"Oh man," Nicole gasped. "Catie, I completely forgot. I'm so sorry."

"How could you forget?" Catelin Bauer asked. "Didn't uncle David tell you that I was coming?"

"Yeah, but I was up late talking to my boyfriend on the phone, and.....I just, forgot, I guess," Nicole said. Catie sighed and dropped her unbelievable amount of luggage inside the door. She looked nothing like Nicole, with chin-length, strawberry blond hair, big blue eyes, and a little, turned up nose. Catie was all-in-all "perfect". She had perfect hair, perfect teeth, perfect looks, perfect everything. She was tall and slim, and always wore clothes that were classically cool. This day, she was wearing black hot-pants, a light blue sweater tee, black strappy sandals, and a black scarf around her neck. At sixteen, she was only a year older than Nicole, but she looked around eighteen.

"Here," Nicole said, opening the door to a downstairs bedroom. "This will be your room."

"Joy of all joys," Catie said sarcastically, looking around the room. She dropped her bags once again, and sat down on the bed. "So what are we going to do now?"

"Well," Nicole said. "We could go to the mall or something, I guess. But first I have to get dressed." She went upstairs, took a quick shower, got dressed, and came downstairs. Catie was sitting at the kitchen table, filing her nails.

"Finally," she said. "I didn't think you were ever going to be ready." Nicole ignored the comment and they went to the local mall. After four hours of Catie's endless griping over the quality of the mall, they decided to go home. But in that time, Catie had managed to buy enough clothes, shoes, and jewelry to max out Nicole's credit card twice. But Catie happily handed the cashiers her personal gold Master Card, and they happily handed it back after ringing up her huge purchases.

"So," Catie said, as they walked home, "tell me about your boyfriend."

"Well," Nicole started, happy for a chance to speak, "his name is Isaac Hanson. He's got blond hair, brown eyes, and...."

"Hanson? Oh, that's the name of that little band from here, isn't it?" Catie said. "It must be....neat, to go out with a rock star."

"Well," Nicole said, "I don't actually think of him as a 'rock star'. I mean, he's exactly the same person as he was before they formed the band."

"Of course he is," Catie said, but she turned her face so that Nicole couldn't read her expression.

The next two weeks were agonizing for both Nicole and Catelin, as they began to dislike each other more and more. Nicole waited impatiently for Isaac to get home, and Catie demanded to be treated like a princess. The day that Nicole saw the Hanson's van pull into their driveway was one of the happiest moments of her life so far.

"Ohmygosh!" she yelled, running to the door. "They're home!" She flung open the door and ran outside.

"Who," Catie called, daintily trotting along behind Nicole. "Who's home? Loverboy....oh, what is his name?"

"Ike," Nicole said. Then she ran down the path and into the Hanson's back yard. Zac climbed out of the van first, on his good leg. Then Taylor hopped out and gave Nicole a big hug.

"Well well, is this him?" Catie asked.

"No," Nicole said. "This is my best friend, Taylor. He's Ike's brother." She and Tay pulled apart, and Isaac stepped out of the van. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail, he was wearing silver wrap sunglasses, and he looked amazing. Nicole couldn't take her eyes off of him. And apparently, neither could Catie. Her mouth dropped open and then closed again as Isaac handed Nicole a single, long-stemmed rose, and kissed her on the cheek.

"Hey Nic," he said. Nicole wrapped her arms around him.

"I missed you sooooo much!" she told him. Then she pulled back, feeling a tug at her shoulder.

"Well," Catie said. "Aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Catelin Bauer, Isaac Hanson. Ike, Catie," Nicole said quickly. "Good enough?"

"Nice to meet you Isaac," Catie said.

"Yeah, same here," Ike said. "Nic," he said, "it was so much fun! You should have been there!" They went into the Hanson's living room. He caught her up on all of the events of the past two weeks, and soon Catie decided that it was time for them to go home. Isaac and Nicole said goodbye to each other, and soon the two girls were walking back to Nicole's house.

When they got there, Catelin went straight to bed. No comments on Isaac, no comments on what a lousy time she was having. No comments at all.

"I wonder what's wrong with her," Nicole said to herself. She quickly dismissed the thought and went to bed.

"Must you do that here," she asked him.

"What, in the privacy of my own home Catie?" Nicole answered, before Isaac could speak. "Oh no, I guess that would be wrong. But really.....if you don't like to see us kiss, then don't look. It's simple."

"Well I.....but.....you.....oh, nevermind," Catie stuttered. "You are so childish Nicole."

"Now hold on," Isaac spoke up. "Nicole is childish, but you're whining about a public display of affection? Does anyone else see anything wrong with that?"

"I do," Nicole said. The phone in her parents' office rang, so she left the room to answer it.

"Why don't you like me Isaac," Catie pouted, crossing the room and sitting down in Nicole's place on the couch. Isaac quickly sat up, looking annoyed.

"I don't dislike you Catie," he said. "I just dislike the way that you treat Nicole. Why do act like you're so much better than her?"

"I....I don't know," Catie said. Then she touched his cheek. "You're so sweet Isaac," she said, running her finger down his strong jawline. She leaned forward until her lips were only centimeters from Isaac's. Then Catie felt herself flying backwards and didn't know what happened until she hit the floor.

"You....you pushed me!" she shrieked. Isaac stood up and stood over her, his hands on his hips. "How dare you! Who do you think you are?"

"I'm your cousin's boyfriend," he said. "And I don't appreciate the fact that you just tried to kiss me!"

"Oh, you know you wanted me to," she snarled. "If little miss Nicole hadn't been here, you would have." Nicole came back into the room then, to find her cousin on her back in the floor, and Isaac glaring down at her.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Your boyfriend just tried to kiss me," Catie screamed.