Ok so here's hoping for a happy ending here! I am going to try and make up for any lost time on adding to my stories so as far as the rest of this week and this weekend go I will see what I can do. And with an Economics test on Friday and one class on Thursday, that should give me just enough time for one chapter Thursday, and then I will make up for everything else over the weekend. And I have finally gotten the HSM3 DVD. I am a very happy person. ^^ If I may say, one of my favorite scenes was when Chad and Troy stole Jimmie's and Donnie's clothes and they lead the sophomores right into the auditorium in their towels. Hilarious! C= Ok, I'll shut up now.
Nope, still not owning it.
About a week has passed since her arrival at Yale University, but Taylor was finally completely settled into her dorm room. She had met her roommate Vicky, who was actually a lot nicer than people assumed. All because her name rhymed with Icky, courtesy of "The Fairly Oddparents". But the girls were hitting it off rather well. The problem was when Vicky started talking about her boyfriend back home in New Jersey. Taylor tried to seem interested, she really did. But it all brought back memories of her and Chad. All the things he did for her, all the good times they shared. Taylor had actually thought that he had done all those things for her out of love. But they were all lies. Chad never loved her. If he did then he wouldn't have been making love to Roxy Hunter. So thanks to that party, Taylor personally got her heart stomped on.
No, it wasn't the party's fault; it was her own. It was her fault for actually thinking that there was more to Chad than his curly hair, good looks, and sports. But she was wrong. He was no different from almost every other boy out there. He took advantage of her and he crushed her. So Taylor swore she would never fall for anyone again. No matter what, it would only lead to heartache. And she didn't want to feel that anymore. Not again.
So Taylor didn't talk about her love life to her new found friend. She didn't mention ever having a crush or being in love with anyone or even dating anyone. As far as Taylor was concerned, her love life was done. And she was just glad that Chad was still in New Mexico.
But the sad thing was, part of her wanted to hear him out instead of worrying about catching her plane. She wanted to know if he really was sorry. But to just bring flowers and chocolates? A romantic gesture for a date, perhaps, but not for trying to win a girl back. Although they were roses, which happened to be her favorite…. No! Taylor wasn't going to start thinking about what could have been. Chad was left in the dust to go hurt more girls and that was all that mattered. Taylor didn't care anymore. At least, she was trying not to.
What she didn't know was what Chad had been planning all along. To follow her to Connecticut and actually stay there with her…well, sort of. But there was still the matter of finding her. And just because he knew what college she was at didn't know he meant her exact whereabouts. Yale had a fairly big campus, not to mention numerous dorms and multiple classes. To locate Taylor in the same place every day would be miracle enough. And Chad needed a miracle. Taylor…she didn't know what she needed.
What she really needed to do, as unaware of it as she was, was to stop listening to her head all the time. Everything had to be all logic and facts. But relationships weren't; nothing was ever set in stone. Taylor listened to her head when she left New Mexico without hearing Chad out. And as hurt as her heart still was from him, part of it still yearned for him. That was the part she was still trying to put back together. She wanted to put it back together without the thought of Chad in it. The question was, could she do it?
The weeks began to pass by slowly, and as much as Taylor wanted to focus on her schoolwork she knew she couldn't completely do it. Perhaps part of her was still adjusting. No one took to college right away and it was a big step from high school, especially when no one that Taylor grew up with was anywhere near her. But the other part of her, she knew it was from Chad. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't get him out of her head. The good times they had, not that one last memory of them. He had tried so hard to contact her after that. There were still all those messages left on her cell phone; she never even bothered to listen to them because just the sound of his voice, no matter how upset or anything else it was, it'd still bring tears to her eyes remembering that night. But Taylor didn't know what killed her more. Remembering what he did to her, or knowing that he was no longer beside her. But it didn't matter now. She had pushed him away. So now there couldn't be any harm in listening to the messages. It wouldn't make any difference; it was already too late.
That night, while Vicky was at her late class, Taylor remained in their dorm room just staring at her phone. She did that for as long as she could, trying to will herself to listen to the unheard voice messages from Chad. But for a while Taylor couldn't think to listen to his voice. Finally convincing herself after a good hour or so (and thankfully Vicky's last class as for two and a half hours) that there was nothing left to lose, Taylor accessed her voice mail and began with the very first message, starting from what she remembered as a week after the party.
"Tay it's me. Can we please talk? I need to tell you something. It's about the party. Ok, I know you don't wanna talk to me right now but I have to talk to you. It wasn't my fault, Tay. If I knew what I was getting myself into I never would've even went into the kitchen. Look just please let me explain? You can do whatever you want to me after that. Call me back please? Love you."
"Tay did you get my message? I really have to talk to you. I'm sorry about last week, it was a big mistake. I never even wanted anything to do with Roxy. She cornered me and after she kissed me the next thing I remember was waking up beside her. No wait, that came out totally wrong. I mean, she kissed me but I never kissed her. She was trying to trick me. Please just let me explain? Don't hate me forever Tay? I love you."
"Tay I know you must really, really hate my guts right now but can I please tell you the whole story? I need to tell you what happened. I don't have any feelings for Roxy and I never did. You're the only girl I want, Tay. Please just call me back?"
"Tay, whatever rumors you hear they're not true! Roxy's just trying to get me to stay with her. She's feeding people all these lies about how I got her pregnant. I never did, I know it. I only wanna do that to you! No wait, that came out wrong again. I meant that if I could have a baby with anyone…oh man, I'm getting it all screwed up now aren't I? Look can we please just talk? I can even make reservations tonight at your favorite restaurant. You can order anything you want, even if you wanna throw it at my face. I'll be waiting."
"Tay you can't avoid me forever. I wanna talk to you. I need to talk to you. Please, just five minutes? I can't just not see you. I have to talk to you. Even just one minute if you want, I'll do anything. Please just call me back even if you're gonna yell at me? I wanna hear your voice and not just 'Hey you've reached Taylor. I've probably got a ton of homework right now so leave a message and I'll call back when I'm done.'. Please just hear me out? Before we start college? I love you, Tay."
Each message got more depressing than the next. Taylor could hear the tone in Chad's voice softening and feeling worse with each one. It hurt her on the inside and even if she was alone in her room she still refused to show how she felt. These were all the messages she had missed, how desperate and upset he sounded. Sure, it got to a point after the next message when he started repeating a few things but Taylor could tell he still felt horrible. So what if he was telling the truth? Or what if it was just his pathetic attempt to get her back and hurt her? Taylor didn't want to go through that again, but at the same time she didn't know how much longer she could go without being anything with him or even being a hundred miles away from him. She'd rather have him somewhere in Connecticut than all the way in New Mexico.
Finally, she got to the last message and her eyes swelled up even more. She couldn't hold it in much longer.
"Tay, please. You leave for college in a week. I can't not see you before then. I've tried all summer to talk to you. Do you really hate me that much not to call me back? I just wanna tell you what happened. You can believe me or not or whatever, I don't care. I just wanna see you. Even if you yell at me I'll still be happy to see you, to just hug you one more time. Please, Tay. I love you. That's not gonna change. Call me back before you go? I'll come see you at the airport…for old time's sake. I'd do anything to get you back. I'm gonna prove it even if it's while you leave. I've missed you Tay, and I'm still gonna miss you. So if you meet any guys at Yale that try to do something to do…give them a good punch in the arm for me? Good luck at Yale. I still love you. Bye, Taylor."
That was the last of them. Twenty-six messages in counting. Well, somewhere around that number, anyway. Honestly, she had lost count after five. Why did he have to sound so sad? Oh yeah...because she never returned his calls and made him feel unloved. But he made her feel unloved first. But still, why did his voice have to be so...so...well, Chad? And now, especially thanks to those messages, Taylor couldn't get him out of her head. Slowly putting the phone down, she pulled her knees into her chest and wrapped her arms around them. It was all finally hitting her. Even though she knew she shouldn't forgive Chad after what he pulled, she still knew that he nodded the benefit of the doubt. This was Roxy she was thinking about, so odds were at least seventy-five percent out of hundred that it had been her fault. Ok, so maybe it was more like ninety-five percent, but Taylor had to listen to her head on that part. The thing was, however, that her head couldn't tell her how to feel the way her heart did.
It was around an hour or so later that Vicky had walked back into the dorm room. She slowly closed the door behind her, though only left it opened a crack. She brushed some red curly locks away from her barely tanned face as she put her books down on the nearby desk. "Hey Tay." she greeted like it was any other night.
But it wasn't like any other night. Taylor was curled up on her bed on her side of the room, her back facing the door as well as Vicky. She didn't respond to her roommate's greeting or even acknowledge that she had walked in.
"Hey what's wrong?" Vicky asked, walking over. She sat down on the edge of Taylor's bed and gently rubbed her back. She could swear she heard faint sobs coming from Taylor. "Why so depressed? You got out of class three and a half hours before I did."
"It's not that, Vicky." Taylor shook her head quietly as she only barely removed it from her knees.
"Ok...what is it then?" she wondered.
Taylor wiped her eyes and sat up to face Vicky slightly. "I did something terrible. And there's no way I can fix it."
"What makes you say that?" Vicky quirked an eyebrow. "Sure doesn't sound like the Taylor I've seen yet. Have you been faking who you were this whole time?"
"Not exactly." Taylor replied.
"Care to fill me in?" she asked.
Taylor wiped her eyes once more and tried her best to talk without falling apart again. And even if she did, at least it wouldn't be as bad as if Chad were there. "Back home there was someone I had. I caught him with another girl and didn't want to speak to him since." She gestured towards her phone, "I just listened to every message he left over the summer tonight."
Vicky slowly picked up Taylor's phone. Waiting a minute to see if Taylor would object, she then listened to some of the messages Chad had left. She slowly put the phone down after hearing a few of them. "He sounded really upset." Was all she could say.
"That's an understatement." she sighed. "He tried to catch me at the airport before I left. And I didn't hear him out. And now he probably wouldn't even talk to me if I called him."
Vicky seemed to pause for a minute as her eyes quickly scanned the room before looking back at Taylor. "Well what makes you say that?"
"He tried to catch me when I was at the airport. And I wouldn't hear him out. I walked right out on him." Taylor answered in near fragments, feeling fresh tears threatening to fall just thinking about it.
"Maybe you're just blowing this out of proportion. He's probably still trying to figure out how to make it up to you." Vicky suggested.
"I doubt it. I wouldn't blame Chad if he never wanted to speak to me again." Taylor choked. "And if something like this would always be a final product then I don't think I could allow myself to love anyone again."
Vicky's look softened, also aware that she would have to evacuate the room shortly. "Hey don't try and act so stubborn. We've all been there. Why do you think I blab on and on about my boyfriend so much?" She stood up and rubbed her friend's shoulder. "Look, you're not in New Mexico anymore. You've gotta let yourself shine here where everyone can see you. Because no one should be all down right when they start at their dream college. And if everything you're saying now really is coming from your heart then maybe you should listen to it more often." Taking this as her cue to now exit the room, Vicky headed to the door. "I'm going to grab a late night dinner. Call me in an hour if you still want to be alone, ok?" Seeing only a single nod from Taylor, the freshman took her leave, still leaving the door opened a crack.
So now Taylor sat alone on her bed one more. Nothing but silence and a single sigh filled the room. No one was in there except Taylor and her thoughts. Now she was wishing she had convinced Vicky to stay. Taylor had always given her friends advice when they really needed it. And now Taylor was the one who needed the advice and she couldn't seem to find the right encouragement to give herself. Not even five minutes had passed and she already reached for her phone again. Scrolling through her files, she ended up opening a small folder that contained pictures of her and Chad, or just Chad. Her eyes evidently fell on the last one she took of him; it was just before the graduation ceremony at East High and Chad had been struggling to squeeze the cap on over his incredibly curly hair. With a goofy smile on his face, the cap rested at the tip of his hair as though it were almost ready to fall off.
A sad smile came across Taylor's face as she stared at the picture and she looked at it ruefully. "I was so stupid to let you go." she whispered to herself.
"Hey now, I think that's my line." a male's voice came from inside the dorm room.
Taylor's head shot up. That voice...she knew that voice! Slowly turning around her eyes finally landed on Chad, who was gently closing the door behind him. Taylor couldn't believe it, but he was there. In all of his tall, athletic, and curly-haired...what was the proper word? Self? Glory?
As Taylor was lost in her thoughts, Chad placed his hands in his jeans pockets and sheepishly walked closer to her bed. He just stood there, not sitting beside her or making any sudden movements. He didn't even remember how long he's been planning this anymore. Maybe a week or so? Man, he didn't even attend his own college yet and he didn't really tell his parents where he was. He was really hoping that somehow this would all work out or else he might not get another night of freedom to do anything else thanks to the lifetime grounding his parents would most likely hand him.
Chad rubbed the back of his head, becoming a tad nervous at Taylor's silence. "I...kinda came here to see you..." he admitted. "I mean...I wanted to explain what happened...if you'll let me."
"But how did you...?" she started, that being all she got out so far.
"I took a plane in after yours. You don't even wanna know what I've been doing to stay here and avoid going back home." Chad explained. "I've been trying to come here and find you for days, and then today your roomate...kinda found me. She said it wasn't too hard to figure out who I was looking for, cause there's five other Taylor's on campus and they're all guys." He smiled slightly, hoping to hear her laugh from his true yet joking statement. But as much as Taylor would have liked to even giggle at that, nothing or the sort escaped her lips. Chad's face fell at her continued silence. "I guess I didn't realize how much you hated me." he said quietly.
Taylor looked up at him and shook her head. "No." she responded. Chad raised an eyebrow from confusion and Taylor slowly removed herself from her bed. She walked over to Chad and wrapped her arms around him. "I don't hate you, Chad."
Chad didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around her in an embrace, though part of him still afraid that it would cause her to pull away. "Tay, please just let me explain..." he started.
"Don't." she shook her head quietly. "I should have just listened to you instead of walking away. I should have believed you no matter what you said because I would trust you over some cheerleader any day."
"You had every right to give me your usual cold shoulder." Chad said. "I just wish you would have let me talk to you instead of leaving all those messages that you never replied to."
"I never even listened to them until tonight." Taylor confessed. "To just think about that night or to even hear your voice...it hurt. And I wanted to put it off for as long as I could. But it was wrong." She paused and took a deep breath, "And I was wrong."
"Vicky's right, you know. You don't have to listen to your head all the time. Sometimes you gotta trust your heart more than anything else." Chad shrugged. "How do you think I got here?"
"I guess your heart's as big as your hair." Taylor said, the thought of it making her smile a little.
Chad chuckled faintly at her comment. "I should probably grow my hair out a little more then, huh?" he joked.
Taylor's smile grew and she shook her head, feeling better already. She picked her head up and looked at Chad, not moving out of his arms. "Got enough room in there for a stubborn, hard-headed brainiac?" she wondered.
"Only if that stubborn, hard-headed brainiac's you." he replied with a smile, looking her in the eyes. "I love you, Tay."
Taylor smiled back as her eyes met with his. "I love you, too."
"So much for you not loving again, huh?" Chad teased.
Taylor's eyes widened. "Chad!" she gasped. "How much of my conversation did you hear?"
"Almost all of it." he had to chuckle.
Taylor squirmed out of his embrace. "Ok, get out of my dorm room and onto the next plane to New Mexico. You're already failing all of your classes by not showing up."
"What if I transferred somewhere around here next semester?" Chad asked hopefully.
"Ask me in about a year." she answered simply.
"Hey!" Chad gasped. He tried to get a hold of her again but Taylor kept backing away. He ended up backing her into the door with no escape. "I've got you now." he teased, his arms going around her. He rested his forehead against hers, his bangs resting on top of her head.
"And wherever are we going with this?" Taylor inquired as innocently as she could, placing her hands on his shoulders.
"We're going to forgive each other, we're going to talk, we're going to make up for lost time..." Chad answered in a flirty tone, "...and we're gonna do some of this." He kissed Taylor gently yet filled with passion. She kissed him back and didn't even bother to pull away or even try to. As the kiss deepened Chad moved one arm around her waist and rubbed her back with his other hand. Taylor's hands migrated to cup his cheeks and occasionally brushed some hair away from his face. It went on like that until Taylor's cell phone went off. She and Chad reluctantly pulled away from each other and Taylor answered it.
"Hello?" she asked.
And a very content Vicky was on the other end. "So how is ti going in there?" she teased. "How much longer do you want me to stay out for?"
Taylor smiled at thought for a minute. She looked at Chad, and then returned to the very brief conversation with her roommate. "Think you can stay kicked out of the room for a couple more hours?" she asked. "I've got some catching up to do."
"Ok, but you know the dorm's gotta be clear of all visitors by eleven." Vicky shrugged.
"That should give us plenty of time." Taylor smiled. "See you then." She hung up her phone and turned back to Chad, who was now playfully fiddling with her hair. Taylor giggled and wiggled away from him as he pushed her bangs out of her face. "We can fool around later." she told him. "You're in enough trouble with your parents and we'll be lucky to have three hours to ourselves."
"You must really wanna get rid of me then." Chad joked.
Taylor looked at him seriously with her hands on her hips. "Never in my dreams, Chad." she replied. "Now help me find my 'do not disturb' sign. Unless you want someone to walk in on us when we have a moment?" She started looking through her side of the room to see where she put the sign to hang on the outside doorknob.
But Chad shook his head and smiled as he picked up a loose sock from the floor. Typical lazy Chad. "Can't we use this instead?"
Taylor turned to him and she covered her mouth in a minor fit of giggles. "That's not my sock, you know."
Chad paused, seeming disturbed at first. But then again, anything that could go on a door handle was a sign, right? And he missed enough time with Taylor as it was.
"After everything else that went down," he finally smiled, "I think this'll do just fine."
Lame ending, much? Well, I think so, I dunno about you. Besides now it's after midnight and I gotta wake up at six tomorrow so that's enough reason to stop there, right? o_0 Ok, maybe not so call me lazy if you wish. I do it all the time, you can do! I encourage it. ^^ Ok so that's it for now so I will update another story next chance I get. And since I've got nothing else to say at the moment, I will end if off with.... Good night!