She went back to her room to pick out what she would pack, which were her only pair of jeans that she was wearing, and that she would continue to wear, and her two oversized sweaters from the nearest Thrift Store, which she had paid for herself. And, of course, her guitar. Her guitar was the most important thing. She looked around to see if there could possibly be anything else, but there wasn’t. You could literally say that she packed her whole room. The only other thing was her notebook, which she grabbed off her mattress, the only "furniture" in the room besides the tiny table she used for a desk and her chair. The notebook contained her songs… all the words. Strangely, she had never had lessons. Her sister had. Then her sister taught her, but Serenity never learned how to read music…. And she just kept the melodies and notes "stored" in her head.

"My heavens, child!" She exclaimed in her heavy French accent. "What are you doing? Where are you going?" Serenity pushed her gently into the house and followed her in, closing the door softly behind her.

"I am getting out of this hell-hole," Serenity told her matter-of-factly. "My parents are completely insane, and I am not staying. I need a ride to the airport." She looked at her, looking for the better answer, begging with her eyes. It was a bit funny, because she had to look down at her. She was very tall, and looked much older than what she really was.

They left, and as she backed out of the driveway, she asked Serenity, "What did your parents do to you, child? It couldn’t have been that bad." Serenity stared straight ahead. "You have no idea," she said, a tear rolling down her cheek. It was the first time she had cried in five years. But only one tear came. She had expected more, but that was all.

"I can’t tell anyone." They were silent for the rest of the ride.

"Oklahoma," she replied. She smiled weakly at Serenity. They were heading into the airport, and she was still trying to decide where to go.

"What city?"

"Tulsa. It’s a nice, quiet place, and it’s very beautiful. And there is a chance that you will be discovered for your music." She smiled a smile that had a hidden meaning. Only Serenity didn’t get it. There had probably been some people who were discovered there, but there were those kind of people everywhere, weren’t there?

As Serenity got up to the desk, the woman looked at her critically from behind her glasses and said, "How may I help you?" She raised her eyebrows, seeming a little disgusted by Serenity’s appearance.

"I’d like a ticket to Tulsa, Oklahoma, please. The next flight possible." She studied Serenity carefully, looking at her clothes, her hair, everything.

"I need some kind of an ID, please." Serenity pulled out her "ID", which was fake. But it had her picture, and it had everything it needed. The only difference between her and it was that it said she was 21, and she was really 16. But the woman accepted it, and didn’t worry about it.

Then, she changed into her other sweater. This one was clean, and it looked good. It brought out her eyes because it was black. Another good thing about it was that it covered up the stain on the top of her jeans. She stuffed all her other clothes in her bag and jumped as she heard the door open and voices speaking softly. As they came into the actual restroom, Serenity could see that they were two of the popular girls from her school. Iris and Lisa. They were always talking and giggling about her. Before they saw her, she went into one of the stalls, shut the door quietly and stood on the toilet to listen.

"Yea! And did you know that she’s not a virgin?" Iris added. "Her dad told me that. Even he knows! If I had sex, I would never tell my parents!"

Serenity had to hold her breath to keep from gasping. Her dad! She felt like murdering someone! Namely him! But she kept quiet to hear them over the rushing of water from the sink as they washed their hands.

"I heard that she was raped," Lisa said with mock sympathy.

"Oh, poor thing. No wonder she’s such a quiet, sullen girl." Iris laughed at the thought. "Oh, you know what I also heard?"

"What?"

Lisa gasped, then laughed. "I wouldn’t be surprised," she said. Then the voices faded out and disappeared as the girls left the restroom. Serenity climbed shakily down off the toilet seat and came out of the stall. She felt really bad at first, then anger took over and she ran out of the restroom to see if they were still around so she could cuss them out and tell them a piece of her mind. But they were nowhere to be found. Then a thought struck her: Why were they there, anyway?

At last, she found it. The band’s name was Hanson, which just happened to be all of their last name because they were brothers. She was so entranced in the magazine that she didn’t notice the time until she looked up as a young woman tapped her shoulder to tell her that it was time to get on the plane. She grabbed her things and went through the long, hallway-like passage from the gate to the airplane. She got on after giving the young woman at the door her ticket, which she tore in half and then handed one half of it back. She was greeted by a group of people who looked like they all knew each other, because everyone was yelling to someone from the back of the plane to the front and from the middle to the back. It looked chaotic. They all gave her strange looks as she went to the very back of the plane to sit down far away from their puzzled stares. She sat down and put on her seat belt, then started reading again.

After about ten minutes, the plane started moving, and then slowly lifted off the ground. The seat belt sign was still on when she looked up, so she left it on. She had to use the restroom again after about half an hour of reading. Except this time, she really had to go. She looked again at the seat belt sign, discovered that it wasn’t on anymore, and got up to use the restroom in the far back of the plane, just a few feet from her seat.

When she was done, she returned to her seat and was surprised to see a young girl of maybe 2 or 3 sitting in her seat, looking with fascination at the magazine. Serenity smiled to herself, walked up to the girl and said, "You like them?" And pointed to the picture of Hanson. She nodded vigorously.

"I really love my brothers," she told Serenity matter-of-factly. Serenity nodded.

"I really love my sister," she told her, remembering all the great things about her sister that her parents would never understand.

The little girl got up and ran back to the front of the plane, taking the magazine with her and giggling. "Hey!" Serenity shouted jokingly. "I wasn’t finished reading that!" She laughed a little as the girl ran up to a brunette woman and hugged her. Then she excitedly showed her the picture and pointed to Serenity, grinning from ear to ear.

Serenity walked over and was greeted by the woman with an apology.

"No, it’s okay," Serenity replied. "I love little kids, they’re so adorable." The woman, who introduced herself as Dawn, offered Serenity a seat next to hers. Then she started right in with a question.

"Do you like the group, Hanson?" She looked at Serenity. It almost seemed like she was expecting something.

"Actually," she laughed, "I don’t even know what their music sounds like." She looked at her carefully and said, "Well, why did you buy a magazine about them, then?"

"I bought it because it said something about Tulsa on the cover, and that’s where I’m going. I have no idea where to go or anything, but I though that maybe there was something in there about it, maybe some information or something." Serenity sighed, and memories flooded her. She wondered if her parents were home, if they missed her yet. Probably not.

Dawn looked worriedly at her and asked, "Well, don’t you have someone picking you up or anything?" Serenity shook her head, no.

"Why are you going, then? Are you visiting relatives?" Again, she shook her head.

"Oh, dear." Dawn’s eyes were filled with concern as she looked at Serenity. "Would you like me to take you somewhere?"

"I don’t think so, no," Serenity said, surprised that she would even ask. "I don’t want to be any trouble to you."

"No, no, don’t be silly!" Dawn insisted. "You’re no trouble! Just tell me where you want to go."

Tentatively, Serenity okayed the idea.

Just then, three boys who looked almost like the ones in the magazine bounded through the "door" leading to another part of the airplane. They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Serenity. The middle one narrowed his eyes, looking her up and down. He was the first to speak.

"Who is this, Dawn?" He asked. He said it kind of rudely, as if he didn’t want Serenity there. "What is she doing on our flight?"

"It’s okay, Tay, she’s not a Hanson fan. She doesn’t even know who they are." She smiled and looked at Serenity.

"This," she continued grandly, pointing toward all three of them, "is Hanson."

Serenity got up and walked toward them, keeping her face expressionless. She wasn’t sure if she could trust them or not. They were stars, and probably snobs. But then again, she wasn’t sure if she could trust anyone. After looking each of them over for a few seconds, Serenity shook their hands and smiled. "My name is Serenity. Nice to meet you." Then she walked back to tell Dawn not to worry about giving her a ride anywhere. She couldn’t trust anyone. Who knew what kind of people they were? If her parents were such idiots, then she didn’t even want to know what these people were like.

"It’s no trouble, really," Dawn told her again and again.

"No, I don’t want to burden you with all my troubles. You shouldn’t have to get involved." Then Serenity realized that she had said too much. She blushed slightly, then went back to her seat. Darn! She thought, looking back over her shoulder. Forgot my magazine! Oh, well. She decided to forget about it and just mind her own business.

As she sat down, the seat belt sign started flashing again and she buckled up. "The flight is now coming to an end," a voice said over the loud speaker. "Please stay seated until the plane is at a complete stop. Thank you for flying Delta Airlines."

As the plane landed, she thought about how she would get around… then it hit her. I’ll take a Taxi cab! Duh!

As soon as the plane stopped, she got up, grabbed her bags, and went to get off of the plane, discovering that the others had gotten off already. She went into the airport through another one of the hallway-like tube things and looked around. The large windows revealed a beautiful countryside. She looked around and saw the desk to the gate.

"Excuse me," she said to the tall man behind it. "I need to know where the main desk is."

He looked at her as if she were stupid, then said, "Go to the end of this corridor, then turn right and go to the end of that one. It’ll be right there." She thanked him and went.

They all stopped talking and looked at her. She looked right back without even flinching. Then they let her through to ask her question after Taylor, the middle one whom she didn’t like, said, "Well, well, well, look who’s back," and smirked. Serenity stuck her tongue out at him.

"How may I help you, young lady?" The woman looked at Serenity disapprovingly and smiled, but not warmly.

"I have a problem." Serenity didn’t want to say that she didn’t know how to call a cab. That would be too dumb, especially in front of Taylor, who thought she was dumb anyway.

"And what’s that?" The woman raised her eyebrow at her.

"Do y’all have Taxicabs here that go from the airport to anywhere?" That was a way to put it.

"Of course. We’re not poor, you know." The woman looked at Serenity as if she were the most disgusting thing she had ever seen. Serenity knew that the word "poor" was directed at her.

"Well, I happen to be here my first time, and no one is here to get me, so I have to go to the hotel myself, all right? Do you have a problem with that?" She had said that last part with so much venom, the woman literally winced away from her words. She shook her head and pointed to the door. "They’re right out there."

Serenity left, and as she did, she made sure that she walked right by Taylor and tossed her hair over her shoulder, hitting him in the face. Without realizing it, she smiled.

"Can you take me to a hotel that’s not junky, but not really expensive?" Serenity asked the Taxi driver, who, to her surprise, looked very young and attractive.

"Sure," he replied with an accent. "You want to go to the 5^th Avenue Hotel."

"I guess. I’ve never been here."

"You here alone?" He looked back at Serenity.

"Yea."

"This is a pretty dangerous place to be here alone. How old are you?"

"Is that any of your business?" She practically shouted.

"Jeez, don’t bite my head off," he said quietly.

About five minutes later, they were out of the airport parking lot. Then, about ten minutes after that, he pulled up to a small hotel, which looked very cozy. She grabbed her bags, thanked him, paid him, then went into the main building to ask for a room.

"Hi," the girl behind the desk said cheerfully. "May I help you?"

"Yes, I need a room… but I was going to ask how much they cost?" She was very uncertain about this.

"Well, our family suite costs $20.00 a night, but our one-person room, which is small, but comfortable, costs only $5.00 a night."

"What’s all in the one-person room?" She asked, wanting to know what she was getting.

"Well, there’s a small kitchenette with a fridge, a single bed, a TV with only Fox, a dresser and a night stand."

"Wow. Okay, I’ll take it." This was much better than her old room at home!

"Okay. You can stay as long as you like, there’s food in the fridge to last for maybe a day, unless you don’t eat very much, and here’s your key," she handed Serenity a key which was a card, and then handed her some papers. "You need to fill these out and then get back to me." Just then, the phone rang, and she had to answer it, so Serenity sat down at the small table that was there and started writing.

"I’m finished," she said after about ten minutes of nothing but writing. She had had to push down on the pen so the writing showed through to the other paper, and her hand was feeling a bit cramped. She handed the woman the papers and added, "Does the room have a bathroom with a shower?" The woman just nodded and took the papers. She was still on the phone with what sounded like a boyfriend, so Serenity just left and went to her room, which was number 7.

She unlocked the door, walked in, and was greeted by the smell of air freshener. It was a very pleasant room, and she really wanted to just lay there and sleep. But she needed new clothes. So she picked up the phone on the night stand and pushed the button for calling outside places. Then she dialed the same number she had seen and written down off of the back of the Taxicab.

"Hello," a young man’s voice answered. "You have reached the Taxi Express Line. How may I help you?"

"I need to go somewhere, and I don’t have a car or anything," Serenity started. "So I was wondering if one of your little Taxi driver people could come pick me up and take me to the mall?"

"Sure. Where are you located, ma’am?"

"I’m at the 5^th Avenue Hotel, on 5^th Avenue, obviously."

"All right, someone will be there in about five minutes. Thank you for selecting Taxi Express for your every-day traveling needs. Have a nice day!" Click.

She sat there for a few seconds, kind of shocked that they would be there in five minutes. She doubted that they could do that. Oh, well.

She went into the bathroom attached to the hotel room, and glanced in the mirror, running her hands through her hair to make sure that it didn’t have any tangles. She nodded and smiled at her reflection, then went outside to wait for the cab after grabbing a few of the $50 bills from in the bag and stuffing them in her pocket.

When the cab pulled up, Serenity noticed that it was the same guy who had driven her to the hotel, and she groaned. Ugh. Why him? She thought to herself, annoyed.

"Well, look who wants another ride," he said as she got in and sat down in the back seat.

"Take me to the nearest mall," she said, her voice flat and without emotion or tone.

"Okay, miss. I take people to the mall all the time." He kept talking and talking throughout the whole ride, and she just tuned out. Soon, all he was was this annoying little humming sound in the background.

When they got there about ten minutes later, he said, "Enjoy your shopping trip, I’ll see you around." She paid him with one of the bills and got change back, then got out of the Taxicab. She went into the mall, which was surprisingly very large, even though Tulsa was a somewhat small place compared to LA.

She walked around for a while, aimlessly going through stores like JC Penney and The Gap. As she looked through some racks of clothing which was for sale, she realized that she only had a limited amount of money, and that all this designer clothing was starting to make her feel nauseous.

She walked briskly out of The Gap, and looked around her. I know there was one of those around here! She thought, looking around and starting to walk back the direction she came. Ah, she thought. There it is! She ran toward the piecing and tattoo parlor she had walked by earlier during her "spree". She walked right up to the somewhat good-looking guy in the somewhat small, stuffy room, and said to him, "Give me a tattoo and some piercings. Now." He looked at her, raising his left eyebrow and looking her in the eyes. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw his eyes. They were a deep, deep blue… they seemed to hypnotize her.

"Excuse me?" He said, looking at her as if she was some kind of freak.

"Give me a tattoo and some piercings."

"What’s the magic word, girlie?"

"I know what the magic word is. I just don’t feel like saying it. Don’t call me girlie." She was starting to get very annoyed with this character, even though he was really cute.

"Okay, toots, just say the magic word, and I’ll think about giving you what you want."

"Don’t call me toots, then maybe I’ll think about it."

"Okay fine."

"Please give me a tattoo and some piercings."

"All right, good girl! Have a seat in that chair over there," he pointed to a chair in the opposite corner of the room. "I’ll be right back, I have to get my ‘equipment’."

He returned from a doorway in the back, carrying needles and different colors of what looked like ink.

"All right. Now, what I want you to do is just sit there and hold still. I’m going to numb the area where you want the tattoo… where do you want it, anyway?"

"I’d like one on my shoulder… more to the back of my shoulder, you know what I mean?" He nodded, and she took off her shirt so he could reach it better. She was now in her bra, but it didn’t bother her, oddly enough. Then she pulled her long hair over her shoulder and said, "I want a red rose." One thing she had forgotten was her cuts… and her bruises.

"Dang, girl, what happened to you?" She looked at him coldly, and he shut up and didn’t ask about it. Instead he said, "Okay. Just hold still. This will numb the area, but it takes about two or three minutes."

"Okay."

He gave her a shot of the pain killer, and she felt a slight sting as the needle penetrated her skin.

Just then, a fat guy walked in. He was bald, had several piercings, and tattoos all over his arms. They shook hands and greeted each other, as if they were greeting long lost friends. They must’ve known each other, because the fat guy didn’t get anything. They just talked.

After about a minute or so, she couldn’t feel her shoulder anymore. She cleared her throat loudly and said, "I think it’s numb enough. I can’t feel it."

"You might be able to feel just a little sting while I do the tattoo, but it shouldn’t be too bad."

As he started to poke the needle into her back over and over again, she felt an unbearable pain, even though her shoulder was numbed. She clenched her teeth, and her eyes began to water, but she held still and didn’t say anything.

As he was finishing the tattoo, she noticed the fat guy staring at her. She didn’t even want to know what he was thinking about.

"There," the guy said, pulling away from her and dabbing at the tattoo with a Kleenex.

"Thanks," she said, smiling at him.

"You weren’t crying, were you?" He looked at her mockingly.

"No. I never cry." She gave him a cold, hard stare and turned away.

"You can’t put your sweater back on for another ten minutes at least," he told her. "The colors aren’t completely dry yet."

"Okay. So you can do the piercing now."

"All right, what kind do you want?"

"I want my ears done, three in each. And I want my belly button pierced."

Serenity sat back down, this time with much more confidence than last time.

"Why are you doing all this?" He suddenly asked her while piercing her ears for the third time.

"Is it any of your business?"

"No, I guess not. Just curious. I just thought it was kind of strange for a girl like you to come in here all of a sudden and want all that stuff."

"What do you mean, a girl like me?"

"Never mind. Okay. Here we go. Now I need to pierce your belly button."

She pulled her hair up on top of her head as well as she could, and he put a ring through her belly button. She hadn’t even looked at it, it hurt. So she just clenched her teeth and clamped her eyes shut so it wouldn’t be as painful.

"Okay, that’s all. That’ll be a total of…," he calculated in his head, "fifty dollars exactly."

She paid him in cash and walked out of the store with her sweater back on.

As she walked through the mall to stores of all kinds, one in particular caught her eye. Everything in it was very darkly colored, either black or dark shades of other colors. She went in and started looking around.

"May I help you?" A young girl of about 16 or 17 asked her.

"Yea, um, I want to change."

"Okay… what do you mean exactly?" She looked a bit puzzled, but interested.

"Well, I am tired of wearing the clothes I wear, so I want new clothes. A new style, I guess." Serenity looked at the girl hopefully, waiting for help and support.

"Okay, no problem!" The girl seemed enthusiastic about helping her. "What were you looking for?"

"Something that looks good on me and makes me seem confident." She hoped that this wasn’t going to take forever, so she could shower and go to sleep in the hotel. In the nice, warm, and clean bed.

"All right, I have some ideas already. This way, please." Serenity followed her to the very back of the store, where it was even darker than at the front. There were black sweaters, jeans, T-shirts, tank tops, shorts… even skirts. Everything was in the latest styles.

"You can look around back here, I think you’ll love this stuff. And if you’re worried about the price, don’t be, because everything is reasonably priced in this store, we guarantee it. Good luck!" The girl went back to the front of the store to greet more customers, leaving Serenity to look through all the "in style and reasonably priced" clothing.

She was looking through the jeans, and discovered that most of them were Levi’s. Interesting. But they weren’t expensive compared to some of the other stores she’d been in.

She soon had everything picked out, and all of it was black. She had limited herself to $200 on clothing that day, so she’d still have money to get groceries the next day, when the food in the refrigerator of the hotel ran out.

Considering what she bought with her $200, she was extremely happy with everything. She had gotten two pairs of black, wide legged jeans, two pairs of black cut off shorts, two black tank tops, two black "muscle shirts", two oversized black sweaters, two oversized black T-shirts, and a whole bunch of black bras and underwear. She had gotten two of everything so she would still be able to wear one when the other was dirty. And since everything was black, she could just throw everything in one load of laundry. She went to the register and paid for all of her "new wardrobe", and then decided to get some accessories. She went to a Claire’s and bought some rings and bracelets, and earrings for her newly pierced ears.

She decided not to call a cab but to ride the bus to the hotel this time. It was free, and she couldn’t afford to pay for anything else that day.

When she had gotten back to the hotel, she’d jumped into the shower and washed off all the "city grime" from when she was shopping, and all the other dirt from when she was home. She had to be careful, though, because of all her cuts and bruises. It hurt to sit down, but she was over that already.

Now she was sitting on the bed with her notebook and a pen, writing down names that she really liked. She liked her name, but she couldn’t take any risk of keeping it. They might find her, and she didn’t want that. So, she had to have a different name. That would probably cost a lot of money, too. But she had to do it. She then realized that she would have to get a job if she wanted to survive for longer than a month or two… she’d check into flipping burgers or something. Or maybe she would be discovered soon. She’d have to get some gigs, too.

As she finished her list of names, there was a knock at the door. She got up off the bed and answered the door, wondering who it was.

"Hello," a guy about her age said as she opened the door. She shot him a questioning look, wondering why he was here.

"I came to welcome you to the hotel. I always do that. I guess you could call it kind of a hobby, maybe."

She was kind of charmed by his sweetness, so she said, "Would you like to come in?"

"Sure, thanks." He took off his shoes and came in, looking around at the mess.

"Sorry about the mess. I just got here, and I just got back from shopping, so it’s kind of chaotic in here." She smiled at him apologetically, clearing off the arm chair for him to sit on.

"Could I offer you anything? Coffee, maybe?" She hadn’t checked in the cabinets yet, but she was sure that there was some coffee in there somewhere. There had to be coffee. Coffee was one of her necessities for living.

"No, I don’t like coffee. I don’t really want anything, anyway." He smiled.

"So, how long have you been here?" She asked him, wondering how many people he had greeted in the hotel.

"I don’t know. Maybe half a year. My parents are looking for a house or an apartment, but no luck."

"Oh. I’m sorry." She frowned disapprovingly, remembering her parents. He must’ve read her expression, because he said, "What? Do you have a problem with that?" He sounded very defensive.

She snapped out of her memory trance, and looked at him. "No, I don’t. I just had problems where I came from, that’s all." He seemed to relax at that.

"What kind of problems?" He looked into her eyes, searching. She looked back, wondering. Could she trust this boy who probably loved his parents as much as she hated hers? Could she trust a total stranger?

"You know what, I don’t want to talk about it. It’s not really anyone’s business, all right? I’m sorry, could you…." She broke off her sentence and took a deep breath, holding back tears. "Could you leave now?" She was on the verge of a breakdown, and she didn’t want anyone to see her cry.

"Yes, I’m sorry about whatever happened, I really am." He walked toward the door, and then disappeared through it, leaving her sitting on her bed, tears streaming down her face like small rivers.

"Are you all right, miss?" A voice asked behind her. She whirled around quickly, wiping he eyes as she did so.

She looked into the face of the guy about her age, the one who’d greeted her. I should tell someone, she thought, and nodded. I should just let it all out. Maybe he could help me?

"You sure?" He looked really nice and understanding.

"Yea," she replied. But as he turned to go, she grabbed his wrist and changed her mind.

"Wait," she said. He looked at her, concern in his eyes. "I’ll tell you, but we have to go to my room to talk. It’s kind of not anyone’s business, and…." She trailed off, getting up and leading him to her hotel room.

She had cleaned it up the other day after her break down, and was glad that she had. She instructed him to sit down somewhere because it was a long story, and he obliged.

"All right. First off, my name is Serenity." She stuck out her hand to shake his, and he shook it. She felt a slight chill as their hands touched, but didn’t really notice it.

"I’m Andrel. Nice to meet you, Serenity." He smiled warmly at her.

"Okay. Here goes…." She told him everything. From her father beating her, to her mother cheating on her father and all the housework and no money.

"Oh, man, that’s tough…." He seemed to think about her story for quite a while, and she was getting nervous. What if he doesn’t believe me? What if he’s going to tell the cops? What if…. She stopped herself as he slowly replied, "I think you did the right thing, in a weird kind of way."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you should’ve gone to the police before you ran away. You should’ve told them, Serenity." He touched her shoulder, trying to comfort her, but she winced in pain. He pulled away quickly, looking hurt.

"Don’t touch me," she snapped at him. Then her voice softened, and she said, "I have bruises all over, remember?"

He looked kind of relieved, then said, "Oh, my gosh! We have proof, then!" She caught on quickly, then said, "Would you come with me, if I went to the police?" He nodded, not a bit of hesitation in his eyes.

"Can we go now?"

"Sure… I have to tell my parents first, though. Come on." He grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her out of her room, leaving her only a few seconds to lock the door.

But they’d also told her that she would have to live with another family because she was underage. Oh, well. Their first suggestion was a family member, but she didn’t really have any family who could watch her. So they told her to think about where she would like to be, and to tell them as soon as she knew.

"I told you that they would," he replied, happy for Serenity. She was so excited about her parents going to jail… it must’ve been horrible for her to live at home.

"Let’s celebrate," she suddenly said out of the blue. He looked at her questioningly.

"Okay… I’ll drive, since you can’t," he said, smiling. He knew that she was only 16… and without a license. The rest of the people in the hotel didn’t.

They ended up just going to Pizza Hut and having a large pepperoni pizza with medium Cokes. It was fun. They talked about everything, from school to teachers to siblings, etc. They got to know each other much better, especially since Serenity wasn’t the only one doing the talking this time.

"Hey!" Serenity yelled in the car, startling him. "Let’s go to a karaoke bar!" She looked so excited about the mere thought of it, he decided hey, what the heck.

"Sure," he replied. "I know a good one right around here. And it’s for younger people, not for people 21 and older." He smiled.

They went to the karaoke bar, and she decided that she liked it there right away.

"Would you like to have a turn, Missy?" A grubby-looking guy asked her, holding the mic toward her.

"Sure, as long as it’s a song I know." She wasn’t going to try to sing anything she’d never heard before, that was for sure.

"Okay. Pick any song, any song at all."

"Okay… I Will Always Love You, the LeAnn Rimes version." She loved the song, hated LeAnn, but loved the version, too, so she decided that she’d sing it better than that brat LeAnn could ever sing it.

"If I," she started. "Should stay, I would only be in your way. So I’ll go, but I know I’ll think of you every step of the way…."

After the song, everyone cheered like crazy. They loved it! She thought, getting all the attention, and loving every minute of it.

"Wow," Andrel said, looking at her as if she were some kind of a goddess. "I never knew you could sing like that!" Then he added, "You should be famous, in the music business, y’know what I mean? You’re really good!"

"Thanks," was all she could say. She was smiling too much to get anything else out.

"Thanks," she said again, smiling kindly at him. Yes, she cared. No, she was not ready to fall in love. Or in like, for that matter. Yes, she wanted to. No, she did not want to get hurt. But maybe, if she tried, she wouldn’t…. No. She couldn’t risk it.

"Oh, really? What for?" He spooned some ice cream into his mouth and looked at her curiously.

"For the news…. There was a fire at my house, and it was so bad, they did a story on it, and were still talking about it for weeks afterward." She sighed, remembering her old house.

"How did the fire start?" He asked her, a concerned look on his face.

She replied quickly, "No one knows. It’s still one of those unsolved mysteries. They thought that I set the basement on fire, but that’s not where it started. So they don’t know." But I do, she thought.

They walked on in silence for a while, until Serenity saw something she liked at Claire’s. They threw away their cups in which the ice cream had been and went inside. Serenity saw some belly chains, and decided to buy one… or maybe two. They were really lovely, and she had lost some weight, so maybe she could get them and actually wear them.

"Hey, Andy," she said, walking over to where he stood.

"Hm?" He looked up at her.

"What do you think of these?" She showed him the chains and he smiled.

"I think I’ll get this," he said, picking a dog chain off of the shelf.

"Cool. Okay, let’s go."

They paid, and left the store, each talking about their new items.

"Oh, while we’re here, I want to get some of those cute little tank tops with the spaghetti straps. You know what I’m talking about?" She said. Andrel just nodded, then pointed to JC Penney’s.

"That might be a good place to start looking," he said.

"Let’s go then!" She started running, giving the silent start signal for the play race.

She decided that she really did need a permanent apartment or something… but it had to be affordable. Okay, then, she thought. Time to go house hunting….

She grabbed the key to her hotel room and ran out the door, locking it behind her. She waved at one of the taxi cabs, and it pulled over. As she got in, she asked the driver, "Do you know any good apartments that are cheap but still nice-looking?"

He looked at her and smiled. "Sure," he said. "I know several."

"Good, because I need an apartment." He nodded and drove off.

It only took about five or ten minutes to get to the first apartment he was talking about. "Wait here while I go in and look at it, okay?" She said.

"Okay, but it’s all going on the meter, y’know."

"Is that a threat?" She gave him a look that said, ‘Don’t mess around with me, I don’t really care.’

"Okay," he said, putting his feet up on the dashboard and taking out a magazine.

As she got inside, she saw a desk where a woman was sitting, so she went over to it and stood there until the woman looked up at her over the small reading glasses she was wearing.

"May I help you?" She asked. She had a rich English accent, and Serenity wondered if this place was cheap at all.

"Um, I need an apartment, and I heard that these are really nice."

"Okay…. Why don’t you come with me? I’ll show you one of our best ones." As the lady got up, Serenity noticed that she was about her age, not a "lady" at all.

"How cool! I’m turning 17 this summer." The girl looked at her with interest.

"Why are you looking for an apartment?"

"Well, it’s a really long story."

"Maybe we can get together sometime, and we’ll talk?"

"Sure!"

"Serenity," Serenity said. "Yours?"

"I’m Sarah. Hey, two S’s!" She giggled. Serenity frowned, remembering her sister.

"What? Is something wrong?" Sarah looked hurt. Serenity shook her head and replied, "You have the same name as my sister."

"Oh. What happened?"

"I’m sorry," Sarah said. They walked upstairs in silence the rest of the way. But then Serenity smiled. "What?" Sarah asked again.

"I hope you and I can become good friends. You remind me a lot of her."

"Wow! This one is so cool! But it’s the first one I’m looking at, so I can’t really compare it to anything," Serenity said. Then her face fell.

"What?" Sarah said. "Are you worried about the price?" Serenity nodded. "Well, don’t be!" Sarah continued. "It’s fairly cheap here. Cheaper than some of the other stuff you’ll find around here. And besides, sometimes famous people stay here, just to get a taste of ‘common’ life again."

"Well…. Leonardo DiCaprio stayed here once, and Hanson is booked to stay here…. in about a month. Just think, if you stay here, you’ll get to meet them!" Sarah got this faraway look on her face for a few seconds.

"Who’s Hanson? Oh, never mind. I know who they are. I’ve met them before." Serenity remembered the plane flight.

"Oh, my gosh! You’ve met them? Are you serious?"

"Yea. They were kind of… I don’t know. Rude."

"Are you serious?"

"Oh, really? Wow. That’s cool. That means they’re already here!"

"And why would they stay in this apartment building, anyways? They live here, don’t they?"

"Yea, but I think they’re having work done on their house. I think they’re painting it or something, and they don’t want to breathe in the paint fumes."

"Okay…. Well, anyways, how much is this apartment?"

"$400 a month. That’s the cheapest you’ll get anywhere."

"Oh…. I don’t know if I can afford that…."

"That’s one of the reasons I came here instead of going to… somewhere else."

"Oh, really? What do you play?"

"I play the guitar…. And I play the piano, but I haven’t practiced in a long time."

"How cool! Do you sing?" Serenity nodded, smiling a little. "I’ve tried writing songs, but I don’t know if they’re any good."

"Well, you’ll have to play some for me sometime."

"Okay."

"Sure. It’s the best I’ll find around here," she smiled.

"Okay. Now, I want you to tell me about yourself. Let’s go out for ice-cream. My treat."

"Sure! Let me go and pay the cab so I can stay here. I’ll be right back." She went and paid the taxi driver what she owed him, then got her bags and went back inside.

When Serenity went back inside, Sarah was behind the desk getting the papers. She handed Serenity a small booklet. "You have to read through this and sign every page. Don’t worry, there are only five pages," she added after seeing the worried expression on Serenity’s face.

"Okay, will do. See you in a few!"

"Serenity, this is my Mom," Sarah said. Serenity smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs.…."

"Lawrence. Mrs. Lawrence," the woman said, shaking Serenity’s hand and smiling warmly at her.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Lawrence," Serenity said, smiling back. She didn’t know Sarah’s mother very well yet, but she already liked her a lot.

"This is my Mom’s car," Sarah started, "but she lets me drive it, too, even though I only have a permit."

"How cool!" Serenity said as she got into the passenger side. "Oh, it’s so comfortable. Are you sure it’s okay to sit in this thing?" She smiled, letting Sarah know that she was joking.

"Of course!" Sarah replied. "Just don’t touch anything." She giggled.

"So when is Hanson coming again? I don’t think you’ve told me exactly." Serenity was really curious about how they would act around her… if they even remembered her.

"Okay. That’s nice."

"Do you want me to tell you some stuff about them, too? Or do you know enough?" Shortly, Sarah was talking nonstop about Hanson, her school, what she planned to do when she grew up, and all kinds of other stuff.

"Sarah," she called when she was downstairs. Sarah looked up from her paperwork, and smiled. "I need a ride," Serenity said. "I have to go buy some furniture."

"Do you have enough money?"

"Yea, I hope so. I should. I still have a bunch left over."

They walked out to Sarah’s car, and Serenity sat down in the passenger’s seat again. They drove around for a while, when Sarah’s face lit up.

(the next month)

Serenity hadn’t been able to buy very much with her money, but she managed to get an okay-looking bed, a couch, a small living room table, a bedside table, and one of those dimmer lights. Of course, all of those were the cheapest of their kind, and they looked only okay, but that was all right. Serenity was used to much worse conditions. This was very extravagant for her.

The police thing had cleared up. Serenity had told them that she wanted to live on her own, that she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. She also told them that the Lawrence family would take care of her if they needed to. And then, that was that.

Sarah was all excited about the Hansons showing up at their apartment building. Serenity didn’t see anything exciting about it. They were scheduled to arrive in about two hours, and she was getting kind of restless. She needed to go out. Somewhere. Anywhere but here. She had been living there for about a month now, and she had her little places to sit and think… and write. Well, she was in her room, sitting, thinking, and writing now. She paced for a while, then sat down as an idea began to form.

I am feeling very annoyed, she thought to herself. This Hanson thing is getting on my nerves. She wrote her idea down, thinking about what kind of sense it made. It didn’t make any kind….

Emotions, bottled up inside, I feel as if I have to hide. Nothing makes sense, and I don’t care, but I need someone who’ll be there. If I asked you, would you be a caring shoulder for me?

Wow, she thought. That would make a good song. I’ll have to check into that. Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud scream from downstairs. Chilled, she threw her notebook on the floor and ran to the stairs, just barely managing to close the door to her apartment after her. She was out of breath by the time she got downstairs, and she expected to see someone murdered, or having a seizure on the floor or something. No such luck. She groaned inwardly as she saw Hanson standing over Sarah, who was lying on the floor. She had been the one to scream, and then she fainted. Obsessed Fan Shock Syndrome. Ha! A new disease. Serenity smiled to herself without realizing it.

"Mrs. Lawrence!" Serenity called. "I think you should come out here and help your daughter!"

"What happened?" Mrs. Lawrence asked when she saw Sarah lying there. "Is she okay?"

"Yes, she’s fine. She just has a little case of OFSS. Nothing major. In other words, she saw Hanson and fainted."

"Oh. Well, let me take her to the back room. Um, Serenity, could you show the Hansons to apartment 409, please? It’s right down the hall from your apartment." Mrs. Lawrence handed Serenity the key.

"Sure," she replied, taking it. She turned to Hanson. "This way, please."

They followed her, talking among themselves in a whispered hush. She just pretended not to listen, but she picked up their conversation perfectly.

"Isn’t that that one girl we met on the plane?" The youngest asked.

"Yea. I don’t think she remembers us," Taylor said.

"Of course she doesn’t! She was too involved in herself to pay attention to us," the oldest said.

"Yea. She was downright rude to us on the plane. And at the desk! I think she’s a stuck up little snob," Taylor said, silently raging. Serenity smiled to herself. Ha. Score. They remember me.

"Here is your room, gentlemen," she said in a fake English accent. As she handed the keys to Taylor, she said, "By the way," she shot him a cold look. "I am not a stuck up little snob." For the second time, she turned, walked past Taylor, and smacked him in the face with her long, black hair for the second time. He stood there for a second, gaping. "She heard everything we said!" He whispered. "She must have really good ears."

She turned around, and shouted back to them, "I do!" His jaw dropped. Then he turned around and unlocked the room, then they disappeared inside. Serenity smiled as she went back to her room and tried to turn the knob. It didn’t budge. Oh, no, she thought as she checked her pockets frantically. She couldn’t find her key. Great. I locked myself out!

She ran back downstairs and went to the back of the office.

"Mrs. Lawrence?" She called softly.

"What do you need, child?"

"Um," she laughed nervously. "I kind of locked myself out of my apartment and I was wondering if you had an extra key?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. Here. But bring it back right after you unlock your door."

"Will do. Thanks!" She ran back upstairs and unlocked her door, grabbed her keys and went back downstairs to give Mrs. Lawrence the other keys back.

"Thank you," Mrs. Lawrence said when Serenity gave the keys back. Serenity smiled and went back upstairs after making sure that Sarah was okay.

As she went back up to her room, she noticed that the Hansons’ door was ajar. She knew that curiosity killed the cat, but she couldn’t help herself. So she went over to their door and listened carefully.

"Are you sure that’s her?" Taylor was asking his brothers.

"Of course! Do you know any other girls with silver eyes and black hair down to her butt?" The youngest said.

"No, but still. She was nice here and rude on the flight…. I’m really wondering about her."

"So she’s mysterious. Oh, well." The oldest said.

"But she’s really… weird. She’s pretty, too, I guess, but… oh, never mind. You guys don’t get it." Taylor got up and started heading toward the door. Uh, oh, Serenity thought in a panic. Hide! A voice inside of her screamed. She looked around as the door started to open. She found no place to hide, so she pretended to be just roaming the halls.

"Well, well, well," Taylor said as he saw her pass the door. "What are you doing?"

"I don’t know, I was just wondering. Jeez."

"Well, if you must know, I was wandering."

"Wandering?" He looked at her questioningly.

"Yes, wandering. It helps me think. I like to go for walks outside, usually, but back where I used to live, there was this little forest I would go to, and I don’t know where I would go here. So I am sticking to the building until someone shows me around the city."

"Oh…. And what do you think about when you wander?"

"Stuff." She didn’t want to tell him anything. He was kind of rude to her. Maybe if she got to know him a little better first.

"What kind of stuff?"

"My sucky life and my dream career."

"What’s your dream career?" Without realizing it, they started walking toward the stairs.

"I want to be a musician. Well, I guess I am already a musician, but I want to entertain the world with my music. Like you guys."

"Oh." His voice held a secret, she could hear it.

"What?"

"Nothing." He looked like he was about to burst out laughing. They were downstairs now, in the lobby, and Sarah was once again sitting at the front desk. She almost screamed again when she saw them. But she held it in.

"What are you guys doing?" She asked, excitement in her eyes.

"I don’t know," Serenity replied. "What are we doing, Taylor?"

"Walking. I am showing you around the city."

"Oh, yea. Yea, what he said." She was smiling. She was about to burst out laughing. And she didn’t know why. That was very scary.

"Oh, okay," Sarah said, winking at Serenity. "Have fun!"

"Okay, so you’re showing me around the city?" Serenity asked him, as they walked out the door of the building.

"Yep. I’ll take you to my favorite place."

"Okay, where’s that?"

"In the park. There’s a river in there, and it’s surrounded by trees and flowers…. It’s really hard to describe. It’s very beautiful, though." Like you, he added in his mind.

"Okay, sounds like a plan."

"That was so fun!" Serenity said, laughing, as they walked back through the door of the apartment building.

"I’m glad you liked it," Taylor said, smiling. He had taken her to the park, as promised, and then they’d decided to go out for ice-cream after they went to an outdoor skating rink. This was the most fun Serenity had ever had since she was about 4 or 5. Her sister had always taken her places then, and her family was still whole. After the fire, everything started to break apart. She’d even told her sister one night, "I think mommy and daddy went nutso." Sarah had agreed.

"Well?" Sarah asked Serenity, looking at her expectantly. Taylor had started heading back up to their apartment, and Serenity wanted to get some coffee from the back.

Serenity totally missed her drift and looked at her quizzically. "What?" She asked as she poured some of the coffee into a Styrofoam cup and doused it with sugar and creme.

"How did it go? What did you do? Fill me in! I don’t have all day, ya know." She smiled, but still pressed on.

"We went to the park, then the skating rink, and out for ice cream," Serenity replied simply, taking a sip of the mixture through the "stir stick," which was really a very thin straw.

"That’s it? No kissing?" Serenity burst out laughing at Sarah’s expression. She looked very clearly disappointed and surprised.

"No!" She exclaimed, having trouble keeping coffee from squirting out her nose and mouth. She was still laughing, when Taylor himself walked in. That just made Serenity laugh even harder.

He looked at her for a second, then looked at Sarah, then back at Serenity. "What’s so funny?" Serenity almost had her composure back. But then she looked up at him and that just set her off in another fit of laughter. Now he looked kind of paranoid, mixed with anger and embarrassment.

Serenity finally calmed down, then she said, "Never mind, it’s not you." She still had a small hint of laughter in her voice, and she smiled at him.

Sarah was looking at Taylor in an odd way, Serenity noticed. Her face was expressionless, but her eyes told all. She was checking him out. In an off beat kind of way, this made Serenity jealous, and she didn’t feel like laughing anymore.

"So what was it about, if it wasn’t about me?" Taylor asked Serenity. He was still blushing. That’s okay, Serenity thought to herself, smiling once again. He looks cute when he’s embarrassed.

"I’ll tell you later," she assured him. "Oh, wait, never mind, I’ll tell you now," she continued, changing her mind. Sarah turned as bright as a tomato.

"I think I’ll leave now," she told them, leaving Taylor and Serenity alone once again.

"She asked what happened on our little walk." He looked at her, confusion clear on his face.

"So?"

"She wanted to know if we kissed." Serenity giggled at the memory. Taylor, of course, blushed.

"Why are you blushing? Again?" She asked him, wondering if he could possibly like her. Nah, she thought. That would be too good to be true.

"I happen to be the kind of person who blushes easily. Got a problem with that?" He snapped, suddenly defensive. She winced and shook her head vigorously. To her surprise, he raised his hand to hit her, and she let out a quiet squeak of fear, then ducked and covered her head with her hands.

~*~**~*~

~*~**~*~

~*~**~*~

~*~**~*~

She decided to let the person knock. If it was important, they’d come back later. But when she got out of the shower a few minutes later, there was someone knocking on the door and saying, "Serenity, open up. I know you’re in there."

She recognized Taylor’s voice and became panic-stricken. Oh, no! She thought, hiding behind the couch. He wants to kill me now!

~*~**~*~

Finally, after what seemed like forever, she opened the door a crack, peeking her head out. "What?" She asked, looking at him apologetically. She had been crying, and her eyes were all red. Her nose was also stuffed up, and he heard that when she talked.

"I understand now," he said after she was done. "I understand how you feel, and I’ll be here for you if you ever need anybody to talk to."

"Thanks," she said hoarsely, and smiled up at him. She was still crying a little, and he wiped the rest of her tears away with his fingertips.

"I’ll let you get dressed now, huh?" He said, getting up and heading toward the door. She just nodded. He closed the door behind him, and realized that his left shoulder was soaked. Better change, he thought, heading for the apartment he shared with his brothers.

"Yea, I’ll be fine," Serenity replied. "Thanks for offering, though. Maybe another time."

"Okay," Sarah said, reluctantly heading back to the door. "Tell me what happened later." Serenity nodded in reply. They said goodbye again, and Serenity wondered if she had made a mistake, staying home. No, she thought. It’s not a mistake. I followed an impulse, and my impulses are usually right.

"No, that’s all right, Mrs. L. What are you here for?" Serenity opened the door, inviting her in, but Mrs. Lawrence said that she’d only need a minute of her time.

After a little bit of small talk, Mrs. Lawrence left again, and Serenity was alone. She couldn’t stand the silence any longer, so she went over and knocked on apartment door 409.

"Um, hi," the oldest one said, opening the door a crack. He looked at her as if he were saying, "What in the world are you doing here? I thought you hated our guts!"

"Yea, sec." He turned around and yelled, "Tay! Door!" Then he turned back and said, "He’ll be here in a minute."

Serenity was oddly amused by this little "ritual," and she wondered if they did that sort of thing when they were living at home, too.

"Hi, Serenity," he said breathlessly when he came to the door. "What’s up? Are you okay? Have you been crying again?"

He pulled her inside gently and sat her down on their couch, which was much softer than hers.

"To answer your questions, I was bored, yes, and yes." She attempted another smile, and succeeded this time.

"Okay…. Why were you crying?" He had a worried look in his eyes, and she felt like kissing him. Right then and there, just kissing him. Am I falling in love? She asked herself.

"I always cry after I sing this one song I wrote…. I was singing it, and so I started to cry."

"And you were bored? Is that possible? I thought you always had things to do."

"That works for me. Ike! Zac! Come meet Serenity!" Isaac, who she later found out was the oldest, came out of the kitchen, and Zac, the youngest, came out of one of the bedrooms, where she had heard Nintendo noises a few minutes earlier.

"Didn’t we meet her already?" They both said at the same time. "Jinx!" Zac yelled at Isaac, who stuck his tongue out at his little brother.

"Yea, but she wants to start over," Taylor told them.

"I want to apologize for being so rude the first time we met. Especially to Taylor, who is, I must say, my best friend right now."

Taylor blushed a little, then hugged her. "Thanks," he whispered into her ear.

"Shut up, Zac," Taylor said jokingly. "Okay, guys, this is Serenity, Serenity, this is Isaac," he pointed to the tall one, and she shook his hand as he said, "Call me Ike."

They ended up having a huge pillow/tickle fight until Isaac just happened to look at the clock.

"Oh, no, guys! The dinner party is starting in, like, ten minutes!" This shut everyone up for a few seconds, then they all ran into different directions. Serenity opened their door and went out, then she opened her door and went in as she said, "Bye, guys! Gotta change!"

With not much time to decide what to wear, she pulled out a black pair of slacks, which she had bought at Target, which was a little ways down the street, and she wore a dark blue blouse with it, which she had gotten at the mall downtown.

She wore her one and only pair of dress shoes, which were given to her by Sarah, who had said that she never wore them. They were black, and had heels about an inch and a half high, so she would be just a few centimeters shorter than Taylor, which made her feel a little less intimidated by him. Sure, he was kind of skinny, but he was still really strong and tall, and he intimidated her.

She ran to the bathroom, grabbing a pair of thin, black stockings on the way, and looked in the mirror. She sat down on the floor, put on the stockings, then the shoes, and stood up again, brushing off her bottom. She grabbed the brush and ran it through her long, black hair, threw it back onto the counter, and grabbed her keys as she ran out the door and over to the Hansons’ door again. She knocked, and then just let herself in, which was a mistake. She walked right in on chaos. First off, all three of them nearly jumped out of their skin when they saw her walk in, because they weren’t exactly expecting her…. They were all in their boxers, and they were all frantically searching for stuff to wear, so she helped them one at a time.

"Okay, Ike, I think you should wear this," she said, handing him a pair of black slacks and a dark forest green dress shirt out of "his" dresser. Then she turned to Taylor.

"You should wear this," she told him after a few seconds of rummaging through the closet, which Taylor had claimed as his. She handed him a deep red shirt and, as well, black slacks.

"Now, Zac, let me see," she said, looking at him thoughtfully. Then she looked through "his" dresser and pulled out another pair of black slacks, and a navy blue dress shirt.

"Okay, guys," she said after they had all gone to their bedroom to change. "Remember this one important thing." They looked at her expectantly as they put on their shoes. "Wear a smile. It’s your best feature!" She demonstrated a cheesy smile, then added, "Of course not that dumb looking, but still. Always smile." She smiled a real smile and then motioned for them to hurry because they were already running late. They ran out the door and headed for the basement, talking excitedly about how much fun they were going to have.

Now it was around 3:00am, and Taylor decided that he’d better carry her up to her room. She was surprisingly light, which he wasn’t used to for a girl. But then again, he couldn’t really say anything because not all girls were the size of the only other girl he had ever had to carry.

As he headed up to their floor in the elevator, he looked down at her and thought about how angelic she looked while she was sleeping. He wondered what her reaction would be if he kissed her. She was very unpredictable, so he didn’t take the chance. He would maybe when she was awake, but not while she was sleeping. Too risky.

As the elevator door opened on the fourth floor, he saw that there were people who wanted to get in, so he hurried out. They gave him strange looks, but he ignored them and kept going to Serenity’s room. He reached into her pocked and pulled out the key, which woke her up. She smiled up at him sleepily. "Hi," she said, her voice filled with sleep. He smiled back at her, unlocking the door with her key.

"I can walk," she told him, and tried to get him to let go of her, but he wouldn’t. He didn’t want to let her go. She looked in his eyes, and he felt like she was searching his soul for… something. And then she just let him carry her into her room and lay her down on her bed. Then she smiled up at him again, and followed her impulse to kiss him. And she was surprised to find that he was kissing her back. She felt like she was in heaven for a few seconds, which was enough to make her forget about her past for a little while. They said goodnight and he left, putting her key on the small table in the living room.

"I had to bring Serenity to her apartment. She fell asleep downstairs on the couch and she wouldn’t wake up."

"Oh, really." Taylor nodded, taking off his shoes.

"Did you have fun?" Taylor nodded again.

"Why did you leave early, anyways?" He asked Isaac, not really interested.

"I had to take psycho-boy here to bed," he said, indicating Zac, who was sleeping soundly in a bean bag in front of their TV.

Taylor chuckled. "Did you have fun?"

"Not really."

"Why?" Taylor was kind of surprised to hear that Isaac didn’t have fun. That was a first.

"Because you were dancing with the only good dancer all night!" He said, half joking. "No, seriously?" Taylor nodded. "Sarah wasn’t there." Taylor stopped changing and looked at Isaac like he was nuts.

"Are you serious?!" Isaac just nodded.

"But she’s a screamie! A groupie! The kind of person who would faint if you kissed her…." He pictured Serenity in his mind for a short second, then turned back to Isaac, who was saying something about really liking Sarah.

"I mean, she didn’t scream when you and that Serenity girl went for a walk, and I think she’s really pretty. So what if she screamed on our first ‘encounter’? She was excited, that’s all."

"Well, whatever, Ike. Like her, it’s your business. But you’ll never believe what happened to me." He smiled as he put toothpaste on his toothbrush and started brushing his teeth.

"What happened to you, Hot Shot?" Isaac asked, challenging him.

"Guess," Taylor replied, challenging right back.

"Um…. You got abducted by aliens?" Taylor shook his head, laughing a little. Isaac went on. "Did Serenity step on your feet while you were dancing?" Again, Taylor shook his head. He spit out the toothpaste and said, "Nuh-uh, she’s a really great dancer."

"Okay, fine. Um…. Does it have to do with Serenity?" Taylor nodded. Isaac got this look on his face that told Taylor he was going to say something really weird. Or sick. Uh oh.

"Did you~," Taylor cut him off before Isaac could go on. He definitely didn’t need anything disgusting right now. He was floating.

"We kissed."

"Little bro had his first kiss! Oh, how cute!" He made kissing noises, teasing Taylor as he went over to his bed to sleep.

"Hey, watch it, Ike. Just because you can’t find a girlfriend right now doesn’t mean you have to make fun of me." He smiled angelically at Isaac, who had stopped with the kissing sounds and the "mooshy-mooshy" faces.

"That’s not true," Isaac defended himself. "There are plenty of girls around here who would love to go out with me. I just don’t want to go out with them, that’s all."

"Oh, excuses, excuses," Taylor said. My turn to tease back….

"It’s the truth, Jordan Taylor! I wanna go out with Sarah." He made a little pouty face, which got Taylor laughing. He was laughing so hard, he could barely manage to choke out, "Yea, right!"

"Fine. I bet you that if I walked up to any girl tomorrow and asked her out, she’d go out with me," Isaac challenged. That shut Taylor up as a plan began to take form in his mind.

"I bet that you’d be either turned down flat or too chicken to even ask," Taylor replied.

"Okay, let’s bet. $5.00."

"Okay, then. $5.00."

They shook on it.

"Hey, Ike, old buddy, old pal!" Zac yelled at the top of his lungs and jumped on top of his brother. "Ya wanna go to the amusement park?! Do ya, do ya, do ya?!" Isaac pushed Zac off of himself and looked at Taylor, who was looking at Isaac with a mischievous grin plastered on his face. "What?" Isaac asked, still halfway asleep.

"Remember our bet?" Taylor asked him, grinning.

"What be~? Oh, yea, I remember." He frowned, remembering their conversation last night.

"Today’s the day, pal," Taylor said happily. Isaac frowned. "We set a date?" Taylor nodded. "You did. You said ‘I bet you if I walked up to any girl tomorrow.’ Well, rise and shine! Today’s the tomorrow you were talkin’ about yesterday!"

Isaac groaned again as he got out of bed and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. "And what’s this I hear about an amusement park?" Isaac asked, dreading the answer.

"I’ll give you a hint," Taylor said. "It has to do with you asking a girl out." He laughed, clearly amused. Isaac nodded.

"Fine. I’ll do it. And I’ll get a date for sometime this week."

"Cool. I’m gonna go get Serenity. Be right back." When Taylor was gone, Isaac asked Zac, "Serenity is coming, too?" Zac nodded, smiling up at him from his spot in front of the TV.

~*~**~*~

Knock, knock.

"Serenity!" Taylor said to the door. It opened and Serenity peeked her head out.

"What’s up?" She asked.

"Do you want to come with us to the amusement park?" Her face lit up.

"An amusement park? I’m there! Wait here." She ran inside and got dressed, putting on some black jeans and a black tank top. Then she ran into the bathroom to brush her hair and teeth. Five minutes later, she came back out and said to Taylor, "Okay, let’s go."

"Dang, girl, you should be in The Guinness Book Of World Records for getting ready so fast! I’ve never seen a girl done with everything in such a short time."

"Well, thank you, I take that as a compliment." She smiled at him, remembering the night before.

"It was meant as one."

~*~**~*~

"Hey, Ikey-Pooh!" Taylor called when they got to the Hansons’ apartment. "Are you ready to go ask some girls out?"

"Yea," he replied, getting off the couch reluctantly. "So we’re going to the amusement park?"

"Yea," Taylor replied.

"Well, that’s one thing that’s good about this." He smiled.

"Somebody has to take me on all the really wild rides," Serenity announced. "I wanna be so dizzy that I feel like puking," she continued, looking around at all of them for a volunteer. "Does anyone want to treat me to the roller coasters, and all that other fun stuff?"

"Sure," Taylor said casually. "No problem."

"But, Tay," Zac started. "I thought you hated wild rides?"

"Not anymore. That was an excuse to get me out of taking you on them." He chuckled.

"Oh." Zac looked very disappointed. Serenity looked back at Taylor, whose face showed a little bit of sympathy. He hid it quickly and said to Zac, "I was kidding. You know that, right?" Zac smiled and nodded, back to his "normal" self.

"Can we go now?" Serenity asked impatiently. "I want to go to the amusement park and ride the roller coasters!" She knew she was acting rather immature, but she didn’t care. She wanted to go!

"Yea, what she said!" Zac yelled a little too loudly. They heard a pounding on the wall and then someone shouted, "Could y’all please be quiet! Some people are tryin’ to sleep!"

"Sorry!" Isaac yelled. He turned to the others and said, "Okay, let’s go. Some people don’t seem to want us around." He smiled. Then he grabbed the key and headed for the door.

"So what’s this thing about Ike asking someone out?" Serenity asked as they walked down the stairs. She had been curious for the whole morning, but had wanted to wait until the right moment to ask. Well, this seemed like the right moment, so she asked.

"We made a bet," Isaac began.

"Yea. Ike has to ask a girl that I point out to him for a date. He said yesterday that he bets that if he walked up to any girl today and asked her out, she’d say yes." Isaac frowned. But then he laughed, and everyone laughed with him.

"Okay," Serenity said. "What if he were to point out a really ugly, fat, messy, sloppy old lady?" She asked Isaac. Isaac laughed. "Then I’d have to ask her out. But I’d probably end up skipping the date. The bet never included dates," he added, looking at Taylor.

"I know, I know," Taylor replied. "Now how about we go out the door instead of just standing here?" Without even realizing it, they had stopped in the lobby and just stood there talking.

"Yea, I think that would be a good idea," Isaac said, smiling sheepishly. "My car is parked in the back parking lot, so we have to go around the building." Everyone replied to that with either an "okay" or a nod, and followed him to his car.

"So," Taylor started. "Who’s sitting where?"

"I call shotgun!" Zac yelled and jumped into the passenger seat.

"Well," Taylor said. "Ike has to drive, so I guess we get to sit in back." He looked at Serenity, and their gazes locked for one wonderful moment. She felt tingly all over when that happened, and she was really wondering if this could be love.

"Okay, you two!" Isaac interrupted their trance. "Break it up. We’ve got things to do, places to go, and girls to ask out. Move it!"

"Okay, okay. Jeez, don’t bite my head off," mumbled Taylor as he sat in the seat behind Zac. Serenity sat next to him, silently giving his hand a little squeeze. He smiled at her and squeezed her hand back.

~*~**~*~

They got to the amusement park and all were hyper and happy. The first thing Serenity saw was a loopy roller coaster, and she wanted to go on that first.

"We all have to stay together," Isaac said as they went through the ticket line. Even though it was somewhat early, there were a lot of people there.

"We know that," Taylor, Zac, and Serenity all said at the same time, then burst out laughing.

When they got to the window, Isaac said, "Four tickets, please." The woman behind the glass looked at him oddly, gave him four tickets, and asked, "Are you Hanson?"

He laughed and said, "Yes. I’m Isaac, this is Taylor, and this is Zac. We live in Tulsa, obviously."

"Ah," she said, nodding. "Would you mind giving me an autograph?" She handed him a notepad from in her desk, and they nodded. "Sure," Isaac said. They all signed the notepad and then went through the gates into the park.

"Wow," Serenity breathed. There were cotton candy stands, hot dog stands, and little games where you could win stuffed animals. Then there were all kinds of rides. She could see the Ferris Wheel over all the stands, and she saw about three different roller coasters. Then there were all kinds of other interesting-looking rides. She grabbed Taylor’s hand and pointed to the roller coaster she had seen from the car. "Look! That’s what I want to go on first." He looked at it, and smiled. "Okay."

"Where do we want to go first, you guys?" Isaac asked everyone. Serenity and Taylor replied, pointing, "Over there!"

"Okay. Zac? How about you?"

"I don’t care. Let’s go on the roller coaster." He shrugged.

"Okay, it’s settled, then. Let’s go."

They all headed over to the roller coaster, talking and laughing. Taylor and Serenity held hands on the way there, and she had never felt so warm and safe in her entire life. Her whole life had been a disaster. But now it was wonderful. She got her abusive parents into jail, had her own apartment, and had kissed Taylor Hanson. This is amazing, she thought. I just wish that that slapping incident hadn’t happened. She winced at the memory. She knew what had happened now. He had raised his arm to scratch his head of all things, and she had thought that he was going to hit her, like her parents did. So she ducked and protected her head, which was her natural reaction. Then he had reached out to touch her, which was another big no-no. And she’d slapped him. Now he seemed to be reading her mind, and he said, "Don’t worry about that anymore. It already happened. Nothing you can do."

"I know," she replied, and smiled. He understood so well.

"We’re gonna go on that thing and you’re going to have the time of your life."

"Okay." She smiled.

They went on the roller coaster first, and afterward they went on a few other wild rides. But last, they went on the Ferris Wheel. Well, Serenity and Taylor did, anyway. Isaac and Zac waited for them at the bottom.

When they got off the Ferris Wheel, Isaac said, "Are we ready to leave?"

"No," Taylor replied. "We still have a bet to finish. Are you ready, Ikey-Pooh?"

"Oh, yea, I forgot about that," Isaac said. "Sure, let’s go."

"Okay. We’re gonna walk through this amusement park and I’ll point out a somewhat good-looking girl for you to ask on a date. Got it?" Isaac nodded.

They had walked for about five minutes when Taylor saw a beautiful girl of about 19. She had black hair and silver eyes like Serenity, and she was a little taller than Serenity. She wore short Jean shorts and a black tank top. Her hair was a little longer than Serenity’s, and the resemblance of Serenity’s face and hers was almost scary.

"Hey, Ike, I have someone," Taylor said, whispering in Isaac’s ear.

"Who?" Isaac asked, looking at Taylor expectantly.

"Her," he said, pointing to the girl. Isaac’s jaw dropped. "Wow, she is beautiful," he said.

"Yea. She looks just like Serenity." He smiled. "Well, go already, Ike!" He said after Isaac still hadn’t gone to ask her.

"Okay, okay. I’m going." With that, he walked over toward her and started talking. Serenity, Taylor and Zac watched as he wrote something down on a piece of paper and gave it to her. Then she did the same on another piece and gave it to him. Then they both came over to the group.

"Guys, this is Sarah. We’re going on a date right after I bring you little people home."

"Oh, I see how it is, Ikey-Pooh," Taylor said. "I set you up with this gorgeous girl, and this is the thanks I get?" Zac smiled as Taylor stuck out his bottom lip in a fake pout. Serenity was looking at Sarah as if she was in a trance.

Déjà vu, Serenity thought as she studied Sarah. She looks like me… like my sister. Is it possible?

"Why? Because she looks a lot like you and because her name is Sarah?" Taylor looked at Serenity, worry clear on his face. Serenity just nodded.

"The thing is, she looks exactly like I imagined her to look now. I used to think that she was so perfect, and that she would grow up to be a model or something."

"Well, you do know that it’s possible that she’s your long lost sister, right? I mean, it’s a small world, you know?"

"Yea, I guess. I have to find out for sure, though."

Just then, they heard a knock on the door, and Isaac opened it and ran in. He was out of breath, and he had a horrified expression on his face.

"What’s wrong, Ike?" Serenity asked, immediately worried.

"It’s Sarah," he started. Those words chilled Serenity to her core.

"What about her?"

"I had an accident. When we were coming home from our date."

"What?!" Taylor and Serenity both jumped up and ran downstairs, Isaac hot on their trail.

"I was going through an intersection, the one right here, and the light was green. Well, all of a sudden, this guy comes through the other way and runs right into us! And he hit on the passenger side in the back. But Sarah’s not moving! I don’t know what to do!"

"Did you call the police? The ambulance? Whatever?" Serenity asked him. They were running out the door now, running as fast as they could toward the intersection.

"I had Mrs. Lawrence do that. Here we are," he said, running even faster toward his car.

"Oh, man!" Taylor said. "That looks really bad."

"You took the words right out of my mouth," Serenity replied as she ran up to the passenger side of the car and looked into the window, which was now shattered. Reaching into the broken window, she checked Sarah’s pulse.

"Taylor! Isaac!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. "She still has a pulse, but it’s slowing, and it looks like her back is, like, bent out of shape or something!"

"Coming," they both said, running around the car to look at what was wrong. They tried opening the door to get her out, but it was jammed, so they wanted to drag her out the window after clearing away the shattered pieces of glass. But Serenity convinced them that they should leave her in the car because of the weird way her body was twisted. Then Serenity checked Sarah’s pulse one more time, just to be safe. It was still there, but it continued to be extremely slow.

"I can’t move," Sarah whispered as she opened her eyes, the words just barely audible. "I can’t move my body."

"An ambulance is on the way," Isaac said to her, telling her not to move, which was useless because she couldn’t move anyway. Just then, the ambulance pulled up. They put Sarah on a white stretcher after examining her body and back right on the spot and let Isaac ride in the back with her. Taylor and Serenity were left behind with the same thoughts: I hope they’ll be okay….

~*~**~*~

"Mrs. Lawrence!" Serenity shouted when they got inside. Mrs. Lawrence poked her head out from the back room.

"What is it?"

"Can you give Taylor, Zac and me a ride to the hospital where Ike and Sarah are staying?"

"Of course! I called the Tulsa Memorial Hospital. That’s where I’ll take you."

"Okay. Let me go get Zac," Taylor said, running upstairs.

"Thank you, Mrs. L. I appreciate it."

Taylor and Zac showed up downstairs about two minutes later, ready to go.

"How did he get in an accident?" Zac was asking. "Are they okay? What happened?"

"Shut up, Zac!" Taylor said, agitated. Zac cringed. "We’ll tell you later. Right now we’re going to see if they’re okay."

They got there within about 10 minutes, and immediately went to the emergency room waiting area. They saw a doctor and Serenity walked up to him and said, "Excuse me, sir." He turned to her, giving her his attention. "Did an ambulance just now bring a girl that looked kind of like me and a guy, her boyfriend?"

"Yes, there was an ambulance. The young man and woman were brought to the ER and are doing fine right now. Are you family?"

"Yes, um, I mean no. I don’t know." Great answer, Serenity! She scolded herself. Now what’s he gonna think?

"So which is it?" He looked annoyed.

"I don’t know. She might be my sister… it’s a long story. I need to see her, though. And those two," she pointed to Taylor and Zac, who had been standing behind her, "need to see the young man. He’s their brother."

"Okay, follow me," he said, walking toward the hallway. They followed in silence, mostly, but every once in a while Taylor and Zac would whisper something that was out of Serenity’s hearing range. She didn’t even try to understand it or hear it because she was in deep thought about Sarah. And then she realized something: If she dies, I’ll have lost my sister twice….

"Is a Miss Serenity Rogers here?" A doctor asked everyone in the waiting room. Serenity stood up. "That would be me, sir," she said nervously. They had been at the hospital all night, waiting and worrying about Sarah and Ike.

"I need to see you regarding Sarah Rogers." She is my sister! Serenity thought.

"What about her? Is she okay?" She went over to talk to the doctor, who took her to his office to talk. Oh, no, she thought. It must be bad….

"I have news on how she’s doing and approximately how long she’ll have to stay here," he started, sitting down in his chair behind the desk. He motioned for her to have a seat, but she refused it. She would take the news, good or bad, standing up.

"She is alive, and she will be okay mentally," he continued, looking into Serenity’s eyes. "And I want you to know that you definitely did the right thing, not moving her. If you did, there would have been an even smaller chance of her staying alive. Yet, I regret to inform you that she won’t be able to walk again."

"What?!" Serenity practically screamed. She felt she’d been hit by a truck. In those few seconds, many emotions ran through her. Sad that her sister would never be able to walk again. Yet happy that she was alive. Afraid of how the rest of her life would be. Angry at the doctor for telling her, and angry at the person who ran into Isaac’s car and did this.

"Unless there’s a miracle of some kind, she won’t be able to walk. I’m sorry," he finished, looking up at her apologetically.

"Are you sure?" She asked, tears starting to flow down her cheeks. He just nodded silently.

~*~**~*~

"So?" Taylor and Zac asked when she came back out from the office. She was still crying, and Taylor immediately ran to her side and embraced her.

"What happened?" She wiped her face, but it didn’t help any because she just continued to cry. She feared that she would never be able to stop.

"He said that she won’t be able to walk again because of her back," she told him between sobs. She nestled her face in his sweater, crying all over him… again. He just held on to her, which was all she needed.

"Can we go see her?" He asked slowly, unsure of her reaction.

"I don’t know," she said, looking up at him. "I forgot to ask." For some reason, this struck her as funny and she started giggling a little, but stopped after only a few seconds.

"I’ll go ask, then," Taylor told her, gently leading her to a seat in the waiting room, and walking over to the office she had come out of. He knocked on the door lightly, then opened it.

"Uh, hello," he started, kind of unsure of whether to call him doctor or sir or what.

"Hello. How may I help you?" The doctor looked at him oddly, waiting for a reply.

"Well, I am here to ask Serenity’s question, actually," Taylor started. "She’s kind of busy at the moment." He gave the doctor a significant look, then continued. "Can we see Sarah?"

"Not yet," the doctor replied. "She is being examined and brought to her room. They are still trying to see if there is any way she could still walk. You might be able to go in and see her tomorrow." He looked at Taylor apologetically, as if he was feeling his pain, too.

"Oh. Well, thank you." Taylor turned to leave when the doctor said, "the most you can do right now is pray for her."

"We will. We’ll be praying as hard as we can…."

~*~**~*~

"Well?" Serenity asked when she saw Taylor come back out of the office.

"He said we might be able to visit her tomorrow," he replied. He decided not to tell her about how they still have hope of finding a "miracle". He didn’t want to bring her hopes up, then let them crash down again. She’d been disappointed too many times already.

~*~**~*~

"I still can’t believe she’s my sister," Serenity said in Mrs. Lawrence’s car on the way home from the hospital. "After all these years I’ve finally found her, and she’s not going to be able to walk." She started to cry again.

"All we can do right now is pray," Taylor said, putting his arm around her. "Pray for a miracle." She nodded and tried to smile a little.

"Just be glad that she’s alive, Serenity," Zac said to her, turning around in his seat and looking into her eyes with sympathy. "If it hadn’t been for you telling us not to move her, she would’ve died."

"I know," Serenity replied. "But now I feel so helpless…. I wish I could do more. I wish that they could actually find a miracle to make her walk again…."

"Well, maybe they will," Taylor said. "All we can do is hope. And even if they don’t, she’ll still be the same person. It’s not like she’d change in personality."

"Thanks you guys," Serenity said to Taylor and Zac. "Thanks for cheering me up just a little bit." She smiled and wiped her tears away. They were right. At least Sarah was still alive. Serenity was grateful for that. But she still wished that she could do more….

~*~**~*~

She lay awake in her bed, crying softly. It was around 9:00pm, which was pretty early for her to go to bed, but she just needed time to cry. She wished Taylor was there right now to give her a hug…. She was startled out of her thoughts by a knock at the door.

"Hi, Tay," she said, smiling, as she opened it. He smiled, then frowned.

"You were crying again, weren’t you?" He said, going inside. He sat her down on the couch and then he himself sat down beside her. "Talk to me," he said, looking into her silver eyes.

"It’s this whole thing with Sarah," she said, looking back into his ice-blue ones.

"What else? I know there’s something else, too."

"I don’t know. I never used to cry this much," she said, smiling. "It’s like I was frozen, and now I’m melting or something."

"It’s okay to cry," he told her, taking her hand. "I actually prefer the you now over the you at the airport." He smiled, and she did, too.

"How did you know to come over?" She asked him. She had been thinking of how she wished Taylor was there, then he knocked on the door. It was weird.

"I don’t know how I knew," he started, seeming to choose his words carefully. "I just thought that I would come over. It’s like this voice in my head said, ‘go to Serenity,’ and I did."

"Well, thanks," she said, wiping her eyes again. She couldn’t seem to stop crying anymore.

"Cry. Go ahead. Cry everything out until you’re so tired of crying that you literally fall over." When he didn’t really smile, she could see that he meant that. She started to sob, her thoughts once again drawn to her sister. He took her in his arms and let her cry.

It feels so good to have a friend, she thought as she continued to cry. Her sobs were quieter, but she was still crying. I had no idea how much I was missing….

After about an hour of crying, she finally looked up. Her eyes were red and puffy, swollen from all her tears. And her nose was all stuffed up, so she couldn’t talk right. But she talked anyway.

"Thanks, Tay," she said, sniffing. "I needed that." He smiled at her, knowing that she did feel much better.

"Do you feel better?" He asked, and she nodded, smiling. "That’s great. Now I think you’d better look in the mirror," he said, smiling even more.

"Oh, no! I look terrible!" She said jokingly, pretending to scream at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. He came up behind her and gave her a hug.

"How long did I cry, anyway? It seemed like forever." She looked at the clock in her bedroom, which was easily seen from the bathroom. "An hour! That’s the longest I’ve ever cried in my whole life!"

"I can tell," he replied. She seemed to be feeling so much better. He was glad.

"I am so exhausted after that little sob-hour," she said, yawning. "I’m not gonna have any trouble sleeping tonight, I know that for sure."

"Well, do you want me to leave?" He said, heading for the door. She followed him, and said, "Well, I don’t really want you to leave. But I do want to sleep, so I guess you’ll have to."

"Thanks, I take that as a good sign." They both smiled. They hugged again, then he left.

I have to get some sleep, she thought, yawning again. She headed for her bedroom and crawled into bed.

"Oh, man," Serenity said the next morning, stretching. "What a night." She got out of bed and stretched some more. Then she went on with her daily task of getting ready in the morning. She showered, then ate breakfast, brushed her teeth, and got dressed. She would dry her hair with a blow-drier, but she couldn’t afford one, so she couldn’t dry her hair with one. So she let her hair air-dry.

She looked at her clock after breakfast, and saw that it was 10:00am, so she decided to get out her guitar. Then she remembered that they might be able to visit Sarah that day. So she skipped the guitar and went over to the Hansons’ apartment.

"Hey, Serenity," Zac said, letting her in. "You have to be quiet ‘cause Tay’s still sleeping."

"Okay," she whispered. She looked through the bedroom door over at Taylor, who was asleep in his bed. He looks like an angel when he’s sleeping, she thought. She smiled.

"I’ll be in here playing Nintendo, okay Serenity?" Zac told her, plopping down on the beanbag in front of the TV. She went into the bedroom and walked over to Taylor’s bed and sat down on the floor beside it so she was looking into his face. He was sleeping on his stomach with his arms dangling over either side of the bed and his head to the side.

"Hey, Tay," she whispered, touching his silky blonde hair. She leaned over and softly kissed his cheek. As if her kiss woke him, he opened his eyes and smiled, getting out of the bed. "Hi," he said sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead," she said to him, following him out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. "We’re going to visit Sarah today, right?" She asked, sitting down across from him at the circular dining table. He nodded as he got the milk out of the refrigerator and took a box of cereal out of the cabinet.

"I can ask Mrs. Lawrence to drive us again," she offered, wondering if Mrs. L. would mind.

"Okay," he replied, pouring some of the cereal into his bowl and then milk.

"Do you know if we’ll be able to get Ike home today?" She asked him. "And what about your parents?"

"The doctor didn’t say anything about Ike yesterday, not that I remember," he started. "And my family is visiting them today. They saw the news last night, and we were on there, too," he said, indicating himself and Serenity.

"I have been on the news one too many times," she said, frowning. "I hate the news. It sucks."

"I know how much you hate it. But we just happened to be there. And we just happened to know the people who got into the accident. We can’t do anything to change that."

"I know. I’m still wondering who the hell the guy was who ran into them!" She was getting extremely mad. She felt ready to kill anyone who might say a wrong word to her.

"We can go to the police and ask after we visit them in the hospital, if you want," he said, trying his best to sound calm.

"If I didn’t have as much self-control and experience with the law like this, I would probably kill that person. He was probably drunk as heck, too. How could he just run a red light like that?"

"I’m sure the police are taking care of it. His car was screwed, too, so he couldn’t drive away, and I’m sure he had his own share of injuries, so he couldn’t exactly run." He had finished his cereal and was rinsing the bowl when she said, "I really want to know who that guy was. He seems like the kind of person who belongs in jail."

"I don’t know, Serenity. I’d try to keep an open mind about things."

"Are you on his side now or something?!" She yelled. She couldn’t believe this! She had trusted Taylor, and now he was siding with the enemy?

"No, I never said that!" He said, going over to her. "What if he died in the crash?" He asked suddenly, not knowing what would happen if he had died.

"Good. One less idiot in this stupid world." She was so angry and vengeful now. Not as angry and vengeful as she had been with her parents, but still angry and vengeful.

"Try not to worry about that too much, Serenity," he said, taking her in his arms. "We’re going to visit Sarah, and you have to be at least somewhat happy… for her sake," he added, trying to get Serenity to cool it.

"You’re right," she said finally, looking at him. "I’m sorry about that little thing earlier… about you being on his side? I didn’t mean that."

"I know," he replied, holding on to her.

~*~**~*~

After Taylor changed his clothes and Zac saved his Nintendo game, they trooped downstairs and asked Mrs. Lawrence to take them to the hospital again. She had to stay at the apartment building that day, so she asked Sarah, the other Sarah, that is, who was just finished with breakfast, to drive them.

"Sure," she told them, putting away her bowl and grabbing the car keys.

"So, you finally found your sister, huh, Serenity?" She said when they were in the car on the way to the hospital.

"Yea," she replied, a faraway look in her eyes. Sarah didn’t say anything further, and the rest of the ride was silent.

Before Sarah was even completely in a parking space, Serenity shot out of the car and into the hospital door like a bullet.

"What room is Sarah Rogers in?" She asked breathlessly at the front desk as the others walked in the door.

"Room 405," the woman behind the desk replied, looking at Serenity curiously over her reading glasses. Serenity noticed the coincidence of the numbers immediately, but didn’t show it.

"Thank you," she replied and ran toward the elevator to go to the fourth floor. The others ran after her and got to her just as the elevator arrived. They went up to the fourth floor and down a long hallway to room 405.

"Sarah?" Serenity said softly as she opened the door a little.

"Come in," Sarah replied softly. They all went into Sarah’s room, and Serenity smiled at her, grateful that she was alive and seemingly well.

"How do you feel?" Serenity asked, sitting on the side of her bed.

"I feel okay," she started. "But I can’t feel my legs, and I can’t move them. The doctors told me that I probably won’t be able to walk again." She frowned.

No one said anything for a few moments. Then, Sarah changed the subject. "I still can’t believe how much you’ve grown up, Serenity." She had tears in her eyes, but wiped them away before they even fell. "It’s hard to believe that this… lady is the same little squirt from three years ago," she continued. "You’ve grown up so much."

"You look different, too," Serenity said, not knowing how else she was supposed to reply to that. "You’re still as pretty as ever, though." They both smiled. They were so intent on their conversation and reunion that they didn’t notice when Taylor and Zac left the room.

"Thanks," she said. "You’re taller… and you actually have a figure now," she said, smiling. Serenity smiled back.

"So do you know when you’re getting out of here?" Serenity asked, changing the subject.

"No, not yet. But I’m guessing in maybe a month or two."

"Oh."

"It’s gonna be weird not being able to walk," she said, looking into Serenity’s eyes with sadness.

"I know," she replied. "I can only imagine how horrible it will be for you. But keep smiling… you’re strong. Stronger than I’ll ever be. You can make it through this. And we’ll be right here for you, unlike our parents were. I think that Ike really likes you. Even though you met only last night…. And you two make a really cute couple."

"But we won’t when I’m a cripple in a wheelchair!" She interrupted, raising her voice a little. "I can’t even imagine how awful it will be not to be able to walk!" That’s when she broke down. She just lost it and started crying.

"Sarah," Serenity started, but didn’t know what else to say. So she just hugged Sarah, and they stayed in that position for at least ten minutes, and Serenity had déjà vu… this reminded her of when she was crying on Taylor’s shoulder for ten minutes during her "life story". She thought now of how safe she felt in his arms. He was her best friend. He was there for her, and somehow she knew that he always would be.

"Serenity, could you give Isaac a message from me?" Serenity nodded. "Tell him that I really enjoyed our date last night. And that I think he’s the greatest guy I’ve ever gone on a first date with." Serenity nodded again.

"We were going to visit him today, too."

"Well, could you go now?" Sarah seemed kind of desperate.

"Sure, I guess," Serenity said after only a moment’s hesitation.

"Thanks," Sarah replied, then closed her eyes. "I need to sleep," she said then. "You can leave now."

"Okay," Serenity said hesitantly, heading for the door. She was greeted by Taylor and Zac right outside the door, and they said in unison, "Can we visit Ike now?"

"Of course," she replied, smiling at their expressions. They were both very excited, almost a childish kind of enthusiasm. She wondered if that’s what she looked like earlier.

They had to ask at the desk on that floor where Isaac was staying, and were heading for room 509 in a few seconds. Once again, they went to the elevator, only this time, they were going to the fifth floor.

When they got to the room, they knocked on the door and went inside to see Isaac sitting up and watching a little TV above the table next to the bed.

"Hi, Ikey-Pooh!" Zac said loudly and ran to give him a hug.

"Jeez, Zac!" Isaac said, coughing and smiling. "What are you trying to do? Kill me?" He smiled.

"Hey, Ike," Taylor said, also giving him a hug. Serenity watched all this with kind of a nervous hesitation as she stood in the doorway.

"I have a message for you," she said finally when Taylor and Zac had quieted down a bit. "It’s from Sarah."

"Oh," he said, sounding a bit disappointed. "What’s the message?"

"She said to tell you that she had a really good time last night and that you’re the greatest guy she’s ever gone on a first date with."

His face lit up at her every word, and he said, "Thanks, Serenity! I thought she was gonna ask me when I wanted to die or something… or that she hated me."

"Well, she’s kind of afraid," Serenity started, walking over to stand beside his bed. "She thinks you won’t like her anymore after you find out what happened to her."

"Yes I will! What happened?"

"She won’t be able to walk anymore." Serenity said the words bluntly, just wanting to get this over with.

"Is that all?" He asked, kind of surprised. He had thought that something really bad had happened. Well, this was really bad, but it still didn’t mean that much to him whether she could walk or not. She would still be the same person, and that’s what he cared about.

"Yes, that’s all," Serenity said, surprised herself at his reply. "What? Do you mean that you don’t care?" She was stunned.

"I don’t care if she can’t walk," he said. "She’s still the same person inside! That’s all that matters to me."

"Really?" Serenity was really excited for her sister now!

"Yes, really! She is the sweetest, most beautiful, most intelligent girl I have ever met, and she is definitely special to me. I know we only met last night, but I think I love her. It may seem really stupid to some people," he said, turning to his brothers, who were watching the TV. "But I really think that she is a wonderful person. You can tell her that."

"Okay," Serenity said. "I will! She’ll be so happy!"

"I should hope so," he replied, smiling. "We’ve gone through a lot together, considering we just met last night." She smiled, too.

"I hate to break up this little reunion, but I think we’d better go, guys," she said to Taylor and Zac. "The other Sarah is… somewhere, I don’t even know. And she’s our ride."

"Okay," Zac said kind of grumpily. "Can we come back tomorrow?"

"You’re gonna have to," Isaac told them. "I’m getting out tomorrow. My worst injury, if you can even call it that, is this bruise," he finished, showing them a bruise on his shoulder. It was large, and looked really blue, but if that was the worst, then he was extremely lucky.

"Why can’t you leave today?" Serenity asked.

"They want to test me and see if I had a concussion of any kind. They also think I might’ve gotten whiplash, which I doubt, but I am having an examination later today."

"Oh…. Um, one more thing," she said after a brief pause. "I know this probably isn’t any of my business, but has your family come visit you yet?"

He was about to reply with no when there was a knock at the door. "Come in," he said loudly. The door opened and four little kids and two adults came in and hugged Isaac. Once again, Serenity felt kind of left out, and she decided that it would be best to leave the room. She turned to go out the door when Taylor came up behind her and pulled her toward the family. "Where do you think you’re going?" He asked jokingly.

"Well, I thought," she started, then decided to forget about it.

"Hey, mom, dad, everyone," Taylor started. Surprisingly, everyone stopped talking, and he continued. "This is Serenity Rogers. She’s the girl in apartment 405."

"Well, hello, Serenity," The woman, Mrs. Hanson, said, shaking Serenity’s hand warmly. "We’ve heard so much about you! Taylor says that you’re his best friend right now." Serenity looked at Taylor and smiled. He blushed.

"Yes," Mr. Hanson said, also giving her a warm handshake. "And he tells us that you’ve been extremely nice to him, also." Again, she looked at Taylor, who was either still blushing, or blushing again.

"Well, he is my best friend also," she said, feeling the need to return the compliment. "He’s always been there for me, ever since we met, and I really needed that kind of love right then." Hanson’s parents exchanged a knowing look and smiled again. Taylor blushed a deeper shade of red, but smiled, too.

"I’m glad to hear that," Mrs. Hanson said. After a brief pause, she changed the subject. "You haven’t met the little ones yet!" She said, indicating her four youngest children. "This is Jessie, she’s 12," she started, pointing at the oldest of the youngest. "This is Avery, she’s 10," another girl stepped forward and smiled sweetly at Serenity. "Mackenzie is 6, and Zoë is 3." She finished her introductions, and smiled. "Okay, and kids, this is Serenity." She pointed to Serenity.

"Hi, Serenity," Jessie said, shaking her hand and smiling.

"Nice to meet you, Serenity," Avery said, smiling and shaking her hand as well.

"Hi, Serenity," Mackenzie said, stumbling over her name a little. He smiled shyly.

"Hi, Enity," Zoë said, giving a little wave and smiling shyly as well.

"Hi, Jessie, Avery, Mackenzie and Zoë," she replied, also smiling. She’d have to try and remember all those names, but she wouldn’t stress about that.

Serenity was charmed. All these little kids were so cute! They all had blonde hair, and she couldn’t really tell their eye color right then. She hadn’t been paying attention. But they were so cute!

The four kids turned around then and ran back to Isaac. Serenity took this opportunity to say, "Mrs. Hanson, they are absolutely adorable children!"

"Thank you, Serenity," she replied, smiling proudly. A few seconds later, she asked, "How old are you, Serenity?"

"I’m turning 17 in… oh my gosh! In two days!" She felt stupid! She hadn’t even remembered her birthday until that moment. How dumb.

"Oh, really?" Mrs. Hanson said, smiling. "Happy birthday early! Are you having a party or anything?"

"I hadn’t really planned on it, no. I don’t know anyone here except for Sarah from the apartments, Sarah my sister, and she won’t be out of the hospital until one or two months from now, and now your family." She frowned.

"So I take it you’ve just moved here?" Serenity nodded. "From where?"

"Los Angeles… and a really disgusting neighborhood."

"Oh," Mrs. Hanson replied, uncertain of how to react. "Why were you living in a bad neighborhood?"

"Because my parents are too stupid to realize that drugs are extremely destructive, and that you need money to live," Serenity said bluntly and looked at the floor.

"And so you moved here? Is your family here, too?"

"Only my sister."

"Oh."

"I ran away," she told her, feeling that she was trustworthy.

"Oh," Mrs. Hanson replied, finally understanding the whole story. They didn’t talk much more at the hospital. But Mr. and Mrs. Hanson said that they might drop by on her birthday with the kids. Serenity wrote down her apartment number and gave it to them. She thanked Mrs. Hanson for the "lovely chat" and they all said their good-byes. After the rest of the family was gone, only the three oldest brothers remained.

"If I had that many kids, I’d go crazy," Serenity said, plopping down on the floor.

"Well, she hasn’t," Taylor told her. "Mom’s the best at taking care of us. Of course we all have manners, and we don’t necessarily need our parents’ supervision when Ike’s around." Isaac and Taylor both smiled. Serenity laughed loudly.

"Ha! The supervision part might be just about halfway true, but not the manners!" She giggled as Taylor chased her around the room and finally tackled her to the floor and started tickling her. She started laughing so hard, that she could hardly get the words out for him to stop.

"I… can’t… breathe!… Stop…. Taylor!" So he stopped tickling her, but after she caught her breath, it started all over again.

"Okay, guys!" Isaac finally said loudly. "That’s enough! Taylor, stop chasing Serenity."

They stopped running around the room, but were still laughing as they plopped back down on the floor.

~*~**~*~

"So are you getting out of here today?" Taylor asked, just to be sure he’d heard correctly the day before.

"Yep. I’m outta here. Let’s go."

Before they left, they stopped at the front desk and let the nurse know that he was leaving. Then they went back down to the fourth floor to visit Sarah again. But this time only Isaac went in.

"Hi," she said to him as he walked into the door. He smiled at her.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, sitting on her bed beside her.

"Fine, except for I can’t feel my lower body. But that’s okay. It’s not like I used it for anything that important."

"Well, I was going to ask you if you wanted to go out again after you’re out of the hospital?"

"Sure… if it’s not because you feel sorry for me."

"It’s not, trust me," he told her, taking her hand. "It’s because there’s something there between us. We just clicked the first time we met, and that has never happened to me before."

"Me neither," she said, smiling. Slowly, he leaned down, and kissed her. It made them both feel warm and tingly all over.

"You’re a pretty good kisser," she said, smiling.

"You’re not so bad yourself," he replied, also smiling. They laughed a little, kind of a nervous laugh.

"Did you get my message?" She asked after a short pause.

"Yes," he said, smiling. "Thanks… I was gonna have Serenity give you a message back, but now it looks like I can tell you in person," he said, taking her hand again.

"So… what’s the message?"

"I had a good time, too, except for the stupid accident. It was the best date I’ve ever been on, seriously." He kind of talked fast, because he was so nervous, which made her smile. "I think I love you, Sarah," he said. That caught her totally off-guard.

"Really?" She asked, wondering if she’d misunderstood him or something.

"Yea. I think I love you."

"I… I think I love you, too."

"Oh, my gosh!" Serenity said two days later, when the whole Hanson clan showed up in front of her door.

"Surprise!" They all said at the same time and rushed into her apartment. Serenity noticed that each one of them had a small gift with them… for her, probably.

"Wow! Is this a surprise party?" She asked, genuinely surprised.

"Not really," Mrs. Hanson started. "We told you we were coming the day before yesterday at the hospital, didn’t we?"

"Yes, but I didn’t think you’d actually come!" Serenity said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Well, we’re here," Taylor said, giving her a huge hug and saying, "Happy 17^th birthday, Serenity."

"Thanks, Tay," she replied, returning the "bear hug".

"Man, y’all," she said, turning to everyone. "This is great! I am so… I can’t think of the right word… honored, I guess would be right for this." She smiled at everyone and they all clapped. Then they started singing.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Serenity… happy birthday to you!" Everyone clapped all over again. With all the attention she was getting, she didn’t notice when Mr. Hanson sneaked out the door during the song.

He came back in now, carrying a large plastic container.

"We bought you a cake," he said, setting it on the rather small living room table. She giggled.

"You know that you all didn’t have to do this, right?" She asked, giggling some more. She was so happy.

"Yes, we know," Taylor said. "But I had the idea. Zac and Ike helped me talk them into doing this little party. You deserve it. It doesn’t make up for everything, I know… actually it only makes up for a small fraction of your life, but I thought that this might cheer you up a little."

"Thanks, Tay, Ike, Zac,… everyone. I think I’m gonna have to cry," she added, smiling.

"Here," Taylor said, handing her a small, gift-wrapped box.

"Thanks, Tay!" She said excitedly before even opening it. She opened the wrapping paper carefully, not wanting to rip it. It had small cats and kittens all over it, which she loved, and she planned to keep it.

She finally got the wrapping off and saw that it was a small jewelry box. She wondered what was in it as she tried to pry it open, but it wouldn’t open! Taylor had to open it for her after she had tried about 5 times.

When they finally did get it open, she saw that it was a necklace. It was a small, gold chain, and it had a small pendant in the shape of a teddy bear on it. It had two red stones as eyes, and a blue stone on the belly.

"Oh!" She gushed. "It’s so adorable! I love it!" She squealed, giving Taylor a huge hug that almost knocked him over. "This is really great! Will you put it on me?" She asked, him, lifting up her long, black hair. He put it around her neck, and she felt a slight chill when he touched her skin while he closed the clasp.

"There," he said when he finished, oblivious to her goosebumps. She smiled her thanks and plopped down on the floor next to Mackenzie and Zoë, who handed her another box. This one was long and thin, and Serenity wondered what this could possibly be.

"Wow!" She said as she pulled out a music stand. "You know exactly what to get me, don’t you?" She asked, wondering if she had ever mentioned to them that she played the guitar. She gave Zoë a little hug and a peck on the cheek.

"Thank you, Zoë," she said, smiling. Then Mackenzie handed her a gift which was very oddly shaped and kind of squishy.

"Hm," she said, shaking it a little and smiling at Mackenzie. "I wonder what this could be?" He opened his mouth to answer, but then slapped his hands over it and laughed. "I can’t tell you! Open it!" She did as she was told and a stuffed animal popped out of the wrappings. It was a soft, fluffy cat in a sitting position, and she giggled. "I love it! Thank you, Mackenzie!" She gave him a squeeze, but he said, "No kiss, please. I’ll get your germs." That comment made everyone laugh, and he looked confused about it. That just made everyone laugh harder.

"Here," Avery said softly, handing Serenity another small box. She unwrapped it and found some socks that looked home-made in it.

"Did you make these?" Serenity asked, taking out the socks. Avery shook her head.

"No, Mom made them. But I had the idea about the cats," she said, smiling.

"Well, thank you so much!" She exclaimed. "These are so special, I don’t think I’ll wear them. They’re gonna be hung on my wall, okay?" Avery smiled and blushed slightly, but nodded. Serenity hugged her and gave her a little kiss on the cheek.

"Serenity," Jessie said, holding out a medium-sized box. "This is for you. Happy birthday."

"Thank you, Jessie," she said as she tore off the wrapping paper. When the paper was gone, there was a colorfully decorated box inside, and she opened the lid. Inside was an envelope, a small stuffed dog, and a coffee mug filled with erasers, confetti, a few key chains and a ring with a heart-shaped red stone at the top. She grinned from ear to ear as she pulled the coffee mug out of the box. It had pictures of cats jumping on the side of it.

"Thanks so much, Jessie!" She said, giving her a hug. "I love it!"

"You’re welcome," she replied, returning the hug and the smile.

"I’m gonna read your card real quick, then we’ll continue the party." She opened the card carefully, wondering why Taylor hadn’t given her a card along with his present.

To her surprise, the card read:

"Hey, Serenity," Zac said, grinning mischievously. "I have a present for you, too!"

"Oh, no," she said, grinning and wiping away her tear (yes, it was only one tear). "I know that look. Okay, give it to me." He thrust a large box at her, which was about as big as his upper body.

"Whoa!" She said, wondering what could possibly be that big. One way to find out, she thought, ripping open the wrapping paper.

She saw that it was a colorful box with a lid, so she took the lid off. Inside was a smaller box, decorated exactly the same way. Inside that one was an even smaller box, and inside that one an even smaller one. She was getting kind of tired of opening boxes when she finally opened the last one and discovered a small porcelain unicorn, which turned out to be a candle holder for the little tea light candles. Next to it in the box was a lighter.

"Oh, Zac!" She gushed. "That is so sweet!" She got up to give him a hug, and to her surprise, he actually accepted it and hugged her back.

"Okay, now this is from me," Isaac said, handing her a good-sized gift-wrapped box.

"Thanks, Ike," she said, smiling and taking the box. She unwrapped it, and immediately noticed that there were holes in the box. She picked it up and moved it a little, and there was a small whining sound from inside. Then the box moved.

"Oh my gosh, Ike, you didn’t!" She said, grinning. She opened the lid, and was greeted by a slobbery tongue on her face. She giggled, picking up the small puppy out of the box. "He’s adorable!" She said after reading the little tag on the dog’s collar, which said that his name was Rocky. She assumed that that was a male dog’s name.

"We named him Rocky after Rocky Road ice-cream," Isaac explained. "Taylor said that it was the ice-cream flavor you had when you two went out that one day after you just met."

"You have a great memory, Tay," she commented. "I didn’t even remember until just now, after Ike told me!" She smiled at everyone, and everyone smiled back. She was very happy.

"This is so great! I don’t know if I can take much more attention. I might go into shock because I’m not used to it," she said, giggling.

"Well, you still have a few more presents to open, and then we have to eat the cake," Mrs. Hanson said, looking at the cake, which appeared to be melting. "We should’ve eaten that first," she continued. "It’s an ice-cream cake. Now it’s melting, obviously!" Everyone laughed.

"Next present," came a voice from behind Mr. and Mrs. Hanson. Sarah stepped out between them, walking over to Serenity. Serenity was kind of disappointed when the Sarah from downstairs was the one behind them, and not her sister. But she didn’t let that show on her face.

"I went shopping yesterday for this," she said, pulling out a large GAP bag, an even larger JC Penney bag, and a smaller bag from Claire’s. Serenity gasped. She didn’t notice that Sarah wasn’t her usual chirpy, cheerful self.

"Jeez, Sarah! How much did you spend on me?!" She looked into the bags after Sarah dropped them to the floor. Serenity wasn’t sure if she should be utterly shocked or just perfectly pleased. She decided on the P’s. They seemed like a better bet.

"Thank you so much! You don’t know how much I need this stuff, and how much I want it!" She got up and hugged her, then started pulling objects out of the bags one by one and holding them up for a few seconds as Mrs. Hanson took pictures.

In the GAP bag, she found several different styles of blue jeans. There was a pair of flair legged jeans, two pairs of wide legged ones, two pairs of cut-off shorts, and a tight-looking jeans skirt.

"Thank you so much, Sarah!" She said again, then added, "I’ll have to try these on later. I hope you don’t mind." She smiled.

She continued her "clothing quest" and opened the JC Penney bag. Inside it was a variety of things. There were three short tank tops, which would show her stomach a little, which was good for the belly-ring, three longer tank tops, which were better for school and things like that. There were three plain white T-shirts, three plain black ones, a pair of black boots, and a pair of white dress shoes.

"Wow," Serenity breathed, almost speechless. "This is the most clothing I have ever owned in my life!" She said, looking up at her in awe. Sarah didn’t reply, she just smiled. So Serenity moved on to the final bag, which contained accessories from Claire’s.

First she pulled out two different belly-chains. After that, she found a pair of contemporary sunglasses, which she discovered looked perfect on her. There was a pen with a little feathery fluff thing at the top, a bottle of gray nail polish, and a bottle of black nail polish. There was also a little tube of "emergency spot treatment", which Sarah had written on in permanent marker, "Just in case." In the very bottom of the bag, Serenity found two scrunchies and a black headband.

"Thanks, Sarah," she said again, giving her another hug. Sarah smiled and returned the hug. Then Sarah said, "I just stopped by to drop that off. I’m afraid I have to get back to work." She smiled apologetically and left.

"Okay, now there are a few more things, Serenity," Mrs. Hanson said, looking a tad bit nervous about whatever she was about to tell her. Serenity nodded, not sure if she could take all this. It didn’t feel… normal. Although normal for her was horrible, but still. She felt odd. But it was a good kind of odd. But she wasn’t used to it. That was probably the only reason.

"First off, Taylor told us about your family situations," she started, "us" meaning her and Mr. Hanson. At the mention of that, she frowned.

"What exactly did he tell you?" She asked, glaring in Taylor’s direction. He winced, and she softened her gaze.

"Well, he told us that you’re in need of a family to live with, according to law, and that you told the police you were only staying here because a family owned this place and they made an exception because they believe that you’re capable of taking care of yourself. But Taylor is still very worried about you. He says you cry a lot. Is that true?" Mrs. Hanson didn’t mean to ask the question in a demanding way, Serenity knew, but it still came across kind of rough to her. Serenity just nodded.

"He’s afraid that you’re going to lose it when we have to leave for Los Angeles again to record their next album," she continued. Serenity looked over at Taylor and he came over to them and hugged her, knowing that she needed it. Los Angeles. The mention of that place made her cringe and want to crawl into a hole.

"Well, we talked to Sarah’s mom, and we also talked to the police, and we asked if it would be possible to adopt you into our family. With your permission, of course," she added hastily to the end.

"I… I don’t really know, I mean… you don’t even know me."

"We know enough about you from Taylor, and we think you are an excellent girl," Mr. Hanson said, smiling.

"Well, I still don’t really know. Going back to LA… that’ll be like a nightmare come true to me."

"We won’t be going to where you lived, though," Taylor chimed in. "We’re going to northern LA. And we’ll be staying at this beautiful house with a swimming pool and everything, too." He looked at her pleadingly. Then he stuck his lip out and did a little puppy-dog face, which made her crack up, and reminded her of her new dog. She looked around the apartment and saw him playing in a corner of the living room with the rest of the Hanson clan.

"Well, I guess that’s an offer I can’t refuse," she said, smiling. "Sure. It’s okay with me." Taylor’s face lit up as he broke out into a huge grin. "Someone’s happy," she commented, indicating Taylor. He blushed a little, but was still smiling, and he replied, "Yep, I sure am," and gave her a huge hug.

"Um… about your little recording thing," Serenity started. "When do you have to leave for that?"

"In about three months," Mrs. Hanson replied. "Why?"

"Well, what about my sister?"

"We’ve already made arrangements. She’s officially our daughter." Mrs. Hanson smiled. Then she saw the worried look on Serenity’s face and said, "Don’t worry. We checked with her, and she wants to see what it’s like to be in a stable family. Well, that’s what she said. I think she wants to be with Ike." Serenity smiled.

"Okay. Well, if she’s going, then I’m going," Serenity said, making up her mind.

"It’s settled then," Mr. Hanson said, smiling. "All we need to do is sign the adoption papers."

"When should we go do that?" Serenity asked, hoping that the answer would be "soon".

"We have to make an appointment, but I’ll try to make it as soon as possible," Mr. Hanson replied, knowing that she was extremely eager to join the family.

"Great! This is the best birthday I have ever had!" She exclaimed, jumping up and down and running around the room.

"Wow," Mrs. Hanson said to Mr. Hanson. "I didn’t think she’d be this excited." They smiled.

(Three months later)

"I know! The seats are all soft and stuff," Serenity replied, bouncing on her seat a little, and just as excited. They were officially part of the Hanson family, and they loved Mr. and Mrs. Hanson, whom they were instructed to call "Mom" and "Dad". They were much better parents than their old parents, who were rotting in jail at the moment. That thought made Serenity incredibly happy.

"We actually have a good family now," Sarah whispered to Serenity, who just nodded solemnly.

Just then, the seat belt sign started to flash, and they all put on their seat belts. The plane was ready to take off. There was a woman in front of the exit door telling everyone how to use the oxygen masks and all the other stuff. But Serenity had heard it all before on the way to Tulsa, so she just kind of tuned out.

The flight seemed to take only a few minutes, but it was really about two or three hours.

When they got to the LA airport, they had to wait until everyone else got out of the airplane because of Sarah’s wheelchair. But that was all right. They liked sitting in the first class seats, anyway.

After all the other people got off, the Hanson clan, which had grown by two people, made their way out of the airplane and into the airport itself. Back in LA.

"Okay, everyone stick together," Mrs. Hanson was saying. "We have to get to our house to unpack and sleep before tomorrow. The boys have their first recording session tomorrow, and we should be at the studio at around 9 in the morning."

"I have an idea," Serenity said, turning to everyone. "Everybody, grab a buddy. Take somebody’s hand and hold it till we’re in the taxi or whatever our transportation is."

"That’s a good idea, Serenity. Thank you," Mrs. Hanson said.

They did as they were told and everyone partnered up with someone. Mrs. Hanson was carrying Zoë, Mr. Hanson was holding Mackenzie’s hand, whom they were to call Mackie, Serenity had Taylor’s hand, Isaac pushed Sarah’s wheelchair, and Jessie followed, holding Avery’s hand.

They made it to the transportation, which just happened to be a limo, alive. They had been chased by several mobs of screaming girls, but everyone kept up, and no one was lost in the crowd.

The limo driver apparently knew the Hansons, and knew where they had to go, because all Mr. Hanson had to say was, "Take us home, Billy." That was it.

"Wow," Serenity said, sitting in the seat of the limo and looking around. She was afraid to touch anything because it might be very expensive, and if she broke it, it would be her responsibility to pay for it. So she just kept her hands to herself.

"This is amazing," Sarah breathed, looking around as well.

"You think this is cool?" Zac chimed in. "Wait until you see the house."

~*~**~*~

After they got to the house and did their little "oooh"ing and "aaah"ing, they got their things out of the limo and went to their rooms. Everyone had their own rooms, even Sarah and Serenity, but Isaac, Taylor, and Zac had to share a room. But the house was four stories, and two of them were nothing but bedrooms and bathrooms. Then there was the main floor with the living room, kitchen, dining room, and an office where they kept a computer and other office supplies, if anyone ever needed to use them. The last floor was just one giant room, which they called the family room. It had a fire place and looked kind of like a giant living room.

They all unpacked, then gathered in the dining room for dinner, and went to bed. They would have to be well-rested for the next day, especially Isaac, Taylor, and Zac. They were going to be recording, probably all day. Serenity’s last thought before falling asleep was, I wonder if Tay, Ike, and Zac could help me get a music career???

~*~**~*~

"Oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh, oh, my gosh," Serenity said over and over in the car the next day. "I can’t believe I’m actually going to a recording studio!"

"The recording studio isn’t that exciting," Zac said, looking out the window.

"It is when you’ve never been to one and you’ve always wanted to be," she replied matter-of-factly. Taylor smiled.

"So you write songs?" He asked again, looking at her intently. "Do you play any instruments?"

"Yea, I play the guitar… I have played the piano before, but I don’t know if I’d be able to still," she told him, letting out a small laugh at the end.

"There’s a piano at the studio," he said. "Maybe you could try to play that."

"Really?" She said, even more excited. "This is so cool!"

"I’m glad you’re excited, Serenity," Mrs. Hanson said from the driver’s seat. "Because this is where we’ll be going every day until they finish their next album, which could take months."

"I don’t care! I’ve always wanted to go to a recording studio! Maybe I won’t want to as much when I’m a big star, too," she said, grinning.

"Maybe," Taylor started. She looked at him eagerly, and he continued, "Maybe we could let Mr. Lironi listen to you or something? And if he likes you, then he could get you a contract as well. Or maybe you could join Hanson!" He finished, that last idea just dawning on him. Her eyes lit up and they looked pale silver.

"Would you do that? Oh, my gosh!" She was kind of bouncing up and down in the seat now.

"Mom, could she?" He asked toward the front of the car.

"Could she what, Hon?" She asked back, obviously not knowing exactly what they were talking about.

"Could she join our band? I mean, if she’s good enough?" He finished, and Serenity looked hurt. "No, that’s not what I meant," he assured her.

"I guess so, if that’s what you all really want."

"We can still keep the name ‘Hanson’, too, because she’s in our family now!" He said to no one in particular. Just then, Mrs. Hanson pulled into a parking lot in front of a huge building that said MERCURY RECORDS at the top in bold black letters.

"Wow," she said as they got out of the car. "This is great."

"Glad you like it," Taylor said, taking her hand. "Come on." He led her into the building, through a hallway, and into the actual recording studio. His brothers and his mother followed.

"We’re home!" He cried in the studio, making a woman behind a glass view window jump.

"Oh, hi, Tay," she said, going back to whatever she was doing. He looked up through the window at her. Then he whispered to Serenity, "I think she’s painting her nails again," and smiled. Serenity giggled.

Ike and Zac got into the recording studio just then, and Zac screamed, "Hi, Dawn! What’s up!" She jumped again, and they saw a flash of something purple in her hands.

"Zac!" She whined. "Look what you made me do!" She stuck her hands up to the window, and they were all purple. She’d spilled purple nail polish all over herself.

"There’d better not be any of that on the mixing board," Ike told her, sounding a bit strict.

"There isn’t," she assured them.

"Was she on the airplane with you guys?" Serenity asked, finally figuring out where she knew this "Dawn" from.

"Yea, she went on tour with us to help mom out with the kids."

"No wonder I recognized her," she said, smiling. Just then Dawn appeared in the actual studio, and shook hands with Serenity. The nail polish was already washed off, so Serenity didn’t hesitate to shake Dawn’s hand.

"My name is Dawn, I do all the technical stuff in the studio." She smiled.

"I’m Serenity… we’ve met before on the airplane, remember?"

"Oh, yes! Serenity! I remember that name very well. It is absolutely beautiful. And I remember the hair and the eyes, too," she said, touching a strand of Serenity’s silky hair.

"Thanks," she replied, smiling. "I like your name, too, though," she said, feeling a need to return the compliment.

"Oh, thanks," she said, also smiling. "So why are you here?"

"Dawn," Taylor said grandly. "Meet our new sister." Dawn was silent for a few moments as the news sunk in. Then she broke out in a huge laugh.

"You’re kidding, right? Oh, man, that’s a good one," she said, wiping her eyes.

"We’re not kidding," Taylor said, frowning, and a bit insulted. Just then Mrs. Hanson walked in.

"Oh, I see you’ve met the new family member," she said to Dawn, which cut her laughter short.

"You’re not kidding?"

"No," Mrs. Hanson said slowly. "Why, did you think we were kidding?"

"Yes, at first I did… never mind. Let’s get started. Why don’t you guys set up your instruments, and we’ll start recording."

"Okay…. Serenity?" Taylor said. "You wanna help us out a little?" He gave her a significant look that said, "come on, Serenity, we have to talk."

"Sure," she replied, not sure whether she liked Dawn as much as she thought she did on the plane.

"See you in a few minutes, Dawn," Isaac said, and led the way to another room which contained a piano, a keyboard, an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, a drum set, and several percussion instruments.

"Pinch me," Serenity told them. "I must be dreaming."

"Well, I can assure you that you’re not," Taylor told her, pinching her a little anyway.

"Ouch! That hurt!" She said, then smiled. "Not." Taylor grinned.

"Do you want to play something for us?" He asked her, leading her toward the piano.

"I told you, I haven’t played the piano in a few years," she replied, resisting.

"Just try it."

So she sat down on the bench and started to get reacquainted with the keys. Then she started playing her song. The song that always made her cry. She had written a guitar version, and a piano version. They stood, watching her, as she played a beautiful melody and sang her heart out. What really surprised them was that she had her eyes closed the whole time. Her voice blended beautifully with the piano, and they watched her in awe.

By the time she had finished, several other people had gathered in the room, and Dawn was one of them.

When she was done with the last note, everyone started to clap and cheer. Taylor walked up to her and said, "Wow. You are good!" Then he also added, "Why didn’t you ever play anything for us until now?"

"I don’t know. I guess I never thought I was that great."

"Well, you are! Are you sure you haven’t played the piano in years?" He looked at her, still a bit shocked.

"I haven’t played since I was… about thirteen. Honest." She smiled and thanked everyone for their applause, then helped the guys set up their instrument in the studio.

"If you’re that good after not having played for three years, then I’m sure you’ll blow everyone away when you try the guitar," Isaac commented.

"Thanks," she said, smiling, as she plugged in the keyboard and turned it on. She tinkered with the buttons a little, discovering that the sound could be changed, and there were rhythms on it, too.

"This is much better than a piano," she commented to Taylor, who was now standing next to her.

"Not really. It’s not full sized."

"But still."

"Well, I have a full sized Kurtzweil. That makes up for it, in a way."

"I think I’d better go now. I’ll be up there watching you." She pointed to the window.

"Okay, that’s fine. Maybe we can record you one of these days, too?"

"Really? Would you?" She looked at him excitedly.

"Of course."

"That’d be great!" She said happily, gave him a quick hug, wished him good luck, and ran to the room with the window.

"Hello?" Mrs. Hanson said on the phone the next day. They had just walked in the door, when the phone rang.

"Yes," she said. "Just a moment." She turned to the household and yelled, "Serenity! Phone!"

"Coming!" She yelled back. She was in a good mood. She didn’t know why. She just was. She had been upstairs in "her" room, putting away her jacket and shoes after they got home, and she ran downstairs now to answer the phone.

"Hello?" She said into the receiver.

"Hey, Sweetie," said a familiar voice on the other line. Her heart sank, and she frowned.

"Dad?" She asked uncertainly. Then she got angry. "What the heck are you calling me for?"

"I just wanted to see if you’re doing okay, and tell you that your mother and I miss you terribly."

"Yea, right. You miss me because now you don’t have a maid or a slave or a thing to practice your beating techniques on!" She truly didn’t believe him. He had made her vulnerable, and she would get her revenge soon. For now, she said, "I don’t really care what you and her have to say. Sarah and I have been taken into a much better family, and we couldn’t be happier. If you call us or try to talk to us or contact us again, I’ll… never mind. But I will get revenge! I hate you!"

With that said, she hung up the telephone and slumped down on the floor. She had all this anger trapped inside her now and no way to get rid of it. She decided to go up to her room and just sit there for a few minutes, blow off some steam.

When she got there, she found Taylor sitting on the floor in her room. When she came in, he looked up. When he saw her expression, he knew something was wrong, so he motioned for her to sit down. She obliged, and told him about the phone call.

"I wouldn’t worry about it," he told her. "If he calls again, just hang up on him."

"I’ll do that. Thanks, Tay," she added, giving him a hug.

"No problem," he replied, smiling and returning the hug. "I was in here for a reason, Serenity," he added after a long pause.

"And what’s the reason?" She asked, looking at him curiously.

"Well, it’s about Ike and Sarah." Serenity frowned.

"What about them?" She asked.

"Ike’s thinking about asking Sarah to marry him."

"Oh, really?" she asked, surprised and kind of happy for her sister. Ike was a great guy. She definitely wouldn’t find anyone better than him in this life. Except for maybe Taylor. But Taylor belonged to Serenity, so Sarah didn’t have a chance.

"Yea. He’s gonna take her out to dinner tonight and ask her. But he’s afraid she’ll turn him down."

"So, what’s your point?" She kind of knew where this would lead, and didn’t like it at all.

"Could you tell her to say yes? He’d be lost without her."

"I don’t know," she started, pretending to think it over. She had already decided not to when she figured out his plan, but she had to appear to be thinking about it. "You know what? I can’t do that," she finally decided. "It would be cheating. And even if she said no, they’d still have to live with each other for the rest of their lives because they’re siblings. Sure, she’s adopted, but they’re still siblings."

"What if she breaks his heart? Things would never be the same."

"Well, then tell Ike that he should still wait a while before asking her. I mean, they hardly know each other, and he wants to marry her? It’s kind of extremely sudden."

"I guess I’ll have to tell him that, then," he said, agreeing with her. "That would probably be the best thing. Will you come with me to tell him?"

"Sure. For moral support," she added, smiling. He nodded and smiled back. Then they went on their mission.

~*~**~*~

"Da da, da da da da da, da da da da da, da da da da," Serenity hummed the theme from Mission Impossible when they were halfway to the guys’ room, where he was getting ready for his date with Sarah. "Doo doo doo… doo doo doo… da da, da da da da, da da da," she was cut off when Taylor put his hand over her mouth.

"Shush! You want him to hear us?!"

"He’s not gonna hear us," she tried to say, but it came out more like, "Ee’s oit wanna ear uf," which made Taylor giggle and take his hand off of her mouth.

"What was that?" He asked, smiling.

"I said he’s not gonna hear us. The door’s closed," she replied matter-of-factly.

"I know. I was kidding."

They sneaked down the hall as if they were in some spy comedy, making overly exaggerated movements toward the door.

Taylor opened the door, being careful not to make any noise. They sneaked in, and were greeted by Isaac standing right in the doorway. When he saw them, he burst out laughing.

"What the heck are you guys doing?" He asked, still smiling.

"We have news for you," Taylor started. Then he looked at Serenity.

"I’m not telling him!" She replied, giving Taylor a look. "He’s your brother," she added.

"Okay, fine. We don’t think you should ask her to marry you yet," Taylor said, and Isaac looked at him.

"Why not?" He asked, frowning.

"You’ve only known each other for a couple of months!" Serenity chimed in. "And besides, she might think you’re asking her because you pity her."

"But I wouldn’t be! I love her, and that’s all there is to it! And I really want to marry her."

"Who’s her?" They heard from the doorway, and saw Sarah sitting there in her wheelchair, a strange look on her face.

"Uh," Isaac started, and turned bright red.

"You don’t happen to be cheating on me, do you?" She asked, trying to stay cool.

"No!" He said loudly… almost too loudly.

"The ‘her’ we were talking about is you, Sarah," Serenity finally said, hoping she had done the right thing by following her instincts. She watched Sarah’s expression change from hurt and anger to pure happiness and surprise.

"Really?" She said, looking at Isaac, who was waiting for her to say something else. "You really want to marry me?" She asked, smiling. He just nodded.

"Will you?" He asked and pulled out a jewelry box from inside his suit.

"Yes! Of course I will!" She squealed, wanting to jump up and down with joy. He took a plain but beautiful gold ring out of the little box and slipped it onto her left hand ring finger.

"It will have to do for now," he said. "You have my heart along with the ring. I hope you take good care of it." With that, he leaned down and hugged her, and she turned his head to kiss him.

"Tay," Serenity whispered. "I think we’d better go." With that, they walked past Sarah and Isaac and out the door. They were both smiling from ear to ear.

~*~**~*~

"And that was the news for today. Now let’s hear one of Hanson’s older songs, which was a hit in 1997 and 1998. Mmmbop!" The radio that Serenity had bought worked pretty well. She listened to the song called "Mmmbop" and wondered how long it took them to write it. She would ask them that later.

"Hey, Serenity!" Taylor said, walking into her room without even knocking. He was the only person who knew her well enough to do that. He stopped when he heard the song. Then he laughed, hearing what he sounded like three years ago.

"What?" She asked, wondering why he was still at home and not at the studio yet.

"We have a day off today, and I thought I’d spend it with you. Do you have anything you’d like to do?"

"Let’s go get some ice-cream, and we’ll decide what to do while we’re eating it, okay?" She asked, smiling sweetly at him, and he said, "Sure, I’ll drive us to the Dairy Queen downtown. Let’s go."

They went to the DQ, where they were greeted by half a dozen Hanson fans inside. Taylor shot Serenity a look and grabbed her hand. The he said, "Hello, Hanson fans!" They all stood silent for a few seconds as Taylor made his announcement. "I want everyone to meet my new girlfriend!" Then, in front of everyone in the room, he kissed her. Not just a peck, like he usually did. This was a major close-your-eyes kind of kiss. He pulled out of their embrace, and she was in shock. That was very unexpected. She let out a huge sigh, and looked to him for an explanation.

She wasn’t the only one who was shocked. All the girls were either glaring at her or crying. How pathetic, Serenity thought to herself. He took her hand and they headed for the line to order their ice-cream. After they had ordered, they sat down in a booth to wait.

"Sorry about that," he said, looking down at the table. She smiled.

"It’s okay. Kind of shocking, but okay."

"Good," he replied. "I have no idea why I said that."

"Said what?"

"That you were my new girlfriend."

"Oh. I have a question for you," she said, looking around carefully. "How do they always know where you are?"

"I don’t know. Maybe they have spies that tell them when we’re going to be where."

"I hope not. That would be weird, having someone watch you all the time." She shuddered at the thought.

"I was kidding."

"Well, ha ha ha."

"Sorry," he said, taking her hand. Just then, their orders were ready, so he got up and picked them up from the counter. He had ordered a banana split, and she had ordered a medium sized Blizzard with M&Ms mixed in. They ate their ice-cream while talking about various possibilities of what to do that day. They ended up going to Hollywood Video and renting some thrillers, then going home to watch them. Taylor had also sneaked in an action movie, which both of them enjoyed.

"Those were pretty cool movies," she said when they had watched the last one. They had made about 50 bags of popcorn, which were all lying on the floor now, empty. Then they had eaten some ice-cream they had had at home, and the bowls they had used now sat on the floor, also empty. "I am stuffed," she said, looking around her at the mess. "Did we really eat all that?" She asked Taylor, who had the same surprised expression on his face as she had on hers.

"I guess so," he said. "We’d better clean this mess up before Ike gets back home."

"I haven’t seen Zac in a while. Where did he disappear to?" She asked, wondering how long he had been gone.

"He went to his friend’s house yesterday, right after the recording studio, and he stayed the night. When he found out that we had a day off, he just stayed there for a couple more hours. Then he came home and went to bed."

"Oh." They cleaned up the living room, putting all the empty popcorn bags into the trash can, and rinsing the bowls and putting them in the dishwasher.

"Okay, that should do it," Taylor said when they were finished. The living room looked somewhat normal again.

"I’m going to bed," Serenity said, waving a little with her right hand. "Goodnight." She started to walk toward the stairs, then changed her mind. She turned back to Taylor and said, "Maybe that can be true, me being your new girlfriend?"

"Maybe," Taylor told her. Then, on impulse, he leaned over and kissed her.

"Goodnight, Serenity," he said. "Sweet dreams." She said thank you and went up to her room, floating with happiness.

~*~**~*~

"Good morning, Serenity!" Zac yelled, pulling off her covers. "Rise and shine!" He opened her shades, making her wince from the bright light.

"What are you doing?" She asked him hoarsely, her voice still thick with sleep.

"We’re going to the studio today, and we have a surprise for you!"

"Oh, really?" She said, waking up completely now. "What kind of a surprise?"

"I’m ready!" She said, going downstairs to eat breakfast. She wondered what the surprise was?

"We’re leaving in about 15 minutes!" Mrs. Hanson yelled up to her from the basement. What are they doing in the basement? Serenity wondered.

"Okay…." She replied uncertainly.

~*~**~*~

"Okay, guys," Mrs. Hanson said to her three sons. "She is going to get the surprise of her life when she sees, or should I say, hears, this. You all know what to do?" They all nodded. "Great. Let’s go." With that, they all went upstairs, where they found Serenity waiting, ready to go.

They all piled into the van and took off, heading to the recording studio. Serenity was literally dying of curiosity when they got there. "Come on!" She was saying, pulling on Taylor’s arm. "Tell me! We’re here, now tell me what is going on!"

"Wait until we get inside," Tay replied, opening the door for her. As soon as they got into the building, Serenity was surrounded by news reporters and press. They were all asking about how it felt to be a new star and what she planned to do.

"Tay, what’s going on?" She said. She was now even more mystified than before.

"I guess I can tell you now," he started as they went into the recording room. "You see, we kind of ~"

"You kind of have a new job," a voice said behind her, cutting Taylor off. "We’ll start recording today."

"You mean ~"

"Exactly."

"No, I’m not," replied the voice she had heard earlier, which belonged to a man whom Hanson called Mr. Lironi.

"Oh, my gosh," Serenity said after a long, drawn out silence. "Somebody pinch me." Taylor reached out from behind her and lightly pinched her arm.

"It’s no dream," Mr. Lironi said. "You’re going to get what you’ve always wanted."

"Wow." That was the only word to describe how she was feeling right at that moment. This was amazing.

"You’re going to have a choice. Either you go solo, or you sing with Hanson, as a lead, even, and tour with them. Although you could tour with them if you went solo, too." Mr. Lironi rattled off all her choices and responsibilities as he led her to a room that was supposed to be his office. It didn’t look the least bit like an office. There were all kinds of colorful paintings and pictures on the walls, and the wall itself was green.

"I would recommend going solo, though," he finished, sitting down in a piece of furniture that looked like it was blown up with air.

"Um…," she started. "What?"

"Well, I know this is all a big shock to you right now, but you have to listen to what I’m saying." He explained everything again, and she heard it this time, just barely managing to pay attention to him and not let her eyes wander to all the colorful walls.

"So, what are you going to do?" He asked her after a short pause.

"What do you mean?" She was trying to get her brain to think straight.

"Are you going with Hanson or solo?"

"I…. Well, I don’t know." She decided that she needed a little time to think about that one.

"I guess you’ll have to think about it, then. You can come back with your answer tomorrow sometime. Or whenever you have it. But I won’t wait forever," he added, smiling.

"Okay," she replied, still in shock. She left his office and walked back the way they came. When she got to the studio, the band saw her and stopped singing. They all rushed toward her and gathered around, asking a million questions at the same time, it seemed.

"Are you gonna be in our band?"

"What’d he say?"

"Do you know what you’re gonna do yet?"

"How do you like his office?"

"Could we tour together?"

"Why don’t you go solo?"

Serenity looked at them, confused. She finally realized what was going on and said, "Hey!" They all shut up.

"I have no clue what I’m going to do yet," she started. "I kind of want to join your band, but then again, I want to go solo."

"It wouldn’t bother us if you went solo," Taylor started. "It’s your choice."

"I think I’m gonna go solo," she said finally. "Because with me in the band, you guys wouldn’t be the three brothers from Tulsa anymore." She smiled, and so did they.

"So go solo," Taylor said. "Maybe we can even sing a duet together, huh?"

"That would be cool. I could tour with you, right?"

"Yea, of course." He hugged her reassuringly. "You’ll be great." She just smiled.

~*~**~*~

Serenity opened her eyes the next morning, expecting to be in her room at their temporary house. She was very disappointed. Even when she opened her eyes, everything was black. For a second she thought she had gone blind. But when she tried to move to rub her eyes, she found that her hands were behind her back, and she couldn’t move them at all. That’s when she noticed that there was something in her mouth, too. That’s when she woke up completely and realized what had most likely happened. Ike, Tay, and Zac were probably playing a practical joke on her, and they had tied her up and gagged her. They were probably sitting right beside her, smiling at each other, waiting for her to figure it out.

"Guys, this isn’t funny," she said, but it didn’t exactly come out right. That made her feel really stupid, and she smiled slightly.

"Please, untie me," she said, getting annoyed. Then she became aware of the ground beneath her. It was really hard and cold. I must be in the basement or something, she reasoned. Then she remembered that the basement in the house had carpet in it. Maybe she was in the bathroom?

~*~**~*~

"Serenity?" Tay said quietly as he opened the door to her room. "Serenity, it’s time to wake up." He went over to the bed and shook the lump underneath the covers. It was really soft. Didn’t feel like a body. He uncovered it to find that there were only pillows under the covers.

"Ike! Zac!" He yelled. "Serenity’s gone!"

~*~**~*~

"Ike! Tay! Zac!" Serenity yelled. She had managed to get the gag out of her mouth so she could talk right. "This isn’t funny anymore!" She had wriggled around a little to see if she could kick anything. Maybe a toilet or a bathtub or something. No such luck.

~*~**~*~

"What?" Ike yelled, running to Serenity’s room and looking at Tay with shock clearly expressed on his face.

"Serenity’s gone!" Tay said again. He was near tears. She had either run away, or… something else. Something much worse.

"Where is she?"

"I don’t know!" Duh, Ike! That’s why I’m yelling at you hysterically!

"Okay, jeez! Chill! She can’t be too far away."

~*~**~*~

By now, Serenity had gone from yelling, "Ike, Tay, Zac!" to "Someone please help me!" She felt like she had been lying there on that cold, hard floor for at least an hour or two.

"Please!" She yelled, more annoyed and angry than anything else. Then she had an idea. She curled her knees to her face and moved her head to get the blindfold up onto her forehead. Success! She actually got it all the way off her head. Then she looked around. This was definitely not the Hansons’ basement.

"What do you mean, ‘don’t worry’? I will worry and freak out about this as much as I want!" Taylor yelled at Ike, who was apathetic. This made Taylor even angrier, and he stopped Isaac and grabbed him by his shoulders. Backing him into the nearest wall, Taylor started yelling again, this time right in Isaac’s face. "Clarke Isaac Hanson! Listen to me!" He started. "Serenity means a lot to me, okay? I don’t want to lose her! Now will you come to the police with me or not?"

"Okay, okay!" Isaac replied. "Just, um, put me down first, okay?" Taylor looked down at Isaac’s feet and saw that they were a few inches off the floor. He’d lifted Isaac up without realizing it.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

~*~**~*~

"Someone help me!" Serenity yelled, her voice feeling sore. Once again, for the millionth time that day, she was disappointed. No one came. She closed her eyes, blinking back tears. Then she decided that she’d better let it all out.

"Someone help me, damnit!" She screamed, sobbing. "I need help," she sobbed. She saw the door over in the far corner of the room, and wriggled her way over toward it.

"Someone help me!" She screamed again, kicking the door with all her strength. "Open the door!"

~*~**~*~

"What do you mean you can’t?" Taylor yelled at the woman behind the desk at the police station.

"We can’t file a missing person until 24 hours after they’ve disappeared. I’m very sorry, sir."

"Well, make an exception, then, damnit!" He screamed at her. Several people turned to look at him.

"Chill, Tay," Isaac said in a low voice, grabbing his brother’s shoulders and holding him still. "We’re gonna find her. Even if we have to search this whole freaking city. We’ll find her, okay?" Taylor sighed.

"I’ll search the whole freaking world to find her," he said. He wished he could hold her in his arms right then. He already missed her terribly.

~*~**~*~

Serenity had given up on yelling for help. Now she just lay there on the floor, tears streaming down her face. Her thoughts went from escaping from this horrid place to Taylor. How his face lit up when he smiled, how cute he looked when he blushed, how safe she felt in his arms. He must be so worried, she thought. That made her start crying all over again.

~*~**~*~

"Taylor," Isaac started, making an attempt to get home so he could get some sleep. "We’ve been looking for her all day. It is now almost midnight, and I’m tired. Let’s go home and continue our search tomorrow, okay?"

"No!" Taylor snapped. "We’re gonna look for her now. I’m not gonna get any sleep anyway. Not until I find her."

"Taylor," Isaac said, letting out an exasperated sigh. "I am gonna turn this car around, and we’re going home."

"Fine, you go home. I’ll keep looking."

"No, you won’t. You’re gonna go to your room, into your bed, and you’re gonna get some sleep. We’ll look for her again tomorrow."

"Okay, fine," Taylor finally replied after a long pause. He suddenly felt very tired.

Isaac turned the car around in the empty lot of an abandoned-looking building.

~*~**~*~

Serenity opened her eyes as a bright light shone right in the window of the room. She hadn’t even noticed the window until then. She heard the sound of a car. The light came one way then moved to the other side of the window and disappeared. It’s turning around, she realized.

"No!" She tried to yell, but her vocal chords wouldn’t cooperate. Her voice was so sore, nothing came out but a strained rush of air. The car drove off, and she listened to it until there was silence once again.

"Come back," she whispered as a new stream of tears started to flow. She cried herself to sleep.

When Isaac pulled up into their driveway, Taylor jumped out of the car before it was even completely stopped and ran to the mailbox. He opened it, and, indeed, there was a letter in it. It was blank, no name on it. No address, either. Just a plain envelope. But it had something inside. He opened it as he headed into the house. When he was inside, he turned on the light and unfolded the letter. It was typed. Isaac came in and looked at it over Taylor’s shoulder. Taylor started trembling as he read it.

"No!" Taylor screamed. He crumpled the letter and threw it across the room. "No!" He screamed again, then ran up to his room and slammed the door. It shook the whole house. Isaac could hear Taylor throwing things around in his room.

"What’s wrong with Tay?" Diana asked, coming downstairs in her peach robe. Isaac picked up the letter and read aloud.

"If you ever want to see Serenity again, you’ll have to pay us a million dollar ransom. Drop it off by the front door of the abandoned building on Sycamore Avenue by noon tomorrow, or she’s ours forever… dead or alive, she’ll make a nice addition to our household. Love always, Anonymous." Diana gasped.

"Taylor was so upset because… well, first of all, because this is Serenity we’re talking about, and second of all, we drove by that building today… in fact, just a few minutes ago."

"Oh, no, "Diana and Isaac said in unison as they heard a loud crash upstairs in Taylor’s room. They ran up the stairs to Taylor’s room. Diana opened the door and saw Taylor sitting on the floor, holding his arm, and he had tears streaming down his face. There was blood everywhere, and Taylor had broken and knocked over everything you could possibly imagine in that room. Diana rushed over and put her arms around him. They sat in that position for a while, both of them sobbing.

"Mom," Isaac began. "I think we’d better take a look at his arm." Diana nodded, wiped her eyes, and looked at Taylor’s arm. It seemed to be very cut up, but nothing serious. Diana got up and led Taylor to the bathroom to see if they could clean it a little, and then maybe bandage it.

"The cuts are pretty deep, but I think you’ll be fine," Diana said after she had gently cleaned it a little and actually seen some of the cuts. Then she had bandaged it with and Ace Bandage they had been keeping in the bathroom mirror.

"Thanks," Taylor mumbled under his breath. He turned to go back to his room, but Diana stopped him.

"I don’t think you want to be sleeping in there," she said, smiling sympathetically. "You can stay in my room tonight, okay? We’ll take care of the mess tomorrow. You need some sleep."

"Okay," he said, managing a weak smile.

~*~**~*~

"Time to wake up, Serenity," a low voice said near her ear. Her eyes shot open and she looked at the young man who had whispered in her ear.

"Who are you?" She demanded in a whisper. Her voice was gone. Nothing came out. "Why did you bring me here?"

"Oh, don’t worry, Serenity," he said, a smile creeping across his face. "That’s for me to know and for you to find out… soon, gorgeous. Real soon." He looked at her, then smiled. But it wasn’t a kind smile. It was an evil smile. A perverted smile, even. One thing was for sure, though: Serenity didn’t like it. It made her shiver all over. A cold, horrid chill that shot through her body and felt like a thousand needles pricking her all at the same time.

"I’m hungry," she said, wanting to get as much information out of him as possible. Maybe if she could get him to eat with her….

"Hungry?" He said, as if that was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard. "You can’t be hungry. It’s against my rules. If you don’t like it, tough. I only need you for a little while, anyway. If you die in about a week, that’ll be enough time for me. It’ll be more than enough. Tata, gorgeous. See you tonight."

He left, slamming the door behind him. She heard a click as he locked it. Then she heard a car start, and listened as it drove away. When she was sure he was gone, she started working at the knot in the rope around her hands.

~*~**~*~

"Let’s go, Ike," Taylor said, shaking Isaac, trying to wake him up. Isaac just groaned and rolled over.

"Okay, fine, I’ll go alone," Taylor whispered as he opened Isaac’s desk drawer and got his car keys out. "Ciao, Ikey-Pooh," he said, closing the door softly behind him.

~*~**~*~

"Yes!" Serenity whispered as the ropes fell from her hands. She had untied the knot. Now she bent over to untie the ropes from her feet. Within a few seconds, she was free. She ran over to the door and tried the knob. Locked. There was a keyhole, though. It was the old-fashioned kind you could see through. She looked around the room for anything she might be able to pick the lock with. There was a small table in the corner, a bucket in the other corner, and a mirror in the middle. She sighed. Nothing. But then something caught her eye on the floor… a paper clip! That’s it! She ran over and grabbed it, then straightened it. She went back over to the door and stuck the paper clip in the keyhole.

~*~**~*~

"The abandoned building…," Taylor mumbled under his breath, driving down Sycamore Avenue. There were a lot of nice houses on this street, and they all looked like they had perfectly manicured lawns and perfectly clean insides. Snobsville. Ugh.

He saw the old building they had been at the night before, and pulled into the lot in front of it. It was the same one they had turned around in the night before.

~*~**~*~

Serenity froze as she heard a car pull up in front of the house. She held the paper clip in place as she heard the car park. She listened carefully as the door opened, someone got out, and then the door slammed again. Whoever it was started walking toward the front door. She heard rustling… it sounded like a plastic bag.

Suddenly, the keyhole clicked, and the door creaked open slightly. Whoever was outside froze in place. Serenity stood there, panic-stricken, as the door opened all the way. She decided she had nothing to lose, so she pulled her courage together and walked out of that room as if she owned the whole house.

"Serenity?" She heard someone whisper softly. It came from outside.

"Yes?" She whispered back. She ran to the front door and unlocked it from the inside. She opened it and saw Taylor standing there. She almost screamed, but before she even had a chance to, Taylor wrapped his arms around her and held her. She hugged him back, incredible joy enveloping her. They pulled apart after what seemed like forever, and they both had tears running down their faces. Then, without thinking, she kissed him. Then he took her in his arms again, and kissed her back.

"Where’s Taylor?" Isaac asked Diana, looking out the window. Then he noticed his car was gone. "Where’s my car?!"

"Tay took your car to look for Serenity again," Diana replied.

"What?! What the heck makes him think he can just take my car like that?"

"You wouldn’t wake up, I suppose."

"That’s not fair! He doesn’t have the right to just come along and take my car!"

"Calm down, dear. It’s only a car."

"But… but… it’s my car!" Isaac complained, grumpily going back to his room to pout, like a little child who was told he couldn’t have a cookie.

~*~**~*~

"I am so glad you’re safe, I was so worried," Taylor said over and over as they drove home… in Isaac’s car.

"Everything’s gonna be fine now," Serenity whispered, putting her hand over his on the stick shift. Her voice was still sore, but it seemed to be getting better. She tried not to let it show that she was still trying to convince herself of that very thing.

"I know, I was just…," he broke off, his voice cracking with emotion. "It’s just that I really care about you, and I don’t want you to get hurt," he said, making it through the whole sentence. He took his hand out from under hers and covered his mouth, a tear rolling down his cheek.

"I’ve never seen you like this, Tay," Serenity commented, looking at him sympathetically while she wiped the tear from his cheek. "Don’t cry, Taylor," she said softly, about to lose it her self. "Be strong, okay? Try to be strong," she said, managing a weak smile. He looked at her, smiling shakily. Then he turned back to the road and they went the rest of the way without saying anything. Just each other’s presence was comforting to them both.

"She’s home!" Taylor said, sobbing, as he ran through the door, pulling Serenity in, too, who was crying also.

"Oh, thank God!" Diana said, rushing over to give her a hug and welcome her back. "We were all so worried about you! I was afraid, so afraid that…," she trailed off, hugging her again. Just then Isaac came running downstairs.

"Why’d you take my car without as… king," he said, then stopped. He smiled. "Serenity!" He said. "You’re home! Thank God! I was so worried!" He also rushed down to give her a hug.

"Zac! Everybody! Get down here! Enity’s back!" Taylor shouted with pure joy and happiness. There was a sound like a herd of buffalo coming down the stairs. Everyone seemed so happy. Then, Serenity saw Sarah out of the corner of her eye and broke away from the group to hug her sister, who seemed kind of melancholy.

"Sarah," she whispered as she hugged her. "I’m so glad I’m back." Sarah broke away from her sister’s embrace, frowning.

"Serenity," she started saying, then stopped and took a deep breath.

"What’s wrong, Sarah?" Serenity said, starting to get worried. "What is it?"

"I… there’s something you don’t know about me, Serenity," she said, hesitating.

"There are a lot of things I don’t know about you, Sarah," Serenity replied jokingly, smiling. Then her smile faded when she saw that Sarah wasn’t smiling.

"No, Serenity, this is really serious," she said.

"Well, I guess, because you have such a serious expression on your face," Serenity smiled, another weak attempt at a joke. No luck. Sarah looked annoyed.

"Serenity, listen to me," she started again, but was interrupted by Taylor, who came over to Serenity and whispered softly in her ear, "We have to talk."

"Hang on, Tay," Serenity told him. "I have to talk to Sarah first." When Taylor didn’t budge, she said, "In private."

"Oh, uh, sorry. I guess I’ll, uh, go get a soda out of the fridge." With that, he left. But not toward the kitchen, which Serenity found quite amusing. She turned her attention back to Sarah.

"Anyway," she started once again. "I have something important to tell you."

"Shoot. Go ahead."

"Well, um, you know how dad treated us, right? What he did?" Serenity nodded. Sarah swallowed and took a deep breath. She had tears in her eyes.

"Well, I… I mean, he…," she broke off, stifling a sob. Then she took another deep breath. "He raped me, Serenity," she said, looking at her sister. Serenity stood there in shocked silence.

"So I took a test," Sarah said, starting on another subject.

"What kind of test?" Serenity asked her.

"A… an HIV test," Sarah choked out. She had tears rolling down her cheeks now.

"And?" Serenity asked her, waiting for the reply.

"I tested HIV positive," she said, bursting out in sobs. Serenity rushed over to her and gave her a hug, held her for what seemed like forever. Then Sarah continued.

"It was one of those you take in the mail and you send it in and they send you the reply and result," she said, all in one forced breath. "I might die soon, Serenity," she finished. Serenity didn’t answer. They stayed there, holding each other for what seemed like an eternity.

"Does Ike know?" Serenity finally asked. She parted from Sarah’s embrace and looked her in the eyes. Sarah shook her head, no.

"Well, you have to tell him!" Serenity exclaimed in shock.

"Tell who what?" Isaac asked from behind Serenity, who gasped.

"Sarah," she said, looking at her sister questioningly. Sarah nodded.

"Talk to Sarah," she told him. Then she wiped her eyes and went back to the group, which had gotten smaller by most of the people. Now, there was only a group of two waiting for her. Taylor and Diana.

"Oh, what happened? Have I already worn out my welcome?" She asked them jokingly, with a forced laugh, which seemed completely natural.

"No, of course not," Diana replied, laughing. Her eyes always crinkled when she laughed, and her face lit up like a candle. She could light the darkest room with her smile, Serenity thought, smiling.

"Okay, good," she replied, forcing another smile. She really didn’t feel like smiling right then.

"I do believe Taylor has something to tell you," she said, leaving the room and winking at Serenity as she did so.

Serenity turned to Taylor, who had gotten down on his knees and was digging around in his pocket for something. Oh, great, Serenity thought sarcastically. This would be the worst and the best day of her life all in one.

"Serenity," he said, taking her hand and looking in her eyes with nothing but love and compassion. She smiled at him, this time managing a genuine smile.

"Yes?" She whispered, smiling. This was a genuine smile. She was happy. But she was sad at the same time. She tried to forget about her sister’s problem for a few minutes.

"Would you~," he was cut of by a bloodcurdling scream from the other room where Serenity had left Sarah and Isaac. It had been Isaac. They ran into the room, in time to see Isaac burst out in uncontrollable sobs and run out the back door. Sarah was sitting there, her hands over her face, weeping softly. Taylor was puzzled, but Serenity knew exactly what had happened. She had told him.

"Sarah," Serenity said, rushing over to her. "Oh, Sarah, Sarah, Sarah," she repeated her name over and over as she held her tightly. She started crying all over again, too, while Taylor stood and watched, not knowing what was going on, and not sure if he wanted to know at all.

Isaac walked blindly through the woods, thinking about what he had just heard. HIV. AIDS. Sarah. The girl he loved. The only girl he loved, had ever loved, would ever love. Why? Why her? Why anyone at all? Why AIDS? Why not… something else? Something not as horrible, not as fatal?

These questions ran through his mind over and over again as he half walked, half ran through the woods. He had no idea how far or how long he had been walking or running when, all of a sudden, he stopped. He looked around, wondering where he was. Nothing seemed familiar, and everywhere he looked, the trees all seemed the same. He spun around in a circle, panic rising to his throat.

That’s when he noticed how cold he was. He should’ve grabbed his leather jacket. But he had been too confused, too blinded with fear, hate, love, and every other emotion you could possibly imagine. He looked around frantically, searching for a path, a tree, anything that looked familiar. Nothing.

"Hello!" He cried, panic clearly heard in his voice. "Can anyone hear me!"

He sat down where he was, figuring that it might be better to stay in one place so someone could find him. Then he started dozing off….

"Isaac?" He heard a voice behind him say, sounding far off and distant. "Ike, is that you?"

"Yea!" He replied. "Who’s there?"

"It’s Serenity, silly," she said, coming out of the shadows toward him. It still amazed him how much Sarah and Serenity looked alike. She looked exactly like Sarah. He rubbed his eyes.

"We thought you had gotten lost," Serenity said, looking him in the eyes. She seemed to be acting really odd… too happy. She was smiling. And she had no tears in her eyes.

"Well, I thought I was, too," he admitted, looking back at her.

"Do you know the way home?" She asked him, looking at him mischievously.

"No, that’s why I was yelling," he replied. She was acting way weird. Not like her self. Not like her self at all.

"Well, that’s not a very good thing, is it?" She asked, smiling at him flirtatiously. What was wrong with her?

"No, it’s not," he replied. He edged away from her a little, but she followed. She backed him up until his back was pressed against what seemed like a flat surface, or a wall, which seemed impossible in the forest. That’s when he noticed that she was taller. She was just about as tall as he was, and she came closer and closer, so he could feel her hot breath on his freezing skin.

"Are you cold, Ikey-Pooh?" She asked, looking him up and down. He just nodded, feeling a slight shiver.

"I’ll warm you up, then," she replied, taking off her coat slowly, as if to torture him. He was freezing! He never noticed how cold it could get at night. She held the coat out, and he reached for it, but then she dropped it, and it disappeared into thin air. He looked at her.

"What was that?" He asked, shocked.

"That was magic trick numero uno," she said, putting on a fake Spanish accent.

"Here comes magic trick numero deux," she said, changing to a French accent. She backed up as far as she could, did a flip toward him, landed right in front of him and kissed him deeply, passionately. He pushed her away, angry. "What the hell do you think you’re doing?" He asked. She looked shocked.

"Why, Ikey, I thought you loved me?" She gave him a little puppy dog look. Pouty lip and all. He closed his eyes and rubbed them, then opened them again. She was gone.

He looked around, remembering. He had fallen asleep. It was only a dream.

~*~**~*~

"Um," Taylor said, clearing his throat. "Would… would somebody mind telling me what’s going on?"

"I will," Serenity told Sarah, who had looked at Taylor and burst into sobs all over again. Serenity took a deep breath, composing her self.

"Well?" Taylor looked at her, then looked at Sarah. Then he focused his attention back to Serenity.

"Well," she started, taking another deep breath. Taylor looked at her questioningly. She took another breath, then just spat it all out in one breath. "Sarah had a test done through the mail because Dad did some… stuff to her that he shouldn’t’ve, and she got a test done through the mail for HIV and they sent her the results and she tested HIV positive," she finished, taking a deep breath and starting to cry again. Taylor rushed over to her and wrapped his arms around her trembling shoulders, trying to comfort her. Then he led Serenity over to Sarah, and they all hugged… they were all crying.

~*~**~*~

Isaac shivered, chilled to his core. It was really starting to get cold out. And it was really dark and creepy in the woods. There was no moon. He sat there on the ground, shivering, tired, hungry, and crying. Crying for Sarah, crying for his family and when they found out, and crying for him self. He hated self-pity, but right at that moment, he was too sad to even care about his pride.

"Where did Ike go?" Taylor asked from the window, where he had gone after he had been done crying. His eyes were dry now, and he felt as if he had no energy left inside. Serenity looked up from her spot on the couch. Sarah had gone to her room. She had excused herself, saying that she needed time to think. That had left Taylor and Serenity alone. They had been sitting in silence, lost in their own thoughts, their own worlds, until now.

"He ran out the back door when we came in. I think he’s out in the woods somewhere…." She trailed off.

"What if he’s lost?" Taylor asked, looking back out the window into the cold darkness. Serenity made no answer.

"I mean, it’s really cold outside," he continued, worry clearly expressed on his face. "Did you see if he grabbed his jacket?" He turned back to Serenity, who looked like she was sick. The color was gone from her face, and her eyes were a dull gray, the excitement and shine gone. He walked over to her, and sat down on the couch next to her. She looked at him, a single tear falling from her right eye. She stared blankly at him, one question running through her mind: Why?

"Serenity," Taylor said sympathetically, putting his arms around her. She hugged him back, crying into his shoulder. Her life had seemed so perfect, and then… it all came crashing down… again. Just then, the phone rang. They both jumped. Taylor got up to answer it, reaching it on the third ring.

"Hello?" He said into the receiver.

"Hello, I’d like to speak to Serenity, please. It’s urgent."

"May I ask who’s calling, please?" He said, an uneasy feeling in his stomach.

"This is her father," the voice said simply, as if it were no big deal. Taylor’s eyes narrowed in anger.

"Why are you calling here?" He asked defensively. This man had no right to call here!

"Who is it, Tay?" Serenity yelled from the other room.

"Hey, man, I just wanna talk to my little girl, here, okay? I don’t want any trouble."

"Yea, right," Taylor said sarcastically. "She can’t come to the phone right now. Don’t call back." With that, he hung up, slamming the receiver down. Serenity came in, just as Taylor was about to leave the room.

"Who was it, Tay?" She asked again, having a slight idea of who it was.

"That was your father," he said, looking at her face for a reaction.

"Why did he call?" She asked, her voice perfectly calm.

"He wanted to talk to you," Taylor replied, somewhat surprised.

"Oh. And you hung up on him?" He nodded. "Thanks," she replied, managing a weak smile.

~*~**~*~

Isaac had decided to walk. Just walk, until he reached the end of the woods. They had to end somewhere, right? And if he walked, he would get warm… he hoped.

~*~**~*~

"I’m gonna go look for him," Taylor said, as he looked out the window once again.

"Huh?" Serenity asked, waking up from her trance. She looked at him, then said, "What?"

"I’m gonna go look for Ike," he said again. "He’s been gone for over two hours. It’s not like him to just leave like that without telling anyone where he’s going."

"Well, Tay, it’s not every day he finds out that his fiancé has HIV," she spat at him, coming to Isaac’s defense.

"All the more reason to look for him," Taylor said in a calm voice. He started toward the front door, then turned back to her and said, "Are you coming?" She nodded and got up off of the couch, grabbed their jackets from the front hall closet and put on her shoes. Taylor opened the car door for her, then closed it after she got in. Then he walked around to the other side and got in. And they were off.

"May I help you?" The young girl behind the cash register said, looking Isaac over carefully. He was a mess. It had started raining while he was walking through the woods, and he had twisted his ankle by tripping over the root of a tree.

"Uh, yea," he started, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "Could I use your phone, please?"

"I’m sorry, sir, the phone is for employee use only. But, um, there’s a pay phone about two blocks from here at the Seven Eleven," she added, smiling.

"Okay, thanks," he said, then headed back to the door, limping.

"Um," she started, and he turned back to her. "Aren’t you Isaac Hanson?"

~*~**~*~

Taylor and Serenity spent the rest of that night looking for Isaac without any luck of finding him. Then, right in the middle of it all, it began to downpour, and they were even more worried about him.

"Maybe we should split up," Serenity suggested, looking outside with kind of a longing to be in the rain.

"I think not!" Taylor said, then changed his mind. "Well, maybe…."

"I’ll go through the forest and look for him, okay?" She said, zipping up her jacket.

"What? You? In the rain? Without an umbrella?"

"Yes!" She said, and as he slowed down for a stop sign, she jumped out of the car.

"Serenity!" Taylor yelled after her. "Don’t!"

"I’ll be home at dawn if I can’t find him!" She shouted over the rain, then slammed the door and ran into the woods.

~*~**~*~

"Quarter… need a quarter," Isaac mumbled as he dug around in his pockets in search of a quarter. He was outside of the Seven Eleven, and the rain was pouring down on him. He was soaked, freezing, and starving. And he couldn’t find a freaking quarter!

"Sir," a woman holding a child said behind him. "Could you please hurry? Some of us have more important things to do than wait to use a phone." She glared at him, just as the child started to fuss and squirm. He lost his cool at that very moment and started to freak out.

"Well, for your information, I have just gotten done walking through those woods for a few hours… in the rain! And before that, my fiancé, who has already been in an accident and is crippled for life, had just let me know that she has HIV, which she got from her father, who raped her! Now you want to tell me that you have more important things to do? No, I think you can wait." He took a deep breath as the woman looked at him with guilt.

"I’m sorry," she said over and over, then backed away and got into her car and drove off.

Turning back to the phone, he took another breath and started looking for a quarter again.

~*~**~*~

"Ike!" Serenity yelled through the woods. "Ike! Where are you!" She walked blindly through the rain and pulled her leather jacket tighter around her self.

"Ike!" She started running in one direction, toward where she had seen a light from what looked like a Seven Eleven….

~*~**~*~

"Could I use your phone?" Isaac asked at the Seven Eleven. He couldn’t find a quarter, and he figured it would be better to ask inside than to continue on to the next store or gas station.

"Go right ahead," the fat guy behind the desk said, chewing his gum furiously. "It’s right out there." He nodded his head toward the pay phone outside.

"Um, no," Isaac said, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "I don’t have any money, and it’s kind of an emergency."

"An emergency, huh? You’re gonna have to do better than that." The guy smiled smugly at Isaac.

"You really wanna know all I’ve been through?" Isaac asked, challenging the fat guy with the green gum.

"Try me," he challenged right back, chewing even more furiously than before, which Isaac hadn’t thought possible until then.

"Well, my fiancé just told me that she has HIV," he started. The guy looked at Isaac as if he were crazy.

"Is that all?" He asked, then added, "Did she get it from you or from another guy?" He burst out laughing as if it were the funniest thing he’d ever heard.

"From her Dad." The fat guy stopped laughing abruptly.

"I’ve been walking through the rain for about two hours now, and looking for a phone or another living, breathing person for about an hour. Now can I use your phone or not?" He snapped, glaring at the green gum guy.

"So she survived incest. Hear it all the time," he said, pushing Isaac aside so he could ring up another guy’s purchase. Then he turned back to Isaac.

"Well, before that, we got in a wreck and she has to be in a wheelchair for the rest of her life," he said.

"Heard that one before, too," the guy said.

"Listen. Mr. I’m-Too-Good-For-The-World," Isaac spat out at him. "I want to use your damned phone so my family knows where I am, okay? If you have a problem with that, tough. I’ll go back to the gas station I was at before. At least the girl in there has some sympathy, unlike the bastard that is standing in front of me!"

"Well, you can go back to the gas station, then, because there’s a phone right outside here and you have no money. It’s your own fault."

"Fine, I’ll just go back." Isaac turned to leave, limping. The rain had let up slightly, but it was still pouring.

"Oh, by the way," he added. This time, it was Isaac who smiled smugly. "I’ll be sure to mention this in my next interview, so everyone knows not to come here for anything, because the guy working here is a bloody bastard." With that, he turned and limped out of the Seven Eleven and back to the other place… whatever it was called.

"Oh, hello," Serenity said to the fat guy behind the cash register. She smiled weakly. She didn’t have a reason to smile. She was cold, wet, hungry, tired… and she probably looked horrible.

"Don’t tell me… you’re looking for your brother because he ran off, is looking for a phone, walked through the rain for two hours, his fiancé has HIV and is crippled, and her Dad raped her." He looked at her smugly.

"Yea, how’d you know?" She asked, really surprised.

"Well, that guy was just in here wanting to use my phone."

"Well… where is he now?"

"At a gas station about a block or so away, as far as I know." He pointed to the door.

"Okay, thank you so much," she said, then turned to go.

~*~**~*~

"Um, well, that guy in the Seven Eleven wouldn’t let me use his phone," Isaac told the girl behind the counter when she asked him why he was back.

"Oh… well, I guess you can use ours, but if I get fired, I’m blaming you," she said, smiling.

"Thank you so much." She led him to a back room, which looked like a storage room. In the far back, there was a phone. As he dialed the number to their house, the bell on the door rang as someone opened it and came in.

"I have to go see who that is," the girl said, looking at Isaac, smiling, then leaving toward the front of the store. He could hear her voice talking to someone, who talked too quietly for him to hear.

~*~**~*~

Serenity ran through the rain to the nearest gas station and opened the door to get inside. When she got there, there was no one there. Then, all of a sudden, out of a back room, a girl who looked a little older than Serenity walked out.

"May I help you?" The girl asked Serenity politely.

"Yea, um, I’m looking for a tall guy, longish hair, brown eyes… also known as Isaac Hanson?"

"You and about a million other girls in this world," was her somewhat ruder reply.

"No, I mean, I’m his fiancé’s sister, and he kinda… well, took off, I guess, because of her news… he was really upset." Serenity hoped that she wouldn’t have to explain the whole thing with all the gory details. She’d only start crying again herself.

"Oh…. He’s trying to call home right now." The girl led her to the back room where Isaac was using the phone, and Serenity smiled so big when she saw him, she thought her face would break.

"Oh! Ike! We were all so worried about you! Especially Tay, he’s the one who said we should go out and look for you, and I’m so glad you’re okay! We were starting to think that something happened to you, but I see that you’re okay, a little wet, maybe, but still living and breathing, after all, this is LA, I mean, you never know what will happen here," Serenity said, all in one huge breath. He smiled at her like a brother would smile at a sister, and hugged her tightly.

"Man, ‘Enity, I thought I was never gonna find a soul I know until tomorrow morning, or get to use a phone, for that matter," he said, adding the last part as a little joke.

"I went to the Seven Eleven," she said, laughing. "That guy in there is scary! He was chewing this really big wad of green gum," she said, smiling.

"Yea. And he was rude and obnoxious, too," Isaac added. Then he turned to the girl, who smiled. "Thanks for letting me use your phone… uh…." He had forgotten that she’d never told him her name.

"It’s Tessa, and you’re welcome." She smiled warmly at him and Serenity.

~*~**~*~

"Ike, where are you?" Taylor mumbled to himself as he scanned the streets with his eyes. "And where did Serenity go, anyway?" He added in a whisper. She had said that she was searching the forest… well, then she’d jumped out of the car and she had been gone, just like that.

Just then, a light caught his eye. It looked like a Seven Eleven… and about a block or two away from it, a Circle K. Thank God. He turned the car around and headed toward the light.

It was a quick drive, about two or three minutes, and as he pulled up to the Circle K to ask about Isaac and Serenity, they walked out of the building, with another girl trailing behind and then stopping in the doorway and waving.

Taylor squinted his eyes to try and see better through the rain, and he could see that the girl had long, blonde hair and was really… well, full-figured.

Then, without thinking, he got out of the car and started racing toward Serenity and Isaac.

"Ike!" He screamed at the top of his lungs to be heard over the rain. Isaac looked over and yelled, "Tay!" Taylor kept running until he reached Isaac, then hugged him, almost knocking him over. Serenity stood back and smiled.

"And Serenity," Taylor said in kind of an unpleased voice. "Don’t scare me like that! You just jumped out of the car and started running through the rain!" He let out a nervous laugh. "You know, sometimes, I wonder about your sanity," he said jokingly. She smiled, ran up to him, and gave him a big hug.

"Where did Serenity go?" Diana asked Walker as they got back to the house from grocery shopping with the kids. "And Ike and Tay?" She looked around. "And Sarah?" Just then, Sarah appeared in the doorway.

"Welcome back, Mom and Dad," she said to them, smiling shakily. She had been crying for at least two hours now, and thinking about what to do about her situation.

"What’s wrong, Sarah? What happened?" Diana asked worriedly. "Where are Ike, Tay, and Serenity?"

"Well, Ike just ran out because of something I told him, and Serenity and Tay went to look for him afterward, I think. I heard them leaving in the car," Sarah explained.

"What could you possibly have told Ike that would get him to do that?" Diana asked as Walker looked through the house, just in case.

"I have HIV," she said. She couldn’t cry anymore, so she just said it. Diana gasped, then rushed over to hug Sarah. Walker stopped and turned around.

"What?" He said, shocked. He also ran over to give Sarah a hug.

"When did you find out?" Diana asked.

"How did you get it?" Walker asked at the same time.

"When did you get it? Do you know?" Diana then asked.

"Are you gonna be okay for a while still?" Walker asked.

"I’ll be fine," Sarah replied. "I found out yesterday. I did a test through the mail." She paused. "I got it from my father." Diana and Walker looked at each other in shock. "He raped me," she said. They gasped. "I don’t know when I got it. It could’ve been any number of times." She finished her statement, then sighed. She’d have to write a will sometime very soon.

~*~**~*~

"Man, Ike, we were so worried about you!" Taylor exclaimed, looking at Isaac in the rearview mirror as he drove them all back home.

"Yea. We thought we’d lost you," Serenity added from next to Taylor.

"I’ll be fine. I just hope I didn’t catch a cold." He paused for a moment. "I’m really sorry, you guys. I shouldn’t’ve done that. It was kinda stupid."

"It’s okay, Ike. We know how upset you are. We all are," Serenity said, smiling sympathetically at him. "But everything will turn out fine. Maybe she’ll live through it. I mean, with us, anything can happen," she added, smiling.

"I guess you’re right," Isaac replied. "I hope she doesn’t die…."

"Don’t say that, Ike," Taylor said. "Don’t think that way."

"But if she does…."

"If she does," Serenity said, looking thoughtful for a moment. "If she does, she’ll go to heaven and find peace there. And we’ll see her again. When we die."

"Yea, you’re right," Isaac replied, more confident and feeling better. "Thanks, Eny."

"Oh, is that my new nickname now?" She asked playfully. She’d been called all kinds of things, but never Eny.

"Yea. It’s short and sweet," Taylor said, and Isaac agreed.

"Okay, I’ll take your word for it," Serenity said, smiling.

~*~**~*~

"We found him!"

"Oh, Ike, are you okay?" Diana exclaimed, rushing to give Isaac a welcome back hug.

"I’m fine, mom. Just a little wet… and cold."

"Don’t you ever scare me like that again!" Diana said, half angry and half relieved. Then she looked at him carefully, studying his eyes. Tears welled up in hers, and she said, "I heard." That was all she had to say, and he knew what she meant.

"Where is she?" He asked, looking around.

"She’s in her room. I think she’s decided to write a will." Diana stifled a sob as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"I’m going to go see her," Isaac said, taking off his soaked sweater and T-shirt.

"Um, Ike," Serenity said carefully, hesitating. "I don’t think you should… not right now."

"Why not?" He demanded, turning back to look at Serenity.

"You know what the virus does, right? How it attacks the immune system and all that…."

"Yes, I know," he snapped. Then his expression softened as her words sank in.

"So go shower and dry off and all that, then go see her." Serenity still had hope of saving her sister. "Maybe if we keep her completely isolated, we can keep her alive for a little longer…."

"Okay… thanks, Eny."

Serenity smiled.

~*~**~*~

"Are you going to see a doctor?" Isaac asked Sarah as he sat down on the edge of her bed. She was sitting at her desk, writing desperately.

"No, I’m not," she replied. Isaac looked up at her in surprise.

"Why not?" He demanded.

"Because I’m practically dead already anyway. This happened about eight or nine years ago. I’m surprised I survived this long."

"Eight or nine years ago?! That’s impossible!" Isaac got up and started pacing back and forth between her bed and the door.

"No, it’s impossible to think that he would’ve done it later than that because I wasn’t even living at home then! And plus, after I was ten, I was a lot more defensive." She said, raising her voice a little, then calming down again.

"Well, why don’t you go to the hospital anyway? Maybe they can help you!"

"No, Ike." She looked at him, then turned away. "I’m practically dead. There’s nothing they can do."

"But how do you know that?" He asked, walking over to her. "How do you know that they haven’t found a cure for it yet or something?"

"I’ve done some research," she replied simply. "The only way they can cure it, so to say, is if the person who has it goes in within three or four years of getting it. Any later than that, it’s hopeless. And besides, if I’m gonna die, fine. It doesn’t really matter anymore. I’m a cripple. No one wants a cripple in their life any more than they want an AIDS virus."

"Sarah…," Isaac started. "You know that’s not true. I love you with all my heart, and what about Serenity? She’ll have lost you twice, and she already has almost lost you twice because of our accident. What about all our plans and hopes and dreams? What about love?" While he’d been talking, he had moved to her side and embraced her. "I love you, Sarah. Why do you want to take this away? Why don’t you even want to try to save yourself?" He whispered in her ear, a tear falling from his eye and spilling down his cheek.

"I…," she started. She turned to him. "I don’t think I’m meant to live, Ike," she said. He shot her a questioning look.

"Why not? What makes you think that?" He grabbed her shoulders and looked into her pale silver eyes.

"Because of all the accidents that have happened. All this horrible stuff has happened to me, and I’m starting to think that I was only lucky to have survived this long. I can take hints, Ike. I don’t think I’m supposed to live any longer than the virus allows. When I die, I die. Nothing I can do about it. And besides, if I lived longer, I’d just have to put up with more suffering."

"But, Sarah…," he started.

"Sh," she said, placing her pointer finger over his lips. "Don’t say anything. I have to write my will now, and I’ll put you at the top of my list, my love." She motioned for him to leave the room, and he obliged hesitantly. He looked back over his shoulder sadly, and sighed as he closed the door behind him.

~*~**~*~

"Yes," Mrs. Hanson said into the phone the next morning as she took out a pen and a pad of colorful paper.

"All right," she continued, writing something on the top piece of paper. "Yes, I do think that would be the best thing…. Uh huh…. Yea…. I know we just got here, but still…. Too much has happened…. Yea…. Okay…. No problem…. Thank you…. Yes, of course…. All right. We’ll see you at the airport…. Goodbye." She hung up the phone and quickly wrote some more notes on the paper.

"Mom," Zac said quietly from the hallway. Mrs. Hanson nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Oh, jeez, Zac! You startled me! What is it, dear?" She asked him as she finished writing down whatever she was writing.

"We’re leaving, aren’t we? We’re going back to Tulsa?" He looked at her with an expression she couldn’t quite read.

"Yes, honey, we have to." She went over to him and led him to the stairs to sit down.

"Good. I think too much stuff is happening around here…."

"Yes, that’s exactly what I told Mr. Lironi and Dawn. We have to fly back to Tulsa next Friday. I’m going to tell everyone over dinner tonight," she added.

"Okay," Zac said. He looked at her, smiled a little, then got up and went upstairs. She stayed on the stairs, puzzled at how he was acting.

~*~**~*~

"Everyone," Mrs. Hanson said at the dinner table that night. "Walker and I have an announcement to make."

"Let me guess…," Taylor said, with a goofy smile plastered on his face. "You two are getting married?" Everyone laughed just slightly. It was his vague attempt to cheer everyone up a little.

"Actually, Tay," Zac said, grinning mischievously, "You should marry Serenity." Everyone laughed a little harder at that. Serenity and Taylor both turned a deep shade of red.

"Now, now, everyone quiet down," Mrs. Hanson said, frowning. "This is serious." Everyone calmed down and looked at her attentively. She continued. "We’re going to be going back to Tulsa next Friday." With that said, everyone started to whisper and talk, some excited, and some kind of not that excited.

"The reason for this," she continued, and everyone listened, "is that too many bad things have happened and we want to be at home for a while. Mr. Lironi said that they can set something up with a studio down there to finish our recording, and if they can’t, we’ll just reschedule it."

"What time does the plane leave?" Isaac asked.

"It leaves at ten in the morning," she replied, looking at her notes.

"Um, Mom?" Serenity said hesitantly.

"What is it, sweetie?" Mrs. Hanson replied.

"Well, um, when do you think Sarah will… um…."

"I don’t know, Eny. It could be tomorrow," she said, and everyone winced at the thought, "or it could be a few years from now. Only God knows…."

"Well, could I pray tonight?" Serenity asked, and Mrs. Hanson nodded. They all held hands, closed their eyes, and bowed their heads as Serenity prayed for Sarah, for the Hansons, for the recording, and for all the poor people of third world countries.

"Very well said, Serenity," Mr. Hanson said, and smiled a little. Just then, Sarah came out of her room and joined them at the table.

"I’m done with my will," she said, and looked around. Everyone had stopped eating and was looking at her.

"What?" She asked as she started eating. She tore off a piece of meat from the chicken leg she had on her plate and chewed it thoroughly before she said, "Lighten up, people. I’m not dead yet. Just be happy. You can mourn for me when I’m gone." Slowly, everyone went back to their food. But throughout the whole meal, no one said anything besides, "Pass me the potatoes, please."

"We’re home!" Zac yelled through the house as he went up to his and his brothers’ room to unpack his bags. Taylor and Isaac followed, too tired to say anything. They’d slept through most of the flight, and now they were groggy and exhausted from too much sleep.

"Um, where should I put my things?" Serenity asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable. She hadn’t moved in with the Hanson’s until they were in LA, and she didn’t know if she’d have a room of her own or if she’d have to share with Sarah, and she didn’t know where her room would be.

"Serenity," Mrs. Hanson said thoughtfully. Then she continued, "You’ll have to share a room with Sarah. It’s right down this hall on the left. You can’t miss it. It has two beds, it’s fairly big. Looks like a hotel room."

"Okay. Thank you, Mrs. Ha~ um, I mean, Mom." Serenity smiled, and headed for the "hotel room." She found it within a few seconds, and dropped off her bags by the bed right next to the window. Then she plopped down on the bed and fell asleep.

~*~**~*~

"Serenity," Mrs. Hanson said softly, gently stroking her hair. "Serenity, it’s time to wake up. You’ve got a visitor."

"Huh?" Serenity said, opening her eyes a little and rolling onto her back. "What?" She asked, her voice filled with sleep.

"There’s someone here to see you." With that, Mrs. Hanson left and Serenity got up off of the bed. She’d fallen asleep with her feet dangling over the side of the bed because she’d forgotten to take off her shoes. She got up, looked in the mirror of the linking bathroom, and decided that whoever it was could see her like this. She looked fine. And at the moment, she didn’t really care.

"Hi, Serenity," said a young man about her age as she walked into the living room. He was tall and well built, with hazel eyes and longish brown hair. He was extremely attractive, and he looked very familiar to Serenity.

"Hi," she said hesitantly. She walked closer to him, studying him. Where do I know him from? She wondered. As she was right in front of him, he smiled and pulled out a bouquet of beautiful flowers from behind his back, then handed them to her.

"What’s this for?" She asked him suspiciously.

"I just wanted to welcome you back to Tulsa. That is, welcome you for the second time."

"Andrel?" She asked. "Is that you? Oh, my gosh! You look so different!"

"It’s about time you recognized me! Jeez! I thought you’d never guess." With that, he took her in his arms for a quick hug.

"It’s good to see you again, Andy," Serenity said, looking him over. "I can’t believe this is you. You don’t look a thing like what you looked like when I first met you." He grinned proudly.

"I’ve been working out. How do I look?" He struck a muscle-man pose, and she burst out laughing.

"Ridiculous," she replied. "So how’ve you been? Did you finally find a house?"

"Yea, we live a couple of blocks away from here. It’s a pretty nice house, not too small, but not really big, either. It’s nice and cozy, I guess."

"Okay, that’s good, I’m glad that you guys found a place. How long have you been living there now?" Just as he was about to answer, she added, "Oh, um, do you want to come in? Maybe sit down, can I get you anything?" She led him into the living room and motioned for him to sit down on the big, black leather couch.

"Oh, thanks," he replied and sat down.

"Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea? Anything at all?" She looked at him questioningly.

"Um, no, thanks, that’s okay, I was only gonna drop by to chat real quick, anyway. See how things were, how you’re doing and all." He got back up and walked back to the front door.

"Well, okay, I guess…." She was a little surprised at his sudden change of mind… until she saw Taylor coming up behind her. Andrel was pretty tall, but Taylor was a few inches taller, which looked like it intimidated Andrel.

"You wanna introduce me to your friend, Eny?" Taylor asked her, looking at her, smiling, then bending down to kiss her lightly on the lips. She smiled.

"Sure, Tay, this is Andrel, Andrel, this is Taylor Hanson." She realized that Taylor was trying to make Andrel jealous. It was obvious. But Andrel just smiled, shook Taylor’s hand and said, "Nice to meet you, Taylor. You’ve got a great girl, here," he added, indicating Serenity. "Don’t lose her."

"Oh, don’t worry, I won’t," Taylor replied, glaring at Andrel a little.

"Well, Serenity, I’ll go now. Thanks for everything. I’ll see you around," he added, opening the front door and going out.

"It was nice to see you again, Andy," she replied. "Feel free to stop by anytime, okay?" Andrel nodded and walked back down the street toward his new house.

"Old friend?" Taylor asked after the door was shut.

"Yea. He was the first person that I told about my… family problems. He’s the one who helped me put my parents in jail." She knew then that Taylor was really jealous, because he replied, "You didn’t have anything… um… serious going on with him, did you?" He said it in a demanding way, not sounding like himself at all.

"No. He was, and still is, a good friend. You don’t have any reason to be jealous, Tay. Nothing happened, okay?"

"Okay. I believe you." He looked into her eyes one more time, just to make sure.

"Tay, please, you’re acting ridiculous," she said, and he looked at her with surprise clearly expressed on his face.

"Really? Why, just because I’m jealous? Just because I don’t want to lose my girlfriend to some guy I don’t have a clue about? Just because I love her so much, I’d give up my life for her? Is that what you think is so ridiculous?"

"No, I… I never knew you felt that way, Tay," she said, then added, "It’s just the way you’re acting about it. Don’t worry so much. I’d never cheat on you. Never."

"Never?"

She nodded. "Never."

"Sarah, are you sure you’ll be okay?" Diana asked as she picked up her purse from in the entryway.

"I’ll be fine! Would you please stop treating me like I can’t take care of myself? I know what I have and I know what’s going on. I don’t need constant supervision!" Was Sarah’s reply, and Diana winced.

"Okay, I’ll just leave you here, then. I’ll see you in a few hours. There’s some chicken in the fridge, you can warm that up if you need to, okay? The others should be home in a few hours, too, and I’m taking Jessie, Avery, Mackie, and Zoë."

"Okay."

"Bye, Honey. I’ll see you later."

"Bye."

~*~**~*~

"Man, it’s too bad Sarah couldn’t come," Isaac said as he, Serenity, Taylor, and Zac went into the movie theatre.

"Yea. I know she would’ve loved this one," Serenity added as the previews started.

"Oh, she likes the mooshy-mooshy love story type things?" Zac asked grumpily. "This is such a chick flick. I don’t even wanna be here."

"Oh, Zac. You’re hopeless," Serenity said, smiling.

"It’s a good thing Serenity’s here. I wouldn’t be caught dead in here without an actual chick with me."

"Hey, I’m not a chick," Serenity said, looking at him. "I’m a girl with a purpose."

"Oh, big, bad, girly girl, huh?" Zac said, smiling. Just then, the movie started, and they all shut up and looked at the big screen.

~*~**~*~

Sarah looked at herself in the mirror. She put some more mascara on her right eye, then looked at herself again. She picked up her brush and ran it through her long, black hair, sighing. Okay, she thought. It’s time.

She picked up her will off of her bed, then maneuvered her wheelchair over to the desk across the room and took out a plain white envelope from the top drawer. Then, she made her way out of the room and to the kitchen to get the knife and leave the letter and will on the table.

She put the will and envelope on the table, and wrote, "To the whole family," on the envelope in her big, loopy handwriting. Then, she moved over to the drawers and opened the silverware drawer. She took out the biggest knife she could find, made sure it was sharp, then made her way out the back door, trying hard not to fall out of her wheel chair as she slowly rolled down the three stairs. Then she went a ways through the grass, so her blood wouldn’t stain the porch, and stopped in the middle of the yard.

She examined the knife, wondering if she really wanted to do this. Why not? She thought. It’s not like I have anything to live for. My legs are useless, and I’m dying anyway…. But what about Serenity? And what about Ike? I can’t just leave them. They’ll be heartbroken…. What do they care? They’re probably just being nice to me because they feel sorry for me. They don’t really care about me…. Even if they feel sorry for me, they’d care. If they didn’t care, they wouldn’t feel sorry for me….

Sarah looked at the knife, then back at the house. She didn’t want to leave. It was too precious to throw away. The Hanson family loved her. It wasn’t like the life she’d had before. It was better. She was cared for, and she was going to get married to Isaac Hanson. She looked at the knife again, and then she went back into the house. It took her a while to get up the three stairs, but when she did, she felt really good.

She closed the door behind her and put the knife back in the drawer. She took the letter and the will off of the table and took it back into her room, where she put it in the drawer of her night stand. Then she turned on her CD player and decided to start writing in a journal. She took out a notebook from her desk drawer and started writing. She would write in this journal every day until she died, and then she’d give it to Serenity. Maybe it could even be published. To help people who had AIDS get over the sadness and rejected feeling.

~*~**~*~

"Sarah, we’re home," Mrs. Hanson said, knocking on Sarah’s door. Serenity and the guys still weren’t home, so Sarah had the bedroom all to herself.

"Okay," came her muffled reply.

"We’re having pizza tonight," Mrs. Hanson said, opening the door slightly. "Is that alright with you?"

"Yea," Sarah replied. "I don’t care. I’ll eat anything."

"Okay, good. It’ll be here in about an hour," Mrs. Hanson said, then closed the door.

~*~**~*~

An hour later, Serenity, Isaac, Zachary, and Taylor were home, and everyone was gathered around the table, happily eating a slice of pizza. Since there were so many people, Mrs. Hanson had to order four different types of pizza.

"Could you put a slice of pepperoni pizza on my plate, please?" Sarah asked as she handed Isaac her plate. He smiled, put a slice of pepperoni pizza on it, and handed it back to her.

"So, when are we going to start recording?" Serenity asked her parents.

"I don’t know," Mr. Hanson started. "We haven’t heard anything from Mr. Lironi yet."

"I think he’s still trying to get something organized with a studio in Tulsa," Mrs. Hanson added.

"Um, I was also wondering something else," Serenity said, hesitating a bit.

"What is it, Hon?"

"Well, I kinda wanna go to public school here. At least try it."

"You can do that. We’ll just have to enroll you. Oh, but you won’t be able to record as long as you’re in school and you have to do your homework, too."

"Oh, yea," Serenity realized that she wouldn’t be able to record all day. She hadn’t really thought about that.

"You could record on weekends and after school, though," Mr. Hanson suggested.

"I’ll have to think about it some more, because I didn’t even think about the recording thing," Serenity said, and went back to her food.

~*~**~*~

"Wow, this place is huge," Serenity said as Mr. Hanson dropped her off in the school parking lot. She’d decided to try the public school, and if she didn’t like it, she’d go back to being home-schooled with the rest of the family. Besides, she’d be a junior, anyway.

"It’s a really big school. Make sure you don’t get lost," he added, smiling.

"I won’t," she said, feeling very confident. She got out of the car and waved goodbye to her dad, then went into the building to get all the paperwork done.

"Alright, boys," Mrs. Hanson said. "I just got a call from Mr. Lironi, and it turns out that we’ll have to put off the recording until later. You three get a big break, probably around six months to maybe even a year. What he wants us to do in that time is he wants you to write songs, and a whole bunch of magazine interviewers have called and or stopped by to see if they could ask you questions. We’ll get back to them."

"Okay. So Serenity will be able to go to school without worrying about recording for a while?" Taylor asked, and Mrs. Hanson nodded.

"Would it be okay for us to go pick her up after school?" Taylor asked, and Mrs. Hanson nodded again.

"Sure, sweetie," she said, smiling.

~*~**~*~

"Alright, quiet down, class," the teacher, Ms. Fox, said as Serenity stood in front of the class, fidgeting uncomfortably. She looked around at the students, who all looked really different from her. No one else in the classroom had black hair, and all the girls looked like either an extreme version of a snob, or an extreme version of a nerd.

"We have a new student today," she said, and the class got quieter and looked at Serenity. "Why don’t you introduce yourself?" The teacher said, looking at Serenity, who smiled and nodded.

"Well, my name is Serenity Hanson," she started, and some of the guys who looked like jocks booed at her. She ignored them. "I’m seventeen years old, I live with a very large family, and I used to live in LA"

"Alright. Why don’t you sit by Angel, and then I’ll take roll." The boy she called Angel moved his things from one side of his desk to the other, and he smiled at her. She sat down next to him, and waited for her name to be called.

"Did you really live in LA?" Angel asked her, looking at her curiously.

"Yea. I lived in a really shabby neighborhood, though. It sucked."

"Oh. So, are you a real Hanson, or do you just live with them?"

"I’m adopted." She looked at the desk uncomfortably, hoping that he wouldn’t ask her about her family.

"Oh," was all he said, and she was glad.

Throughout the class, she looked over at him a few times, making sure she remembered what he looked like. He had brownish hair and green eyes, and he was pretty cute. Not as cute as Tay, but pretty cute. The only problem was that he was short. He was cute as in little-kid cute. Tay was cute as in the-hottest-guy-ever cute.

~*~**~*~

"Hey, guys!" Serenity said, running up to Isaac, Taylor, and Zac after school. Taylor smiled, and opened his arms to her. She ran to hug him, and Zac made choking noises. Serenity stuck out her tongue at him. Isaac just smiled.

"Oh, my gosh!"

They spun around when they heard the voice. It belonged to a girl about Serenity’s age who had seen them. She was now staring at them with her jaw dropped. She looked ridiculous.

"Oh, no," Zac said. "Run!" He yelled out, and made a mad dash toward Isaac’s car. The girl started to scream, and everyone in the schoolyard turned to look at what she was looking at. Isaac ran, and Taylor grabbed Serenity’s hand and ran, too. The girls followed them.

They made it to Isaac’s car safely, and they drove off as fast as they could, with a mob of screaming girls following them. How wonderful.

A few minutes later, Isaac, Taylor, Zac, and Serenity were back in the house, laughing and telling Mrs. Hanson about the mob. Mrs. Hanson frowned.

"What’s wrong, Mrs. Ha~ … I mean, Mom?" Serenity asked. She wondered what had happened. What if it was something really bad?

"I have some bad news," Mrs. Hanson started. Isaac, Taylor, Zac, and Serenity all looked at her questioningly.

"What’s wrong?" Isaac asked for everyone.

"We’re all out of milk, which I just now realized. I need some milk as soon as possible, because I want to bake some brownies. Could you go get some, please? One of you?" Serenity heaved a sigh of relief. Milk.

"Sure, I’ll go," Isaac offered. He was obviously relieved, too.

"Could I come?" Serenity asked pleadingly. "I need something at the mall, which is right on the way."

"Sure, come on, little sis," he said jokingly as they headed out to the car. Taylor ran after them.

"Let me come, too. What are you getting at the mall?" He asked Serenity, who smiled. Loyal Taylor. Always following her around, like a protective dog following his master. Serenity thought it was cute.

"I’m gonna go to Rave and get a shirt I have on hold there," she replied. Then, she added, "Also, I wanna try on some jeans that I saw in The Gap, and a really cute sweater in JC Penney’s. Oh, and I wanna get some earrings at Claire’s," she finished. Isaac’s eyes were wide. Taylor looked incredulous.

"And you expect to get this done before Mom has a fit because we’re so late with the milk?" Isaac asked, and she nodded.

"I’ll be done in about… twenty minutes. It won’t take me long because I already know what I’m getting."

"Okay… Taylor, you go get the milk, I have to see this with my own eyes," Isaac said, grinning mischievously.

"Okay. Don’t try anything, though. She’s still jail bait," Taylor said, returning the smile.

"You read my mind, oh, my," Isaac said jokingly. Serenity groaned, then smiled.

As they got to the mall, all three of them got out of the car. Isaac followed Serenity, and Taylor went to Safeway to get the milk.

"Okay, we’ll go to Rave first, since it’s closest," Serenity said to Isaac as she headed into Rave, her favorite clothing store. She got her shirt, and their next stop was Claire’s. She got some earrings and rings, and then headed toward The Gap and JC Penney’s. Within ten more minutes, she was finished, having bought two more items of clothing. She was happy.

As she was changing back into her clothes, Isaac was heading back out to the car, running quickly through the mall. Taylor was probably waiting for him already, and Isaac had seen Serenity finish in less than twenty minutes.

As he ran through the mall, something caught his attention, and he looked at the sign while he was running. It was a colorful poster that read something like, "I Only Obey The Voices In My Head." He chuckled, but stopped when he ran into something and fell over onto the floor. How embarrassing.

"Oh, I’m so sorry!" Someone was saying over and over as he got up. He’d fallen on his knees, and they hurt a little, but nothing major. He looked at the person who’d knocked him over. It was a girl.

"Are you alright?" She was asking, and he nodded numbly. This was embarrassing.

"Do you need some ice?" She asked, then turned to the people who had gathered around now. "Somebody get him… something… some ice or something!" She said loudly. Finally he could speak.

"I don’t need anything," he croaked out, and she looked at him. He pulled his hair out of his face, and tried his best to smile. His pride was deeply injured, but that was about all. He wasn’t physically hurt.

"Are you sure?" She asked, and he nodded.

"Yea," he said. "But thanks."

"Really?" She said again. He looked at her, studying her. She was pretty, with long, curly blonde hair that looked dyed or bleached because her roots were darker. Her eyes were big and bright blue, and she was pretty tall… about 5’9’’. He suddenly wondered how old she was.

"Yea, I’m fine," he said, and he managed a bigger smile this time. She looked relieved.

"You really scared me there for a second," she said, and smiled.

"I wasn’t watching where I was going, and~" they said at the same time, then stopped and started laughing nervously.

"I’m Angel," she said, and held out her hand. He shook it, and smiled.

"Isaac."

"Isaac… nice name," she said casually, and they started walking toward the exit of the mall.

"Thanks," he replied. "Is Angel your real name, or is it a nickname?" He asked, and she shrugged her shoulders.

"It’s my last name. So I guess it’s real, but kind of not." She smiled.

"Well, what’s your first name?"

"Gabriella," she said, and he smiled.

"That’s a nice name."

They walked out the mall doors and then stopped and faced eachother.

"It’s been nice… running into you," Gabriella said, smiling. "Look me up sometime, kay?" She added, and turned away, walking toward her car. Isaac smiled, and turned toward the parking lot, walking toward his own car.

Wow, he thought. Gabriella Angel.

"I got done in less than 20 minutes, ha," Serenity said, grinning from ear to ear. Taylor grinned.

"Ike’s the witness, I guess," he said, looking at Isaac, who was staring off into space with a dreamy look on his face.

"Ikey, what’s up with you?" Taylor asked, going over to where Isaac sat and waving a hand in front of his brother’s face. Isaac woke from his trance, looking a bit puzzled.

"What?" He asked, not really knowing what everyone was talking about.

"Serenity says she finished in less than 20 minutes," Taylor said, and Isaac grinned and nodded.

"Yea, she did finish in less than 20 minutes. I was completely amazed." They grinned again.

"I hope we get to sample some of whatever mom’s making," Serenity said, noticing that the house was beginning to smell like chocolate.

She’s making brownies," Isaac said. "Remember?"

"Oh, yea," Serenity remembered.

"I can’t wait," Isaac said, then he got up and went upstairs. Serenity wondered what was eating him lately. He’d been quiet ever since after the trip to the mall, and she wondered if anything had happened while she’d been changing. He wasn’t acting like himself.

~*~**~*~

Isaac sighed as he locked the door to his room. He took out the phone book from in his desk and looked for a Gabriella Angel. It didn’t take him long to find her. She was the only listing under "Angel." He circled the name and number in red magic marker and left the phone book lying open on the desk. He’d call her later. Right now, he decided that it was time to write a song.

~*~**~*~

After everyone had eaten their mother’s brownies and watched a movie together, they all decided to go to bed. It was late and tomorrow was a new day. Serenity had to go to school.

As Taylor and Serenity got upstairs, Taylor wanted to show Serenity something in his and his brother’s room. Serenity followed him inside, and wondered what it was Taylor was going to show her. He pulled her towards him, and looked into her eyes. She smiled as he took something out from a desk drawer and hid it behind his back.

"What is that, Taylor?" She asked him, grabbing at his hand behind his back. He held his hand up high, to where she couldn’t reach. She was tall, but not tall enough.

"You’ll see," he said, grinning mischievously. He took whatever it was into the bathroom with him, and locked the door behind him.

"Oh, gross, Tay!" Serenity said loudly, and he laughed. She looked around the room as she waited for him to come back out of the bathroom.

Just as she was about to ask Taylor again what the heck he was doing, she saw the phone book lying on the desk, open to a page. She went over, curiosity stronger than self-control. She saw that one of the names was circled. As she got closer, she saw that it was near the top of the page. She looked at the name carefully, trying to figure out if she knew this person or not. The name sounded slightly familiar, but not really. Gabriella Angel. It was a very beautiful name, but she didn’t know who it was. She spun around quickly as Taylor came back out of the bathroom.

"Well, now you wanna know what I have for you, right?" He asked her, grinning. He pulled his hand out from behind his back, leaving it clenched in a fist around whatever it was he was holding. Before he could pull away, she grabbed his wrist and was trying to pry his fingers apart, but he was too strong for her. So she tried something else: tickling. He fell to the ground, laughing, as she sat on him and tickled him without mercy. He was laughing so hard, his face turned red, then almost blue, so she stopped for a few seconds. He pulled out his hand again; it was still in a fist. She sighed.

"What is it, Tay?" She asked exasperatedly. He opened his hand….

Nothing.

"Taylor!" She said loudly, laughing. He was laughing, too, and she bent down to kiss him. Then she got up off of him and went to her room.

"Ike," Serenity whispered quietly, shaking Isaac to wake him up. He groaned and rolled over.

"Ike!" She whispered, this time more loudly. His eyes shot open, and he spun around, suddenly very alert.

"What is it?" He asked in a choked whisper, his voice filled with sleep and sounding kind of relieved. Serenity picked up the phone book.

"Who’s Gabriella Angel?" She asked, wondering if she was a friend of the family or something. His eyes grew wide with fear. Then, before she could be sure if she’d really seen it or just imagined it, he masked it and shook his head.

"She’s a girl I used to know before we were discovered," he lied, afraid that Serenity would tell Sarah, and Sarah would be extremely hurt. He didn’t want to hurt her. Not in her condition.

"Oh," Serenity said, relieved. "For a minute there, I thought that,~" she stopped mid-sentence and shook her head.

"What?" Isaac asked, looking a little angry and more than a little annoyed. "You thought I was cheating on my own fiancée?" He got up out of bed, without realizing that all he was wearing were his boxers.

"Um, Ike," Serenity said, covering her mouth to stifle a giggle. "Your boxers."

"Sorry," he said, turning a bright shade of red and grabbing his blanket off the bed and wrapping it around himself like a towel.

"I’m not accusing you of anything," Serenity said quietly, looking at the floor, then up at Isaac. "I just had to be sure." His expression softened, and he hugged her.

"I’m glad you care, Serenity," he said after the short little hug, and she smiled up at him.

"Is that all?" He then asked after a few minutes, glancing at his digital alarm clock. She nodded, a puzzled look on her face.

"You came to ask me who Gabriella Angel is at three am?" She smiled sheepishly and nodded.

"Sorry," she said, leaving the room and closing the door behind her. She went back to her own room and went to bed, dreaming about Isaac’s wedding. The bride was about to walk down the aisle, when something woke Serenity up. Mackie was jumping up and down on her bed. She groaned, then realized something: she hadn’t been able to see the face of the bride in her dream. Weird.

Reluctantly, Serenity dragged herself out of bed. Her throat felt dry, and her head felt ready to explode. Mrs. Hanson checked Serenity’s temperature, and found that she had a fever. Serenity was kind of glad that she didn’t have to go to school that day. She went back to bed and slept.

~*~**~*~

Shortly after noon, Serenity awoke, a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. It felt like butterflies, but not quite. She got up, used the bathroom, and went downstairs to find the kitchen empty and a note sitting on the table. She picked it up, and felt a little relieved when she read it.

Serenity,

Out shopping. Took kids with me. Food in fridge.

Back at 7:00pm. Feel better soon J .

Love you, sweetie,

~Mom

She didn’t know why she was so relieved. Maybe the butterfly feeling was a sign. Or maybe it was just because she was feeling sick. She decided to eat something, and if it was still there, she’d search the house for anything weird… besides the phone book with Gabriella Angel circled in magic marker.

She fixed herself a bowl of cereal, since she hadn’t eaten breakfast yet. As she sat down to eat, she wondered who Mrs. Hanson had meant by "the kids." Was it Sarah, Ike, Tay, Zac, Jessie, Avie, Mackie, and Zoë? Or just Jessie, Avie, Mackie, and Zoë? But then where were the rest of them?

She finished her bowl of cereal, rinsed the bowl, and put it in the dishwasher. She still had butterflies, and now, the feeling that something horrible was about to happen along with the butterflies. She had to check the house for anything suspicious.

First, she headed upstairs to Ike, Tay, and Zac’s room. There, she found only a pile of mess on the floor, dirty dishes on whatever spaces were available, and a closet full of junk.

The she went to the little kids’ room. Nothing suspicious in there at all. Just some bunk beds, and a lot of toys.

She kept searching the house, and, after a while, the butterflies and other bad feelings disappeared. She only had one more room to go: Sarah’s room.

As the door creaked open, she saw Sarah’s bed made neatly, and Sarah herself next to the bed in her wheelchair, asleep. Serenity smiled, looking at her sister. Sarah looked extremely peaceful, with a little smile on her face and stray hair tumbling down over her face. She decided that her feelings had been wrong, and she went back up to her room, where she discovered another note beside a cup of something she’d been drinking earlier that day. She didn’t remember or even want to know what it had been. She just remembered Mrs. Hanson coming in to give it to her, and then Serenity had fallen back asleep.

She read the note. It was from Ike, Tay, and Zac. They said that they went to the arcade. Okay, so now Serenity was stuck at home with nothing to do but sleep. She felt better, not a trace of the sore throat was left, and her headache was gone, too.

So, what was she gonna do? Watch TV, maybe. Or she could take the spare key and go for a walk. Or something. She decided on the movie.

She grabbed a blanket, made some popcorn, and plopped down in front of the TV after she popped "While You Were Sleeping" into the VCR.

Serenity was startled awake by an agonizing scream. Oh, no. It was Mrs. Hanson. They were home.

Serenity bolted from the couch and ran down the hall, where the scream had come from. Serenity gasped as she realized it came from Sarah’s room. She burst into the room, looking very worried, and saw Mrs. Hanson weeping next to Sarah’s wheelchair. Sarah was in the same position she had been a few hours ago, when Serenity had checked on her.

"What happened?" Serenity choked out, her voice still filled with sleep. Mrs. Hanson looked at her and started sobbing hysterically.

Serenity went over to Sarah, and felt her pulse. No heartbeat. Serenity’s eyes grew wide, and started filling up. She held on to Mrs. Hanson tightly, and they stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity, comforting each other.

~*~**~*~

When Ike, Tay, and Zac came home, they were in shock. Diana had called them home, telling them the news over the phone. Ike was sobbing, but still trying to hide it and be strong. Taylor held Serenity tightly, and she could feel him trembling and choking back sobs. Zac’s eyes were wide with shock, and he didn’t say or do anything for the longest time. Then, as if being woken up from a trance, tears started falling from his eyes. Serenity pulled him close to her, hugging Taylor and Zac at the same time in a three-way hug. The family stayed in Sarah’s room that night – all of them – and wondered what would happen next.

~*~**~*~

Two weeks later

"Serenity, you really should eat something," Diana said quietly, almost in a whisper. Serenity ignored her, staring off into space, still thinking about Sarah. She’d lost her sister… again. How could she eat?

The funeral had been a week after Sarah’s passing, and Serenity still couldn’t believe this was the end. She hadn’t eaten anything since the day Sarah died, except a few carrots or a salad here and there. She couldn't sleep, and all she drank was water. She had dark circles under her eyes, and her hair was greasy and tangled. She seemed to be getting thinner by the minute.

"Serenity, please," Diana pleaded, her voice a little louder and more urgent. Diana sighed, wondering what to do. Serenity’s biological father would have literally beat some sense into her, but Diana wasn’t going to do that, because she actually cared for Serenity. She hadn’t been feeling too great herself since Sarah had gone, but she’d made herself move on. Sarah was probably a lot happier where she was now, anyway. And they’d all known it was going to happen sooner or later, in this case sooner.

"Serenity," Diana started again, and Serenity looked at Diana sadly. She’d gone into a deep depression, and Diana didn’t like it. It was causing Serenity even more problems than what she already had.

"I’m not hungry," Serenity said, softly, but firmly. She got up and went to her room, then fell onto her bed. She was cold, but she didn’t bother covering herself with the blanket.

Why did she have to die now? Serenity wondered, glancing out the window. It was raining. Couldn’t she have waited another year or two? I mean, what right did she have to leave me like this? Serenity closed her eyes, wondering what was wrong with her. She couldn’t eat because she wasn’t hungry. She couldn’t sleep because she wasn’t tired, and she couldn’t cry because her eyes hurt when she did. She felt like throwing up, but she had nothing to throw up, so she couldn’t do that, either. She hadn’t gone to school in two weeks, and she didn’t want to go back.

Serenity’s eyes opened quickly as she heard someone open her door. It was Taylor. He looked at her, and she could literally see him wince, as if he could feel her pain, which he probably could. She watched him as he sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Serenity," he started, and she rolled her eyes, suddenly feeling very angry.

"Yes, I know," she said maliciously. "I need to shower, I need to eat, and I need to try to get over losing my sister. How can I? I don’t remember what food tastes like, and just the mere thought of it makes me want to puke. I don’t feel like showering, and if I do, I’ll probably drown anyway, which would be perfectly fine with me. I haven’t practiced or sang in two weeks, but I don’t want to, and why do you care, anyway?" Before she could stop herself, she was crying. Her eyes stung.

Taylor looked hurt, but he took her in his arms, anyway. There they sat, holding each other. It was the apartment building all over again.

"Serenity, you smell really bad," Zac said jokingly a few days later. He was feeling fine again, because he'd "Moved on," in Diana's words. Serenity glared at him, and he stopped smiling and looked extremely hurt. Serenity sat on the couch, looking out the window across the room. She still hadn’t showered, hadn’t eaten, hadn’t done anything but mope around the house. And Zac was right; she did smell, but she didn’t care.

She was startled out of her thoughts by the doorbell. Taylor answered it, and Serenity could hear him talking to someone. She got up, curious who it was.

As she neared the door, she could make out a familiar voice, but she didn’t know why it sounded so familiar. She peeked around the corner, and saw Taylor talking to a guy about their age, who looked very familiar to her. Oh, great, she thought. I’m having memory lapses.

Then it hit her. That was Andy! She smiled immediately, then felt guilty about it. She shouldn’t be so happy! It wasn’t right. Just as she was about to duck back around the corner, Andy saw her.

"Hey, Serenity," he said, pushing past Taylor into the house. Serenity cringed. She muttered a greeting and sank down to the floor, wrapping her blanket tightly around herself and hiding her face.

"I heard about your sister," he said, bending down to look at her. He handed her some flowers, saying, "I’m really sorry. If you ever need to talk, call me." After that, Taylor dragged him out of the house and told him to get lost because Serenity wasn’t feeling well.

"Serenity, you need to go take a shower," Taylor said angrily. She winced away from him, but got up obediently and went upstairs to the bathroom. She took a shower, and afterward, felt much better. And she also felt extremely hungry, so she went downstairs to eat something.

"Thank goodness," Diana exclaimed when she saw Serenity at the kitchen table with wet hair, eating pizza. Serenity turned around and smiled at her. She felt much better, less depressed, and clean.

She finished her pizza, then went upstairs to the boys’ room to talk to Taylor. She got upstairs, and was about to open the door when she heard Isaac telling Taylor something about not wanting to upset Serenity even more. She pressed her ear against the door, listening carefully to their conversation.

"Do you think she’ll be mad at me if I ask Angel out?" Isaac was saying, and she could hear Taylor let out a disappointed groan.

"Ike, everybody would be mad at you," he said, and Serenity nodded, thinking to herself, yea. What he said!

"But Sarah’s gone, and I’ll never see her again," Isaac said sadly. "I wanna get on with my life."

"She only died two weeks ago and already you’re thinking about other girls?" Serenity yelled, bursting into the room angrily. Isaac and Taylor looked at her, shocked and surprised at her outburst. Then Taylor relaxed, knowing that he wasn’t in trouble. Ike was.

"Serenity," Isaac started, looking at her pleadingly.

"Shut up, Ike," she said, rage burning in her eyes. Isaac cringed. "Do you think I could stand to see you with another girl when Sarah just… passed away two weeks ago?" Isaac didn’t reply. Instead, he looked sheepishly at the carpet. "She was your fiancée, Ike! You were gonna marry her! And now you’re talking about going out with this Angel person as if it were the most normal thing to do! Did you really love Sarah?" She finished, and Isaac’s head shot up as he looked at her intently. His eyes narrowed, and he glared at Serenity. She held his gaze, narrowing her eyes as well, and he spoke.

"Serenity, I am going to ask Gabriella out because I want to get over Sarah. That doesn’t mean I didn’t love her. I still do. But when Sarah was still alive, she told me that if she died soon, she’d want me to see other girls. She told me that it would be the best thing for me to get on with it, not mourn her death for years. And you shouldn’t be eavesdropping on private conversations! What gives you the right? This isn’t even your family!" With that, Isaac stormed out the door, leaving Taylor and Serenity behind. Both of them were shocked into silence. After a few seconds, Serenity looked at Taylor. He could see that she had tears in her eyes and was trying to hold them back. He crossed the room to hug her, and she buried her head in his shoulder, crying softly.

~*~**~*~

"Ike!" Diana yelled angrily. Taylor had told his mother about what had happened, and she’d been extremely upset. He could practically see the steam coming out of her ears.

"What?" Isaac asked as he came down the stairs. When he saw his mother, he winced, and when he saw Taylor and Serenity, he looked puzzled. Then his expression changed to anger.

"Apologize to Serenity right now," Diana said, glaring at Isaac, who just shrugged.

"Why? Did they tell you what Serenity said? Or just what I said?" He looked at Taylor smugly.

"Yes, they told me everything. Apologize."

"Only if she apologizes to me first," he retorted, looking at Serenity, who turned away. Taylor put his arms around her. Then she turned back around and wiped her eyes, looking at Isaac angrily.

"Why did you say that this isn’t even my family? Did you have to remind me of what my old family was like? Did you have to remind me of all the horror I went through before this? Or did you just do it because you don’t want me here? I could always run away again. I didn’t have any trouble doing it last time." Isaac raised his eyebrows. Then he shook his head.

"I’m sorry, Serenity. I didn’t mean it." He went over and hugged her, but she just stood there stiffly.

"Good," she said after he pulled away, and then she turned on her heel and went to her room.

"Serenity," Zachary said softly, knocking on Serenity’s door.

"Come in," she said, and he opened the door. He peeked inside, and found that her room was clean. He’d never been in Serenity’s room before, and he was surprised. After all, he and his brothers always had a mess. This was kind of cool.

He wandered into the room, looking around. He looked at everything she had on her walls, and he smiled. She wasn’t little girly with all kinds of pink stuff. She had a closet full of black clothes, and her walls were covered in chains, and she’d stuck pieces of paper on them and written and doodled all over them.

"What do you want?" Serenity asked quietly, putting down the book she was reading. She was lying on her neatly made bed, and her long, black hair tumbled over the side.

"I dunno," he said quietly, glancing at the floor. He actually came in to try to cheer her up, but she was looking really stoic.

"Well, so sit down. Talk to me anyway." She scooted over her feet, and he sat down on the edge of her bed. He didn’t say anything for a while, and she read her book. But finally, he did speak.

"Serenity, are you really mad at Ike?" He started, looking at her. She put down her book again, studied him for a minute, then answered.

"A little," she said, frowning.

"He didn’t mean what he said, you know," Zac said, smiling sympathetically.

"I know, Zac," she said, managing a small smile, too.

"And you know that Sarah’s probably a lot happier where she is now," he continued, and she nodded.

"Probably."

"I know that Ike wants to go out with this girl, whatever her name is," he said, and she looked at him sharply.

"Her name’s Gabriella Angel," she said, making a face. "In my opinion, that name is way too weird."

"Yea. Well, maybe what Ike said is true. Maybe we should all just try to get over it and move on."

"Maybe."

"So don’t get mad at Ike if he does go out with Gabriella," he said, looking worriedly for a reaction from Serenity. She smiled at him.

"You know what, kid?" She said, sitting up and giving him a hug. "You’re okay. Thanks for cheering me up a little." He grinned. I did it! He thought.

~*~**~*~

Isaac looked nervous as he watched the bride come toward him to the beat of the music. She looked beautiful in a long, white wedding dress and a veil covering her face. Serenity looked at her intently. She didn’t recognize the girl, but she could see that her hair was blonde. For a moment, she felt a little angry, but then the wave of emotion was gone.

~*~**~*~

Serenity woke up, breathing hard. What a horrid dream! Isaac was marrying a blonde. At least she didn’t walk like a cheerleader…. And she was pretty enough, as far as Serenity could tell.

What am I thinking? Serenity scolded herself for actually thinking positive thoughts about… whoever she was. I have to find out who that is….

"Yea, hi," Isaac said into the telephone nervously. "Is Gabriella there?"

"This is she," Gabriella replied. Serenity stifled a gasp. She tried not to breathe too hard while listening to the conversation. Isaac would be very annoyed if he ever found out that she was listening in.

"Hi. It’s Isaac."

"Oh, hi," Gabriella said uncertainly. She sounded puzzled.

"We… ran into each other at the mall," he said, letting out a small laugh. She did, too.

"Oh, yea! I remember now," she said. "What’s up?"

"I was just wondering if you want to get together sometime. Maybe go to a movie?" He sure doesn’t waste any time, Serenity thought.

"You mean like a date?" She asked, and Serenity could hear the smile in her voice.

"Yea. Sort of."

"Sure. Would Saturday night at seven be good for you?" She asked, and Isaac said he’d pick her up at seven. Gabriella gave him directions to her house, and they hung up.

So, Serenity thought, grinning devilishly. Saturday at seven. I’ll be there.

~*~**~*~

"Where are you off to in such a hurry, Ike?" Serenity asked casually on Saturday, when Isaac was getting ready to walk out the door. He turned toward her, a guilty look on his face. He masked it quickly.

"Nowhere special," he said, and turned back to go out the door.

"Then why the perfectly cleaned and ironed clothing?"

Isaac ignored the question and let the door slam shut behind him. Serenity jumped into action.

Quickly, she ran upstairs to her room and put on a pair of black baggy jeans, a black sweatshirt, and black shoes. She grabbed her shades and a black hair scrunchie, and then ran out the door to the family’s car. She’d asked Diana if she could use the car a few days before, and she’d gotten permission.

She followed the directions Isaac had gotten from Gabriella, which she had copied while he was sleeping, and they led her right to where Isaac’s car was parked in front of a large, white house.

She’d parked in the shadows, and she waited for Isaac and Gabriella to come out of the house.

Ten minutes passed, and there was no sign of them.

Twenty minutes.

Thirty.

Forty-five.

An hour, and still no sign of them.

Finally, an hour and a half had passed, and Isaac came out. Alone. Serenity wondered what they’d been doing. Then again, she didn’t want to know.

Isaac rang the doorbell nervously, waiting for Gabriella to open the door. He didn’t have to wait long, and there she was, dressed in sweats.

"Are you ready?" He asked, surprise showing clearly on his face. Gabriella frowned.

"I thought you could just hang around here for a while. We could watch a rental," she added, holding up a rented movie from Blockbuster Video.

"Okay," Isaac said hesitantly. Gabriella pulled him inside and locked the door behind him. He shot her a puzzled look.

"It’s a dangerous neighborhood," she said matter-of-factly. She led him into the living room, which was dimly lit with candles. The small table in the center of the room was set with fancy plates, champagne glasses, and the whole house smelled of spaghetti.

"You’re really set on staying here tonight, aren’t you?" He asked teasingly. She smiled at him, led him to the table, and took his coat for him.

"Yes, I am set on staying. I fixed a romantic candle-light dinner, I rented a nice, romantic movie, and I also have some nice, romantic music we can listen to during our nice, romantic dinner." She kept a perfectly straight face, while Isaac made a disgusted face. Finally, she burst out laughing.

"I was kidding." She went over to the stereo and put on her favorite radio station, a hard-rock/alternative station. Isaac was relieved.

"What about the movie?"

"Action-thriller."

"Good."

They sat down and ate their "romantic" dinner, which were actually chicken TV dinners, while watching the movie, Face-Off.

After the dinner, the movie was only about halfway through, but Gabriella turned it off anyway. They’d both seen it already, so they decided to talk.

"So, how old are you, anyway, Ike?" She asked as they sat down on the couch. "Can I call you Ike?" She added.

"I’m almost 20, and yes, you can," he said, smiling.

"Well, let me see. I’m 19, too. And you should call me Angel or Angie."

"Okay, I’ll remember that, Angie."

"Now, I have the distinct feeling that I’ve seen you somewhere before, but I don’t know where." She looked intently at him, and he held her gaze as he answered.

"I’m in a band. You might’ve seen us on the cover of some magazine," he said, grinning. She smiled.

"Yea, right. What’s your band’s name?"

"Hanson."

"Okay, that’s real cute, but… hey, yea. I have seen you on the cover of magazines! That’s so cool. I never really heard any of your music, but hey."

"I’m sure you have. You just didn’t know it was us." Isaac smiled. Gabriella smiled back. There was a moment of silence.

"Do you play any instruments or sing?" Isaac asked her, leaning forward a little.

"No, I’m more into writing," she replied. There were a few more seconds of silence, and then Gabriella said, "so, what’s this whole thing I heard about Hanson quitting for a while?"

"We’re not quitting," Isaac replied. "We’re just taking a break. It’s not really anyone’s business why," he added coolly. Gabriella got up and went over to the window. She looked outside for a few minutes. Then she saw an unfamiliar-looking car parked not too far behind Isaac’s. She closed the shades.

"What are you doing?" Isaac asked suspiciously. Gabriella looked at him, smiling mischievously.

"You didn’t have someone follow you, did you?" She asked, sitting down next to him on the couch.

"No," Isaac replied, giving her a strange look. He went over and looked out the window, but didn’t see anything suspicious. He moved farther to the left, to where Gabriella had been, and then he saw it. The family’s car. Or maybe a car that looked like it? He decided to investigate.

Serenity gasped as she realized Isaac was walking toward where she was parked. He must’ve seen her. She started the car and backed up, nearly hitting a parked car behind her. Then, she turned around and headed home. If he wanted to yell at her, he could do it while she was in the comfort of her own home. And she could just play dumb.

~*~**~*~

"Why did you follow me?" Isaac yelled through the house, shooting up the stairs and into Serenity’s room, where she was comfortably seated on her bed, in her nightshirt, reading a book she’d borrowed from the library. She put down her book, making sure she marked the page, and gave Isaac a curious look, her left eyebrow raised ever so slightly.

"What?" She asked, and he looked even more furious.

"I asked you why you followed me!" He yelled, and she sat up, putting a finger to her lips.

"Shut up, will you? The kids are asleep!"

"No, I won’t shut up!" He said in a strained whisper. "I want to know why you’re so suspicious of me!"

"Could you listen to yourself for one minute, here?" She asked, getting angrier by the second. "What are you talking about?"

"I’m talking about the fact that you followed me to Gabriella’s house and~," he paused, thinking about what she’d just said.

"You were at Gabriella’s house?" Serenity whispered loudly, angrily. "What the heck were you doing at Gabriella’s house?"

"I~ well, I was~," he was cut off by Serenity’s hand connecting solidly with his face. He fell backward, landing hard on the floor. Everything went black for a few seconds. But he could still hear Serenity.

"You! Oh, my gosh! What did you think you were doing?" She seemed to have lost all control. "Sarah dies, and two weeks later, you’re sitting at some girl’s house, making out with her… or worse! I don’t even wanna know what you did! You unbelievable, irresponsible, uncaring, ungrateful… person!" She stormed out of the room, thinking to herself, That went quite well. She smiled a little.

~*~**~*~

"Serenity, I need to talk to you," a voice said from outside Serenity’s door. It was Isaac.

She didn’t reply. She was sitting on her bed, reading a new book she’d gotten from the nearest bookstore. She didn’t really feel like talking to anyone. She hadn’t felt like doing anything for the past few weeks, since her sister had passed away. The air was stirred up when Isaac opened the door and came in.

He looks awful! Serenity thought to herself, her nose still buried in the thick book. Isaac’s face was pale, and he had dark circles under his bloodshot eyes. He was wearing the same clothes he’d been wearing the day before, and he smelled of body odor. She made a face when she smelled him.

"What do you want?" She asked coldly, staring him down. "Are you here to tell me that you’ve asked whatever-her-name-is to marry you? To replace my sister?" Isaac cringed.

"No," he started, coming closer to Serenity. "I came to tell you that I’m sorry if you can’t accept the fact that Sarah’s gone."

"I can’t accept it just yet, you’re right," Serenity said. "But I’m not the one who’s trying so hard to replace her."

"I’m not trying to replace her. I’m trying to move on," he said softly.

"And I’m not? You don’t know how hard it is to lose someone you love. I’ve lost her twice. The first time was when she ran away with her boyfriend, who abused her. She thought it was better with him than it was with me! She wouldn’t even take me with her!" Serenity had jumped up from her peaceful position on the bed, and she was pacing back and forth now, raising her voice and yelling at nothing. Isaac was pretty sure she’d forgotten that he was there, so he sat down on the floor in a corner where he hoped she wouldn’t be able to throw anything at him… just in case.

"I guess it’s partly my fault that she died. I could’ve stopped our father from raping her…." She turned and looked at Isaac, who stood up. All of a sudden, she burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably. She collapsed onto the floor, crying, and Isaac went over and sat down next to her. He put his arm around her, pulling her toward him. She cried for a few minutes, then pulled away from him, wiping her eyes, which were now just as bloodshot as Isaac’s.

"Why is it your fault?" Isaac asked softly, looking intently into her eyes. She cleared her throat, then started her story.

"When we were younger, my sister and I liked to go out for ice-cream and then we’d go bowling. Sometimes, we wouldn’t come home until late at night, because we had so much fun. Well, one night, we came home at about midnight, and Dad was waiting up for us. He said he needed to talk to Sarah, and sent me up to my room. I was really curious about what they were doing, because as soon as I got into my room, they went upstairs into our parents’ room. I knew that Mom wasn’t home. She had a party to go to that night, as she did usually on Friday nights.

"Well, I was really starting to wonder what they were talking about that could be so important. So, I went and listened on the door. Then I realized that the door wasn’t shut all the way, and I looked inside. I saw… I saw them; he was taking off her shirt. I sneaked back into my room right then; I didn’t want to watch it. I could’ve stopped it from happening," she added, hugging Isaac again. He sighed.

"It’s not your fault, Eny," he said, hugging her tightly. "You didn’t know that he had anything that he’d pass on to her. And she didn’t scream or anything?" He asked, pulling away from her and looking at her questioningly. Serenity shook her head. "Did he put anything over her mouth to stop her from screaming?" Again, Serenity shook her head. "Then she should’ve screamed and stopped it herself. Was she struggling?"

"No," Serenity said, and realized what he was getting at. Maybe he was right?

"Then maybe it wasn’t rape. Maybe it was incest?"

"Maybe," she said softly, finally realizing whose fault it really was. It had been their father’s fault. His and Sarah’s. She should’ve screamed!

"It’s definitely not your fault, Eny," he said. He stood up, and helped her to her feet. They stood there for a few moments, looking into eachother’s eyes. Slowly, as if being pulled by some magnetic force, their faces moved closer together, until their lips met. Hesitantly, they put their arms around eachother and continued the embrace, the kiss becoming deeper and more passionate with every second that passed. Suddenly, Serenity pulled away and backed up against the wall. She was breathing hard, and she’d broken into a cold sweat.

"Taylor," she said, and Isaac knew what she meant. They’d have to keep this secret from him. If he ever found out that Isaac and Serenity had…. Well, she could kiss Taylor goodbye, and Isaac could kiss Taylor’s trust goodbye.

"I’d better go~"

"Yea. You’d better go before we do anything else," she said, cutting him off. With that, he took one more look at her and walked out the door. She sighed, and sank down onto the floor. She wished she could just sink into the floor. She knew she had to tell Taylor, before it was too late.

What do I do? Serenity thought, lying awake in bed that night. She’d thought of every possible solution. If she told Taylor, he’d break up with her and never want to speak to her again. If Isaac told Taylor, the result would be the same and he’d claim to be mad at her because she didn’t tell him herself. If she asked someone’s advice, whoever that was would think that she was a slut, cheating on Taylor with Isaac. But I wasn’t really cheating on him, she thought. We were just caught up in the moment. He misses Sarah, and Taylor wasn’t there, so we kinda just….

You replaced Sarah and Taylor, a voice in her head said angrily. They weren’t there, so you took the nearest person possible. You whore! You’re gonna go for Zac next, aren’t you?

Serenity stifled a sob and shook her head. No! She thought, a tear making its way down her face. I didn’t mean it to be like this! If only Sarah hadn’t died. Then we would’ve all lived happily ever after! If only I’d stopped them from having sex! If only our real family wasn’t so disgusting. If only….

If only nothing! The voice shot back cruelly. You want them all, don’t you? You want them all so you can run away again and brag to everyone that you did all three of the Hansons!

No! She thought again, burying her face in her pillow and sobbing, trying not to wake anyone.

Yes! The voice said, seeming to grow louder and louder until it was deafening. You want to get close to all of them and burn their house down, just like you did your own! The memory flooded her, and she cringed.

I didn’t mean to! She screamed inside her head, her tears becoming even more numerous than they had been. I couldn’t stop it from happening! I tried to put it out, but it wouldn’t go out! It was an accident!

No, it wasn’t! You know that in your heart you wanted it to happen! You knocked over that candle on accident, but you wanted it to burn the house so badly! You wanted to get back at them for everything they’d done to you!

So what if I did? She thought, challenging the voice. Why would you care what I did? You’re like everyone else, you know that? You blame me for things, and accuse me of things, all until I believe it myself! Well, I am not going to believe you this time! With that thought, the presence of whatever was in her head became less and less. She refused to let some voice control what she felt and did. But as hard as she tried, she couldn’t fall asleep that night. She stayed up, thinking about what she should do, and by the time morning came around, she knew what she had to do in order to keep herself from dying of depression and stress, not to mention paranoia.

~*~**~*~

"Good morning," Taylor said cheerfully, sitting down at the table next to Serenity. They were the only two up, and Serenity seized the moment to do what she’d been thinking about all night.

"I need to talk to you, Taylor," she said seriously, wondering how he’d react. He looked at her for a moment, a puzzled expression on his face.

"What do you want to talk about, love?" He asked, putting on a fake accent.

"Taylor, this is serious," she added, and he looked at her, giving her his full attention. She took a deep, shaky breath.

"I’ve been thinking about this all night," she started, and he nodded. "I had a battle going on inside me," she added, "literally. Anyway, yesterday, me and Ike were talking about him going to Gabriella Angel’s house, and I kind of broke down. I can’t even remember how it happened. I just snapped. Anyway, I suddenly had this guilt to deal with, like Sarah’s death was all my fault, and he let me pour it all out on him. He made me feel better by comforting me and telling me reassuring things, like that it wasn’t my fault.

"Anyway, after we were done talking, we stood up, and all of a sudden, it was like this magnetic pull was upon us, and we… sort of…." She took a deep breath. Taylor smiled.

"You kissed. I know. Ike explained it to me last night." Serenity looked so relieved, it was almost a contagious feeling.

"You aren’t mad?" She asked, and he hugged her.

"I was last night, but I cooled off, and I understand," he said, and she held on to him tightly.

"Good, because if I ever lost you…."

"Don’t worry," he said, holding her just a tightly as she held him. "I’m not going anywhere. Not without you, anyway."

"Thank you so much," she said happily. "I feel so much better now, knowing that you understand…."

"Well, Isaac said that if you really loved me, you’d tell me as soon as you could. I guess I have proof now that you really do love me."

"I do," she said. They embraced again, this time giving eachother a kiss as well.

~*~**~*~

"Thank you so much, Ike," Serenity said to her brother as she watched him leave the house the next Saturday. He was taking Gabriella out to dinner and a movie.

"You’re welcome," he said, smiling. They hugged, Serenity wishing him good luck, and then he left.

Serenity was smiling as she went up to her room. She’d gotten another new book at the bookstore, and she couldn’t wait to read it. As she settled down with the book in hand, she was thinking how ironic it was that her name was Serenity, yet she’d never had any serene moments in her life until now.

Okay, so you’re probably wondering what happens, right? Well, I’ll tell you the rest of the story in one short sentence: They live happily ever after. Actually, you know what? I will tell you what happens. Isaac eventually marries Gabriella, Serenity gets her music career off the ground and finally marries Taylor when they’re about 20, and Zac also finds a girlfriend along the way somewhere. But who knows what’ll really happen? This story is so unlikely, it’s not even a laughing matter. It’s TOO unlikely to be a laughing matter. Whatever happens, though, I know we all hope that the lucky girls are either us or no one, and if it’s someone that isn’t "me," I know we’ll all get jealous and wanna do something drastic. But let’s all just think about this for a few seconds. Everyone on earth is meant for someone, right? So what if the Hansons don’t marry one of us? "There are plenty of fish in the sea." May everyone find their someone, and go on living happily ever after.