So High School - tayvis au

chapter one

5 months earlier

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD LEAVE ME ALONE!" I couldn't stand it anymore. His constant whining, his measly excuses of apologies. If he really meant what he said, he wouldn't have done what he did.

"Please Taylor we can fix this. I still love y –" He was desperate but I couldn't stand hearing it anymore.

"Oh, don't you dare finish that sentence, Joe." I stopped stuffing clothes into my duffel bag momentarily to look him in the eyes to show him that I meant it. I would not let him do this. "You don't love me. You don't do that to someone you love. All of the shit you've put me through these last years. I can't take it anymore. You destroyed me, shattered me and stomped on the broken pieces. You irrevocably maimed every last fiber of my being, yet you weren't kind enough to kill me, you tortured me. And I won't fucking let you do that anymore. I've excused your shit for long enough."

He took a step towards me and reached his arm out, seemingly oblivious to what I just told him. "Please just one more chance." He broke down sobbing, but I didn't feel an ounce of regret for what I said.

"Take. Your. Hand. Away. From. Me." I spoke through gritted teeth. I was so mad. I was fuming. I wasn't going to let him do this. Not this time. He lost his right to touch me long ago, and I finally realized that. "You can go crying to Emma. I'm out. And don't you ever fucking dare to come crawling back to me. You don't get another chance. We're over."

"Pleas-"

"NO" and with that last word, I slammed the door and left that godforsaken house for good. I couldn't even be proud of myself for finally escaping that hell on earth because the pain and guilt sat deeply engraved in me but I knew it was for the better.

Six years. He took six years of my life. For six years, I let him do this to me. I tried to look past his mistakes and what he did to me, but this was the straw that broke the camel's back. It was finally too much.

Today, August 2023

"Thank you, mom. I love you too. Goodbye." I smiled as I hung up my phone. My mom was genuinely my best friend, and I was so glad to have her in my life.

I took a deep breath and took one last look into the rearview mirror, putting on a smile and getting out of my car, making my way over to the entrance.

KENSINGTON HIGH SCHOOL

I read the big bold letters written above the entrance and went through the big wooden doors. Inside, I made my way through a few corridors until I found the office where I was eventually greeted by an old-looking woman with a lovely smile.

"Hi, my name is Taylor. Taylor Swift. I'm the new English teacher." My nervousness was quite apparent in the way I spoke.

"Ah Ms. Swift. Nice to finally meet you. My name is Cecilia, but you can just call me CeCe, my dear." She smiled at me lovingly, almost reminding me of my mom. "We already spoke over the phone. I've already got everything ready for you. Here these are the last few documents you need to fill out. Then we'll need to take a picture for your teacher ID. I think we should be able to get everything ready just in time, so you don't miss the teachers' conference."

Her positive energy was infectious, and I couldn't help but smile back at her. "Thank you. Then I think we should get started." And so, we did. I went through the huge number of documents and filled everything out. The few questions I had were quickly answered by CeCe who was always willing to help me. Soon I was finished, and we went to take a picture of me.

"Do I look ok like this?" I asked CeCe timidly, nervous about the way I looked.

"You look gorgeous my dear. Don't even worry about it." She said with a loving expression in her eyes and then took some pictures. We went and looked at them together and I decided on the one I liked the best. After a few more kind exchanges she directed me in the direction of the meeting room where the conference was held and I quickly headed over there, not wanting to be late.