happy" I pulled away from Zac and went back to staring out the window I knew where this was going and I knew I was going to end up crying again. But Zac wouldn't let me stare out the window. "Elizabeth please look at me"
"Fine" I said turning around after I was looking at him for a few seconds Zac's eyes locked onto mine and didn't move until he finished
"I wasn't going to come home for my birthday like I told you but something happened that changed my mind. I didn't feel right with Jenn anymore. She noticed that something was different and when she confronted me about what was going on it made me realize what had happened. We both decided that it would be best if we broke up" he really caught my attention when he said that because Jenn and him were so happy together "that’s why I came back to Tulsa for my birthday I was going to come over after Tay and I finished our coffee, you're the reason I came back, I still love you and I tried to convince you when you came for spring break but you had a boyfriend. After that I convinced myself that I didn't really love you and that’s when Jenn and I started going out. I thought I was really in love with Jenn but after I saw you again I couldn't convince myself that I didn't love you. But again I couldn't do anything because you had a boyfriend and I wasn't going to try to ruin a relationship of yours again, honestly that’s why I thought you stopped calling" Zac paused for a second and wiped away a single tear that had escaped from his eye "El I still love you" he stopped he was finished. I sat there for a few seconds processing what he had said he and Jenn broke up and he still loved me. I sat up and hugged him.
"I love you too" I said starting to cry
"Why are you crying?"
"I don’t know, maybe because I am really happy for the first time in years" He laughed a little bit and then leaned closer to me. I knew what was happening and I felt like I did right before Zac kissed me for the first time. We kissed and something changed. It was so different from kissing Todd or any of my other boyfriends, it just felt so right. After Zac pulled away slightly I climbed onto his lap. And just sat there hugging him. I wouldn't let go no matter how hard he tried to convince me to.
"What was that song you were playing?" he asked realizing that that was about the only question that would get me to stop hugging him. I got up and walked over to my piano and grabbed the sheet with the lyrics on it. I walked back over to the futon and sat down next to him. He leaned forward resting his arms on his knees while he read the lyrics. I leaned back against the futon and just watched him. After he was done reading the lyrics he just turned and looked at me. After we sat there for a few minutes just looking at each other I said
"What?"
"You know this is so true"
"What is?"
"You’re the only one that leaves me completely breathless" I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek and whispered in his ear
" I love you Zachary Walker"
"I love you too Elizabeth Rose" I started laughing no one had used my middle name in years not even my mother. I grabbed his hand and walked out of the room "where are we going?"
"To Lei's because I said I'd go over after plus my stuff is over there from earlier"
"Oh, okay" we walked over to Lei's and found her and Tay sitting on the front porch talking. As we got closer I could tell that Lei had been crying. I let go of Zac's hand and ran over to her
"Lei what’s wrong?"
"My brother was in a car accident"
"Is he okay?"
"He’s in a coma" she said through her tears
"Zac could you go get my car please and drive it over here, we're going to the hospital to see Aaron"
"Sure"
"Thanks Liz"
"You’re welcome Hun" I hugging her. Tay stood up and patted me on the shoulder letting me know that he was going with Zac "now lets get you up and go see your brother"
"Okay" we all piled into my car and drove to the hospital. After we got there I told Zac and Tay that they could leave and Lei and I would catch a cab when we wanted to leave but they both said that they were going to stay. By time we got to the hospital which was half an hour away Aaron was out of his coma. From what the doctors told Lei he was in the accident the night before and they just found an ID in his clothes earlier that morning. Lei said she wanted to stay with Aaron for the night but that Tay, Zac, and I should go home and get some sleep. I invited the guys in once we got to my house because they didn't have a car and I didn't want to drive anywhere since I was so tired. We decided to watch some old home videos that my mom had sent me. I wanted to go to sleep but Zac and Tay convinced me to watch 'just one more' when we put it in it was me and Zac on the screen we were 10 and we were in our secret spot which we just found out wasn't so secret. Zac and I just looked at each other wondering what was on the tape. It was us walking to our 'secret spot' then we spread out a blanket and laid down on it. My head was on Zac's chest.
'Zac do you have to leave?' my 10 year old self asked
'Yeah I am so excited that we finally got signed and that we get to go to L.A. to record but I don't want to leave my best friend' I propped my self up on my elbow
'Your best friend? Who’s that?' I asked laughing
'Oh I don't know i think its you'
'Good' I wrapped my arms around his stomach and laid back down 'Zac'
'Yeah El?'
'I know you're going to be famous one day'
'You think'
'Yeah i really do'
'Thanks'
'Zac, Liz' who ever was taping yelled muffling their voice so it sounded like they were far away. Zac and I stood up and walked back past the camera and into my back yard. Zac jumped the fence and went to his house while I went to mine probably to eat lunch. After the tape stopped Tay got up and turned on the lights. He looked at me and Zac and just laughed
"What?" we said at the same time
"I thought you had a boyfriend" I wondered what he was talking about but then I felt Zac's arm move from around my waist."I do" I guess we hadn't realized that we had gone from sitting on opposite ends in front of the couch to sitting almost on top of each other. Tay just stared at me he looked really confused "its okay Tay"
"Will someone explain what's going on please" he whined
"Yes Tay, Zac and I are going out again"
"OOoh" he said like everything now made sense but I knew he was still confused
"Todd broke up with me last night"
"Oh, you know what"
"What?" Zac asked
"I always knew you two were going to end up going out and I knew before you started going out when you were 13 too"
"Tay everyone knew that when we were thirteen, Zac talks in his sleep and you Ike and him shared a room"
"How come no one ever told me I talked in my sleep?" Zac asked
"Its okay" I said patting his knee "it’s not important, but who wants the couch and who wants the futon in your old room?"
"I'll take the couch" Tay volunteered
"Okay I'll get you a pillow and some blankets" I walked over to the closest and pulled out 2 pillows and 3 blankets. I knew it could get kind of cold in the living room so I was giving Tay an extra blanket. I handed him the blanket and threw the pillow on the couch and gave him a hug "good night Tay"
"Night Liz" Zac and I walked up stairs to their old room. I set the pillow down on the futon and Zac set the blanket down
"Night Zac" I said starting to walk out of the room but Zac grabbed my arm and spun me around and gave me a hug and kiss
"Night El, I love you"
"I love you too" I walked down the hall to my room. I shut the door changed into my pajamas and climbed under the covers. I tried to fall asleep but I couldn’t so I pulled out my journal and started writing about everything that had happened in the past week. I even wrote a few song lyrics. By time I got to the end of what i had to say i heard a muted piano playing. I immediately recognized the song. It was the one I had played earlier. I snuck down the hall and opened the door to Zac's old room just enough so I could see him sitting at the piano.
When he was done he started to get up and I closed the door very slowly so he wouldn't notice and I went back to my room and climbed under the covers again. Just as I was drifting off to sleep I thought I heard the door to my room creak open. But I was too tired to lift my head off of the pillow. sO i just rolled over with my back to the door. A few seconds after I rolled over I felt cool air hitting the back of my legs. I turned my head to see Zac climbing into my bed with me. He pulled the covers over himself and then wrapped his arms around me. He pulled me close and we just laid there. Right before I fell asleep he leaned his head closer to mine and kissed my cheek "I love you"
"I love you too" When I woke up the next morning I rolled over and realized that Zac wasn't there. I sat up and smelt pancakes and coffee. I got up and searched for my sweatshirt and slippers. After I found them I went down stairs to find Tay still asleep and Zac cooking "morning" I said wrapping my arms around his waist.
"Morning" He said as he twisted around and kissed the top of my head
"I'm going to go wake sleepy head up ok"
"Okay" I ran into the living room and jumped on top of Tay and started bouncing
"What the hell?" He said sitting up "I should have known it was you Liz"
"What’s that supposed to mean"
"You’d always wake me up like that and you got Jess, Avery and Zoë to do it too"
"I was so evil, it was great" I said climbing off him so he could get up. We all ate breakfast and then decided to go see how Aaron and Lei were. We all got in my car and drove to the hospital. Lei said she wanted to stay there until Aaron was released and then she would get a cab home. Tay, Zac and I wanted to stop and see Diana, Walker and everyone. So we drove to their house. It actually wasn't that far from the old neighbor hood. When we pulled into the drive way i suddenly got really nervous. I had no idea why because these people had been my family since I was 8. Tay walked to the door first and opened it. I just stood there until Zac grabbed my hand and pulled me inside. He shut the door behind us. Two seconds later I heard several pairs of feet coming down the stairs. I laughed the same thing used to happen every time they would come home and Zac would bring me over to visit everyone. There was a chorus of "Zac" and "Tay’s I don’t think anyone recognized me. I stood off to the side while everyone hugged Tay and Zac I guess they hadn't been home yet. After all the kids came down stairs Diana and Walker came down followed by Ike
"Hey Liz" Ike said at the mention of my name I had 9 heads turn in my direction
"Hey"
"Liz" Diana said before hugging me "how are you"
"I’m great" I said glancing at Zac, Diana obviously saw me because she laughed and then squeezed my hand. After I said hi to everyone and I was reintroduced to Zoë everyone decided we should go out for lunch. On out way out Jessica pulled me aside
"Liz"
"Yeah Jess"
"Are you and Zac going out"
"Yeah is it that obvious?"
"No but I'm good with this kind of stuff"
"Oh I see" I said putting my arm on her shoulder and laughing. While we were at lunch Zac told everyone that we were going out again. After lunch we went back to the house we sat around talking all afternoon and then watched some more home movies of me and Zac. After Zac drove me home. Tay went to the grocery store and was going to pick up Zac on his way home. Zac and I went into his old room and pulled out the futon and just lay in each other's arms until we heard Tay's car's horn. Zac and I reluctantly got up and hugged "call me later okay""Okay, love you"
"Love you too" we kissed and then he left. When he called me later that night we talked about everything they were going to have to go back on tour in a day and I couldn't go with them because of my classes. We talked about everything and decided that even though it was going to be long distance we could make it work. Then next day the guys were leaving early I got up and drove to their house. I got there a few minutes before they were going to leave. When Zac saw me pull into the driveway he came running out. I could only stay for 5 minutes because I had class. We talked for a little bit
"Zac I'm sorry I have to go but tell everyone I said hi, I love you" I said hugging him
"I love you too and I will" He kissed me and hugged me again
"Have fun okay and I'll see you soon"
"Okay bye" He said leaning in for one more kiss before I left. The next couple of months were torture for both of us but we talked almost every night on the phone and I would go visit them once a month. I couldn't see them when they came home for Ike’s birthday because I had to go to Plattsburgh for Thanksgiving and my parents wanted me there the day after classes stopped. I had a good time though I hung out with a few of my friends from my graduating class
Part 3