Taylor stumbled into the house, just a few feet ahead of his father. He vaguely heard someone speaking to him but he really didn’t take notice. He just kept moving one foot in front of the other and he went straight up the stairs, into his room and collapsed on his bed. All he wanted to do was close his eyes.

The next thing he was aware of was someone shaking him. "Tay, honey, wake up!"

"Why?" he groaned. "I just need a couple hours of sleep."

"You’ve already been asleep a couple of hours," Diana Hanson exclaimed. "I want you to wake up and eat!"

"Food?" Taylor’s eyes flew open with renewed interest.

Walker chuckled. "I knew that would get his attention."

Taylor sat up and looked at a food laden tray his parents had brought up to him. "Thanks, I’m starving!"

He dove into the food hungrily and then at some point realized that his parents had set themselves down in his room and didn’t appear to be leaving. His Mom sat on the edge of the bed and his Dad had pulled a chair over near the bed and was sitting in it.

"What’s up?" he asked warily although he already had a good idea what was coming.

"We need to talk about this crazy schedule," Walker began.

"Dad," Taylor interrupted. "I know it’s been a little crazy."

"It’s been a lot crazy!" Walker interrupted. "Tay, we can’t keep this up. I can’t keep this up. You can’t keep this up."

"I know, but there’s just been so many details to take care of that we didn’t know about. As soon as the filming schedule starts, it will be different. Everyone says there’s a ton of downtime while you wait for the set-ups."

"I’m more worried about the now than the later," Diana warned. "You’ve been going non-stop ever since we arrived here in California. It’s too much, working on the album and working at the movie studio. You’re not getting enough rest."

"But, Mom it’s only temporary," Taylor exclaimed.

"That’s not good enough," Diana declared. "You’re waking up between 4 and 5 am and you’re not stopping until 12 or 1 at night. That’s too long a day."

"Ike and Zac are working," Taylor protested. "Come on Mom, you knew it was going to a tight schedule."

"Tight, yes. Ridiculous twenty hour days," Diana said firmly. "No. We didn’t agree to this."

"Mom, the new album is coming along pretty good, but it’s slow. You know what we went though last time. And, Mr. Rosemont is trying to get me ready for the filming. I have so much to learn."

"We know that son," Walker interceded. As his son opened his mouth to speak he held up one finger and Taylor was silenced before he spoke. "I know your schedule better than you do. The only time available right now for you to get some extra sleep is early in the morning."

"Dad, you wake up when you wake up. There isn’t a whole lot I can do about it. I’ve always woke up early."

"You can stay in bed," Diana interrupted. "And, maybe, just maybe, you might be able to go back to sleep, if you tried. If you got up at a more normal hour you wouldn’t be nearly so tired."

Taylor wanted to protest but seeing as both his parents were ganging up on him he thought it might be more advantageous on his part to agree. "Okay. I’ll try."

"Promise?" Diana questioned with skepticism.

"Yeah, I promise," Taylor said nodding.

"Okay," Walker said satisfied with his son’s answer. "Why don’t we all go to bed and get some sleep."

Diana picked up the tray to carry it out of the room and as she turned, Walker removed it from her hands and put it down on the dresser in his son’s room. "Bring this down in the morning," he instructed his son as he guided his wife out of the room and flipped the light switch. "Good night, son," 

* * * *

Taylor woke up at the crack of dawn and he automatically started to roll out of bed but then he remembered his late night promise and he stretched out and looked up at the ceiling. He looked over at his alarm clock, it was 5:10 am. He really didn’t think he was going to be able to go back to sleep, but he had made a promise to try. His try lasted ten minutes. Then he turned on his light and grabbed a book to read. Thirty minutes of reading turned into completing a English composition that was due in a week. By 6:30 he gave up all attempts to even remain in bed and logged onto his computer, after carefully turning down the sound. 

"Hey, I thought you were supposed to be asleep?" Ike said from the doorway.

"Put a lid on it, you want to get me in trouble?" Taylor growled. "Besides how’d you know?"

"This house has lousy sound proofing," Ike explained. "I heard you guys last night. You promised to sleep late."

"I promised to try," Taylor corrected. "It might take a few days for it to sink in."

"Or for total exhaustion to set in," Ike suggested.

"Well at least they can cover raccoon eyes with makeup," Taylor said. "Is there any place in the house that we can go to work without waking everyone up?"

"The garage," Ike said. "Want me to wake up Zac?"

"God, no," Taylor exclaimed. "Then I’d get into trouble for him being up early too."

"All right, then let’s hit it," Ike suggested and watched his brother’s face light up with enthusiasm. "Are you ready for today?"

Taylor looked up as he shut his computer down. He took a deep breath. "I’d better be."

"Scared?"

"Terrified," Taylor admitted. "But, I don’t want to think about that right now. Let’s concentrate on music for a while. That, I know I’m good at."

* * * *

"Tay, come on you don’t want to be late!" Walker yelled up the stairs. 

"I’m coming, I’m coming!" Taylor exclaimed running down the stairs. His father threw his book bag at him and Taylor opened it and gave it a quick check to make sure all his books were inside. Just because his schedule was chaotic didn’t mean his parents were going to let him neglect his schoolwork. That was just one more thing that he was going to have to learn to do between takes. 

Normally, under California law, Taylor at fifteen (almost sixteen, as he was sure to remind everyone) was considered a child actor. By California statutes he would only be allowed to work four hours a day and would be required to attend at least three hours of school per day on the set. It was also a legal requirement that a legal guardian or representative had to be present on the set at all times for his protection. Taylor, already an emancipated minor under Oklahoma statues for legal purposes of signing legal contracts was exempt from these laws. Also, because he was a registered home schooled pupil in his home state he was exempt from having to attend school on the set. Since, Taylor was in almost every scene in the movie that was one less concern for the director. There were going to be quite a few young people in the movie playing students and friends but those were fairly minor roles and they would work their schooling schedules around movie schedule. The family and Phil Montrose had already agreed that either Walker or Ike would always be present on the set as his personal representative.

Eddie Grant was waiting for Walker and Taylor at the main gate of the studio when they drove through. He climbed into their van and handed both of them new photo studio passes that would allow them access not only to the studio lot but into the secure filming sets. 

"So what’s on the agenda today?" Taylor asked very comfortable with Eddie, since the young director seemed to have set himself up as Taylor’s personal guide to the instruct him on the ins and outs of movie making.

"Today you meet your co-stars and you start read-thru’s of the script," Eddie explained with a smile. "Feeling intimidated?"

Taylor nodded.

"Don’t be. For the most part actors are just normal people," Eddie promised.

"Normal?" Taylor questioned to his father with a little bit of panic.

"People are people," Walker advised gently.

Taylor entered the conference room and Eddie introduced him to the co-stars in the movie: Silent Lies. He’d already met the actor playing his father, Tom Scalaria and he shook hands with him again. He had not met the actress that was to play his estranged mother and he was surprised at how beautiful Jenna Davis was in person. She didn’t look at all like the description of the character in the script but he was told that she would before they started filming. He was willing to bet that they were going to have to de-glamorize her for the part. The roles of his surrogate family in the movie were being played by Gregory Harrison and Nancy McKeon as the parents. Zachary Ty Bryan, of television fame played his surrogate brother and best friend and the role of the four-year-old sister was being played by Haley McCormack, a very young actress with an impressive resume of commercial work.

Taylor was the only one in the cast that was a newcomer to the movie business, but it made no difference to Phil Rosemont. The only concession he made was to explain technical aspects in more detail to Taylor. He handed out new scripts with the rewritten sections highlighted in yellow and they set down at the conference table to get to business. Walker retreated to a room occupied by other parents and guardians of young actors and unloaded his briefcase onto a table and went to work on reading contracts.

After three solid days of working through the script, line-by-line, word by word everyone was finally satisfied with the results of the rewrites and corrections. After eight hours of concentrated work on the script, Taylor would leave the studio and report to work at the music studio, where they had rented studio time. Hanson management had struck a deal with Amblin management for a commitment of three weeks of pre-production work before the actual filming would begin. Because Hanson was also currently working on an album, part of the deal was that the studio would provide an acoustically sound-proofed area for Hanson the band to work in during set-up periods for the movie crews.

As excited, as Taylor was to be working on a movie set he was also concerned about how his being separated from his brothers was going to affect their progress on their next album. At the end of the three-week pre-production period Taylor was becoming anxious about the studio’s promise to provide a working space for Hanson. He and his father were returning from a lunch break when they saw a large, windowless trailer being parked outside the studio warehouse.

Eddie Grant ran over to them with a smile. "How do you like it?"

"That’s our workspace?" Walker asked looking pleased.

"It should be big enough," Eddie exclaimed. It has two offices and a huge open floor space. We figured, Taylor could use the room at the back with the back door for a dressing room and you, Mr. Hanson could use the other room as an office. That would leave the open space for whatever equipment and instruments you need to bring and we’ve installed a security system."

"This is far more than we expected," Walker exclaimed.

"Got to take care of our stars," Eddie exclaimed. "The moving crews should have it in place in the next several hours. Then we’re going to install an intercom system between the studio and the trailer so you’ll know when we need you on the set."

"Wow," Taylor said impressed.

"How come the rest of us don’t get our own private trailers?" Zachary Ty Bryon asked standing behind group and directing his question at the young second director.

Eddie looked annoyed at the question, but more so at the young actor. Zachary had been spearheading little digs and cuts in Taylor’s direction from the first day of readings. 

"You have a dressing room," Eddie reminded the young man.

Zachary looked down at the smaller man and nodded his head in an insolent manner. "Yeah, and when the super star here, flubs it and they replace him, will the new star get the trailer?"

Eddie Grant may have been a small man but he stood his ground with the snobby young man. "Enough, Zachary. Taylor is doing a fine job so far and his screen tests show a promising potential. There’s not going to be a reason to replace him."

"Yeah, right," Zachary sneered and he turned on his heel and went back inside the studio.

"I’m sorry about that," Eddie apologized.

"You didn’t do anything," Walker interrupted. "What is that young man’s problem? He needs to be taught some manners!""

"He wanted the part," Taylor said knowingly.

Eddie looked at him with surprise at his insight. "Yes, Zachary did read for the part but he wasn’t right for it. He doesn’t have enough emotional range and physically he’d just too large. He was much more suited to the Michael character. Michael is supposed to be the all around athlete and high school football star."

"But, I don’t fit the character description either," Taylor said in almost of a defense of the young man. "Casey is supposed to be five-foot five inches, and I’m taller than that."

"But you’re wiry and slim built," Eddie explained. "Believe it or not, with the correct positioning, you will be made to look much shorter. Zachary is build like a linebacker. With that set of shoulders, if we tried to disguise his height, he’d look like ‘Dorf’. Zachary’s just having a hard time adjust to not being a pampered ‘star’. We have that problem with kid stars off successful shows. They have a hard time making the transition to film."

"Is he going to be a problem?" Walker asked.

"Trust me, Zachary won’t be a problem. This is Taylor’s role. He might have been hand-picked by the boss but there are millions of dollars at stake here. If the tests hadn’t looked good he wouldn’t have risked it," Eddie explained.

"Ike said the same thing," Taylor said.

"Ike’s a smart kid," Eddie said with a grin. "When is he going to be around again."

"Monday," Walker said. "I’m going to take a break for a while, and Ike will be in charge. We’ll set up the trailer for our purposes this weekend and Ike and Zac will be here on Monday."

* * * *

"Bright lights, camera’s, stars, action!" Zac shouted excited from the back seat as Ike drove up to the studio gate. The guard handed him two temporary passes and he passed one of them over the seat to his brother. They had already been told that they would have to report to the security offices to have their pictures taken for permanent passes. The studio was even more secure than their own backstage concert areas. 

"Tay, how does it feel to be a movie star?" Zac demanded holding out his hand as if he held a microphone. 

"The same as before, I’m still related to you," Taylor exclaimed. "Remember, Zac you promised to behave!"

"I always behave!" Zac retorted. "I’m just a misunderstood, unappreciated and neglected," he exclaimed throwing his head back theatrically over-acting. "Besides, I’m the Hanson that everyone loves. They love me for my wacky self!"

"I’m gonna whack you..." Taylor threatened.

"Can we settle down to some sense of professionalism before I park the car," Ike suggested looking over at his brothers and rolling his eyes.

"Owie..." Zac wailed from the back seat and Taylor smirked at his brothers’ words but as they got out of the car they were all behaving more adult-like. How they behaved in private and how they behaved in public was different. Not much, but they did try not to injure or insult each other in public.

Hanson the band settled into a new work pattern. With a studio call at 6:00 am they all had to be up early to make the forty minute drive through Los Angeles early rush-hour traffic. Ike drove, usually with a cup of coffee in one hand to try to keep him awake. Zac usually fell back asleep in the back seat and Taylor tried to use the time to catch up on homework. They were all becoming used to segmenting their efforts into short spurts of activity. Taylor would get a short segment of time, free from the movie set, and they would use it for writing or practicing or sometimes arguing. 

Originally, they had thought that when Taylor was on the set that, Ike and Zac would continue working on their music. That didn’t work well. Since Ike and Zac were of more similar personalities they were more likely to goof off or spend the time arguing without their middle brother there to act as a mediator. So Ike and Zac found themselves following Taylor to the set to watch the progress of the filming. As long as they didn’t interfere, Phil Montrose didn’t have a problem with them being there. The movie was being filmed in continuity to make it easier for the actors to concentrate on the sequence of events portrayed. Since the movie dealt with teen-age suicide there was also a counselor available for questions and advice. Ike wandered around the set absorbing the atmosphere and watching the directing techniques. Then one day he noticed a pretty young production assistant and from that moment on he seemed entranced. He used his interest in production to make her acquaintance but his interest in Jenny Williams was personal. Soon, it was Ike who was anxiously awaiting for the set calls and it was Ike who was perfectly willing to put their music aside while his brother completed his scenes. Every minute that Taylor was on the set, was another minute Ike could spend with pursuing Jenny. Zac found a friend in one of the cameramen. TC was giant of a man, standing over six-foot five, but he was gentle in spirit. Zac’s interest in the camera and his inquisitive questions about technical aspects of filming captured the man’s attention. Zac’s initial interest was more in the boom crane than in the operation of the camera, but TC’s patient style of teaching soon won him over and he genuinely became interested. It became very common for Taylor to spot Zac in his peripheral vision, twenty feet up in the air, seat-belted safely on the boom camera with TC.

The days on the movie set were long and full. Some days they spent more time in their trailer working on their music than they did on the movie set. Other days it was reversed and they would have to leave the studio lot and then report to the music studio to complete their work. Sometime during this busy schedule, all three of them had to make sure that their school work was on target and complete. Walker accompanied them at least several times a week, almost more as a monitoring device on the set than actually supervising his children. He trusted Ike to ensure that no one would take advantage of his younger brothers.

Taylor enjoyed acting. It was like putting life to imagination. Always a dreamer, and a writer he was able to express himself beyond words and music. It was a new art form that he was enjoying although it was very taxing emotionally.

* * * *

The Hansons’ quickly made friends with most of the actors and actresses and crew on the set. It didn’t take Taylor long to figure out that the upright piano on one of the house sets was very much real and in working condition. Often when they didn’t have time to return to the trailer, Hanson would converge on the piano to either work on current material or sometimes just to play around with old tunes. The crew loved it when the young trio dove into their large repertory of 50’s and 60’s tunes. Often during the lunch breaks they would request certain tunes and everyone would crowd around to listen and enjoy.

The catering crew for the set was a professional catering service specializing in delivering not only sandwiches and snacks but a hot entrée during the lunch hour. Two young women would come in during the morning hours, set up the tables to ensure that there was always plenty of refreshments available. Of the two women, one would always be present during the lunch hour, and then they would both return in the late afternoon to clean up. Most of the crew seemed to be on a first name basis with the young women. One of the women was named Marcy and she was friendly and outgoing, an unemployed actress, of course. The other was the exact opposite. Her nametag said her name was Nancy but she appeared quiet and rarely made eye contact with anyone. It took several days before Ike came up with an explanation. She was deaf. Occasionally Marcy would use sign language to communicate with Nancy and sometimes she would sign back but most of time she spoke. She spoke slowly without any inflection in her words but she could make herself understood.

When no one was around, she would sign freely to her friend her fingers and hands moving with beautiful, fluid motion.

Taylor, Ike and Zac tried to be friendly with her. Zac knew a few signs and he was the one that broke through her reserve. Zac tried to sign, "Hi, how are you today?" and he accidentally signed, "Hi, what did you fly today?" Nancy laughed good naturely at his mistake and told them that she could read lips very successfully. She thanked him, showed him how to sign the greeting correctly and they became instant friends.

Taylor was sitting at the piano one day during the lunch hour. He’s spent the morning filming a very emotional scene and he was playing a classical piece of music which he found very calming. Most of the crew was sitting around, listening but leaving him alone. It was Taylor’s habit to either take a long walk or play the piano after the many repetitious takes of emotionally charged scenes.

A sandwich and a bottle of water suddenly appeared on top of the piano. Taylor looked up but he continued to play. Nancy had brought him the sandwich and she was pressing both of her hands to the side of the piano. Taylor took his finger off the keys and she turned to him.

"You missed lunch. You need to eat," she said her tone vocally flat.

"Thank you," Taylor said. "You’ve done that before, put your hands on the sides. Can you hear?"

"Not hear like you. I feel vibrations. I like it," Nancy explained.

"I could teach you," Taylor said sliding over on the bench.

"No, I could not hear to know if it was right,"

"But you could feel it, couldn’t you?"

"Maybe. It would not be good to make noise here," Nancy said shaking her head. "I would get fired!"

"On your breaks, then," Taylor insisted. "In the trailer. No one could hear you in there. You can make as much noise as you want and if it feels good to you that’s what is important."

"I could not," Nancy exclaimed shaking her head. "I could not pay."

‘I’m not asking for you to pay," Taylor said. "Teach me,"

"What?"

"To sign. It’s so beautiful to watch. It’s like a secret language, and I want to be in on the secret." 

"I can teach you," Nancy intoned smiling. "Start with this," and she making several quick motions of sign language.

Taylor copied her motions several times. "What did I say?" he asked.

Nancy made the sign as she mouthed the words at the same time. "You... are... a... good... person."

Taylor repeated her motions and words at the same time. "You are a good person too,"

It was the first lesson. Nancy brought Taylor several books on signing for the deaf and he kept them close and studied them when he got a few free moments. Zac and Ike were included in the lessons. Zac was a quick study, seeming to understand almost immediately and able to copy the signs perfectly. Ike learned through osmosis because at home Taylor practiced using him or Jessie as his subjects. Nancy seldom made the trip into trailer for a piano lesson, but she enjoyed her developing friendship with the brothers.

Twelve days into the shooting schedule, it was also a day of celebration. It was the last day of shooting for Zachary Ty Bryon. His character was dead of suicide and Taylor couldn’t have been happier. If anyone doubted his acting ability, after working with Zachary, Taylor didn’t. Zachary was probably the most obnoxious person he or his brothers had ever had to work with. Zachary’s character Michael was supposed to be his best friend in the movie and on screen through Taylor’s efforts alone, that interaction was believable on film. Once the director called cut, Zachary was constantly delivering sharp digs in his direction about his lack of acting ability and worst their music. Several times it was only Ike’s intervention that had prevented Taylor from striking back physically from the provocation. After being dressed down publicly by Eddie once, Zachary had been very careful to make sure his remarks were always out of hearing range of either of the directors or the older character actors. 

The all seeing but ‘invisible’ crew were very much aware of the back-biting that was taking place on the set. Taylor could have complained. TC, Zac’s cameraman friend, suggested strongly that he should, but Taylor held back. He knew that Zachary’s involvement in the film was limited only to the beginning of the movie and even then his part was being played by three different children actors as was his own. They were being portrayed very briefly as five year olds, briefly as twelve year olds and then as their own ages. Zachary’s whole part in the movie didn’t last more than ten minutes. And, because the movie was being filmed in continuity, it also meant that once Zachary part was finished he would not be back. Taylor had played mediator most of his life between his brothers. It was a role that he was well suited to, and he thought he could wait out the situation with Zachary and he did without incident.

Someone from the set had ordered a cake as a farewell to Zachary. It was not an uncommon practice on movie lots. When Phil Rosemont called it a day, the crew and actors settled around the catering table to say their farewells to the young actor. It was almost a tongue in cheek affair, since almost everyone was glad to see him go. Zachary on the other hand didn’t seem to be aware at all that his obnoxious manners had alienated almost everyone. Phil Montrose said a few words of farewell and everyone clapped politely and then began to mill around the table for a piece of cake and a drink and small talk among themselves. The Hanson brothers smiled politely but hung back from the crowd. As brothers they were united in how they felt about Zachary Ty Bryon. He hadn’t been very nice to any of them. He’d been particularly venomous towards Taylor and that was reason enough for Ike and Zac to dislike him. 

When the crowd dispersed somewhat, the brothers went over to the table and picked up some soft drinks. Taylor was signing slowly to Nancy telling her good night, that they were going to leave for the day.

"Hey, Hanson!" Zachary shouted.

All three of the brothers turned around instantly.

"Want a piece of cake?" Zachary said loudly.

"No thanks," Taylor said shaking his head.

"Can’t blame you, I wouldn’t mind trying for a piece of that either," Zachary sneered looking past them at Nancy.

Taylor’s head jerked up. He couldn’t believe even Zachary could be that rude. He turned slightly to see that Nancy had her back turned and next thing he knew his soda bottle was flying across the room aimed directly at his adversaries head.

Zachary ducked. "What the hell you do that for?" he demanded.

"Shut up!" Taylor ordered. "How dare you say something like that about Nancy."

"What’s the difference?" Zachary shouted. "She can’t hear me!"

"I heard you," Taylor shouted. "Everyone heard you. How can you be so rude and so stupid?"

Zachary darted around the side of the table, his face red with embarrassment and anger. Taylor was heading directly for him, fists clinched, ready to take him on. 

Eddie Grant and CT grabbed for Zachary. Ike and Zac grabbed Taylor to keep them separate. 

Phil Rosemont stepped between them. "That’s it. Zachary you were way out of line. You could be brought up on charges of sexual discrimination over a dumb-ass remark like that. Parties over. Everyone go home. Six-thirty call tomorrow morning. Zachary, I’ll walk you out."

With those words, the director effectively defused the situation. The two young men were still glaring at each other, but they didn’t make any overt moves towards each other. 

Ike, Taylor and Zac headed for Ike’s car in the parking lot. 

"Wow, Tay, you were really going after that jerk!" Zac exclaimed.

"I can’t believe he said that about Nancy," Taylor exclaimed.

"Tay, she didn’t hear him," Ike said softly.

"So what? That doesn’t make it any less rude or crude," Taylor exclaimed.

"I didn’t say it did," Ike interjected. "But, would it have been worth fighting over?"

"Nancy is my friend. Would you have let him say that about Jenny and get away with it?" Taylor demanded.

"If he’d have said that to Jenny, he would have lost some teeth," Ike admitted. "And, that would have been from Jenny, before I had a chance to get to him."

Taylor and Zac laughed at their brothers’ answer. Ike’s only complaint about his new romantic interest was that she was fiercely independent to the extreme. So far, Ike claimed that they hadn’t gone out on a date yet, because every time he and Jenny went out she insisted on going Dutch. Ike insisted it didn’t count as a date unless the guy paid. Although he planned on spending a lot of time with his new friend it didn’t look like he was going out on a date anytime soon.

Ike smiled at brothers’ reaction. "Guys, it would not be a good idea to mention this incident to Mom and Dad. Since Mr. Big Head Star won’t be back on the set, it shouldn’t be a problem."

Zac and Taylor nodded their heads in agreement. Walker felt very comfortable with the security of the studio and he was pretty much leaving Ike in charge. As long as they kept working hard and producing music on schedule he wasn’t likely to intervene. It wasn’t that they had anything against their Dad, but they all liked the independence that they were being allowed by being on the studio lot. If possible they wanted to keep it that way.