We Are Broken (Tayley)

Deeper

I couldn't get him out of my head and the more I tried, the worse it got. Sarah-Beth had been getting high again, so I went to the guest bedroom to escape it. She called me a pussy again when I was leaving, but I could tell she understood. I had been staring at my phone for the last half an hour when I couldn't take it anymore.

I went to the message that was a lone 'Q' and added Taylor to my contacts. Then I worked up my courage and sent a message that was longer than I would've liked it to be, but a message nonetheless. 'Hey. You said to text you back some time and I'm honestly a little bit afraid of you, so here's my reply.'

I waited, but he still hadn't texted me back when the door creaked open. I was expecting to see Sarah-Beth, so I was little bit surprised when one of her moms walked in. I was still a little bit unsure of what to call them because the first day I had come over I called them Mrs. Jardine and Mrs. McDougall and they had laughed and told me not to make them sound like kindergarten teachers. It felt wrong to call them by their first names. I went with it anyway.

"Hi, Tay," I offered her a friendly smile.

"Hey, Hayley" She came and sat on the edge of my bed. "What is that girl of mine up to right now?"

I laughed. "I honestly have no idea. I just came in here. I'll go check on her soon."

She smiled. "You're a good friend, Hayley. Jen and I would've hung around you when we were kids, if it means anything."

I really liked Sarah-Beth's parents and they were both beautiful so it did mean a lot, imagining fitting into the same crowd as them. I didn't get a chance to voice this, though, before my phone vibrated and a message back from Taylor showed up on the screen. Jay looked at it out of habit and asked in a stereotypical mom voice, "Is that a boy Taylor or a girl Taylor?" Then she laughed and added in her actual voice, "I'm kidding, I couldn't care less and it wouldn't prove anything. For the record, girls are pretty great, or at least mine is. I'll leave you to text your friend."

I smiled at her as she left. She was one of the best parents I knew. I would probably be friends with her now, even with the age gap, if I weren't already so close to their daughter. I looked at the text now, curious as to how the man I had just met earlier that day would reply.

'Heh, don't be. I can be pretty nice, depending on if I like you or not and I can already tell I like you, so I'd think you're safe.' I read. It made me slightly uncomfortable but at the same time it ignited this feeling like an unsteady warmth spreading outward from my heart.

'Oh, thank you, I think' I texted back, cursing as soon as I hit send. I could have come up with something better than that.

I slid my phone into my pocket before deciding to make sure Sarah-Beth was doing okay. Stepping into her room, I saw she had pulled out her calculus homework and began working on it. I was impressed with the effort until I saw her scratch work. She had solved the first problem on the sheet around twenty times and was now attempting it again. I shook my head slightly before saying softly, "I'm hungry. What do you want to eat?"

She shook her head, "I'm not hungry, but eat whatever you want. I'm concentrating, though, so leave me alone or face my wrath." She said it in a way that I couldn't quite tell if she was dead serious or joking. My phone buzzed again so I slid back into the hallway and pulled it out again.

'You text back quickly. Are you alone or just not busy?' I frowned, but I figured it would be better to just tell the truth. I had no idea what a man like him was capable of.

'I'm at my friend from earlier's house, but I'm not currently around her. Why?' Walking down two levels of stairs, I went to the kitchen and grabbed a Pop Tart. It was almost weird how comfortable I was in Sarah-Beth's house. I did spend a lot of time there.

'Just wondering' Was the next message. I wasn't sure if that was all he was going to say, so I waited until I was back in the guest bedroom before I sent back 'Is there a second part to that?'

Not long after came 'Did you want there to be?' I didn't know what that meant, so I asked. The next message read 'If you don't know, how should I?'

'You are so confusing'.  I don't know why, but I could just imagine him smiling down at that message. He didn't reply, though, so I just kept picturing that until I fell asleep.