Taylor and Victor

Chapter 35

Taylor

All she can care about is how she would be meeting him today.

Now his picture filled her mind.

Taylor smiled all the way from the house to the bus stop, with her legs skipping and her hands racing back and forth. She saw Victor's already there, standing beautifully in his spot with hands in pockets. She approached him on the soft wet grass, quietly sliding her hand to his. He standed still but squeezes her hand tighter and presses a kiss on the side of her head.

She wanted to blend in and stayed beside him for life long.

But besides, Mia seems strange today. She would sit nowhere near Victor, neither being beside any of them. She won't even talk to Taylor in the hallway, she didn't respond to her in their French class.

Taylor tried to ask Victor about it, so he just shrugged.

"She probably fought with her sister."

She looked over her with questions in her eyes, but could not inquire further.

Taylor's sitting, watching the students minding their business while swinging her legs back and forth in the backyard. Victor got to his physics class to continue his project, so she's left alone.

But if alone means she's left out, Taylor's rather enjoying her company at her very max. The atmosphere builds up her comfort feeling, until a dude has to break her complete state of meditation.

"You're busy today?" Sam asked, blocking her view by standing in front of her.

"Quite, very." Taylor leaned her body to the side, peeking over.

He sat down to her level, putting his face close to hers while Taylor scrunched up her eyebrows, leaning her head backward.

"No, you're not. Can you help me with my art project?"

"Wasn't it your problem? Why'd I put my hand in?"

"Yeah, but." Sam opens his eyes wider, his lips smile harder. "You're best at this."

"Ask someone your age."

"You're gonna help me."

"No." Taylor puts her chin in her hand, her face looks careless.

"You know you love me."

"I love Victor."

"But you adore me."

She took a deep breath, swallowing how badly his rhetorical reasons are. Until her nose felt itchy, Taylor opened her mouth to say something.

"Yeah, what are you gonna say?" Sam hurried her.

But she sneezed instead.

"God dammit!"

Her head hit Sam's, making him stumble down to the ground. She reacted pretty fine by rubbing her nose, but Sam's head turned red while he had to wait for moments before sitting back up, this time staying further. For that moment, when she looks at him, Taylor suddenly feels apologetic for him about all that time when she's too busy to only care for herself. But she still asks him further, when she knows she'll help him eventually.

"What do I have in return, doing your project?"

"Anything you want?"

She shakes her head. "Something specific."

"I'll do your physics homeworks."

"I can do it on my own."

"My mother's cheese cake."

Her eyes sparkled rays of light. Taylor takes no time gathering her backpack and standing up. She started heading back inside. Sam quickly stood up from the ground and followed beside her.

"What are you doing?"

"Take a look at your subject. If they'd have choices on the bulletin in front of your class, I don't want to do something time consuming."

"It's in the Creative building. We moved last year."

She turns back, swiftly, and heads to the Creative building.

Taylor had been in Sam's house for uncountable times, but his room was somewhere she rarely was. But from the inside was as she remembered.

She takes a moment to look around with Sam going into the bathroom to fill some glass water.

"Where's all your supplies?" she asked, eyes scanning around.

"There's a suitcase on top of the shelf. It's your sister's, but I can take you another."

"You don't need to."

Taylor slowly climbs up on Sam's table, one glued to his bookshelf. She gradually lift her body when standing on the high surface. There, she spotted a black looking suitcase, with a little turned out corner.

"Where's all your supplies?" she asked, eyes scanning around.

"There's a suitcase on top of the shelf. It's your sister's, but I can take you another."

"You don't need to."

Taylor slowly climbed up on Sam's table, one glued to his bookshelf. She gradually lifted her body when standing on the high surface. There, she spotted a black looking suitcase, with little torn out corner.

She was sure Paige wouldn't be mad if she touched her stuff like before. Taylor opened the suitcase with somewhat of a longing feeling inside. She takes out rough brushes, dried colours, smooth paper and colourful palette. Taylor tried to get what's left of her.

"You know, maybe I should give you a new one," Sam said from the bathroom's door. "You can put that in her closet."

"No, just give me new colour tubes. They dried out."

He didn't say another word, getting down his table to open the cabinets. Meanwhile, Taylor noticed a zipper pop out under her sketchbook. A tiny one concealed in one corner and made her eyebrows furrowed.

Taylor put it down, took everything outside to look for a zipper line. She ran her finger along where she saw the slide, one going around the suitcase's bottom from the inside. She opened up curiously, when the base was made of hard material is able to open. Despite being on a straight line, the zipper was small and stuck, so it's only right when her fingers turned all red trying to open.

There was a brown leather notebook, lying lonely with nothing else. With nothing more than a logo on the outside. She turned the cover open, seeing Paige's occupation note from the outside.

She never thought of her sister using a diary. Her hands open the first few pages curiously, with just doodles of silly things her sister drew. But she didn't read any further and put it back, closing the zipper and organising the suitcase back to before she touched.

She asked Sam to bring it home that day.

She wouldn't know anything, and the notebook should be kept a mystery. But curious got her soft spot. Taylor would first hug the diary to her chest, rolling around inside her blanket. Then she's sitting on the desk with her head rested on the diary. She could smell the ink, with old paper scent mixed with smell of grapefruit Paige always spraying around. Her mind relaxed at the thought of her spirit around. But when she felt too much, Taylor became curious about what's inside. When finally, she promised to only read the first few pages.

Slowly, but gradually, few pages turned into ten, ten into twenty, and before she could know, Taylot read until she no longer could. The petrified face of her became clear without the need to look into the mirror. She would never know she'll read such a thing, but she couldn't be much scared about what she now knows.

Taylor followed the direction of what hinted inside the notebook, about what she picked up reading Paige's diary. She opened her wardrobe, digging through a pile of belongings, taking out a scratched old phone. The password was removed when she didn't know. Taylor started to see her hidden pictures, which forever should be kept hidden.