The next day I found out what went down at the Hanson household. Mr. and Mrs. Hanson had gone back to their house and left the younger kids at my house, where they were totally oblivious to what was happening. Apparently, Mrs. Hanson had seen one of Isaac’s friends pull up with two six packs of beer and had alerted her husband, who had bolted across the street to find out if it was true. That’s when he had come storming into the house, scaring the heck out of Taylor, Zac and me.

“So Ike’s in big trouble, huh?” I asked, cradling my phone on my shoulder while I made my bed. It was eleven AM and I had been woken up by the phone ringing. It was Taylor, of course. He called on an almost daily basis, just to say hi, but mostly to see what I was doing.

“Yeah, he is. He’s not allowed to go out until we go on tour again. And if he does, he has to call every half an hour and Mom and Dad have to meet who he’s going out with first,” Taylor informed me.

“What?! How are we going to get around Tulsa? Ike was our driver!”

“I know. I guess we don’t go out, we just … get our parents to take us or something.”

I groaned. “Aw man. But Ike let us stay out however long we wanted.”

Taylor sighed. “I know.”

“Well, I guess we’ll be a bunch of homebodies for the next three months.”

“I guess.” Taylor paused. “So are you busy later? Maybe we can watch a movie at my house or something.”

“Um, maybe. Let me go ask.” I placed the phone down and went looking for my mother, who was cleaning up the kitchen counter. “Mom, is it okay if I go to Taylor’s house later? We’re going to watch a movie.”

My mother looked up, her hair in her eyes, which she brushed away with a gloved hand. “Trish, sweets, I don’t think it’s safe to be going over there.” Obviously, she had heard about Isaac’s little party-hardy night. My parents usually talked with the Hansons every day, while one departed to work.

“But Taylor and I are going to be bored, we have no one to take us to the mall. Isaac used to drive us, remember Mom?”

She smiled. “Yes, I know, sweetheart. But maybe you and Taylor should stay in your own houses for a few days, give Mr. and Mrs. Hanson a break.”

I frowned. “Am I too much for them or something? I won’t do whatever I’m doing, I promise! Just please can I go over to Tay’s? Mom, I’m so bored!”

She shook her head in the way that let me know I couldn’t argue anymore. “Well, if I can’t go to Tay’s, can Tay come over?” I asked hopefully.

My mother sighed. “Trish.” With that one simple statement, I nodded my head quickly and went back to my room, where the phone was waiting. I picked it up to hear Taylor singing to the radio.

“Hey, I’m not allowed to come over,” I said ruefully. “I’m sorry, Taylor.”

“Well, can I come over then? I swear I’m going to burst if I can’t be doing something!”

“Mom said no – I didn’t get an explanation or anything, but she said no.”

“Aw, man.” I could practically see Taylor on the other side pouting. “Okay then. I guess I’ll talk to you later.”

I nodded though he couldn’t see me. “’Bye,” I said. “Love ‘ya.”

“Love ‘ya.” We hung up and I went downstairs to grab something to eat. By this time, my mom was done with the counters and was now sitting at the table, reading the newspaper. I could hear my younger sister’s laughter as she watched TV in the next room, and the lawnmower outside as my father mowed the sea of green.

“Trish, what happened last night at Isaac’s party?” my mom asked, as I sat down at the table and began looking for the comics section.

I shrugged my shoulders, furrowing my brow when my desired section hadn’t yet shown up. “They partied. I was upstairs with Taylor and Zac watching a movie,” I said. Though it wasn’t the complete truth, it was some of it.

I could feel my mother’s eyes tearing through me. I shifted uncomfortably and yanked out a random section of the paper. Business. Great.

“Anything else?” she asked.

I shook my head slowly, keeping my eyes to the paper. I wasn’t about to rat out Isaac, who had saved my ass so many times when Taylor and I had snuck out to go get something from the gas station years before.

“You sure? You didn’t drink? Taylor didn’t drink? Zac?”

“Mo-om!” I cried out, looking at her. “Zac and Tay and I know better than to do that stuff!” I felt insulted that she would think of me doing such a thing.

“Well, you never know.” She picked up the newspaper again, but asked, “You sure nothing happened with you guys?”

“I’m sure.” With that, I got up to join my sister on the couch to watch some mind-numbing TV.