Top Priority

36

Taylor's pov

I was probably only fifteen minutes into my walk when a voice called out to me, "Where ya' going, princess?"

I looked, hoping to see Colby or a familiar face. To my disappointment, it wasn't anyone I knew but a creepy, bald man. He was bigger than me, maybe bigger than Colby but I couldn't be so sure.

"Please don't call me that," I said quietly, and turned, continuing my walk back to my and Alex's apartment.

I thought he would leave me alone, but he grabbed my arm, forcing me to turn around, "Don't walk away from me, princess." He said, his voice low. "Now where are you going?"

"Leave. Me. alone," I said slowly, ripping my arm out of his grasp. I heard his footsteps from behind me, sounding louder than everyone else's to me.

I sped up my pace, hoping that he would lose sight of me in the crowd, though it'd be unlikely because there were not a lot of people in between us.

I didn't know what to do, and I didn't know what he wanted. I could only assume the worst things, that he might try to do unimaginable things to me.

This entire problem made me even angrier at Colby for not picking me up. He said he would do it, I specifically remember since I would have asked Alex to pick me up if not.

I couldn't hear the man's footsteps anymore, and I didn't want to look over my shoulder out of sheer pride, but no matter what I did not want to lead him directly to my home just in case. As soon as I knew exactly where I was, I avoided going to my house, and instead, I crossed the street and went back the way I came.

I was now on my way to the traphouse, and I was about ready to give Colby a piece of my mind.

I thought about how I would approach him and how I'd handle the situation. I couldn't be angry with him if he was sick and couldn't contact me because my phone was at his house. If that was the case, then wouldn't he just simply ask Sam or one of the other boys to get me instead? No matter what his excuse was I would not be happy and it would not make the situation all right.

The thought never occurred to me that I would need one of the trapboys to open the gate for me, since the only way to unlock it was by entering a code on one of their phones. So unless they were out front, I would have to find another way into the house.

Another ten minutes go by before I see the fence that marks their property. It was more of what my mother liked to call "privacy bricks," where the fences were made out of some type of rock material. They provided good privacy but were really easy to climb, from my experience of having one back in Texas.

I didn't even try to see if anyone was up front when I heard no noise coming from the house. I walked around the far side, looking for something I could use to help me grab the top of the wall so I could swing myself over.

That's when I saw it: a tree. Not just any tree, but one with low enough hanging branches that I could climb and reach the wall. It would be easier to climb it than the side of the fence.

My attire did not agree with the situation, however. I was still wearing my Tendergreens dress shirt and pants that would definitely rip if they got caught on one of the branches.

But, I was quitting in two weeks so I figured it wouldn't be a big deal if I ruined one of my uniforms.

I jumped, hoisting myself up on the low branch and swung one of my legs over the branch so I was now on top of it.

I scooted myself across it, using my arms to take most of my weight off the branch. It wasn't long before I was close enough to set my feet on their privacy-brick wall.

Being that I was now off the tree, it wasn't hard for me to figure out how to get onto the roof. Once I got on the roof I could simply walk across it and get to Colby's balcony.

Or I could walk around to the front of the house like a normal human being, I thought bitterly.

Getting onto the roof was easier done than thought, because I just had to step over the gap in between the two.

Their roof was sturdy enough that I didn't have to worry about where I had to walk so much as making sure I didn't slip.

I walked across the roof, over to the fence that lined Colby's balcony. Just like I did with the tree, I used my arms to pull myself over the fence. It wasn't nearly as difficult since it wasn't so tall, but I just had to hope the door was unlocked.

Not only was the door unlocked, but it was also popped open. I made my way over to the door, slowly sliding it open. He wasn't in his room as far as I could tell, but I could hear people talking downstairs.

I spotted my phone on his nightstand on his charger. Though I was upset with Colby, I accepted that I thought it was sweet of him to find my phone and put it on the charger for me.

What I didn't think about, however, was how I was going to get him to come upstairs. I could clearly hear that it wasn't just the four boys over. I assumed that Reggie and maybe Brennen were over, but I couldn't be too certain.

It didn't take long before I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and Colby's voice, "Yeah, I think it went really well. I hope we can work with them again soon,"

The second voice took longer for me to recognize, but it was only Sam, "They're really cool people, hopefully they think the same about us, too,"

The door handle to Colby's room began to turn, and I didn't know what to do with my arms so I crossed them. "Yeah I-" He swung the door open, and as soon as he laid eyes on me his face flashed what seemed like a thousand different expressions. The one that stuck was a mixture of surprise and guilt, "Oh my god, Taylor. I'm so sorry, I-"

"Why didn't you pick me up?!" I tried to push my anger away, and he shut the door behind him to muffle the sounds of my shouting.

"I'm sorry, Taylor. A business call got rescheduled last minute for today and I lost track of time," Colby walked closer to me, almost hesitant.

"Colby, I had to walk the whole way here," I felt tears stinging my eyes, and I brought my hands up, rubbing them away with the upper part of my palms. I began talking so quickly that I didn't even know if he understood what I said, "I didn't know what happened to you and then there was this guy and I didn't know if you were just stuck in traffic or if you got into an accident. What if I started walking home and then you showed up and I didn't have my phone so you wouldn't know where I was and-"

I trailed off when Colby grabbed my face in his hands, kissing my forehead before wrapping his arms around me in a hug, "I'm sorry, Taylor. Geniunly, I didn't mean to forget or worry you. That guy- wait there was a guy?" He held me back by my shoulders, looking up and down at my body, "Did he touch you? I swear if he laid a finger on you I will-"

"No," Even though I was upset and Colby didn't look pleased, I couldn't help but quietly laugh, "He just was being weird. But I was fine,"

"I'm so sorry, Taylor," He said again, as if that's all he knew what to say, but everyone makes mistakes.

"It's alright. I forgive you."

[a/n: hello? I don't really know how to start this, but what i do know is THAT THIS BOOK HIT 1K READS!!!! like are you serious? is this real? SOMEBODY pinch me.  

I never would have thought that any of my stories would get 500 reads, let alone 1k.  I love all of you, and thank you for reading the book, voting and commenting on the story.  forever grateful.]