taylor moved to hopkins, minnesota for her sophmore year of high school, where she meets her neighbor and soon to be best friend, paige bueckers. the possibility of leaving taylor without telling her how she feels haunts paige, and an attempt to con...
january 6 2020(7.5 months since last flashback) taylor's perspective
I pop a piece of green spearmint gum into my mouth and my jaw works at softening it. My cheer bag, and her basketball one, droop on Paige's shoulder as we walk out to her car. I squint my eyes when I see what looks like a gray blur standing next to Paige's car.
"Who is that?" Paige asks, pulling me closer to her.
As we inch closer I make out the figure of Jack Greenberg, with a smirk creeping onto his face.
"It's Jack." I smile and step away from Paige.
Once I get a couple feet in front of him, he stretches his arm out from behind his back and I scooch closer to read the sign.
It reads 'I would cheer if you said yes to winter formal with me" with poorly drawn pom poms splattered on the cardstock.
Jack taps his foot on the concrete, showing his nerves but not saying anything. I can see him from the corner of my eyes watching my eyes read his question.
As I lean back up to meet his eye, not having to crane my neck up as much as I do when I'm with Paige, but still craning it, his teeth chew on his bottom lip.
"So." He starts and lets a smile conquer his face. "Winter formal?"
A matching smile appears on my previously empty face as I reach my arms out and he wraps me in a loose hug. "I'd love to, Jack." I feel him sigh against my chest and can't help but wonder what Paige is thinking. I can feel her eyes looming over us.
"Awesome." Jack pulls away and I see his anxiety wash off his face. "I'll text you then." Jack and I have a couple mutual friends, that's how I know him anyways, so I already have his number. We really haven't spoken much, though.
"Before you go," I begin, putting my hand on his clothed bicep, "Paige, will you take a picture of us?" I hold out my pink phone for her to grab.
Through gritted teeth and what anyone could see as a forced smile, she grabs the phone from my hand. "Sure." I hear the phone camera shutter a few times as she reluctantly hands the phone back to me.
"It's Paige, right?" Jack asks, trying to see if his memory does him right.
"Yep." Paige grudgingly says, refusing eye contact with the blond in front of her.
"I'll see you around, Taylor." Jack exclaims, starting his walk over to his car, a couple spaces down.
"Well then." Paige mutters, unlocking the car and opening my door, since she's standing on the passenger side.
"C'mon Paige, that was cute." I plead, not wanting to entertain her usual antics.
"For you, sure." She flashes me a sharp smile, with an undertone of anger.
"If a guy asked you, you would think it's cute too." I reason with her.
"Nah." Paige smacks her gum.
I honestly just think she's kind of upset that no one asked to winter formal. And it's not like I can do anything because she refuses to tell me what guy she likes. You'd think after a year and a half of knowing her, she'd feel inclined to share a little more.
After a minute or two of silence, Paige speaks up. "Did you get your grade back for that test you thought you did bad on?"
"Physics? Yeah, I got an A."
Paige shakes her head and fights off a smirk. "I told you."
- - -
*15 days later
the night (morning) after the formal (1:38)
"Jesus, Taylor. You scared the crap out of me." Paige whispers, as I stumble into her room, not fully able to see my surroundings. "What are you doing here, it's almost two." Paige glances at her clock on the wall.
"I can't go home like this, my mom's gonna be so mad." I slur.
"You mean you can't go home drunk? Yeah, probably not."
"I'm not drunk, I had like 5 beers."
"Oh that's my bad, you're just wasted."
"Paige, stop it." I whine.
Paige rips herself from her bed and ruffles through her closet and emerges with a pair of her sweatpants and one of her many basketball hoodies.
"Go in the bathroom and put this on." She orders. I grab the clothes from her hand and trudge into the bathroom. I peel off my green dress, practically glued to my body with how tight it is, and let Jack's jacket that I borrowed fall to the floor. As I pull Paige's clothes over my head, I take in her lingering scent. Clean and fresh, with a hint of dark perfume, almost like cologne. I always liked how she smelled, breathing her in when we would hug.
"Come out here and talk to me when you're done." Paige hollers from outside the door.
I walk out, her much too big sweatpants bunching at the bottom of her floor.
"T, where'd you put your shoes?" Paige searches the bedroom.
"They're either at your front door or in someone's house." I admit, still slurring my words, maybe even worse than before.
"We'll look in the morning, it's okay." Paige breathes out. "What did you tell your mom you were doing?"
"Sleeping over here. Which I am now." I giggle. "So I'm not really lying."
"Are you okay?" Paige asks.
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"
"I just didn't see you much at the dance."
"I was with Jack. And you were with Avery." I scoff at her name.
"Lay down." Paige requests, lifting up her comforter and setting one of her pillows down horizontally.
"I wish I had been with you, though." I admit, the alcohol completely talking for me now.
"Yeah?" Paige stutters.
"I like you way more than Jack." I slip out.
"Well I think that's a little different." Paige sighs. "And you're just drunk. Go to bed, okay? I'll sleep on the floor tonight."
"No, Paige. Come up here. It's lonely without you."
"Goodnight Taylor." Paige rejects.
I lay in bed and wonder why she won't come lay with me. Paige has always been open with me, but just ever so so slightly closed off. And I can't figure out why.
As I drift off to sleep, the alcohol starts to wear off and I start to comprehend what I said.
Paige is right. I'm definitely just drunk.
avery's note
yes its short i am just scrambling for bits until the good stuff happens
taylor perspective during a flashback for a change?
as you can see she is definitely still homophobic
love that for her (just kidding of course)
mwah kisses! 💋
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