Chapter 32

The Tulsa School for Exceptional Children was housed in an old brick building downtown.  Walker found himself travelling backwards in time as he carried the heavy amp up the stairs to the second floor where Shelly was telling the children about a special treat.  He and the boys had carried instruments, speakers, and all the other things that went with a performance countless times before the band was signed to Mercury. Now it seemed they had come full circle, only it was going to be harder this time around.  He wasn't really sure he wanted the boys playing again so soon.  This, though, was something altogether different and he was all for it.  He and Diana felt it would do Taylor good to see others who were living their lives without the ability to speak out loud.  And perhaps he could take comfort in knowing that at least he could hear the music he loved so much.

The room was large and in the center a piano stood with Taylor seated on the bench surrounded by curious children.  He had gotten out of lugging around drums, guitars and such because of his arm, his mother having threatened his father and brothers if she found out otherwise.  She had relented though, and allowed him to go sling free so that he could play and sign easier with the children.  Shelly and Zac had put together some pictures of the boys in different places all over the world.  There were pictures at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, London, Australia, Brazil and many other exotic locales as well as New York, Los Angeles and other interesting places in the U.S.

As she turned the pages, Taylor was asked many questions ranging from "Did you meet the Queen?" to "How tall is a kangaroo?"  He found he was better at signing than he was at understanding sign language. Now he knew how his family felt and he decided he would come back to the school more often, not only to better his signing skills but also because he enjoyed the company of the children.  He was relieved when his father and brothers were done setting up and it was time to talk music.  Zac and Taylor did most of the talking as they were the best at signing.  The children were fascinated by Isaac's guitar and all it's parts, especially those wonderful, vibrating strings.  The electric one was not as interesting as the acoustic.  As Taylor played the piano, they were drawn more to his face and the expression he wore of pure bliss, though it was lovely to watch the way his fingers played over the surface of the keys.  Of course, the coup de grace was Zac's drums, for like Shelly, they could feel the unmistakable boom of the bass drum and some of them actually jumped, startled by it all.

By the time the boys were finished, Shelly thought they'd all learned a bit about the mysterious thing called "music."  As the guys left, having taken everything down earlier, Zac stopped to talk to Shelly.  The children watched wide eyed as he leaned in a gave her a tiny kiss on the cheek.  It wasn't much, but it was enough for them to tease her about for weeks to come.

~~~~

A few days and lots of nagging later, Taylor officially got rid of the sling.  And the daily soaking and fussing.  It would leave a nice scar to add to his collection.

~~~~

The three members of Hanson had been asked to play "a little something" at their friend Rob's birthday party.  Since his birthday was so close to Christmas, his parents always threw him an excellent party and this year was no different.  It was December the 23rd and the talk of the evening had all centered around Taylor, much to his dismay.  Isaac and Zac had spilled the beans about the modeling gig he had finally accepted. Though the girls were all excited for him, the guys were sorry to hear he'd been reduced to such a pitiful state.

Taylor was happy to see Marcy come down the stairs to join the group.  When he'd asked her to come she had said no but when she found out her brothers were going she had changed her mind.  Taylor was nervous as it would be the first time he'd seen his friends since his life had taken a nose dive.  Rumours had flown around the school that Taylor had dropped Kim for Marcy but no one had actually seen the two together as a couple.  Teenaged girls don't miss much though, and when Taylor rushed over to her before her foot had even touched the last step, in their minds, the rumour was confirmed.  When Lee, Isaac's girlfriend joined Taylor in welcoming her, it was no longer a rumour, but obviously, fact.  Lee was extremely glad to see a friendly face.  Being already in her twenty's, she was older than everyone else at the party and had been pretty uncomfortable.  She hadn't been subjected to the whole "dating a Hanson" thing until now.  To her friends, he was just a boy who was lucky enough to have a really great job.  There were quite a few evil eyes pointed her way when Isaac kissed her and she wondered what Marcy would be subjected to since Taylor seemed to be the crowd favorite.  Or, would his lack of that incredible voice now mean he'd been demoted to "just another guy".

As Lee watched Taylor walk over to greet Marcy, she saw that not only had he gotten back a little of his swagger, but that he also seemed to have retained the title of "most loved Hanson" though now he was the sentimental favorite.  She'd heard many "poor thing"s and "how awful"s whispered amongst the partiers.  Zac had stuck to Taylor like glue so far being both translator and protector.  Certainly, no one in their right mind would tease or belittle Taylor with Stone Cold Zac Hanson standing by.  Soon after Marcy arrived though, so did Shelly, and suddenly Taylor no longer needed protecting.  Lee had nearly laughed out loud to see the look on Zac's face when she timidly came down the stairs looking only for him.

Now, the three girls stood back and watched Isaac, Taylor and Zac move over to the old piano sitting in the corner.  A couple of pizza boxes, one empty, one not, had been snagged for Zac to use as drums and Isaac had brought along his acoustic guitar and so, "Happy Birthday" was sung to Rob by Isaac and Zac accompanied not by Taylor's voice, but the twenty or so voices of Rob's family and friends.  As Rob was being congratulated by his guests, the brothers launched into "Money."  What Taylor couldn't contribute vocally, he made up for on the piano.

Those looking back at the "girlfriends" saw one girl with jet black hair, asian features and a killer smile flirtatiously wave at Isaac.  While beside her stood the rather serious looking Marcy, the girl from school that no one quite understood with her flashing eyes, dark auburn hair and strong opinions.  Next to her solid beauty, the petite blond whose eyes never left the boy whacking away at the pizza box looked downright fragile.  Though she didn't actually hear Zac when he sang "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", she watched him and she knew he was good.  She could read it in the faces of everyone around her.  Wishing they'd had real drums, Shelly made her way through the group of people crowding around the guys, if she was close enough she could read his lips.  She sat on the bench next to Taylor and placed both her hands on the smooth surface of the piano, feeling the vibrations of the strings within as he played each note.  He looked over at her, smiled, then kissed her on the cheek, not realizing the disturbance it would cause in the rumour mill.  Marcy's lack of a response only made it harder to understand for those whose lives revolved around the intricacies of the loves, hates, courtships and feuds of those around them.

When the song was over, Taylor signed something to Zac who blushed and said, "shut up."

Isaac thought a moment, then began to play and sing "In My Life", a Beatles song he and his brothers had loved for many years.  Zac picked up the beat right away but Taylor took the opportunity as soon as it presented itself and walked back to where Marcy and Lee stood next to each other.  He held his hand out to Marcy and raised his eyebrows.

"Are you asking me to dance?"  She asked, smiling at him.

He put on his best bedroom eyes and nodded and she took his hand.  She found herself in his arms again but this time it wasn't to comfort her.  She looked up to see his eyes closed and his lips moving, silently mouthing every word as his brother sang the song.

There are places I remember
All my life
Though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends
I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life
I've loved them all

Marcy thought to herself as she watched him that it would have been wonderful to have heard them sing it together.  Isaac had a beautiful voice, but paired with Taylor's, it had been sublime.  As the song ended, Taylor opened his eyes to see the deep brown eyes of his old enemy looking up at him and he kissed her.  Not like he'd kissed Shelly, but a real, warm, long, wet kiss and she kissed him back.  Isaac cleared his throat and Taylor was pulled back into the real world.  Reluctantly, he left Marcy's side and made his way back to the piano.  Marcy slowly walked back to stand next to Lee.  "Whoa,"  Lee said, "was that a first kiss we all just witnessed?"

"Yeah, I guess it was."  Marcy couldn't hide the smile that overtook her face.

Among those witnesses were Marcy's brothers.  Since the incident at their house the prior week, they had been walking on egg shells around her and she hadn't spoken to either of them since it had happened.  Though they still didn't approve of Taylor going out with her, it was clear to them that it was going to happen and the more they tried to keep her from him, the closer she got to Taylor.  The three brothers finished playing and Tim and Greg watched as they joined the three girls.

Taylor had seen them when they'd come in and had successfully avoided them. "Your brothers are here." He said to Marcy.

"I see 'em."  She said coldly.

"What's up?"  Isaac asked.

Taylor shook his head and Marcy replied, "nothing."  Her face brightened and she said, "Hey, you guys sounded great!"

"Thanks, we're trying."  He smiled at Taylor.  "It's kind of a big adjustment."

"Yeah, it's gotta be."  Marcy said.  "Hey, look what I can do..."  And she slowly and carefully signed, "my name is M-A-R-C-Y."

Taylor's face lit up and Isaac asked, "How did you learn that?"

"Avery loaned me a book, sort of a signing for dummies."

Lee laughed, "Hmmm, I might need to borrow that when you're through with it."

"There's also some good web pages on it.  Plus, I had learned some in girl scouts, I'd forgotten all about that."  Marcy added.

Isaac saw Taylor look across the room and followed his eyes.  "So, what are Tim and Greg doing here?"  He asked.

"Tim's girlfriend is Rick and Rob's cousin."  Marcy replied.

"You're kidding.  Is she here?" he looked again hoping to see her.

"I haven't seen her."  Marcy said.

Taylor nudged Isaac and pointed to where Zac and Shelly were slow dancing to "Iris" by the GooGooDolls. Isaac smiled.  "That must be weird."

Taylor nodded.  "Hope he doesn't step on her foot."

Zac easily made two of Shelly.

~~~~

The evening progressed and Rob opened some presents and blew out seventeen candles on his cake.  Though everyone tried to overlook Taylor's silence and act like nothing had happened, it was still right under the surface.  He would catch his friends watching him with odd looks on their faces or strangers openly staring and whispering that he was "the one."  And the eyes of Marcy's brothers never left him.  He looked at his watch.  It was only 9:45 but he was ready to leave.  He looked over at Isaac, he and Lee were laughing with Rob and Zac was telling Shelly what it was that was so funny. Marcy came out of the bathroom and saw Taylor leaning up against the wall across the room.  It was hard for her to believe, watching him here with his own friends, that he could be the party animal that her brothers and other people at school said he was.  Not only did he look bored, but he looked uncomfortable and fidgety.

She walked up to him, "What's wrong?"  He smiled and shook his head.  "I'm not stupid.  What's wrong?"  She asked again.

He looked down at her, she was reminding him of his mother.  "I feel like everybody is looking at me."  He said slowly.

"Well, it could be because they are.  Aren't you used to it by now?"  She said back to him.

"It's different now."

"You are different now and they don't know yet how to treat you, it'll get better."

He looked at her.  "You sound like Lee."

"I'm sorry?"  she said.

He took out paper and wrote: That's what Lee always says.

"That's cause she's so smart."  And she kissed him lightly on the lips.  He reached down and took some of her hair and inhaled deeply.  Her hair smelled better to him than any cologne or perfume.  "What are you doing?"  She giggled.

"I love your hair."  He said.

"You are so weird."  She said back.

"Would you mind if we left?"  He signed and spoke.

"You want to leave?"  He nodded.  "Ok, they're your friends, whatever you want."

Taylor whistled, not the ear piercing one he was capable of, but it got both his brothers' attention.  He signed, "I-K-E, we're going for a walk, keep them from seeing."  And he looked over at Tim and Greg.  Zac and Shelly smiled feeling a little smug that they knew what just went down and everyone else in the room only watched and wondered.

Isaac and Lee made their way over to Tim and Greg who had situated themselves by the food and drink table.  "Hey guys..."  Isaac spoke, "I can't help but notice, you haven't taken your eyes off Taylor all night."

"So?"  Greg said.

"So, I hate to bust your bubble, but those rumours about him being gay, well, he's not.  Sorry.  But, he is very pretty so whatever floats your boat."

"I know he's not gay."  Greg retorted, "'cause I've seen him have sex with at least four or five girls... and that's just the one's I saw."

"Is that so?  You saw it?  You wouldn't be a little jealous, would you?"

Greg snorted.  "Of that mute pansy?  I don't think so."

If it had been Zac, who'd heard that last comment, the melee would have begun right there.  Lee watched Isaac, not knowing what to expect.  But, for a moment, he just looked at the two.  "If you ever hurt my brother..."  he said, "and I mean physically, or by some heartless, shitty comment like that, you will have to answer to me."  He took a breath, "You know, you used to pick on Zac because he was little, now it's Tay 'cause he's down right now.  Who's next?  My little sister?  C'mon Lee."  And with that they turned and left the two watching after them.  Taylor and Marcy were long gone.
 
 
 

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