Chapter 24: Reactions
Isaac slowly set the phone back on the cradle. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying not to cry. He glanced at the clock, and back at the phone. It was only 8 o'clock. (There's a time difference remember). His parents and family had left only a half hour ago. He sighed, picked up a piece of paper, and wrote a note to them. He ran around and found a cell phone, and his beeper, and left. He ran out of the room and into the elevator. He rode to the lobby and looked around. He didn't see a trace of Taylor and Zac. Sighing, he walked over to the check-in desk.
"Excuse me, have you seen either of my brothers?" he asked the clerk.
"Yes Isaac. They ran out of here about 2 minutes ago, and I think Zac ran left. Taylor was close behind him."
"Thank you!" Isaac called over his shoulder as he sprinted out of the hotel.
He noticed a small group of girls talking amongst themselves. One had a Hanson shirt on. He took a deep breath and approached them.
"Please..Please don't scream." he said as he got to the group.
The girls looked up at him and almost screamed. To keep themselves from screaming, they slapped their hands over their wide-open mouths.
"Thank you."
The girls nodded.
"Ok, have you seen either Taylor or Zac?"
One girl had obviously calmed down and she spoke up.
"Yea. Zac ran by here a few minutes ago. He was crying. Taylor ran after him. It looked like they were heading downtown."
"Ok, thank you very much."
"You're very welcome Isaac." she smiled at him.
He smiled back and waved as he ran off. He ran as fast as he could down the side walk. He saw a bench and jumped up onto it. He strained his eyes to see farther down the street. He could see people running. Girls running.
"Oh no." he said aloud. "This is the last thing we need."
He pulled the cell phone out of his pocket as he was running. He pressed in a number and waited for someone to pick up.
"Hello?" answered a rough voice.
"Jason! I need help!"
"Ike. Dude, whats wrong?"
"Something happened to August, and she called to tell Zac, and now he's running through New York, crying, with Tay following him. I just saw them. They're pretty far ahead of me, and there are a bunch of girls behind them, from what I can see."
"Ok. I'll be there in a minute. Where exactly are you?"
"Um, I'm on the same street at the hotel, turn left as you come out. About a mile down that way. I'm in front of Subway. Please hurry."
"I will Ike."
Isaac saw a police car doing rounds. He tried to flag it down.
"Jason, I just found a cop. Hurry anyways, ok?"
"I will."
"Thank you."
They hung up. The officer pulled over.
"Can I help you son?"
"Yes. Please. See, my brothers are being chased by a bunch of girls, and they're by themselves, and our bodyguard is on his way. Can you maybe drive me down there to help them?"
"Why are your brothers being chased son?"
"Sir, with all due respect, I'm Isaac Hanson, my brothers and I are Hanson, the music group."
"Oh! I've heard of you. Yes son, get in."
"Thank you sir!" smiled Isaac, as he jumped into the car.
The officer pulled off the curb and turned on his lights.
"This is cool." Isaac laughed.
"Yea. Well, this way, it'll take less time to get there."
"Good idea. Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Isaac looked out the window. He could see a lot of screaming girls, still running. There were about 20 girls. He always wondered how such large groups could form in such little time. He shook his head.
"There they are!" he said, pointing.
"Alright."
The officer pulled over, and got out of the car with Isaac. Isaac ran ahead of him to try to catch Zac and Taylor. The officer, meanwhile, called for back up to help with the ever growing crowd. Isaac ran as fast as he could, and finally caught up to Taylor. Taylor noticed him and gave a look.
"When did he get so fast?" he panted.
"I have no idea, trust me on that." Isaac answered back.
They kept running. Isaac was almost up to Zac.
"Zac!!" he screamed. "Zac! Stop! Its me! Ike!!"
Zac turned around saw Isaac chasing and calling after him. He stopped running, and fell to the ground, sobbing and panting. Isaac and Taylor quickly caught up and dove to the ground and to Zac. Seeing Zac crying sent Taylor into sobs too.
"Guys, its going to be ok. August is going to be alright."
"I. I know. But but she almost died!!" he coughed.
Isaac pulled them into a hug, and let them cry. Taylor looked up.
"There were a bunch of girls chasing us."
"I know. I got a ride down here from a police officer, and he called for backup to control the crowd. Jason's on his way too."
"Ike, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." whimpered Zac.
"Zac, its ok. Don't worry about it. You're ok, August is ok, everyone is going to be ok."
"I'm so stupid." muttered Taylor.
"Tay, no you aren't, ok?"
"Yes. I am. August was right. I let everything go to my head, and screwed up things for me and her. I love her Ike. She hates me, and its all my fault."
"Taylor. Listen to yourself. If you hadn't let it go to your head, you wouldn't have had the fight, and she would've been on that plane."
"No Ike. If I hadn't let it get to my head, she would still be here. She went home because she was getting annoyed with me and my stupid ego. Its my fault that she wanted to go home early in the first place."
Isaac didn't have anything to say to that. Taylor was right.
****Back in Tulsa****
"This is all my fault. All my fault." sobbed August.
She sat there and cried. A few people passed her, and gave her weird looks. It was 9pm, so the lights in the park had just come on. August could see kids running around, and teenagers skating on the ramps, and on the paths where, about 3 months ago, she had gotten hurt. She put her head in her hands, and started crying again. She could sense someone next to her. It was Lindsay.
"I haven't seen you in awhile." said Lindsay happily.
August didn't respond. She glanced up at Lindsay, and started crying again.
"August? Whats wrong?"
"We...we broke up."
"You and Tay?"
August nodded. Lindsay gave her a hug.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!"
"Thanks. But thats not the main reason."
"Why? What happened?"
"The plane that I was supposed to be on coming home crashed. I would've died if I hadn't had a huge fight with Tay that kept me from getting on the plane. Now he hates me, but I still like him. And he saved my life."
She sobbed even more.
"This is all my fault. I should've been on that plane."
"NO. August. Don't even say that. You know thats not true." Lindsay persisted.
"I guess you're right." she sniffed "I don't know. I just really miss Taylor and I feel like I've messed up completely. I feel like its all my fault."
"Its not your fault. It'll all work out. Trust me."
August smiled at Lindsay, and they hugged.
"Ok, now lets get you home. Your parents probably don't know where you are."
The two girls got up and walked out of the park and down the street. They got to August's street and turned. They walked silently down the street and turned onto August's driveway.
"Thanks Lindz."
"Don't mention it. Thats what friends are for, right?"
August smiled.
"Right"
"Here," said Lindsay, pulling a sheet of paper out of her pocket. She scribbled her phone number onto it.
"Call me tomorrow, and we can go to the mall, alright?"
"Ok, goodnight"
"Bye"
The girls each walked in their own directions. Their friendship growing by the minute.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Index
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