The bus had rattled on in the dark for long hours the night before and tonight was deemed “chill out night.” So the whole bus was silent, well relatively, for a Hanson tour bus. The water guns had been confiscated, Taylor insisting he was now too old for it and life had been as normal as it could be. Ike had gone out for dinner with some old friends and everyone else was curled in their bunks watching TV or reading... or sleeping as Zac tended to do 24/7.

“Austin -Puff Powers is back in the bus!”

There was a collective groan.

“I was wondering how long it would take till he remembered,” sighed Zac

“I was hoping he wouldn’t remember!” came Taylor’s muffled scream.

“And you asked me why I didn’t want to come on tour with your guys... this is why!” confirmed Keryn.

By now all the curtains to the bunks were pulled back and glaring eyes were fixed on Ike in the hall.

“What?”

Kayla, who had yet to comment was the last to pull back her curtain and for the first time since the break up, she joined in the healthy banter.

“You know Ike, I would have thought that whole puff thing left with the puffy hair.”

She smiled innocently up at him, he smiled back before tossing his backpack into her bunk causing her to scream. The others exchanged looks of relief. Things were returning to normal.

Half-way through “Withering Heights,” Kayla was not to be disturbed. The others moved around her comatose body, whether it was on the sofa, in her bunk or when they had ventured out of the bus and taken up residence on some lawn. She was engrossed. After Ike’s return, the peaceful atmosphere of the bus had returned and Kayla was again curled up in her bunk reading. Keryn decided that she was so obsessed she was taking anti-social to a new level and drew open her curtain.

“Going to come back to the 21st century any time soon?”

Kayla pursed a smile.

“Not now Keryn, I’m just getting to the good bit.”

“You have been saying that for, like, two days now. When does this book end?”

Kayla flipped the pages, did a quick sum and replied.

“In about 43 pages.”

And with that she retreated back into her created world. Keryn sighed and drew the curtain back and searched for someone else to annoy. Taylor was sleeping, Zac was playing the playstation, Ike was just plain odd and she was sick of watching her Dawson’s tapes on her TV. She walked to the front of the bus and sat down at the wheel. Feeling all powerful, Keryn traced her hands on the wheel and ran her fingers over the many buttons in from of her. She smiled. Strapping herself in, she turned the keys and let the bus roll, waiting for sounds of alarm from her friends. After receiving no reaction she pressed the accelerator and whizzed off. The bus choked to life and didn’t take long to pick up speed. Grinning broadly Keryn distinctly heard Kayla roll out of her bunk, Zac get agitated ‘cause her driving had caused him to die, Taylor snort to life and Ike to yell abuse from the bathroom.

“What the? Who the? Ahhhhhhh.....KERRRRRRYYYN!”

A smile played on Keryn’s lips as she drew the car to the side and turned of the engine. Patting the wheel she stood up, flicked her hair and walked back into the cabin. Four pairs of eyes looked at her with contempt. There was stuff everywhere, Zac was practically crying ‘cause he had died and Kayla looked almost stunned, as if she coudn’t figure out how exactly she had gotten on the floor. Keryn smiled.

“I was just wondering if anyone wants to see a movie.”

“NO!” came the angry reply

“Go for a walk?”

“No.”

“Blade..? Ice cream... I’ll go for ice cream and everyone knows I hate ice cream.”

By now Kayla had picked herself off the floor, she tossed a glance in Keryn’s direction.

“You threw me out of bed, seriously put my life in danger, to ask me if I wanted ice cream?”

“No technically I did it to ask you if you wanted to see a movie.”

Kayla emitted a few grumbled before throwing back the curtain and dragging herself, and her beloved book back into her bunk.

Taylor didn’t even look up, working on auto pilot, he clambered back into bed, Zac rebooted and began to be mesmerised again. Only Ike stood facing her.

“Boredom is a powerful force.”

Keryn nodded solemnly in agreement. There was silence.

Ike and Keryn looked at each other and started to laugh. Not normal laughter. Hysterical, at the top of their high vocal range laughter. And it didn’t stop. It went on and on and on and on. And Zac just coudn’t take it.

“THAT IS IT!”

Oblivious to Zac’s spasmic attack, Ike and Keryn kept laughing.

Kayla and Taylor exchanged looks while hanging out of their bunks.

“A Ike worried about me and Keryn going crazy on tour.” Taylor tutted.

By now Zac was hysterical, he had gone down the front, opened the door and was in the process of dragging Keryn out into the darkness, which wasn’t hard to do seeing as she had lost all control of herself. Getting her out, he simply pushed his brother out after her. The door slid back and locked and Zac threw himself back in front of his playstation.

Muffled hystericals could still be heard.

Zac, watched by Tay and Kayla, tried with all his might to concentrate on the TV screen before letting out a petrifying scream of frustration.

Once he stopped. The bus plunged back into silence. Nothing could be heard outside. Then they saw some torch light and heard some light footsteps. Voices could be heard talking outside and Zac grumbled as he recognised his mother’s voice and walked down to let them back on the bus. He flicked the switch to open the bus and then tossed his limp body into his bunk. He was followed closely by his Mom. The others tried to listen but her tones were practised to be undetected by others ears.

Ike and Keryn wandered back in and took up residence on the sofa where Zac was and tossed about ideas for the next day on the bus. Taylor and Kayla had gone back to their respective activities, sleeping or reading. And as Diana padded out of the bus, all hell let loose.

Zac sat up and started yelling at Keryn.

“What the hell Kezz? You try to kill us and I get the talk! That’s it! Move out of my seat!”

Taylor and Kayla heard the scuffle and were out of their bunks in a split second. Walking in on the drama, they smiled.

Two minutes later all five of them were yelling, screaming and rolling around the floor of the bus in hysterics.

Just like the old days.

The next day Kayla had finished her book. The boredom time had lapsed. The bus rolled on and the guys were pumping. The Tulsa show was fantastic and they coudn’t wait to hit new places, new people. The were even loving the screams. As the bus sped down the highway, the five of them were singing at the top of their lungs to Britney, Keryn and Zac acting out the speaking part much to the amusement of everyone else. The atmosphere was jumping, and they were hoping the days of the scorching 2000 summer would last forever.

Taylor and Keryn were as happy as ever. No longer were they playing the couple. They were the couple. Taking over the couple role from Ike and Kayla they were comfortable, relaxed and happy. Glad to be with each other and having a wild time.

Zac was wild. In an out of control way. Like he was carefree. Like he was at the start of the whole Hanson thing. Almost as if the nostalgia of being on tour brought back the hyperness in him, well all of them. He was missing Margo, not in a biting way, but fondly. And it made him smile.

Kayla and Ike were friends. Talking. Talking ferociously but avoiding the subject of Charlie like the plague. Building the bridges again and remembering what it was exactly they liked about each other in the first place. In some ways they were closer than the have ever been.

The sun streamed through the windows heating the bus up to crazy temps. Sweltering inside, they began to calm and laze around. Happy and content that their relationships had turned full circle, and they all were best friends again.

At dusk the bus had pulled over and the five spilled out and met with the other bus. Everyone was happy to be stretching their legs and soon a game of volleyball was constructed, using a string from the windows of the two buses as a net. Keryn and Kayla clung together and refused to be separated, they had to be on the same team. It didn’t take them long to figure out that Taylor was lucky he had made it in the music business as he had absolutely no co-ordination when it came to volleyball.

“How could you miss that? That was so easy!!” Marveled Zac as the rest of their team collapsed in horror on the floor.

Taylor shugged, “bad luck I guess. You know, with the sun setting... must have got in my eye.”

“Nice try bro, but seriously, I am never having you on my team again.”

Kayla and Keryn smiled as their team sailed ahead, Taylor went up to serve.

“No presssssssuuuure.” Screamed Kayla.

“Would you cut it out!!”

“Sorry, just making sure you didn’t stress or anything.”

Taylor smiled curtly at Kayla and hit a terrible ball into the net. Kayla rolled it back and said, “Second serve.”

This time Taylor mustered up all his strength and hit a strong ball centre court towards Kayla who ducked and screamed. Kayla turned and pouted at him.

“No pressure Kayla, no pressure.” He smiled back.

After about half an hour of this, the gang were well and truly spent. Keryn and Jess went off to find some chocolate while everyone else sat around in the fading light and chatted. The soft voices were waves and for all the nerves and excitement they seemed cooled by the relaxed atmosphere. Ike had taken out his guitar and was beginning to strum, quickly the whole scene was a little too Brady bunch. But it was fun anyway, and they sang. Taylor snapped photos of them all laughing and relaxing. A close bond of people who, no matter if friends or not, were family. They were a group, went through the ups and downs together, were there for everything. And for the first time in ages, they were happy. All of them.

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