Chapter Three: Book Two
I glanced down at my feet to see blood oozing onto the grass, making a growing pool of reddish syrup. I stormed into the house, racing through all the way to the front door. The door slammed shut as I ran across the street. My heart was accelerating as I pounded on the door.
Isaac answered. "What the...?" he gasped after seeing the trail of blood I was leaving.
I pushed by him and ran up the stairs to the boys' bedroom. I flung open the door, not bothering with knocking and saw Taylor on his top bunk of the bed, reading.
For a split second I stood in the doorway, looking at him as he stared back. He looked as shocked as I did angry.
Everything hung in place until I shot over to the bed and started pulling at Taylor's shirt with as much strength as I could muster. After seeing that I wasn't able to pull him down, he jumped to the floor on his own. I looked at him for a moment and then sighed angrily and walked over to the door, which Ike and Zac were about to enter, and slammed it in their faces. I wasn't about to be polite to anyone after what I just found out.
Taylor grabbed a hold of my shoulders before I could turn around to him, and turned me to face his eyes. I looked up to meet his gaze; which was a mistake. His eyes were wide and his expression was full of horror.
"What the hell is wrong Libby?!" Taylor yelled, shaking me by the shoulders. By now I was trembling with the anger that was bottled up inside and I could hardly form words.
Taylor lead me to the bed, his hands still planted on my shoulders. Tears were now pouring from my eyes, which were red-ringed.
"Oh my God, Lib--your feet!" Taylor exclaimed, now noticing the blood seeping into the carpet. I looked down at the ground and then quickly lifted it again, glaring at him.
"Forget about my feet!! How could you do this to me Taylor? HOW?!" I was back on my feet and storming away from him. I spun around on my heels and stared at him once more. His eyes were wide open, his jaw dropped. "Are you trying to screw with my mind or do you do this without knowing?" I screamed at him.
He slowly walked over to me, trying to get me back to the bed. He obviously didn't know what I was talking about.
"I have to clean your feet up Libby, stay put," he ordered. I sprung back up into a standing position the minute he lifted his hands off me.
As I did, the bedroom door swung open rather quickly and Mr. and Mrs. Hanson were standing in the doorway.
"What in the world is going on here?" Mr. Hanson demanded. I turned to look at him, but I couldn't see him through all the tears that had now swelled up in my eyes and were streaming down my cheeks.
Diana Hanson scurried over to me, trying to see what was wrong and wiping the tears from my stained face. I smacked her hand away from me and turned from her. She looked at Taylor and took in a breath, ready to speak but before she did, Taylor looked at both his parents.
"Please," he said. "Libby and I need to talk." With that Mr. and Mrs. Hanson both nodded slightly, not too fond of the idea that they were leaving their son and a girl who was upset alone.
When the door had silently shut, Taylor walked slowly over to the corner of the room where I had slipped away to. I felt his hand lightly on my shoulder, not trying to guide me anywhere, just a reassuring hand. A hand of someone who was trying to calm a friend down.
I turned to face him. He was a good 5 or 6 inches taller than me so I had to raise my gaze to meet his.
"It's Zac isn't it?" was all Tay said. His eyes were gentle; understanding. I hated him for that.
"NO.. it's not ZAC," I spat. "It's YOU." I pounded on his chest once. "You said you had feelings for me. You said you liked me!!--" I started.
At the same time, Taylor backed off a little bit and looked at me, confused. "I said what?"
"--but then you go and start seeing Aria. Aria!! You couldn't have gone for that ditzy cheerleader at McDonalds, you had to go for my best friend! My best friend!!" I repeated. I could feel my heart picking up speed with every word I spit out.
Taylor started shaking me by the shoulders again. "When did I say I liked you?" he asked. His voice was shockingly calm, as though we weren't even fighting. As if we were just sitting down having a conversation.
"It said so in your diary," I choked out, my anger draining away from his calmness.
Taylor, who was rubbing my shoulders, stopped abruptly. "You read my diary?"
I shook my head, looking down at his sneakers. I had them memorized. "No, Zac. He told me at the bowling alley when we went to get food. He said that he read your diary and that I was in it. He told me you liked me." I realized I was rambling and shut my mouth. I didn't really know how Taylor was going to take it, so I kept my eyes glued to his feet.
I heard quiet laughing. I looked up, shocked to hear him actually laughing after what I had just said. He stopped and looked straight into my eyes, lifting my chin up with his fore-finger. His eyes were suprisingly gentle and he had an actual smile on his face. a small one, but definitely a smile.
"Zac's a little tattle-tale, you know that?" He wrapped an arm around me and helped me back over to Ike's bottom bunk for I had realized that I severely cut my feet and they were throbbing with pain.
As my head hit the pillow, I opened my mouth to say something but Taylor silenced me with his finger over my mouth. That same small smile that I had seen a moment ago had reappeared. "No more for now. I'll be right back. I'm going to get some bandages. Ok? Stay right here." He turned and walked to the door.
As he opened it, I saw two blonde heads tumble into the room. Zac jumped up with Ike right by his side. They both dusted themselves off and looked at Tay, smiling sheepishly. Taylor said nothing, just walked out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom.
Zac, who apparently didn't want to be around Taylor or me, skipped out of the room. Isaac on the other hand had walked over to his bed where I lay, and pulled a beanbag over, plopping down into it with a thump.
"So the truth comes out," he said, smiling that same little smile that Taylor had.
With sanity regained, I realized that the anger had drained me of my energy. I turned my head and laughed. "I guess so."
****
Chapter Three: Book Three
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