He laughed and shook his head. “I don’t know if it’s such a good idea for you to go to law school. God help me if you get any smarter than you already are. I’m just saying that if it’s something or someone worth fighting for, you should fight for it. It’s not called a fight because it’s easy.”
As usual, he was right. I munched on another cookie as I considered his words.
Dad paused at the doorway. “By the way, your mom wanted me to tell you that she bought more ingredients to make tuna. Should I tell her that you don’t need it anymore?”
“Tell her to put it away. Maybe I’ll need it later, but I’m good for now,” I said with a smile. It was better to be prepared. There’s no telling what would happen next. Life was unexpected like that.
29
{Taylor}
My eyes darted around the cafeteria at the booths and tables that were set up. A bunch of juniors and seniors wandered around to check out all the stuff. I let out a satisfied sigh. The first half of Career Day had gone according to plan and was awesome. Tons of people showed up (mainly because it got them out of class for the day) and got information about work-study programs and internships. The only thing left now was the presentation in the auditorium. All I had to do was start the slide show and introduce our guest speaker.
I shuffled through the papers in my arms, pretending to be busy looking for something so people wouldn’t talk to me. I actually should have been practicing my speech, and I sort of was, but I couldn’t help glancing up every time a blond guy walked in.
Where was Evan? He should have been here by now. The presentation was mandatory attendance for all seniors. Not that it had ever bothered him before. But still, he knew how much this meant to me. I thought he would at least show up.
“Ms. Simmons.”
I plastered a bright smile on my face when Mr. Peters came up to me with a pretty Asian woman in a simple yellow dress. “This is Mrs. Ann Nguyen. She’s the special speaker for today. She graduated—”
“Top of her class at Columbia, and not only is she the youngest partner at Ludwin, Pennington, and Nguyen—where all the partners are women—but her dream is to someday be on the Supreme Court. Something that she’s clearly on the right track for,” I recited, a little in awe that I was actually talking to Ann Nguyen. The Ann Nguyen. She was my idol. She even edged out Dad on my hero list (although I would never tell him that).
“I think I only mentioned the Supreme Court dream once in a university article when I first started law school.” Ms. Nguyen gave me an admiring smile. “I’m surprised you found that.”
“Well, Taylor has always been on top of everything. This entire fair was planned and organized by her,” Mr. Peters said with a hint of a smile. “Someone told me before that there’s nothing that she can’t do, and he was right.”
Looking at him in surprise, I beamed with his praise. It was almost indirectly admitting that he was wrong about me. Not exactly an apology, but I’d take it.
There was a bit of shouting on the other side of the cafeteria. His head jerked up, and the familiar frown crossed his face as he excused himself.
Grateful as I was for his compliment, I let out an inward sigh of relief when he walked off. He was nice (sort of) and all, but with all the stress of the past couple of weeks, I definitely wasn’t going to be missing him when high school was over.
Ms. Nguyen took a few steps closer to me. “So I heard that you’ll be heading to Columbia next fall.”
I stared at her. “I just found out this past weekend. How did you know that?”
Her index finger rose to her lips, and she winked. “You’re not the only one who’s good at research.”
I just blinked. This would have been a perfect time to show off my wit and charm, but nothing came to mind. At all. “You look a lot younger than I thought you would,” I blurted out, inwardly wincing. Yeah, maybe I should have just stayed quiet.
“It’s the genes. People thought I was twenty-one all through law school. It was annoying back then when I couldn’t get into clubs, but now it’s not so bad.”
Okay, she just kept getting more and more awesome. Any type of small talk that I had planned evaporated with each second that I spent with her. Thank god the cafeteria lights started flickering on and off, signaling the beginning of the presentation, before I had asked her about her dog or something and she figured out I was a stalker and a complete idiot.
She smoothed at the nonexistent wrinkles in her dress. “Are you ready?”
“Of course! I…” A familiar greenish-gray car zoomed right by the window in front of us, momentarily distracting me.
Rudy.
My feet automatically raced forward, and I leaned out the window just in time to see Rudy park right outside the auditorium entrance down the street. I could sort of see Evan’s shadowy form inside the car, but he didn’t move. He just kept sitting there, drumming his hands against the steering wheel.
Why wasn’t he moving?
A light hand touched my shoulder, bringing me back to reality. “Is everything okay?”
I nodded but couldn’t help peering out the window again in case he disappeared. My heart leaped at the sight of that rusty old car. And the person inside it.
Ms. Nguyen glanced toward the window and gave me a small smile, like she understood. “You can go if you have something to do.”
“But your introduction—”
“Someone else can do it. Heck, even I can do it. Who knows me better than me? And, well, you,” she joked with a wave of her hand. “Go.”
With a grateful smile, I stacked all the papers and notecards together. My stomach was bouncing with a different type of anticipation now. Looking around, I spotted Lin standing on the side with a scowl as she peered at everyone walking around. “Here, Lin, you can do the speech.”
Her mouth dropped, and she stared down at the pile in her hands like it was a ticking time bomb. “What are you—I can’t—I’m not ready…”
“Look, the slideshow is already loaded and set. Just click Play and read off the notecards.” My hands waved in wide circles as I explained, already backing away toward the stairs. A twinge of regret and disappointment hit me for missing the presentation and for all my wasted work, but I shoved it deep down. It wasn’t as important. There was somewhere else I needed to be. Someone I needed to be with. “Give the speech and take all the credit. You know you want to.” Before she could respond, I spun on my heels and left her sputtering.
Mr. Peters’s mouth dropped open as I ran past him. “Taylor! Where do you think you’re going? You need to start the presentation! You can’t just leave before it even starts!”
His stern words made me want to pause. Especially because he was so loud that everyone turned to stare at me. But I forced myself to just think of Evan and run even faster. The pointing and whispering followed me out the door and down the hall, but for once I didn’t care, because I knew that Evan was just outside, and he was the only one who mattered right now.
I ran down the sidewalk toward him just as he got of the car. I skidded to a halt behind him, barely able to stop before I smacked into his butt as he bent over the backseat to get something.
My eyes widened as I soaked in the sight of him. When I spotted him through the window, I couldn’t actually see him that well. He was standing on the sidewalk next to Rudy in a handsome suit. I repeat, in a suit. Black suit. White shirt. Black tie. Simple and classic.
Oh. My. God. My heart started slamming in my chest, and the suit was only part of the reason. I’d been waiting, yearning, to see him for days, and now that he was finally here, I barely knew what to say. I wanted to apologize. I wanted to congratulate him. I wanted tell him how proud I was of him, but only three words kept running over and over through my mind.
I loved him.
30
-Evan-
I shoved the heart-shaped balloons down in Rudy’s backseat just as Taylor showed up. Even if I hadn’t heard her heaving and panting
down the stairs, I felt her presence. Like the Force. Or Patrick Swayze in that old movie Taylor made me watch with her.
She skidded to a stop a few feet away, bent over at the waist. Her face was red, and her damp ponytail stuck to the back of her neck.
“What are you doing?”
Taylor waved her hand in the air while the other rested on her stomach. Her blue blouse scrunched together beneath her fingers. I’d never seen her look so disheveled. Taylor let out a loud whoosh of air and straightened. “I was in the cafeteria, and I saw you.” Pant. Pant. “I had to jump over a lot of people to get out here. I might have accidentally kicked a couple kids, too, but I had to see you.” Large inhalation of breath. “So you’re leaving?”
“Yeah, I am…” The sight of her distracted me from what I was going to say. She was in front of me. Here. Now. I mean, I was thrilled to see her, but this wasn’t part of the plan. “Aren’t you supposed to be giving a speech right now?”
“Oh.” She looked a little flustered. “I decided to skip it.”
My eyebrows shot up. She had been preparing for this thing for as long as we’d been “dating.” Hell, she even made me help her with it. And now she was skipping it? Just like that? “Why?”
Her eyes twinkled at me. “I told you. I had to see you.”
Damn, not to sound sappy or anything, but I swear my heart melted at her words. I had this whole elaborate setup planned to win her over, and she ruined everything with five simple words. And I didn’t care.
She was good. She was really good.
I moved toward her in one fluid movement and swept her into my arms. It felt so good to hold her. Like everything was suddenly right again. “God, I’ve been wanting to do that all weekend.”
Taylor leaned into my embrace. “Why didn’t you? Why’d you have to wait this long?”
“Because I’m a stupid moron.”
Her lips curved into a smile against my arm. “That can’t be your excuse all the time, though.”
I kissed her cheek. “I know.” Kissed the other one. “But I’m also an ass.” Kissed her forehead. “And annoyingly wrong and confused.” Kissed the tip of her nose. “And naive, while you’re so understanding.”
She clamped her hand over her mouth before I could kiss there and looked down at our feet. “Flattery and kisses aren’t going to work on me.”
I laughed. “I forgot how stubborn you are. One of the many reasons I love you.”
Her head snapped up so quickly that she almost clipped me in the jaw, like she had that morning in my room. Luckily, I dodged her in time by jumping out of the way. My reflexes were sharpened from all the injuries she’d caused. Her eyes brightened, and she beamed up at me. “You love me?”
My hand brushed against her cheek, and I lightly pinched it with my fingers. “I thought that was obvious.”
Her brown eyes grew big and watery like she was about to cry. Instead, she took me by surprise and jumped on me. Literally jumped on me. Her feet left the ground. Her arms wrapped around my neck and hung on for dear life as she kissed me. Her soft, sweet lips crushed against mine.
And it was the hottest thing I’d ever experienced.
I couldn’t keep myself from kissing her back with everything I felt.
“That’s one hell of a kiss,” I managed to comment when I was able to catch my breath again. My heart thundered in my ears.
“Well, I do aim to please,” she said with a grin. “By the way, why are you wearing a suit?”
My hand smacked my forehead. “It’s all your fault! I had this big surprise—I was going to show up in front of everyone after your presentation with flowers and balloons—”
Frantic barking filled the air, interrupting me. Taylor pulled away just as Oreo started bouncing up and down on the passenger seat, even though I had put him in the backseat. The navy bow tie I’d clipped on his collar was already falling off. He must have climbed up front somehow. He got more excited when he spotted Taylor and struggled to climb through the window.
“—and I even brought Oreo along,” I finished with a sigh. All that weekend brainstorming and prepping with Carly and Aaron was ruined now.
Taylor tried to smother her laughter against her hand as she hugged me close. “It’s so cheesy. Did you plan fireworks and skywriting, too?”
I waved my hand behind her head, hoping that Aaron and Carly understood to cancel the final plan. If she thought this was already cheesy, I didn’t need her to know the rest. “No, that would be going overboard. What kind of guy do you think I am?”
“You’re my guy.”
“I am.” With a grin, I brushed her bangs out of her face. “So about me moving to Florida—”
Her arms tightened around me even more. “We can make it work. We can video chat and call each other all the time. And we can even coordinate our visits back to North Carolina so we could see our parents and each other, and it would be cheaper. We could just meet halfway.”
She took the words right out of my mouth. “You’re brilliant, as usual. What made you change your mind?”
“Just that I realized you’re worth fighting for.” Suddenly, she leaned back a little and punched my shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell me about your dad and college sooner? I’m so proud of you I could cry!”
“I wanted to, but I got distracted with all the Brian stuff.”
“Oh.” She bit her lip and looked down. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
I pinched her lips together with my index finger and thumb—not enough to hurt, but enough for her to stop talking. “It’s my turn to talk now, and I’m telling you that it’s okay. You don’t have to explain anything. I understand.” My hand moved beneath her chin to push her face upward. With a sigh, I wiped at the tear on her cheek. “Let me guess, more allergies?”
“Yeah, spring really does suck.” She laughed and wiped at her tears. “So let’s just forget about everything, okay? Today could be a fresh start for the both of us. No apologies, no contracts. Just us.”
“So you want to start over?”
“Yep.”
“Seems like a waste, though.” I leaned in until my lips were right by her ear again. “I’ve been starting to get more of my memories from that night, and believe me, there are just some things I’d rather not forget.”
Her blush spread straight to her roots. “Wouldn’t you rather make new memories instead? I guarantee that you’ll never forget these, even if you tried.”
“Oh really?” My eyebrow rose with interest. “Are you having dirty thoughts again?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sounds tempting. I think I’ll have to take you up on that challenge.” I dipped my head down until our lips were barely touching. “Let’s get started, shall we?”
Just as we were about to kiss, bubbles suddenly surrounded us. Hundreds of them floated down to us, swirling in the wind to create a fairy-tale atmosphere. Or at least what Carly thought was one. Distracted, Taylor pulled away. Her eyes were round and amazed as she stared around us. “What’s going on?”
Guess they hadn’t gotten my hint. I closed my eyes and let out a defeated sigh. “Look up.”
She did and suddenly burst out with laughter. Aaron and Carly were hovering out of the auditorium windows above us, armed with a bubble gun in each hand as they fired all the bubbles in our direction. They must have been hanging out on the balcony this whole time.
Carly stopped and blew on the top of one of her guns like it was smoking.
“Don’t mind us. Just keep kissing!” Aaron yelled down at us.
Clenching her stomach from laughing so hard, Taylor peered up at me. Her eyes were shining again. “I thought you weren’t a cheesy guy?”
Pulling out the coin necklace from my pocket, I slipped it around her neck. When it was secure in its rightful place, I looped an arm around her waist. “I wasn’t until you made me one. I used to be cool. And now I’m just a moping idiot without you. And since you effectiv
ely ruined my reputation, I think you have to make it up to me. Starting now.” I held out my hand for her, wiggling my fingers. “Deal?”
Her hand wrapped around mine, and she held on tight. “Deal.”
BEFORE
-Evan-
Taylor caught my attention as soon as I spotted her at the party. She drifted through the crowd with a drink in her hand. Her other hand swept her dark hair out of her eyes as she bobbed her head to the loud music.
I don’t really know why I noticed her in the first place. She was a little more dressed up than usual, but there were a lot of other pretty girls wearing tighter, more revealing clothes. Especially the one on my lap. I think her name was Abby? Annie?
My fingers traced along Abby/Annie’s collarbone and shoulders. “So, are you having fun?”
She smirked and leaned in closer to nuzzle against my neck. “Especially now that you’re here.”
“Back at you.” I tried to concentrate, but my eyes kept flickering back to Taylor. This time she was swaying to herself by the fireplace. Her hand was braced against the brick mantel. There were a couple of guys looking at her, but no one came close. Probably because they didn’t want to get rejected by the Ice Queen, as everyone called her.
Giving up, I finally gave Abby/Annie a kiss on the cheek and stood up. She slid off my lap with a squeak. “I’ll be back later.” I turned away from her outraged face and slipped through the crowd to get to Taylor. She didn’t notice me. Not even when I was standing directly behind her. “Hey.”
She spun around and peered at me. “Oh, it’s you.”
Well, that was a pretty cool greeting. I was beginning to understand why everyone called her the Ice Queen. I leaned against the fireplace to face her, study her. “Uh, yeah. Are you okay? You don’t look so great.”
“I’m fine. Terrific. Stupendous.” Taylor suddenly let out a small burp and covered her mouth. “And a little flatulent.”
Snorting with laughter, I shook my head, too surprised by what was happening to know what to say. “Maybe you shouldn’t be drinking so much if you’re such a lightweight.”
The Way to Game the Walk of Shame Page 23