-CHAPTER 7-

I trudged into the building and challenged the receptionist to not let me through. She didn't.

I made my way to the recording studio and found the Hansons drinking Red Dog.

I threw my purse down onto the floor and took a seat next to Isaac.

"Nice to see you." Zac said sarcastically.

I grew short. I was sick of being harrassed. "Leave me alone. My day has been the shits since I woke up."

Isaac raised an eyebrow. "Do tell."

I was more than happy to. "First I spilled Coke onto carpet that had to be like $100 per sqaure inch..."

The boys laughed.

"It's not funny."

Zac just nearly fell over. "Remember when we had that food fight in London? It was classic. Jamie had beaned Ike in the head with soup and he had potato and peas running down his face..."

We all laughed. I remembered well. "I had wiped Tay's face with dip. He looked gross."

Zac just grinned and took a sip of Red Dog. "And Jess had me pinned..."

We all sobered.

Isaac took a swig. "Go on about your day."

I nodded. "And then I went to the shops. God, what a horror. I wasn't sure I was getting ripped off or not."

They nodded.

Zac grinned. "I remember when I went to Australia. Everything was so expensive. Bubble gum was like $10." he joked.

Isaac waved him quiet. "Go on."

I just eyed the picture of a red dog on their bottles. "Well, then I lost the keys to my car. Just when I had called the locksmith, I discovered them in my sunglasses case. Dunno how the hell they got there."

Taylor chuckled. "I can just imagine you in front of Wal-Mart, yelling, kicking and screaming at your car to open up."

I cracked a smile. "It was actually H.E.B."

They all laughed.

"Anways" I continued "then I went to fill up the damn car. What an ordeal. I mean, what am I? A huge walking oestrogen hormone that activates any guy within a mile's radius?" I grumbled.

Zac laughed again. "Well, in our cases, yes."

I just gave him the evil eye.

He put his hands up. "Hey, I mean it. There's really something about you that's..." he glanced at Taylor who was staring at the ceiling "attractive."

I grinned. "Yeah, right."

He shook his head. "I honestly mean it."

I just shrugged. "Well, I went to fill my car up, and this employee gets all hormonal. I just asked him how to put the gas cap on and I-"

Zac and Isaac just laughed. Taylor smiled and took a sip of Red Dog.

"What?" I asked loudly.

Zac just pointed and laughed.

Isaac leaned back and really began to laugh full throatedly.

Taylor leaned over and rested his elbows on his knees. "You can't work a gas cap?"

I sat back angrily. "All your American gas caps are retarded."

Tay leaned back. "Of course."

Zac kept cackling. "Women! Can't do anything right."

Taylor gave him a warning glance. "Remember this is the same Kris who could win any war against you, Zac."

"Yeah right." he snorted.

I nodded and sighed.I looked at Ike who thought I had just told the funniest joke in the world. "Ready, Sir Giggles Alot?"

He just went into another peal of laughter.

"As I was saying, I just wanted to know how to get the ornary gas cap back on." The others laughed.

"Shut up, the lot of you." I said disgusted.

They shut up.

"He went out and did the whole damn job for me. Then he moved in on me." I shuddered.

The others sat forward.

"He grabbed my arm and it hurt." I winced as I predicted bruises along my arm.

Taylor pulled my shirt sleeve up and eyed my arm. He blinked at the days old bruises and looked up at me. He also saw the bright red marks on top of that.

"You okay?" he asked softly as I pulled my sleeve back down.

I nodded, not looking at him. "Anyways, I told him to piss off, and he got angry. So then I just decked him in the nuts. Nice and hard." I said with relish as the guys winced.

Zac leaned over melodramatically. "Kris, stop."

I sat back and grinned. "So why is LA packed with such losers?"

Isaac shrugged and swigged the rest of his beer. "All cities have them."

Zac looked me up and down. "You know, if you want them off your back, you're going to have to dress really daggily."

I grinned. "How daggy?" I montioned to my jeans, shirt and boots. He didn't call this daggy?

He shrugged. "Mmm. Try Hawaiian shorts, dirty sneakers, a big baggy torn I LUV LA shirt."

I laughed. "That's daggy all right." I looked around. "By the way, why the hell are you drinking beer at this time of day? And in here?"

They laughed. "We're taking a break."

I pursed my lips. "Obviously."

"Kirst." Zac mangled my name.

"What? Zlack?"

He grinned. "We're moving on to the next song. It's a capella and we all sing except me." he pouted.

I laughed. "Good!"

He grew hurt.

"I'm sowwy." I said making a sad face. "So, how's this song go?"

Isaac leaned over and grabbed a sheet of paper off the sound board. "Well, it's another ballad..." he looked up at me and Tay. "About two lovers who miss each other."

I just nodded. "Cool. What's it called?"

"'Only After Forever'."

I loved the song instantly. "Let's do it."