September // a.knight

XXVI

taylor enjoyed her days off. after the stress of the pandemic, it felt nice to not have to worry about infecting her daughter or boyfriend.

taylor realized one day she hadn't heard all of waterparks' songs yet. she only heard bits and pieces of fandom, entertainment, double dare and cluster. elle was born before cluster was released, but taylor heard awsten working on a few songs in the works from time to time.

she decided one day to sit in their bedroom and just listen to everything she missed.

she enjoyed cluster, it was upbeat and catchy, double dare felt like summer to her, but entertainment broke her. entertainment came out four years after awsten and taylor broke up, but she could tell all these songs were for her, for them. at least most of them. taylor laughed at tantrum, because awsten wrote it his junior year of high school. he never released it because he felt it didn't fit the vibe of anything he was putting out at the time.

fandom was taylor's second favorite. cherry red was a masterpiece, and the transitions between each song left her smiling. high definition and never bloom again made her feelings drop.

"i tried to give you space until i stepped away from your brain, and now i just miss it."

taylor knew what this was about. she felt slightly angry, him talking about "boo hoo i miss u" when he left. she still had some anger at him, even if she loved him with all her heart, six months didn't cover five years.

taylor couldn't help but smile hearing telephone. everything about it made her happy. what caught her by surprise was the ending line from the wedding singer.

in their sophomore year of high school, awsten fell in love with taylor marten from a distance. her naturally blonde hair fell to her collar bones, and the rare times he saw her smile it lit up his world.

one day, he mustered enough courage to talk to her, and ask if she wanted to go out with him.

"like on a date?" a smile crept on her face.

"i guess? if that's okay with you, if not, then i understand completely." he quickly blurted. he was cute. taylor didn't fall in love immediately lime awsten did, but she thought he was the cutest boy she's ever seen.

"then yes, awsten knight, i will go on a date with you. here.. is.. my.. address.. and.. phone number." she wrote it down on a ripped paper out of the grey binder she was carrying. "i'll see you later, awsten!" she waved him goodbye. he had butterflies.

taylor ran home that day and flew up the steps into her room. she threw her entire closet on her bed, trying to find the right outfit.

she decided on a black plaid mini skirt, black leggings underneath, a white and black sweater and uggs, because this was 2007, and oh boy was fashion... interesting.

taylor quickly took a photo on her camera to upload to myspace later and ran downstairs. sitting in a chair in the living room was her older brother nick. he smirked at his little sister.

"where you headed?"

"i have a date, for your information." she replied, hopping off the last step.

"a date!" he gasped. "my weird little sister is all grown up. where are you guys headed?"

"i don't know, i think he's surprising me."

"where are you going?" a voice asked from the top of the steps. whipping around, taylor viewed her father from the top of the steps.

"dad!" she yelped. taylor was hoping she would be able to leave before he saw her.