Several months passed.  Vicki threw herself into her schoolwork.  She 
continued to buy all the magazines with Hanson in them, continued buying 
their singles, but she didn't listen to them or read them.  She simply put 
them all in a box labeled 'Hanson for Later'.  The pile grew to be enormous.  
Then, in November, Taylor released his second classical music CD.
        When Vicki went into the music store, her eyes zeroed in on the top 
ten CD's chart.  "Number One," it said: "Taylor Hanson's New Classical CD 
titled, 'Don't Let Me Go.'"  Her confidence wavered as she remembered exactly 
what part she'd had in this CD and exactly what had happened all those weeks 
with him.  She was still very sore at even the mention of Hanson's lead 
singer.  This memory-wrenching CD wouldn't help at all.
        But before she knew it, she was at the register paying for the CD.  
The cashier was talking to her.  "…and the next day, it hit number one!  I've 
never seen anything, ANYTHING like it.  Here you go, little lady.  Be sure to 
listen to track number sixteen.  Everyone says it's the prettiest thing.  
Have a nice night!"
        As she climbed into her car, she wondered exactly what he had meant 
by track number sixteen.  It's probably that song with the whole family.  
That was supposed to be an awesome song.  Her heart was aching with all this 
recall.  I won't even listen to it.  But something inside of her said, 
'Listen to them all.'  She sighed, but agreed to the urgings.
        Once in her car, she turned on the accessory and slid the CD into her 
dashboard player.  As all the tracks played, Vicki had to admit that Tay had 
a beautiful talent.  Her heart ached and hurt and she strained to keep from 
crying.  She heard the song Tay had told her about (with the entire family) 
play, and it was magnificent, but it was only track thirteen.  Then, the 
opening notes of the piece she had played with Tay came on.  This was track 
sixteen!  The tears started to fall.  Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to 
block the tears, then the memories, but as the tears ran, the memories came 
rushing back.  Then, she heard her entrance and had to admit that she sounded 
wonderful.  The song washed over her and soon it ended.  She was sobbing now. 
 She looked on the CD at number sixteen, the song playing, and it was titled, 
"Come Back."
        She heard a little burble on the CD and then the next song started.  
Vicki skipped back a few seconds and cranked up the volume, drying her eys 
rapidly as her heart started to beat faster.  She heard:
        "My Sweet Lily, come back to me.  Rhodes Man."
        The next song started blasting out of the speakers and people in the 
parking lot were staring at her, but she neither saw them nor heard it.  Had 
she really heard that?  Was he talking to her?  Suddenly, she realized that 
he had been referring to her!  Oh my gosh!  Sweet Lily?  Rhodes Man?  Those 
are our email addresses.  Does he really want to get back together with me?  
Does he forgive me?
        Okay, calm down, Vic.  If it is you he's talking to, then he referred 
to our email addresses.  So maybe you should check your email.  Now Vicki's 
heart was racing a mile a minute.  She turned down the volume on her stereo 
and turned on the engine of her car.  Racing home, she could hardly drive 
straight.
        She rushed up the stairs of the dorm, hurriedly opened the door of 
her room, and flipped on the switch of her computer.  Every second seemed 
like an eternity.  Finally her computer was booted up.  She clicked the AOL 
symbol and typed in her password; when it let her in, she immediately 
listened for that voice.  There it was: "You've got mail!"  She was trembling 
as she clicked her mailbox.  Yup, there was an email from 
RhodesMan68@aol.com.  She took a deep breath and opened the email.  It read:
        Sweet Lily: Come meet me at the lake at 8:30 tonight.  Please come.  
Your Tay.
        "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Vicki screamed.  This 
couldn't be happening!  Was this a dream?!  Nope, there it was on her 
computer screen.  Get dressed, Vicki, get dressed.  Come on!  You've got to 
get down there!  You've only got twenty minutes!  She never stopped to 
consider why, where, or what was really going on.  She just raced around her 
dorm grabbing this and that.
        "What am I going to wear?!  Okay, that white angora sweater with the 
beads looks good.  My pants will be…what will my pants be?!  Oh, I'll just 
wear these slacks.  Wear your hair down in that white beaded headband.  Yeah, 
that's it.  Oh, brush it first!  Make it gleam!  Yeah, that's perfect.  Now, 
just slip on that headband.  Perfect, perfect.  Oh, we need some makeup, not 
that it's going to show, but it's a must.  Pull on your parka, oops, gotta 
turn off that computer, okay, be careful not to staticize your hair.  Grab 
your keys, and let's go, baby!" Vicki babbled giddily.
        She rushed downstairs, jumped into her car again, and was off.  All 
of a sudden, she stopped, slamming the brakes.  What lake?  Oh, that lake we 
went to that night after dinner at his house, probably.  Now, wait a second.  
What the heck am I doing?  Why am I so excited?  What if he wasn't really 
speaking to me?  What if it's just a prank?  Oh, but he wouldn't be that 
mean.  
        Come on, just try it.  If it doesn't happen, you'll feel like a fool, 
but that's better than not showing up when I really want to.
        She continued, glancing quickly at the dashboard clock.  8:22.  Oh, 
she had to hurry.  Now she was at the edge of the woods.  8:25.  She dashed 
through the woods, bursting into the clearing at the pond at exactly 8:30.  
The moon shone brightly onto -- nothing but the lake.
        Crushed, Vicki turned to leave.  Crack!
        Whirling around, Vicki stared across the lake and right into baby 
blue eyes that she knew so well.
        The seconds passed, the two staring into each other's eyes.  
Suddenly, Vicki's eyes glistened with tears.  She started to run around the 
lake.  Tay ran too.  But as she was a few feet from Tay, she tripped over a 
stick.  Clumsy, clumsy.  She stiffened, waiting for the hard ground to crash 
into her.  But she never felt it.  Instead, she fell straight into Taylor's 
arms.  Looking up into his heart-melting eyes, Vicki said shakily, "This is a 
familiar situation, isn't it?"
        Tay straightened Vicki up.  Chuckling, he replied, "It certainly is." 
 And so saying, he leaned over and kissed Vicki on the lips.  The energy 
crackled and Vicki lost herself in the kiss.
        When they finally drew apart, Vicki said, "I'll explain everthing, 
honest --"
        But Tay's fingers pressed against her lips, silencing her.  "You 
don't need to.  Jackie called me a few days before we released the CD and 
told me all about your predicament.  She said she was sick of seeing you so 
unhappy."  He laughed.  "Pretty good friend."
        Vicki smiled.  "She sure is."
        "So, let's move on," Tay suggested.
        "Absolutely," Vicki agreed, and she leaned in for another kiss.  As 
their lips met again, Vicki knew that everything was alright now.  She 
wouldn't ever have to worry.  She was safe and happy.

The End


Thank you for reading my story.  I hope you enjoyed my totally fiction (and 
French) story.  It may have some extremely fake events, but it makes a good 
story.  Please feel free to email me with questions, comments, or simply to 
say hi.  I am not planning on writing a continuation of this story, so just 
ask me anything you want to know about the story or what happens in the 
future.  I love email and always answer.  Thanks again.
        Peace and Tay Hanson forever,
                Tays_Sweet_Lily_16
You can e-mail me at Emsies@aol.com