Isaac closed and locked the door behind him and quietly went upstairs to his bedroom; he changed into his pajamas and flopped onto his bed. What is wrong with you, man?  Get yourself together, he thought.  After only a day of coming in her presence, he couldn't get her out of his mind.  Her scent was trapped in his nostrils.  He closed his eyes, heaving a deep sigh.  It was at that moment that Zac decided to grace his oldest brother with his presence.
    "Ahhh, how is our resident lover boy?" the blonde asked.
    "Zac, for once, could you please shut up?" Isaac mumbled.
    "Now, if I did that, it wouldn't be fun and I wouldn't be doing my job as the annoying little brother, now would I?"
    "Okay, what do you want?"
    "I just want to know about her," Zac smiled.  "What she's like, what her name is, and what it is about her that makes you so ga-ga."
    "Zac, I'm not ga-ga, as you put it," Isaac answered.  He looked over at Zac.  Yeah, he was annoying, but amazingly enough he was probably the one that he could actually talk to about this.  "Okay, her name is Renae.  She sings and plays the guitar over at Insomnia.  She's pretty level-headed and definitely not a crazed fan.  And she's funny and passionate about her music...Zac, what am I getting myself into?"
    Zac shrugged.  "I don't know Isaac.  I mean, after all, it's your heart, your emotions.  What's so different now than before?"
    "I don't know.  It's like, there's this attraction to her, but there can't be.  I don't know her at all!"
    "Well, you never know with these kind of things Ike.  I'd say wait awhile.  It may just be that you're totally blown away for a little while, and then it'll die down."  Zac gave Isaac a reassuring smile.  "You'll be okay."  Zac left, and Isaac laid in the dark, wondering if he would be okay.

    As soon as she got home from the library, she flopped down on the bed to take a nap.  Two hours later, she was woken up by Anne at her door.
    "Hey sleepyhead, get up!  You need to get ready," she said.  "Stop dreaming of lover boy!"
    Renae rose her head.  "He is not my lover boy!  I don't know the dude hardly!"
    "Who did you get a ride from last night, considering you didn't call me to pick you up?"
    Renae blushed.  "Isaac gave me a ride home."
    "Uh-huh," Anne said.  "So, what's he like."
    Renae kept a rein on her thoughts and emotions.  "He's a cool guy.  Very goodlooking, quite the gentleman.  He opened doors for me, closed his car door for me, and walked me to the door."
    "Ahhh, I see."  A wicked smile came across Anne's face.  "You really liiiiiiiiike him.  You wanna kiiiiiiiiiss him."
    "Okay Sandra Bullock," Renae commented, dripping with sarcasm.
    "Well thank you, but I'm more graceful," Anne mocked haughtily.  She just managed to close the door before she would have been hit by Renae's pillow.
   Crazy girl, Renae thought.  Ah well, guess I better get ready. She changed and waited as Anne finished getting ready for work, then the two hopped into the car, heading to Insomnia.
    "So, does Isaac have a last name?" Anne asked.
    Renae didn't know what to think.  Sure Anne was a Hanson fan as well; as a matter of fact it was Anne who got her hooked on them.  But should she tell her friend the true identity of her new friend?  Well, Anne WAS her friend and she could tell her just about anything..."Umm, it's Hanson."
    Anne busted out laughing.  "Okay, okay, you got me there.  Good shot.  Now seriously, what's his name?"
    "His name is Isaac Hanson, Anne!  Trust me, I didn't believe it at first, but now that I think about it, he does look like, well...like himself!  But a whole lot cuter!"
    "I cannot believe this...Isaac Hanson wants to date my best friend."
    "Anne, don't start acting like a little teenybopper, okay?  And besides, who said he wants to date me.  He sure as anything didn't tell me about it!"
    "C'mon, Renae.  The guy gives you his number out of the blue, and then comes back and acts like a total gentleman after you basically told him to get lost-"
    "I DID NOT TELL HIM TO GET LOST!" Renae argued.
    "AH-HA!  So you ADMIT it!"  Anne's triumphant smile made Renae want to deck her.
    "Look, just because I didn't tell him to get lost doesn't mean that I'm totally in love with him, okay?  I don't hardly know the guy, and just because he's Isaac Hanson doesn't mean that I'm going to fall in love with him because of his celebrity status.  We're barely even friends."
    "Whatever you say," Anne replied, pulling into the parking lot of the coffee shop.  "So, you've got a ride home?"
    "yeah, I'll ask Jacob to give me a ride," Renae answered.  "Be careful at work tonight."
    "you too," Anne said as Renae got out.  Anne drove off as Renae entered the coffee shop for another night of performing.

    "Okay, despite your newfound addiction to coffee, could you stay home at least tonight?" Taylor asked.  "I don't want to be stuck watching Mac and Zoe by myself."  Their parents were having dinner and a movie to themselves, Zac was going out with friends, and Jes and Avery were staying the night their friends', so that left Taylor with Mackenzie and Zoe.  Isaac had wanted to go back to Insomnia, but he realized that he could start isolating himself from family and his other friends, which wasn't a good idea at all.
    "Okay, sure," Isaac agreed.  "I'll stay home and help you watch them."
    "Thank you," Tay replied.  A half an hour later, it was a good thing that Isaac had decided to stay.
    "I wanna go with Zac!" Mackenzie argued with Taylor.  "Why can't I go with Zac???"
    "Because Zac wanted to go out with his own friends, okay?" Taylor answered.  "He has his friends just like you have your friends."
    "But Zac's my friend too!  We're best friends!  So I should go out with him!" Mac insisted.
    "No, Zac's your brother.  You're staying here tonight with us and we are all going to sit down and watch a movie."
    "I don't want to hang around with my SISTER," Mackenzie screeched.  He started to head for the door, and as Taylor stepped in front of his little brother, Mac kicked Taylor squarely in the shin.  Meanwhile, Isaac had been chasing down Zoe who was gleefully squealing, "You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbreadman!  You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbreadman!"  Isaac made a mental note to remind Jessica to never read the fairy tale of the gingerbread man to Zoe ever again.  He managed to scoop Zoe up and headed to block the front door.
    "No, Mackenzie.  You can't go out and be with Zac and his friends; besides, it's after dark and you don't need to be outside.  Plus, I'll let you in on a secret."  Mackenzie came closer to Isaac, and Isaac whispered in his ear, "They're going to be talking about girls."
    "YUCK!" Mac exclaimed in disgust.  "I'll stay here then."  Mackenzie headed over to the couch and sat down.  "You said we were going to watch a movie??"

    Renae had not seen Ike all night.  She mentally kicked herself for hoping he would come.  You're acting like a desperate girl just waiting for some guy to ask you to prom, she told herself.  She packed up her guitar and waited near the counter for Jacob.
    "Hey, that guy didn't show up tonight," Jacob said.  Jacob was such a sweet guy and a great friend to Renae, so she was cool with him addressing the subject.
    "yeah, I know.  Oh well, no big deal..." Renae sighed.
    "It is a big deal.  It's obvious there's something there," Jacob said.
    "Please, don't start Jacob," Renae pleaded.  "I'm already getting enough from Anne."
    "Okay, I won't tease ya," Jacob said with a smile.  "But if he ever lays the wrong kind of hand on you, let me know, and he's gone!"
    Renae bit her lip.  The wrong kind of hand...  "Thanks Jacob."  She helped Jacob finish wiping down the counter and they headed to his truck.  Renae put her guitar in the back and as they were both getting in, Jacob replied, "I don't think you have to worry about that guy though.  He seems pretty cool."
    Renae smiled gently.  "Thanks."  So Jacob drove her home and when she got in, she noticed the light on the answering machine was flashing.  She pressed the play button and heard Isaac's voice.
    "Hey, this is Isaac.  Umm, sorry I wasn't there tonight, but if you want, you can call me back.  You've got my number."  Renae blushed.  STOP IT!!! she told herself.  The phone looked so tempting though.  She stood there for a few minutes, just staring at the phone, battling the urge to pick it up.  She lost the battle.  Her fingers flew across the number pad and soon she heard ringing on the other end, and then his voice.
    "Hey, Ike, it's Renae."
    "Oh, hey!  How are you?  How did your night go?"
    "I'm fine and the night went fine.  How was your night?"
    "Uhhh, crazy!  I was babysitting with Taylor.  The little kids have so much energy, but at least they're asleep now!
    "Well, that's good!  So, what did you want to talk about?"
    "Just wanted to talk to you."
    "Oh, okay.  Sure."  She stayed on the phone from 11 P.M. to 1 A.M.