Girls Never Go Out of Style - A Kaylor Fanfic

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

When Karlie pulled into the school parking lot on Monday, she had one thought: I have to talk to Taylor.

Taylor had rushed off so quickly yesterday in the park, Karlie hadn't had a chance to say anything. To explain. To apologize.

Of course, she wasn't sure what there was to explain. It had been pretty straightforward: She and Taylor had kissed. It hadn't felt one-sided. Taylor had reached for her hand. Taylor's lips had moved against hers as insistently as any kiss she had ever shared.

And Karlie didn't want to apologize, either. There wasn't anything to apologize for, was there? Did she need to apologize for the kiss? For liking Taylor?

But she would figure out some way to explain, if she had to. She would even apologize, no matter how much it might hurt. Because more than anything, she wanted to see Taylor again, to talk to her, to spend time with her. Whatever that might or might not mean to Taylor.

What worried Karlie was that when Taylor ran off yesterday, she hadn't looked like she had any intention of coming back.

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When Taylor stepped off the bus on Monday, she knew what she had to do: Stay away from Karlie.

I can't believe I did that yesterday. Anyone could have seen us! Stupid. So stupid.

It wasn't that she didn't like it. Taylor couldn't deny that she had leaned into the kiss as much as Karlie had, that the moment Karlie's lips touched hers a delicious heat had slid into her body. For that brief moment, her entire equilibrium had shifted, sending her careening helplessly toward Karlie.

But she couldn't. She just couldn't. Not after everything that had happened back in Pennsylvania.

I have to tell her, she had thought, turning over the situation in her head when she had pedaled safely home. But then she had reconsidered. What would happen if she stayed around Karlie? Taylor knew that it was just a matter of time before that head slid through her again, and she didn't know if she would be able to pull herself away next time.

This is my new start, she thought. I have to change. I hae to be normal.

And she most definitely could not see Karlie again. Even though that was the only thing she wanted to do.

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Karlie intended to catch Taylor by her locker before homeroom, but when she got there--well before the bell--Taylor wasn't there. She hung around as long as she could without being late, but Taylor never showed up. Karlie came back between each class, but she never saw Taylor.

Tuesday brought more of the same. She even waited out by the buses during both bus lines, but she misjudged which bus was Taylor's and the most she saw of her was a swish of blonde ponytail as Taylor boarded a bus far down the line. Karlie called out to her, but she was either too far away to hear or was ignoring her.

When Wednesday's efforts resulted in nothing more, she knew it for sure. Taylor was avoiding her.

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"Karlie. I know something's wrong. Spill it."

Karlie looked up from her desk to find Kimby, her younger sister, loitering in her bedroom doorway. She was almost finished with her problem set for geometry, but she hadn't really been focusing on it. It was easy, for one thing, and for another, she couldn't stop thinking about the situation with Taylor.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Kimby."

Undeterred, the younger girl strolled into her older sister's room and flopped down on the bed. "Yeah, sure. Then why have you been moping around since Sunday?"

Karlie put her pencil down and spun aroudn in her desk chair to regard Kimby. "I'm not moping around."

Kimby rolled her eyes. "Yes, you have. Would this have anything to do with that new girl in school? Tonya?"

"Taylor," Karlie corrected.

"Yeeahhh," Kimby said, drawing the word out scandalously. "Taylor."

Karlie rolled her eyes. "You're ridiculous. There's nothing going on with Taylor."

"Oh, yeah? All I know is that you took her out on Saturday and came home all silly, and then on Sunday everything changed. It sounds like something's going on to me."

Of her three sisters, Karlie was closest to Kimby. Kimby had been the first member of the family who found out that Karlie was a lesbian, and had even helped Karlie to come out to their parents and sisters. If it wasn't for Kimby, Karlie knew that it would have been much harder to ask her parents for their acceptance. But Kimby was still her little sister, and there were some things that Karlie just didn't want to talk about with her, and the particulars of her love life definitely belonged in that category.

"There might have been something," Karlie simplified. "But now Taylor isn't talking to me. So there's definitely not going to be anything now."

Karlie turned back around to resume her homework, but Kimby reached out and grabbed her by the arm. "Karlie! You have to do something!"

Karlie threw her arms out helplessly. "What am I supposed to do, Kimby? I can't even get close to her!"

"Go by her house! Throw pebbles at her window! Leave her a note! Pick one! All I know is you have to do something. You can't just let her get away."

"What do you know about any of this stuff? You're still in eighth grade."

"Puh-lease. I watch TV. I know what I'm talking about." Kimby got up and walked out, but she was only gone a second before she popped her head back through the door. "Seriously, Karlie. All I know is you seemed really happy last week. Happier than you've been in a long time. Usually all you can talk about is graduating and leaving."

"Kimby--"

Kimby waved her off. "I just want you to be happy. You're my big sister."

Karlie smiled. "Thanks, kid."

Maybe Kimby had a point. Going to Taylor's house seemed drastic, but what could a simple note hurt? After all, she had left that flower for Taylor in her locker. A note wasn't that different.

Problem set momentarily forgotten, Karlie flipped to a fresh page in her notebook and started to write.