Reasons Why (Jeremy Shada Fan Fiction)

Chapter 13: Emotions

The white star slides onto the stem. She plugs it in and we watch it flicker to life. “All done?” I call to her.

“Uh-huh.” She replies. I lower her to the ground, keeping my arms wrapped around her waist. “How does it look?”

“Beautiful, like you.” I reach out and touch the snow white garland.

“You helped me a ton with this. Thanks, now help me study for midterms.” She smiles and removes my arms.

“Alright, but you know I hate math.”

“Who doesn’t?” She gives me a look. I shrug in response and sit down on her bed. So far everything had been going good between us. We’ve been together for nearly three months. I was thankful for every moment we had. I still wanted to know what was behind her. It was hard trying not to pry.

She hands me flash cards. I pull out random cards and quiz her. After getting through the stack, she lies back on the bed. “When’s the pizza going to get here?”

“Taylor, you have to be patient.” I chuckle.

“When did you last eat?”

“Um, around 2:30.”

 “I last ate at eleven this morning. I want FOOD!” She collapses on the bed dramatically and sighs. I shake my head.

“You sure you’ve never taken acting lessons?” I look at her, her eyes looking straight into my own. The color was a mixture of many. I have never been able to figure out what color they are. “What color are your eyes? They're a mix of blue, green, and gray.”

She sits up and folds her legs beneath her. Something she does almost every time we sit here. “I’ve never acted or taken lessons. Maybe I’m just gifted. And my eyes are glacier.”

“What? Glacier?”

Taylor shrugs, “It’s a unique color. Most people think my eyes are gray or blue.” I nod. Never heard of glacier eyes before. But they’re so beautiful.

“Kids? The pizza’s here!” Mrs. Swuarez’s voice flies through the house.

“FINALLY!” Taylor gets up and pulls me up. I follow her down the stairs and into the kitchen. Her mom is standing at the island, four pizzas stacked around her. She’s setting plates down at various spots. We file in and take seats. Kyle and Aaron sit together while I take a seat by Taylor. “Yum.” Taylor reaches over and pulls a slice of peperoni and black olive pizza from the smallest box.

“I don’t know how you eat that.” I take a bite of the plain slice I had grabbed. She shrugs and takes another bite out of hers. The garage door goes up, everyone looks in the direction of the door.

“Is that-?” Kyle’s shy voice breaks the silence.

The door that leads into the garage opens and two men step into the house, shaking snow off their shoes. “Hello family, and Jeremy.” Mr. Swuarez waves.

Jackson looks over into the kitchen, “Hey Ray-ray.” Who’s Ray-ray? I look at Aaron, then at Kyle, and finally Taylor. Her face is covered in a layer of panic.

“Jackson.” She calls, raising an eyebrow and giving him a look.

“Sorry, I forgot you don’t like that nickname anymore.” They walk in and embrace the rest of the family. I look out the window and see a silver BMW sitting in the driveway. Like mine but older, just like Taylor said.

Everyone sits back down and eats. “Beth?” Mr. Swuarez says after a few minutes. I link my fingers with Taylor’s.

“What is it Dave?” Her mom’s eyes float over to him, similar in color to Taylor’s. Just bluer. He gives her a look. An ‘oh yeah’ look plays on her face before she gets up and heads into a different room. She returns a minute later with a small box wrapped in silver paper. She hands it to Taylor.