Part Four - Taylor Was a Good Girl
When I was young (you know, as opposed to the old crotchety 20-something I am now) I used to like to think of my life as being a reflection of the four seasons. It was really an odd parallel for me to draw, seeing as I grew up in Orlando where the seasons consisted of hot, kind of hot, really hot, and rainy. But somehow, it still occurred to me that whenever a season changed, something in my life changed drastically. A pet would die, a cousin would move away, and so on and so forth.
The year that Bianca and Justin first got together was no different. In the spring they began to go out, summer they became an official couple, in the fall Bianca and I went away to college, and in the winter...well, let’s just say it all started one particularly cold afternoon in the middle of February.
It was a Tuesday and Bianca had just found out that Justin was going to be in the City recording for the next few weeks. She was ecstatic and bouncing off the walls all day in anticipation. She hadn’t seen him since New Year’s and, since I clearly wasn’t good enough to spend all her time with, she was chomping at the bit to see him again. He finally showed up that evening and whisked her off to some restaurant where they could just sit together and bask in one another’s awesomeness. At least that’s what I always assumed they did together. I didn’t want to picture the other stuff they were probably doing, so I stuck with the awesomeness basking. Self preservation thing, I think.
After they were gone, I just sat in our room and did homework. For some reason, despite the fact that Bianca had become a lot more social since we’d been in New York, I really hadn’t. I knew the girls our floor, of course, but Bianca was still the only one I hung out with. For all the times in high school when I’d wished to be in the popular crowd, other people didn’t matter to me so much anymore. I liked being alone.
Someone knocked on the door and my head shot up in surprise. The first thought that came into my mind was that Bianca had locked herself out again, but I quickly realized it was way too soon for her to be back. Sighing and realizing it was probably someone for her, I contemplating pretending I wasn’t there, but quickly decided that no one would believe I was out having fun on a Tuesday night.
“Hi, Taylor, how are you?” Anna greeted me brightly. Anna was that girl on our floor who was always happy, always friendly, always perfect. You know the type. She and Bianca had never gotten along too well, but for some reason I immediately assumed that was who she was looking for.
“Bianca’s not here,” I stated plainly, absentmindedly forgoing the formality of returning her greeting. Anna giggled.
“Oh, I’m not looking for Bianca, silly. I’m looking for you,” she informed me, chipper as ever. I blinked at her in mild confusion.
“Why?” I finally asked. She giggled again and I shuddered involuntarily. Anna’s giggling was almost as bad as Bianca’s, albeit not nearly as out of character.
“Because! There’s a party over at the Sigma Pi house,” she explained, referring to the frat house two blocks away. “A bunch of the guys over there are throwing it, and some of us are going, so I wondered if maybe you’d like to go along.”
“It’s Tuesday,” I responded with the first thing that came into my mind. After all, who has parties on Tuesday? This time Anna spared me the giggle and laughed.
“I know it’s Tuesday! But this is college, right? We’re allowed to go out and have fun on school nights.” She winked at me and I sighed, sure I was going to regret what I was about to do.
“Okay, just let me grab my jacket.”
***
In high school, Bianca and I never really went to parties. We never really threw parties either, so I guess you could say that we more or less lived a party-less existence. College up to this point had been more of the same. Bianca was more social, but the party scene still wasn’t really her thing and consequently it wasn’t really my thing either. That night at the Sigma Pi party I soon realized why. Or at least I realized why frat parties were not our thing. I had beer sloshed on me, bodies slammed into mine, and my butt was grabbed by numerous perpetrators, all of which somehow managed to get away before I could see who they were. It wasn’t much fun.
To top it all off, Anna and the girls from my hall were not the sweet little angels they appeared to be back at the dorm and were soon drunk off their asses and grinding with any number of frat boys. Definitely not my scene. So I, being the good little Jewish girl I was, ended up sitting in a corner by myself sipping water and contemplating walking back to the dorm by myself. I was just about to do so when a very tall, very handsome dark-haired guy, a sophomore or junior I guessed, sat down next to me.
“Hi,” he greeted me, flashing me a wide smile that revealed a set of perfectly straight teeth. I immediately did what any sensible girl in my situation would do and turned to look behind me and see who he was talking to. He laughed the most melodious laugh I’d ever heard in my life. “I’m talking to you.”
“Oh,” I squeaked in disbelief. Needless to say, it wasn’t often any remotely good-looking guy even looked twice at me, let alone actually sat down next to me and attempted to strike up a conversation. In fact the only time it had happened was when the football players in high school would hunt me down in the library and try to get me to tell them how they could win Bianca’s heart. Feel free to gag at that thought. I do.
“So, my name’s Jake,” the insanely hot boy sitting next to me said. “What’s yours?”
“Um...uh, it’s, uh...” I temporarily forgot my name and was considering making one up when it came to me. “Taylor. My name’s Taylor.” He laughed again and I forced myself to look at him instead of my feet. He had a friendly sort of gleam in his eyes and he seemed very familiar. Almost as though I’d met him before, though I was sure I hadn’t. I figured maybe I’d seen him on campus before and quickly forgot about it.
“Nice to meet you, Taylor,” he stated sincerely. “You don’t look like you’re having a very good time.”
“Oh, no, it’s...fine,” I replied, shrugging. “I’m having an okay time. It’s just that parties aren’t usually my thing.”
“Mine either,” Jake confided with a smile. “I got dragged here by some friends, all of whom promptly got wasted and left me to fend for myself.”
“Sounds familiar.” I began feeling a little more comfortable as I realized Jake wasn’t the typical frat boy I was expecting.
“Yeah, I was about to leave, then I saw this beautiful girl sitting over here and realized that I couldn’t leave without at least getting her name.”
“Ah, well if I see her, I’ll let you know,” I told him with a small smile, only half joking. Part of me was still completely unable to believe that someone as attractive as him would even want to talk to me. And I was not beautiful. Far from it. Big nose, frizzy hair, you know the drill. Jake chuckled, attempting to make eye contact, but the attempt just prompted me to direct my gaze back to my feet.
“Gorgeous and self-deprecating. Nice combination. And if I’m bothering you, I can leave,” he added as my face flushed a particularly unattractive shade of fuschia.
“Oh, no, you’re not bothering me,” I insisted, shaking my head vehemently and looking back at his gorgeous brown eyes. “It’s just...I don’t get approached by guys very often and I’m kind of socially retarded, so...sorry.” He gave me an understanding smile and nodded.
“No worries. I don’t usually approach girls, and I’m pretty sure I’ve successfully made an idiot out of myself here, so...” His voice trailed off and he chuckled nervously as I sat there feeling horrible for making him feel like an idiot. There was an awkward silence before he spoke again. “Listen, is there somewhere I can walk you? You look like you probably want to get out of here.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, standing up and nodding. “I’d like that.” His face lit up and as he hopped off the couch.
“Cool. Where do you live?”
“Aden. On campus.”
“Really? I live in Smith!” Jake exclaimed, referring to the residence hall adjacent to mine as we pushed through the crowds of people and towards the front door. “I’m surprised I haven’t seen you before. I’m over at Aden all the time.”
“Visiting your girlfriend?” I inquired nonchalantly, prompting a laugh from my companion as we stepped into the crisp February air.
“No, as a matter of fact, I am single and looking.” He winked at me, heading towards the corner to cross the street instead of going straight as I had planned to.
“Isn’t it faster to go that way?” I asked, nodding my head towards the other side of the street, and unsure of how to respond to his last comment. Jake shook his head.
“Nah, this is a short cut,” he assured me as I hurried to catch up with him. My brow furrowed.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Trust me.”
“Trust you? I hardly know you. You could be a serial rapist for all I know.” I shuddered involuntarily as the veracity of my words struck me. He really could be a rapist for all I knew. I suddenly felt very stupid for allowing him to walk me home. Jake laughed.
“Well, I promise not to rape you.”
“I promise not to rape you too.”
“Oh, good. I was worried.” He laughed and winked at me again and I found myself smiling involuntarily. He certainly didn’t seem like a rapist and I allowed myself to let my guard down a bit. “So, how about you? Got a boyfriend?”
“No,” I responded simply.
“Good, I wouldn’t to suffer to consequences of your big, buff football player boyfriend’s wrath or anything,” he joked with a grin. I laughed.
“Yeah, well...you don’t have to worry. I’ve never even had a guy ask me out.”
“Are you serious?” Jake asked, sounding genuinely shocked. I merely nodded. “Where the hell are you from that guys are too stupid to ask out a beautiful girl such as yourself?”
“Orlando. And I’m not that beautiful.” In case you couldn’t tell, I was never very good at taking a compliment.“Where are you from that you actually think a girl like me is beautiful?”
“Toronto.”
“Ohhh, a Canadian.” I nodded and grinned, preparing to give my wittiest response to avoid anything he might be planning to say to refute my claims that I was not beautiful. “That explains a lot.”
“Ah, yes, we’re freaks. What’s all this aboot, eh?” He laughed, shrugging his shoulders as I thought about what a nice laugh he had. “Or at least I hear that’s how we’re supposed to talk. Apparently someone forgot to give me the great Canadian memo when I learned how to speak.”
“Too bad.” I smiled.
“Yeah. So, what’s your major?”
“I’m undeclared. You?”
“Same. I’m a sophomore and I feel like I should have decided sometime last year, but I’m too indecisive. What’s your favorite color?” I laughed and shook my head.
“What is this, an interrogation?” I inquired with a raise of my eyebrows and the sudden realization that all of my uneasiness had disappeared as we trudged down the cold snow lined streets. For a short cut it seemed to be taking an awfully long time to get back to Aden.
“No, this is called getting to know one another,” Jake explained slowly, his eyes twinkling. “Perhaps you’ve heard of it.”
“Ah, yes, but I thought it only happened in fairy tales.”
“Alas, fair lady, it does not. Enough avoidance now. What’s your favorite color?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” I shrugged. “Brown?” Jake pulled a face immediately.
“Brown? That’s the best you can come up with? Brown? You could have gone with chartreuse or something.”
“I like brown. It’s plain.”
“And as such completely unbefitting someone as far from plain as yourself,” he stated with an air of sincerity I had not witnessed since he had sat down next to me on that couch. My face flushed crimson and I prayed he couldn’t tell in the dark. The smirk that spread over his face told me he could. “You’re blushing.”
“No, it’s the just the cold. It’s making my cheeks red.” I hurried ahead to escape the smirk that remained on this stranger’s lips as my dorm came into view.
“Okay,” he allowed as he caught up to me and I slid my key into the lock on the front of the building. “I guess I’ll just head over to Smith now.”
“You can walk up with me if you want.” I was so hocked to hear the words come out of my mouth that I didn’t even hear his answer as he followed me into the building and up the stairs to my floor. The entire experience was completely unreal and I didn’t know what to think of any of it. I was completely sure that this was all some elaborate joke in response to some bet his friends had made him.
“And by the way,” I added as we reached the third floor. “That was not faster.” I could almost feel Jake smiling as he gently grabbed my arm and turned me to face him as we stood in the hall. His deep brown eyes gazed into my own and I felt a multitude of butterflies rising in my stomach as he spoke.
“I know.”
Unsure of what to do or say, I just smiled weakly and turned away, continuing down the hall towards my room. As we approached, I heard yelling coming from inside. I couldn’t tell what was being said, but I could definitely recognize the voices: Bianca and Justin.
“Fine!” I finally made out Bianca’s scream.
“Fine!” Justin’s bellow responded.
“FINE! I don’t give a shit, okay? Just get out!”
Seconds later, the door flung open and slammed shut again as Justin came storming out of the room and knocked into me. I probably would have fallen to the floor if Jake hadn’t been standing behind me and stuck a hand out to steady me.
“Oh god, sorry, Taylor,” Justin apologized, placing his hands on my shoulders and looking at me with concern. “I didn’t hurt you did I?”
“No,” I shook my head, somewhat dazed. “What’s with the yelling?”
“Um...” He looked far more uneasy than I’d ever seen him as he paused to think. “You should probably let Bianca explain it to you. I’ve gotta go. See ya, Tay.” And with that he hurried off. I frowned and turned to Jake.
“Roommate’s boyfriend?” he questioned. I nodded in confirmation and let out a sigh.
“I better go talk to her and see what’s up. It was nice meeting you.” I flashed a polite smile and hurried into my room to confront my weeping best friend.
“Nice to meet you too!” I heard him call as I shut the door behind me.
“Why the hell are all guys such dicks, Taylor?” Bianca asked me as I shrugged my coat off my shoulders and sat down next to her on her bed.
“What happened?” I asked, sliding an arm across Bianca’s shoulders.
“Oh, we were fighting over...something stupid, I don’t know. Him talking to other girls, me being to friendly with other guys and then he goes and says he thinks we should take a break. A break! From what? We hardly ever see each other anyway, the last thing we need is a break!” She leaned her head against me and I nodded in understanding.
“Sorry, babe. You want some Chai?”
Bianca nodded, wiping a tear from her eye. “That would be great.”
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