Taylor sighed when he saw Melissa, floating on a raft in the pool. Her purple glittery sunglasses shielded her eyes from the sun. Her bathing suit matched her glasses, bright purple, and way too tight. He could tell that it was Carter's. It was way too short on Melissa.
"Hey, Mel." Taylor waved slightly and hesitated at getting in the water.
"Hi." Melissa took off her sunglasses and smiled. "How are you?"
"Pretty good." He shrugged.
"Do you still hate me?"
"I dunno. I guess not."
"Well good, are you gonna get in and swim?"
Taylor shrugged and jumped into the water, causing Melissa's raft to tip over. She went under right away and came up coughing. "Dude, I'm sorry. Are you ok?"
Melissa continued to choke. "Yeah. I'm fine." She giggled. "I swallowed my gum."
"Heh." Taylor ducked his head under water and pushed his hair out of his face.
Melissa had no idea how to ask what was on her mind. She decided to go with the Carter approach. She would be as blunt as possible. "Are you and Carter going out?"
"Not that I know of. We're.... friends. But..."
"Well, good." Melissa smiled and swam over to him.
"What are you doing?" Taylor asked, taking a step backward.
"I've missed you so much, TayTay."
"Please don't call me that."
Melissa put her arm around his neck and pushed her lips against his. Taylor jerked backwards and pushed her away from him. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"
"I thought... you'd missed me too. I just wanted to kiss you."
"But you can't kiss me."
"Why not? You kiss Carter. I've seen you do it. But you guys aren't going out. So what's the difference."
"The difference is, I don't like you!"
"But you like her."
"Yeah. I do."
Melissa shrugged. "Well that doesn't mean I can't kiss you." She smiled and kissed him again.
Taylor kissed her back for a second until he felt something hit the back of his head. "YOW!" He shrieked and looked down at shoe, floating in the water. "What the.." He looked up and saw Carter, staring at him like a deer caught in the headlights. She shook her head slowly from side to side and walked back down the hill to the house.
"LOOK WHAT YOU DID!" Taylor screamed at Melissa.
"You kissed me back."
"Only cause it's not ok for guys to punch a chick in the face!" Taylor swam to the side and climbed out of the pool. He got out just in time to see Carter go in the back door to his house.
She ran up the stairs to Zac's bedroom and closed the door behind her. Zac looked up from his tv and stared at her. She had a look on her face that was a mix between the look she had when she wanted to kill Melissa, and the look she had when her mother died. "What's wrong?"
Carter raised her arm and smacked it against the door. "I HATE YOUR BROTHER!"
"Tay?"
"Yeah. God damn dick head. Coward. Ass hole. Doesn't even have the guts to tell me he still wants Melissa."
"Huh?"
"So when I see them kissing in the pool.... I HATE YOUR BROTHER!"
Zac stood up and went over to her. He put his arms around her waist and his head on her shoulder. "Well, I'll hate my brother too then. K?"
Carter laughed. "Ok." She smiled and looked into his eyes. "You don't look so good?"
"I know. I feel miserable." Zac sighed.
Carter moaned when she heard a knock at the door.
"What?" Zac asked.
"Is Carter in there?"
"No." Carter snapped and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Carter, she kissed me. I didn't kiss her. Please come out here. I wanna talk to you."
Carter mumbled under her breath and gave Zac a kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back."
"K. Kick his ass... or give him a kiss. One or the other."
Carter laughed and opened the door. Taylor grabbed her arm and pulled her to his room. "I'm so sorry. Please don't hate me? I just got you to like me. I'm sorry."
Carter sighed. "Why didn't you just hit her?"
"I wanted to. But I couldn't."
"Did you like kissing her?"
Taylor shrugged. "I dunno. I did kiss her back though. I have to tell you the truth. But... there wasn't anything there. I just wanted to see."
Carter looked into his eyes. "And?"
"It wasn't like when I've kissed you. I'm sorry, Car. Please don't hate me?"
Carter smiled. "I don't hate you. I just hate my sister. And her god damn roaming lips."
Taylor laughed and put his arms around her. "Are you sure you don't hate me?"
"How could I hate this face? As much as I've always wanted to hate you, those damn eyes always made me melt." She grinned and gave him a long, sweet kiss.
"Well, that's much better than hating me I guess." He laughed and gave her a hug. "You wanna do anything today?"
"Not really. I'm kind of tired. I was up all night talking to Zac. He couldn't sleep. Chronic fatigue is weird. Being so tired, but having insomnia." Carter shrugged. "I think I'm just gonna go home and take a nap."
Taylor grabbed her arms and pulled her down so that he fell onto the bed and she fell on top of him. "Stay here?"
Carter laughed. "Somebody's eager."
"Well, we haven't really gotten to do much."
Carter sat up and smiled. "Well, we're not exactly, you know, together."
"Do you want to be?"
"I dunno. Do you?"
Taylor nodded slowly. "For the past... year."
"That's all?"
"Will you go out with me?"
"I dunno. I have to think about it." She smiled and touched his cheek lightly.
Taylor grabbed her hand again and pulled her down to him, kissing her lightly on the lips. He smiled before kissing her again. "Done thinking."
"Totally."
"Is that a yes?"
"Yeah."
"We could just take a nap if you're tired."
"You don't mind?"
"Nope." He smiled and kissed her cheek.
Carter laid down so that she was nestled in between his arm and his body. "This is comfy."
"Yeah." He smiled, pulling her closer. "It is."