Section Two

     One week later...
     Tabitha examined her face in the mirror. A dark bruise had formed on her left cheek from her mother hitting her the night before. Sighing, Tabitha ran some cold water and using her fingers she rubbed the water over the bruise. It felt nice and cool against her hot skin.
     She walked out of the bathroom and into her room where her book bag was lying on her bed. It was already packed up, some sandwiches and chips for her lunch, a soda, a book for her to read and her journal if she got the notion to start writing about anything.
     Thankfully her parents both went to work early in the mornings and she didn’t have to worry about them stopping her from going out. After a quick glance to make sure everything was in place, Tabitha turned off her light and shut the door.

~~**~~*~~**~~

     Taylor yawned and stretched and admired himself in the full-length mirror on his closet door. He was meeting Tabitha that day at the park. It was a change of scenery from the cemetery. "Hmm, I think I’m going to take a shower first, that way I don’t smell so bad," he thought aloud. Just then he heard the water start running in the bathroom adjacent to his room. He sighed and shook his head. Figured.
     It was relieving when Taylor found out it was only the sink water running. Zac had been brushing his teeth. "It’s about time you finished," Taylor said shoving past Zac and into the little room.
     "Shut up," Zac replied. He moved out of Taylor’s way. "Where are you going anyway?"
     "None of your business," Taylor snapped, and he shut the door before Zac could ask anymore questions.
     Zac narrowed his eyes, looking at the door, trying to figure his brother out. A week ago he was all fine and hadn’t said one mean thing to Zac, now if Zac even looked at him a certain way he went off. Come to think of it, it had started the night he brought Tabitha over to meet them. Zac guessed Taylor thought he was moving in on his territory or something like that. Zac didn’t feel that was the case. Tabitha was not Taylor’s property just because he met her first and she was a girl. It was understandable why he wanted her, she was a real looker, and she seemed really sweet. Zac didn’t know; Taylor didn’t give him much time to talk to her or anything.
     Zac snorted and walked away.
     Taylor made sure to clean himself quick. He was already running a little behind and he still had to make himself something to eat. They were going to have lunch there too.
     As he was packing up his bag, Taylor noticed Zac looking at him quizzically. "What’s up with you?" he asked him.
     "Oh, nothing, just go have fun," Zac said in an off-handed way.
     Taylor scrunched his nose up trying to figure Zac out but then shook his head and left the room.

~~**~*~**~~

     Tabitha sat on the wooden bench writing in her journal. It wasn’t exactly a diary, just a place where she put her thoughts on paper to help her figure them out. At this moment in time her focus of attention was on her recent meeting of the Hansons.
     It’s so weird, I never imagined myself meeting them, not in a hundred years. But now here I am sitting on a park bench waiting for the one and only Taylor Hanson. I don’t know what he’ll say when he sees the bruise on my face but at this moment I don’t care, all I can think is that I’m sitting here waiting for him. I know he’s going to tell me he’s worried, he didn't really like seeing the nice little bruise I had on my forehead from that brush that my mom threw at me. Oh, well, I’ve already told him there isn’t much I can do about that.
     I wish I knew what was going on between him and Zac. They always seem to be at constant rivalry when I’m around. It couldn’t be me, could it? I mean, why would they be fighting over me? I’m nothing that special ... maybe I’ll figure it out sometime soon. I just wish I knew what it was-
     "Hey!"
     Startled, Tabitha looked up from her journal to see Taylor standing before her. "Oh, hey," she replied closing up her journal. She shoved it back into her pack so Taylor couldn’t get a peek at it.
     Taylor smiled. "Did I scare you?" he asked.
     She smiled back, "Oh, no. I was just writing, you just startled me, that’s all."
     "Oh ... mind if I sit down?" He motioned to the space beside her on the bench.
     "Sure," Tabitha said, she turned and pulled her hair behind her ear. That’s when Taylor noticed the bruise on her cheek.
     "What happened to you?" Taylor asked sitting down and gently touching the mark on her face.
     She shied away from his touch, it stung a little. "It’s nothing..."

~*~

     Zac crouched low in the brush watching them. He hadn’t really planned on following Tay to the park ... he just kind of did it. He saw Taylor touch her face and when he pulled his hand away he saw the dark bruise there. Instantly he felt his anger flare up, how somebody could do that to her was beyond him. Automatically, as if some instinct, he figured her stepfather must have hit her. There was really no other explanation.
     He leaned back against the base of a tree near him and began to plot. What could he do to get even for what had been done to Tabitha?

~*~

     "Don’t lie to me, Tabitha," Taylor said seriously. "Who hit you?"
     Sighing, Tabitha said, "My mom..."
     He shook his head; he still couldn’t understand why she put up with this crap. He didn’t like to see her constantly banged and bruised up. Well, nothing he said was going to change the way she thought, so he didn’t say anything more about it. "So, what do you want to do?" Taylor asked her.
     She embraced this change in subject, and said, "Well, I was just thinking we could go down by the lake and have our lunch out there."
     Taylor was thoughtful for a moment. "All right, that sounds good, let’s go." He stood up and offered her his hand.
     With a smile she took it and picked up her bag from the bench. Then the two of them walked down to the lake.

~*~

     Zac got up when he saw that they did. Staying hidden in the trees and all, he trailed them down to the lake.
     He watched as Tabitha pulled a small blanket from her bag then spread it on the ground. She and Taylor sat down at either edge of it and pulled food from their bags. Zac wished he could join them but then Taylor would know he was following him.
     Oh, well, he had some snooping elsewhere to do anyway.

~*~

     Taylor watched her quietly as she sat there daintily nibbling on her sandwich. Although awkward, the silence was almost comfortable and neither minded the fact that the other wasn’t talking. Taking a bite of his own ham and cheese sandwich; Taylor looked out over the serene, blue water of the lake. Inevitably though, his eyes wandered back to her, then to the bruise on her cheek.
     Feeling the weight of his stare upon her, Tabitha looked off into the trees surrounding the lake. She wished he’d stop looking at her bruise like that. There was nothing to be done about it now, so there was no reason to brood over it. Her eyes darted over the trees whose leaves were swaying ever so gently in the breeze, then her eyes trailed to the water, it was a clear blue and she was reminded of Taylor’s eyes. She looked back up at him.
     He was smiling but his eyes were distant in thought. Tabitha wondered what happy thoughts were dancing through his mind. When he snapped from his trance, Taylor smiled warmly at her. "So ... what do you want to do after we finish eating?" he asked.
     Tabitha looked around her, "I don’t know, what can we do?"
     "Well," he began, "I brought my Frisbee with me ... it was lying in my floor and looked promising."
     Chuckling, Tabitha said, "Aren’t you a little too old for Frisbees?"
     Taylor gave her a sideways grin. "I don’t think you ever get too old for a Frisbee ... besides, if I’m too old then you are."
     "How do you figure?"
     "Aren’t you close to my age?" He looked puzzled.
     Hesitating a little she finally said, "I’m not even fifteen yet."
     Taylor’s eyes widened to about the size of golf balls.
     "But no matter," she added quickly, "my birthday is in two months."
     Letting out his breath in a long whoosh, Taylor relaxed just a little. But then he thought, what does age matter? It’s not like he wanted to take advantage of her; he just thought she was really pretty and he liked her. "You’re right," he said, "it doesn’t matter how old you are."
     Tabitha smiled. She hadn’t wanted to scare him of being that she was so much younger than he was. "How old did you think I was?"
     "Why, at least sixteen," he replied.
     "Do I look that old?"
     "Yes ... I mean, no! I mean..." He fumbled for the right words trying not to insult her.
     Giggling, Tabitha said, "It’s all right, I know what you mean."

~~**~~*~~**~~

      Taylor jumped up and caught the Frisbee from her wide throw. They had been playing Frisbee for at least an hour now.
     "Break time!" Tabitha called out breathlessly. She bent over and placed her hands on her knees catching her breath from Taylor’s last long throw that she had to run after.
     "All right then, we’ll take a break," Taylor "reluctantly" agreed.
     The two of them then returned to the pastel purple blanket that was still covered in the containers from their lunch. Tabitha sat Indian style across from Taylor on the blanket. For the time being the two just sat there catching their breath. Taylor looked over at her and ultimately his eyes rested on that bruise. Tabitha sighed and looked up at Taylor.
     "Taylor?" she said softly.
     Taylor’s eyes drifted to lock with hers, "Yeah?"
     "Not to be mean or anything, but will you please stop looking at my bruise like that?" She gazed deeply into his eyes, now more lost in them than ever.
     Taylor sighed aversively, "Look, I know it’s only been a little while since we met, but I care about you. And when I care about someone ... I don’t want to see him or her in pain. But I see you with these bruises, and you tell me there’s nothing I can do, I feel so totally helpless and I can’t stand that and seeing you hurt."
     "But Taylor, I’ve told you that I’ll be okay, you don’t need to worry about it." She reached over and delicately touched his hand.
     Again he sighed, "You keep telling me that and yet I see more bruises. I hate that and sometimes I wish I could just take you away from all of it."
     Tabitha smiled sweetly and said, "Taylor, I’ll be okay. I’ve dealt with it this long; I haven’t got much longer to take it. It’s nice to know you care so much about me though." With her last words she scooted closer to him and put her arms around him in an embrace.
     Taylor hugged her back, tightly. When she started to pull away he tilted her chin up and gently placed his lips to hers.
     She fell back from the kiss with an astounded look on her face. Taylor’s cheeks had flushed, but there was a smile on his face. "I couldn’t help myself, I just had to kiss you," Taylor said in explanation.
     Her eyes still wide, Tabitha said, "It was a nice kiss, it would be a seven on scale of one to ten..."
     Taylor snorted a laugh, "Only a seven?"
     Smiling, Tabitha said, "Well, it was kinda quick, and just on the lips, so..."
     With a devious smile, Taylor reached over and began to tickle her, "You little rascal!"
     Tabitha let out a shrill giggle and scrambled up off the blanket.
     "Come back here! I haven’t gotten to finish tickling you yet!" Taylor jumped up and began to run after her.
     "You have to catch me first!" she laughed out between breaths. Just then she ran by where the Frisbee had fallen earlier.
     She stopped long enough to snatch it up and heave it in Taylor’s direction.
     Seeing the bright red Frisbee coming towards his head, Taylor ducked just in time to avoid being smashed in the face by it. Tabitha laughed her head off as she tried to catch her breath. Playfully, Taylor called out, "I’m gonna get you!"

~~**~*~**~~

     It was nearly an hour later when Taylor walked home with her. As they walked, each resisted the urge to take the other’s hand. When they reached her house, for a moment they stood on her front porch thinking of a way to say goodbye until later.
     "Well, thank you, Taylor. I had so much fun today ... I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun." She smiled and looked shyly down at the "welcome" mat.
     Taylor blushed a little, "I had a lot of fun too. We should do that more often."
     "Yeah," she replied with a distant smile. "Well ... I’ll see you later."
     "Yeah, later." Taylor bit back the desire to kiss her and then left for his home.

~*~

     It was early Monday morning. Normally Zac wasn’t up this early, but today was different. He had some work to do. Nestled in the bushes across from Tabitha’s house, Zac was watching Tabitha’s stepfather’s car. Steven Miller had come out just five minutes ago to start it up and now it was running smoothly just waiting for its driver to come get in.
     The front door of Tabitha’s house opened and Zac got onto his bike and waited for her stepfather to pull his car out of the driveway. As Steven got into his car, Zac eased the bicycle from the trees. As the car pulled out of the driveway, Zac gave it a two-second head start then fell into pace behind it.

~*~

     Tabitha sat up in bed and looked around her room for a minute. She was still tired but she knew she had to get to school on time or her mother would ground her indefinitely. So she got herself out of bed and made her way to the upstairs bathroom just down the hall. She took a quick shower and then went back to her room and picked out some clothes. After while she went downstairs.
     Her mother was at the stove in the kitchen fixing some breakfast. Tabitha knew it wasn’t hers, she’d have to make her own once her mom left. She picked up her book bag from its place behind the couch and made sure all her supplies were in it. Then she sat down in front of the television to wait for her mom to leave.
     Tabitha was in the middle of a show when her mom entered the living room, carrying the plate of food she had fixed for her breakfast. Ellen Miller snatched the remote from the endtable beside Tabitha and started to switch the channels.
     Tabitha almost called out, but she figured she didn’t want to be grounded. That would mean she wouldn’t get to see Taylor or Zac. So she just sat there and watched whatever her mom put it on.
     It seemed forever before Ellen finally finished eating and got ready then left for work. Tabitha let out a little cry of joy when her mom left then went to the kitchen for her breakfast.

~*~

     It was a long day, and it was great when 2:00 rolled around. Tabitha shoved her books into her locker and ran to her bus. That’s when she heard a horn beep and a familiar voice yelled her name. "Tabitha!"
     She looked up to see Taylor leaning out of the window of a burgundy minivan. "Hey, come on!" he said smiling.
     Tabitha looked around her and saw a few jealous stares, but she didn’t care. She smiled happily and ran to the van. The front seat was unoccupied and she jumped in. "Hey!" she said happily. "How did you know when I was getting out of school?"
     "Oh, I called," Taylor said with a smile. "I figured you’d like getting a ride home instead of riding that icky ol’ bus."
     Giggling, Tabitha said, "Yeah. Definitely better ... but did you see those people staring?"
     "Yeah, but who cares?" He put the van in gear and guided it out of the parking lot.
     Happily, Tabitha nodded, "Yeah, who cares?"

~*~

     "Well, do you want to go home, to my place or what?" Taylor asked her.
     Thinking for a moment, Tabitha finally said, "Well, to be on the safe side, you should take me home ... if you want you can stay for a few minutes, but if my mom or stepdad calls, you’ve got to be really quiet while I’m on the phone, ok?"
     "That’s cool," Taylor said with a smile. Then he pulled off into the direction of her house.
     She unlocked the door and stepped inside after Taylor. Unlike his house, this one was invariably empty whenever she came home, well, except for at night and all. She laid down her things behind the couch as usual and went to the kitchen to get her and Taylor something to drink. "What do you want to drink?" she asked him.
     "Whatever you’re having," he replied appearing at the kitchen entryway.
     She smiled at him, "So, you want a can of Fruitopia?"
     "Sure, um ... what’s Fruitopia?" he asked.
     Giggling, Tabitha replied, "It’s a fruit drink."
     "Oh, okay ... I feel dumb now..." He looked down at his feet.
     Tabitha moved to in front of him and she lifted his chin up so she could see his face. "It’s okay, you’re not dumb ... just ... blond." She smiled at the look that appeared on his face.
     "I’m not blond!" he said contumaciously.
     "Then what color is your hair?" she asked raising an eyebrow.
     "Um..." he looked into the mirrored surface of the top of the stove, "Blond."
     Tabitha laughed. "You’re silly too," she added.
     Taylor shook his head with a smile. "Oh, well, you still love me anyway, right?" His choice of wording might have been on purpose...
     But obliviously, Tabitha answered, "Yeah, I still love you anyway."
     Taylor smiled with satisfaction. That’s all he had wanted to hear.

*One day at a time...*