Chapter 3

(Catherine POV)

I didn’t want to sit at the bar by myself any longer, so I went to look for someone I knew, or someone I wanted to talk to. Then I saw Marissa and Liz heading my way.

“Hey guys, what’s up?”

“Hey, come and sit with us.” Marissa said, pointing to a table.

“Ok” I said, walking behind them. When we got to the table, I sat down, and looked at Liz.

“You ok Liz?” I asked.

 “Yeah, I am great! I like the bands they have here…don’t you?”

 “Um they’re alright, why?”

“I was just wondering. That would be cool if someone you really liked was playing here tonight…”

Marissa face flared up, and she kicked Liz under the table.

“Yeah…is someone onstage going to sing me happy birthday?”

“They might, Liz said smiling.”

“Oh great...” I said, sarcastically.

 “Hey, the announcers going to say something” Liz said, pointing to the stage.

Marissa was just about ready to slap Liz upside the head.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for coming. I want everyone to give a round of applause to the lovely, Miss Catherine Ice!”

“I can’t believe they did this” I said blushing and covering my face.

“Now let’s hear a little bit about her, shall we? I got a card here that her best friends gave to me.” He reached in his pocket, and pulled out a note card.

 “You guys!” I said, shocked”

It says: “Catherine you’ve been our friend for about 15 years now, and we love you to death. So, we planned something special for you tonight and I hope you enjoy it.”

Everyone gave a round of applause, as the announcer continued to read.

“It also says, and I quote,

“She has an unhealthy obsession with the band Hanson.”

 “Hum, is that right?”

The announcer looked to his right and said

“Hey guys, come on out!”

They couldn’t have…I thought to myself.

Then, Hanson walked out from behind the curtains. They were all smiling, as Taylor gave the announcer a pat on his shoulder and took the microphone from his hand. I jumped out of my chair screaming.

Zac smiled at me, and everyone started singing happy birthday. 

“Oh my god, I love you guys so much!”

The time drifted by so fast. It was already midnight, and the boys were in the back getting ready to leave. Marissa came over, and sat next to me.

“So, how did you like the present?” she asked, grinning.

“I am so happy, thank you so much.”

“Well, I got some more good news…”

“What?”

“Well, there waiting backstage…why don’t you go talk to them?”

“Are you serious? Oh my god, you got to be kidding me.”

Marissa smiled, as she stood up.

“Catch you later” she said, getting up from the table.

“You got to be kidding!” ok Catherine, calm down. You don’t want them to think you’re an idiot do you? Of course not, so just walk in there, and give them a hug. No screaming…right... that easier said than done.

I headed towards the backstage doors, and took a deep breath before I went inside. I saw Taylor drinking water, and fanning himself as he sat in a chair. Isaac was lying on the couch, dazing off from lack of sleep. But then I focused my attention on Zac. He took his shirt off, and grabbed his CD player from the desk.

 “Man, he’s hot” I said biting my lower lip.

 Zac turned around, and smiled at me.

Did I just say that out loud? Oh that was smart Catherine that was really smart. Just don’t look at him.

“Hey Catherine, nice to finally meet you” Zac said, walking towards me.

God, he is so cute. Look at his smile, forget the smile, and look at his crotch! No don’t do that, he’ll know…

“Um…nice to meet you too” I said, feeling a little awkward.

Come on, do something. Don’t just stand there. Give him a hug, or at least move.

Zac, sensing my tension, wrapped his arms around me. I thought I was about to faint. He let go after awhile, and stared at me again.

“So, you’re the obsessed fan Marissa has been telling me about.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say obsessed…more like…ok yeah, obsessed is a good word.”

Zac looked at me, and I felt my knees weaken. I can’t believe I am standing in front of the hottest man ever. I snapped back to reality when I heard him talking.

“What? What did you say?” I asked, trying to take my eyes away from his body.

“Would you like to go to dinner with me tomorrow night?”

“….you want to go out…with me?”

“Yeah, I mean if you want to. If you don’t, I’ll understand.”

“Of course I’ll go!” I said excitedly.

After realizing my sudden outburst, I quickly added

“I mean sure, …that sounds…fun.”

“Great…could I have your number?”

I grabbed a pen from the table next to me, and found a piece of paper in my purse.

“Here ya go.” I said, handing him the paper.

I can’t believe this is actually happening.

I spent about twenty minutes talking to Ike, Tay, And Zac, and then I realized that it was getting really late…or early, however you want to look at it. So we said our goodbyes, and I caught up with Marissa, and Liz back at the house.

(At The House)

“You guys are the best!” I said, as I walked through the front door.

“How did you set this up?

Liz looked at Marissa, because she had no idea how it happened either.

“Well, I just asked my boss to get in touch with them. I found out he knew them, because he told us a story about his daughter’s sixteenth birthday party, and how they performed at it.”

“Yeah, that’s how…” Liz said, walking into the kitchen to get a drink.

“That’s so cool. Oh and guess what? Zac asked me out on a date!”

“What? I just told him to have a conversation with you, he must think your super cute!”

“I’m going to be so nervous! Maybe I shouldn’t go…”

“What? After all I did to set this up; there is no way your backing out.”

“But…all you did was ask your boss to make a call”

“…that’s not the point.”

“Well of course I am going to go…its Zac Hanson! But if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t go.”

“Oh that makes a lot of sense.”

“I know right…anyway, I need sleep. I have to look beautiful for Zac tomorrow!”

I went into the bedroom, put on my lingerie, and tried to go to sleep. I was so excited about tomorrow. It is going to be great.

7:45 am

Slowly, I woke up. A constant ringing echoed inside my head. What time is it, I thought to myself. I looked at the clock, but my vision was blurred. I rubbed my eyes, 7:45? Finally, I answered the phone,

--_--

“Hello?” I said, yawning

“Hey Cat, did I wake you?”

“…who is this?”

“It’s Michael…”

“Oh…hey Michael, sorry about that”

“It’s ok, how did the party go last night?”

“It was great; you won’t believe what Marissa and Liz did for me.”

“What happened?”

“They got Hanson to perform there”

“No way, that’s awesome.”

“Yeah…”

“Did you get to meet them?”

“Yeah and ….um”

“What?”

“And…it was awesome…”

“Yeah…I bet. Did anything else happen? I mean did they flirt with you or anything?”

“Ha, no…they were really nice, and we just talked…”

“Why do I get the feeling you’re not telling me something…?”

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing…”

 “So was there anything you wanted to tell me, or…you just wanted to talk?”

“Well I kind of wanted to see if you thought about what I said last night…”

“Yeah…well I thought about it…and I just don’t think it’s a good idea…”

“What? Why not…”

“Uh, I just think that you kind of ruined your chance.”

“That’s fucked up Cat, I said I changed. I’ve done all this stuff for you, I cleaned up my act, and you’re not even going to give me a chance to show you…”

“I’m sorry; just…let me think about it ok?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell. I just really like you Cat.”

“It’s ok; I’ll talk to you later ok?”

“Ok, love you.”

“Bye.”

--_--

(Michael’s POV)

“What the hell is her problem? Why is she holding back like this…? There must be something going on…and I know just how to find out…”

Michael picked up the phone, and called Liz.

--_--

“Hello?”

“Hey Liz, its Michael”

“What do you want?”

“Don’t be like that; I just want to ask you a question.”

“What?”

“Are you going to be at your house later tonight?”

“Why?”

“Well I wanted to stop by, and talk to Cat alone…”

“She isn’t going to be there…”

“Why not, is she going with you?”

“No, she is going out with Zac tonight.”

“What, who the hell is Zac?”

“Zac Hanson, she met him last night and he asked her out on a date.”

“What? So that’s what she didn’t want to tell me!”

“…she didn’t? Shit.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t say anything”

“I’ll tell her the next time I talk to her.”

“Yeah…well thanks for everything. I will talk to you later ok?”

“Uh, ok bye.”

“Bye.”

--_--

(Zac Hanson POV)

“Hey Isaac, come here for a minute…”

 “Why don’t you ever ask me to come here?” Taylor asked feeling a little neglected.

“You’d probably make fun of me…”

“You always say that!”

“And you always do it…”

“Come on, what are you doing?”

“Well…I wanted to see which suit you think I should wear. Come here and look at them.”

They all walked into Zac’s room, and he held up the two suits.

“Do you like the black suit with the green tie and buttons? Or the one that’s just all black…”

“I like the green one” Isaac said, taking it from Zac.

“Don’t you think so Tay?”

“Why are you worrying about your outfit? …Is it because of that girl?” Tay said, grinning.

“See, you always do that.”

“What? I was just asking.”

“Well you still didn’t answer the question.”

“I like the green one, and you didn’t answer my question.”

“Maybe I do like her…”

“Awe, that’s so cute!”

Zac rolled his eyes, and grabbed the green suit from Isaac.

 “But seriously dude, wear the green one.”

“Alright”

“You didn’t forget about the interview today did you?” Isaac asked.

“Um…no, of course I didn’t.”

“Well I hope you also remembered it’s at four, so don’t be late. You can call Catherine when you get home…which should be around six or earlier.”

“I think I will call her now…just to tell her.”

“No! That’s a bad idea” Taylor said, budding into the conversation.

“Why?”

“Well you don’t want her to think you’re desperate…”

“She won’t think that…”

“Yeah, just call her. I bet you she’s waiting by the phone.” Isaac said, glaring at Taylor.

“Come on Tay, I have something to show you in the living room.”

“What is it?”

“Would you just move your ass!”

Isaac and Taylor walked into the living room, shutting the door behind them.

“What was that about?” Taylor asked confused.

“Zac is finally getting over Alexia, so don’t say anything that will make him have second thoughts about this girl.”

“Dude, you’re acting like he’s thirteen years old. Alexa was a whore, and Zac’s going to have to deal with that.”

“Shh, I know. But what if he thinks that Catherine is the same way as Alexa? You think he would start dating again?”

“I don’t know…” Taylor said, heading towards his bedroom.

“…just don’t say anything that could make him have second thoughts.”

“Fine” Taylor said, halfway up the stairs.

“Hey wait, you going to be at the interview early this time right?”

“Yes Isaac.”

“Good, I don’t want anyone yelling at me again.”

“Ok.”

“Taylor?”

“Yes Isaac?”

"There's something else I wanted to talk to you about..."

"What?"

“Are you being careful?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I was just wondering. I don’t want you getting anyone pregnant.”

“What I do is my business!”

“Hey, I’m just trying to look out for you. There are a lot of dieses out there.”

“You are not serious…” Taylor walked down the stairs and stood right in front of Isaac.

“What?”

“Who said that I’ve had sex before?”

“Oh come on! I am not that stupid.”

“Name someone.”

“What about you’re ex girlfriend Tiffany?”

“I didn’t sleep with her; we just had some fun in the bedroom.”

“Well while you having your fun, make sure you use protection.”

“…your jealous aren’t you?”

“of what?”

“You liked Tiffany, and you are mad that she wanted me and not you.”

“I just think that there is more to a woman than sex.”

“And I don’t?”

“Obviously not you have a different girl every week; Michelle, Stacey, Jennifer, Tonya….”

“Just call me when you’re on the way to the interview.”

“pfft whatever man just go to your room and ignore everyone like you always do.”

“You’re the one who is good at that, not me.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Well while your listing names how about Stacey, Linda, and who could forget Rachael…”

“Leave Rachael out of this”

“You knew you were falling for her, so you let her go. Talk about me being heartless.”

“Never mind, I am sorry I even mentioned this.”

“You can’t even deal with the fact that you let her go.”

“Taylor get away from me, I mean it!”

“Why don’t you take your own advice? When you find out that there is more to a woman than just sex, then maybe you can talk to me.”

Right then Taylor saw a glimpse of rage in Isaacs eyes. Taylor backed up and Issac grabbed an end table and threw it against the wall, smashing it to pieces.

“Hey, you need to calm down…”

Taylor walked over to Isaac and tried to comfort him somehow. He put his hand on his shoulder but Isaac jerked his body away.

“Get off me”

Zac came out of his room after hearing the crash of the end table against the wall.

“What’s going on?”

“I didn’t mean anything I said.” Taylor said, looking at Issac.

Isaac just stood there clenching his fists together.

After a long pause, Issac mumbled

“You’re right, if I would have treated her better…”

“...wait a minute, she dumped you?”

Isaac was still focused on the wall.

 “She’s missing out" Taylor said with sincerity. 

“What’s going on out here? Isaac, are you ok?” Zac said, concerned.

“I just want to be alone!” Isaac said, walking to his room and slamming the door behind him.

“What did you say to him Taylor?”