He watched her slam her locker door and walk away without a care in the world. He didn't matter to her anymore, not after what had happened. Her thick brown hair bounced with every step she took; Taylor dared not tare his eyes away. He wanted to hold her again, to touch her, to kiss her, to tell her that he loved her...most of all, he wanted to be with her. And if he had it his way, they would be together again...this time forever. He followed her out the doors of Nathan Dale High and out onto the streets of Tulsa. She stopped walking and spun around. Taylor ducked out of view hoping he had not been seen. He saw her eyes; the deep brown circles filled with nothing but kindness. He could always get lost in them. Taylor sighed in relief when she turned back around and began walking again. He reminisced way back to when he had first saw her...
A year prior...
"I'm so sorry," the girl apologized as the pair stood up, "I wasn't watching where I was going,"
"Um...uh...don't be...it was my fault. I wasn't watching where I was going," Taylor stuttered, marveling at her beauty. The thick brown hair framing her pale face, the big chocolate brown eyes, the sweet angelic voice...everything...everything about her seemed perfect.
"Are you new here? I haven't seen you around before," she asked of Taylor.
"Um...yeah, I used to go to Tulsa High. Moved here because it was closer to home," Taylor managed to reply without stuttering.
"Cool. If you ever need somebody to show you around, well, I'm here for you," With that she walked off, leaving Taylor in a trance. She had him under her spell already.
Present...
She passed a small cafe, 'Angel's Rose'. He watched from the opposite of the road as she stepped inside and walked to the counter. Taylor was not that good of a lip reader, but he knew what she was ordering. What she always ordered. A large strawberry milkshake and an apple Danish. This time she ordered it to go and left the cafe eating and drinking away. Taylor remembered that it had been her favorite cafe, and also his for it held many of his most cherished memories. All memories of her...
10 months ago...
"Aww...come on Taylor! It's a cool place!" she whined, pulling him by the hand inside 'Angel's Rose'. They sat down at a table together.
"What's so cool about 'Angel's Rose'? It's so...so...I dunno...artsy," Taylor argued, though he did not mind at all. After all, he was with her. Anywhere with her was good. He could have been in a mental room with her and he still would have enjoyed the time spent there. Though this was not a date, Taylor still could not help but stare at her beauty. The girl clicked her fingers and moments later a waitress was at the table.
"Can I take your orders?" she asked taking a pencil from the front pocket of her white apron.
"Yeah. I'll have a large strawberry milkshake and an apple Danish," she replied before gesturing to Taylor to place his order. He flipped through the menu.
"Um...I'll have the same as her," Taylor told the waitress as he put his menu back down.
"So, that's 2 large strawberry milkshakes and 2 apple Danishes. Right?" the waitress asked. The 2 nodded their heads to confirm them orders before the waitress left.
"This place isn't that bad," Taylor said observing the surroundings. The walls were covered in paintings of famous people, autographs and the odd red rose plastered on the wall.
"I told you Taylor," she replied, "I come here often. It's my favorite place,"
"I can see why," A silence washed over them. But it was broken when the same waitress who had taken their orders came with their food. She sipped her milkshake, not using the straw and put her glass down. Taylor laughed.
"You got milkshake on the top of your lip," he chuckled. She blushed slightly and looked down after licking away the froth on her lip. She looked up again and her eyes came in contact with Taylor's. They stared at each other; their eyes windows to each other's souls.
"Can I kiss you?" Taylor asked. He surprised himself, he never thought he would have the courage to ask her. She looked stunned, but smiled and nodded. Slowly, the pair leaned in and let their lips touch in a sweet and tender kiss. This memory would be imprinted in their minds forever, it was their first kiss.
Present...
He smiled slightly at the memory wishing that it was 10 months ago, not now. Taylor saw her stop and begin talking to a boy about his age. The boy had chin length dark blonde hair and stood a few inches taller than her. It looked as if they were flirting. Taylor could not take it anymore. He ran across the road.
"Kali! Kali!" he shouted as he jogged up to her. She turned to face him, her dark brown hair spinning with her.
"Hey Taylor," she said with a slight smile.
"Look, it was nice meeting ya Kail. You've got my number, call me. Kay?" the boy asked as he turned to leave.
"Sure thing Michael," Kali replied as Michael left.
"What's up Taylor?" Kali asked as she led him to a nearby bench where they both sat down together.
"We need to talk," Taylor stated, "About us,"
"Us?"
"Yeah, us,"
Kali turned to him and her lips turned into a frown.
"Taylor...look...you remember what happened and how it ended. I got hurt. That's what happened and that's all there is to it. As for us, well...look, we're still friends. Right?" Taylor remembered what she was talking about. If he could relive those few weeks, it would have been completely different if he knew the outcome.
3 months ago...
"I can't believe you Taylor Hanson!" Kali shouted, "I can't believe you could do this to me!"
"Look Kali, I said I was sorry! What more do you want?" Taylor yelled back at her. For the past half-hour he had been apologizing his ass off with no such luck. Kali Louise Mason would just not forgive him. But on the other hand, who could forgive him for what he had done? He had gone behind her back.
"I want you out of here Taylor! Out of my Life!"
"You don't mean that," Taylor's tone softened, "You can't mean that Kali,"
"But I do," Kali whispered as her tears began falling.
"How can you throw everything away? Everything we had..."
"No! The question is: how could YOU?" Kali's tone of voice began raising once more, "How could you go behind my back and start fucking Sydney Halliwell? God Tay, I loved you and I thought you loved me. I guess my assumptions were wrong..."
"They weren't. I do love-"
"You don't hurt somebody you love," Kali interrupted Taylor's sentence.
"I didn't fuck her Kali," Taylor said calmly as he took a step forward.
"Ha! How long were you having an affair with her? 3 weeks? God Taylor! 3 weeks? You didn't screw her? I'm surprised!" Kali exclaimed, sarcasm spread thickly over her voice.
"Kali, look, I love you. Not Sydney. Can't you see that?"
"No Taylor, I can't," Taylor's heart sunk. How could she be so insensitive? No, how could he be so insensitive?
"Kali, I'm apologizing my ass off here. I know I made a mistake and I'm paying for what I did. I learnt my lesson. Can't you trust me?" he asked as he took another step closer to her and lightly pressed his right palm on her cheek. She moved her cheek away quickly.
"Don't touch me," she snapped, "And the answer's no. I can't trust you. Not after what you did,"
"Don't say that,"
"And why not Tay? You hurt me. You hurt me a lot,"
"I'm sorry,"
"I know you are Taylor," Kali took a deep breath and briefly closed her eyes before re-opening them again, "I know you're sorry. But I don't care if you say sorry a million times over, that's not gonna change a thing. You did what you did. And you hurt me in the process. You can't change the past Tay,"
"I know that Kali. But I can work on the future,"
"No," Kali shook her head, "No. I know you're sorry. But I can't trust you again. You broke that trust when you found Sydney,"
"But-"
"Don't say anything Taylor," Kali's voice softened, "Nothing Taylor. There's nothing left to say. Sure, we can stay friends. That's all. We had our chance. You lost it,"
"Kali," Taylor began, his voice soft and calm, "If there's anything part of you that still loves me, you'll forgive me,"
"No Taylor. You're not forgiven. I can't forgive you," Kali explained, "Leave. Now," Taylor shook his head. Kali could be so stubborn sometimes. He walked out of the door and out of Kali Louise Mason's Life.
Present...
"Friends? Can't you give us another chance?" Taylor asked of Kali.
"No," Kali shook her head, "No more chances."