The phone rang for a thirdy time. Silently, I prayed that Ellie would answer. I knew it was the middle of the night over there and I felt badly knowing I would wake Ellie and Zac up, but I had to talk to my best friend!
"Hello?" a groggy voice mumbled into the receiver.
"Ellie, it's Gabby," I responded.
"Gabby?" Ellie asked, still only half awake.
"I really need to talk to you," I pleaded.
Immediately, Ellie sounded more awake, realizing there was a problem. "What's the matter?"
"Taylor," I began, not knowing where to start. "He, well...he thinks he's fallen in love."
There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Gabby," Ellie said seriously. "You called me at two in the morning to tell me that Taylor's in love? Don't you think the news could've waited a few more hours?"
"Nooooo," I practically howled.
"Oh," Ellie retorted as I heard the sound of the bed creaking so Ellie could curl up in a chair, knowing she was in for a long conversation. "What's the problem then?"
My forehead wrinkled in thought. How could I tell Ellie without making Taylor out as a monster? "Well, he's not in love," I blurted out.
"Okay," Ellie sighed. "First you tell me Tay's in love, and now you're telling me he's not. Is he, or isn't he?"
"I don't know!" I wailed.
"Calm down," Ellie said softly. "It's okay. Just tell me what's going on."
I took a deep breath to steady my voice. "Taylor was desperate," I began. "So when he met this girl, Deanna, he just fell for her."
There was silence for a moment as Ellie thought. "But did she fall for him too?" she asked.
"Of course she did!" I said. "This is Taylor we're talking about....how could she not?"
"I don't understand what the problem is," Ellie stated. "Either this is the right thing for them and it will work out, or they'll realize it's not and split up."
"I'm afraid Taylor's going to hurt her," I said quietly.
"Oh," Ellie softly responded as she caught my drift.
"I mean, he just grabs the first girl he runs into and thinks he's in love! Deanna doesn't know what he's been through. She thinks she's the one, but for Taylor, this could just be a fling. It's like he needed something so badly that he sort of invented it."
"I see what you're saying," Ellie began, but she cut herself off. "No, that can't be right. Taylor wouldn't do something like that!"
"Not purposely," I agreed. "But look at what Isaac did to me...how he hurt me and really did love me at the same time. But Taylor..." I trailed off with a horrible feeling in my stomach.
"Gabby," Ellie said reassuringly. "What happened between you and Isaac is over, and it's not going to recur between Taylor and Deanna. What you went through made you wary of any relationship between two people. It's good to be careful before getting too deep into something, but Taylor and Deanna are old enough to make mature decisions. That doesn't mean one of them, or both, won't get hurt, but we have to trust their judgement."
I sighed. "I guess that means I shouldn't go around playing matchmaker and trying to foresee problems that so far aren't there, huh?"
"Yeah," Ellie agreed, then added, "but talk to Taylor. He can learn things from you, Gabby. Just don't accuse him before he's done anything. That could make matters worse."
"Thanks, Ellie," I said. "As you can tell, we're missing you around here."
Ellie chuckled. "Yeah, we're having a great time, but it will be nice to be home. Make sure that Tay doesn't do anything drastic, okay?"
"Okay, Ellie." I smiled. "Bye."
"Bye."
I rested the phone in its cradle and slowly stood up. Talking to Ellie always made me feel better, and I knew her advice was probably right, so I would follow it. But I still couldn't shake the feeling in my gut.
