For the next few hours, Jenn and I borrowed Taylor’s car and drove around Anaheim, eventually ending up in Hollywood again due to my creative driving. It was true bonding time for us; we bitched and vented about everything from the boys to our families, from menstrual cycles to school. It was a nice venting session. Once in Hollywood, we found the famous Hollywood and Highland center, so we parked the car and got out to walk around and possibly shop. The fact that we had a concert to attend to didn’t even cross our minds until my cell phone rang loudly. But I was too caught up in laughing over something with Jenn to check the Caller ID, so I answered it. “Hello?” I asked in a giggly voice, as I covered my mouth to subside my giddiness.

“Where the fuck are you?” It was Taylor. “We have a concert in a few hours and you aren’t here and you fucking work for us –“

I hung up the phone and shoved it back in my purse, feeling a scowl on my face. “Who was it?” Jenn asked. We were poised in front of a mirror at Sephora, trying on lip-plumping lip-glosses and glittery eye shadow. We looked fab if I do say so myself.

“My wonderful boyfriend,” I said sarcastically. My lips tingled as the lip plumper took effect.

“Oh Lord, what did he want?”

“To bother us, what else?”

My phone rang again and this time I checked the caller ID. Taylor again. Fine, if he wanted to bitch at me and be bitched at back in public, so be it. I told Jenn that I’d be outside and she nodded, examining herself in the mirror.

“Tay, if you want to fight with me then let’s fight,” I said indignantly, as I started to walk around quickly. “But don’t—“

“Trish, it’s Ike.”

I stopped dead in my tracks, almost bumping into some tourists, who glared at me. “Ike?” I asked carefully. “Why are you calling from Taylor’s phone?”

“Trish, I don’t know where you and Jenn are, but we know that you took our car and we really need you to bring it back to us,” he said, in a reprimanding voice that he was so good at. “And I’m using Taylor’s phone because mine’s charging.”

“I can’t bring it back,” I told him, moving onto a bench so as to avoid collisions with tourists again.

“Why not?”

“Jenn and I are busy right now.”

“But we have a concert in a few hours and we need the car, not to mention you two.”

“You don’t need the car; you can rent another one. And you can deal without Jenn and I for now.”

Isaac sighed; I rarely tried to fight him and I was obviously trying to fight him this time. “Trish, please bring back our car and bring yourself and Jenn back, we need you two right now,” he pleaded. I almost felt bad for leaving so quickly and was about to say something when I suddenly heard Isaac cry out in surprise and another voice on the phone.

“Trish, don’t be this way okay? I know that you’re mad at me but don’t be dumb and run away,” Taylor said.

“I’m not running away. I’m taking a break from you guys. I need it,” I said defensively. “Jenn and I both need it.”

“Since when?”

“Since now.”

Taylor was silent. “That’s stupid,” he finally said. “God, Trish, really, you can be so damned stupid sometimes …”

I felt this angry feeling wash over me. I hated the fact that he was talking to me as if he were better than I was. “Hey Tay? Good luck dealing with all of your shit tonight, okay? We’re not coming back. Bye,” I snapped. And then I hung up the phone and turned it off, shoving it in my bag and joining Jenn in the wonderful world of Sephora.

Jenn and I ended up spending the rest of the day and night in and around Hollywood. We got around thanks to Taylor’s car and had fun spending some quality girl time together. We had done some shopping, picking up new pajamas and shirts and jeans and make-up and everything. I had turned on my phone after we had decided we were tired and found a whopping ten messages for me in my voice mailbox. They were all from Taylor, mostly saying to call him back, a few with frustrated sighs and hang-ups. As soon as I turned it on, it started ringing, but I hit the handy-dandy ‘No’ button and let it go straight to voicemail. Then, Jenn’s phone started ringing and she looked over at me, and for no reason, we started cracking up. Don’t ask why because I don’t know why; it was just so funny then. Someone would call one phone, leave a message, and then call the other phone. This sent us into hysterics for some reason.

Since Jenn and I were on our “boys suck” trip, we decided to check into a hotel ourselves. We ended up near Hollywood and Highland again and found a Holiday Inn nearby that didn’t look too bad. One glance at each other let me know that it was going to be our home for the night. So we grabbed our shopping bags and found out there was one available room – room 316. We went upstairs and found out that the room wasn’t as bad as we thought it would be; it was actually quite pleasant. We immediately claimed our beds and then sprawled across them, enjoying a whole room to ourselves.

After a few minutes of lying there, we decided that we needed something to snack on, so we dug up some change and went over to the vending machines across the way. “What do you feel like eating?” I asked, jingling the change in my hand.

Jenn shrugged. “I don’t know … maybe chocolate?”

“Sounds good.” I looked at the machine and saw a bag of chips hanging precariously on the edge. “Whoa.”

“What?” Jenn asked. I pointed at the bag of chips hanging there and saw her brows furrow in confusion. “What the fuck are limon chips?!”

I started laughing, partly because of the expression on her face and partly because I didn’t know how to answer her. My laughter caused her to laugh and before we knew it, we were practically in tears from laughing so hard. We were lucky that no one was around us or we would’ve been given weird looks for sure. It took us a good ten minutes (maybe even fifteen) for us to calm down, with my stomach muscles in a good kind of pain as we made our way back to the room; snackless, but ridiculously giddy. We ended up ordering a pizza from Pizza Hut anyway – mushroom pizza, to be exact.

We went to bed around three a.m., turning off our phones to preserve the batteries. We slept in our new underwear and pajamas, our hair smelling of Sephora bought bath stuff and our teeth feeling sparkly clean. We would’ve slept in, but our bodies had become so accustomed to waking up relatively early due to the schedule of the boys. So about nine-thirty we both woke up and I immediately reached for my phone to check the time. When my eyes adjusted and I found myself looking at a blank screen, I powered it on and was informed that I had twenty new text messages, followed by a notice for new voicemails.

“Great,” I mumbled, checking my texts. They were all from Taylor, the majority asking where I was and to call him, the ones towards the end saying things like, “im sorry for calling u stupid. I love u trish, u are my world. hope u forgive me cuz I can’t live without u.” I then went and checked my voice messages and saw Jenn doing the same thing. There were the hang-ups and the “Trish, this is Taylor/Ike, call me when you get a chance.” I started to feel incredibly bad about what Jenn and I had been doing.

And then, the last voice message that I got really hit me. It was from Zac, who I hadn’t heard from during all of this.

“Um, hey Trish,” his message began. I could hear people in the background, but their voices were quiet and I could tell that he was alone for the most part. “It’s just me, ya know. Zac. I’m really worried about you and Jenn. You haven’t called and you haven’t answered phone calls or messages and I’m scared that something’s happened to you guys. I hope you’re okay. The show sucked by the way. We didn’t realize how important you guys are until all hell broke loose and we were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Anyway, we’re on the road to San Francisco right now, Taylor and Isaac are texting you and Jenn as I speak. And I wanted to let you know that if you want to, you can meet us at the hotel in San Francisco and we’ll all talk. I’m sorry for what happened earlier, for being such a jerk and setting off Tay like that. I shouldn’t have done it. Okay, well, this message is getting long and I’ll probably get cut off soon, but I wanted to let you know that I love you and I hope you’re okay and hopefully you’ll be at our last show. ‘Bye, ‘Roo.”

I just sat there, the phone in my hand, as the voicemail lady informed me that I had no more new messages. I saved the message and looked at Jenn, who looked as miserable as I felt. “Who gave you a call?” she asked.

“Zac,” I mumbled. “I think we need to go, Jenn.”

She nodded. “Yeah. I feel bad.”

“Man, so do I.”

There was a slight silence before she spoke up again. “To San Francisco?”

I nodded. “To San Francisco.”

So after Jenn and I showered and donned some more of our new clothes, and after I did the smart thing and bought a map, we got into Taylor’s car, stopped for gas, and headed to San Francisco. My phone started to let out an annoying sound to let me know that my battery was dead – or at least on the brink of death. So I shut it off and borrowed Jenn’s – which was on the brink of death as well, but faring much better than mine – and dialed Taylor’s number. He didn’t pick up; he was probably sleeping or ignoring me, either one seemed feasible. So I left a quick message – “Hey, it’s Trish, just wanted to let you know that Jenn and I are on the way to San Francisco right now. Sorry about all that’s happened – we’ll talk when I see you again. And we’re turning off our phones because our batteries are dying, so try not to bombard us with messages. Love you.” – and handed the phone back to her, which she promptly turned off to preserve her battery. It was going to take us anywhere from six to eight hours to get up north, so we were in for a long ride. We entertained ourselves by singing along to the radio station we found and just talking again. We stopped a few times to relieve ourselves and to get food to eat, and before we knew it we were at our designated hotel. We walked around outside a bit to stretch our legs and to see if the boys had arrived yet, but there was no bus in sight.

We ended up loitering in the lobby, taking advantage of the soft, cushiony couches that were provided. I leaned over on the armrest, resting my head on my arms. I could feel my eyelids growing heavier and heavier with each minute that passed and before I knew it, I was dreaming. It wasn’t until I felt a soft kiss on my forehead that I woke up, looking into the eyes of Taylor Hanson.

“Hey,” he said, smiling softly and sitting next to me. “How’d you sleep?”

I groaned, letting my eyes adjust to the hotel light. “What time is it?” I asked, rubbing my face.

Taylor checked his watch. “About seven-thirty. We just got here about five minutes ago,” he replied. He kissed my forehead again. “Sorry about yesterday, baby.”

“We’ll talk about it later,” I yawned, sitting up fully and cracking my neck. I saw Jenn at the front desk with the other two boys and Mr. Hanson, probably checking in to the hotel and such. Her and Mr. Hanson seemed to be in deep discussion – I hoped that we weren’t in deep doo-doo for what Jenn and I had done. Stupid me hadn’t even considered what Mr. Hanson would say.

I leaned on Taylor’s shoulder, feeling his arm go around me and feeling him squeeze me lightly. I yawned again, closing my eyes and trying to let my brain wake up a little bit more. Taylor nudged me when it was time to get up, so I opened my eyes and slipped my hand in his, following him to our entourage. Keys to rooms were given out and I was going to head to a room with Jenn, but I was pulled in the opposite direction by Taylor.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked, much to my surprise.

“To … to the room with Jenn …” I said, scratching my head.

“And why would you do that?” he grinned.

“Because I share a room with her …”

“Not this time.” With that, he opened the door to our room and pulled me in with him, letting the door close behind us. He put his bags on the floor and then turned around to face me. I didn’t know what to say or do; my mind was still in sleep mode.

“Babe, why’d you leave yesterday?” Taylor asked, as he stood across from me.

“Because I didn’t want to be there, it was only causing fights between you and Zac.”

“Oh …”

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you come back last night though?”

“Because I felt like I really didn’t need to be there.”

“But you’re an important part of this tour, Trish.”

I sighed. “I know but … I don’t know, I can’t explain it Taylor. I just needed a break. You weren’t talking to me anyway and you certainly let me know you didn’t need me.”

I almost expected Taylor to get all defensive, but instead he said, “I know … I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to push you away when you wanted to help, it just happened.” He stepped closer to me and cupped my face in his hands. “I was really worried about you last night, you know."

I felt a lazy grin on my face. “You were also really mad at me last night.”

“Only during the afternoon.” Taylor smiled and kissed me lightly. “Then you weren’t picking up my calls, and then your phone was off, and then it was time for the concert and you and Jenn weren’t back yet … which was weird. Dad wanted to know what happened and Isaac made up some bullshit lie and then things started going wrong as soon as we got there; we were late because Ash had scheduled an interview when we were supposed to be at soundcheck, so that was rushed, and then the meet-n-greet was cut short because we needed to get that done, and then our rider was all messed up and it got mixed up with some other artist’s rider, so we had all this weird organic food and drinks instead of the ones we had …” He sighed. “Anyway … it sucked without you … I thought that maybe you died or were hurt or something … ”

I felt like slapping my forehead and going “D’oh” Homer Simpson style. Instead, I wrapped my arms around Taylor and hugged him tightly, feeling incredibly guilty. “Sorry I was so selfish yesterday,” I mumbled, as he ran his fingers though my hair before his arms went around me. “I … I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m dumb.”

“It’s okay baby, I forgive you. Just – don’t scare me like that again okay? I don’t want anything happening to you.”

I nodded. “Never again.”

And then we just stood there, our arms around each other. I had this incredible urge to just cry; how could I be so selfish to just leave him and his brothers like that, especially when they needed me?

A knock at our door brought us out of our embrace and I looked at Taylor, who looked at me. Another knock made us move, so we walked over to the door together and I answered it, seeing Jenn, Isaac, and Zac standing there.

“Hope we weren’t interrupting anything,” Jenn said. “But we’re all going out to dinner and we were sent to get you guys.”

“You’re not interrupting anything at all,” I heard Taylor say. “Let me go grab my wallet though.”

I turned around and waited for Taylor to join us. I made sure he had the key to our room, which he did, and then I closed the door behind us and followed the other three to the parking lot. When Jenn meant that “we’re all going out to dinner”, she meant everyone. The whole tour crew was there, getting into separate cars. Our group ended up in Taylor’s car, where Jenn and I had to shove all of our bags and things into the trunk. “God, gone shopping much?” Isaac snorted, as we pushed down on a bag to make it fit.

“Oh be quiet,” I said, as we shut the trunk. “We needed them.”

“You needed to buy out Sephora?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

“Yes, Ike. We did, thank you. Get in the car, okay?”

Isaac laughed and climbed into the backseat with Jenn and Zac. I sat up front with Taylor and memories of our trip to New York flooded back to me. I subconsciously glanced at Zac in the rearview mirror to see him looking back at me. He gave me a small, embarrassed smile before quickly looking away.

We followed our entourage to some Italian restaurant, where we were given a private room. I found out that this was a celebration for a tour well done, for good times and good company. I sat next to Taylor and a wall, choosing to lean against Taylor when he put his arm around me as he talked to a roadie that was sitting across from us at the table. Our food was ordered and we all ate hungrily, being incredibly full by the end of the meal. Even Zac, who had no problem ordering dessert, couldn’t eat anymore. It was delicious food and I realized how bummed I was about the tour ending. In only two days we were leaving back for Oklahoma, and about a week after I was heading out to California to start a new life, basically. I was going to be a college girl, away from my home and family, away from the boys, away from Jenn. I looked around the table and saw smiling faces, heard laughter and heard the excited chatter.

Damn, I thought, looking around the table, feeling a grin on my face. I sure am going to miss this.

The rest of the evening was spent resting up for their last big concert. Jenn and I got things organized again and Taylor apologized to Jenn for calling her a slut, saying that he didn’t mean it. She accepted his apology and then they shook on it, thus making their relationship better. Taylor and I retired to our room around one A.M., changing into pajamas and getting into bed together, snuggling under the covers.

“I love you, babes,” he whispered sleepily, as I snuggled against him, already drifting off. “I’d kiss you but I’m too tired to lift my head.”

I smiled. “It’s okay,” I said. “I love you too.” I don’t even remember if he said anything to me because I was already dreaming of stepping onto a plane heading to Los Angeles International Airport in sunny Southern California.