Previously: Chad and Taylor sorted everything out and are now on friend terms again. Things seem to be going well for them...but will it stay that way? What does Mr. McKessie want to talk to his daughter about? I don't think it's anything good.

CHAPTER TEN

The door creaked ominously behind her as she walked further into her father's office. Taylor looked at all the weaponry hanging on the wall. Her father had a steady collection of guns and hunting knives for the longest time now. Whenever he wasn't at work or standing behind Taylor to make sure she was working, he was in here, constantly polishing the weapons shiny until he could see his own reflection in them.

"Yeah dad?" Taylor called out quietly.

"Who's that?" her father stated from behind a rather large leather chair with his back turned to her.

"Who's who?"

"The boy. Downstairs."

"Oh, him. He's Chad Danforth," Taylor started explaining.

"What's he doing over here?"

"I invited him over," Taylor answered quietly.

"Why?" Her father had swiveled the chair around so that now he was facing her. In one hand was a worn cloth that he used for polishing all his equipment and the other was a short but sharp hunting knife. Taylor took a step back, afraid that she now angered her father.

"He's my partner for Health. We have to take care of a baby simulator to teach us something about teenage pregnancy. I didn't pick him to be my partner. Mr. Levisk assigned us together."

"So is that why he dropped you off extremely late last night and why he's over so early in the morning?" Her father had placed the knife down on the table and was ringing the cloth in his hands.

Taylor didn't know how to respond to this. What was she to say? How did her father know that she was with him last night and not Gabriella? Had he been watching her?

"What did I tell you about boys Taylor? That they were nothing but trouble for you. You need to be focusing on your grades." He stood up, pushing the chair back slightly until it hit the wall with a silent thump.

"Dad, it's not like I'm seeing him outside of school or anything. He's just my partner for a Health project, nothing more."

Mr. McKessie lashed out and grabbed his daughter by the wrist, the rings on his fingers digging into her skin. "You better not be seeing him," he threatened, his voice hoarse, "Because if you do, I'll have to pull you out of school and start with a private tutor. We do have enough money for that, Taylor, you know that we do."

Her eyes winced. One of her dad's diamond studded rings had cut her; she could feel a trickle of blood running from her right wrist. "Yes dad, I know that we could afford a tutor, but I don't want a private tutor. I'd rather go to East High. I'm not seeing him, he's just my project partner!"

Mr. McKessie let go of her daughter's wrist, picking up another blade from the wall and the cloth off the table. "You better keep it that way."

Taylor rubbed her right wrist in her left hand. The cut on her right wrist was small but big enough to leave a noticeable scab. "It will, I'm not interested in him. He's a basketball jock and I'm...me. Our worlds are never meant to cross."

"Now's that's something I want to hear," her father said quietly, polishing the blade that he held in his hand.

"Can I go now?" Taylor asked, still rubbing her wrist in her hand. Her father waved her off. She walked back into her room and pulled out a yellow polo and a pair of comfortable jeans, clipping her hair back quickly with a headband. She grabbed Corbin, who had been sleeping soundly, and placed him in the baby carrier. She opened the door only to find Chad standing there, his hand raised as if he was about to knock.

"Hey, your mom said that I should check up on you to see what was goin' on."

"Oh hey. I was just on my way downstairs. I just had a talk with my dad really quick," she held out the carrier, "Here's Corbin. Sorry that it took me so long."

Chad took the carrier in his hands, clearing his throat in order to hide his nervousness. "Thanks."

"You could probably go now. You probably have huge plans that you gotta get to," Taylor started walking down the stairs, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Actually," Chad took a hold of Taylor's arm, "Are you doing anything today?"

"No, why?"

They had reached the bottom of the stairs and Chad let go of her arm.

"I was wondering. Did you wanna go do something today?" Chad said nervously, scratching the back of his neck.

Taylor's eyes narrowed, wondering what Chad Danforth had really been up to. "Like what?"

"I dunno. Stuff, whatever you want to do."

"Sure," she answered, continuing on her way into the kitchen, "But right now, I want to have breakfast."

"Great, now I can have seconds!" Chad replied hungrily.

Taylor chuckled to herself, thinking that Chad was only kidding, which he wasn't. She watched as he piled eggs, sausages, and bacon on his plate.

"Are you gonna eat all that?" she questioned, loading her own plate with eggs.

The answer she received was Chad mounding the food into his mouth. She watched as Chad ate, wait no, as he inhaled his second wave of breakfast. Slowly she spooned some of the eggs into her mouth and chewed with her mouth closed, quite the opposite of Chad.

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"What's the score?" Taylor asked, tossing the basketball to Chad.

"You've got 34 and I've got 42. You're not too far behind. Where did you learn to play like that?" Chad questioned, dribbling the ball and making a shot, which bounced off the rim.

"Not only do I exercise my mind, I find the time to go out and shoot some hoops too. Strong physically and mentally," Taylor responded.

He chuckled and took another shot. "Listen, about the other day...you still haven't really answered my question. About who you were writing about on the cover," Chad brought up.

"Oh that," Taylor replied, taking a seat on the bench that was next to the basketball court. She picked up Corbin and cradled him in her arms. "I'm telling you, it's really about nothing. You shouldn't worry about it."

"If it really isn't about anything, couldn't you tell me then?"

"Chad, I really wish I could tell you, but I can't. Besides, I'm not really sure that I like him like that yet. I was just thinking and subconsciously writing that stuff down."

Chad's eyes lit up at the sound of that. "She might not even like him." He took a seat next to her. "Any chances of liking someone else more than this guy?"

"What?"

"Nothing. Nothing. I don't know what I was saying," Chad answered, getting up and dribbling the ball. "Why did you do that? You don't even like her like that. She's just a friend. She'll only be a friend until this project is over."

"Listen, I've gotta get back home and start on a progress report."

"For this project?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want me to help? I don't want you to do any part of this project alone."

"No, you don't need to help. It's not a required part of the project. I've just got the feeling that I should be doing something more with this than take care of a doll," she extended her right hand and picked up the baby carrier.

Chad noticed a pretty big scab forming on her right wrist. "Taylor, what did you do to get that huge scab? You're not a cutter, are you?" he kidded, shooting another basket.

Taylor quickly covered her wrist. "No, I'm not a cutter. It's nothing really."

"Taylor, why are you picking up the baby carrier? I'm supposed to be taking care of Corbin today," Chad pointed out.

"Sorry, I guess I'm used to taking care of him for a long time. Bad habit," Taylor chuckled.

"A bad habit formed by my fault," Chad apologized without saying 'sorry,' "I hope you have a good time working on the progress report."

"Meet you at your house tomorrow? Same time?"

"Actually, I think I should probably come over to your house and drop him off," Chad replied.

"Why?"

"It'll just be easier that way. Beside you don't even know where I live but I know where you do."

Taylor bit her lip. Her father didn't really want Chad to come over to her house and quite frankly, she didn't want him to either. Not for the reason that she didn't want him to, but the fact that her father would start getting suspicious that she was getting too close to him. But what could she say?

"Alright. I guess I'll see you at my house tomorrow morning at 10," Taylor stated after a minute or so of silence.

"Yeah, thanks Taylor for understanding." He took another shot, which missed.

"No problem. Can I just ask you one thing?"

"Yeah sure. What?"

"Don't come over early again."

"Why?"

"Just because. Don't ask."

"Alright, I won't ask. I'll be at your house promptly at 10."

"Thanks Chad. I'll see you tomorrow," Taylor said, walking backwards toward her house, waving Chad and Corbin good-bye.

"See you tomorrow too." Chad waved back.

"Make sure you take care of Corbin and don't let him cry," Taylor shouted back.

"Don't worry. I won't let him cry."

"Good. Bye!"

"Bye!"

Chad picked up the basketball and the baby carrier with Corbin in it and walked toward his home. He wondered why Taylor only wanted him to only come over at 10 and why she hesitated to answer. Then he started wondering why he was wondering these things. It's wasn't as if he liked liked Taylor. Like he said before, they were only friends and friends until the project was back to normal. But then his mind wanted to know if that's how he wanted things to be. Did he like Taylor in a way that he couldn't or wouldn't want to describe? Or was his mind just playing tricks on his heart?

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Who gave Taylor's dad the authority to step in between the growing affections of Taylor and Chad? Will this one conversation cause tension between the two? Or possibly drive them close together? I guess you'll have to review and then find out in the next chapter!

Lotta love,
Kat