What was that ringing? It definitely wasn't part of my dreams.
Probably the phone, because no one in this family had the
common sense to answer the phone while other people were
trying to sleep. With a groan, I opened my eyes and sat up
in bed. Why was the damn phone still ringing? I frantically
looked around the room. That ringing noise wasn't the sound
I normally heard when someone was calling the house phone.
Wait a second. That was my cell phone. Great, I had just
been ready to strangle the closest person to the phone for
letting it wake me up, and it had been my own cell phone.
Who in their right mind would be calling me this early?
I grabbed the phone off of the floor, where I had thrown it the
night before, and flipped it open. "What?" I asked, not really
sounding very happy to hear from whoever was on the other
line. I hadn't bothered to check the caller I.D. If I didn't get
an answer in two seconds...
"Taylor. It's Ike" Ike had moved into his own apartment a
couple of months before. It seemed logical, he was an adult.
But, then again, wasn't I? "Taylor? Are you there?"
Giving a grumble as a response, I swung my legs over the
side of the bed and stood up. Stretching one of my hands
over my head, the other was holding the phone to my ear,
obviously, I listened as Ike continued talking. He said some-
thing about going into the studio for a couple of hours that
day; he had some things on the new album he wanted to
check out before everything was final. I agreed to go, only
because I knew if I didn't then we could end up with one
screwed up album on our hands when Ike was done with it.
Not to say that Ike wasn't great at producing and what have
you, but I was sure he could come up with something to
piss me off for saying no to him; even if it involved ruining
the album. Sometimes I wondered about that boy.
Closing my phone, after making sure I had turned it off, I
grabbed a shirt. I was positive that the rest of the Hanson
clan would probably be already downstairs, dressed and
ready for the day, and I wasn't about to walk down there
wearing only my boxers. I pulled the shirt, which said 'I
love NY' in huge black letters across the chest, definitely not
my shirt, over my head and decided that it was good enough
for now. Quickly, I tugged on a pair of jeans that I found on
the floor along with the shirt and nodded. I took a deep
breath, tugged open the door, and sauntered out into the
hall.
Someone was in the bathroom, and I could heard the loud
noises of video games coming from Mac's room. Well, my
assumption had been wrong, because at least two of the
Hanson clan were upstairs and not where I thought they
would be. And, if Mac was up here playing video games, I
would bet that Zac was in there with him. Three down.
That meant only the three girls were downstairs, and Mom
and Dad of course.
As soon as I walked into the kitchen, Avery smiled over at
me and hopped off the stool she was sitting on. She
almost skipped over to me, holding something out in her
hand. I couldn't tell what it was, until she dropped it in
my own hand with a smile. A fortune cookie. What was this
about? I raised an eyebrow and gave my younger sister a
questioning glance.
"We had Chinese food last night, but you missed it. Now
you have to open your fortune cookie, Zo saved it for you"
Avery explained with a shrug. Well, if it was for Zo, then I
didn't see a problem with it. With a grin, I cracked open the
cookie and picked out the small piece of paper inside.
I raised both of my eyebrows as I looked over the tiny red
print. Normally, I never got any good fortunes, and they
were never true. But, I never figured that they were meant
to be true. "Someone from your past has returned to steal
your heart" I read aloud, following the family tradition to
always read our fortunes to whoever would listen. And, as
Avery was still standing there after I folded the paper and
stuck it in my pocket, I guess she had remember it too.
Rolling my eyes, I moved Avery aside gently, and walked
over to the refrigerator. I pulled open the door and dug
around for a couple of seconds before I stood up and
closed the door with my foot. Looking around for a glass
on the counter, I shrugged and unscrewed the cap to the
orange juice. I knew I'd be in trouble if Mom found out I
had drank from the carton, but who said anything about
her finding out? With a shrug, I gulped down a good
amount of the orange juice, put the cap back on and put
it back where I had found it. That would have to be my
breakfast, because I wasn't about to make my own, and
I definitely wasn't going to ask Mom to make me some-
thing. If you miss breakfast in the Hanson household
because you were sleeping, it was your own fault.
After changing from what I put on just to go downstairs, I
hadn't bothered to shower, I decided to head over to the
studio. Ike would already be there, listening to every single
track at least five times no doubt, and I had nothing better
to do anyway. Besides, when I told someone I'd be there,
I normally stuck to my word. Most of the time.
Briskly walking into the studio, two coffees in hand and a
notebook tucked under my arm, I smiled my greeting to
my brother. Isaac was sitting in one of the black swivel
chairs, a guitar resting on his lap. I put both of the cups
in my hands down and took up the seat next to him.
"Good morning Ike" I said, leaning back in the chair and
pointing to the guitar, "What's that for?"
"Just brainstorming. You can never have too many ideas"
he replied with a grin. I caught him eyeing the two cups
I had put down only a minute before, and nearly laughed
out loud. "Are those both for you?" I could tell he wanted
one.
With a shrug, I picked one up and handed it to him. And
I knew just what he was thinking. "Don't worry, that one
isn't black" I said, motioning toward the other cup, "That
one is." Ike just laughed.
After about an hour of talking, playing a little guitar, and
going over what we both thought of the new album, I
pulled the fortune from that morning out of my pocket. I
didn't know why I brought it, probably to read it to Ike and
have a good laugh with him about it. At least, that's what
I thought I had brought it for. I wasn't exactly sure.
"Hey Ike" I said, causing him to look up from what he
was going over on the guitar. "Listen to this. Someone
from your past has returned to steal you heart." I
heard him laugh and joined right in.
A minute or so later, Ike spoke up; "You know, that
could make a good lyric." I groaned. "No, no. Listen."
He strummed the guitar and sang my fortune one
time over. "See?" He laughed, and I knew he was
joking around.
I groaned again and flicked the little piece of paper at
him, but it barely even got passed my knees as it
floated through the air. "Ike. Not funny" I said with
a smile as I crossed my right leg toward my left, resting
my foot on my ankle. I really didn't know how much
work we'd be getting done with all the messing around
we'd both been starting for the last hour. Either way,
it felt good to laugh.
