I miss you, I'm sorry - Taylor Swift x OC

(3) Older

2008

[Older by Gracie Abrams]

Graduation should've been one of the happiest moments of their lives. It was still happy, but Taylor had been imagining going to the after parties with Katie (and claiming they were just friends and that kiss at the last party was only to piss off Sam) and instead, she was taking photos with her aunt by the balloon display and feeling awkward in the cap and gown she donned after fourteen years of education.

The worst part was that she didn't feel comfortable talking about her feelings with Abigail. She and Kara still weren't close, but even if they were, that was a no go because she was literally from the same egg as the girl she was heartbroken about and she didn't know if Katie said anything. She'd steered clear of both twins whenever she could.

Katie, however, had told Audrey everything and swore her to secrecy. Audrey couldn't believe that she'd kept such a huge secret from her, but she did have to admit that she was looking forward to getting to spend a little more time with her now that they had the summer before the move to California. Audrey's boyfriend really had dumped her after the prom and she'd started volunteering at the animal shelter to keep herself busy.

"Alright, which party do you want to hit up? Kevin Hayes has one in the West End and he's got a pool, but Ryan Langford's parents got a catering company and apparently Ke$ha is gonna be there, I don't know if I believe that though," Audrey put her arm around her best friend as she spoke.

They'd waited in line for pictures like everyone else and both their parents had told them to have a great time and that they'd see them later. No one wanted to hang out with their parents when the biggest parties of the year were going on.

"Do we have to go? What if we just used our fakes and went to a bar?" Katie suggested. She didn't want to go to the party since it reminded her of how she and Taylor said that maybe they'd go and forget all the assholes. High school had been a terrible experience for them both, and really they didn't need to go but they'd always wonder if they missed out on one last experience with their peers if they didn't.

"It's the worst day to do that. Every school around here has graduation today and everyone who wants to skip the parties so they don't run into their ex is trying to get into a bar," Audrey shook her head, "C'mon, Kat, it'll be fun!"

"Fine," Katie begrudgingly agreed, hanging her head low, "But we're going to Kevin Hayes' because Taylor and I planned on 'seeing Ke$ha' and if she's going there, I am not."

They changed in the school bathroom like a dozen other girls and dumped their nice dresses into the back of Katie's car, she parked it in a carpool lot that required her to buy an overnight pass because she promised her father that she wouldn't drink and drive and he said he could take her to pick it up the next day.

Kevin Hayes did have a swimming pool, and someone yelled that Ke$ha most certainly did not plan on making an appearance at Ryan Langford's house, which really was not a surprise to anyone because why would she? Katie got a beer from the cooler and cracked it open, about to take a sip when her eyes met the familiar blue pair that she'd been dodging for two weeks.

"Fucking fantastic," Katie mumbled to herself as she saw Abigail and Kara behind the blonde across the backyard. She pursed her lips and pushed them as if to say, 'it is what it is', gulping some of the shitty alcohol down as quickly as she could when their eye contact broke.

She could feel Kara staring at her. She'd suggested they go to Kevin's because she had heard Katie inquiring about Ryan's a few days earlier, thinking maybe it would be best for her sister if she could steer the two in different directions just to finish off the year without any additional angst. Apparently Katie had the same idea, and there they were, both dredging up four months of intense high school romance on the last day before the rest of their lives.