TAYLOR'S POV
Just before I woke up, I was cradling Caroline's sobbing body. She was so upset and I didn't have any idea why, but she wanted me to hold her. Then my alarm sounded, bringing me back to reality. For a second I looked around my bed for Caroline to make sure it really was a dream and she was okay, but then I realized she was in her own room.
I pushed some hair out of my face and pulled myself out of bed. I wandered out into the living room and up the spiral staircase, where I saw a gorgeous view of the sunrise out one of the big windows. I yawned, my body still adjusting to being awake, and gently pushed open the door to Caroline's room.
"Hey Care, its time to get up." I said softly as I sat down on the edge of her bed. It seemed as though she didn't hear a word I said, so I tried again.
"Caroline, wake up." I said a little louder, putting my hand on the back of her head. Then she slowly opened her eyes and looked at me with a confused expression.
"It's time for school." I told her in the middle of a yawn. I got up from her bed, turned on the light, and left her alone to get dressed. It's not like I really had to get up with her in the morning anymore since she could drive herself and she was capable of setting her own alarm, but it was nice to see her in the morning before she left for school.
By the time she was dressed and back downstairs I was sitting on a bar stool at the kitchen counter drinking a cup of coffee. Caroline poured a bowl of cereal for herself and came to sit down beside me. I could definitely see a difference in maturity in her from the start of her sophmore year to the start of her junior year, she was seeming more grown up lately.
I didn't have to do much to help Caroline get ready for school, but before she left she came to give me a hug.
"Bye Taylor." She said, wrapping her arms around me.
"Bye babe, I'll see you when you get home." I told her, shifting my head to kiss her forehead before we pulled away. We exchanged 'I love you's' and she was out the door.
CAROLINE'S POV
Junior year was a lot different than my other high school experiences, people were finally treating us like we were older, freshman looked a little nervous when they saw us. It had been a pretty fun day though, since it was the first day we didn't do much at all, and I had a lot of classes with Kelsey and Grace so we got to talk.
The only class where I didn't know who would be in it with me was English. I had it last period and it was senior English because I was already able to test out of junior English. I walked there at the end of the day and found that there were tables of two, so I picked a nice empty one. Right before the bell rang it seemed as though everyone had made it to class, nobody was sitting by me but that was okay because nobody really knew me personally. Everybody knew me because of Taylor, but none of them have ever really talked to me.
Suddenly one more student entered the room right as the bell was ringing. I laughed when I saw his goofy smile directed at me, with the only empty spot in the room to my right, I was his only option. Asher came and sat down in the chair beside me, taking his backpack of and putting it on the ground.
"Aren't you a junior?" He whispered to me when the teacher started talking.
"I'm a smart junior." I said back, glancing at him. He let out a huff, as if to laugh, and shook his head. I noticed his straight white teeth and the seemingly new jeans he was wearing with his flannel shirt. Even Asher, someone you could easily pin as a hick, could clean up nice for the first day of school.
The teacher talked for most of the period, but with the few minutes of free time we had at the end Asher and I made small talk.
"I can give you a ride home if you need one." He joked after he finished telling me how he just bought a new truck with the money he got from working for his dad.
"Thanks, but I'll pass." I laughed, getting up and putting on my backpack along with everyone else.
"You're gonna settle with Taylor Swift coming to pick you up... alright.." He said, acting hurt.
"Um, I can drive." I said as the bell rang and everyone started heading towards the door.
"Seeya." He said as we both walked separate ways out of the classroom. I went out to my car and tried to beat the rush out of school. I thought about everything that had happened on the drive home, Asher was good looking, pretty easy to talk to, and a country-type person, which is never a negative.
The only flaw I've found in him so far is that in every conversation we've had, which hasn't been many, he's brought up Taylor in some way. It's not like the usual "I love your mom, tell her I said hi". It's more like he kind of pokes fun at the fact that my mom is Taylor Swift.
I pushed that thought to the back of my mind because we haven't talked that much and I shouldn't be jumping to conclusions. I convinced myself that the only reason he talks about Taylor is because its an easy topic to talk about with me, and then I convinced myself that maybe all this was because he wanted to talk to me. I felt a lot better about the situation after that.
I parked my car beside Taylor's and rode the elevator up to our apartment. When I entered I found Taylor and her mom both sitting at the kitchen table.
"How was it?" Taylor asked turning around in her chair to look at me when she heard the door open.
"Good." I said, putting my stuff down and sitting beside Taylor at the table. If Andrea wasn't here I would tell Taylor all the details of my day right here, especially the details of my last period class, but now I didn't want to.
"Aren't you taking a senior class this year?" Andrea asked me.
"Oooo yeah how was that?" Taylor added.
"It was fine," I said, about to continue when Taylor interrupted me.
"Was there anyone you knew?" She asked.
"Asher was the only one." I said, watching Taylor as her eyes got a little wider and she nodded, grinning at me knowingly. I tried as hard as I could to stop the smile that was involuntarily growing on my lips. Soon Andrea started talking about something and I itched my nose to cover my mouth with my hand while I composed myself.
I wasn't listening as the two of them talked, I was planning out everything I would tell Taylor about my day when we were alone. But soon I found out that we wouldn't be alone for a while, the reason Andrea was here was because they had a meeting to go to shortly, but Taylor wanted to be here when I got home so they stayed as long as they could. I had nothing better to do so when Taylor told me I could come I followed them out the door.
I sat down in a chair next to Taylor when we arrived and not long after there were about 10 other people sitting around the table too. As they discussed what the smartest marketing decision would be I was lost in my own thoughts. I continued to repeat in my head the exact words I would say to Taylor when I was talking about Asher. And I loved that I did want to tell Taylor all of this, we haven't been in each other's lives for very long, but she did really feel like a mother to me.
Not so much lately, but nearly every night for a long time after my dad died she was awake with me when she could've been asleep, just trying to make things better. Things have gotten better, there were times when I thought my whole life was ruined after my dad died, that nothing would ever be okay again, and that I'd never be able to get my mind off the fact that he's gone. I couldn't be happier to realize that that isn't true.
I'm sitting in on a Taylor Swift meeting, daydreaming about boys, and at the moment I can't feel a hint of sadness. Things do get better.
