"So what are we going to do tonight?"

I sighed and closed my locker door. I looked over at Chad and tried not to bash his head into my locker door. For the last few weeks Chad's been trying to get me to do something with him outside of school. Like go out to the movies, go over to his house for diner, or go over to his house for dinner and movie with his sisters. It was beginning to become annoying. At first it was sweet that he was trying to get me out more, but the more he asked the more I declined. I knew Chad's motives. Since I was still giving everyone else the cold shoulder; Chad wanted it to be like before he moved away. Always doing something fun with our friends.

"Chad? You know I love you to death right?"

Chad smile at me and gathered me into his arms.

"But right now though I'm ready to kill you."

Chad pushed me away so fast I almost didn't see it coming. "Why do you want to kill me Taylor? What am I doing wrong?"

"Everything." I joked.

Chad pouted and hung his head. I laid my hand on his shoulder. "Dude, look I know you want to hang out but I'm swamped in homework."

Chad sneered at me. "You always say that."

I held out my planner to him. "See for yourself."

Chad grabbed my planner out of my hand and flipped through it. Moments later his eyes turned into giant basketballs and handed back my planner. Chad held up his hands in surrender.

"I always thought you were messing with me."

"Totally not. Not to mention I know your little game Chad, you're worried about me being alone so much during the weekend."

"Guilty as charged. I just…Don't think it's normal that you stay cooped up at home when you and I could hang out."

I snorted. "And try to have a surprise group meeting so I'm stuck with everyone so we can have a crying fest? Not in the mood for it. This is senior year, not sophomore year."

"That is exactly why you and the group should get back on the good foot. I miss Gabi and Sharpay."

"Then go and hang out with them Chad, I'm not stopping you from doing so."

Chad looked at me. "I told you I'm not ditching you for them. I told you I'm also not giving up on you; you can push me away all you want. I'm fighting back Taylor."

I sighed and began walking down the hall. Chad trailed right on my heels. "You know Taylor, you've been a little upset is everything okay?"

I wanted to scream out at Chad that everything was not fine. I was mad at my friends for no reason, I was so stressed out with my classes that I didn't get to sleep eight hours a night anymore, I was beginning to grow tired of Chad and his eagerness to want to be with me all the time. What I hated even more was that Chad always wanted to know how I was feeling. I kept my feelings to myself because life was easier that way.

"Do you want an honest answer or a lie?"

Chad glared at me and pushed me up against a locker. My eyes looked at Chad's hands as they held my upper arms. Surprisingly Chad wasn't hurting me. If anything I could feel electricity flowing into my bloodstream. I could also feel warmth radiating along my arm, raising goose bumps in its wake. "Look Taylor, if I'm annoying you all you have to do is say so because I'm just trying to be a good friend even though you keep shutting me out."

"Well when you put it that way, you are annoying the hell out of me Chad. You're always there. I can't even have a single thought to myself anymore."

"Then what do you want me to do Taylor? Go away?"

I didn't answer Chad. Chads features twisted into pain and he let me go. "Taylor, don't tell me you really want me to go away. Please."

"Yeah Chad, I really do want you to leave me alone. I can't even think when you're always asking me questions that you already know the answers to."

"Taylor…"

"Go away Chad. Go hang out with Gabriella and the rest of them; I'm better off being alone."

Chad took one more look at me, and then a look of anger crossed his face. "Fine, you be alone. That way you have time to collect your important thoughts. I'm done."

Chad stomped off down the hallway and I watched his retreating figure. I sighed and pulled my backpack closer to my body. Things were better off this way. Chad could be with people that didn't have fucked up lives. I didn't want to tangle my web of close people anymore. I continued to have dreams about my dad killing off the people that I loved. I didn't tell Sarah or Carla about the dreams; these were my burdens to carry. When would the people that I deeply cared about learn that I was the one that had to die to make the world balanced again?

"Taylor!"

I spun around and was met with Sarah's blue sparkly eyes.

"I forgot to tell you that I have a teacher meeting this week in Colorado, so you're going to have a sleepover at a friend's house."

"Why can't I just stay home alone? I'm seventeen for crying out loud."

Sarah shook her head. "I don't want you alone in the house by yourself for two days."

"Why not? You're afraid that I might kill myself or something?"

"No, I just believe that safety is in numbers. Besides, you always stay cooped up in the house. You're a teenager, not a prisoner."

Scoffing I looked in the direction that Chad went. I couldn't stay over at Chad's house now. I sure as hell could not go over to Gabi's. I was stuck. I looked over into Sarah's eyes and saw that she was waiting for an answer. I really couldn't tell her that I was officially friendless.

"Can I have my friends come over to our house instead? You know, not to impose on anyone?"

Sarah thought about it for a moment. "I don't know Taylor, a group of teenagers home alone without adult supervision? That sounds a little risky Taylor."

"I promise that it would only be the girls. No boys allowed."

Sarah looked at me again. "I guess that could be okay. I can call Gabriella's mother and Sharpay's and Kelsi's."

I waved my hands in front of me. "No need, they were going to come over anyway. Their parents said it was okay for them to come over." I pouted. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you before, it just kind of slipped my mind."

Sarah tried to be upset, but she just couldn't. Instead she sighed and gave me a smile. "Thanks for telling me ahead of time Taylor. The house isn't clean and there's no food in the house for you girls."

I gave Sarah a look. "The house is always clean Sarah. And we can order out."

"I suppose you guys could."

I smiled at Sarah. "Don't even worry about such small things, you're going on vacation."

Sarah shook her head. "Work is never a vacation. Vacation involves you and me doing whatever we want, not with a bunch of people breathing down my back telling me to give up my secrets for a happy student."

Sarah and I laughed at that. Then Sarah wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "You promise me that there isn't going to be a giant house party?"

I looked at Sarah. "You do realize who you are talking to right? I only have eight friends. I doubt that is a house party."

"I don't know enough about how teenagers work Taylor, for all I know it could turn out to be like Mean Girls."

"Mean Girls or not, I couldn't have a house party if I wanted to. Everyone knows that your house is a teacher house, no one would come even if they wanted to."

Sarah looked at me and smiled. "Good point."

Unlocking the front door, I walked inside and threw my keys into the bowl. Closing the door behind me, I bolted the locks. I walked into the kitchen and went in search of food. I'm glad that Sarah was able to trust me. Well trust me that my friends would be over by six. I was going to show Sarah that I could stay home alone, without her worrying about me trying to kill myself or something. Finding an apple in the refrigerator, I bit into it and begin to busy myself with the mountain of homework that was due on Monday.

Chad's P.O.V.

"Dude come on. Get your head in the game. I'm tired of kicking your ass in basketball."

Troy threw the ball at me and I barely caught it. Taylor had been on my mind since I turned the corner and walked away from her. I couldn't help but immediately feeling guilty of doing the one thing that I said that I wouldn't do, walk away from her. I was going to go back and apologize to Taylor but the boys found me Taylor-less and I began to tell them that Taylor and I were not seeing eye-to-eye right now. They all accepted me back with open arms. Gabs and Shar were a little bummed that I gave up on Taylor but all they did was ask me questions about her and comment about how well she looked. The only person that really noticed that I was down about Taylor was small person. Or Kelsi. She continued to watch me with eyes that knew more than what she was leading on with.

I threw the ball into the basket and it made the sound the sound that I loved the most.

"Swish dude."

Troy's mouth dropped open and threw the ball back at me. We carried on with me making points and Troy's temper beginning to flare. Eventually Troy called it quits and slinked over to Gabi. Gabi caressed Troy's forehead. I walked over to my friends and sat down on the grass. How could I feel so alone when I was with my friends? and why did I feel like I was so cold?

Taylor's P.O.V.

I took the steps two at a time and came to the landing then turned right back around and flew back down the steps. I was working on my cardio. Okay, so maybe my brain couldn't handle anymore quadratic functions and I was brain dead. Going down the steps at a slight slower pace, my mind thought about Chad. I couldn't help but think about what he could be up to at this exact moment. Maybe he was over at Gabi's house or Troy's and maybe everyone was lying underneath the stars on a blanket. Or maybe everyone was sprawled out in front of the TV watching movies. I sighed and didn't watch my step. I lost my footing and almost fell down the last two stairs. My hand grasped around the banister and caught myself before I fell. My heart thudded out of my chest and I quickly got off of the stairs. I was in no mood to kill myself over sixteen stairs. I walked back into the kitchen and sat down in front of my homework. I picked up my pencil and tried to figure out more formulas but something soft brushed up against my leg.

"Hey Whiskers."

Whiskers is the stray cat that followed me home one day a year and a half ago from school. When I tried to get him to go away, he stayed close to my heels. When I checked him out further I noticed that he had a limp in his step. Against my better judgment, I wrapped the cat up in my jacket and brought him home. When Sarah got home she took me to the emergency vet and we nursed Whiskers back to health. Since then, he's stayed by my side. He was like my dog but in a cat like body. He was a very weird cat. He wanted to go outside and I was afraid that I'd never see him again, but he always came back. So, Sarah and I installed a doggie door so he could find a way back inside in case he wanted in while we were away or something. Of course, the doggie door was only big enough for Whiskers so no one could try and get in.

I patted the table and Whiskers jumped up on the table. I petted him for a little while and cooed at him. Then I grabbed my pencil and began to tease him with it. Of course Whiskers grew bored of the pencil and looked towards the stairs. He meowed quietly.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that toy that we put away. Shall I go and grab it my handsome boy?" I scratched at Whisker's chin.

He meowed again and I got up from the table. I carefully walked up the stairs and went to the hall closet that was on the landing of the stairs. I opened the cabinet to remember that we placed the cat toy on the highest shelf so Whiskers couldn't get it at the time. I ran down the stairs and grabbed a chair that would help me get the height that I needed to reach the toy. Stepping on the chair, I realized I was a little too short and that I would have to stand close to the edge of the chair and reach on my tip toes. Reaching, my fingers brushed up against the handle of the toy when I realized that I had used up all of my strength to reach. Exhaling, I planted my feet on the chair. Then groaning I reached on my tip toes again. Only to reach the toy. As my fingers grasped the toy, the chair tipped back and I began to fall in slow motion backwards.

Chad P.O.V

"Okay, dude seriously you're not being any fun. Your mind is clearly somewhere else. Where are you?" Ryan poked at me.

I poked back at Ryan. "What are you talking about? I'm right here."

Everyone looked at me and shook their heads. "No Chad, you've been spacing out all day, what's going on?"

I stood up from the floor and walked over to the kitchen counter and grabbed another soda. I shook my head and laughed. "You guys are weird. I've been paying attention the whole time."

Kelsi looked up. "Chad we all know that you and Taylor had a fight in the hallway. We didn't want to say anything but we know how much it's bothering you."

I slammed my hand down on the counter. "It's not bothering me, Taylor had it coming and I just couldn't take her shit anymore."

Sharpay blew out a breath. "Yeah, alright, then tell us why every time we bring up Taylor your already changing the subject?"

"Because I am in no mood to talk about her. She didn't care that I annoyed her and she's just trying to push me away."

"Dude you know she's in that place right now. She believes that she needs to push everyone away from her. She doesn't want to bore us down with her baggage right now."

I looked over at Jason and gave him a small smile. "And how do you know this O Wise One?"

Jason shrugged. "Because my dad talks about clients that have been abused, they tend to push everyone because they don't want the people closest to them to bear their weight."

Kelsi looked up at me again. "You know you want to go over to her place and apologize to her."

I shook my head and capped my soda. "I do, but she probably wouldn't answer the door."

Gabi shrugged. "You never know till you try."

Smiling at everyone, I set down my soda and moved towards the door. "I think I'm going to go and apologize to her right now. I'll even convince her to come over and watch movies with us too."

Sharpay held up a thumb. "Good luck with that Tiger."

With that I opened the door and walked outside.

Taylor P.O.V

My arms pen wheeled in the air, looking for something to catch onto as I fell down the stairs. The chair fell back with me and my head banged against the railing. Then I began to tumble down the stairs. Every single step. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, the crown of my head hit the door with a loud bang and I closed my eyes.

Chad's P.O.V

I jogged down the street. I couldn't waste any more time. The more time I wasted, the madder Taylor was going to be. The longer I took, the harder it would be for Taylor to forgive me. Maybe I should stop and pick flowers from someone's garden. It was nighttime after all, no one would notice. When I saw a house that had a rose bush coming up I stopped running and walked over to it. I picked five flowers and picked all the thorns off of the roses so Taylor wouldn't prick herself, then I began to jog down the street. I just hoped that Taylor wouldn't be too mad at me and would forgive me.

Taylor's P.O.V.

I felt something licking at my hand. I opened one eye and saw Whiskers. I smiled at him. And I could see black dots in my vision I reached out to pat him. Whiskers meowed and sat there looking at me.

"I'll be okay boy. I'm just a little sleepy right now. I'm going to go to sleep now; I'll see you in the morning."

I let my eyes close again and I felt the darkness pulling me under.

Chad's P.O.V

Arriving at Taylor's house I noticed that Sarah's car wasn't in the driveway. Shoot, maybe they weren't home? I looked up at the house and saw that the bottom lights were on. Maybe Taylor was at home? Only one way to find out. I walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. I could hear the doorbell echoing inside the house. I pounded on the door.

"Taylor! Open up, I know your home."

No one came to the door. I continued to pound the door.

"Taylor! Stop being stubborn and open the door!" I called out.

For a minute nothing happened. My temper wanted to flare, and then I realized maybe she wasn't in the mood to talk to me. Maybe she was ignoring me. Well two could play that game. I turned and walked down the steps and sat on the concrete step, I would sit outside all night if it took that. I wasn't going anywhere until I talked to Taylor.

Taylor P.O.V.

I felt the waves swimming against my body pulling me under. I could feel my body vibrating with every time a wave crashed into me. I tried to keep my head above the water but it was too hard to. I sucked in a breath and watched as another wave crashed over me. My eyes began to burn so I closed them. Pushing my way to the top of the water, I broke through the surface. I watched as more waves rolled towards me and all I could do was take in air and prepare myself for the next wave to hit me.

Chad P.O.V

My hand was under my chin and I was thinking of what I would say when I talked to Taylor. I couldn't even form a coherent thought or sentence. I didn't even know what to say to Taylor. I heard something and looked down at my feet. A cat.

"Hey kitty. Where did you come from?"

I reached out to pet the cat and he let me. He began to meow. In an instant the cat ran away from me. Weird cat. I put my hand back under my chin to hear meowing. I looked over to my left and saw the cat was sitting near the side of the house. What did the cat want?

I stood up and looked at the cat. "What are you doing?"

The cat took off. Maybe the cat wanted me to follow it. I walked to the side of the house and saw the cat was sitting five feet away from me. The cat meowed again and took off behind the house. The cat definitely wanted me to follow it. I think. Walking to the back of the house, the cat was sitting in front of a door. He waited for me to get closer to him, before he dashed into the doggie door. Great. Now I had no idea what the cat was trying to do but of course the cat knew I couldn't get in again. Everyone knows that the back door would be locked.

I looked up and the cat was sitting in the window meowing at me.

"I can't get in you stupid cat. The door is locked."

The cat continued to meow at me. What did this cat want from me? I couldn't get inside. Then again, I didn't try the door handle. I walked up to the door and placed a hand on the door knob. I turned the handle and the door was unlocked. Maybe the cat was a match making cat? I pushed open the door and walked inside.

"Taylor?" I called out.

The cat was in the door way, leading out of the kitchen. It meowed at me again and took off in further into the house. Did it still want me to follow it? I closed the door behind me and walked farther into the house.

"Taylor?" I called out again.

"I know I'm breaking and entering but some cat let me in I guess." I laughed at my own joke.

I stood in the middle of a living room and saw that there were stairs and maybe Taylor was upstairs with headphones in her ears. Maybe I could go upstairs and talk to her. As I walked towards the stairs, I saw that a cabinet was open. My face turned into a frown. Maybe Taylor forgot to close the door? I looked toward the front door and then looked down at the floor.

"TAYLOR!"

Taylor's P.O.V.

I finally couldn't breathe during the waves. They were coming too close together. So I just took a large breath and let myself get hit by a wave. This time I didn't try to kick myself to the surface. Instead I just let myself sink to the bottom of the dark water. I could feel my chest tighten. I was losing the breath in my lungs.

I'll never forget your face

I don't want to let this thing die

I closed my eyes to cut down the stinging from the water. The first thing that I saw was light brown eyes that gave me a blank look. Chad. I pushed him away when all he was trying to do was help me. He was trying to be a friend and I let him go.

I'll never forget your eyes

As the tears fall down my face

Things are getting worse everyday

I think I was going to die. And the way how I was going to die was by being mad at my only group of friends that I never told them that I wasn't mad at them anymore. I lied to my adopted mother and worse off, I never even found Star again like I promised myself I would. I didn't even finish my senior year, and I didn't even fall in love. Hell, I didn't even kiss a boy that I liked.

I can't leave but I can't stay

I can't leave but I can't stay

Can't stay

Somebody Take Me Away

I let my arms rest out to the sides of me. I was ready for death. If I was dead, my dad couldn't torment the people that I loved. If I was dead, my dad had no use to bother anyone anymore. If I died, I could finally be with my mother and spend the rest of my life getting to know her smile and hear her laugh. Mom, take me home.

Somebody Take Me Way

Somebody Take me Away

Somebody Take me Away

Somebody Take Me Away

Cause I can't take this pain

Chad's P.O.V

I grabbed Taylor's hand and felt her wrist for a pulse. I couldn't find it. I dug around in my pockets for my cell phone, finding it I dial 911. I grabbed Taylor's hand again.

"911 what's your emergency?"

"Yes, hello, my friend isn't breathing and I think she's close to death."

Surprise! So this chapter took me a little while to write because I was thinking of having Taylor try and commit suicide. Then I took to the interwebz to find the easiest way to have Taylor hurt herself, then I realized how depressing and how life threatening it is. Needless to say, Taylor hasn't done anything suicide worthy. We couldn't have Sarah mad now could we? We also couldn't have a dead Taylor now could we? What about her dad? What about Star? We can't just forget about them now can we? Of course not. Wasn't Mr. Whiskers a big help? Yes he was; Mr. Whiskers asks for a favor from you all for leading Chad to Taylor. He wants you to leave a review. It's the least you can do since he saved Taylor. If you don't do it for Whiskers you have no heart. By the way, this was kind of a song fic. Kinda. The song is called Take Me Away by Claude. It's a great song and it's what helped me to write this chapter. Thanks guys, have a great weekend.