A Late Arrival

(Chapter 6) Kissed Them Both

The air in Taylor's dorm room felt thick, heavy with the weight of everything that had happened. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about the kiss with Cassidy and the way it had felt so intense, so real, and yet, so confusing. The memory played on a loop in her mind, making it hard to focus on anything else. And now, sitting on her bed, she wasn't sure what to do next.

Sam was sitting at the foot of the bed, legs crossed, a curious expression on her face as she scrolled through her phone. She looked up at Taylor, eyebrows raised as she noticed the distant look in her eyes.

"Okay," Sam said, setting her phone down, "you've been acting weird all day. Spill."

Taylor bit her lip, unsure of how to even begin. She and Sam had become close over the past few weeks—closer than Taylor had expected when she first arrived at St. Aubrey's. Sam had this natural way of making things feel lighter, less serious. But right now, Taylor's heart felt anything but light.

"I don't even know where to start," Taylor mumbled, tugging at the hem of her sweater as her mind raced.

"Well, for starters, is it about Ezra?" Sam asked, her eyes gleaming with interest. "Because I've seen you hanging out with him a lot lately."

Taylor shook her head, feeling her stomach twist. "No... It's not Ezra... well, not exactly."

Sam leaned in closer, her curiosity piqued. "Ooooh, now I'm super interested. Okay, what happened? You've got this look on your face like something major went down."

Taylor took a deep breath, her heart pounding as the memory of Cassidy's lips on hers flashed through her mind. She hesitated for a second, unsure of how to phrase it, but Sam had always been someone she could be honest with. There was no turning back now.

"I kissed Cassidy," Taylor blurted out, the words tumbling from her lips before she could stop herself.

Sam blinked, her mouth dropping open slightly. For a moment, she was completely silent, her eyes wide with surprise. "Wait... what?"

Taylor felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. She had never told anyone about her feelings for Cassidy—partly because she wasn't even sure what those feelings were. But now, it was all out there, and there was no taking it back.

"I kissed Cassidy," Taylor repeated, her voice quieter this time. "Or, well... she kissed me, I guess. But it happened."

Sam's jaw dropped even further, and she threw her hands up in disbelief. "Whoa! Okay, this is news!" She let out a low whistle, clearly stunned. "I mean, Cassidy Blake? That's, like, big. What the hell happened? How did that even go down?"

Taylor let out a long sigh, feeling a weight lift off her chest just by saying it out loud. She needed to talk about this, to process everything that had been swirling in her mind. "It was... intense," she said softly, her fingers fidgeting with the edge of her bedspread. 

"It happened last night. I don't even know how to explain it. I was avoiding her, but I saw her sitting alone on the bleachers, and I just... I don't know, I went to her."