Section Seven

     The next three weeks were nothing but a blur for everyone, Tabitha was happy to be out of school and Taylor was sort of happy to be leaving for the tour. It was two days before her birthday that they left. She said goodbye to Taylor and all of them before they pulled out of their driveway. Then she and Trevor walked back to his house.

~*~

     Just three days after the twenty-seventh, Tabitha’s birthday, Taylor realized what the day had been. "Crap, I can’t believe I forgot!" he exclaimed looking down at his planner that he carried to keep track of the dates.
     "Forgot what?" asked an overhearing Zac.
     "Tabitha’s birthday!" Taylor replied. He shut his book, "Jeez, how could I forget something like that?"
     "Well, we were all kinda not thinking about anything but leaving for the tour, so it’s okay. I’m pretty sure she isn’t gonna be mad about it," Zac tried to console Taylor.
     "Maybe, but I have to get her something." Taylor pondered for a moment. "I’ve got it, now I just need to make a few calls..." He picked up his cell phone and began dialing numbers.
     Zac looked at him cryptically, but Taylor only smiled at him.

~*~

Two days later back in Tulsa...

     Hearing her doorbell ring, Tabitha descended the stairs and went to answer the door. Standing on the other side was a delivery man, "Is there a Tabitha Gibson here?"
     "That’s me," Tabitha replied. She was still wondering what in the world this man could be here for.
     "Good, wait right here." And he went back to his car. A delivery man with a car instead of a delivery truck? Weird.
     He returned carrying a few parcels; the first was easily recognizable. It was a bouquet of flowers, more specifically yellow and white roses. The other two were boxes that she couldn’t quite place.
     "These are from one Taylor Hanson to you," he said handing the gifts to her. Then he added, "He also wants to wish you a happy birthday."
     With a smile, Tabitha said, "Oh! I love this, thank you."
     "Just doing my job, miss," the delivery man replied. He smiled back at her then went to his car. A few moments later he pulled out of her driveway.
     Tabitha shut the door, thankful that her parents weren’t there at the moment. They’d have wanted to inspect everything before they let her have it. She carried her stuff to the living room and sat down on the couch. She laid the flowers on the coffee table and then set the two boxes in front of her. There was a card taped to the top of the larger one. Pulling it off, Tabitha opened up the card and read:
     
     Happy late birthday! I’m so sorry about forgetting but with all the hecticness of leaving for the tour ... well, it completely slipped my mind. I hope you enjoy these gifts, they were the best things I could think of. Hope to hear from you soon,

Taylor

     She smiled as she laid the card down. She opened the bigger of the boxes first, inside there was a freshly made cake. The words Happy Birthday Tabitha were written across the vanilla frosting in light blue icing letters. Grinning still, Tabitha set the cake on the table to eat later. Then she opened up the last box.
     Inside she found a small velvet jewelry box, and then inside that she found a gold necklace. The charm was a golden heart locket. She opened it up and found a picture of Taylor tucked into it. She smiled so hugely she thought her cheeks would surely crack under all the pressure. He was unbelievably sweet and she had to call and thank him right away.
     Dashing to the phone, she quickly dialed in Taylor’s cell phone number. Thankfully he answered it on the third ring. "Taylor Hanson," he said.
     "Taylor!" she exclaimed excitedly.
     "Tabitha?" he asked happily.
     "Yeah! Thank you so much for all the stuff! That’s the best stuff I got from anyone!" She suddenly realized she was yelling it, "I’m sorry, Tay ... I’m just so excited about your gifts all. I don’t mean to scream your ear off."
     Taylor laughed, "Oh, it’s okay. I’m happy you like all of it, did you see what was in the necklace?"
     "Oh, yes! That was my favorite of everything. Is it real gold? I mean ... um, I meant, how many karats is it ... or am I supposed to ask that?" She suddenly had herself all confused.
     Taylor laughed again at her puzzlement. "It’s fine, and I think it was 24 karat."
     "Oh my God, Taylor! You bought me pure gold?" She gasped happily.
     "Well, I wanted it to be special, you don’t mind that do you?" He faked disappointment.
     "Oh no! I love it! I wouldn’t change it at all. Thank you so much," she couldn’t bring herself to stop saying thank you.
     "Well, I’m happy that you do. I wanted to make you happy," She couldn’t see it, but Taylor was all smiles.
     "Well, I am, very happy ... so, where are you at today?" She wanted to stretch the conversation out a bit.
     "Um, I think we are in Florida, it’s even hotter here than it is in Tulsa."
     "Really? It hasn’t been but so hot here... How’s Zac and all them?"
     "Doing well, Zac says ‘happy late birthday’ too ... He just walked by. Uh, hold on ... oh, and Isaac says ‘hello.’ Sheesh..." He laughed.
     "Well, tell Zac I said ‘thank you’ and Isaac I said ‘hello’ to him too. So, have you been having fun?"
     "Oh, lots, we spent the last two days sort of shopping around. I got some really cool clothes and another choker to go with my collection."
     "Cool, Trevor and I went out yesterday..."
     If she had seen Taylor, she would’ve seen him tense up, but he said without hesitation, "What did you do?"
     "Well, nothing too special, we went to the movies again and we ate lunch at this little pizza place that was within walking distance of it." She sighed nostalgically, "It was fun just being with him though."
     "Yeah, I’m glad you two like one another and are getting along."
     "Me too, well, hey, I’m gonna get off here so I can eat this cake you got me, ok?"
     "Sure thing," Taylor replied with a snorted laugh. "I’ll talk to you later, Tabitha."
     "Bye, Taylor." She waited for him to hang up, as always, and hung up when she heard the click on his end.
     Seemingly just like always, before she could place the phone back in its cradle, it rang in her hand. She hit the button to turn it on and said, "Hello?"
     "Hey, Tabitha," it was Trevor.
     "Oh, hey, hon, what’s up?" she asked.
     "Where were you like five minutes ago?" he asked. His suspicion puzzled her.
     "I was on the phone," she replied still wondering why he even cared.
     "Who with?"
     "Taylor, why?"
     "Just wondering ... what’d he want?"
     She shook her head, but said, "Oh, I called him to thank him for the gifts he sent me."
     "Gifts?"
     Sighing, she replied, "Yeah, a card, some flowers and a cake." She knew telling him about the locket would upset him, or at least make him more suspicious than he already sounded.
     "Ah, well, you mind if I come over? I wanted to see you, so..."
     "Sure, I’d love you to come over. Brighten up the place a bit." She smiled a little.
     "Cool then, I’ll see you in a little bit. Lata, hon." Then he was gone.
     It was only ten minutes later that Trevor was on her doorstep. Thankfully she’d had time to hide the locket and put up the other stuff, now she smiled as she opened the door and let him in. He immediately wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly to him. She giggled, happy that she’d found such a great boyfriend.
     "So, did you save any of that cake?" he asked once he had let her go.
     "Yeah, do you want some?" She didn't understand why he did that so quickly, he usually only came over to see her, not to eat.
     "Well, if you wanna share a piece." Trevor grinned.
     Tabitha giggled, shaking that weird feeling off her shoulders. "Sure, lemme go get it." She went to the kitchen and pulled the little cake out of the refrigerator then grabbed two forks and brought the whole menagerie into the living room. They sat on either side of the coffee table with the cake in between them. She was about to take her own bite but Trevor grabbed her wrist to stop her.
     Looking up, Tabitha smiled when she saw that Trevor was holding his own fork just inches from her mouth. With a roll of her eyes she opened her mouth to let him give her the little piece of cake.

~*~

     Taylor lay down in the hotel bed and stared at the ceiling, one month on the road could really take its toll on a person. The only thing he was happy for at that moment was that they were in a northern city, Detroit to be exact. Not to be mean or anything, but he didn’t exactly enjoy car museums and such. He reached over to grab his soda, but his hand landed on the phone instead and he got a better idea. He picked his cell phone up and dialed in that familiar number.
     Her voice replied, "Hello?" after only two rings.
     "Hey, Tabitha," he said smiling at the sound of her voice.
     "Oh, hi." She didn’t sound so happy but she was trying.
     "Is anything wrong?" Taylor asked feeling concerned.
     "No, this just isn’t really the time, I’ve got company," Tabitha sounded as if she were pleading with him.
     "Trevor, huh?" he inquired.
     "Yeah, I’ll call you back in a little while okay?"
     "All righty, Tabitha. Later then." He waited for her reply.
     "Bye, then." She hung up rather quickly and left him staring at the phone.
     "Who was that?" Zac asked walking into the hotel room.
     "Tabitha," Taylor replied quietly.

~*~

     "Trevor! If I’d shown it to you, you’d have gotten angry!" Tabitha exclaimed as she hung up the phone.
     Instantly Trevor was in her face, "I’m even angrier that you hid it from me! You know, a guy gives you a gift like that ... it’s not just something a friend gives a friend!"
     "Well, that’s all it was! Jeez, Trevor, he’s just my friend, you know that!"
     All she felt was the stinging slap on her face. She stumbled back, holding her left cheek. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes.
     Gasping, Trevor grabbed hold of her shoulders and pulled her close. "I’m sorry, Tabs, I’m so sorry, I just ... I don’t know what came over me. Oh, gosh, I’m sorry."
     Tabitha began to sob into his shoulder, her cheek still stung in pain and she still didn’t understand why he had hit her.
     Trevor pulled her away and held her at arm’s length. "Look at me, Tabs."
     Reluctantly she raised her tear filled eyes to his.
     "I’m sorry for hitting you, but when you hide something like that from me..." He shook his head and dropped his hands from her shoulders.
     "You wouldn’t have understood, Trevor. I don’t know why you get so jealous over him!" She began sobbing harder, "I never give you any reason to make you jealous and yet you keep on and on!"
     "What am I supposed to think when a guy gives my girlfriend a locket with his picture in it? Am I supposed to think, oh, they’re just friends, he just wants her to keep a nice little reminder of him because they’re just friends?" He sighed and looked down at his feet, when his eyes trailed back up to her, he saw she was still weeping into her hands. He breathed in deeply and pulled her into his arms. "I love you, Tabs. And I’m sorry."

*One day at a time...*