"Oh sorry ma--Wait a minute! Aren't you the Taylor Hanson person who is always on TV? Kara is always playing your music and talking 'bout you." the guy said.
"Uh..yeah..And you are?"
"I'm Mark. Kara's cousin. Well, if you don't mind I'm going downstairs to find something. Kara's in her room with my sister."
"OK. Thanks." Taylor continued on his climb up the stairs. He heard a familiar sound. It was him singing MMMBop on thier old album MMMBop. He knocked on the door.
"Coming!!" Kara swung open the door. A smile spread across her face when she saw him. Tay looked at her, wanting so bad to hold her hand or just to be near her. "Hi Tay! Do you wanna come in or do you wanna stand outside my door all night?"
"Oh...uh..sorry." He walked into her room. It was really clean. 'Man, she should be glad Zac didn't come.' He took off his Addidas warm-up coat and laid it on her bed.
"Hi Carrie!" Tay said. He noticed her sitting down in the desk chair and she flashed him a smile.
"You guys want something to drink? We've got Dr P., Sprite, Mug root Beer, water, milk, tea, etc." Kara asked
"I'll have water." Carrie said.
"I guess I'll have Mug."
"-K- I'll be back." Kara said. She left the room.
"So Tay. Are you gonna make your move tonight?" Carrie said.
"What?? Oh. I don't know. I'm still contimplating it. What do you think?" Taylor replied.
"Go for it! I think she likes you." Carrie said confidently.
"Maybe I will." Taylor said.
"Maybe you'll what?" Kara asked curiously as she tried balancing a glass of water, a Dr. Pepper and Mug Root Beer all at once.
"Uh....nothing."Taylor trailed off.
"Oh come on!! You guys are pathetic! Just go out with each other. You both want to. But your nervous. I'm sick of having you guys to tell me that you like each other but you don't have the guts to say it to each other. Hello??" Taylor's jaw dropped open. Kara looked at her cousin in surprise.
"I'm oughtta here." Carrie snatched her glass of water from Kara's hand and left the room.
"Um..I..don't know what to say. I guess she's mad." Kara replied nervously.
"Do you really like me?" Taylor asked. he stood up to face Kara.
"Uh...yeah...I guess I do." She stared at her feet.
"Well, I like you too. I was gonna wait to do this but I guess its appropriate now. Will you go out with me?" Taylor asked.
"Well, I don't know Tay. I mean, I like you, but I need 2 do somethings before I answer." Kara said nervously glancing back and forth.
"Oh OK. I just wanted....nevermind. I'll get the answer when I get back." Taylor managed to choke out. Kara knew he was freaking and had 2 give him credit for getting up the nerve to ask her after Carrie's little explosion. She noticed Taylor's eyes were watering. 'God! He's so emotional.' Kara thought.
"Tay. Its not you. I mean. I need time. Am I supposed to answer on the spur of the moment? I've known you 2 damn days!" Kara said.
"Look. It took a lot of nerve for me to ask you out. And your not even understanding how hard that is!! Especially after what Carrie said. I knew I liked you a lot after 2 days. I don't expect an answer now, but you act like you don't care. It makes me think you are gonna turn me down." Taylor said, his face turning pink. He was getting mad.
"No Tay. You don't understand. That's not what I...." Kara began.
"No Kara. YOU don't understand. I like you so much and I want you to like me back, but you just casually act like I'm not important. My hopes are TOTALLY shattered. I thought I had a chance. I've been beaten out by a more important 'thing'." Taylor said angrily.
"Oh God Tay!! You know I like you, but there is a little matter I need to take care of that's all. It's not more important than you, I just need some time to sort out my feelings." Kara said, feeling worse everytime Taylor even spoke a word.
"Well, take all the damn time you need to sort out your feelings cause I take back that offer!! Obviously, we wouldn't work out cause we'd be fighting like this all the time. I'll see you around." With that, Taylor stormed out of the room, down the stairs and found a seat next to Carrie who was watching MTV in the living room. Kara, meanwhile, felt miserable. Taylor's harsh words stung her face. What had she done? All she wanted to do was to find out if Ike liked her or not cause she didn't want a fight to occur. Too late for that. She felt a tear run down her cheek. Soon it was uncontrollable crying. 'Stop it Kara!! Get a hold of yourself.' She thought, but her mind just kept replaying the horrible scene, over and over again. The sobbing just went on. Although blinded by her tears she managed to find her way to the bathroom. She grabbed several Kleenexes. She felt horrible. Taylor hated her and there was nothing she could do. She managed to change into some pajamas and find her way to her bed. She then laid there in the dark wishing the pain would go away.
Meanwhile, downstairs, Taylor had told Carrie the whole story and more. Carrie looked at him wide-eyed.
"Do you have any idea what the hell you have done?!?" Carrie said quite loudly.
"No. I couldn't deal with the fact that she would say 'no'." Taylor replied somberly.
"Taylor! Shit, man. You didn't know she would say 'no'. What the hell were you thinking?" Carrie accused.
"Carrie. Look at the facts. Girls have said that to me before and they always say no. Why would this be different?" Taylor replied.
"I'll tell you what the fucking difference is asshole! Its my cousin. Kara. She wouldn't do that. She would tell you a flat out 'no' if she was gonna say no. Taylor. She likes you. She was so excited before you came over because you were coming. What was her reaction?" Carrie shouted at him. She knew her cousin hated people being mad at her and she probably took this really badly.
"I left before there was one. And don't stand there being all pissed at me because you too are to blame. Look at your little reaction." Taylor yelled back at her.
"Taylor? Carrie? Is that you?" Cynthia Lambert stuck her head into the lving room.
"Umm....yeah." Carrie said.
"What in the world are you yelling at and where is Kara?" Cynthia asked.
"We were...uh...just....arguing over this video on MTV. And um.....Kara is....uh...in her room." Carrie managed to say.
"Oh. Well, just wondering. By the way, Tay, your mom is leaving in about 5 minutes so you might wanna get your stuff together." Cynthia replied giving Taylor and Carrie quizzical looks.
"Okay. Thanks Mrs. Lambert." Taylor replied squeaking on okay.
"Well, I've got to go back up to Kara's room and get my coat. Maybe I'll tell her I'm sorry." Taylor said avoiding Carrie cold stare. He trudged up the stairs and slowly pushed open Kara's door. The room was dark. He flipped on the light switch so he could see and he saw Kara laying there, sobbing. She rolled over to see who it was and seeing it was Taylor, she propped herself up on her elbows. "Taylor. Please don't hate me. I feel horrible about what I did. Forgive me....please." Kara choked out. Taylor looked at her and how pathetic she looked. He felt so bad that he had caused someone so much pain. Then it hit him. Obviously Kara liked him if she was so upset about what he said. Why had he been so stupid? It was clear now. He walked over to the edge of Kara's bed and looked into her watery but beautiful eyes.
"I forgive you. Its not you who should be asking for forgivness. Its me. I shouldn't have exploded like that. It was such a dumb thing too! I still want to go out with you." Taylor said.
"Oh Tay. I was so afraid you would hate me forever. I'm sorry." Kara leaned forward and hugged him. Taylor hugged her back. They didn't let go of each other until Diana yelled up the stairs that she was leaving.
"Kara, promise me you'll have an answer when I get back." Taylor whispered. There was no response.
"Kara?" Taylor asked and pulled away. She was fast alseep. Taylor smiled and carefully laid her on her bed.
"Kara. If you only knew how much I like you. I guess you could call it love at first sight. I'll miss you." Taylor thought out loud and gently kissed her lips. He walked out of the door and downstairs to his waiting mother
