Chapter One- Introduction
Taylor Dunn: Currently works at a hair salon in Atlanta. She is 29 years old, about to turn 30. Taylor lives with her best friend Kathleen Vega, aka Kat. She loved that girl more than anything in the world. Every time she felt like she had nothing, Kat was always there for her. Just recently Taylor got out of a bad relationship. His name was Landon. He was a real piece of work. He started off as a great guy who was loving, sweet, funny, etc., but after a few months he began to change. Taylor didn't like what he changed into. He began to bring her down emotionally. To the point she never thought she was good enough. But her best friend was there to help her realize she was good enough, and helped her leave Landon. After him, Taylor swore to never fall in love again. It wasn't worth the pain.
Kathleen Vega: Just graduated from college with a degree in Marketing and Graphic Design. Described by many as quiet, sweet, creative and shy. In school she always tried to blend in and stay out of everyone's way while focusing on her grades. Luckily, her best friend in the world, Taylor, has always been there. Taylor from the beginning actually took time to discover the real Kat, who wasn't exactly what everyone thought. Even though Kat would never admit it, she sometime cries herself to sleep at night. Kat's never had a boyfriend, never been to a school dance, never been treated like she was anything special. Guys have always seen her as a friend and nothing more. This has caused her to close herself off from people she doesn't know. She's never had confidence in herself, maybe because she's been picked on since she was a child because she wasn't a perfect size 4. All she ever wants is for someone to actually see her for who she truly is and not turn away because of what number reflects on a scale.
Kathleen was ripping through her closet, tossing clothes behind her, mumbling words under her breath. Taylor was walking down the hall when she noticed her friend. Stopping, taking a few steps back, she entered Kathleen's room. "Kat?" she giggled.
"I can't find my darn bathing suit!" Kat yelled from the closet.
"That's because it's in the dryer. I told you last night I was washing it." Taylor replied with a laugh.
The clothes stopped being tossed out, and out of the closet came Kat. "You mean to tell me I've been looking for that stupid thing for the past 30 minutes and it's in the dryer?"
Taylor nodded her head while trying to hold the laughter in. "I love you."
Kat shook her head and laughed. "Love you too girl."
"Well you grab the swimsuits and towels from the dryer, I'll grab the rest of the stuff, and then we'll hit the road jack."
The girls were going to go to Taylor's parent's cabin. It was off of Treasure Lake about an hour outside of Atlanta. Her parents weren't going to be there for the week and asked if they could stay at the house. Taylor and Kathleen didn't mind especially since this meant they could have some fun out on the lake.
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"Come on man how hard is it to look at a stupid map?" Matt yelled at his friend.
"Excuse me if you think you can do such a better job, you read it!" Justin snapped as he threw the map at Matt. When it flew in front of Matt's face, he started swerving the car.
Matt grabbed the map and threw it back at Justin. "Dude I am freakin driving! Do you want me to kill you? I think not. Now open the stupid map and tell me where to go." Matt demanded.
Justin Gabriel made a face at his friend and snatched up the map. He turned it a couple of times and looked at it with a curious look. "I think you turn up here." He said while studying the map.
"You think?"
"Yes I think." Justin mocked him. "This is the 21st century. Where is the gps?"
"Well since somebody forgot to reserve a nicer rental car when I told him too, we didn't have many options to choose from."
"Well excuse me." Justin Gabriel mumbled under his breath while Matt took the turn. He sighed and reached over to turn the radio on.
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"You gonna be alright Tay?" Kat asked her best friend.
Tay re-gripped the steering wheel. "As long as I don't run into him yeah. I know it's been 3 months since we broke up, but still, I haven't seen him since then."
"Well I'm here with you and if he tries talking to you I'll kick his butt. Hard." She nodded.
Taylor couldn't help but laugh. "I don't know what I'd do without you KitKat."
"Hmmm you would be so so so lonely." She laughed. "Oh I love this song, turn it up!" Kat squealed while clapping her hands.
"Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me. Lying on the floor, surrounded, surrounded. Why'd you to wait? Where were you, where were you? Just a little late, you found me, you found me. In the end, everyone ends up alone. Losing her, the only who's ever known, who I am, who I'm not, who I want to be. No way to know how long she will be next to me." Kat and Taylor sang at the top of their lungs.
"I love this song. It's so powerful." Taylor said reaching to turn it down for a minute.
"Most of their songs are that way." Kat agreed.
"True dat." She laughed.
There was a long, silent pause, but Kat interrupted it. "What's that smell?"
Taylor began sniffing around and now knew what she was talking about. Before she had time to say anything, smoke began shooting out from the engine. "NO NO NO NO NO NO!" Taylor cried. The car puttered, and jerked, til it ran no more. They rolled to the shoulder and put it in park. She looked over at Kathleen who was gripping the handlebar.
"We're in the middle of freakin no where at night!" Kat cried.
Taylor ran her fingers through her long blonde hair and reached down to pop the hood. Once she pulled the lever, she stepped out of the car and walked around to the front. Kat followed as well. Once Taylor opened the hood, the smoke exploded as it filled the air. Both girls quickly covered their mouths and began coughing. When Taylor let go to cover her moth, the hood slammed shut. "We're screwed." She said in between coughs.
Kat ran around the driver's side and put on the emergency blinkers, and grabbed both cell phones.
"What good are the emergency lights?" Taylor asked. "We're in the middle of nowhere."
"You never know." Kat shrugged as she opened her cell. "Dang no reception."
Taylor took hers and opened it, but didn't have any reception either. "We're gonna die." She cried.
"Not on my watch!" Kathleen said and started walking.
"Where are you going? The next stop is about 40 miles."
Kathleen stopped. "Oh yeah." She turned back around and started walking back to Taylor. "We're going to die."
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"Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me. Lying on the floor, surrounded, surrounded. Why'd you to wait? Where were you, where were you? Just a little late, you found me, you found me." Justin was quietly singing to himself along with the radio.
Matt looked over at his friend and couldn't help but laugh. "You ain't right."
"What? It's a good song."
"Ok." Matt laughed as he held up his hands. "Oh and by the way I think we're going the wrong way." He added.
"Well if you think you are, why don't you just turn around and go the way you want to."
Matt was about to say something but squinted his eyes to focus on the road. "There's something up ahead."
Justin looked real close as well and could faintly see two yellow flashing lights through the dark night. "I think it's a car."