"Taylor, I don't know about that" Mrs. Hanson said to her son. Taylor had just explained to her about Jaida being home alone for the weekend and that she didn't want to be left alone. He had sworn to his mother that he would be staying in the guestroom and Jaida had told Taylor to tell Mrs. Hanson that she had a lock on her bedroom door and that she would be locking it. This wasn't true of course but it sounded better than Taylor sleeping in the same room as Jaida. Mrs. Hanson was frowning and slowly shaking her head. "No.. Tay, I think she'll be fine"
"Mo-om! I can't let Jaida stay by herself in that house for the entire weekend! And she asked me to stay! She's my girlfriend-"
"That's exactly why I don't want you staying over" Mrs. Hanson pointed out. Taylor rolled his eyes. His mother knew he wasn't a virgin for crying out loud! He wondered why she was being so difficult.
"Please Mom... seriously, I'm only going to be over there for Jaida's sake. She hasn't been left alone for the weekend before and she would like some company. And we haven't seen much of each other this week either. Jaida and I aren't going to do anything. I promise that I am going to sleep in a seperate room! You can even call every half hour if it bothers you that much!" Taylor knew he sounded like he was whining but he didn't care. He was determined to get his own way, and he knew that he would.. eventually. Mrs. Hanson sighed and looked Taylor in the eye.
"Look me in the eye and tell me that you will be sleeping in a seperate room" She said. Taylor felt horrible but looked his mother in the eye and once again, promised his mother that he would be sleeping in a different room. Satisfied that Taylor was telling the truth, Mrs. Hanson finally nodded her head.
"Ok, fine. But I will call you and check in on you, understand?" She said. Taylor grinned and nodded.
"Thanks Mom... and thats fine.. really. I'll just go get some stuff together. I'll stay for Lunch then head on over back to Jaidas." Taylor said, starting up to his room. Once he reached his room, he walked in and closed his door. The next thing he did was grab a back pack from the bottom of his closet and tossed it onto his bed. He then went and got a change of clothes for the next day, and a clean pair of boxer shorts. He shoved them into the back pack and then sat down on his bed and leaned down to open the bottom drawer of his bedside table. He shoved a couple of papers aside and then found what he was looking for. He pulled out the small, square, blue packet. "Just in case" He said to himself and then shoved that inside the back pack as well. He slammed the drawer shut when there was a knock on his bedroom door. "Yea?"
"It's me" Zac called out.
"Come in" Taylor replied, getting up and walking over to his dresser. He saw the door open in the mirror and Zac walked inside the room. "Whats up" Taylor asked as he continued to gather his stuff for his "sleepover". He picked up a spray can of deodorant, a hair brush and his wallet and turned to go back to his bed. He stopped when he saw the look on Zac's face. "What? What's wrong?" He asked. Zac sighed and sat down on the end of Taylor's bed.
"I dunno... I've been feeling like this since Kaara left. I've never even liked girls that much, let alone one girl. I've gotten four letters from her already.. she writes like two a day or something like that. I haven't written back to her yet. I don't know what to say. Everyhing I write sounds stupid" He said, sounding upset. Taylor tossed the stuff in his arms into the backpack and then sat down next to Zac.
"So you have tried to write back?"
"Yeah"
"She's not gonna laugh at anything you write. Seriously Zac, she liked you in person, she's gonna like your letters to her. Draw her some cartoons, write her a song or something... girls love that kind of stuff. Tell her how much you miss her but make sure you don't sound to soppy. Write her something that she would want to show to her freinds" Taylor advised. Zac looked horrified.
"She wouldn't show her friends what I write to her!" He said. Taylor laughed.
"She might... but she might not."
"Why don't you write the letter for me and I'll just copy it and send it to her... how does that sound?" Zac asked, perking up.
"No Zac... nice try" Taylor said. Zac groaned and got up.
"Great help you were!" He said as he walked out of Taylor's room. Taylor raised an eyebrow and then laughed to himself. His thoughts went back to Jaida and the fact that he was spending the night with her. He then remembered about the song he had written for her. It was just lyrics, melody and piano music, and Jaida had a piano at her house. Should I play it for her? he asked himself. Why the hell not?.. she'd love it. Taylor got up and walked over to his desk where he had left the music sheets and lyric sheets scattered over the desktop. He gathered them up and then noticed a white envelope sitting underneath them. What the hell is this? He wondered as he examined the envelope. He didn't recognise the handwriting on the front and it simply had Taylor written on it in black pen. He turned it over and opened it. Inside there were two pieces of folded up white paper inside. He pulled out both pieces of paper and opened the top one. It was a typed note.
Taylor,
You do infact know me but I can't tell you who I am. I have something to show you... and to tell you. It's about your precious girlfriend Jaida. It looks like she's not all that she appears to be... she has a past that she has obviously tried very hard to keep it from you. I'm so sorry darling to have you find out about her this way. But you MUST know about this. This can not be kept a secret from you or your family for that matter any longer. So please, read what is on the next page. It is not a fake, but a photocopy, very real.
That was it. There was no more to the note. Taylor was very confused and wasn't sure if he even wanted to read what was on the next page. But curiosiy got the better of him and he unfolded the next piece of paper. It was a newspaper article. His eyes were drawn to the picture first, a picture of a boy and a girl together and Taylor recognised both of them. His heart felt very heavy as he slowly began to read it.
It was 10 minutes before Taylor was due to arrive. I checked my apperance in the mirror and ran a brush through my hair once more. I looked at my watch for the hundredth time and left my room. I walked around the house a few times, straightening up different places when the doorbell rang. My heart skipped a beat as I made my way to the door.
"This is going to be the best night of your life girl, don't blow it!" I told myself as I reached the door. A smile from ear to ear, I opend the door. "Hi! wow, your early.. well, thats worth a gold star!" I said, laughing. As I watched Taylors face, my smile quickly faded. "Wha... whats wrong?" I asked him.
"Why didn't you tell me Jaida?"
"Tell.... tell you what?"
"You know what I'm talking about." Taylor said, his voice cold. My heart started to pound and I pushed my hair back behind my ears nervously. He knew.
"No, I don't believe I do Taylor..."
"Well, let me refresh your memory. A year ago you were convicted of drink driving without a licence. Your boyfriend was killed when you lost control of the car and wrapped it around a tree." He told me. Tears welled up in my eyes.
"How did you find out?" I whispered.
"So it's true? Victoria... why? I thought... I thought I knew you." He said, his face softening but his voice remaining cold.
"Taylor, it was an accident I- what did you call me?" I asked him.
"Victoria.. it is your name isn't it?" He asked me.
"Why are you doing this to me? who told you?"
"Why did you keep something like this from me? Your still on probation for Christ's sake!" Taylor yelled at me. I couldn't help it, tears spilled down my cheeks. I watched Taylor's face, but he showed no sign that he cared. I knew everything was gone, lost. The reputation I had worked so hard to have was now trash. I knew who had told him, and she was going to pay.
"Taylor, it's in the past.. you didn't need to know! I .. I would have told you but-"
"But what? you knew what would happen if you told me! You just let me believe that you were some innocent little girl who was just looking for her big break.. and now I know the truth. You're a killer. It was you who killed Lucas." Taylor said, his eyes turning to stone.
"You... I mean.... but.. what?" I stammered. Taylor said nothing. His face showed nothing but hatred for me.
"I haven't told anyone in my family. My parents love you like a daughter. It would kill them to know you did this. I didn't believe it myself at first but then I found this." He said, then reaching into his pocket, he took out a piece of paper. It had a newspaper article photocopied on it. He gave it to me and I unfolded it. In big bold black letters read
The article went on to explain a lot of the details of the trial. I looked up at Taylor. It suddenly hit me, Lucas Hanson!
"Ohmy...Taylor I... I didn't know" I whispered, overcome with grief. My legs felt week and I thought I was going to pass out.
"Yeah, well ... now you do. He was my best friend and my cousin. We were going to go to college together and ... but now I can't do that.. becasue of one studpid mistake on your part"
"Thats exactly what it was! a mistake! I loved him! He was my first love and until you, my only love.."
"You lied to me. About your past... your future... who you are. I.. I don't even know you anymore Jaida. I can't... my family can never forgive you for this ... I don't want anything to do with you again. Do you understand me? Jaida??" I didn't hear him. I didn't want to hear him.
"Taylor, no, please.. listen to me! I love you and I love Lucas... I have to live with what I did every day of my life.. until you, I didn't think I could go on.. please, don't do this to me!" I cried, my voice shaking, tears falling like they would never stop. I knew it was to late. He hated me. His whole family would hate me when he told them and there was nothing I could do about it. Without a word, Taylor turned and walked away. Out of my life, and I let him. I stood there and let him. When he was out of sight, I collapsed in the doorway and started to sob uncontrollably.
Chapter Fifteen
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