Taylor

Ch. 2

It hadn't always been like this.

Taylor and Gabby used to be friends.

Maybe even best friends.

They both lived on the same block.

Their moms were close friends; that's how Taylor and Gabby had met, and then become friends.

Up until middle school, they hadn't gone to the same school. Then when they were going to both finally go to school together, Taylor thought Gabby was going to be super excited, just like she was.

She thought of talking about it with Gabby, but Gabby never brought it up, so she didn't say anything either.

The first day of sixth grade, Taylor saw Gabby standing in front of the school. She was surrounded by three other girls, talking to them. She was laughing.

Taylor ran up to them, saying Gabby's name. Gabby slowly turned around.

She stopped laughing when she saw who it was. Her face grew blank.

The other three girls shot Taylor a dark look.

Taylor stood there, her face starting to turn red. Now she felt weird, awkward.

She was suddenly aware of how much taller she was then everyone else there. How her skinny jeans were just slightly too short at the bottom, because she was so tall. Of the way her glasses made her look kind of dorky. Of how Gabby and the other three girls all had their hair done the same way - Taylor's hair was different.

Gabby didn't say anything. Instead she turned back to the other girls, immediately resuming her conversation.

She didn't turn back around.

Taylor stood there.

She slowly started to walk away, her eyes filling with hot tears.

Don't cry, don't cry.

She couldn't cry here. Not now.

But what the heck had just happened?

Gabby was her friend. Friends said hi to each other. It was what people did.

So why had those girls made her feel...inferior? Like she didn't even deserve to talk to Gabby, or to them, for that matter?

They hadn't actually said anything.

But she had gotten the message, loud and clear.

Now school was going to be so much harder.

Taylor had thought she would at least have one friend.

Gabby was the whole reason she had decided to go to this middle school.

And now Gabby didn't even want to talk to her.

Taylor took a deep breath.

She quickly wiped her eyes, replaced her glasses, hoping no one had noticed.

She gazed longingly at the track, wishing she could run a little to clear her head.

Maybe she was acting crazy.

Maybe Gabby had mistaken her for someone else. Yeah, that was it. In a couple seconds, Taylor would see Gabby run up, apologizing for her mistake, and introduce Taylor to her three friends.

But no.

That was impossible.

Taylor had seen the recognition in Gabby's eyes, and then slowly watched them darken.

Gabby had clearly known who it was. She just hadn't cared.

Did their years of friendship really mean nothing to her?