Girls Never Go Out of Style - A Kaylor Fanfic

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Taylor,

We need to talk about what happened in the park. I'm sorry if I was out of line. I didn't mean to scare you or make you uncomfortable.

I've been trying to talk to you but haven't been able to find you. If you don't want to see me, at least leave me a note. My locker is #385.

I'm sorry. I really like you and want to see you again.

Karlie

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Karlie,

I'm sorry. I shouldn't have run away like I did. I just panicked.

I don't know if seeing me would be the best. For either of us. It's complicated.

Taylor

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Taylor,

I don't think my reputation would sufer that much from being around you. ;)

And I can handle complicated.

Karlie

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Karlie,

It's more than complicated. I wish I could tell you everything.

I miss you.

Taylor

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Taylor,

I miss you too. You're a good friend. I don't want to lose you.

Karlie

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Karlie,

I don't want to lose you, either.

Taylor

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Taylor,

Do you want to go to the drive-in on Friday night? It's private. We can talk.

Karlie

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Karlie,

It's a date. :)

Taylor

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"So, Taylor. Any big plans for the weekend?"

It was Thursday night, and the Swifts were arranged around the dinner table.

"I have a big report coming up in US History, so I'll probably go to the library on Saturday to work on that," Taylor said. "But I've been invited to go to the movies on Friday. Is that okay, Dad?"

Scott Swift folded his napkin and looked over at Andrea before answering his daughter. "I see no problem with that."

"Are you going with your mysterious admirer?" Andrea asked.

Taylor could feel herself blush. "No, I'm going with my friend from school, Karlie."

"Oh, the nice girl who showed you around the other weekend?" Scott asked. "When are we going to meet her?"

"I don't know. Sometime."

"I think it's great that you've made a friend so quickly. We should have Karlie over for dinner sometime, shouldn't we?"

Scott seemed oblivious to the tension in Andrea's face, but Taylor could see it. She wished someone would change the subject.

"Speaking of new friends, I met some wonderful people at the PTA meeting this week," Andrea said.

Boring grown-up stuff, Taylor thought. Good. She could just eat and drift away for a while.

"Oh?" her dad asked.

"Yes. I had a delightful conversation with Tawny Preston."

"Preston? Is she Jim's wife? Jim from the firm?"

"Yes, she is! And they have a son in Taylor's grade at school. His name is Charles. Have you met Charles Preston, Taylor?"

Taylor snapped to attention. The encounter with Charles at her locker was not one that she was in any rush to repeat. "Uh, maybe. I think I've seen him in the hallway once or twice."

"Charming young man," Andrea mused. "I think it would be a good idea for you two young people to get to know one another better."

Taylor made a noncommittal sound and hoped that the conversation would end there. She ddn't want to say anything that would get her stuck spending time with the sleazy Charles.

"That's why I'm so happy that Tawny invited us over for dinner at their house next week. It will be a great opportunity for you two to talk."

"That's a great idea!" Scott agreed. "Look at that, Taylor. Soon you'll have two new friends."

"And maybe more than that," Andrea intoned quietly.

Taylor's heart sank as she envisioned a night of starched formality, her parents canoodling with the Prestons while she tried desperately to avoid canoodling with Charles.

But at least she would have a week to steel herself. Or to figure out some way to escape her fate. Maybe I can fake a convincing case of polio?

And in the meantime, there was Karlie.

Taylor had been both relieved and embarrassed when she discovered Karlie's note in her locker last Thursday. She had carried it around with her, unopened, until the end of the day. Then, on the bus ride home, she had surreptitiously unfolded it and read it for the first time of what would be many, many rereadings. She had tortured herself over whether or not to respond, and then, once she decided that she would respond, over what she should say.

She still hadn't seen Karlie since that Sunday afternoon, since their kiss, with the exception of quick glimpses in the hallway as she had carefully eluded Karlie's pursuit. But with each exchange of notes, Taylor had missed Karlie more. She eased her regimen of hiding, but Karlie seemed to be keeping her distance, giving Taylor time. It made Taylor want to see her even more badly. So, before she knew it, she was agreeing to go to the movies with Karlie, when so recently she had resolved never to see her again.

After dinner, Taylor went up to her room, closed the door, and pulled a box out from under her bed. It was a flowered hatbox that she had owned for years. She loved it for its ladylike glamour, and she used it to hold little keepsakes. But she also loved that it had a false bottom, where she could keep mementos of a more personal nature.

Taylor emptied the hatbox of its contents and eased out the false bottom, revealing a sheaf of papers tied together with a pink hair ribbon. Letters. Notes, much like the ones she and Karlie had so recently written to one another. Taylor untied the bow and flipped through them, one by one, remembering.

It wasn't that she didn't want to be Karlie. She was scared, and she had reason to be. There was so much that Karlie didn't know. Would Taylor ever muster the nerve to tell her?