I sat with Nikki, Anna, Alex, and Whit on my deck; I had gotten off the phone with Tara, one of my ex-best friends. She was at the baseball game, his baseball game. I looked at the sea as salty tears fell down my cheeks, but I didn't look at one of my friends sitting with me. He had told me that he was going to Tennessee to see some of his family, but where he was, was far from Tennessee. "You okay?" Nikki asked. I didn't look at them, I faced the sea and watched the waves crash against the rocks and the sand, and then recede.

"I thought he was supposed to be in Tennessee?" Alex said.

"He was, but it's clear of what he's capable of…" I trailed off. Then Nikki sat next to me on the wood steps of my balcony. She was my best friend, she and I had always been like sisters, and my mom had married her dad, so we were sisters in some sense.

"Don't let him get to you," she said and leaned her head on my shoulder. Another tear slid down my cheek, and I didn't bother to wipe it away. "He's not worth it."

"I know that was him, there's no denying it."

"But, what if it was like, someone else imitating him?" Whit asked. I looked at her, "What? I can easily do it!" She smiled at me and said, "Hey babe, what's up?" she imitated him. My facial expression didn't change, it wasn't easy to imitate him; he had something unique to his voice that only I could pick out. And he was there; that was him in the background.

I picked up my Dare and hit the send button; his name was the second name on the list. I hit his name and looked at the information of the last call. It was placed this morning at seven a.m. He had stayed here until five a.m. and he called to talk about nothing. He said he was in the car on his was to Tennessee. I hit send and it started ringing.

"What are you doing?" Anna asked. I didn't respond and I walked down the stairs of my balcony.

"Where are you going?" Nikki asked. I didn't say anything; I only kept walking until I came to the gate that led to the beach. "Tay stop!" I locked the gate and walked to the beach.

"Hello?" he answered.

"I hope you have a good relationship with her…" I stopped mid-sentence.

"What?"

"Yea, that's what I was thinking. What? Why is he there and not in Tennessee?"

"Tay, what are you talking about?" But he didn't realize that I was walking to the baseball field. It was only a few miles from my house that was on the beach. "I'm in Tennessee."

"Nick if you're in Tennessee then why did I hear you in the background when Tara called me?" I heard him mumble something under his breath. "Turn around." I heard him sigh and then he turned to look at me. He closed him phone and I hit end. I shook my head and turned, I had to make sure before jumping to conclusions.

"Taylor!" he shouted, as I walked down the sidewalk to the beach. "Babe, stop." He gabbed my arm, and pulled me to him. "It's not what you think."

"Then what is it? You just so happen to be here. Nick you told you coach you were going to Tennessee, you told everyone that. And then I get a call from Tara and I heard you in the background. And you know why I knew it was you and not someone imitating you, because you have something to your voice that I can only catch." He couldn't look at me, and I pulled my arm away from him and began to walk away.

"It isn't what you think." he mumbled. I loved him, and I hated doing this, but what would he be doing here? I kept walking and he didn't follow, I didn't look back, I kept walking and when I reached the beach a large rock was by the shoreline. I sat on the rock and looked across the blue sea.

Here, I cried, I didn't care who saw me, but I cried silently. It wasn't loud like most people, but soft and quiet. I felt warm, strong arm wrap around me, and he put his chin on my shoulder. I was in my usual, white summer dress with flip-flops and my hair in a high ponytail. "What are you doing here? Isn't Tara looking for you?" I asked. He didn't reply, but he held me tighter as I tried to get away from him. It was five o'clock in the evening and the sun was setting below the horizon.

"Beautiful, like you."

"Why didn't you tell me that you wanted to see her? I would have happily given up our relationship so you were happy. Nick, I love you, and if sacrificing our relationship for you to be truly happy I will do that. That's all you have to say." I turned around and looked at him. His eyes were looking over me to the blue water. "Is that what you want?" He looked into my eyes and I could read his thoughts. Whenever he looked into my eyes, I could always tell what he wanted to say. "Nick, if you love me you'll tell me the truth." He kissed me, but I wasn't going to let this be the answer. He had to tell me with words.

"I will always love you."

"Nick, that answer could be used both ways."

"I do not want her, I want you. You're my life, my soul, and my own personal drug. I love you, and I always will." There it was the charm that he used everyday. I looked away; his eyes were showing me things I never wanted to see. They reflected an image that any girl never wants to see.

"I'm sorry, but I can't." I released myself from his grasp and got off the rock. I never told him that when I looked into a person's eyes I saw reflections of what they had done, or what was on their mind. When they looked at me and I looked them in the eyes I could see what they were thinking, their eyes would tell a story.

"Tay, please." He was next to me and I took of my flip-flops and walked barefoot in the soft, warm sand. I began to run and he ran with me.

"No Nick! I can't. If you love me, you'll let me go!" I said when he grabbed my arm.

"Tell me. Tell me you don't love me." I could never do that, but I had to. It was the only way to get him to let me go. I looked him in the eyes and said,

"Nicholas…Adam…Jameson…I…do…"

"You what?"

"I…do not…love you." He let me go and I ran. I ran down the beach as he stood and watched me. I ran to my home and when I reached my fence I fell. I fell on my knees, knees hurt from the tiny pebbles digging into my skins.

"Taylor?" Nikki asked. She, Whit, Alex, Anna, and Brigid were there. I held my head in the hands and cried.

"He was there!" I cried. "I saw it all in his eyes!"

"You what?" Anna asked. I had never told her or Brigid or Whitney about that. I had only told Alex and Nikki, they were my closest friends.

"Nothing." Alex said defensively. Nikki hugged me as I cried.

"He kissed her, he hugged her, he wrapped his arm around her, he was dating her behind my back!" I whispered. "Why?" I mumbled.

"What are you doing here?" I heard Nikki ask. "Alex." Then Alex was holding me in her arms, but I sat up and saw him.

"What do you want?" I stood up and was in front of him and pushed Nikki to the side. "Do you want to keep lying to me and tell me you love me after you were dating her behind my back?"

"Taylor, calm down." Brigid said. I wiped the tears away and looked at him, I saw flashbacks of us on the rock. Then flashbacks of us when we were together, like when we played paintball and scenes of us kissing. I looked away, and shouted,

"No! I can't!" I fell on my knees; I couldn't let his eyes draw me in again.

"Taylor?" he asked and was in front of me on his knees.

"No." I repeated and held my head in my hands. "I can't. I won't." I looked into his eyes and saw him without me. He was with Tara, and she kissed him, and then it went to far. "No. No! You can't!" I was up and running down the beach. I stopped and sat on the dry, golden sand. How could he? Why would he? What about the promise? The rings? True Love Waits.

But I guess that doesn't mean anything to him anymore. I cried just thinking about it. True Love Waits is all I could think about. I pulled the chain that was around my neck and under my dress from my neck. I looked at it and the ring that was on it. Engraved on it was: Nick and Tay, love forever and ever. No matter what. I looked at it and threw it into the sand.

I got up and walked to the wooden ramp that accessed the parking lot. No one was here today, which was nice. I walked along the curb and looked at my feet and then ahead and to my feet once more. "I loved him, but not any longer." I whispered to myself.

"Hey Martin!" I heard a female voice shout. I looked over and saw Tara.

"What could you possibly want?" I asked.

"So you learned about Nick little scandal, huh? Well guess what, no matter what you do, he will always love me more."

"Tara, just remember this: I do not love him. You can have him." Her smile faded, she was enjoying my pain, but I didn't want her to have that pleasure. She looked away and drove away. I rolled my eyes and then someone called,

"Taylor!" I fell off of the curb and into the sand. "Whoa! Hey!" I looked up and saw Maddy.

"Hey Maddy, what's up?" I asked wiping the sat off my dress.

"Sorry about you know who."

"Don't be. He decided to cheat."

"What!"

"Yea," I said. "I have to go, I um…have to eat." She nodded and I ran down the beach in darkness and I looked at the beautiful moon. I admired it and when I got to my fence I grabbed my flip-flops from earlier and opened the gate. I walked up my steps and I wanted to cry.

Usually when I would come home, he would be there; I don't know how he had time for Tara, he was with me all the time. When I opened my door my room was dark and the whole house was silent. "Hello?" I asked when I opened my bedroom door that led to the main house. "Anyone home?" I walked down the steps but I couldn't find anyone. "This is weird." Then I found a note on the fridge. It read:

Tay,

We went to pick up dinner. We'll be home in a hour or an hour and a half.

Love,

Nikki

I sighed, great. It was seven o'clock and I walked back to my room. I laid on my bed and drifted to sleep. I dreamt of what I had seen in Nick's eyes, of him and Tara. It was a nightmare, she was all over him, but I hadn't seen this, he wasn't happy about it. I didn't look at it differently. The vision was disturbing.