by J. Benson
His attitude was practically steaming from his skin, and I was sure that even the most obtuse of students in the class could pick up on his anger. He stood with his arms crossed, and leaning casually against the blackboard; safely out of the projector's image.
I kept my cool by taking several long and even breaths before continuing to speak after each interruption.
By the time our presentation was over I felt mortified. I slipped back into my desk with complete relief. I drained the last of my coffee just happy to be finished with the project and sat down to watch the other dull presentations.
Judging by the group that immediately followed our presentation; I could already tell that even with Taylor's obvious attitude problem, our project was heads and tails above the rest. At least I felt a tiny bit vindicated.
When the bell rang I was high from accomplishment and caffeine and moved quickly toward my locker. I planned to skip my next class in celebration of a job well done. No one really needed gym class anyway. I opened my locker and began re-arranging my books until I noticed a reflection in the small magnetic mirror on the door.
For some reason the only face in the tiny mirror was Taylor's. I assumed he was standing down the hall at his own locker, but I couldn't explain why his gaze was fixed on me. His face was emotionless and still, but his eyes bore straight into mine. I noticed that his usual crystal blue eyes seemed darker and were narrowed at me, and his jaw was firmly set. I rolled my eyes and turned to give him a piece of my mind.
I was already working on the dialog in my head, warning that just because I didn't want his friendship didn't mean he had the right to hate me and treat me like I had murdered his puppy or something.
However, just as I turned, I came face to face with Paige, the hyper blonde bimbo from my gym class. Nearby, but no doubt still within earshot were her two friends whose names I couldn't remember. I assumed it was something along the lines of dumb and dumbest. Both girls were bottle blonde, and I was sure the bleach had rotted their brains.
"Listen, Ella." Paige began, pushing her lips out in a strange duck-like expression.
"Actually, it's Emma." I replied, rolling my eyes.
"Right, whatever." She said, and her friends tittered. "I want to warn you about something... Taylor Green over there?" She pointed him out to me, even though I knew full well who he was. "He's mine." She folded her arms confidently over her chest. "Everyone at this school knows I like him and he likes me... at least everyone who matters anyway..." Her friends giggled at this again.
I rolled my eyes.
"We're going to winter formal together, he's already promised to take me. And if you stand in the way... well, let’s just say I'm not giving him up without a fight." She raised her chin confidently at me.
"Listen, honey." I said, letting sarcasm drip into my voice. "I couldn't care less. If you want him, he’s all yours." I seethed at her. "I personally can't stand the guy. And if he wants someone as conceited and vapid as you, well than you deserve each other." I turned on my heel and stormed down the hall, wondering if the whole school was insane.
Chapter 19:
Almost Broken Heart
As I walked into school nearly a week later, I noticed something different. The walls of the school seemed to be vibrating with echoes of gossip. I caught a few eyes glancing at me curiously, and for a moment I wondered if there was something on my face or if I had toilet paper stuck to my shoe or something.
It quickly occurred to me that Taylor must have told my secret. Or perhaps Paige had spread a nasty rumor about me. Either way he was about to be a dead man or a castrated one. I would decide when I saw him. But when I rounded the corner toward my locker, I noticed an unusually large crowd about where Taylor's locker would be.
I slowed my approach, thinking perhaps someone had gotten to Taylor before I had and innocent bystanders had gathered to gawk at the body.
As I got closer, the crowd seemed to part a little so I could see.
Unfortunately, Taylor was still alive and he had his arms tightly around the neck of a petite, smiling blonde girl whom I recognized immediately as Paige. She was practically hanging off him, like she couldn't stand to be even a millimeter apart.
I rolled my eyes in disgust.
Taylor laughed at something she said, and in turn, bent slightly and lightly kissed her cheek.
I was relieved I had skipped breakfast. Otherwise, I would have thrown it up then and there. I was absolutely sure he had done this for my benefit. I didn't have any control over what he said or did, or who he did for that matter. But there were other people on the planet who were more intelligent. There were probably rocks in the parking lot with more intelligence.
I proceeded to my locker and pulled it open. I began rearranging my books for my first class when I once again caught a glimpse of the reflection in the mirror on my locker door. The simple metal frame around the mirror seemed to form a picture frame around the picture perfect couple. This time, I could nearly taste the vomit.
I left my books and closed my locker. I wasn't feeling well already, and I wasn't going to stick around and watch those two suck face for my benefit. I went to the office to inform them that I was going home sick for the day, but they insisted on sending me to the school nurse who took my temperature three times and felt my forehead twice before diagnosing me with "That flu that's been going around" and writing me a note to go home.
I grabbed my books from my locker just as the bell rang signaling lunch. I hurried down the hall toward the parking lot before the students could escape from their classrooms.
I opened the heavy school doors and selected several choice four-letter-words to use to describe the rain that was cascading heavily outside. I hated this stupid city. No wonder there was a flu going around. It was always freaking raining.
I sprinted to my car, thankful I had left it unlocked. I was already soaked, but I reached for my keys and shoved them into the ignition. I turned the keys but instead of the engine roaring to life, it sputtered and refused to turn over.
I tried several more times, swore and slammed my hands against the steering wheel angrily until the horn honked accidentally.
I checked my wallet, and didn't have any cash on me, aside from a dime and three pennies at the bottom of my purse. I couldn't afford a cab, not that I knew the number for one anyway.
I sighed and tried to calculate the distance from the school to my grandmother's house. It didn't seem like far, even if it was raining. I was already soaked. I hoped I could walk it because I didn't have another choice.
I groaned, and opened my car door. I grabbed my purse and my school bag and locked my car door behind me. I hoped my car would be okay in the school parking lot overnight. Or at least until my grandmother and I could figure out a way to get it towed back to her house and I could get it fixed.
I walked slowly across the parking lot and onto the street in front of the school. I was already soaked through my clothes, my hair was sticking to my face in weird patterns, and my shoes sloshed as I walked. I didn't need to worry about getting wet; I might as well take my time. There was no point in hurrying. I was already soaked anyway.
I turned the corner onto one of the side streets, which was far quieter than the one in front of the school. There were no sidewalks and the rain had pooled on the edges of the road to the degree that I needed to walk halfway in the road to avoid the forming oceans of water.
I turned at the sound of a car horn honking, and squinted to see through the driving rain.
I was walking on the wrong side of the road, and I assumed that was why the person was honking at me. I sighed and moved over until I was walking in the middle of a puddle. Now I was wet and my shoes and jeans were muddy.
The car honked again, and I resisted the urge to turn and scream at the person driving. After the day I was having already, screaming at a total stranger wouldn't have been completely uncalled for. And it might actually make me feel a little better.
The
car approached and slowed alongside me. I kept walking, with my eyes focused straight ahead. If it was some random weirdo asking for directions, they were about to get an earful, and it wasn't going to be pleasant.
The car slowed to a crawl next to me, and the passenger side window inched down. "Emma!" Came a familiar voice.
I jerked my head toward the car and peered in through the window. Taylor was driving, but his eyes weren't on the road, they were on me. The car kept moving at a snail's pace and I kept walking.
"Go away!" I seethed. I folded my arms around myself, trying to subconsciously protect myself and keep from letting him in any further.
"Where are you headed?" He asked.
"Home!" I replied, shouting to be heard over the falling rain.
"Me too! Jump in." He nodded toward his car.
"I'd rather walk." I replied, trying to sound polite. But a noticeable edge crept into my voice.
"But it's raining! You'll get sick!" He protested.
"I'm already sick." I spat, staring straight ahead as I walked.
"Emma..." He said slowly. "Come on; let me give you a ride. Don't be like this!"
"I need the exercise." I responded coldly. I wanted to add that I would rather be sick and tired than go anywhere with him.
"You're going to walk the entire way back to your grandmother's house?" He asked in disbelief.
"Yes." I replied, shrugging.
"All nineteen blocks?" He asked slowing the car even further.
I sighed and stopped walking entirely. He was right, it was absurd. I could have probably walked the distance, but not in the rain. I already felt like my clothes and by messenger bag weighed a thousand pounds as they were soaked with water.
I turned to the car, my hand poised to open the door, but Taylor was already pushing open the passenger side door for me from the driver's seat.
Entirely unhappy about it, I climbed into the front seat and slammed the door behind me. I wrapped my arms tightly around myself, attempting to warm myself. I was frozen, and my teeth were starting to chatter from the cold.
Taylor slowly accelerated, staring straight ahead.
"You uh... you look like a drowned rat." He smiled crookedly at me.
"Thanks." I rolled my eyes. I folded my arms around myself tighter, trying to keep myself from shivering from cold. My legs were trembling.
"There's a comb in the glove compartment." He offered.
"I'm fine." I replied through chattering teeth.
"So, what happened? Did your car die on you?"
"No, I just thought it was a lovely day for a walk." I spat.
He sighed, "Wow, Emma. What is up your ass today? I'm kind enough to give you a ride home, and you're being..." He trailed off.
"Being what?"
"A bitch." He finished. He pulled the car to a stop at a stop sign, and made no movement to move. "You're the one who turned me down, you pushed me away. You don't get to be mad at me."
"Don't tell me how to feel." I responded equally angry. "You seemed pretty mad at me during our presentation this morning..."
"I wasn't mad. I was giving you the space you needed." He insisted.
I remained silent, staring out the window to avoid talking to him.
"Emma... I don't get it, okay? You start of hating me, then you like me for a bit, and I think things are going alright, and now you hate me even more. What did I do? What can I do to fix this? Because I keep trying to get you to like me. I keep trying to get you to open up to me, and you finally do open up and things seem like they're going okay, but then you shut me out again. It's like you hate me or something, but I don't know what I did to make you hate me."
"I don't hate you." I admitted softly.
"Then why do you do this?" the tone of his voice sounded hurt. "Why do you push away everyone who ever tries to get close to you?
"I... I don't know. I just do that, I push people away before they get too close." I admitted. I left out the fact that it was probably that I liked him, and was scared by that feeling, and therefore pushed him away. "I think it's a sort of pre-emptive strike... you know to push people away before they get a chance to hurt me..."
He exhaled slowly through his nose, and stepped on the gas pedal. The car fell into an uncomfortable silence.
"So how are things with Paige?" I asked curiously. It wasn't because I cared at all how the selfish bitch was actually doing, but I was just trying to make conversation and clear the uncomfortable silence in the car.
Taylor furrowed his brow and glanced sideways at me. "What do you mean?"
"I hear you guys are together now..." I began. I hadn't heard, though I pretty much got the impression from what I had seen with my own two eyes.
He sighed, irritably. "Well, that's what she's telling people."
"If it matters, I think you're perfect for each other." I said.
Taylor laughed at that. "She's so..." He sighed. "Vapid. I mean, she has no substance or personality. It's all so... fake. I might as well be dating one of my sisters' Barbie Dolls. I'd probably have a more stimulating conversation."
"You don't like her?" I asked in confusion.
"Not really. She likes me; she insists were like soul mates, but... I just can't see it lasting. To be honest I can't stand her. Most days I want to run her over with my car or shove her off a cliff."
I knew the feeling. "She told me you're taking her to the winter formal. Actually her exact words were that I shouldn't look at you or talk to you because you two are destined to be together.”
His eyebrows shot up. "Really? Well... I doubt that will happen. I mean, she's a nice enough girl, if you can stay on her good side... but there's no feeling there. There hasn't been a long time. No matter how much she insists otherwise."
My stomach flip-flopped. I wrapped my arms around myself tighter and I barely heard the rest of Taylor's speech.
He shot several short glances at me. "Emma, you're looking a little green. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." I muttered, immediately.
"You don't look fine... please don't throw up in my car..." He practically begged.
"I won't... at least I'll try not to." I replied, leaning forward against my knees.
"Is your grandma home?" He asked, pulling into my grandmother's driveway.
"No, but I'm fine. I'll be okay on my own." I insisted.
"Are you sure? If you're sick enough to miss school..." He began.
"You're missing school." I pointed out.
"Dentist appointment," he replied, unnecessarily pointing toward his mouth. He pulled his car into my Grandmother's driveway and shifted the car into park.
I sighed. "Thank you for the ride." I climbed out of the car and ambled up the front steps onto the porch. Under the shelter of the porch, the rain wasn't beating down on me, but I was still feeling sick and still shivering with cold.
Taylor jogged up the porch as I was trying to dig my keys out of my purse.
"What are you doing?" I demanded.
He sighed, "I can't in good conscious let you be alone, and not when you're this ill. I'll help you get in and call your grandma and stay until she gets here."
"But your appointment..." I began.
"Don't sweat it." He replied. He took my purse from my hands and easily located my keys as if he dug through women's purses all of the time. As if it wasn't a huge invasion of my privacy. "Besides, I'm the only one in my family who has never had a cavity. I think I can skip a dentist appointment."
He unlocked the door and stood waiting for me to go in first. "Once you get inside you should take a shower or a bath or something. Then definitely put on dry clothes. You'll catch a cold, and you don't want that on top of whatever else you have." He mused.
My stomach lurched. "I think I'm going to be sick-" I pushed my way in the door and went running to the upstairs bathroom.
Chapter 20:
Nurse Taylor
Waking took more time than usual. It felt like ages before I was able t
o separate my dreams from reality. My eyelids were so heavy; it felt like I was trying to move mountains instead of simply trying to open my eyes. Every muscle in my body screamed at me, straining to fight off the exhaustion and agony that was flowing through my limbs.
Once my eyes were fully open, however, I was easily able to blink several times, until the blur of sleep faded and I could finally see clearly. I murmured groggily. My bedroom seemed a billion times brighter than usual.
A face came immediately in to view and I was suddenly afraid I was dreaming again. I blinked back sleep. I recognized the perfect blond hair, and the long, angular face. His eyes were crystal blue and framed with long eyelashes which I was incredibly jealous of.
"Taylor?" I asked in disbelief. My voice was thick with sleep and surprised even me. I swallowed thickly; my voice was coarse and dry.
"Right here." I heard the desk chair creak as he moved out of it. The bed sank under his weight as he sat next to me. Unnecessarily, I felt his warm fingers brush my cheek lightly. He stroked a stray strand of hair out of my face.
The only thing keeping me from pushing him away was that my body felt like it was weighted to the bed and I could hardly move. My eyes fell shut again; I was having a hard time keeping my eyes open.
"You look a little better... how do you feel?" He asked, his eyes studying me carefully.
My eyes opened for a moment and I shut them again slowly. "I don't know. I don't feel back to normal yet, but I feel very slightly better than I did before." I mused.
"That's good. Any improvement is a good improvement." He replied.
He adjusted the blankets, fussing over me like I was a sick child. He made sure that the blankets covered my shoulders.
"What time is it?" I asked almost inaudibly.
"It's a quarter after four." He replied, "Are you actually awake this time or are you talking in your sleep again?"
I opened one eye and glared at him.