Mrs Tanner sat down, tears welling in her eyes. If only I knew sooner. If only I had stopped him. she thought miserably.
“You may see her if you want.” the doctor said, gesturing to the door.
She walked in slowly. Her daughter looked at her. Mrs Tanner gazed into her soft brown eyes. It’s all my fault that she’ll never speak again. Her eyes will never twinkle again. Her mouth will never smile again. It’s all my fault.
CHAPTER ONE
1998
Diana and Walker were at a school reunion.
“Diana!” called a voice. “It’s been too long!”
Diana whirled around and saw her old friend Lisa Davis.
“Lisa. It’s great to see you again.” she said.
“Great to see you too.”
“So, how’d that holiday in Australia go?”
“Great. How’s it like to be the mother of a famous band?”
Diana laughed.
“It has its moments.”
“I can imagine. We ought to get together more often. How long are you going to be in Tulsa for?”
“A month, although, I wish it could be longer.”
“Well, that means we have a month to get reaquainted.”
“I’d like that. How about tommorow?”
“Good idea.” Lisa paused. “Do you think you’re boys would mind hanging around a fan in that time?”
“They won’t mind, unless she freaks out.”
Lisa snikered.
“You needn’t worry about that. Andrea doesn’t even speak.”
“Why not?”
“Andrea’s the daughter of a friend/client I made in Australia. When she was five, she stopped laughing, then smiling, and by the time she was six, she had stopped talking. They found out that her father had been mollesting her.”
“How terrible for her!”
“It gets worse. My friend, Andrea’s mother, Katelyn, well, she blamed herself terribly after what happened. She started to go crazy. When Andrea was seven, Katelyn was not fit to be a mother, so, I was given custody at Katelyn’s request. Which is why she’s here with me.”
“How old is she now?”
“Fifteen. All she ever does is listen to music. She goes to school, but she doesn’t have any friends. At least, none that I know of.”
“Well, she’s welcome to come over anytime.”
CHAPTER TWO
Ike looked at the girl sitting in the lounge room. She was watching Freakazoid, but she didn’t even laugh at anything that happened. Certainly, they had been told that Andrea didn’t laugh or smile or speak, but he couldn’t believe that she had been living the last nine years like that.
Zac bounded down the stairs wearing the funniest combination of clothes you could ever imagine. I won’t tell you what he was wearing because you’ll start laughing so hard you won’t be able to read the rest of this story. Ike and Tay took one look at Zac and started laughing so hard there were soon rolling on the floor, clutching their stomachs. For the one millionth time, Zac tried to make Andrea laugh. And for the one millionth time, Andrea just looked at him with a blank expression on her face. Then she looked back at the telly.
“Not even the tiniest laugh. Not even a smile! I’m at my wits end! I can’t take this kind of pressure!” Zac cried dramatically.
This only succeeded in make Ike and Tay laugh twice as hard (I didn’t think that was even possible, considering how hard they were laughing when he first came down the stairs). Eventually, Tay stopped laughing and stared up at the ceiling clutching his stomach.
“Please Zac. No more. My stomach’s aching from laughing too hard.” he begged.
“Yeah Zac. Go upstairs and get out of that ridiculas outfit. I can’t take it anymore.” Ike added.
“Okay.” sighed Zac.
Tay and Ike looked at Andrea.
“I still can’t believe she didn’t even smile at that.” Tay said, shaking his head.
“Yeah. Hey, wanna go roller blading?” asked Ike.
“Good idea. Hey, Andrea, wanna go roller blading?” Tay asked.
Andrea looked at him. She shrugged.
“We’ve probably got a spare pair somewhere that’ll fit you.” Tay pressed.
Andrea gave a slight nod.
“I really wish she would speak.” Ike said. “I wouldn’t even care if she screamed, just as long as she used her vocal cords. Just once.”
It wasn’t long before Ike, Tay, Zac and Andrea were roller blading down the street towards the park. Once there, the boys proceeded to fool around as much as they could, while Andrea mainly glided around, off in her own little world.
**********
“So, how was Andrea?” Diana asked when Lisa and Andrea left.
“She doesn’t speak.” Ike said.
“And she doesn’t laugh. Or smile. She doesn’t even smile!” Zac cried dramatically.
“I take it you tried to make her laugh, and failed.” Diana said.
“Well, he may not have made Andrea laugh, but Ike and I still have the stomach aches to prove he tried!” Tay said.
CHAPTER THREE
Over the next month, Andrea would come over and the boys (especially Zac) tried to make her at least smile. After awhile, it became less like a game and more like a quest. No matter how hard they tried, Andrea wouldn’t smile.
“She beat me again! I can’t believe it!” exclaimed Tay.
One of the things they did with Andrea was play the Nintendo. What was really bothering Tay was that Andrea was really lousy in the beginning, but now she was getting scores that none of the Hanson’s could ever hope to beat.
“That’s your best score yet!” cried Zac in utter amazement.
Andrea just looked at the screen blankly.
“Hey Andrea, we just finished working on a new song, do you want to hear it?” asked Ike.
Andrea looked at him and nodded slightly.
So they headed towards the garage, and the boys played their song. They looked at her a lot while they were playing. Andrea was staring pass them, a blank expression on her face, listening. When they stopped, Andrea looked them.
“Did you like it?” asked Tay.
Andrea nodded. Then she walked out of the garage. The boys followed.
Andrea headed towards the treehouse. It wasn’t long before she was sitting on the highest point of the tree she could reach. The boys joined her.
Andrea looked over the neighbourhood. Ike climbed up next to her. To his amazement, he saw tears running down her face.
“What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” he asked.
Tay and Zac looked at Ike. Then at each other.
Andrea didn’t say a word. Like that’s a big surprise. She just sat, letting tears run down her cheaks and looking over the neighbourhood. Ike saw Lisa’s car pull into the drive way.
“Hey, over here!” called Ike, waving to Diana and Lisa.
Diana and Lisa walked over. Lisa smiled at Andrea.
“There used to be a tree house in her backyard too. She used to stay hours in the tree. It was her favourite place.” Lisa said.
“Do you wanna hear our song?” asked Zac.
“Sure.” Lisa said.
Ike, Tay, Zac and Andrea got out of the tree and walked with Diana and Lisa to the garage. Diana and Lisa sat in front while Andrea sat in a corner. The boys started playing and singing.
About halfway through the song, Diana looked at Andrea, her eyes grew wide. She tapped Lisa and pointed slightly.
At this point, Tay looked at Diana, and followed her eyes. He very nearly stopped playing. Ike noticed this and looked at him, then at Andrea. Zac was the only one who didn’t noticed, he was too busy drumming away.
At least, Zac didn’t notice until he realised that Tay and Ike had gotten a lot quieter. The song was almost over, and when it came time for Tay to sing the final note, he didn’t. Instead, a much more feminine voice sang it. Zac stared open mouthed at Andrea.
Andrea had been singing.
CHAPTER FOUR
“Well, I never would have believed it.” gasped Lisa, rushing to Andrea. “Andrea, say something.”
Andrea looked at her blankly, then she looked away and looked at the floor.
“How’d she learn the words so fast? She only heard the song once!” asked Tay.
“I think, because she hasn’t been speaking, she’s been developing a photographic memory.” Lisa said, still looking at Andrea.
Tay shook his head.
“And that would explain why she does so well on the Nintendo.” he groaned.
“How does having a photographic memory help her on the Nintendo?” asked Zac.
“Well, she remembers everything she does, and everything the program does -” began Tay.
“- and never repeats any mistakes.” finished Ike, moaning to himself.
“So, if she never played the Nintendo for twenty years or somethin’, then she started playing again, she would beat her last score?” asked Zac.
Everyone (except Andrea and Zac) laughed.
“Probably.” Ike replied.
“This is the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me. I was so sure she’d never speak again.” said Lisa.
“And it’s not going to stop with today. Lisa, you and Andrea are coming on tour with us.” Diana announced.
“Oh, Diana. I wouldn’t want to be any trouble.”
“Don’t be silly Lisa. It’s obvious that if Andrea is ever going to speak again, she should hang around. Besides, we need some new company on the road.”
Lisa smiled.
“Hear that Andrea? You’re coming with us.” Ike said.
Andrea looked at him. She lifted her arms slightly, as if she wanted to hug him. But she quickly changed her mind and turned away.
Well, thought Lisa, that would be the first time since I can remember that Andrea ever even considered hugging anyone. She is going to benefit so well from this.
**********
A few days later, they were on the road. The radio was playing because they wanted Andrea to sing more.
“I can’t believe this.” Ike said. “They’ve played All Saints, Backstreet Boys, Human Nature, Silverchair, Savage Garden, Mariah Carey, Tina Arena, even the Spice Girls and still the only songs she’ll sing is songs we’ve recorded.”
“Not singing Spice Girls songs I can understand.” Zac said.
“Why do you only sing songs we’ve recorded Andrea?” asked Tay, not really expecting an answer.
Andrea looked at him. Then she went back to staring outside the window.
“Ohh, man. They’re playing MMMBop again!” Ike groaned. “I’m beginning to get really sick of this song.”
Of course, Andrea started singing along with the radio. It was like normal until she got up to ‘It’s a secret no one knows. It’s a secret no one knows.’. To everyone’s surprise. Andrea sung this part a lot louder than the rest of the song, and when she did sing it, she had grabbed Tay’s hand and looked him straight in the eye.
“What was that all about?” asked Ike when the song finished.
“Dunno.” Tay shrugged, looking curiously at Andrea, who had gone back to staring out the window.
“What do you think Lisa?” Ike questioned.
Lisa frowned.
“What was the last thing you said to her Tay?”
“Umm, I asked her why she only sings songs we’ve recorded.”
“And she was singing ‘it’s a secret no one knows’!” Zac shouted excitedly. “Tay, she was answering your question!”
Everyone stared at Zac, then at Andrea.
“Sorta gives a new meaning to ‘speechless’ huh.” Ike said.
“Okay everyone. Here we are. Oaklahoma City.” Diana said.
CHAPTER FIVE
“Phew!” gasped Tay, collapsing onto a chair. “Man, I’m glad that’s over.”
Walker handed him a drink.
“That crowd was really loud tonight.” Ike said, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
“It’s like a sauna out there!” cried Zac, a pathetic attempt at being hyper.
They had just been doing their final concert in Florida, and boy, talk about being red in the face! They were just sitting there, drinking water and doing pretty much nothing else. They would have to pack up their instruments in a minute, but they were just too tired to even think about doing that now.
“Someone’s playing my keyboard.” Tay said after awhile.
Lisa got up to see who it was. They were playing ‘I Will Come to You’ very well indeed. It wasn’t long before Walker joined her.
“I never knew she could play.” Lisa said.
And if you haven’t figured it out already, then I’ll state the obvious, Andrea was playing. Diana and the younger Hanson’s soon joined Lisa and Walker. Then Ike, Tay and Zac, started wondering why no one was there and they joined their family and Lisa.
Andrea (who seemed unaware of her audience) started playing faster and faster.
And faster.
And faster.
And faster.
And faster.
And now the word ‘faster’ is beginning to look really weird because I’m writing it too much.
When she had been playing it at like, two hundred beats a second or something just as ridiculously fast, Andrea stopped and fell to the floor. She buried her face in her hands and cried.
And cried.
And cried.
And cried.
And cried.
And now ‘cried’ is looking just as weird as ‘faster’ because I’m writing it too much. But you get the point, don’t you?
Lisa sat down next to her. Ike sat on the other side of Andrea.
“Are you okay Andrea?” asked Lisa, putting her hand on Andrea’s.
Ike, although hesitant at first, put his arm around Andrea’s shoulders. Andrea started shaking. She pushed Lisa away, then she pushed Ike away and ran off the stage, through the wings and down the hallway.
She ran.
And ran.
And ran.
And ran.
And ran.
And now ‘ran’ is looking just as weird as ‘faster’ and ‘cried’. I should really stop doing that, otherwise I’ll run out of words to look weird!
Ike and Lisa looked at each other.
“We better follow her.” Ike said.
But they couldn’t find Andrea to follow her. They were very worried when she didn’t turn up at the motel and drove around for ages trying to find her. Lisa felt terrible. She kept blaming herself for Andrea’s running off like that, and Ike felt just as bad.
**********
Ike woke up the following morning thinking about Andrea. They weren’t due to leave until that afternoon, so Ike decided to make himself useful and try to find her. He left a note, dressed and left the motel. He had no idea where to start looking.
**********
When Tay woke up, he realised that Ike was not in the room. He did see a note on the table. Apon reading it he learned that Ike had gone looking for Andrea. When Zac woke, Tay showed him the note.
“Did you know that Ike was talking in his sleep last night?” asked Zac. “I heard him.”
“He was talking in his sleep?”
“Yeah. He was talking to Andrea.”
“What was he saying?”
Zac got an evil grin on his face and proceeded with an Ike-talking-in-his-sleep imitation.
“No! Don’t go! Andrea! Andrea, don’t go! Come back! Andrea!”
Tay started laughing.
“Really? Man, he must feel really guilty.” Tay said.
“Yeah. Come on, I’m hungry. Let’s get breakfast.”
CHAPTER SIX
Andrea wandered the streets that morning. She was hungry, but she didn’t care. She walked around until the first shopping centre opened and entered it.
Andrea had been in shopping centres before, but she was usually with Lisa. She felt small and alone, a feeling she felt all too often. She wandered by many people, rushing about. Then she saw some one. No three someone’s . Three friends in fact. She rushed towards them, but no sooner than she did that she realised that is was just another Hanson poster.
Andrea looked at it. Tears welled in her eyes. She knew they wanted to help. But then, everyone wanted to help. Well everyone except her father, and her mother. Tears started falling down her cheaks. She wanted to find her friends. She couldn’t find them.
“So, you like them too do you?” asked a girl next to her.
Andrea turned. She nodded.
“Good to know you have some taste. I went to their concert yesterday. Taylor is so gorgeous.”
Andrea looked at her, then she looked at Tay.
“I’m Meg. What’s your name?” asked the girl.
Andrea looked at Meg. She tapped her mouth and shook her head.
“Can’t you speak?”
Andrea shook her head.
“You poor thing. Oh well, that means I get to do all the talking. Is there anyway you can tell me your name?”
Andrea took her into the CD shop. She picked up Hanson’s Middle of Nowhere and 3 Car Garage CD’s. She pointed to the ‘A’ in ‘Hanson’.
“Your name starts with an ‘A’.” Meg said.
Andrea nodded. She pointed to the ‘N’ in ‘Hanson’ the ‘D’ in ‘middle’, the ‘R’ in ‘car’, the ‘E’ in ‘nowhere’ and the ‘A’ in ‘Hanson’.
“A, N, D, R, E, A.” Meg thought for a moment. “Oh! Andrea. Your name’s Andrea. But I see we’re going to have to stick with me talking. It’ll take too long you spelling things out.”
Andrea nodded.
“Do you live around here?” Meg asked.
Andrea shook her head as they walked out of the shop.
“Do you live in this state?”
Again she shook her head.
“Do you live in the US?”
Andrea nodded.
Meg was about to ask something else when a group of teens their age showed up.
“Hey Meg, made a new friend have you?” asked a girl.
“Yup. This is Andrea. She can’t speak. She had to spell her name out to me. Andrea, this is Suzi, Matt, Crystal, and my boyfriend Brad.”
Brad grinned at Andrea and slipped his arm around Meg’s waist.
This was too much for Andrea. She stared at Brad, her face went white.
“What’s wrong Andrea?” asked Meg, startled.
A flood of memories washed over her. Andrea started walking backwards, fear deep in her eyes. Then she ran. She ran out of there and down the street. She ran as fast as she could, tears falling down her cheaks. She ran to the park and collided with someone.
“Andrea?” asked a familier voice.
Andrea looked up. It was Ike. She never thought she’d ever she him again.
“Come on. We’ll go back to the motel.”
Andrea nodded.
Ike wanted to hold her hand. But he didn’t dare. He was afraid that she would run off again. When they arrived at the motel, they had a late, quick breakfast and met everyone upstairs.
“Oh, Andrea.” sobbed Lisa. “Please, never do that again.”
Andrea nodded. Then she frowned. She concentrated very hard on something.
“Out my window a memory. I’m dying inside. I know the way it should be.” she sang softly.
Everyone was startled. This was the first time Andrea had ever sung without music.
CHAPTER SEVEN
1999
Lisa and Andrea were beyond excited. They were back in Austraila and what’s more is that they were backstage of Hey Hey It’s Saturday. Hanson were going to preform two songs tonight. Ike, Tay and Zac were frustrated because they had met up with five girls who were doing a Spice Girls send up for Red Faces and the girls had totally freaked out when they saw them.
While they were practicing, Lisa and Andrea went to a house they knew well there. Lisa knocked tentively on the door. A woman in her mid-thirties answered it.
“Yes - Lisa?” she gasped.
“Hi Katelyn. How have you been doing?” asked Lisa smiling.
“Oh, as well as can be expected I guess. Come in.”
Katelyn let Lisa in. Andrea followed. She and Katelyn made eye contact, then Andrea looked away.
“Andrea?” asked Katelyn, almost crying.
AUTHORS NOTE: Is it just me, or does Andrea come from an emotional family?
“Yes, this is Andrea.” Lisa said. “Katelyn, I’ve got some good news. But let’s sit down.”
Katelyn nodded and they sat down in the living room.
“What’s the news?” asked Katelyn, still looking at Andrea.
“I met up with an old friend of mine last year at our school reunion. Her sons are Ike, Tay and Zac. Otherwise known as Hanson.”
“They’re a singing group aren’t they?”
“Yes. Andrea got to know them the month they were in Tulsa, and a couple of days before they left to go on tour, Andrea sang.”
Katelyn looked at her friend wide eyed, then at Andrea.
“My Andrea? My Andrea sang?”
“Yeah. We’ve been living with them ever since. I mean, she only sings, but she’s taught herself to single out particular lyrics and, well, tell us things.”
“Can she do that now?”
“If she wants to.”
“Andrea? Sing something for me. Anything. Please?” begged Katelyn.
Andrea just looked at her.
“She knows the lyrics to every song Hanson has ever recorded. Those are the only songs she ever sings.”
“Why isn’t she singing?” asked Katelyn.
“I don’t think she wants to Katelyn. I’m sorry.”
“How does she know all the lyrics?”
“Photographic memory.” replied Lisa.
Andrea stopped looking at the floor. She looked at Katelyn, then at Lisa. She looked away and noticed the clock.
“ ‘Cause when the minutes seem like hours and the hours seem like days. Then a week goes by you know it takes my breath away.” Andrea sang softly.
Katelyn looked teary eyed at Andrea.
“Oh my.” she gasped, as if she couldn’t believe her ears.
“I’m afraid we have to go Katelyn.”
“Okay.” Katelyn said quietly.
Katelyn reached out for Andrea’s hand, but Andrea pulled away.
“Don’t take it to heart. Last time someone touched her, she ran out of the concert hall and we didn’t see her till the next morning.”
Katelyn nodded.
“I’ll miss you Andrea.” Katelyn said as Lisa and Andrea left.
**********
That night on Hey Hey, Ike, Tay and Zac mentioned how Andrea had been hanging around. Zac had a great time informing everyone that no matter how hard he tried, he still couldn’t get even the tiniest smile out of her.
“Nothing! Not a laugh, not a smile, nothing! I tell you, I’m under going stress trying to make her smile. I can’t take this sort of pressure!” Zac shouted.
“Looks like we have a challenge.” Darrel said. “Let’s get Andrea out here and try to make her laugh.”
And so, for the rest of Hey Hey (when they weren’t doing stuff like Red faces, and talking to celebrities and the like), everyone proceeded to try and make Andrea smile.
By the end of the show, Darrel could not get over the fact that Andrea hadn’t smiled.
CHAPTER EIGHT
A few weeks later, they were in Los Angeles, recording a new album with all new songs. In the afternoon, when they had finished for the day, they headed towards the car to go back to the house they had rented during their stay there.
“Andrea.” an unfamilier male voice shouted.
Andrea’s eyes widened in fear. She started shaking all over.
“Andrea, come here.” he ordered.
Andrea bit her lip, not turning around. Ike and Tay looked to where the voice was coming from (they weren’t in the car yet).
“Who are you?” asked Ike.
The man ignored him.
“Andrea, come here.” he repeated.
Lisa got out of the car and glared at the man.
“Dennis Tanner. Why are you out of jail?” Lisa demanded.
Dennis glared at her.
“I’ve come for my daughter.” he growled.
Andrea went white.
“Your jail sentance isn’t over yet.” Lisa pressed.
“I was let out for good behaviour.” Dennis said. “Andrea, come here at once.”
“There’s a restraining order. You’re not allowed to come near her.”
Andrea couldn’t take it any longer. She ran as fast as she could, but where she was going she didn’t have a clue. Dennis chased after her. So did Ike, Tay and their body guard, Jason. Dennis grabbed Andrea.
“You’re coming with me Andrea.” Dennis said forcfully.
Ike and Jason tried to get into a position where they could jump on Dennis and stop him. Andrea struggled. She saw Tay.
“Taylor!” she cried.
Shocked, Dennis let go. Andrea put her arms around Tay and cried into his shoulder. At the same time, Jason and Ike jumped on Dennis and pulled his arms to his back.
“Andrea, you spoke!” Tay said, wrapping his arms around Andrea to comfort her.
Andrea looked at him, her jaw hanging open as if she couldn’t believe it herself. Tay stared at her, she was trying to do something. Gradually, he saw the corners of her mouth turn up. She was smiling at him.
“Man, you have a great smile.” he said.
Andrea couldn’t stop smiling. She hugged him again. Lisa couldn’t believe it. She took one look at Andrea’s smiling face and fainted. It was all too much for her. After all, she was the doctor that told Mrs Tanner that Andrea would never speak again!
CHAPTER NINE
2004
“You beat me again!” cursed Tay, throwing down the controls in digust.
Andrea grinned at him.
“You should be used to it by now, Tay.” Andrea said.
“Did she beat you again?” asked Ike, looking up from his book.
“Yeah.” Tay replied unhappily.
“So what else is new?” asked Zac.
Andrea laughed.
“I really love your laugh.” Tay said.
Andrea shook her head and grinned at him.
“You love my laugh, you love my smilie, you love my voice. Tell me something you don’t like about me and I’ll engrave it on the head of a pin for you.” Andrea giggled.
“How about your photographic memory?” asked Tay.
Andrea raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, I really don’t think you hate my photographic memory.”
“Really. Why’s that?”
“Because if it weren’t for my photographic memory, I wouldn’t have put this ring on my finger this morning.”
Andrea grinned and showed off the really expensive engagement ring Tay had bought about a week ago. Tay smiled at her.
“You’re right. I don’t hate your photographic memory at all.” he said.
AUTHORS NOTE: I really hate this ending. It really sucks. But I couldn’t think of a better one. Unfortunately.