"Zac, you're up." Carter sat back against the plastic chair in the bowling alley and motioned for Zac to take his turn. Taylor was sitting at the scoring chair with Tanis next to him. Carter wasn't sure how Tanis was invited. She figured Taylor did it, but she wasn't in the mood to ask any questions.
Zac took his turn and once again pulled off a spare. He had always been a much better bowler than Carter. Carter's goal was to simply aim to entertain. She pulled her hair into two high ponytails and hiked up her socks, watching Taylor as he took his turn. He knocked over 2 pins and then threw a gutter ball.
Carter grinned. "See the big difference between you and me is that I suck with style. You just suck."
He rolled his eyes and made a face at her. He waited for Tanis to stand up to take her turn before he sat down. She watched as his hand brushed her arm when she walked away.
Carter sighed when Zac plopped down next to her. "What's the score?"
Taylor turned around to face them. "You have 160, Tanis is at 140, Carter has 56, and I have... 47."
"You do suck." Zac laughed and turned around, placing his arm on the back of the chair. "Who's that girl?" He looked at a girl who was standing behind the concession stand. She had long blonde hair and what appeared to be very bright green eyes.
Carter turned around to look. "I don't know. New girl. Wanna go harass her?"
Zac shook his head.
Carter sighed and opened up her roll of Necco wafers. She had been recently addicted to them, but only the orange, lemon, and lime ones. She divided the rest up and walked over to Taylor, dropping them in front of him. "Here, you have to eat these." She sat down in the chair next to him.
"Why are you giving them to me?" He asked, sorting out the colors. "I've never had these before."
"They're just the ones I don't like. You know me."
"Oh..." Taylor popped a black one into his mouth. "Licorice. Typical." He sighed, remembering all the times she made him eat her licorice jelly beans. "What's this kind?" He asked, picking up a pink one. He popped it into his mouth, bit down once, and made a face. "Pepto Bismol flavored. Nice." He grimaced.
"Try the other ones. They're better." Carter smiled.
"Right..." He picked up a purple one. "Why don't you like this? You love grape." He put it into his mouth and then spit it back out. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" He yelled, staring down at it.
"Clove."
"Who the hell would make clove flavored candy. Are they insane? Necco must die." He picked up a brown one. "And what is this? Shit flavored?"
"Chocolate."
He looked at her cautiously.
"I'm serious. I just don't like them cause it doesn't mix with the ones I do like."
He put it into his mouth and smiled. "Ok fine. Do I really have to eat all of these?"
"Yeah, I don't want to waste them."
Tanis came back and Carter got up to take her turn, giving Tanis her seat back. She cracked her neck and her knuckles, and then picked up her bright red ball.
"Carter, no matter how many things you crack, you still suck." Taylor laughed and glared at a clove Necco wafer before reluctantly sticking it into his mouth.
Carter stuck her tongue out and threw the ball. It hit the ground with a thud before rolling into the gutter. Muttering something about Satan, she waited for the ball to come back. She cracked her neck again and got ready to throw the ball.
Taylor looked at his last chocolate Necco and looked over at Tanis. "Did you lick my wafer?"
Carter laughed, and went to throw the ball but her finger got stuck and she went down with it. She landed flat on her stomach in the lane and the ball popped off of her hand. She jumped up, wiped off her jeans and glared at Taylor. "Dammit, you pick the worst moments to be funny."
"And you're so graceful..." Zac laughed and then looked at the lane. "Whoa, Car... look!"
Carter turned around and looked at all the of pins laying on their sides. "STRIKE! I GOT A STRIKE!"
"Spare." Taylor corrected her.
"WHO CARES! I GOT THEM ALL DOWN!" She jumped up and down a couple times before finally sitting back down next to Zac.
After a few minutes and another frame, Zac turned around again. "She smiled at me." He nodded and waved.
"Cool." Carter stared straight ahead.
"Seriously, she smiled at me." He turned back to Carter. "Sorry. Are you ok?"
"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"
He nodded and turned around again with no reason to believe that she wasn't being serious. Carter had always been honest with him. He smiled back at the girl and then jumped up when she motioned for him to come over. He stood in front of Carter for a moment. "I'm gonna go over and say hi. I'll be back, ok?"
"Sure."
Zac smiled and headed over to the concession stand.
Taylor turned around in his chair and watched the scene for a moment. Zac was at the back of the bowling alley talking to a girl. Carter was staring blankly at her shoes. In a matter of seconds she kicked her bowling shoes off, grabbed her boots and her jacket, and walked quietly out the door.
Taylor turned to Tanis. "I have to go outside for a few minutes. I'll be back. Let Zac know."
"Sure. Don't worry about it." She smiled, feeling bad for Carter.
Taylor weaved through the crowd and went outside to find Carter sitting on the ground with her back to the building. He quietly sat down next to her. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Look, I'm not going to be like Zac and just try to make you laugh it off because I know you're hurting. I've been there."
"No you haven't."
"How haven't I?"
She shrugged. "I love him, Tay."
"I know." He put his arm around her.
"He hates blondes."
"I know."
"She's blonde."
"I know."
"She's very very blonde. She couldn't be blonder."
"Meli's blonder."
"Shut up." She laughed lightly. "Not helping."
She quickly wiped the side of her face, trying to hide tears that had fallen onto her cheeks. Taylor didn't say anything because he knew it would embarrass her. He could count the times he'd seen her cry on one hand. "So, I'm gonna go home... can you tell Zac I didn't feel well or something?"
"Sure." He stood up and grabbed her hands, pulling her to her feet. "Do you want me to drive you? I can always just come back for Zac and Tanis."
"No, I'll be ok. It's just a couple blocks. Please don't tell him I was crying. I don't want him to know I'm having a hard time with this."
Taylor nodded.
"And, Taylor? Thanks." Carter gave him a quick hug before leaving. He stood outside of the bowling alley for five minutes until he saw her turn the corner three blocks away. He didn't have the heart to tell her what he was thinking. The truth. He didn't know how to tell her that the reason it hadn't worked out with Melissa was because his feelings for Carter were still too strong.