What’s Your Flavor // 23. New

Time: Back In The Day, Days After #29 & #92 / Kinsey: Age 13 / Pre-YIM
Rating: Fun For All


Kinsey was sitting with the guys on their back porch, gazing at the pool they had just had installed while the family was away on tour.

“So, what do you think?” Isaac asked her.

“Well it looks real… but I’m not sure yet,” she said, practically aching in the heat to jump in and cool off her skin from the oppressive Oklahoma summer heat.

“Is that code for ‘If you don’t invite me over to swim in the next five minutes, I’m going to kill you all?‘ or what?” Taylor asked.

“Oh, you’re so perceptive, Taylor. That’s what I’ve always liked best about you,” Kinsey said sarcastically.

“You’ve ever liked anything about me?” he asked, turning to look at her with a slightly amused look on his face.

“Eh, you have your moments where you’re not completely detestable,” she shrugged.

“At least they’re teaching you big words at your fancy school,” he rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the still water before them.

“Yes Taylor, my fancy public school,” she replied dryly.

“Like I said.”

“Yeah, okay. So do you want to swim, Kinsey?” Isaac asked, happily ending the little exchange going on to his left.

“Tomorrow?” she suggested.

“Sure. I don’t think we have anything to do,” Isaac said, looking at Zac and Taylor for confirmation.

“Yes we do,” Taylor said, absently picking at the arm of his deck chair.

“What do we have to do?” Isaac asked with irritation, obviously knowing that Taylor was just messing with Kinsey.

“Well, there’s this show on tv we should probably watch,” Taylor replied, his gaze still fixed on the arm of the chair.

“A tv show? Seriously Taylor?” Kinsey asked.

“Oh yeah. About the mating rituals of donkeys or something,” he shrugged, his focus not wavering.

“You’d rather watch a show about the mating rituals of donkeys that swim with me?” she demanded.

“Obviously. Who wouldn’t?”

“Is the thought of me in a bathing suit that horrendous?” she asked, the obvious anger in her voice becoming more intense.

“Well, for starters,” he said, finally looking at her.

“For starters?” she asked.

“Yeah, do you really want me to get into the rest?”

“No Taylor, I’m pretty sure I can fill in the blanks for myself,” she said dismissively, angling herself so her body was facing Zac and her back was to Taylor.

“Congratulations,” Taylor said as Kinsey rolled her eyes and pushed herself out of the chair, more than ready to get out of his presence.

“Come over tomorrow at noon to swim, Kinsey,” Isaac said definitively, giving Taylor a look.

“See you then, Ike and Zac,” Kinsey said deliberately, giving Taylor a big cheesy grin laced with venom before heading to the front of her house where her bike was parked.

“See you tomorrow Kinsey!” he shouted at her, glaring in her direction.

“You two are so weird! I can’t take it anymore!” Isaac stated, standing up and heading towards the house. Taylor looked at Zac, who had been uncharacteristically quiet the entire time.

“What’s with you?” Taylor asked. Zac just looked at him for a moment before responding.

“It’s not me, it’s you,” he said, his voice eerily calm.

“Me?”

“Yes,” Zac replied simply.

“If it’s possible, you’re being even weirder than usual,” Taylor said, laughing lightly to mask his discomfort at his younger brother’s intense gaze.

“You should start being nice to her, Taylor,” Zac told him.

“Why?”

“Because you like her, and you shouldn’t be mean to someone you like,” Zac said as if the answer was terribly obvious while retaining his cool demeanor.

“I do not like her! Why does everyone think that?!” Taylor demanded, feeling his blood pressure rise.

“Maybe because you do,” Zac shrugged.

“Shut up, Zac! You don’t know anything!” Taylor exclaimed.

“I know a lot more than you think I do.”

“I said shut up!” Taylor yelled before pushing his chair back and storming into the house, wanting to get away from Zac as soon as possible.

“Idiot,” Zac muttered, rolling his eyes before getting up to go in the house as well.

Kinsey arrived the next day at noon on her bike with a beach towel slung casually over her shoulder. She found the guys already in the pool and she sighed as headed over to them.

“Would it have killed you all to wait for me?” she asked, huffing jealously as she stood by the pool.

“Um, probably. Good thing we didn’t, huh?” Taylor asked, swimming over and resting his arms on the edge of the deck.

“Oh, I don’t know, that might have been okay,” she sneered.

“Will you shut up and get in the pool?” Zac asked excitedly, swimming over to join Taylor at the side of the pool. Kinsey dropped her towel on one of the lounge chairs and toed off her Adidas slip on sandals. Without a second thought, she pulled her t-shirt over her head, exposing her newly purchased swimsuit that somewhat showed off her chest which was considerably larger than the last time they had all swam together. All three guys stared at her wide-eyed. Kinsey saw them looking at her and immediately began to turn red.

“What? It’s my suit, right? It’s horrible, isn’t it?” she asked, feeling self-conscious and wishing that her mom hadn’t talked her into the bright paisley pattern. She had known that it was too girly and that the guys were going to give her crap about it.

“Yes, it is. It sucks. You should take it off right now,” Taylor said, the words slipping from his mouth before he could catch himself.

“Taylor!” she laughed uncomfortably as she pushed her shorts to the ground and jumped into the pool, shocked out of her embarrassment by his comment, “Don’t be a pervert.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, I swear!” he practically pleaded.

“Yeah, sure,” she said, obviously not sold, but also obviously not caring as she headed for the middle of the pool.

“I didn’t!” he reiterated, following her across the shallow end.

“Fine, Taylor,” she said dismissively.

“You don’t believe me,” he said, sounding frustrated.

“Does it matter?”

“Yes it matters!” he exclaimed.

“Why?!” she demanded, wanting him to just drop it already so they could just move past the topic. She was still a little embarrassed by the comment and the longer he went on trying to clear his conscious, the worse she felt.

“Because I don’t want you to think that I said that.”

“Good lord, Taylor. It’s not that big of a deal, I know you meant it as a joke,” she said, giving Isaac a look that meant she wanted his help, but he just shook his head and climbed out of the pool, headed for the diving board.

“No, I didn’t mean it at all,” he explained, “It just came out.”

“Whatever. Don’t worry. I would never think that you would want to see me naked.”

“That’s-” he started, but she cut him off, ready to end the conversation once and for all.

“Just stop, okay. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. I didn’t come here to fight with you, I came here to swim,” she interrupted.

“Well, you get two for the price of one,” he said.

“Always do,” she sighed. They just stood there for a second before a bright green ball hit Kinsey in the side of the face. She turned to face the direction it had come from and found a sheepish looking Zac staring at her from the deep end.

“Oops?” he asked.

“Oh, you’re going to get it,” she said, whipping the ball back at him. And with that, their afternoon in the sun was underway.

They had stopped swimming a few hours later and decided to lounge in chairs next to the pool, enjoying the last few hours of afternoon sun.

“Hey guys, I’ve made a really good friend at school this year. She’s my best girl friend, actually, and I really want you to meet her,” Kinsey said, finally getting up the nerve to bring up the potentially touchy subject. For her entire life, they had always been her best friends with no one else thrown in the mix. But now, they weren’t around all the time and it was only natural that she find someone in school to be friends with. She had just happened to get lucky enough to meet a true, new friend.

“Yeah? What’s her name?” Isaac asked curiously.

“Tifani, and she really wants to meet you guys, too, and not just because you’re Hanson, but more because I talk about you all the time,” Kinsey explained.

“You talk about us all the time? Awww, that’s so cute!” Taylor teased.

“Shut up, Tay. You know what I mean,” she said, throwing her empty can of pop at him.

“Yeah, that you talk about us all the time!” he laughed, taking the can from the ground by his chair and throwing it right back.

“Good lord,” Isaac started, “Kinsey, why don’t we all hang out tomorrow. Let’s go to the mall or something.”

“The mall, Ike? I don’t really feel like getting mobbed,” Taylor said.

“Jeez, Taylor. Think much of yourself?” Kinsey asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

“No, it really is bad, Kinsey. People start freaking out and screaming and following us around. It’s kind of scary, actually,” Zac explained.

“I don’t think they’d do all that if they really knew you guys,” Kinsey smiled at him.

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” he laughed.

“But anyways, I’ll call her and see if she’s free tomorrow. Can I use your phone?” Kinsey asked.

“Sure, you know where it is,” Isaac said. Kinsey nodded and headed inside. Isaac smacked Taylor’s arm when he saw him watching Kinsey walk towards the house.

“Ow! What was that for?!” Taylor asked, rubbing the now red spot on his arm.

“I saw that,” Isaac chuckled.

“Saw what?” Taylor asked, clearly oblivious.

“I’m not stupid, Taylor,” Isaac told him.

“Well apparently I am. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I saw you watching her walk away,” Isaac said, watching as Taylor’s face contorted into one of pure horror.

“I did not!” he said, practically shouting in his own defense.

“Taylor, it’s okay,” Isaac told him, wanting Taylor to understand that he wasn’t yelling at him, just giving him a hard time about it.

“But I didn’t!” Taylor repeated.

“I saw it, too.” Zac interjected.

“I wasn’t looking. But if I had been, it would have only been because she looks completely different,” Taylor said quickly, “I mean, where did all that come from?” Isaac laughed out loud.

“Um, estrogen? She’s not a ten year old girl anymore, Tay.”

“It’s just going to take awhile to get used to, that’s all,” Taylor said, settling back into his chair, obviously having cooled off a bit.

“I don’t know. I’m kind of used to it already,” Zac said. Now it was Taylor’s turn to smack Zac.

“Shut up. It’s Kinsey. She’s off limits,” he said, jabbing a finger in Zac’s direction.

“Why, so you can have her all to yourself like you’ve always wanted?” Zac accused.

“Why does everything think I like her?!” Taylor asked exasperatedly.

“Because you do!” Isaac and Zac said in unison. Taylor threw up his hands and stood, giving both of them a dirty look.

“I don’t have to take this!” he said dramatically before storming towards the house.

“You are such a drama queen, Taylor!” Isaac yelled, watching as Taylor practically knocked Kinsey over when they collided in the doorway.

“Taylor, what’s wrong?” they could hear Kinsey ask him.

“Nothing, I just don’t want to be outside anymore! Is that okay with you?” Taylor spat.

“I just asked you a question, Taylor, you don’t have to yell at me!” she responded, her voice rising to match his level.

“Who’s yelling?!”

“You are!” Taylor just rolled his eyes and went upstairs. Kinsey flinched at the sound of their bedroom door slamming and then turned to head back outside, walking slowly out of confusion.

“What is his problem?” she exclaimed when she reached her chair and plopped back down.

“We don’t know. He basically only fights with you, so it’s a little frustrating,” Isaac said, “But hey. Does Tifani want to hang out tomorrow?”

“Yeah, she’s free all day, so we can get together whenever,” Kinsey said absently, staring at the water.

“Let’s meet here at noon, then, because I can drive!” Isaac said with excitement. Kinsey turned her head and smiled at him, happy to see him so excited about being able to finally make good use of the driver’s license he’d gotten last fall.

“Sounds good. I’m going to head home now. I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” she said, sighing a little.

“Bye Kinsey,” Zac and Isaac said as she pulled on her shorts and grabbed the rest of her stuff before walking around the side of the house.

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