Once upon a summer|Joshifer

Chapter 10

The next few days pass by quickly yet painfully slowly.
Josh hasn't answered any of my texts.
I haven't seen Connor at all, our underwater kiss still haunts my me.
I haven't understood what Liam wants from me.
And Taylor...
She's due to leave today.

"What's on your mind." My dad joins me on the sofa.

"Nothing."

"Your sitting inside on the hottest day of the year, without even watching tv, staring into space so there's obviously something wrong."

After a few moments of waiting for an answer my dad gets up to go to the kitchen.

"Not to mention, you haven't even eaten breakfast. Hello where's the Jen I know?"
He reemerges with a pack of cheetos.

"Don't tell your mum." He winks and forces a tiny giggle out of me.

I decide I'm being unproductive and set off to spend the rest of the day at Taylor's house. After all, I can't let a chain of bad events bring me down so easily.

•••

*Ding dong*

Taylor's mum struggles to open the door with her hands filled with baking trays
"Jen darling come on in! Taylor's just upstairs, she needs some cheering up."

The rest of the day passes by with me helping Taylor pack her suitcase.

"It's filled to the brim! I have too many clothes!" She moans as we attempt to close it.

"Too bad you'll have to fit one more thing in."

"Wait what did I forget?"

"This."

I reveal a smooth, sparkly stone from my pocket. Painted on it with swirly writing, is a poem.

Taylor,
Goodbyes are not forever.
Goodbyes are not the end.
They simply mean I'll miss you,
Until we meet again!
Love Jen x

"Oh Jen, it's perfect." Tears brim her eyes and she leans over to hug me. Soon tears are rolling down my own cheeks and we bawl until our eyes dry out. I look around me, her pink walls are stripped bare of her kiddish posters, the wooden floor feels lonely and cold without her fluffy rug we'd spend hours discussing on. But on her door, a sign of our friendship still remains:

Jen+Taylor+Miley= best friends forever

Scrawled on with a permanent marker, back when we were ten. I remember that day as if it were yesterday.
I start to realise that I haven't seen or heard from Miley at all. Shouldn't she be here on her best friends last day?

"Sorry to ruin the moment, but have you heard from Miley lately?"

Taylor blows her nose and shrugs it off with a "Nope."

Something must be up. Although it seems unlikely, I take a guess.

"Tay...has something happened between you two?"

"No."

"Tell me the truth." I demand

She sighs, exasperated.
"When we were at the party, things were going well between me and Sam. We were talking and he even asked for my number. I was so happy and out of the blue, Miley comes and pulls me aside. She told me that Sam wouldn't want me, that I was too fat to be his girlfriend. That I should lay off the pies."

I look over at her pained expression, her bony legs and flat stomach.

"You know that's complete bullshit right? If anyone was fat, it wouldn't be you."

"Mabye she was right you know..."
She doesn't look convinced by me.

"Taylor! What the hell? Don't listen to her. She was drunk so she probably didn't even know who she was talking to. You've got to stop feeling self conscious. Promise me that."

"Ok I promise." She gives me a slight smile but I can tell it still bothers her.
But why would Miley hurt her best friend like that? That is so unlike her. She would always cheer us up and never be spiteful. First Josh, then Miley, I feel like I don't really know my friends after all.

"Does she even know you're leaving?" I wonder aloud

"No. And I'd rather not tell her. I want her to regret what she said to me."

"Girls! It's time to leave!" Her mums voice interrupts our conversation and brings us back to reality.

I take a shaky deep breath and follow Tay downstairs along with her suitcase.

As much as I try not to cry, fresh tears escape me. However Taylor's mum calms me down and places an apple and cranberry pie in my hands. My mums favourite.
"I'm so sorry mum couldn't be here today, she was called for an emergency shift at the hospital." I apologise.

"No worries honey! Although we will miss you all very much."

Taylor, her mum and I have our final embrace before they reluctantly join their dad in their 'SWIFT PIES' business van.

"Goodbye!" Taylor yells

"No don't say goodbye! Remember the stone I gave you, we will see each other again!" I yell back, as the van drives away and disappears down the winding road.

That's when the text comes.

My emotional pain subsides a little as I'm about to open Josh's message. He's probably feeling better after all these days.
But it's not from Josh.

Unknown number
I'd be careful if I were you. You don't want to be messing with the Hutcherson's.

A chill runs down my spine, despite the summer heat.