Girls Never Go Out of Style - A Kaylor Fanfic

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

December 13, 1955

Every girl's eighteenth birthday should be perfect, and Taylor's was. From the outside, anyway.

The day had dawned bright and cold, wispy clouds hinting at the first snow of the year.

Taylor woke up early to Andrea's cheery "Good morning!" and a tray of chocolate chip pancakes.

It was a Tuesday. When Taylor arrived at school, she found Charles waiting for her at her locker with a deep red rose in his hand.

Andrea picked Taylor up from school that afternoon. When on a normal day Taylor would have been gazing out the window on the boring bus ride home, today she accompanied Andrea to a salon to have her hair and makeup done.

Back at home, Andrea had finished decorating and laying out the refreshments for Taylor's guests, shooing Taylor upstairs to dress.

And Taylor's dress was gorgeous, as though it would be anything else. It was the same deep red as the rose that now sat in a crystal bud vase on her desk. A nipped-in waist flared into a full skirt, with a sweetheart neckline and a fabric rose on the bust. Taylor couldn't help but take a twirl or two in front of her full-length mirror.

The guests arrived promptly, each of them perfectly turned out, with perfect smiles and perfectly wrapped presents. Understated music streamed out of the record player while Andrea played gracious hostess, greeting each guest as they arrived, taking coats and directing them to the table where they should place their gifts. Offering canapes and thanking them for coming.

Taylor stood by, shifting self-consciously from one patent leather heel to the other. She greeted her guests, but with each hello she wondered how she knew these people.

"That's Kitty Harrison's granddaughter. You know Kitty, from the Women's Auxiliary?" Andrea whispered as a short brunette girl walked by.

And that's when Taylor realized it: "These are all people you and Dad know, aren't they?"

Andrea shrugged. "They're all kids from your school. Our kind of people."

"But I don't know any of them."

"You will know them," Andrea said. "Obviously they all want to be your friend. After all, they're here at your party!"

And then someone Taylor did know walked though the door, and all those strangers suddenly seemed like a much better option.

Andrea's eyes lit up and she opened her arms up for a hug. "Charles! How wonderful to see you!"

--

Karlie sighed and snapped her book shut, harder than she had meant to. It was no point. She couldn't focus. She kept thinking about it.

It was Taylor's birthday. And she wasn't supposed to care. She wasn't supposed to even remember that it was Taylor's birthday. Taylor wasn't her girlfriend anymore.

But that didn't change the fact that she did remember, and it hadn't prevented her from taking her paycheck and buying Taylor a present.

A present that even now was sitting in the top drawer of Karlie's dresser, silently making her feel like an idiot.

It kept tormenting her, along with what she had seen at school that day. Charles, with a rose that she knew was intended for Taylor, his smug smile as he walked down the hall that Karlie knew led to Taylor's locker. It wasn't fair. She should have been the one bringing Taylor flowers.

Karlie imagined what Taylor was doing now. She knew Andrea and Scott had to have planned a party for her, their only daughter. She knew that Charles was there. She wondered if Taylor was happy, or if she was thinking about her.