Wildest Dream

Blank Space

The second part of High School AU series

***

Karlie was late about half an hour for their tutoring session. It was expected, but it still bugged Taylor like crazy. She had a tight schedule that day and Karlie's tardiness would screw the whole thing up. She sighed heavily as she watched another five minutes passed by. She had already finished her school works for tomorrow, compensating for the wasted time. Now she had nothing else to do while she waited. Taylor put all of her stuff away, leaving a clear space in front of her. Closing her eyes, she held her hands above the long table, pretending that it was her beloved baby grand. As she played the invisible keys, music was coming in her mind. It soothed her nerves, making the wait more bearable. She practiced the set for today. Even when she only played pretend, her whole body moved by the music within her. That was what she liked about music. That she could feel it in her entire being.

Karlie was already in front of her again when she was done. An amused yet somewhat admiring look on her face, along with that lopsided grin of hers. Taylor liked the fact that Karlie didn't intrude her moment, but just slipped in silently.

"Hey," Karlie said, still smiling. "You looked like you were having a kickass concert back there."

"I did. I was awesome," Taylor mirrored Karlie's grin.

"I noticed," Karlie nodded thoughtfully, surprisingly sounded sincere.

Taylor cleared her throat, suddenly felt awkward in the girl's presence. She was embarrassed of being caught nerding out twice by Karlie, yet the girl's reactions had been surprisingly flattering. Karlie was still looking at her with her intense emerald green eyes. Taylor fidgeted under the scrutiny, not knowing how to make of this serious side of the rebel. Taylor began pulling out of her textbooks out of her bag, just to have something to do with her hands.

"I think we should get started," Taylor muttered, looking down at the table.

"Yeah, sure."

When Taylor looked up at Karlie again, she found the girl still watching her while leaning back to her seat. Taylor raised an eyebrow, noting the empty space on the table in front of Karlie. She didn't have her bag with her, Taylor observed.

"Uh. Where's your books and stuff?"

Karlie shrugged. "In my locker. Why?"

Taylor closed her eyes and sighed. This is going to be a long day, she thought. "Because you'll need them to study, Karlie. You said you agreed to study with me, remember?" She said with an admonishing tone, the one she would use to scold a kid.

"I said I'd come. I didn't say I'd study, Taylor." Karlie said with the same tone as Taylor's. "You already brought yours anyway."

"Fine. Here. You can use mine."

Taylor was about to shove her books forward when Karlie got up and took a seat beside her. Karlie propped her head on her hand, her body turned sideways to face Taylor. They sat so close, Taylor could smell Karlie's scent. It was a mix of cigarette smoke and vanilla. It was a strangely pleasant scent, considering how Taylor loathed cigarettes smell.

"What are you waiting for?" Karlie said mockingly. "Please. Teach me, master."

Taylor rolled her eyes at Karlie's retort. It was hard to like this girl, especially when Taylor had this urge to punch her whenever Karlie opened her mouth. Taylor shuffled the pages of her Calculus book, looking for the chapter to start. Karlie hummed an unrecognizable song beside her, clearly not paying attention. Taylor shot her an annoyed look, resulting in an innocent grin from Karlie. Once the humming ceased, Taylor went back to her book. She started to review this week's lesson, selecting several problems to discuss with Karlie. Karlie didn't look at the paper when she was explaining. Instead she just gazed at Taylor, making the girl both nervous and strangely excited under Karlie's attention. While they went through the lessons, Taylor found out that Karlie actually did great with the numbers. The girl was smart. Taylor wondered how the hell she managed to fail the subject.