"Right there!" yelled Kyle. "Turn!"

Taylor turned his head to glare at his friend. "Don't be a back-seat driver."

"Do I look like I'm in the back seat?" asked Kyle, smirking.

Taylor rolled his eyes and maneuvered his jet-black Mazda Miada into the parking space that Kyle had so graciously found. "Happy?" asked Taylor, once the car was parked safely. Kyle nodded.

After the things that Sarah had said to him about this party, Taylor decided that it might be smart to bring a friend along with him, just for good measure. Kyle was the type of guy that knew how to have a great time, but never had to drink to do it. It was almost obvious just by his appearance. His bleach-blonde hair, cut right underneath his ears, and his sky blue eyes also showed that fact the he was almost too into himself.

"I'm telling you, man," said Kyle as they ascended the stairs into the house. "If some guy tries to hit on me, we're out of here."

Taylor chuckled. "Kyle, don't worry. If some guy tried to hit on you, I wouldn't want to stay, either!"

The two boys walked through the doorway and into the foyer. They noticed two people pressed against the wall in an obviously passionate make-out session. Taylor heard Kyle laugh and looked over to see an extremely drunk guy trying unsuccessfully to start a mosh pit.

"Keg to your left, party to your right," said a girl, walking up to them. She was short, especially compared to Taylor, and looked a little out of place. She was wearing jean flares and a yellow tank top with the words "Lick Things" written in orange. Then again, his appearance wasn't meshing into the crowd too well, either.

Taylor smiled and nodded towards her. "Interesting," he said.

The girl smiled. "I'm Julie. Who are you here for?"

Kyle shrugged. "The pope," he said. The girl gave his a weird look and turned her attention back to Taylor.

"I met Zayla a few days ago, she told me to come," said Taylor, browsing through the sea of bodies.

Julie nodded. "This pad is hers. Nice, isn't it?"

Taylor looked around the small room where they were standing. "So far," he said.

Julie pointed to a corner of the room where most of the people seemed to be. "She's over there, if you're looking for her."

"Thanks," said Taylor, and smiled. "See ya later, I guess." He motioned for Kyle to follow him across the room.

The speakers were blasting loud, obnoxious music that neither Taylor nor Kyle had heard before. Most people seemed to be enjoying the noise, though. Taylor couldn't tell if it was because they were drunk, high, or just bizarre enough to listen to it. Everywhere he looked someone was either drinking or smoking something. He could see through the sliding glass door to the back yard that was dimly lit, and noticed a small crowd doing something else other than smoking.

"Taylor Hanson, right?" asked a girl that had pushed her way through the crowd to get to him.

He nodded. "That's me," he said.

The girl laughed. "Wait until Zay gets a load of this shit," she said, more so to herself than to him. "By the way, that music you play sucks major ass!" she said, laughing as she walked back through the crowd.

Kyle smiled at him. "Hey," he said, shrugging. "Everyone's a critic. At least they know you, right?"

Taylor rolled his eyes. "Yes, it's great!" he said sarcastically.

"Listen, I'm gonna find something to do. I'll meet back up with you later, cool?" asked Kyle, noticing a cute blonde across the room.

Taylor nodded. He turned to get away from all of the people. Why had he decided to come? He wanted to see Zayla, but there was no way he was going to push through all of those people to get to her. Besides, as soon as she heard who he really was, she wouldn't want to have anything to do with him. No... this was defiantly not his crowd.

"BONZI!" yelled a guy from atop the player piano that was set unfortunately close to him. The guy jumped, spilling beer not only all over Taylor, but all over twenty others, also. At least he got out far enough to miss Taylor's head.

He found a deserted stool and decided to rest on that. It was away from the sea of people, so he could actually have a chance to breath a bit. He just couldn't understand why so many people would actually choose to put themselves through this hell. Maybe if he knew more people...

"Oh my God," he said out loud, almost subconsciously. He had finally noticed Zayla. She was, no doubt, the center of attention. He couldn't believe how utterly beautiful she looked to him. Her hair was literally glistening under the light. She was wearing baggy black pants and an extremely tight maroon top. He couldn't take his eyes off of her.

Suddenly her head turned towards his direction and she was looking at him. Smiling, actually. It took him a moment to snap out of his trace and smile back. Then... she disappeared into the mass.

Taylor stood up and searched for Kyle. He was at this party, so he should make the most of it. Unfortunately he walked through every room of the house and could not find Kyle. He searched the dance floor, the den, even the kitchen where the keg was, but he was nowhere to be found. Not being able to put up with the noise piercing through his ears any longer, or the people spilling things all over him, he headed out the door and into the cool night air.

"Should I be flattered that you are here even though you hate it, or were you just about to leave without saying hello?"

Taylor turned to face Zayla. He smiled at her, and glanced back into the house. "I choose answer C," he said.

Zayla laughed. "So... that would be something like I'd leave if I could, but I can't?"

Taylor noticed that he needed to change the subject. "It's nice to see you again."

"Yea," she said. "I AM glad that you came. And I DO know that you hate it."

He shrugged. "Well, we come from two different worlds."

Zayla glanced from his long blonde hair, to his sky blue button-down shirt, to his black pants that were tighter than hers, and nodded. "That we do. So why can't you leave?"

Taylor smiled. "I lost my friend." He folded his arms across his chest and shifted weight to his other leg.

Zayla shrugged. "He's in there somewhere." She smiled.

"That's what I'm afraid of," said Taylor, chuckling at his own joke.

"You know," started Zayla slowly. "Kate told me that you were a Hanson."

Taylor shrugged. He silently prayed that this girl was open-minded enough not to judge him like everyone else would, roll her eyes, and walk away. "You found me out."

Zayla nodded very slowly, then smiled. "What is it like, being famous?"

"TAYLOR!!!!!" yelled someone from right inside the front door. The sudden outburst startled both Zayla and him, and they turned to see Kyle jump out of the house and run over to the two.

Taylor and Zayla looked at each other and started to giggle.

"What?" asked Kyle. "How the hell else am I supposed to find you in this place?"

"Zayla," said Taylor. "This is Kyle. Kyle," he said, nodding his head towards him, "Zayla."

"Nice to meet you," said Kyle, sticking out his hand.

Zayla took it and smiled weakly. "Yea," she said. Her attention turned back to Taylor. "Does this mean you're leaving?"

He shrugged. "I guess," he said, looking over at Kyle.

"Well," said Zayla. "Fine!" She smiled and nudged his arm. "By the way, how do you like that Finger Eleven album?"

"Oh, it's terrific!" said Taylor. "I'm really impressed!"

Zayla smiled, nodding her head. "You should see them in concert. It was the, uh... fourth best performance I've ever seen!"

Taylor nodded. "What were the other three?"

"Well," said Zayla, starting to count on her fingers. "The best moment of my life was when I saw Creed in concert. I'll have to give Tori Amos and Alanis Morissette, as bizarre as that might sound, second place. Of course there was Switchblade Symphony which was right up there... then Finger Eleven. I guess..."

Taylor laughed. "Do you go to a lot of them?"

"You name it, I've been there," she said. "Unless, of course it's out of the genre of music that I listen to."

"That's an interesting word," said Kyle, staring blanking into space.

Taylor chuckled. "That's my cue to leave," he said, heading towards his car.

Zayla nodded. "Too bad," she said. "Thanks for coming, though."

"No problem," he said. "It's nice to see you again."

She smiled. "So, I'll see you around?" she asked.

Taylor nodded. "I'm sure you will."

Zayla pulled a small piece of paper out of her pocket and placed it into Taylor's hand. "Call me when you get a chance."

"Will do," said Taylor, silently thanking God. He slid into the tan leather seat, pushed the key into the ignition, and took off down the street.

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