Taylah Eve is sick of pretty bad boy, Jax Teller, getting by easily. Never in trouble for being late, never in trouble for missing assignments, never having to deal with any of the bulshit she had to. But when Jax proves interested, can she look past that frustration and let him in? (Highschool loves)


"You love me, don't you?"

Taylah brushed the bangs away from her face, and looked into Cass's eyes. They were brown with specks of grey in them. She wasn't sure what to name the color, but it was what she had fallen for in the first place.

"I-" Did she still love Cassius? She watched his fist clench against the table, wondering if it was because of the hesitation in her answer. "Yes. Of course." She finished quickly.

He grabbed her hand and squeezed in a way that made her stomach tighten like an elastic band being stretched to its limits. "One day, we'll get married."

Taylah smiled, but inside she felt like she was dying.


Taylah Eve stared at her buzzing alarm, already awake. She lay there watching the minutes change. Another day, she thought.

She reached over to turn it off, and got out of bed. She quickly straightened the bed out, pulling the sheets tight, and tucking them in, the way Cass liked. She ran to the kitchen, grabbed the cereal from the cupboard and a bowl along with it. She poured the cereal to just the right amount and set it on the table. She glanced at the clock, 7:45am. Cassius would be home any minute. She grabbed the milk and set it on the table along with a glass of orange juice.

As if on cue, Cassius walked into their small home. He hung his coat and kicked off his muddy sneakers. Taylah never knew how someone who stocked shelves over night in a grocery store could get so muddy, and yet he always did.

"Morning!"

He looked up at her, and she could already tell, it was going to be a bad day.

"What's that?" Cass motioned to what was supposed to be his breakfast.

"We're out of eggs, and I know how much you this kind of cereal-"

"Why didn't you go get any eggs yesterday?"

"I was working on a project, Cass. I didn't really have time to-"

He punched the wall. As if their home wasn't in bad enough condition, he had to put another hole in the wall.

"You always have excuses. What are you going to do in the next year when you graduate? You're not going to be able to continue school, oh no. Not when you have to be my wife."

She didn't say anything. It always started this way.

Cassius walked over to the table and flipped it over, sending the bowl and glass to the floor, shattering them and making a mess. "If you can't do it right, then I don't fucking want it."

Their eyes locked, and he stared hard at her. "Maybe you should just drop out of school. You could do your job properly."

"This won't happen again. Cass, I'll get eggs. I-"

He grabbed her wrist. "This. Won't. Happen. Again."

Taylah shook her head. He released his grasp and walked to their room. "I'll pick up some groceries and make us a nice dinner tonight." She called.

She cleaned up the mess and looked at the clock. 8:15. By the time she'd shower and get ready, she'd be late.


9:10.

She was late by 10 minutes. She ran to her first class, Calculus, her long brown pony tail bouncing. Her stained navy Keds hit the floor hard with each step. Fuck!

She walked into Mrs Dell's class, a whole 11 minutes late. "Late again Miss Eve?"

"I'm sorry, I-"

"And I trust your homework isn't completed right now?"

"No."

"This is too much of common recurrence, you are aware?"

"Yes."

Miss Dell motioned to the door. Taylah sighed and made her way to the office for her 21st late slip that month.


Taylah sat with her old army green back pack on her feet. She rested her elbows on her knees, and her head in her hands. If she continued to be late, day after day, month after month, she wouldn't get into any colleges. If she wasn't so damn busy doing everything at home, she'd have time to be on time, time to do her homework.

Taylah was 17 years old. Cassius was 22. They'd met about 2 years ago at the annual town carnival. He seemed so nice, sweet then. Even a year later when her parents died in the horrible car crash that everyone knew about, he was the one who offered she live with him, since she had no other living family. She wished she had. A month after that was when the problems began.


"Babe, of course you can stay with me."

"Are you sure?"

"Are kidding? Where else are you going to go!?"

Taylah wasn't sure, all she knew was that she had no one anymore, but Cass. He'd help her get through high school, help keep her on her feet because she was so busy between school and working to pay for a cheap motel while her home got possessed by the bank. How she wished her parents were still around. How she wished they had paid off the house, and not gotten behind. But they were gone, and so was the only home she'd ever known.

"I got you."

She looked at him and believed his words.