Parker Lowell
No, the way she said it was more along the lines of the way Gina had said the very same thing when she had walked into her brother and sister-in-law's house only to find out that the bad accident we had passed on the way there involved him. He's fine now, but it was said the exact same way Theresa was saying it now.
"You're...," she started, trailing off. The slight laugh that she let out next lacked quite a bit in any kind of humor, like she thought this was some kind of cruel trick. "You're Zac, um, Zac Hanson, aren't you?"
I looked at Zac. He nodded, his face expressionless.
"This is really bizarre," she said. "You are Parker....right?"
"Yes," I said slowly.
"This is really bizarre," she repeated. "What's going on?"
I looked at Zac, who shrugged.
"It's a long story," I told her. "Unless you have a lot of time to spare, you might want to turn back now and forget this ever happened." It was my poor attempt at humor.
She didn't smile.
"Yeah, yeah, I think I, um, better hear what this is all about," she said, stepping in. Her eyes never left Zac's as she walked in the door. If it were any other time in any other situation, I would've informed her that she was staring at him like he was an animal in a zoo, but I chose not to.
"You might want to sit down," I said, gesturing toward the couch.
"Mario Brothers?" she said, pointing toward the screen. "Who was playing that?"
"Zac and I," I replied, sitting in the armchair across from the couch.
"Oh," she said, her voice shaking nervously. She swallowed. "Okay."
"Do you want something to drink? You look like you're about to pass out," I commented. It suprirsed me how normal I sounded. It seemed as if I should've been freaking out as much as she and Zac were. When I glanced over to my left, I saw that Zac was as white as ghost.
"No," she said, shaking her head. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling it and exhaling it before opening her eyes once more, looking directly to where Zac was sitting, as if checking to make sure he wasn't about to disappear. "What's going on?"
I sighed.
"Do you want to do this or shall I?" I asked Zac.
"You know more of the story than I do," he said, gesturing for me to go on.
I took a deep breath and launched into the story, explaining everything from how Gina wasn't really my mother to the apparent mix up at the concert to bringing Taylor to our house, to finding him in the kitchen to the night he had woken up. I closed my eyes after I finished, nervous to see what her reaction would be. I opened them slightly.
Her expression was pretty neutral. The one of someone who was listening to someone else speak. She didn't look crazed or angry or...anything. She just looked like she was listening.
"Wow," was all she said after a pain staking five minutes of guessing what she would do next. She sat back, her eyes wide with wonderment. "That's really weird."
"You're telling us," Zac put in.
I laughed a little. "No kidding."
"So it's not just a strange coincidence you look just like Taylor," she said, some note of humor in her voice. "There's a real reason."
I nodded.
"Yup," was all I could think to say although what she said didn't seem to require a response of any kind.
"Cool," she said, nodding.
"Sorry if this sounds really condescending," Zac started, "but you're not going to freak out or anything, are you?"
"Maybe when I get home," she said, nodding. Zac and I chuckled. "So Tay, uh, Taylor is in the hospital?" Her voice was worried.
Zac and I nodded in unison.
"But he's going to be okay," I told her. "They're just keeping him in there for a few extra days for one reason or another that nobody's bothered to inform us about."
She nodded again.
"What happened?"
"We don't know. He hasn't said anything and no one wants to ask him," I told her.
I looked back at the television screen where Luigi was still floating on the map of the third world in the game. He stared at us with blank expectancy.
"You won't tell anybody, will you?" Zac asked reluctantly.
"Not if you guys don't want me to," she answered firmly. She followed my gaze to the television screen. "I see you two were in the middle of a game. Do you want me to leave so you can keep going?"
I heard the beeping of a car's horn outside.
"I can't," I said, getting up. "My ride's here. I have to leave."
"Oh," she said, beginning to get up.
"But," I said and she paused, "if you would like to, I'm sure Zac wouldn't mind if you finished the game with him. That is, if you're willing to face Gina and his parents when they get home."
She looked to him for consent. He nodded, smiling slightly.
"Okay then," she said. She stood the rest of the way up. "Hold on, can I do something just this once while I'm here?" The question was directed toward Zac, who didn't seem to know how to answer.
"What?" he asked cautiously.
"Oh my Lord, I'm going to play Ninetendo with Zac Hanson!" she squealed quietly. I laughed before heading out the door to wher Dave was waiting patiently for me.
Maybe I'm more of a teeny than you think. :)
Index
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Four