"Why are you in my bedroom?" Taylor asked Carter as he watched her rummage through his bookshelf, looking desperately for something. He feared for his life.
"You don't exist."
"Oh come on. You can't still be mad at me for that little incident."
Carter turned around and glared at him. "You superglued my arms to the dining room table. Hmm, let me think. Yeah, I can still be mad. Now shut up."
Taylor tilted his head to the side and watched her. She was wearing very short, denim shorts that she had pulled over her wet, black, halter bathing suit. Her wet hair was pulled into a low ponytail, secured with too silver clips. She must have been swimming. No... Bad Taylor. Dirty thoughts about Carter not good. He shook his head. "What are you looking for, anyway?"
"Your wallet."
Taylor's eyes widened and he stood up. "What?"
"Strawberry flavored glow-in-the-dark Condoms."
He almost dropped his can of Pepsi. "EXCUSE ME?!"
"A book." She rolled her eyes and ignored him.
"What book could be so important?" He watched as she began throwing random books and notebooks across the room.
"It's a book of mine that you stole last week. I need it back."
"What book?"
"My journal."
Taylor blushed. "I didn't steal your journal."
"Right. And you didn't steal my pretty, pink, platform shoes either."
He blushed again. "I needed those for an experiment."
"Right." She finally found her silver, metal bound journal hidden behind his set of encyclopedias. Before leaving the room, she gave him a dirty look and slapped her metal journal against the side of his head.
"Ouch!" He winced and backed up.
"From now on, keep your transvestite experiments out of my closet." Then she left his room and went out the backdoor of his house to go back to the pool.
After Carter left, Melissa sauntered into his bedroom with a grim look on her face. She plopped down onto his bed and faced the ceiling with her eyes closed.
Taylor stood next to his bed and looked at her, confused. "Uhm, Meli, I thought you weren't talking to me."
"I'm not. I'm just bored as hell."
"Did you decide where you're going to college?"
"Yes."
He paused, waiting for her to answer. But when she didn't, he sighed and gave up. "Fine, don't tell me how far away you're going. See if I care."
Melissa opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. "What makes you think I'm going far away?"
"Because you're smart as hell and you can basically get into any college you want to. Why would you stay in Oklahoma?"
She sighed.
"So... where are you going."
"Tay, you know where I'm going. You know where I've wanted to go all my life."
Taylor sat down on the bed and looked down at her. "You got in?"
"Yeah."
"Meli, you got accepted to Harvard and you're acting like you don't even want to go."
"I don't."
"What?"
She sat up and stared at him, her eyes looked almost glassy. "When I was little I used to play college. Everybody else played house and school. I played college. I was this Harvard Law student. I was happy. But now it's a reality and I don't think I want to go."
"But why not?"
"Tay, I'm 16 years old."
"So?"
"So... the majority of people at Harvard are not. I'm going to be the little reject and I don't think I can handle that."
He shook his head and sighed. "So just because you aren't going to be miss popular from the get go, you don't want to forget about your dreams and go somewhere else?"
"It's not just that... there's at least five reasons I don't want to go."
"Well, tell me."
"Ok the first one is the age thing. The second is that I'll get homesick. The third is that I only have a part scholarship which means I don't have the money to go. The fourth is you. And the fifth is the fact that I already got my dorm assignment and in the room next door to me is Jonathan Taylor Thomas.***"
"Ew." He cringed. "So..." He paused and blinked. "Wait a minute. Back up. What was that forth reason?"
"You." She mumbled. "I don't want to go because of you."
"What did I do now?"
She laughed and then sighed again. "Nothing. I guess it just seems like we never get a fair chance. There's always people and things getting in the way."
Taylor blushed, feeling overwhelmingly guilty for the date he had with Tanis. "So you're saying... you want to give me another chance?"
"I don't know what I'm saying. I do know, however, that Harvard is going to have to wait. I've decided to go to TCC for a special summer session to get a feel for college life. I'll be living in the dorms and everything so I know what it's like. Then I'll make my decision about Harvard." She stood up and began heading for the balcony door. She turned around to face him. "And as for you... I do want to be with you. I just don't know if I can stand being apart from you when I do decide to go away for college."
He sighed, utterly confused and worn out. "Well, I guess... let me know when you figure it out."
Melissa smiled and nodded, then left his room, leaving him alone to realize that he hadn't yet decided if he was even going to go to college himself.
*** Cool story actually. The valedictorian from my school last year got a full scholarship to Harvard and Jonathan Taylor Thomas IS in the room next to her.
Carter
Hearts of Fate
Never Again
WINNERS