Carter sat back down at the small round table, between Zac and some guy she didn't know, and crossed her legs as she waited for the audience to stop clapping. Her long white skirt was covered with a layer of white mesh. It flared out at the bottom and made her legs look longer. She also wore a dark green tanktop and a translucent white jacket. Her hair was pulled to the top of her head with a few straight pieces hanging in her face.
The cafe customers loved her tonight, and she loved the attention. Zac placed his hand on her thigh and smiled at her. "I told you you'd do fine."
"Yeah well, my throat is still a little sore." Carter looked around the cafe and sighed. "Tay never showed up."
"I didn't know you wanted him to come. I thought you hated him."
"It's friendly hate. Actually, he called me right before we left and said he'd come, said he had something to tell me. But I guess it wasn't that important." Carter jumped as she felt a hand on her shoulder when she completed the sentence.
Taylor stood behind her wearing his tightest black t-shirt and his maroon pants. Carter called them "pleather", a mix between plastic and leather. In actuallity, they were vinyl. "Hey. Did I miss you singing?"
"Uh huh." Carter nodded and shoved a mini pretzel into her mouth.
"Damn. Oh well. I'll catch you next time. Hey Zac." Taylor smiled.
Zac smiled back cautiously. "Yo."
"Can we talk, Carter?" Taylor asked, eyeing Zac."
"Yeah." Carter shrugged.
"Uhm. Alone? Maybe outside."
Carter stood up and handed Zac her half eaten pretzel. "Hold this for me."
Zac laughed. "Ok."
Carter followed Taylor outside. When they closed the cafe door behind them, Taylor shoved Carter against the brick wall and pressed his lips against hers. Carter slammed her fists against Taylor's shoulders and pushed him away. "What the fuck are you doing?!"
"Kissing you." Taylor moved in to kiss her lips again.
Carter slapped him hard across the face. "Does the fact that I'm going out with Zac mean NOTHING to you?!"
"You're going out with him? Since when??"
Carter rolled her eyes. "Since 3 days ago! Where the heck have you been?"
"Has he kissed you yet?"
"He kissed me long before we were ever an 'official couple'." Carter made quotation marks with her fingers.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I didn't think it was that important to you."
"Not that important to me? You know how I feel about you!"
Carter laughed. "No Tay, I don't. How do you feel about me?" She smiled, taking a step towards him.
"I uhm . . . love you." He muttered, his words trailing off.
"You mum me. That's cool." She grinned, rolling her eyes again.
"I said I love you. There. Are you happy?"
Carter shrugged. "Not really. It just complicates things."
"In what way."
"Because you know I love Zac. And I don't love you. So you're the one that's going to be hurt. Not me. I'm happy the way I am and you aren't. So it complicates things."
"I still don't see your point."
"It complicates things because I care about you."
Taylor's eyes widened.
"And I don't want you to be hurt. I've known you my whole life, if I really hurt you, that it would screw up everything, and I wouldn't be happy anymore."
Taylor looked down at the ground.
"And I don't think you really love me. I think you just want some affection and I'm the closest thing possible."
"That's not true."
"Yeah it is. It's the same reason you went out with Melissa. You knew she'd give you affection."
Taylor shook his head. "Now that's really not true. I really liked her!"
"Then why did you break up with her?"
"Because...uhm...She hurt you."
"And I hurt her. Usually every day. But you still claim to love me. Therefore, I suggest you drop this whole love thing and go home. Maybe call up Meli and see how she's doing. She'd love to hear from you. You know she's actually thinking about going after Ike?"
"No shit."
"Yeah. But I think she really likes you. She always has." Carter smiled and put her hand on Taylor's shoulder. "Now go home. You're boring the hell out of me."
"I don't wanna leave. I was hoping I could walk you home." Taylor took another step forward, making Carter nervous.
"Zac's here, Tay. I'm walking home with him."
"But don't you think you need an older guy to walk you home?"
"You're not really older than me."
"You know what I mean."
Carter shook her head. "Just go home Tay. Call Melissa if you want to talk to somebody that much."
"Excuse me, is there a problem out here?" A tall man with thick, wavy black hair stepped between Carter and Taylor. He eyed Carter with concern. "Do you know this guy?"
Carter nodded. "Yeah. Uhm. He's just leaving."
"Is he pressuring you?"
Carter gave the man a strange look. "Excuse me? No. It's under control."
Taylor nodded. "She doesn't need help from a stranger. I'm a friend."
The man turned violently towards Taylor and thrust his fist into his stomach.
"FUCK! Don't do that!" Carter shrieked, putting a hand around Taylor's arm as he held his stomach. "I said he's my friend! What right do you have to come here and punch him in the fucking gut?!"
The man laughed. "I can see you're a strong enough chick. It just looked like he was harrassing you."
"Do you think I'd actually stand here and let him?" Carter glared.
"I uhm."
"Go the fuck away."
The man shrugged apologetically and walked back across the street, into a local bar.
"You ok?"
Taylor nodded. "Yeah yeah. Fine. I should have knocked him out." He grumbled, straightening up, pushing Carter's arm off of his shoulder.
"Tay, no offence but, you're the one holding yourself in pain. I don't think you would have affected him. He was drunk anyway. And you were kind of harrassing me."
"I was not!"
"Yeah you were. But I guess I'm stuck walking you home now. I'll get Zac."
Taylor shook his head. "Don't bother. I'm fine. You go back in there with Zac. I'm going home."
"Tay..."
"See ya." Taylor shoved his hands into his pockets and walked away.
"See ya..." Carter sighed and went back into the cafe to find Zac. He was sitting at the same table, staring down at her half-eaten pretzel.
"I said to hold the pretzel for me, not worship it." Carter laughed, shoving the pretzel into her mouth. She sat down on Zac's lap and wrapped her arms around the back of his neck. "Now what are you sulking for?"
"You were out there for a long time."
"Yeah some guy punched Tay."
"What?"
"Long story. So what were you doing in here while I was gone?"
Zac grinned. "Fighting off the ladies."
"What ladies?"
"That one over there." Zac pointed to the corner where a very pretty woman was sitting. Large breasts, big blue eyes, long blonde hair. She winked at him.
"That lady over there?"
"Yeah. She's hot isn't she. Are you jealous?"
"No."
"Why not?" Zac looked completely disappointed.
"Cause that's Karl Mitchley."
"Who's that?"
"Some guy that was in my classes last year. He's really cool. His main goal this summer was to see how many guys he could get to fall for him."
Zac's eyes widened. "You mean those aren't real?"
"Those, my dear, are jello filled balloons. Those big punching balloons. You know those things you'd play with and get a black eye?"
"Yeah yeah. Are you sure that's a guy?"
"Yeah. That's a guy, Zac. Leave it to you to get hit on by a guy."
"But he isn't gay or anything?"
"No. He's as straight as they come. This is just his hobby."
"So... he wasn't even really attracted to me?"
Carter laughed. "Fraid not."
"Damn. That just ruined my whole night."
"I'm sure it did, Zac."
"No seriously. Think about it. If a chick was to hit on you, wouldn't you like the feelings to be at least genuine?"
"Uhm no."
"Really? So if a chick came up to you and asked if she could feel your boobies..."
"Wait a minute... Karl asked to feel your boobies?"
"Uhm. More or less. Yeah. Why?"
Carter laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing. I'm just trying to picture Karl asking to.."
"Shut up."
Carter laughed.
"I said shut up."
"Aww. My little Zaccy feels bad."
"Bet your ass I do. I'm striking out with guys!"
Carter kissed Zac hard on his lips. "Don't you ever go after guys. Ok? Promise me that. You are a womanizer. Not a ... guyanizer. Ok?"
"Ok."
"Ok. Now lets go home." Carter jumped off of Zac's lap and dragged him out of the cafe.