"JORDAN TAYLOR!!" Walker exclaimed in horror.
"Oh my gosh." Taylor cried with sudden realisation and dread.
He ran to the bathroom. Taylor ran his hand through his hair in dismay as he saw what had happened. Where the bathroom floor had once been was a rippling puddle, and water was still flowing over the top of the bath like a waterfall. But the biggest problem was the carpeted room next door, where most of the carpet was now like soggy grass. Taylor could only thank God that he hadn't put in the bubble bath yet.
"Taylor how could you forget this?!" Walker exclaimed, gesturing to the bathtub.
Taylor's mouth was still open, and he shook his head, not knowing what to say.
"I...I don't know. I'm really sorry. I'll...clean it up."
"Yeah well, I should think so. It's ok, just don't do this again Tay." Walker muttered, unable to hide the fact that he was greatly amused by Taylor's little accident, and left the room.
"I won't. Sorry."
Taylor waded into the bathroom, and turned off the taps that were now running cold water. His parents were going to go even more ballistic when they realised there was no more hot water. Taylor pulled up his sleeve, and reached into the deep bath, pulling the plug. He then limped around the room helplessly, his shoes squelching on the saturated carpet. Well, there goes my night of enjoyment. He sighed to himself, and began mopping hopelessly at the river of water.
Diana stuck her head in the door, and saw her son dejectedly slumped on the floor. He had a hair-drier in his hand, and was painstakingly drying the carpet. She sighed.
"That'll do honey."
Taylor looked up hopefully, and switched off the hair-drier.
"Huh?"
"I said, that'll do." She said, offering him a smile.
Taylor smiled meekly, and handed the hair-drier back to his mother.
"Sorry." He said again, sincerely.
She smiled.
"It's ok sweetie."
With that, Taylor escaped from his predicament, and went to find Isaac. He had a lot to work out in case Coralee said 'yes'. He went to his room, and Zac and Mack were there.
"Zac, where's…"
"TAY!!" Mack shrieked as something went crack under Taylor's foot.
He looked down in dismay to see Mack's favourite truck smashed under his weight. Mack burst into tears, and ran wailing from the room. Taylor closed his eyes with disbelief. He was just going from one disaster to another.
"Oh Mackie. I'm sorry. MACK!!" Taylor yelled after him.
"Uh oh, now you've done it!!" Zac said.
Taylor sighed, and ran after Mack. Mack had already grabbed his mother's hand and led her to the disaster site.
"Look what Tay did. Look what he did." Mack was wailing, and pointed to the smashed truck.
Diana glanced at Taylor, who wasn't sure how to make it up to his little brother.
"Mackie, I'm sorry, I..."
"No I hate you. I hate you." Mackie screamed, and ran away.
Diana turned to Tay, who was looking from his mother to the truck with helpless eyes.
"Tay, this is not your most coordinated day is it?" Diana sighed.
"I didn't mean it!!" Taylor exclaimed, pulling his hair in frustration.
"Yeah, I know. Just try to make up with him, ok?"
Taylor sighed, and went in search of his youngest brother. Ever since he came back from the movies with Coralee, everything had gone wrong.
When Coralee received Taylor's E-mail, she burst into tears. Overloads of emotion and crazy thoughts she had never had to consider before raced insanely through her heart and soul. Part of her was screaming 'you are the luckiest girl alive. Millions of girls would give anything to be in your place. You are going out with one of the sweetest best-looking guys on this earth', and that was so blinding that she felt like she was going to faint. But then she was terrified out of her mind. She had never had a boyfriend, never been anywhere alone with a guy, and had absolutely no idea what to do on a first date. It was times like this she wished she had an older sister who could tell her what to do. But all she had was a spiteful little brother who was probably throw up if she even mentioned 'boyfriends'. Coralee tried to calm her shaking hands and racing heart beat, and tried to think things through logically. The only consolation she could find was that (assuming that he hadn't lied to his fans) Taylor had never had a girlfriend, and was probably as clueless as she was. Coralee hoped this wasn't some terrible misunderstanding, and that he only wanted to go out as friends, but she had a feeling that that wasn't true. He had given her his phone number for goodness sake.
Coralee scribbled the number down on a piece of paper, and shut down the computer. She then ran like a maniac to her room, turned on MMMBop as loud as her CD player would allow, and screamed the lyrics for all she was worth. Adrenalin was racing through her system at abnormal levels, and she danced around the room until she was dizzy. The song finished, and she collapsed on the floor, breathless. Coralee shook her head, and closed her eyes. This was it. She felt as if she was born for this moment. Suddenly all other aspects of her life had no meaning. All that mattered was the phone number scribbled on a bit of paper in her shaking hand.
Coralee punched in Hanson's phone number for the fifth time. She kept messing it up, and hanging up before it had a chance to ring.
Ring Ring….Ring Ring
Coralee's heart jumped as she heard the rings, and her heart began to thump impossibly loud.
"Hello, Hanson residence." A young voice said.
Coralee guessed it was Avery or Jessie.
"Uh hi!! Could I please speak to Taylor?"
"Um, who's speaking?"
"Coralee."
Jessie glanced at the phone suspiciously. It sounded like a fan to her.
"TAYLOR?" She yelled.
"Yeah!?" Taylor answered from the other end of the house.
"PHONE!!"
Taylor came running, and took the phone from his sister.
"Who is it?" He asked softly.
"I dunno. Some girl called Coralee." Jessie shrugged, and walked off.
Taylor drew in his breath sharply, and his heart jumped to 160 beats a minute. He put the phone up to his ear.
"Coralee?" He asked hopefully.
"Tay, hi!!" She said, her body tingling as she heard his voice.
Taylor was smiling hysterically on the other end of the phone, and jumping around on his good foot as he talked.
"Hey, how are you going?"
"Oh cool. You?"
"Oh ok." Taylor said half heartedly, remembering the disasters that he had had to deal with earlier. Coralee sensed his unsureness, but didn't question it. "So are you free tomorrow by any chance?" Taylor asked, and chewed his bottom lip savagely as he waited for her answer.
"Um yeah, I think so!!" Coralee grinned, her breathing rate quickening.
"Well, would you like to see a movie with me?" Taylor asked.
Coralee fought not to squeal.
"Um yeah, sure!!"
"Ok, cool!!" Taylor said, trying his best to sound cool, but sounding much more excited then he would have liked.
They made some quick arrangements for their date, and hung up before they both went crazy with ecstasy. Taylor gave away that he lived quite close to her, and decided that he was going to rollerblade to her house tomorrow at 10:00am. They would then rollerblade together to the single cinema screen called the 'Tulsa Traditional', and see Godzilla. They would then have lunch somewhere, and do whatever they wanted for the rest of the day.
Coralee glanced at the clock. It was 9:30pm, which meant there was 12 and a half hours till Taylor Hanson would arrive at her door. Coralee gazed in fascinated disbelief at a Hanson poster on her wall, and knew she wasn't going to get one wink of sleep.
Taylor waltzed into the dining room, contentedly singing softly to himself. He sat down at the breakfast table beside Zac, who grinned knowingly at him. Taylor smiled, and glanced at the clock. 8:30am. Only one and a half hours until he would be at Coralee's front door. With an absent-minded swipe of his arm, Taylor sent the milk carton flying. Milk quickly washed over the table.
"Oh Tay." Walker exclaimed, grabbing the carton. But the damage had already been done, and the milk river now dripped over the end of the table onto the floorboards.
"Oh man." Taylor whispered. As he watched the milk flow across the table, he felt his good spirits draining away.
"Well, get a cloth Tay!!" Diana exclaimed, moving objects out of the way, and trying to contain her other children.
"Taylor wrecks everything." Mack exclaimed, glaring at his brother. Mack still hadn't forgotten Taylor's truck smashing incident.
"I'm sorry." He muttered, throwing a cloth over the mess.
This was meant to be one of the most exciting days of his life, why was it starting like this? Destiny could be so cruel.
Taylor dawdled into the kitchen, glancing at the clock. Twenty minutes until he had to leave. A shimmer of excitement sparked in his heart, and he smiled.
"Oh Tay, could you wipe down the breakfast table please." Diana asked.
"Yup." He said, and dreamily grabbed the corner of a cloth and began to pull it.
"TAYLOR!!!" Diana yelled in horror.
It was too late. Taylor looked around in dismay as two expensive crystal vases smashed onto the ground behind him, shattering into a million pieces. They had been sitting on the cloth Taylor had pulled.
"Oh my gosh. I...I'm sorry...I didn't..." Taylor stuttered, glancing over the slivers of broken crystal in horror.
"Tay, just leave before you wreck something else." Diana snapped, exasperated.
Taylor's expression changed, and he hit the bench with his fist in frustration.
"I hate this. These holidays suck." He yelled, and stormed out, limping heavily on one foot.
Diana immediately felt bad for snapping at Taylor. He had had a rough time recently, and she knew it wasn't his fault. He wasn't cheating or lying or doing anything evil. He was just having bad luck, and no one should be punished for that.
Taylor retreated outside to the tree house once more. He sat at the top, feeling unwanted and dejected.
"It's not fair." Taylor whispered to himself, and felt hot tears sting the corners of his eyes. But he quickly replaced his threatening tears with anger, and proceeded to repeatedly kick the tree trunk as hard as he could, digging his shoe into the bark. All the hate for his life and the cruelty of the world had built up deep inside him, and being physical was the only way he felt he could relieve it. He collapsed on the ground, panting, and rested his forehead on his knees. His mind quickly wondered to Coralee, and he looked at his watch. Fifteen minutes till he had to leave. That's it. This is crazy. I'm getting out of here. He told himself, and climbed out of the tree. He didn't care if he was early to Coralee's house. Anything was better then staying here and risking getting stuck in the impossible quicksand of depression once more.
Coralee pulled open her eyelids, and popped in her second contact lens. She had chosen purple, and both eyes were the same colour. Her hair was out, with the sides held up with glitter hair clips. She looked herself over once more, and jumped up and down with excitement before leaving the bathroom. Taylor was due to arrive in half an hour, and she was all ready to go. Her parents were out, and Lleyton was at a friend's house. Coralee thanked God that her little brother wasn't here, knowing he'd mock Taylor, and herself. If he did that, then she may just have to kill him.
Coralee sat by the window in her room, gazing out at the street, waiting. Her rollerblades were on, and she knew she was going to have a hell of a time getting down those stairs, but she didn't care. This was going to be the single most incredible day of her life. Not only was she going out with a guy for the first time, but also the guy was Taylor Hanson.
After fifteen minutes of dreaming and waiting, some movement caught her eye. Some blond hair, rollerblades, and Coralee fell off her seat. He was early. She got up quickly, and peered over the window, watching him. His hair was out, and he was wearing baggy pants, something she didn't think Taylor Hanson was possible of doing. He opened the gate, and skated half way down the path before stopping suddenly. Taylor visibly took a deep breath, and pushed his hair behind his ears. He glanced down at his clothes, rubbed at some dirt on his shirt, and continued to the door, and out of view. Coralee bit her lip and smiled. It was so cute that he cared about his appearance for her.
The doorbell rang, awakening her from her daze with a shock, and she rollerbladed to the top of her staircase. No time for this. Coralee thought, and sat down. She bumped down the stairs in a most unladylike manner, and skated to the door.
She opened it, and came face to face with a stunning looking Taylor smiling that charming smile. His cheeks were a healthy pink from rollerblading, and his blue eyes were sparkling with excitement.
"Hey!!" He said.
"Um, hi!!" Coralee grinned, and slammed the door behind her. "Let's go."
"Ok." Taylor said, and turned back down the path. "Purple eyes today huh?" He smiled, looking back into her eyes.
"Yeah, go purple." Coralee grinned.
Taylor smiled, and continued rollerblading.
Coralee frowned as she watched Taylor putting his entire weight on one foot, and just using the other for balance.
"How's your ankle?" She asked as she closed the gate behind them.
Taylor glanced down at his foot gingerly, and grimaced.
"Kinda sore still. But I'll be ok."
"Tay!! We so should not be rollerblading if your foot's sore."
Taylor grinned.
"Nah, it'll be ok. I put a bandage thing on it. So you know, it's not as bad as it could be."
Coralee wasn't convinced, but Taylor had already sped off down the hill, and was smiling at her over his shoulder. She grinned, and skated off after him. This guy was one hell of a skater, even with a busted ankle.
In twenty minutes, they were at the cinema. Taylor insisted on buying her ticket, much to Coralee's amusement. Naturally, Taylor soon found himself signing autographs for three girls, and Coralee went to buy some popcorn for herself and for Taylor. She went back, and handed Taylor his popcorn.
"Thanks!!" He said, smiling at her.
Coralee suddenly felt horribly self-conscious that Taylor's fans were watching her.
"Tay, is she your girlfriend?" One of them asked defiantly.
"No!!" Coralee and Taylor both said simultaneously.
"No, we're just friends." Taylor added. "From way back, you know."
Coralee glanced up at Taylor, and he widened his eyes incredulously.
"Yeah." She agreed. Taylor sighed. He wasn't lying really. Coralee wasn't his girlfriend, was she?
Taylor's fans didn't look convinced, but they asked no more questions, and Taylor said goodbye.
"Sorry about that." He said to Coralee softly. "But we can't risk rumours, you know. It's just that a lot of people out there want to marry us and stuff."
Coralee grinned.
"That's ok, I understand."
"That's so sad. I don't want Godzilla to die." Coralee said sincerely.
In her eyes, they had made a big mistake in this movie. Godzilla was way too lovable.
Taylor looked over at her, and smiled softly. He reached onto the armrest, and took her hand in his. Coralee glanced up at him in surprise, and looked back to the screen before she did something stupid. Her body went into Adrenalin mode, and transfixing radiant warmth spread through her body. Coralee decided that this single exquisite moment was the closest to heaven that she'd ever been.
Their hands stayed that way for the remainder of the movie, both of them frozen with fear that the other would decide to take their hand away. The lights came up, and Taylor and Coralee caught each other's eyes shyly. Taylor smiled, and broke their daze.
"Let's go." He said.
"Ok." Coralee grinned, and got up, letting go of his had.
Taylor got up, and limped out.
"So Godzilla wasn't mean enough for ya huh?" He grinned over his shoulder.
"No way!!" Coralee exclaimed. "I mean, I love animals. I love my pets. And if an animal isn't evil, then I can't enjoy seeing it die!! Especially that baby killing thing. Uh, that was MEAN!!"
Taylor sighed.
"Yeah I know what you mean." He said softly, his smile fading and a knife slashing his good spirits. "My cat died the day I met you."
"Oh man really?" Coralee said, her face falling. She knew what it could be like to lose a pet. "I'm so sorry."
"Aw, it's ok I guess." Taylor sighed. "We got a puppy a while back, Wicket, so I guess someone had to be kicked out."
"Oh Tay, it doesn't work like that." Coralee said. Seeing his blue eyes so sad was breaking her heart.
Taylor didn't answer.
"If that cat made you smile just once, then it's existence was worthwhile." Coralee said.
Taylor glanced up. He liked that. Suddenly, some brightness caught his eye. In an instant, his face lit up.
"Oh Coralee look!! It's snowing!!"
Coralee looked up in surprise, and out the window saw thousands of beautiful floating snowflakes dancing down in the street.
"Oh my gosh Tay!! Let's go!!" She yelled, and ran straight out the door.
Taylor grinned, and limped out after her.
"Oh wow!! It hasn't snowed for ages!!" She said happily, the snowflakes on her eyelashes contrasting beautifully with her purple eyes.
"Um, are your feet getting kinda wet too, or is this just me?" Taylor asked, pointing at his socks.
Coralee laughed.
"Oh yeah, ok. Let's put these on." She said, holding up her rollerblades.
"Rollerblades and snow? Yep, this promises to be interesting." Taylor announced, sitting down beside her on a snowy bench.
"Yeah, well, it'll be like ice-skating!!" Coralee stated.
Taylor grinned, and put on his rollerblades.
Coralee sighed, and looked at the light snow cover on the street.
"Snowflakes are one of natures most fragile things, but just look what they can do when they stick together."
Taylor looked up at her incredulously. Coralee caught his fascinated stare.
"What? I like sayings like that!!" She said.
"No, it's cool!!" Taylor smiled.
"Hey, do you want to go straight back to my house? I've got some left over pizza we could have, and I don't particularly wanna get snowed in somewhere."
Taylor smiled. Coralee's house? Fine by me!! He thought.
"Yeah sure, that's fine."
"Ok, cool."
Taylor got up, and tested his rollerblades in the snow. Coralee grinned at him. It was going to be a long way home!!
© 1997 imaginehanson@hotmail.com
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