Eva

Part Two: Taylor

"Lyla!"
I awoke suddenly and for a moment was confused. I was in my bed, looking up groggily into my best friend's face.
"Taylor? How the hell did you get into my house at 5.30 in the morning?"
Taylor laughed, running a hand through her shoulder-length black hair. "Your mom let me in. Seeing as today is a special occasion and all."
I faked innocence. "What? Why is today special?"
Taylor grabbed a pillow and hit me, then rolled over onto my bed and lay next to me. "You only turn 16 once. Tell me, how does it feel to be sweet sixteen and never been kissed?"
I stuck my tongue out at her. "You obviously wouldn't know," I teased her in response.
"Shut up!" she laughed. "Get your lazy ass up and dressed right now. I'm taking you out for breakfast."
I hauled myself out of bed and over to my closet, where I picked out a simple leggings and tank top outfit. I put on my boots and quickly threw my hair into a ponytail.
"Ready?" Taylor asked me. I nodded and we left my room to look for my mom.

"Morning, mom," I said upon finding her watching tv in the lounge.
"Good morning! Happy birthday, Lyla." She got up and came over to give me a kiss on the cheek and hand me a card with a gift voucher inside.
"Thank you," I hugged her.
"So I hear you're going out for breakfast?" My mom asked.
"Yep, I don't know where though," I looked over at Taylor questioningly. She wiggled her eyebrows and shrugged.
"You'll see."
"Well, I guess I will see you later," I turned to address my mom.
"Bye, baby. Behave yourselves!" She smiled.
"Of course!" Taylor grinned charmingly. But as soon as we were out the door, she laughed: "But what fun would that be?"

We walked for a few minutes into the center of town - luckily my house is nearby and in a safe area. We eventually came to the front door of a little pancake cafe.
"I love this place, so I thought I'd introduce it to you," Taylor told me proudly.
We entered the small cafe and were seated at a round wooden table. Taylor ordered her pancakes, and I ordered next: three lemon and sugar pancakes.
"Seriously? Lemon and sugar?" Taylor asked, straight-faced.
I shrugged. "It's my favorite. You know I'm not very adventurous."
Taylor sighed exaggeratedly. "And that is your problem."
I stuck my tongue out at her. "So. I have something to tell you."
"Okay?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Last night..." I took deep breath. "Yes?"
"Last night, I got a text message. From Eva."

Taylor all but spat out her honeycomb pancakes all over the table.
"You're not serious! What did she say?"
"Nothing major," I answered. "Just asked how I was. But hearing from her after all this time... it kind of reminded me of how much I want to find her."
Taylor grabbed my hand and held it tight. She's always known how much it upsets me to talk about Eva.
"Remember when we were 13," I laughed, "and I convinced you to help me set up a detective agency to find Eva?"
Taylor covered her eyes with her hands. "Don't remind me. We even had walkie talkies and 'special uniforms'.
This set us off laughing for about ten minutes, and we only stopped when Taylor took out her phone to check a message.
"Oh wow, look at the time!" she exclaimed. "Let's go."
We paid our bill and started the journey back to my house.

"Why the hell do you seem so worked up?" I asked Taylor, laughing.
"I'm not. Why do you think that?"
"You're practically speed-walking, plus you won't stop clicking your fingers."
Taylor rolled her eyes as we walked up to my front door.
"You're just imagining things."
I reached out and opened the door, walked through the hallway into the living room.
"SURPRISE!"
A group of people suddenly leapt up in front of me. I screamed and was so startled that I lunged backwards into the edge of our coffee table.

"Lyla!" Taylor rushed towards me to help me up, but unsurprisingly wasn't much help due to the fact that she was doubled over laughing.
Once I was up and my face slightly less red, people began to come up to me to say happy birthday. I don't have many good friends apart from Taylor, but it was nice to see all the people I'd been good friends with a few years ago. My house, normally so cold and white and clinical, was filled with people and coloured balloons and banners and life.

I was bombarded suddenly from behind by a hug from Taylor.
"Look, twins!" she told me and pointed at the two boys that were standing next to her. I smiled at them a bit uncomfortably - I had no idea who they were or why Taylor had invited them.
"They're my best friends from when I was 6 years old - before you. Nick and Jeremy, Lyla. Lyla, Jeremy and Nicholas."
"Nice to meet you," one of them (possibly Jeremy?) said, and stuck out his hand. Once I'd shaken it, his brother did the same.
"Nice to meet you too," I said politely, feeling plain in my simple outfit and ponytail in front of these boys.
They weren't exactly what you would call male models, but they were cute in a gangly, floppy-haired way.

Luckily we had Taylor to eliminate all - well, most of- the awkwardness.
"I think we should all go out to lunch tomorrow afternoon," she announced. "I want to catch up with you guys, and I get the feeling that you and Lyla would get on well, so it's a win-win situation!"
"Tomorrow?" I asked. "Isn't that kind of short notice?"
"We aren't busy," one of the boys said and smiled.
"Yay!" Taylor replied brightly. "See you both then at 1 pm at that burger place."
Without waiting for a reply Taylor suddenly whisked me away to meet even more people.

"Are you done yet?" I asked, only half joking, an hour later.
She considered. "I think so. Unless you feel like meeting more people?"
I shuddered. "No, please no. The horror."
She stuck her tongue out at me. "Antisocial. How are we even best friends?"
Taylor finished off her sentence by throwing an arm around my neck and hugging me violently but affectionately.
"By the way," she added. "I'm staying over at your house tonight."
I didn't question it. Taylor is like a sister to me, and sometimes she doesn't particularly want to go home some days - she has her reasons.

A few hours later my house was empty once again, but the atmosphere wasn't gone. Taylor and I cooked my favourite pasta dish for dinner, and once we had eaten and talked to my mother for a while we trudged down the hallway to my bedroom.
Once we had changed into our pyjamas, Taylor began blasting music from her phone.
"Dance, Ly! This is my favourite song," Taylor exclaimed, starting to dance around my room. "I bet that you look good on the dance floor, I don't know if you're looking for romance or..." she sang.
I stayed seated on my bed. I'm not the kind of person who can just dance without feeling stupid. Besides, even though it was my birthday and I had enjoyed it, I was feeling a bit down.
"What's wrong?" Taylor flopped down onto my bed, red-faced and breathing heavily from her energetic dancing.
"Eva didn't wish me happy birthday," I admitted. "And now, since she texted me yesterday, I know she can definitely contact me. Which makes this even worse."
Taylor took my hand.
"I know you love her and desperately want to see her," she said. "But to be brutally honest, there is nothing you can do. You just have to hope."
I shook my head. "You're wrong."
Taylor frowned. "How so?"
"There is something I can do. I can look for her. I have a plan."
Taylor was quiet for a few seconds, unsure how to respond.
"Alright," she simply said.
"Goodnight," I reached over and switched off my nightlight.
"'Night," Taylor replied, squeezing my hand.
I fell asleep next to my best friend, feeling happy and safe, but - strangely, somehow - somewhat dissatisfied.