Part Nine

“Wow, um, what’s this for?”

“Mish, we would all like to thank you for giving us this big break. You brought Dayna and I together, you made my brother very happy and you even kept the youngest one from falling into the seventh circle of hell. We wanted to express our love for you in throwing this party for you.” Isaac’s speech was beautiful. Mish was very happy. Now she felt kind of bad for doing to whole Backstreet Boy concert behind their backs. She didn’t want to ruin the party so she saved it for later.

“Thank you guys so much. This means a lot to me. You really didn’t have to do this for me. But since ya did, lets party!” They all danced and ate junk food all night. It was great. Michelle had a little guilt trip on her so she decided since it had died down she would tell them what she did.

“You guys, I have something to confess to you. I didn’t come back here Friday because I got a one-time job for the Backstreet Boys. I wanted to tell you but I thought you might get mad. I was only supposed to watch the concert but they offered me some money to do a little dance number and stuff. It was only for the one show and that’s it, nothing more.” She looked at the guys, basically Taylor, to see their reaction. They all were just kind of shocked or something.

“So you did a dance routine for the Backstreet Boys because they offered you some money. I have one question, why?” Taylor seemed confused and betrayed at the same time.

“I really love those guys too and I thought I would be fun. I just thought if I told you that you would get mad and I don’t want you to be mad at me.” She was looking for forgiveness.

“Well I personally don’t care. It’s your life. I think it would be cool to do that. Work with another artist that you love.” Zac was backing her up to kinda tell the guys that it is no big deal. It’s not like she signed a deal with them to go on tour with them. Later that night Mish and Taylor went back to the lake where they first watched the sunset together.

“Michelle, I understand that you love the Backstreet Boys and all but I don’t see why you had to keep it a secret from us. Yeah I was shocked that you did that behind our backs but you could of told us ya know. I’m not mad at you at all, but I want you to know that you don’t have to hide anything from us.” Michelle was crying at this point. Taylor was confused once again.

“Taylor, you don’t understand. I love you with all my heart but you don’t understand me. I am not the person you think I am. I have tried to take all the evil of me and make it go away but I can’t. I have been acting like someone else, like an innocent person. You wouldn’t understand though. I can’t be the person I normally am because I am not comfortable enough around you to be that way. Sometimes I just want things to go back to normal because I want to be me. I want to be the Michelle that can burp and fart and think its funny. I want to do the weird things I do without having to worry about what you guys will think. You know what I like and stuff but I act different around you and your brothers so I don’t have to worry about it. I thought I could do it but I can’t and I am about to have a nervous break down because of it. When I came here and everyone threw that party for me I was so happy. I have done so much for you and now I regret having this conversation with you because I didn’t want to ruin it all. The tour starts in a week from now. I don’t know what to do. I can’t keep acting like innocent Michelle forever because some times I just want to say fuck everything. I want to rip someone’s head off and shove it up their ass. I want to be able to say the stupid ass thing and get away with it. Wow, I just made like no sense to you in that whole conversation. I am sorry but I will see ya later. I will be back tomorrow and if anyone wants to know where I am tell them I went out for the night. Bye.” She kissed him and ran off. He just continued sitting there trying to understand what the hell she had just said to him. He sat there for a while until Dayna came to get them. When she got there all she found was Taylor.

“Hey Tay, where’s Mish?”

“She went out for the night and will be back tomorrow.” He told her in a dazed voice.

“Did you two get into a fight?”

“Nope.” He was still staring at the sky.

“What is wrong with you? Where is Mish?”

“She went away for the night and don’t worry about me. I am fine and dandy.” He got up and started walking back home, so she did the same. They got home and he went straight to bed. Dayna told the other two what she knew.

“Dayna, I’m really tired and I think I am gonna jump in the shower then I am gonna go to bed.” Ike was trying to get his words out without yawning.

“Alright hun. Am I sleeping with you tonight or Zac? If you’re to tired then I’ll chill with Zac tonight.” She was serious; she could tell he needed some sleep.

“No, that’s alright, I’ve been waiting for you to be here, I want to be with you tonight.” Ike was getting defensive.

“Alright, then I will wake you up to say good-night when I go to bed, ok?” Dayna really wanted to talk to Zac.

“Oh, ok!” Ike seemed upset but Dayna just figured it was because he was tired. Ike left the room and went into the bathroom. As soon Dayna heard the water running she turned to Zac.

“Does Ike ever talk to you about me Zac?” Dayna looked worried.

“Duh, constantly, he never shuts up about you why?” Zac sounded suspicious.

“Don’t give me that look! Nothing like that. It’s just that, I don’t know if this engagement is going to work out.” Zac saw that she was on the verge of tears.

“Why, what’s wrong? Dayna don’t cry, calm down and tell me what’s wrong; maybe we can fix this.” Zac was panicking. “Dayna if you too break up Ike will flip. He loves you.”

“I know and I love him too.”

“Than what’s wrong? I don’t understand.” Zac was extremely confused.

“I’m not even supposed to be here. I was told to come here say good-bye to you guys and never see you again. Especially not Isaac.” Dayna was sobbing now.

“Dayna please stop crying, what can we do? Does Mish know? We can’t tell Ike, He’ll be crushed.”

“What can’t you tell me?” Ike just walked into the room.

“Nothing, don’t worry about it. Just go to bed. I’ll be there in a few.” Dayna managed a weak smile.

“Alright, are you sure?” Ike looked worried.

“Positive, now go!” she gave him a playful shove towards his bedroom. He went to bed and in five minutes he was snoring. “What am I gonna do Zac?”

“Well first we need to wake up Taylor and find out where Mish is and have them help us out.”

Zac and Dayna crept into the guy’s bedroom and woke him up. “Tay, Ike and Dayna need your help. Where is Mish we have to find her!” Zac’s voice was barely above a whisper, so he wouldn’t wake up Ike.

Meanwhile, Michelle had gone off to a cheap motel. She got a room for a night and went there to think. She had a lot of things on her mind and she wanted to think them through. She stayed up all night and thought about what she would say when she went back tomorrow, if she went back tomorrow.

Back at the Hanson house, “What are you talking about, this is crazy! You can’t leave the tour or Ike! We won’t let you leave.” Taylor was throwing a fit in the garage. “We can’t tell Ike though. He’ll be crushed.”

“Believe me Tay I don’t want to! I love him. But I really don’t have a choice.” Dayna was still crying.

“Well, where’s Mish?” Zac was becoming impatient with Taylor.

“I can’t tell you.”

“Why not?!?” Zac was getting pissed.

“I don’t know where she is. I guess we got into a fight, but I really don’t know she just took off. Doesn’t she know that you have to leave tomorrow?”

“No, that’s the whole thing.” Dayna was bawling now.

“Well than you gotta tell Isaac now! Maybe he can help us out here.” Zac was talking softly.

“Alright, I’ll go get him.” Dayna dragged herself up to her feet and left the garage. Isaac was sleeping so peacefully that she didn’t wanted to wake him, but she knew that she had to. “Ike, Ike, Ike come on hun wake up.”

“What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” Ike sounded worried.

“Just come with me ok, I don’t want to wake up Walker or Mom.” Dayna was becoming impatient. She dragged him through the house and into the garage.

“Hey what are you two doing here?” Ike looked around, everyone was looking upset. “What’s going on?” he turned to Dayna and he saw that she was crying.

“Ike I have to tell you something, you’re not gonna want to hear it but you have to. I can’t marry y-“ she ran off in tears.

“What?” Tears were forming in his eyes. “What just happened?”

“It’s not her fault Ike, she loves you. But her family doesn’t like it. She’s not allowed to go on tour with us either. She is supposed to be leaving tomorrow. Nine in the morning she’s on the plane.” Taylor finished the sentence and realized what he just said would ruin Ike’s life if they didn’t do something.

“Well, I am gonna find Dayna and find out what I can do.” Ike left.

“What are you gonna do about Mish?” Zac was looking at Taylor.

“Well, I am gonna go find her.” Taylor got up and left the house in search for Mish.

Ike found Dayna lying in bed, “Dayna, are you ok?”

“No, it’s not fair Ike, I love you and I can’t be with you. I don’t want to leave you, the tour, or the other guys.” Dayna was speaking between sobs.

“I know I don’t want you to leave either. But why didn’t you tell me? Why did you tell Zac and not me? I don’t understand.”

“ I didn’t want to tell you because I knew I’d hurt you, and I couldn’t bear it.” She was calming down.

“I’ve got an idea. Let me make a few phone calls. Try to rest.” He smiled and left her there. A couple of minutes later Zac came in the room and decided to go to bed.

“Hey feeling any better?” Zac said.

“She better be I think I’ve fixed everything. But we’ll talk about it tomorrow. Just sleep tonight.” Ike climbed into bed next to Dayna. He kissed her on the forehead and held her as she fell asleep.

 “Where the hell are you Michelle?” Taylor said to himself as he drove around town checking places that she might be in. He ended up searching Tulsa and three other cities before he was about to give up.

“Hi, I am looking for a girl named Michelle, you haven’t by any chance seen her?” Tay asked a motel owner.

“Well I had a Michelle check into room 311. You can check there if you’d like.”

“Oh, thank you so much!” He gave her a tip and went to find room 311. He hesitated for a minute before knocking.

“Who is knocking at my door and fricken 11:39 at night?!” She yelled from inside her hellhole.

“Um, it’s me.” Tay said shyly. Mish slowly got up off the bed and made her way to the door. She opened it with this look of annoyance on her face.

“Can I help you?” She said impatiently.

“Listen, I know you have something on your mind right now and you really don’t want to talk to me but we have a serious problem on our hands right now…”

“Great, a problem, just what I need right now. You came here to ruin my life even more. So what is it this time?” She sarcastically stated.

“Mish please, Dayna has to leave and she can’t come on tour with us. She really wants to see you because she has to leave tomorrow morning.” He said searching for a sign of concern in her eyes. He didn’t find any though.

“Great. Why don’t I just get hit by a bus and make things even better.” She shut the door in his face and went back to lying in bed.

“Mish come on. You can’t just quit on all that you have done. You can’t walk out on us now. We need you now more than ever, I need you.” He just realized he really did need her. Michelle just laid there for a minute. He started to slowly walk away and then she opened the door.

“Listen, I told you before, I need to be alone.” He looked at her with a very depressing face. She sighed, “Come back in an hour and I will be ready to leave.” He gave a little smile and occupied himself for an hour. While he was gone Mish called Zac to find out the scoop. “Hey Zac it’s Mish, what’s going on with…”

“Oh my god! Where have you been! Taylor is out looking for you. Did you two have a fight or something, what’s wrong? We really need you here. Dayna is leaving and we don’t know what to do. Well Ike has something up his sleeve but still Dayna wants to see you before she leaves. MISH, you have to come back!”

“Zac settle down. Taylor knows where I am and I am coming back later. I’ll talk to you when you have settled down, bye.” She hung up before he could talk anymore.

“No Mish, wait, don’t hang up! Damn.” Zac gave up and figured he would let Tay handle her. An hour passed. Taylor went back to the motel to get her. When her knocked on the door no one answered. He went to the receptionist and asked if she checked out. The girl told him she did and so he was about to go nuts. He drove back home to find out that Mish was already there.

“Tay, you’re here. Mish already came back. She is in our room right now.” Zac finally had settled down. Tay went into the room and Mish quickly jerked.

“Why weren’t you at the motel and what is in your hand?” Tay was annoyed.

“I couldn’t sat there any longer and I didn’t know where you went, so I just left. Sorry about that.” She said as innocently as possible.

“Okay, but what were you looking at?” Tay was getting frustrated.

“It was just a picture, nothing special.” Mish tried to blow it off like it was nothing.

“No, it was something, who was it a picture of.”

“My friend back home. That’s all okay.”

“Who is your friend? Let me guess, Bruce, you know the one you cheated on me with.” Taylor was pissed, but in the back of his mind, he knew he would regret this later.

“You know what, I am sick of your shit. We started this tour fine. Now you believe everything you hear. Bruce is my friend okay or am I not allowed to have a friend that is a boy. So I can’t be a friend with Ike and Zac too. Why don’t I just screw everything that I had going for me for and just do whatever the fuck you want me too. I can’t have a life or a friend without getting the third degree for it.” By this time they were yelling and woke everyone up. The whole family was listing to this now, “ I don’t have feelings or a life in your eyes obviously. I thought you were the caring one of the group. Good lord Taylor, you have had something happen to you that isn’t going over well with me. Why don’t I just leave the tour with Dayna?” Mish was yelling kind of loud now.

Taylor replied to this in the softest voice he could. “Michelle listen to me, I don’t want you to leave. I am sorry forever bringing up the whole Bruce thing. You told me that you weren’t with him and I do believe you. Let’s just calm down and go to bed. We will deal with everything tomorrow.” Taylor looked at her and was very solemn.

“Alright.” She got up and took her pillow, kicked Zac off the couch, and went straight to sleep. Everyone than went to bed as well.

The next day everyone got up really early, well except for Mish. She didn’t want to face the problems that were about to unfold of the day. She had to get up sooner or later to see what all the commotion was about.

“No, you’re not leaving this close to the tour! Your brother’s need you here.” Walker was yelling from the kitchen. “I don’t care how much you care about her. You can settle all this after the tour.”

“Dad, you can’t change my mind. I love her and I need to bring her back here for the tour. She has to be with us.” Ike was yelling just as loud.

“I know you think you love her but you’ve only known her for a short time.” Mom was backing up Walker, “Maybe this time apart will help you-and her figure out what you really feel about each other.”

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