Fitting In

Chapter 11 - Now or Never

As soon as I got into my car I logged the number into my phone. I didn't trust myself to not loose the piece of paper.

The whole drive home I was thinking about it, and about what plan he could have in mind. I almost hit a rabbit, but I swerved just in time. They say with small animals it's best to just hit them, but I just wasn't that heartless. It may not be worth the danger for some people, but it's worth it for the rabbit.

I got home, and my mom pretended to be surprised.

"Oh, well look who decided to show up today!"

I just rolled my eyes and walked right past her. It wasn't worth the argument.

"Hey, you never gave me the information for that sleepover."

"Yeah, it was cancelled because one of the girls with a boyfriend, kissed another one of the girls exes, who the other wasn't over, and now there's this huge fight," I explained matter of factly.

The look on her face was comical.

"Ah, the highs and lows of highschool. I mean soap operas have nothing on this. I saw the kiss happen too. It was pretty hot and heavy..."

I laughed on my way up the stairs to put away my bag. "What's for dinner?" I called down as I plugged in my phone.

It was only after eating that I got around to actually texting the number Connor gave me.

Hello? This is Taylor.

This is Connor. You took ur sweet time. I was starting to think u wouldn't text.

Nope. I just was eating dinner.

You feed the snake?

Crap. Give me a few minutes.

Okay, just fed him, I texted back after giving Willie (I didn't name him, so you can thank my cousin for that masterpiece of a name) some random bits of food that I found lying around the house.

Not sure if I just poisoned him or not, but he ate it.

Lol, You ready to do it tonight?

Tonight!?

Yeah, I set everything up before I left for school. Plus, tomorrow is Friday. The snake isn't going to survive the weekend, and Tuesday is more than a week after Tyler pranked you. It doesn't make sense to wait.

Alright. What time?

Can you be up at 2:00?

Yes. Where should we meet you?

We??? Who else is gonna be there?

Willie.

Who the frick is that?

The snake, idiot.

Sounds like a kid that smells like weed and doesn't shower.

Willie is very offended, and wants an apology.

Why? Did he name himself? Does he actually like his name?

Hey! My cousin picked that name out.

Make sure her boyfriend uses protection. This world doesn't need more Willies.

I shouldn't have laughed at that.

But you did.

Anyways where do you want to meet? The parking lot?

Sure. The one in the back though.

K.

K.

I have to do my homework.

I probably should, but I would rather talk to you.

I felt strangely giddy until his next text came in.

Although, I would rather talk to my annoying sister than do homework.

You have siblings?

One. Unfortunately. U?

Lucky! I don't have any.

Not lucky. You can have her.

Lol, I would take her.

And send her right back. Trust me siblings suck.

Whatever. I really should go.

See you at 2.

See ya.

I shut off my phone and tried to work on my homework. I wasn't very productive, but I got what I needed to done.

I decided against setting my alarm, because I was worried about my parents waking up. I would have to pull an all nighter. I was lucky tomorrow was Friday, because I hadn't gotten a full night of sleep in a while.

It took forever, but eventually I was in the car pulling into the parking lot. It was only at this moment that J thought of the possibility of Connor lieing to me. He did say he was friends with Tyler at one point. What if I had misread the signs and they hadn't fallen out?

I told myself, 'well, you only live once' and turned the car off. A few minutes later I saw another car pull in. They also turned their lights off. It was dark, but light enough for me to see a figure get out and start towards me. My heart raced. It looked like it could be Connor, but I was way too paranoid to be sure. The dark also didn't help to calm my nerves. The stranger tapped on the window, and now that he was closer it was obvious it was him. I relaxed a bit and climbed out.

"Give me a second to grab Willie," I whispered, going around to the passenger side to get Willie's cage from the floor. "Alright, let's go."

It was silent, but the kind of silence that's comforting. We didn't have to say anything, so we didn't.

"I shut off the security system. Don't ask how, it's complicated. My dad used to build and install systems like this, so..." he trailed off. We had reached the locker.

I started doing the combination. He was so close to me. It was almost too close. I could feel his heat over my right shoulder. It was distracting me so much I forgot the second number for a second.

"Thirty-six," he whispered in my ear. I involuntarily shivered. "You cold or something?" he teased, knowing exactly why.

"Let's just get this done and over with," I said. I have to stop giving this guy signs. I don't need fricken teen love on top of everything else to distract me.

I threw the snake in, probably a little too hard, and shut the locker door. It banged shut, and in the dark noiseless hallway it seemed deafening.

"A little aggressive don't ya think?"

"Shut up."

He just laughed. It's funny how agrivatting and at the same time hot this boy could be.

"Did you hear something?" a voice down the hall spoke.

"Shoot," Connor muttered, "Hurry, down the hall." We crept around for a few minutes, and I could hear the voice/s (???) getting closer. Connor opened a door on the side of the hallway and shoved me in. I would have yelled at him but I was too scared. What if they caught us? The voices walked past. I couldn't hear what they were saying over my heartbeat. Finally I calmed myself down enough to realize just how small the closet was. And just how close me and Conner were.