"What were you thinking, Taylor?" my dad scolded. I avoided eye contact with the rear view mirror in which he kept glancing. Corrine had wrapped herself around me and was telling me how worried she had been. I felt disgusting. Everything was just disgusting right now. I was disgusting, Corrine was disgusting… Even the SUV we were riding in was disgusting. All because of one simple little kiss.
"I don't know," I shrugged, looking down into my lap.
"Oh Taylor!" Corrine exclaimed, wrapping her arms around my neck again. I felt like I was choking. The air around me was suddenly highly visible, like it was taunting me. Ha ha! It yelled. We're right here, watching everything you screw up! And we're not going to do a thing to stop you.
I nonchalantly shrugged Corrine off and scooted closer to the door. This whole thing was wrong. If only I had never met Cassandra. If only I had never gone on that walk. If only! But yet, what if I hadn't? I would still be in the same position I had been before, scared out of my wits. Corrine was so good. She was a nice, decent person and I truly believed I love her. But. There just can't be any "but's" in a good, strong, functioning relationship. Perhaps we had rushed into this too soon. How I regretted my confession of loving her.
Maybe Cassandra would be good for me. I could get the intellectual part from Corrine and the physical part from Cassandra. I could have the best of both worlds! Wasn't that every man's dream? To have two women at his every beck and call? And I had obtained it! I had two beautiful women at my every beck and call. So why shouldn't I keep seeing Cassandra?, I reasoned with myself.
The whole way back to the bus, I was bombarded with questions and lectures. I just nodded and acted like I had been listening and my dad, Zac, Serena, Corrine, Anna, and Isaac all bought it. Really I was deciding what to do. Tell Corrine and never see Cassandra? Don't tell Corrine and see Cassandra? I didn't know. I simply did not know.
When we got back I took a quick shower and spent the rest of the time lazing on my bunk. Everybody left me alone, including Corrine, surprisingly.
At about 7:00, my cell phone started singing our song "In The City", which my friend Roger the computer-wiz had put in my phone. Go figure.
I looked at the caller ID. Not recognizing it, I answered it cautiously.
"Hello?"
"Hi, is this Taylor?" a female voice asked.
"Yeah, who's this?"
"Cassandra Soisy."
"Oh hey! What's up?"
"Nothing much. I was just calling to make sure you were still alive," she paused to laugh. "Your family didn't seem too happy."
"They'll live," I laughed. "So what are you doing?"
"Eh, just surfing the web. I am so bored, you have no idea."
"Me too. Well…" I paused, pondering if I should tell her what I was thinking.
"Well?"
"Well, see, I've been thinking about… what happened."
"Oh?"
"Maybe that wasn't such a good idea, because I have my girlfriend, and…"
"So? Why does she have to know?"
"Well…"
"You boys and your morals. Don't you ever just want to have a fling? Besides, obviously you don't mean that. You wouldn't have kissed me."
I gulped. She hit me in the sore spot.
"Well, things can just ha-"
"Everything happens for a reason Taylor. Think about that and get back to me."
There was no escaping her. I put my phone down on the little shelf and shut my eyes. What was I going to do?
"Zac, Taylor's turning into you," Isaac laughed. "He's being stubborn."
Isaac had just come from asking Taylor what he wanted for breakfast, but apparently he had refused to answer.
"He's been like this ever since his long walk," Corrine acknowledged. "I wonder if something happened. I tried asking him, but he won't tell me. Plus, he's been incredibly distant."
"Yeah," I nodded.
"What should we do?" Serena sighed, looking around. I had my arm wrapped around her shoulders and what rubbing my thumb up and down. She looked up at me with a worried expression adorning her face and smiled sadly. Even though she and Taylor had never been the best of friends, she was still worried about his depressed and spaced out mood.
"Maybe he just needs space," Anna suggested.
Corrine looked down at her hands, which were neatly folded in her lap. I knew that this was hurting her more than any of us. He had resisted her hugs, kisses, and any type of physical contact. Mostly, he had stayed holed up in his bunk the two days afterwards. And it was annoying and depressing because no one could find out what was wrong. We had heard him talking on his phone once or twice, but to know we didn't know whom to. Part of me wondered if it had to do with that Cassandra girl he had met. Maybe something had happened between them and he was ashamed of himself. We just didn't know.
And we had a problem. Tomorrow we had a concert to do in New Orleans and Taylor had to be upbeat and happy, otherwise the concert would be a bust. Corrine was also being our opening act and she needed Taylor to be his normal self for support. She was terrified and the only one who could really comfort her besides Taylor was Serena.
The bus slowed to a stop. We were stopping in a town near New Orleans for some breakfast. I was certainly ready for my share of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Yum, yum! Everyone except for Taylor was finishing getting ready, and about ten minutes later, the bunch of us were ready. Except for Taylor.
My mom went and knocked on his bunk. "Taylor?"
The curtain creaked open. "What?"
"We're leaving for breakfast now, honey, are you coming?"
"No." Taylor tried to shut his curtain but my mom stuck a hand in.
"Are you sick? Do you not feel well?"
"Uh, yeah, I have a stomach ache. You go on without me. I'll be fine."
Serena and I exchanged looks. Corrine was chewing on her lip with a content frown on her face.
"Oh, are you sure?" my mom said, with a worried look on her face.
"Um, I'll stay with him if you want me to, Diana," Corrine spoke up.
"No, I don't want you to catch it," Taylor assured. "It's fine, just go have breakfast. I'll be fine."
"You know it's important for you to eat, Taylor, even if-"
"Mom! I'll be fine! If I get hungry I'll have some cereal or something."
"Oh, okay…" my mom sighed. She shut his curtain and we were on our way. Nobody talked.
Sure, I felt bad about lying to my family. But hey, you do what you gotta do. Anyway, I was sure my little fling with Cassandra wouldn't last very long. She couldn't follow us much longer.
As soon as I was sure my family was gone, I hopped out of my bunk, brushed my hair, put on my hat, and ran out of the bus. Cassandra was waiting for me on the other side. Damn she looked sexy. We didn't even bother with the formalities. We immediately enveloped into each other's arms and began making out. It was wonderful. I had never felt so alive! My family could have walked into the bus at any second and with one glance out the window, I was screwed. Cassandra gave me a rush, the whole secret gave me a rush. I loved sneaking around.
About an hour later, after making out, talking, and more making out, I heard my family starting to approach. We kissed again and I walked around to the other side of the bus, licking my lips. I could still taste her strawberry lip-gloss that I loved so much.
"Taylor!" my mom exclaimed in surprise.
"I needed some fresh air," I explained.
My family nodded and we filed in. I hadn't been caught.
As I trudged onto the bus, I took a sideways glance at Taylor. His face was flushed and his hair a little messed up. I realized he was sick, but Taylor almost always looked perfect. It was a curse to not just him, but the rest of us fella's. It made us look bad.
I walked by the window and glanced out. A girl with long, straight brown hair was walking away from the bus. With Taylor's hat.