Dark blue eyes skimmed the hallways as she trailed a free hand through her blonde hair. The blue streaks had been added over the summer as part of her rebellious stage. The heart attack she had nearly given her mother had been much worth the effort that went into getting them. Part of her had hoped that maybe Riley would have stopped liking her after that moment. Instead he just acted as if they weren't there. Why in the world he seemed to care about everything else except the color in her hair was beyond Taylor's comprehension
Riley's woman.
It was a title that she hated and would have preferred never having gained it in the first place. But, of course, just because she had agreed to it over the summer it seemed that even now being at Eden Hall she was still kept with the title. Even if she had broken up with the older boy, no one seemed to take that into account. Most likely because Riley never seemed to tell anyone that they had broken up, and whenever she tried to tell them that she had they just ignored her. Why shouldn't they? She knew how Riley could be with her and she was almost positive that he did nearly the same thing with the guys on his team. Or perhaps not. That would explain why none of them seemed to believe her whenever she tried to tell them how horrible he was.
Plopping down into the chair in the auditorium her brother on one side of her and Riley on the other she let out a sigh glaring hatefully at Scott. He should have known better than to save her a seat next to the one guy she would have preferred not seeing for as long as she possibly could. "I don't see why they have even let them in the school," she could hear half of what Riley was saying; something about his brother losing his scholarship, this being just something to bring in more donors. She wasn't entirely sure and if she was being completely honest she didn't care either way. Riley's brother was as much of an ass as Riley and dealing with the both in them at one time was enough to make her want to pull out of her hair.
Her attention was pulled from her mind as she heard a ripping sound and watched what seemed like figures behind it before it falling completely down. A hand covered her mouth stopping the laughter that threatened to spill from her lips as one of the boys pulled the curtain from under them.
"Uh… we're the Ducks…"
She bit her bottom lip trying to hide the amusement that seemed to come across her as she looked at the rest of them peeking out of the curtains. Noticing a preppier dressed boy with blonde hair, she caught his eyes offering him a reassuring smile as well as a small wave. He seemed more embarrassed than the others and she thought it must have been terrible to do something like during your first day. Feeling nails gripping into her knee she turned glaring hatefully at the boy next to her. "Riley, remove your hand, right now," her words were spoken sternly and he gripped harder before letting go.
As everyone else seemed to be filing from the auditorium she felt Riley grabbing her hand making sure that everyone else had left before turning to face her. "What in the hell was that about?" he asked the girl angrily as she raised an eyebrow standing up quickly knowing that it was going to end up turning violent. "Why in the world haven't you gotten the clue yet?" she asked shaking her head wondering if perhaps the boy was delusional. It was the only thing that made any sense. Everyone else when a girl said that you were broken up realized that you were not together anymore. "Riley, I broke up with you two months ago. We're not together. I was offering a new kid a wave. Even if it was more it wouldn't matter because you are not my boyfriend no matter what you think," as soon as the words left her mouth she regretted them feeling the anger overtaking Riley's face. Her cheek stung feeling the slap against her cheek. "I have told you before and I will tell you now, you are mine and only mine.
Hearing him leave she shook her head sitting back down in the seat, as the door opened once more she expected to see Riley standing there, but a soft smile went across her lips seeing the dark hair of her brother. He reached over touching the red cheek as he shook his head "Just quit fighting him, I hate seeing you like this," he said worry tinting his voice. "I'll quit fighting it once he realizes that I'm not his property," she retorted before motioning him away "you better hurry up and catch up to them, though or you'll have to deal with him at practice."
Scott nodded kissing the top of her head leaving as she shook her head once more leaning forward looking up at the stage. Her eyes widened in surprise to see the boy standing in the middle as she took a deep breath standing up glaring almost haughtily at the boy walking toward the stage "How much of that did you see?" she asked though she was positive she already knew the answer to the question. Normally Riley was so much more careful. It seemed that whatever he perceived from her little wave at the boy standing in front of her definitely caused him to have miscalculation of judgment.
"I saw enough," was the only answer she got as she sighed a little bit running her fingers through her hair messing up as she did so. "My name is Adam, by the way." Taylor looked at him a bit surprised before offering her hand up to where he had leaned down off the stage offering to shake her head "Uhm, my name is Taylor," she replied offering a slight smile unsure of why he was being so nice toward her. It wasn't entirely unwelcomed, but she didn't want to think that he was only being nice toward her because of what he had witnessed. "I know we just met, but I'm kind of late for a scrimmage game… if you wanted to avoid him some more you're more than welcome to come watch us…" he said his voice trailing off.
"What type of scrimmage game?" she asked a bit curiously "Hockey. We're the new Junior Varsity team here at Eden Hall," he said pride in his voice at getting accepted into the school. Well that certainly explained why Riley had been more hopped up than usual. "I would love to watch you guys play, but…" her voice stopped as she flushed a little bit "would you perhaps have room for an extra person to play?" she asked hope in her voice as Adam thought about it "We should be able to do so," he just figured that the girl wished to play a little bit. Maybe one little play and then she would want to sit on the bench. That shouldn't be too hard to talk Charlie into. Then afterwards he could talk to her a little more.
At his words she gave out a little gasp before smiling brightly up at him. As he hopped down off the stage she threw her arms around the boy's shoulder hugging him tightly. Pulling away she was surprised to see his cheeks tinted at pink "Well that was certainly unexpected," he said with a little laugh as she grinned at him "You seem almost embarrassed by it. Perhaps I should stop hugging you," she said playfully trying to pull away before feeling his arms tightening around her waist, not like Riley's, but instead she felt almost safe being in his arms "I definitely prefer having the hug," he mumbled glancing down at her.
Hearing someone laughing softly her face turned bright red this time as Adam looked at the top of the aisle seeing Charlie. "You know, if all the girls, would greet me this way I think I'd feel more welcomed at the school," Taylor let go off her hug before shaking her head "I take it he's one of your teammates then?" she asked Adam who nodded a little bit "Taylor meet Charlie, Charlie this is Taylor," "Nice to meet you, Taylor. You know Cake-eater, we were just getting ready to start the scrimmage game when we realized that you weren't there. Though I can definitely see why you weren't there. This seems like it would be a lot better than playing hockey," he said teasingly noticing Taylor's already blushing face.
"Can I play with you guys?"
The question was asked before Taylor could even think about it. She noticed the curious expression that came across Charlie's face. "Please? I haven't played and it seems like it would be so much fun to actually do with people my own age. Pretty please?" Charlie looked back Adam before nodding a little bit waving his hand "Just this one time because I know it's hard when you don't have anyone to play with." Without a second thought she hugged Charlie tightly "Let me go change and I'll meet you guys at the rink, is that okay?" she asked worry in her voice as if he was going to change his mind. "Okay we'll be there," he said as he watched her rush off.
"Watch yourself, Adam," he said worry in his voice once he saw the door slamming shut "I've heard rumors around the school that she's the captain of the Varsity team's girlfriend. We don't need you getting into any trouble just because of a girl."
Adam had a feeling that Taylor wouldn't want everyone to know what was going on between her and Riley… whatever it was. But telling Charlie that he had seen the male slap the girl wasn't something he planned on doing any time soon. "I can promise you I won't get into any trouble. From what I was told she isn't interested in him. We better hurry up and get to the rink though. As fast as she was moving she might just beat us there," he said changing the subject ignoring the look at Charlie gave him. He had never fully lied to his teammates before, especially Charlie, who he looked at like a best friend, but this was one thing that wasn't his place to tell.
Taylor opened the door hurriedly the smile still on her lips as she put on a pair of jogging pants and a tank-top grabbing her jacket as Scott walked into the room. Putting her jacket on she tried her best to ignore her brother knowing what would be coming soon. As soon as she picked up skates and stick she heard the deep intake of breath "Where are you going with those, Tay?" he asked. Taylor loved sharing a room with her brother, mainly because she had severe nightmares that no one else could handle. Her parents had worked it out so the two would be able to room together. No one had to worry about the two doing anything together, they were related. And they believed her nightmares were from just having a severe panic attack at night. It was easier that way than explaining the truth behind her nightmares.
"I'm just going for a quick skate. I have missed it," she offered as an explanation. Leaning up she gave Scott a kiss on the cheek "I promise I'll be extra careful," she said knowing that if he knew the truth she would find herself tied to a chair in the room unable to leave until he knew that she would never want to skate again. He was overprotective about some things and allowing her to even do anything that remotely resembled hockey was one of those many things that made it onto the list. Her shoes bounced off the pavement as she ran toward the rink, her skates over her shoulder. Walking in she was surprised to see the team all waiting as if they had been waiting for her to arrive. Her face flushed as she walked over lowering her eyes to the ground. "Gosh, Taylor, took you long enough," she caught the teasing tone in Charlie's voice as she scrunched her nose at him with a little laugh. "I got sidetracked for a moment."
"Charlie what's this chick doing here? I thought we were playing a game," the older looking boy like dark black hair spoke as Taylor had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. "She's going to play a little bit with us," Adam offered as an explanation. He felt a hot shot of anger rushing through his body as he noticed Fulton checking out the girl in front of them. "Are you sure about that, babe? You definitely look like a cheerleader. Not a hockey player." Taylor glared at him before tilting her head offering him a sweet smile "Well then you're just going to have to deal with this cheerleaderplaying on the ice with you. Unless you would prefer to sit it out, the bench is right over there," she said motioning toward the bench "if so."
She heard a slight intake of breath from the other teammates as they stared at her in surprise. Part of her hoped she hadn't ruined her chance at playing with them, but there was no way she was going to allow the boy to talk to her like she was beneath him. She was just at good at playing hockey as they were. What in the world did it matter what she looked like? That almost seemed like the type of logic that Riley would have had… okay maybe it was exactly the type of logic that Riley had. Hopefully, the boy didn't end up acting the same way. "I think you better settle there, spitfire," Adam said as Taylor glanced at him before laughing as the tension seemed to have left the group at once.
"Well now that we have that settled, shall we play?" Charlie asked as they nodded, mumbles of yes rang out in the small group. "Cat, you and Goldberg take both nets. Fulton, you and Adam are going to be on the same team this time," his eyes landed on Taylor "you're going to be on my team," he said as Taylor nodded offering him a bright smile sitting down and putting on her skates. "Sounds perfect to me," the spirit that seemed to radiate off the girl was clear and he could understand why Riley would have claimed the girl to be his girlfriend. "Can I do the face off?" she asked sweetly as Charlie sighed before nodding. He figured that she would do this and then sit down; it would be what was in the best interest for the girl.