10. Dogs Biting and Bees Stinging, These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things.

I stood stunned, the phone still held to my ear. I couldn't even move to put it down. What had just happened?

"Leah?" I head Gram say, "are you OK?" She didn't sound surprised that I was in shock. Had she been expecting this? Of course she had, she was in on it all.

She took the phone out of my hand and pulled me into a hug.

"I'm sorry dear." She said as she hugged me. I pulled away and smiled at her, blinking back tears as I did so.

"S 'okay" I said as I turned and shuffled back to my room. I threw myself onto my bed. I knew, at that moment, that I was losing my best friends. They were slipping away, and there was nothing I could do about it. I stared at the ceiling and wondered what I was going to do. Taylor and Christi had been my sun; my life had revolved around them. Without them I had no one.

I mentally slapped myself across my face. What was I saying? I hadn't lost them yet. Things could still work out. Soon this would all blow over and things would be like they were before. I calmed myself down and thought about what the next day would bring.

I had over reacted, I decided. And if they weren't going to give in and tell me what was going on, I would just have to play dumb. Despite was I knew what true; I would go along with their little lie. It wouldn't really matter a couple months from now.

I sprinted through the double doors of the school. It was pouring rain and by the time I had gotten to school, my shoes were soaked. I sloshed to class, water pouring out of my shoes with every step I took. I hurried to the back and sat down, shivering.

I was cold, wet, and tired; I hadn't slept much the night before. Taylor came in and sat down in his usual seat, but he seemed distant. He didn't look at me, or talk to me. He just stared ahead. I looked at him for a second, and then stared at my desk.

"I went to pick you up this morning," he said in monotone, "but Gram said you'd already left."

"Um, yeah, sorry, I wasn't sure if you were gonna come or not, after…"

I didn't need to finish. We both knew what I meant. After yesterday.

We sat in silence all throughout class. I was scared to even look at him, knowing I would see only the serious mask he held. I had never seen him so unhappy, and if frightened me. The realness of the situation came flooding back, and I was overwhelmed with the feeling that my comforting pep-talk last night was nothing but fluff.

I folded my arms across my chest and clenched my fists. The bell rang and I began to breathe again. I relaxed my hands and began to fold and unfold them. They were red and sore from being held so tight, and there were marks from where my nails had dug into my skin.

I hurried out the door and to my locker, not wanting to see the stern look that was sure to be in his eyes. I hurried through the day, trying to keep busy so as not to think about the looming situation. But the boys in my classes were a distraction.

There was always at least one in every class, and like before, they were watching me. At the moment they were an unwelcome reminder of the dark secret everyone was hiding from me. I had begun to pay more attention to them, and had noticed that I had a class with all of them, except for the youngest, a sophomore, and the leader.

I had discovered he was a senior and was graduating next year. I had heard people talking about him, and learned that his name was Liam. He was the tallest of the group and, despite the fact that Ross was much more muscular, they all moved with him like gravity.

It was amazing to watch how graceful they all were, Taylor and Christi included. They were all almost seven feet tall, and yet they moved so silently and with such grace and confidence. It was amazing.

I passed from class to class, trying hard to focus on the lessons, taking careful notes, and filling my head with information on sonnets, equations, laws, wars, and the rules of volleyball until the lunch bell rang.

I changed out of my gym clothes and took my time on my way to the cafeteria. I was in no rush now. I realized that there was no hope of extracting information from Taylor, and I was giving up, waving the white flag.

I walked hesitantly through the heavy doors, and took my time going through the lunch line, allowing several people to cut in front of me. Finally, I was the last person in line and I made my way slowly up to the counter to receive my food.

I took my tray with trembling hands and then slowly turned to face the crowded lunch room. I looked at Christi sitting with the group of boys. She seemed even taller than yesterday. I saw Taylor sitting alone at the table behind them, the same place we'd sat yesterday.

I took a deep breath and took careful, slow steps towards him. The laughing five fell silent and serious as I passed. I gave Christi a comforting smile, and for a split second, the mask was gone. She smiled at me and she was my best friend again. Then, just as quickly as it had appeared, the smile was gone, and the solemn mask was once again positioned across her face.

I dropped my gaze and continued to the table. I sat down without making eye contact with Taylor. I poked at my pizza and tried to ignore the stress that hung thick in the air. I glanced up once, and found Taylor mouthing something to someone behind my head. I turned around without thinking, and saw Liam staring at Taylor. Liam looked at me, and I saw pity in his eyes.

I looked back at Taylor, but he was staring down at his plate. He seemed distracted and worried, but I felt like I was in no position to ask him what was wrong. We said nothing in the hour allotted to us for lunch; just ate and watched each other carefully when we thought the other wasn't looking.

This was not how things were supposed to be, Taylor was one of my best friends. I thought back to the day at the house. Everything had been so normal, so wonderful, and now, just two and half weeks later, my life was falling apart. I was losing the two most important people in my life.

I blinked back tears as this thought flashed through my mind. Finally, the bell rang, and Taylor stood up quickly. I sat in my seat, numb. He looked down at me, and grief flooded his eyes, pain filling his face. He opened his mouth to say something, and then shut it quickly.

He looked up at the group of boys, back at me, and then walked solemnly over to them. They all walked harmoniously out of the cafeteria.

Déjà-vu.

I passed the rest of the day shrouded in self-pity. This wasn't fair; this wasn't how things were supposed to turn out. Taylor was going to be my boyfriend and Christi was going to eventually be my sister-in-law. We would move somewhere exotic and have a perfect life together. It was a perfect plan, childish sure, but that didn't matter now because I had fallen apart in the blink of an eye.

Taylor was distant the rest of the week. We sat in miserable silence all through lunch and English, repeating the same pattern day after day. I had stopped riding in the car with them; it was too depressing of a reminder of the good old days. And yet, Taylor continued to eat lunch with me. I began to think that he felt obligated to it. He didn't want to just leave me hanging like Christi had.

He continued to seem distracted. We spoke very little to each other the rest of the week, and it was probably for the better. Every time I would open my mouth to say something to him, tears would flood my eyes to the point that, I knew if I said anything, they would brim over.

He'd noticed my misery, I was sure of it. Every now and then his eyes would fill with pity and he would look at me with a pain that I had never seen before as if he hated the situation as much as I did, but could do nothing to change it.

One Saturday night, I'd asked Gram if I could walk to church. She looked at me; sympathy and understanding clear on her face. She nodded two slow nods. The following morning we all walked to church and sat in a separate row from Taylor and his family.

I cried myself to sleep that night.

I walked soberly to school on Monday. As I sat down next to him in English, I noticed that Taylor looked more worried and distraught than usual. I refrained from asking, and instead clenched my jaw so tight that my teeth were sore the rest of the day.

As usual, I took my time getting to lunch. I had noticed the rest of the guys had the same distressed looks written across their faces. It confused and worried me. They were usually relaxed and chill, except when I was around, but even then their expressions weren't so intense.

I had a feeling that something was going to happen, something bad, but I couldn't figure out what.

I took extra long walking to lunch and over to the table. Taylor sat fidgeting in the seat, looking very much like a boy who'd gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

I sat down and looked at him, a long sigh escaping my lips. He looked at me with a look of agony. He glanced past me at the cluster of five behind me. Then he took a deep breath and looked down at the table. I kept my gaze steady.

"Leah," he began, "we can't do this anymore." I had begun to notice that when he talked, he used the term "we". We both knew what he meant. Him and his gang. "It's too much for us."

"WE?" I asked, disgust drenching my tone. "They can't do this anymore? What about me? I'm the one putting up with them. They've stolen everything from me and they can't handle it?" I spat the words out, motioning back to the group behind me, trying to forget the fact that my best friend sat with that very group.

Taylor's hands began to tremble and he clenched them into fists. He took several deep breaths before looking me in the eye.

"I can't do this anymore Leah." He said slowly. "I'm sorry, we can't be friends." He looked down, shame and agony marring his perfect features.

The breath flew out of me and I grabbed the table for support.

"What?" I asked breathlessly, the tears spilling over helplessly.

"I'm sorry." He said as he stood up and burst out of the lunch room.