Taylor and Ash
Taylor scratched his head, ignoring the sharp pain in his chest.
Was something supposed to happen today?
He shrugged it off, thinking that if it was important someone would remind him. Ever since the crash with Steel he was having a hard time remembering even the smallest things.
Sighing, he continued to play the piano to himself, just waiting for inspiration to strike. He'd thought about going over to see his girlfriend, but it was a little hard without a car. And his parents wouldn't let him ride a bike until his ribs had healed.
Meanwhile, Ashley picked up the phone and dialed the Hanson's number.
Zac
Zac picked up the phone, hearing it ring.
"Yo?" he asked.
Ash
"Zac maaaaaaaaaan!" Ashley exclaimed, leaning on the desk, "all set for the big launch? Ok, all I wanna know... where's it gonna be, when's it gonna happen, and where the hell are Ike and Tay at the moment?"
Zac
"Well, Tay's in bed. Feeling sorry for himself most likely. And Ike's out with Mie-ette soaking up every last moment he can with her before she leaves," Zac replied in mock sugar-sweetiness, "isn't that sweet?"
Ash and Taylor
"Sweet, maybe. But we have a launch to do!" Ashley exclaimed, "I'm coming over."
Meanwhile, Taylor could hear Zac on the phone from where he was. Well, sort of. All he heard was his and Ike's name mentioned.
Deciding to go and investigate, he grabbed his jacket from a nearby chair, closed the hood of the piano, and made his way back to where Zac was.
"Hey Zac," he murmured tiredly, "who's on the phone?"
Zac
"Ash," Zac replied. "Hey, Tay, you look like hell. Oh sorry, Ash, Tay just wanted to know who was on the phone. You know man, there's no need for you to come over just because the lunch is today. H.net is outsourced remember? We dont' have to do a single thing."
Ash and Taylor
"Yes we do, we finally have a reason to celebrate something! When was the last time you totally redisgned, huh?" Ashley challenged, as Taylor snorted in the background.
"Thanks alot," Taylor chuckled, "you don't look so hot yourself. What, did someone drive a lawn mower over your head this morning?"
Zac
"Point taken," Zac laughed. "And no, Tay, a lawnmower did not drive over my head. It was a whipper snipper."
Ash and Taylor
"So I'm coming over. Then we can wait for Ike," Ashley said before hanging up.
Mindy wasn't home, so he grabbed his keys and a nearby jacket, and headed out to his car.
"No, no, no... I'm sure it must have been a lawnmower. A whipper snipper is alot neater than that..." Taylor raised his eyebrows.
"Anyway, I'm going for food. Want some?"
Zac and Isaac
"Nah, I've already eaten. Ash has invited himself over by the way."
"Who's invited himself over?" asked Isaac.
"Ash. On account of lauching H.net 2.0."
"I see."
"He wants to celebrate."
"Oh a party. Good stuff. I should call Mi."
Zac rolled his eyes.
Taylor
"I thought you were out?" Taylor squinted at Ike, "ah, nevermind. Food. Tummy. Together. Now."
He made his way into the kitchen and began to make himself a sandwich.
"That was nice of Ash to just invite himself by the way," he called, "how big a party are we expecting?"
Isaac and Zac
"I was out," Isaac said. "And then I came back."
"When?" asked Zac
"Just a few minutes ago. Mi and I went for a early morning walk."
"Aww."
Isaac just gave him a long look.
Taylor and Ash
Taylor grabbed the sandwich he'd made, and took it out to the hallway to eat.
It wasn't long before they heard Ashley's black 4WD pull up in the driveway. He got out, closed the door, and came up to the front door. Taylor answered.
"Hey Tay!"
"Hey Ash... nice of you to invite yourself over..."
"Yeah I know. Thought I'd save you the hassle. Where's Ike and Zac?"
"Inside," Taylor indicated for him to come in.
Ashley obliged, and went to find the other two. He soon did.
"Hey guys!" he greeted, "par-tay tonight or what? Come on, any excuse!"
Isaac and Zac
"You paying?" Zac asked cheekily.
"Now there's an idea," Isaac grinned. "Tay and I can go invite people and you two can arrange food."
He waved his hands at them in a pushing gesture.
"Hup two! Get moving. I have phone calls to make. Now, where's the number for the B&B Miette's staying at?"
"I'm surprised you haven't memorised it yet," Zac snickered.
Taylor and Ashley
"Yeah I'm in on that," Taylor nodded his agreement.
He grabbed Ashley's car keys from where he'd left them and chuckled them at him.
"Woah, woah, wait..." he began.
"Wait what? You want a party..."
"And I agree with Zac," Ashley butted in, "you should have memorized her number by now, you've rung it that many times. Or am I mistaken and you actually just are over there 24/7?"
"Ash. Shut up. Go. Now."
Isaac and Zac
Isaac waited until Zac and Ash were out of earshot.
"Okay, now that they're gone, how says you and I pull a little prank?"
Meanwhile Zac got into the front passanger seat.
"So, where are we gonna hit for food?" he asked.
Ash and Taylor
"I... hadn't really thought about it," Ashley raised his eyebrows, getting in and starting the car, "we could always go to that place around the corner. I know they have alot of junk food ready. What about poison? Planning to get pissed?"
Meanwhile, Taylor grinned devilishly.
"What do you have in mind?" he raised an eyebrow.
Isaac and Zac
"I think I'll keep my senses intact tonight," Zac replied. "The place around the corner'll do."
"Well," replied Isaac, rubbing his hands together gleefully. "I have two possibilites. We wait until they come back, pretend not to know what party they're talking about and why would we want to celebrate the lunching of h.net today, when it doesn't get launch until tomorrow. Like, pretend it's really the 20th instead of the 21st. The other idea is that when they come back we pretend not to know who they are."
Taylor and Ash
Taylor grinned, holding back the laughter.
"Both sound good. But I think the date one might be easier to pull off," he pointed out, "apart fro mthe fact that Zac's our brother and you've known Ash since who knows when... I don't think I could hold it."
He looked around for a moment.
"Let's change the calendars back and everything," his eyes flashed.
Meanwhile, Ash pulled up at the store, and got out of the car.
"We might as well have walked," he frowned, turning the car alarm on and making his way inside.
Isaac and Zac
Isaac started changing calendars and everything else that would indicate what date it was. While he was in the process of doing so, he bumped into Avery.
"Hey, me and Tay are pulling a prank on Ash and Zac. If they ask, tell them it's the 20th of Feb."
At the same time, Zac was accumulating food.
"We could have walked here," he said, "but then we would have had to carry all this stuff back. And what's a party without lots of food, huh?"
Avery
Avery pulled a face indicating she was a bit confused.
"Ok... I'll do it. If it's to trick Ash and Zac, I'll be in on it."
Ash and Taylor
"Ah, well said," Ashley raised his eyebrows with a nod.
He was constantly filling the basket in his hand with packets of bisuits, chocolates, chips, and general junk food. Then he eyed some soft drink on special and grinned.
"Let's get a carton of this," he grinned, going over to the pile.
Meanwhile, Taylor went around the bedroom to check that any clocks with the date on them were set twenty-four hours earlier. This included the computers and laptops. He definately couldn't keep the grin off his face for long.
Isaac and Zac
"Great," Isaac said to Avery. "We're tricking them into thinking it's the 20th instead of the 21st - because the H.net 2.0 launch is today, you see, and Ash wants to celebrate."
Isaac chuckled, and then went to locate Taylor to tell him Avery was in on it too.
Zac saw where Ash's eyes were situated.
"Brillant. Now we have an excuse to buy lots of softies!"
Ash
Ash chuckled a little as he grabbed a carton and put it under his arm, then handed another to Zac.
"Think I can fit another one in the basket?" he mused, "Nah, gotta keep it for the junk."
He grabbed a few more things from the shelves, then sighed.
"Ready to hit the counter?"
Zac and Isaac
"Yeah, but not that hard. Counter never did anything to us," Zac joked.
Meanwhilst Isaac was taking one last survey of the house to make sure there wasn't anything they missed. He checked his watch.
"They should be back any minute now," he observed.
Ash and Taylor
Ashley finally lugged what he had to the counter, and they paid for the junk. Then finally, began out to the car again.
"Think we spent enough?" he chuckled.
Taylor checked his watch at the same time.
"They should have been back by now," he mused, "who knows what's taking them so long. Then again... Ash and Zac shopping? Probably got lost."
Isaac and Zac
"Don't make me answer that question," Zac replied cheekily, getting in the car. "It isn't wise."
Isaac stretched his arms over his head.
"Probably," he said to Taylor.
Ash and Taylor
"When am I ever wise, Zaccy-boy?" Ashley grinned, starting the car and finally heading back.
Taylor had collapsed on the couch after he'd noticed the time, only to hear Ashley's car returning moments later.
His head snapped up.
"Yo! Ike! They're back!"
He leant back on the couch and took the curtains aside to look out.
Isaac and Zac
"Act natural," Isaac said. "Like we weren't expecting them."
Zac picked up some of the food and drink they had brought and started luging it to the house.
"Y'know," Zac said. "They could at least have the consideration to open the door."
Ash and Taylor
Taylor let go of the curtain and shuffled along on the couch, grabbing the TV remote. He turned the TV on andpicked up the TV guide, pretending to be reading it.
Ashley piled the rest of the junk out onto the driveway, then closed and locked the car. He took two rounds to get it to the front door.
"It's not locked, is it?" he raised his eyebrows at Zac.
Zac and Isaac
"Yeah, it is," Zac replied, then banged on the door. "Hello!"
Isaac grinned at Taylor then casually got up and walked over to the door. He opened it.
"Oh, hi Zac, where have you been?" he asked.
"Where have I been? At the shop getting food for the party of course."
"What party?"
Ash and Taylor
"Ha. Ha. Very funny Ike," Ashley dripped with sarcasm as he pushed past - bags in hand.
He went straight into the kitchen and dumped the bags on the floor, then went backf or his second load.
Taylor looked up curiously, and got off the couch coming to see what was going on.
"Hey Ash..." he began, seeing him go past, "where... what are you doing here? With all this..."
"Junk food. Soft drink. Everything," Ashley grinned, ducking out of sight.
Taylor gave Isaac a confused look.
Isaac and Zac
"Zac said something about a party..." Isaac trailed off as if unsure.
"Hey, are you two just going to stand there yakking, or are ya going to give us a hand?" Zac demanded. "Not that it matters too much now because Ash is bring in the last of it now. But it's the principal of the thing."
"Just how many people are you expecting?" Isaac asked.
"Well, I suppose that depends on how many people you invited."
Taylor and Ash
"We invited?" Taylor raised his eyebrows, "I didn't even know you planned this!"
He stared at the cartons of drink Ashley was bringing in.
"Geez... what the hell's going on?"
"The launch of H.Net Tay. Ring any bells?" Ashley snapped his fingers in his face.
Taylor leant back, blinking.
"But... that's not until tomorrow... isn't it?"
He looked to Ike for confirmation.
Isaac and Zac
Isaac nodded.
"Yeah, the launch is tomorrow," he agreed. "Wow, Ash, I knew you were excited, I didn't know you were getting ahead of yourself too. And Zac, you haven't even been in there for awhile. I was beginning to think you'd forgotten it existed."
"Right, like I'd forget that," Zac rolled his eyes. "Umm, in case you haven't noticed, unlike two certain older brothers I could mention I still have school. And what do you mean the lauch is tommorrow. I have it on good authority that it's today."
Taylor and Ash
Taylor eyed Isaac.
"What are you going on about? I go in there ten times as many as you do," then he grinned, "even if it's under a different SN. But moving right along..."
"Let's get this junk sorted," Ash began.
"Dude, it's tomorrow," Taylor insisted, "haven't you been keeping track of time? Check the calendars! Jeez..."
Zac and Isaac
Zac eyed Taylor supiciously and then checked the little 'quote of the day' calander on the table.
"The 20th! That can't be. Maybe Mom forgot to change it this morning..."
"Since when has Mom ever forgotten to change it?" Isaac asked, raising an eyebrow.
Zac opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again.
Taylor and Ash
"There's always a first time for everything," Ashley scorned, before going into the kitchen.
A larger calendar was hanging from one of the cupboards. It also said it was the 20th of February.
"What?" Taylor demanded, acting annoyed, "we told you. The launch is tomorrow, alright?"
Isaac and Zac
Zac looked at Ashley.
"It sure seems like we were mistaken..." he said, scratching his head. "But I'm certain that you told us to to get the party food while you invited people, Ike."
"You're probably imagining things," Isaac said.
"Mmm..." was Zac's noncommital response.
Taylor and Ash
"You don't believe us," Taylor said straight out.
"It doesn't take much to work that out Tay," Ashley scorned, "you said to get heaps of junk, then we get back and find you're making up an excuse not to have it. If you don't want it we could always..."
"Keep it here for tomorrow," Taylor shrugged, "we'll need to celebrate the launch."
Isaac and Zac
"Yeah, exactly," Isaac agreed.
Zac groaned.
"Hello?" He said. "That's why we got it. For a party to celebrate the launch, which is happening today."
Then he narrowed his eyes.
"Hey, Ash... they've probablty changed the calanders... I have an idea."
He picked up the phone.
"What are you doing?" Isaac asked.
Ash and Taylor
Ashley grinned as he dialed a number, then noticed Taylor's face going red.
"Why are you blushing?" his eyes narrowed.
"I'm not blushing. I've nothing to be embarrassed about."
"Awww... did poor Tay just piss himself?"
"Rack off."
Isaac and Zac
"Hello, Tony? Zac here. This is gonan sound like a weird question, but what day is it?" Zac paused. "Uh, yeah, that's right man. Got really wasted last night. Actually I'm still out of it now. Hence the weird question. I have no idea where I am, and sadly, everyone I can ask is dead to the world. Uh huh. Well, it was kinda... exclusive. They only invited me 'cause I'm Zac Hanson, y'know? Yeah. So... it's the 20th? Really? You sure? Oh, okay... I thought for sure it was the 21st... well, yeah I did say that huh? Yeah, yeah... okay. Talk to you later man."
Zac hung up the phone, shaking his head in confusion.
"What he say?" Isaac asked.
"It's the 20th."
"See? Didn't we tell you!" Isaac said triumphantly.
What luck that Tony had his dates mixed up.
Zac turned to Ash.
"They would have hardly called Tony of all people and asked him to be in on it Ash," he said.
Ash and Taylor
"Now do you believe us?" Taylor raised his eyebrows.
Ashley eyed him off, still not completely sure.
"Zac, ring someone else..."
"He's right you know. We'd never call Tony."
"So? Tony's not trustworthy."
Taylor snorted.
"You're willing to go through this over a date. Just get your priorities right, ok? Now if you don't mind, I think we're due for band practice."
He looked between Ike and Zac.
"Oh that's right. I just go and buy all this junk for you to tell me to rack off..."
"Well Ash, it's tomorrow. You can come back and we'll party the night away if you want."
Ashley grit his teeth, and looked at Zac.
"Ring someone else."
Isaac and Zac
Zac shrugged.
"Okay," he said, picking it up.
He dialed and waited for someone on the other side to answer.
"Hey, Ben," he said. "Okay this is going to sound like a weird question, but what's the date today?"
Zac looked at his brothers and Ash, a small smile on his face.
"Thanks, man," he said, and hung up. "21st."
"He could be mistaken like you two," Isaac put in. "Tony said the 20th."
Ash and Taylor
Ashley grinned.
"Tony is trustworthy enough you know. That's just one person who says it's the 21st. Believe me guys, you're mistaken," Taylor insisted, sounding so sincere he surprised himself.
"I think not baby puppy," Ashley wagged a finger at him.
"Now unless you get this site up within a few hours, a few hundred people in the world aren't going to be too impressed."
Isaac and Zac
Zac stared at him.
"Dude, we have been through this before. H.net is outsourced. We don't actually do anything beyond posting stuff in FUTY and stuff. The outsource people do the hard stuff. Fanaxis to be exact."
"True that," Isaac nodded.
"And Ike? Tay? It's the 21st."
"20th."
"21st."
"20th."
"21st."
"20th."
"21st."
"20th."
"21st."
"20th."
"21st."
"21st."
"20th."
"Ha ha! You said 20th!"
"What? No... I said..."
Ash and Taylor
"It's ok, it still stands," Ashley insisted.
"What? How?" Taylor demanded.
"Zac is not in his right frame of mind."
Taylor chuckled.
"And how do you get that?"
"He's Zac. He's easily manipulated. Especially by women."
Taylor looked confused for a moment, then gave him a fake glare.
"You know, the girl jokes are getting old."
Avery
Avery came into the room, still singing a song she'd just heard on the radio.
"Hey Ash, hey Zac. Whoa, what's with all the food?"
Zac
"We're having a party to celebrate the launch of Hanson.net 2.0. But there's a bit of a disagreement over whether it's the 20th or the 21st," Zac told Avery.
Avery
Avie stared Zac in the eyes and without blinking she spoke. "Why would there be a disagreement? It's the 20th. Duh." She looked at Zac as though he was crazy for thinking it was the 21st.
Ash and Taylor
"Thank you Avie," Taylor nodded.
"I don't think so!" Ash exclaimed, "I don't trust her. She's a telepath, you could be plotting against us."
Taylor pursed his lips.
"Ah ha!"
"It proves nothing about the date, man."
"It doesn't say it doesn't either."
"Huh?"
Ashley frowned for a moment.
"Don't confuse me!"
"It's easy enough, I don't have to."
Avery and Zoe
"Ash, I'm 12. I don't plot. I'm too young to plot. Maybe next year. And what does my being a telepath have anything to do with it. Besides, I've never lied to you before, why would I start now? If you really don't believe me, ask Zoe. She's playing in her room."
Avery smiled innocently and sent a quick telepathic message to Zoe.
*Zoe, it's Avie, if Ash or Zac ask you the date, say it's the 20th. Can you do that?*
*Yups, of course Avie!*
*Good girl.*
Ash and Taylor
"Hey girl. You can't say you've never lied to me. What about the time- "
"Ash, give up," Taylor insisted, "I think Zac has."
"And it does count if you have telepathy because you could tell anyone to say it's the 20th instead of the 21st. Which it is. And we are partying. Why the heck are you guys denying a party? Something wrong with you?"
"If we have a party we'd like it to be on the right date."
Taylor checked his watch, happy with the length of time this had been going on.
Avery
Avery fixed him with an innocent smile again and widened her eyes for effect.
"Ash, why would I want to lie to you? And I'm not denying a party, I'm just kinda curious as to why you think it's the 21st. Did something happen? Did you... did you get hit on the head or something?"
Ash and Taylor
"You can not say you've never lied to me girlie, what about the time-"
"Ash, give up!" Taylor insisted.
"No! And I didn't get hit on the head. You know the interesting thing Avie? I came over earlier to begin to plan this whole thing and these two were right up saying 'yeah sure, go get the food' or whatever. Now we get back and they've decided 'no, it's the wrong date'..."
Taylor hesitated, a thoughtful look on his face.
"We didn't check the calendars when you first came over. Face it Ash, we were still half asleep. We would have gona along with anything."
Zac and Isaac
"Gee, Ash, no need to lose it," Isaac said.
Zac's eyes lit up.
"I know how to settle this once and for all!" he said delightedly. "Come, come."
He bounded into the rec room and headed to the computer, everyone following.
"Zac, the computer says it's the 20th too," Isaac started to say.
"Yeah, yeah, big deal. Okay, look, this party if for the launch of H.net 2.0, right? So I will just check and see if it's been lauched, duh."
Zac tapped into Hanson.net and...
"Volia! Hanson.net is launched. Time to par-tay!"
Ash and Taylor
"Woohoo!" Ash exulted as Taylor groaned.
"Damn. We could have gone on for longer."
"Ike? Tay? You suck ass!"
"You suck," Taylor insisted.
"No, you suck."
"Who bit a guy on the ass?"
"That was not his ass. And I was a dog."
"Ashley, any form for you is normal. You bit a guy on the ass, and we had you fooled about the date."
"You did not!"
"Did too."
"And that was not his ass, it was his leg."
Zac and Isaac
"Did it taste good?" Zac asked.
"Zac," Isaac began.
"Hey, Ash, you know what I reckon? I reckon that if Tay and Ike don't get on the phone and start inviting people right now, we may have to start dismembering limbs," Zac's eyes twinkled mischeviously.
Ash and Taylor
Ashley grinned.
"And how fun would that be?" he grinned.
He shape shifting some goop from his chest and made it into a chainsaw. Taylor eyed it off.
"You're not serious. We don't know anyone with healing around here... I think."
He glanced at Ike.
Isaac and Zac
Isaac shrugged.
"The prank's over now, so we may as well," he said.
"Please, Ike, show some more enthusiasim."
Isaac gave Zac a look. Then he put on a super-chipper expression on his face and jumped up and down, clapping his hands together.
"Is this enthusiatic enough for you Zackers?"
"Uhh, Ike, don't do that, it's disturbing."
"Then don't ask me to next time," Isaac replied, now calm.
And he picked up the phone and began calling.
Ash and Taylor
Ashley and Taylor both backed off when Isaac acted like an idiot.
Taylor sighed.
"Ok. Where's my address book?"
He went looking for it, grabbed his cell, and began calling up people as well.
"Think I might ring a few people too," Ashley added, raising his eyebrows, "who? I don't know. Numbers we need, numbers."
He grinned, grabbing his cell.
Isaac, Zac, Miette and Oliver
It took almost an hour for them to call everyone. And then people started arriving.
"You're celebrating the launch of the second version of your fan club?" Oliver said, upon arriving.
"Yes," Zac answered.
Oliver gave a look that clearlt said 'weirdo'. Miette, on the other hand, was thrilled with the idea to the point of giggles.
"So, what games we planning on playing?" she asked, a malicious twinkle in her eye.
"Umm, I hadn't thought that far," Isaac admitted.
"Okay, but I'm warning you now, nothing kinky. I don't play strip-anything."
"Drat."