Taylor kicked the small, dark grey stone into the driveway of the house across from his. He turned around, pushed another with his foot, and kicked it across the street as well. He was bored, nothing to do, nobody to see (or vice-versa). He was about to kick another rock when he glanced up at the roof to see Jade sitting there with a book in hand. "Hi." He smiled, shielding his eyes from the sun.
Jade smiled and her face completely lit up. She tucked her dark hair behind her ears and closed her book in her lap. "How are you?" She asked quietly.
"Bored. Very very bored." He smiled up at her again, flashing his bright white teeth. "Do you... want to go for a walk or something?"
"Where's Carter?"
"I think she went to the library with Zac."
Jade narrowed her eyes like she was angry. "And that doesn't bother you?"
"What?" Taylor shook his head. "Oh. Carter and I broke up. She's... with Zac again."
"Nice." Jade felt like rolling her eyes. "Switching again? Zac's turn already?"
"It's not like that!" Taylor defended Carter and his brother. "They should be together. Besides... it's not so bad being single."
Jade smiled. "Right. Hey, I'd go for a walk with you, but I can't. Too much homework I have to get done by tomorrow. Can I take a raincheck though?"
Taylor nodded. "Ok, but I'm holding you to it."
"You better."
Carter yawned and looked around at the fourth floor of the library. The book in her lap wasn't as interesting as she thought it would be. She sighed and closed the book, tossing it to the floor beside her. She thought reading a book of religious quotations would help her learn things about other cultures and religions. "But nooo," She muttered to herself, "More 80 year old dead men shoving Christianity down the throats of the younger generation."
"You don't believe in Christianity?" She didn't recognize the voice right away, but after looking up she saw Jesse, hair in a low ponytail, standing tall in front of her. He was wearing a maroon shirt this time with black cargo pants and thick black boots.
"I uhm..." Carter stood up quickly. "I'm Christian. That wasn't my point." She smiled at him. "Don't you have a home? Or do you live here?"
"I'm here about as much as you are."
Carter laughed. "Ok, I guess that's true. So why do you care if I'm Christian or not?"
"I don't really. I just noticed the book and I kind of agree with your comment about the dead old men."
She shrugged. "It just seems like a person's quotes aren't famous until they're dead. And I seriously think that book is very narrowminded. They call it 'religious quotes' and then center it around Christianity. It's leaving out all those other people out there that base their lives on something completely different. It just doesn't seem fair."
Jesse nodded and smiled as they walked to the last shelf to replace the book. "You sound like me."
"How so?"
He shrugged his shoulders and watched as Carter skimmed the shelf of poetry and quotations with her index and middle finger. "Your beliefs. There was something in Louisiana about a school that was playing The Lord's Prayer over the announcements every morning saying that if you didn't wanna hear it, don't listen to it. But the real problem was that they were only playing that one prayer. What about all the other students in the school that don't believe in Jesus and The Saviour?"
"Exactly. Everybody thinks that what they believe is right. Which... kind of makes us all unique. Come to think of it, maybe it's not such a bad thing."
"As long as we all don't start hating eachother for liking different things."
Carter stayed silent for a moment before turning to him. He was tall, taller than Zac, but not quite as tall as Taylor. "So are you stalking me?"
"No. Just listening."
"Oh." She sighed. "So you said you know Gabi right? Are you friends with... Todd then?"
"Yeah. I've known him for a long time."
"I figured." She smiled and turned on her heel, walking towards the third floor.
"Wait, what does that mean?"
"Just that you meet a nice guy that you could eventually be friends with, and it just figures that he's friends with somebody that has kinda stalked you in the past."
"So you're saying you base your friendships on who your friends are friends with?"
Carter thought about it for a moment. "Huh? No. I'm just... Dammit you're frustrating."
He laughed. "Yeah, I know."
"So... I should probably get back downstairs to my boyfriend before he gets lost in the kids section again."
"Wait, I wanted to ask you something..." He almost looked as if he were about to blush.
"Ok..."
"You know your sister?"
Carter raised an eyebrow. "I've heard of her, yeah."
"Well... has she ever mentioned me?"
"No."
His expression fell. "Oh." He looked down at the floor and ran his foot from side to side. "I gave her a ride home once."
Carter couldn't help but feel bad for him. "I think she mentioned that once," she lied.
"Really?" He looked up at Carter, hopeful. "You mean the time at six a.m.?"
Carter nodded. "Yeah... that might have been when."
"Yeah. I was worried about her. She was sitting on the couch all night while Gabi and Todd were messing around on the couch. Abby and Justine were there too but they weren't really paying attention to her either. I kept telling her to just go home, but I think... I think she was waiting to be included."
Carter nodded again. She'd known about that night when Melissa went to Taylor for help, but she hadn't relaly known what went on. She assumed Melissa was drunk and needed a place to crash. "Was she drinking that night?"
"No. She doesn't really drink. One time... a while ago she did. I haven't seen her do it since."
Carter thought back to the time Melissa came home sloppy drunk. "I took care of her that night. I... do you know anything else about the night you drove her home?"
"Just that she was pretty upset. It was like she wanted them to include her really really bad. So I went over and sat with her for a few hours. She was really quiet though. She kept staring at the door. Then I finally told her that I was taking her home. I shouldn't have waited that long though. She fell asleep in my car and I had to wake her up and walk her up the stairs."
Carter smiled at Jesse. "Thank you."
"Hmm?"
"For taking care of my sister." She leaned over and gave him a quick hug. "I'll let her know you were here."
"Thanks, Carter."
Carter smiled one last time before getting into the elevator and going down to the children's section. She found Zac exactly where she thought she would. He was sitting on the floor holding a thin pink book, grinning from ear to ear. "Zac... what are you doing?"
"You know they have all the Sweet Valley Kids books here? Nobody else has them!"
"Zac... why are you reading SVK?"
"This is some damn good reading!" He grabbed eleven books. "Ok can I borrow your card?"
"No."
"Oh! COME ON!"
Carter shook her head. "There is no way I'm borrowing those books."
"Please?"
"No."
"PLEASE?!"
"GOD DAMMIT NO!!" Carter and Zac both ducked when the librarian yelled, "SHHHH!" from the other end of the library.
Melissa looked up from her book just in time to see Gabi, walking up the front steps. She smiled and put her hands on her hips. "So, I hear Carter and Taylor broke up. Is Carter back on top of Zac yet? Are they doing it again?"
Melissa glared. "They're... just shut up. What do you want?"
"Nothing really. I was hoping Taylor was home. Do you know?"
"He was right out front. I think he went back inside."
Gabi smiled. "Ok. Thanks."
Melissa stood up and stared her right in the face. "I didn't say you could go see him."
"Are you his mother now?"
"No. But he hates you. GET OVER IT!"
Gabi sighed. "Oh well. It's kinda funny how much you've changed. Well," She shook her head, "I guess you've always been the same. You act like a leader, but you're actually just a little girl who has no friends and pretends she does. It's cool though how Taylor and Isaac take you under their wings though. And now you're trying to be just like Carter. It's actually cute."
Melissa abruptly grabbed Gabi by her shoulders and shoved her against the column on the side of the porch. "You fucking listen here you dirty little whore. Carter, Taylor, Zac, and Isaac mean more to me than... air, and if you ever denounce the friendship I'm trying to build back up with these people, I swear to God I'll punch you way harder than Carter ever did."
Gabi's mouth was practically hanging open. "Meli... I..."
"DON'T call me Meli EVER again. You've totally lost that priviledge. And you're NOT my friend. Do you get it now? We ALL HATE YOU! We want nothing to do with you and we could care less if you died right here right now. Especially Taylor. He thinks you're a psychotic little whore. He'd never say it though because he's too nice. You don't deserve him, and you never will."
Gabi shrugged her shoulders and pushed away from Melissa. "Doesn't matter to me in the least." And she walked away, but Meli couldn't help but notice a twinkle in her eye that only ever came from tears welling up in the corners. For a brief moment she thought she had said to much, or maybe had gone to far. But in an instant that feeling was gone. Gabi needed to be told off. She needed to hear these things at some point. Or else, she'd fall on her ass at some time in the near future. But Meli had no idea how much she would regret those words later on.