l.o.v.e. spells trouble (and a horse)

chapter two

"Was that meant to explode?" asked Nick Carter.
"Probably not," Taylor Hanson replied calmly. They were sitting in front of Belinda's father's computer, or what was left of it. He hadn't said they could use it, but he was out of the house, and Nick had REALLY wanted to play Solitaire, so they took matters into their own hands. It was just a pity that Belinda's father's computer was an Apple, and Tay and Nick had only ever used a PC before. Even though it was clear that the mouse only had one button, they had persisted in trying to "right click" an icon on the desktop to the point of holding up one side of the button while putting pressure on the other side. It had almost been working, too, when that strange red flash had travelled up the mouse cord into the computer. Seconds later, the computer had gone up in flames before exploding violently. There was now a piece of the keyboard lodged in the wall behind them, and a pile of ashes on the desk.
Tay looked at Nick, and Nick looked at Tay. What were they to do? They had just um... damaged...? some very expensive office equipment, and it wasn't even theirs. They could never afford to replace-- Wait a second! Yes they could! Nick and Tay had momentarily forgotten they were world-famous pop stars. They wandered down the street to the nearest computer shop, the one with the recently-repaired glass window in the front, and bought a replacement computer. They made it a PC this time.

Ever since the "gay pants" episode, Taylor Hanson and Nick Carter had been inseparable. Presumably, being joined by the pants for a while had also initiated the joining of minds and hearts; they were soul-mates. Although the two boys were careful to keep at least two metres between each other at all times to allow their pants no chance to get intimate, they still managed to have a rip-roaringly good time every time they got together at Bel's house. The computer was only the tenth piece of electrical equipment the boys had replaced in the last week. Belinda's parents were resigned to the Hanson family staying at their house for as long as they wanted. After all, it wasn't every day they got a complete technological upgrade free of charge.
Although Nick was closer in age to Isaac than Tay, he, as most people did, found Ike far to weird to get along with, so the two boys had their lives pretty much to themselves. Bel's parents both worked, Ike spent his days doing who knows what, Mr and Mrs Hanson liked to explore the city of Melbourne while Mackie babysat Zoe; Jessie and Avie played barbies and shot water pistols at fans sneaking around the back garden, and Belinda's brother was teaching Zac, Bel's friend Kate and Nick's little brother Aaron how to surf in the swimming pool. Bel herself, of course, was no longer with us.
The great friendship between Taylor and Nick, however, was put to the test when came the news that Nick and Aaron's Australian holiday was over, and that the Backstreet Boys had to embark on a world tour. To everywhere except Australia.
They stood in a line at the airport, Nick, Tay, Ike, Kate, Zac, Aaron and four thousand fans. Then the airport security pulled out their truncheons and started beating off the fans until the solemn six were left alone. They sat down in those white plastic chairs with the low backs that are joined together by the arm-rests.
After five minutes of listening to Taylor tapping his fingers on the hard plastic, Zac and Aaron got up and wandered around the airport for something less annoying on the ears. What they found was a video game arcade. The moment they entered the dark room, full of flashing neon signs and repetitive blipping noises, every girl in the place honed in on Zac and started racing towards him and Aaron.
"Quick!" said Zac. "Give me your cap, little buddy. I need to hide."
Aaron whipped off his red baseball cap and passed it to Zac, who bundled his golden hair up under it and tried to look unclean.
The girls stopped in their tracks. "That's not Zac Hanson, Karen," one of the girls said to her friend. "That boy's wearing a red cap. Red is Taylor's favourite colour, not Zac's."
"Yeah, Suzi," agreed Karen. "We must have imagined it." They walked off, talking about how disgusting boys were, except for Tay and Zac Hanson, of course. No one mentioned Ike. Enough was understood.
"Gee," said Aaron. "Are all girls like that?"
"Pretty much, little buddy," said Zac. He was enjoying being the older one for once. It was fun to act wise and all-knowing to someone younger than you. Zac suddenly saw why Ike and Tay liked hanging out with him. It was an opportunity to show off. "Come on, Aaron," he said. "I'll show you how to play Tomb Raider." He walked off, Aaron trailing adoringly along behind him.

"All passengers on flight 704 to Paris in seats Q-Z, last call for boarding," the voice over the intercom intoned.
"Omigod, Nick!" exclaimed Kate. "Weren't you in row P?"
"Omigod!" screamed Nick. "I'll miss the plane! Where's Aaron?"
As he raced through the airport, looking frantically for Aaron, Nick wished for the first time that his parents had come on holiday with him. At least then they could have kept track of his younger brother for him. Nick approached the arcade with a sigh of relief. He knew how much Aaron loved video games and figured he had to be in there. Nick scanned the rows of teenagers in baggy jeans for the familiar red cap. Finally he spotted the two boys, bent over Tomb Raider in the dim light. Nick grabbed Aaron and ran as fast as he could, Zac pounding along behind him.
"Nick, I'm not--" Aaron cried out.
"Shut up, little bro," gasped Nick, running as fast as he could. "I know you wanna finish the game, but we're gonna miss the plane to Paris."
"But, Nick, I'm not--"
"Aaron, shut up, pal. It's just a game." Nick was losing patience. Behind him, Zac was shouting something, but Nick was running too hard to hear him. He dashed past Ike, Kate and Tay, still carrying Aaron, and ran for his plane. Just as he turned the corner, Nick blew a kiss, and then he was gone.
Tay caught the kiss in his fist, and handed it to Kate. She put it in her pocket to keep for later. The three headed slowly for the exit. Zac caught up behind them.
"Wait!" he called.
"No," replied Taylor. "I wanna get home and watch cartoons. I'm not gonna wait until you catch your breath. It's your own fault for running."
"But--"
Taylor cut him off. "I didn't know you were so unfit, Zac."
"I'm not--"
"I don't care if you have a stitch. Keep walking and it'll get better."
"Hey, look!" said Kate. "There's Nick's plane, flying off into the sunset."
"NOOOOO!!!" cried Zac.
"Buddy, I didn't know you'd miss Aaron this much." Taylor was shocked. "But we hafta go home now. I wanna see Scooby Doo. Aaron can come and visit some other time."
"But I'm--"
"Yeah, I know. I'm going to miss Nick, too, but we have to deal with these things. You have to cope, Zac."
There was nothing "Zac" could do. It was the curse of being the younger brother. Tay had never let Zac finish a sentence yet.

That night...
"Zac, sing Man From Milwaukee now," Taylor ordered. "We need to practice."
"I can't," "Zac" whispered. He had given up hope. "I don't know the words."
"What do you mean you--" Taylor's mouth fell open. He was looking closely at Zac for the first time in weeks. This wasn't the younger brother he remembered. For one thing, he was much shorter. Plus, his hair was a lot lighter, more white-blond than gold, and it only came down to his ears. Tay didn't remember Zac having had a haircut recently. Suddenly it hit him. This wasn't Zac. This was...
"AARON?!!!" Tay screamed.
Isaac fainted.

[ 3 ]