Where We Begin

Chapter 16 - You Guys Aren't Wasting Any Time

July 6th, 2002 - Taylor 

Since I blew off their phone calls the day before, I met Amber, Brandy & Kiki for lunch on Saturday. I was the last one to get there and when I joined the table, they all started chattering at once, asking if I was OK and how I was feeling.

"I'm fine, more than fine," I insisted. 

Amber had a suspicious look on her face. "I tried calling you again late in the afternoon and your mom said you were having dinner at a friends. I assumed it was one of these two, but they both just told me they didn't see you at all yesterday either. Where were you?"

"Well, I went running at Crescent Park and um, Busta happened to be there," I said nonchalantly, as I spread my napkin onto my lap. 

"Wait, what!? That's like your private chill spot, how did that happen?" Brandy asked. "Ew, was he following you around town?"

"That's a really good question. I don't know how he found me there." 

Kiki audibly gulped. "I might know." 

Now I was interested. "Go on, Littles. Spill it."

"I was hanging out with Jake yesterday and he mentioned he saw Busta at the pizza place. Busta was asking about you and stuff. Jake says he actually seems like a nice guy and he was really worried about you. If Jake told him where to find you, I'm really sorry. I hope nothing too bad happened if he did." 

"Nothing bad happened," I assured her. "In fact, he apologized for everything."

"I hope he had a damn good reason for being such a douche," Brandy scoffed. 

"Yeah, it was sweet that he did what he did at the party, but we all saw first hand the way he spoke to you Wednesday," Amber said, sipping her water.

"He had a really good reason. He told me why he moved here with his mom and brother and it's terrible. I don't want to get into it too much, it's his business, but his dad was awful to them. Like, they were in real danger, until his dad got arrested and finally gave his mom a chance to file for divorce. He's been really down on himself about the whole thing." 

The girls were all quiet for a moment. "Wow," Kiki broke the silence. "I didn't expect that."

"That's what I said," I sighed. "Please don't tell anyone about that. I don't want him to be mad I told you, but I wanted you to understand that he wasn't just being mean for the sake of it."

"Yeah, of course," Brandy said. "So I'm guessing you two made up?"

"More like made out." I couldn't stop a big, cheesy smile from spreading across my face. 

"NO. WAY!" Amber exclaimed. "Are you joking?!"

"Nope. We talked, and it got really emotional, and he told me how sorry he was. He told me he had been putting up a wall because he didn't think someone as beautiful as me would give him a real chance. And then he kissed me." 

"That is so romantic, oh my gosh, I might cry," Kiki said, fanning her face with her hands. 

"I totally cried!" I laughed. "Then that big storm rolled through and we got caught in the rain together. We went back to his place and he gave me a dry shirt and boxers to wear. It was ridiculous, but amazing."

"So wait, is that where you had dinner? Did you spend the whole day with his family and stuff?" Amber asked.

"Actually, there was no one home when we got there. We were in his room and we fell asleep. His mom caught us laying in bed together."

"Oh shit, Taylor, this just keeps getting better!" Brandy laughed.

"I figured you were in bed all day, but YOUR bed. This is the last thing I thought you'd say," Amber added. "Did his mom flip?"

"At first, yeah. But we swore nothing happened. She ended up being really cool. She dried my clothes for me and invited me to dinner. It was really nice."

"My mom would lock me in my room for a year if she found me in bed with Jake," Kiki shook her head.

"And don't forget, she was in Busta's boxers too," Amber pointed out. 

"Like I told you, it was ridiculous," I said.

"OK, so you guys told his mom nothing happened." Brandy, the only one of them who had ever done the deed, leaned in, whispering the last part. "Did something happen? Did you do it?" 

I rolled my eyes. "Brandy, the whole reason Kit and I broke up was essentially because I didn't want to have sex, but Susie did."

"But you were going to. You told us you were ready to that day you caught him cheating," she replied.

"True, but I just met Busta a few days ago. I'll admit the thought occurred to me, he's just so sweet and cute, and when we kissed... oh man, I never felt that way kissing Kit. But I haven't even been on a real date with him yet," I swooned. "That's tonight."

"Holy crap, you guys aren't wasting any time," Kiki said. "This sounds like it's getting pretty serious, pretty fast."

I shrugged. "I guess so. When we were together yesterday, I was so happy. It was like all the shitty things that happened to me didn't matter anymore. They don't, compared to things he told me. I got this feeling, like there was something really special between us already. It was like..."

"Love?" Amber smirked. I didn't say anything. "Taylor? That was supposed to be a joke. You can't possibly think you love him already."

"I don't know. Whatever it is, it's happening fast. I have never felt like this before. Like even when we had our fights, I knew there was something different about him. I couldn't get him off my mind. I still can't."

"Well, I have to say, this is not the lunch conversation I thought we'd be having," Kiki chimed in. "I thought we'd still be trying to cheer you up, but it looks like Busta took care of that for us."

"Yeah. Tell your boyfriend he's a real sneak. And also, tell him thank you."