Analise

Chapter Twenty-two

"Eww, I can't believe you eat that," Taylor says shaking her head at Layla. Layla just rolls her eyes and takes another bite of the fudge. Taylor shivers and takes another raspberry from the container.

"You don't know what good food is." She says after finishing her fudge.

"Yeah, anything not involving chocolate." She says and Layla just shakes her head at her best friend.

"I don't understand you. Not at all." She says. Taylor smiles and puts another berry into her mouth. Leland comes by and steals her container.

"Leland. Give me them back." She says hopping out of her chair to go after him. He holds them high above his head.

"Or what?" He asks. Taylor gives him a look and then grabs his phone.

"I call mom and tell her about that misunderstanding." She threatens. His eyes widen, but then he smirks.

"You wouldn't. You'd get in trouble for it." He says. Taylor finds her number and puts it to her ear.

"Who is she going to believe, her innocent little daughter that's hurt or the older brother that doesn't get brownie points." She threats and he shakes his head. He puts her berries back on the table and grabs the phone from her hand. Taylor sits back down with a smile and plops another into her mouth.

"Oh, hey Mom. Sorry, my phone has been acting up, didn't mean to call you." He says glaring down at his little sister. She gives him a smile and he shakes his head. "Yeah, you wanna talk to her?" He asks and Taylor shakes her head. She mouths 'No.' over and over again. "Alright, she's just eating breakfast. Yeah, she has plenty of time." He says and hands her the phone.

"Devil's spawn." She says and puts the phone to her ear. "Hi, Mom. I gotta be quick so I can get in the shower before we leave." She lies. Leland rolls his eyes and starts talking to his girlfriend.

"Oh, your brother said you were just eating breakfast." Her mother says.

"I'm just about finished, but how have you been?" She asks eating another berry.

"I'm fine, I want to know about you. How's the side feeling?" She asks with worry in her voice.

"I'm fine Mother. It's been really good, I think tomorrow Layla can take out the stitches." She says and then wants to hit herself in the face after.

"You need to go back to the doctor and see if it's ok. You can't just make a guess and say when they need to come out. And you should have an expert take the stitching out. What if something goes wrong when they take them out. I trust Layla, but she's not a doctor and doesn't have the equipment to help if something goes wrong. Taylor, you really should-"

"Mom, Mom, it'll be fine. Layla wouldn't dare touch them if she thought something would go wrong and there's no point in going back to the doctor just to have them send us more bills. It's already going to be a pretty penny to pay back." She says and hears her Mother's sigh on the other side.

"Money isn't a problem, especially when it comes to your health." She says with worry back in her voice.

"I'll be fine Mom. I gotta go though. I love you." She says looking down at her empty container.

"You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days, but I love you too. Tell your brother I love him too." She says and then they end the call.

"Mom says she loves you." She says and hands him his phone back. He takes it with a nod before looking back at Layla. They're talking about something quietly, so she stands up and throws the container out. She feels eyes on her and turns to see Austin looking at her.