For the upteenth time today, Taylor finds her eyes wandering.
It's been a long time since she visited Boston. Years. The last time was with Mom and Emma, a year or so before the accident. It's amazing how for being just a short ride away, Boston and Brockton Bay seem worlds apart.
Yeah, sure, it's not New York with all the tinkertech and other borderline sci-fi stuff. Or, at least, it's not what New York looks like on the internet - she's never actually seen it in person. The point is, one can't walk for ten minutes in any direction back home without finding themselves in a bad neighbourhood, and while Boston might look somewhat dimmer than what Taylor remembers, it still makes for a startling contrast. There are barely any tags on the street level; the alleyways might be a different story, but that's already an improvement over home. The roads are a patchwork of repairs instead of potholes and cracks. Some buildings even look like they've been painted in the last few years!
More importantly for their little trip, there's a functioning indoors water park here. There used to be one in Brockton, too, before the city fell into recession. However, with one bigger and better outfitted just a stone's throw away, it stood little chance of staying afloat, and closed when she was still little. Same goes for a lot of things in Brockton, actually. To the point where a fast-food joint, of all things, became a sort of city landmark.
Not for the first time, Taylor's thoughts trail back to the talk she and Ayano had about their futures. She looks to her right, where the girl in question has nodded off some time ago, her head uncomfortably hot on Taylor's shoulder. Her friend holds no qualms about leaving the city, and there's good reason for that. Honestly, there's nothing keeping her there beside Dad. But if Ayano moves…
Even the idea hurts. It's pathetic, unreasonable, to cling onto someone like that, yet in spite of knowing better, whenever she thinks of her future, she has trouble not somehow including her friend in it. It's unreasonable to want to hold on to someone when she has no right to. It's not like she's got a claim on the girl. Like she can expect her to stay by her side after they graduate just because she's scared of being alone. Ayano has her own life to build, and even though she's kind and all sorts of amazing Taylor can all too easily see them growing distant. It's only natural. One day Ayano will fall in love, marry, probably have children, while she will slowly but surely fall by the wayside.
It makes her sick to think about. So, she doesn't. At least, she tries not to - with a varying degree of success.
Taylor's gaze flickers from the girl's closed eyes to her slightly parted lips. She grimaces upon spotting a trickle of saliva staining her shoulder, but doesn't shift away. Sometimes, Ayano will show up to school with circles around her eyes. The girl waves her concerns off as just losing track of time while reading (something she can all-too-well relate to), or browsing the web, but Taylor frets nonetheless. Her faded jacket getting a bit more dirty is a small price to pay to grant her friend a moment more of rest. It's a good thing she's done her hair in a braid for the pool. She doesn't fancy getting saliva in her hair, as well.
The background noise of the radio news changes to something pop, briefly tearing Taylor's attention away from the teen at her side.
"I was listening to that," Aisha's brother complains from the driver's seat. The speakers go back to droning on the news a second after. Apparently, there's some festival going on at the University. Mom used to take her to those...
"They don't talk about shit, come on," the boy's sister complains from the front seat.
The station changes once again, this time to an advert about three times louder than the music was a moment ago. Loud enough for Ayano's eyes to snap open, before the station changes again to a much quieter song. Taylor throws the two siblings an annoyed look, which goes unnoticed amidst their bickering.
Dad was supposed to drive them. He said that he wanted to see if he could still swim a hundred laps. Nothing came of it. Someone vandalized the Union offices two days ago at night and he was still busy dealing with the fallout, a fact for which Taylor feels guiltily glad for. Not for the break-in itself, of course, but for him not coming. Is this what teenage rebellion is? Feeling weird about having one's parent around her friends? She can't really tell. It's not like she's got any sort of experience beside Emma, and their families were, well, families. They basically grew up together, and having either Alan or Zoe with them was just normal. The same held true for her own parents and Emma. It's different with Ayano.
There was some arguing about them going alone, but in the end, Dad agreed to it after outfitting her with a pepper spray. Which is funny, in a way, given that Brockton Bay tops Boston in every crime statistic ever devised, yet he's never seen the need to do something like that, earlier. They would've come by the bus, but Aisha's brother had agreed to drive them with the car he rents. Both she and Ayano thought it unnecessary, but, well, here they are.
Taylor turns her attention back to the girl still pressed into her side. It's fascinating to see her wake. She doesn't move, doesn't really act beyond her eyes lazily shifting around to gets her bearings, only to light up when they find Taylor's. Strange how such a thing pulls at the corners her own lips with a force she could never hope to fight.
A thought, a wonder, enters her mind without consideration for the more rational part of Taylor's brain. What it would be like, to wake up to this every day?
She freezes up, her train of thought almost crashing into the question, only managing to neatly sidestep the disaster by labeling it an intrusive thought. It's not like she'd never thought, or even talked about such things with Emma, once upon a time, spinning childish plans to spend the rest of their lives together. Up until the very end.
Taylor shakes the memories off. Emma. Always Emma. There's no place for that bitch with them today.
"Oh. I'm sorry," Ayano speaks up as she pulls back just a bit, her face quickly gaining in color after finding the stain on Taylor's clothes.
"It's nothing."
The teen looks about to say something, when Aisha's voice breaks into their little bubble.
"-And you guys?"
"Huh?" She turns to her other friend. Or- so she hopes. Aisha can be difficult to handle, and not the sort of person she'd normally hang out with, but, since they are both both Ayano's friends they've often found themselves spending time together regardless. Gotta get with my friends, and all. Uh, in a strictly platonic context. She wouldn't want to repay Ayano's kindness by driving a wedge between the girl and her other friends. That's something Emma would do.
"I didn't have breakfast at home, so." Aisha points outside, to the drive-through menu. When have they pulled over? "Do you want something?"
"Thanks, we're good," Taylor replies. They have both made their lunches at home, to later swap them with each other - a habit they've fallen into at school. In truth, she'd very much like some fries, but that's not hunger talking. She's had yesterday's dinner for breakfast with Dad today. Add anything to that and she'd just feel bloated. A concern she can see Aisha possesses not a trace of, if the amount of junk she orders is anything to go by.
A familiar weight settles against her side again, this time, with the Ayano's head resting more against her neck than the shoulder, the heat even more pronounced. She's fine with that. As long as she doesn't start salivating down her collar, that is. As much as she's willing to indulge her friend, there are limits.
The remainder of their ride goes along quietly, Aisha's troubles finding a decent radio station notwithstanding. Taylor easily tunes it all out, taking in the sights outside, and the warmth at her side.
Hmm, thinking about it, Boston's not that far. It's not cheap, either, but if she could afford it, visiting Dad on weekends and holidays wouldn't pose trouble. What industry does the city need more of again? Probably something high-tech, or else the whole of Brockton Bay would've migrated here already. Scholarships are tremendously difficult to acquire nowadays, but if she puts her mind to it? Maybe. She'll have to do some research.
"We're here."
Aisha's brother's voice snaps the girl out of her thoughts. She turns to wake Ayano up, only to find the girl's eyes already wide open, without even a shadow of sleep present in them. Oh. She wasn't- was she?
Taylor quickly grabs her things and bolts from the car onto the busy parking lot, giving her face a moment to cool while she gathers her wits. To that end, she busies herself with squaring the sight against her memory. They've certainly done the place up. The front at the very least, to attract more people inside - a more cynical part of her supplies.
The initial plan was to go to the Brockton pool, but while that was good enough for her and Ayano, Aisha insisted on coming here instead and, well, it has been a long time since she visited a water park. Or visited a pool at all. She used to go quite regularly with Emma, Anne as their babysitter. Going there alone, going anywhere alone only ever made her think about her lost friend, and the lonely nightmare her life had become. She'd preferred staying at home to that. Coming here again, and with new friends no less, feels entirely too monumental for the small thing it actually is.
Taylor allows herself a few seconds before turning back to the others, to find Aisha stretching out, and her brother milling about the car trunk, with Ayano watching him. On a whim, she steps closer to the girl, capturing her friend's attention for herself. Only after the fact does she realize she should probably have come up with something to say, beforehand.
"So, for how long are we buying the pass for?" She grasps for the second topic that comes to her mind right after banishing the first.
"I don't know. I've never been here before. What about you?"
"Two hours, maybe?"
"Then let's go with two." The girl nods with finality.
"What, you're not gonna ask us? So rude," Aisha pipes up, coming their way.
"Oh," That's- true, actually. "Of course. So?"
"Two hours." The girl replies with a self satisfied smirk, causing a peculiar urge to shove her rise within Taylor, and drawing a particularly blank look from Ayano.
"It seems I've been outvoted." Brian joins them, dropping Aisha's bag into his sister's hands. "Shall we?"
Aisha leads the way, fittingly for a person whose idea it was to come here in the first place, her brother just behind her with Taylor and Ayano at the tail-end of their group.
The eldest girl looks about upon entering the reception area. What do you know, they renovated the inside too. She distinctly remembers the place being less white and blue. This is what happens when one has to compete for clients, she supposes. The only draw of the pool back home is its proximity, and the tiles on the walls have surely been there since before the Boat Graveyard.
A minute later, keys secure around their wrists, the teenagers split up on their way to their respective locker areas.
"So, Tay," Aisha speaks up as soon as her brother is out of sight. "How do you like my brother?" Strangely, she looks at Ayano rather than her as she says it.
"He's… nice?" Taylor winces at the question hanging over her words. Because he is nice, to drive them here when he didn't have to.
"Oh, come on, you can do better than that."
"Polite?" Fuck.
"No. I mean do you think he's hot?" Oh.
"He's nothing special," Ayano cuts just as Taylor sets out to figure out how she should answer to something like that (why would Aisha ask that, he's her brother!). Taylor looks at her feet as they cross into the locker rooms. Of course Ayano would consider someone handsome to be just normal. It's only natural that beautiful people have different standards than someone like her. Even if she were to doll herself up, she simply can't compare to her friend. Not even today, certainly not when the girl spends more than a passing thought to her appearance in the morning. Ayano doesn't look at others and see most of them as way out of her league.
"Nothing spe-" Aisha sputters. "Okay, no, I won't stand for you insulting my family honor. And since I'm a ten, he's got to be at least a nine."
A ten? Taylor turns for a proper look. It feels weird to assign numbers to people in this fashion, but if she were to do it… Aisha's pretty, that's certainly true, but a ten?
Ayano's eye twitches. Taylor can sympathise. The girl enjoys ribbing on others a little too much at times. Often. Most of the time, actually, if she's to judge by her and her brother's interactions.
"You think highly of yourself." Ayano comments.
"Doesn't mean I'm wrong. What would you give me?"
"A malus for personality."
Taylor bites down on her lip to stifle her laugh, while Aisha fakes an offended gasp, complete with a hand over her heart, wide eyes and all.
"That's cruel. Say, what would you give poor Taylor over-"
"Eleven." Taylor goes back to staring at her feet. If she can't fight her flush of embarrassment she can at least try to hide it. Ayano's too kind. She knows all too well of her physical attributes, or rather the lack of such. It's nonetheless a pleasant sort of heat that flows into her face at hearing the bold-faced lie.
"And you?" It takes Taylor a moment to realise Aisha's addressing her.
"Um, I didn't catch the question?"
"How would you score Ayano?"
Right. Her collar won't be enough to hide from that. Not when upon looking at the girl in question for help, all she receives is an inquisitive look full of such burning curiosity that-
She might not be able to hide in the depths of her collar, but that's not going to stop her from trying.
"Don't worry, I get it." Oh thank God. "She's just too polite to say it to your ugly mug Aishi."
"No!" Taylor indignantly shouts, drawing a few looks from the people around them, and only then noticing Aisha's tinker-grade shit-devouring grin. Congratulations to her. Hook, line and sinker, that one. "I-I mean-" The words, for whatever reason, just won't come through her mortified throat. "Y-you're both pretty," she finally squeezes out, having failed to articulate what she was thinking of just a minute ago.
Neither of the younger girls looks satisfied with the answer, Aisha rolling her eyes and Ayano's expression becoming void of all emotion for one, unnerving instant, before a plastic smile settles upon her lips.
"Um," She tries a moment later, when nobody makes to speak. "I think our lockers are this way." Flawless, Taylor, really. Why couldn't she just play along with them, like a normal person. No, she has to go and curb the mood lest they have too much fun.
Still in an awkward silence, the girls find their lockers and split up, making way to the changing rooms, with the exception of Aisha who has her swimsuit already put on under her clothes, and simply stays by the lockers.
Inside the stall, Taylor pulls her swimsuit out of her bag. She and Ayano actually needed new ones. Naturally, Aisha invited herself with them when they went shopping. She wasn't of much use, kept bringing pieces entirely too revealing to Taylor's liking, who eventually settled on a pretty conservative one-piece with a flower pattern. At least Ayano seemed to like it. Taylor's corrective goggles thankfully only needed a little bit of adjustment, and while she doesn't see in them quite as well as she does in her glasses, they'll do for today.
Ayano is waiting by the lockers when she comes out of the stall, already changed into her two-piece and her clothes put away. The girl doesn't spot Taylor immediately, busy tucking her hair under her cap, and for that, Taylor is grateful. Her eyes definitely linger a moment longer than appropriate.
Don't be weird. The teen shakes her head, putting on a smile before approaching her friend.
Ayano's impassive expression gains life upon seeing at her, taking in Taylor's appearance in the same way that made her feel self-conscious back when choosing her apparel. The feeling is thankfully short-lived, as her friend's eyes soon catch her own, no judgement hiding within.
"Shall we go?" the Asian girl asks.
"Yeah." Taylor promptly puts her stuff away, before taking place by Ayano's waiting side.
They both remain largely silent as they hit the showers, with Taylor, at least, overcome by a feeling much like stepping into an elevator full of people and trying to continue a conversation with all the strangers listening in. Well, not listening in, maybe- she tries not to and is willing to give people the benefit of the doubt. Plus, the running water is loud, but it's still weird!
Stepping out into the hall is likewise strange. However, it is not for any people-related reasons. The park looks different to her memories, though for the life of her, Taylor can't tell if it's due to her faulty memories or because something really has been done here. The tiles, she thinks, used to be green, not blue, and is that a new slide? Must be. She would remember something like that.
"What do you wanna start with?" she asks Ayano, resolving to ignore her thoughts' dissonance.
"No preference. And you?" Right, in that case-
"Maybe we could swim a few laps, first. You know, warm up."
"I don't know how to swim."
A few neurons must short circuit in Taylor's brain, for when she needs them most to form a coherent response, they remain stubbornly unresponsive. She goes for the next best thing, instead.
"Eh?" Yes, like that. Perfect.
"I never learned how to," the younger teen elaborates, voice deadpan even as she looks away, her ears colored red.
That's... Taylor runs by her memories just to make sure that no, this little tidbit never came up at any point during them planning for today. Yes, she just sort of just assumed Ayano knew how to swim - a reasonable assumption given the girl's candid enthusiasm at the idea… one that she can't remember which of them proposed in the first place (even if she's fairly certain it wasn't her). But that's beside the point! The important part is she never said anything!
"How- okay, uh, but. How did you want to use any of this, then?" She makes a sweeping motion at the hall.
The girl tilts her head. "I thought most of these are pretty shallow?"
"I mean, yeah but that's not the point!"
"Could you teach me?" Ayano asks with a sheepish smile.
The question brings her up short. Teach someone how to swim? Well, it's not like Dad was qualified to teach her beyond the virtue of knowing how to swim himself. But still! It feels… weird to think of teaching something like that to her best friend, is it because it's her parents who taught her?
For that matter, why haven't Ayano's parents taught her? Do they not know how to swim themselves? She'd think that after what happened to Japan-
...Or maybe that's precisely why.
It doesn't matter, she realizes seeing the gentle excitement sparkling in Ayano's eyes. She could agree to robbing a bank with those eyes boring into her like that. That, and because she'd be incapacitated with worry, otherwise. Well, they're here already. It shouldn't be too hard to teach her. It's not like staying afloat is some arcane skill one has to be predisposed to learning. Better yet, there are lifeguards here, so even if something, somehow, happens, they should be fine. Ayano's right, the water in the actual park isn't deep, and bodies are buoyant, anyway. Mostly.
"I can try," Taylor says with some hesitance still staining her voice. "Mind, Dad taught me by basically throwing me in the water and just making sure I wouldn't drown."
Ayano's smile dims a little.
"That seems excessive."
"Maybe. But Grandpa taught him like that too, apparently, and Heberts are still around. I think it's a pretty common method, actually." Whatever doubt remains in Ayano's features evaporates once Taylor grabs her hand. "Come on, let's start with floating," she says as they make their way to the side of the hall, where the sports pool is. She'd rather not try this in the one with the wave ball.
It doesn't take long for Ayano to start picking up on the basics in the shallow end of the swimming lane. It's a good thing, too, because Taylor really doesn't know what to do beside showing her friend how she herself does it. Is she doing this right? Is there actually some manual for teaching this stuff? Is the lifeguard watching them?
"So." An entirely-too-smug voice startles Taylor out of her skin, quickly followed by a feeling of deep seated mortification. "How you two doing?"
Taylor turns to see Aisha peering down at them from where she's crouched at the edge of the pool, with her brother (and wow, must he work out) standing behind her.
"God. Aisha, I'm so sorry! I- we just-" How does she say, without coming off like a total ass (which she totally feels like), that she forgot Aisha was with them? Is that even possible?
"Nah, don't worry about it. Brian kept me company."
"Still." She pauses when a visibly winded Ayano finally catches up to her, all but slamming into the bank rather than try to float beside her. "We're sorry."
"Wait. You ditched her?" Brian laughs with a toothy smile.
"No." His sister sputters, indignant. "They went to the kiddie pool, so I figured, let them play and get on the slides."
"Uh-uh." Brian turns to the two other girls. "Anyway, we were going to the bowl, wanna come with?"
"I think we better start with something else." Ayano curtly replies before Taylor ever has the chance to suggest the same. The water there isn't that deep, but one can still get turned upside down there before falling into water. Better see how her friend handles diving, first.
"You get vertigo easily?"
"I don't. Taylor's teaching me how to swim," the girl explains with a nonchalance Taylor could most certainly not maintain after having already arrived at a pool.
"You don't-" Aisha cuts off in the middle, her words overtaken by her own chortle.
"You need help?" the boy asks. "I taught Aisha, she hasn't drowned yet." His smirk, Taylor notes now that she's seen it, possesses a disturbing likeness to that of his sister's. She wonders if it's something passed down from their parents or if it's Aisha who picked it up from him.
"We're doing just fine, thank you," Ayano assures him in a tone Taylor feels the need to smile apologetically for, even if she would like the boy to go on his way so that they can focus on their lesson again. Thankfully, neither of the siblings seem not to notice how up in arms the girl sounds about it. It's nice, though, in a way, that someone would defend her so. Still:
"Everything okay?" she asks after the other two leave them to their own devices.
"Yes." Ayano beams back at her. "Why?"
"Just-" Just what? If Ayano wanted to tell her something, she would have. She shouldn't assume, regardless. She might spend a lot of time with the girl, but she'll be the first to admit her social skills have suffered over the past year, the last few months notwithstanding. "Nothing. You didn't drink too much water?"
They do, eventually, move on from their impromptu lesson when Ayano makes it across the pool and back, Taylor by her side, and at times, around her. She is reasonably sure she could add another dimension to her laps and still be ahead. She doesn't mind. Yeah, they could be speeding on slides, but helping Ayano like that feels like a reward in its own.
Spending time with her feels like a reward in its own.
It's just small things, really, but doesn't life consist mostly of such small things? Like seeing Ayano smile when their eyes meet after she emerges from underwater at the end of a slide ride. Like laughing after falling over each other when climbing up the slippery slope. Like hearing her dry retorts to Aisha's teasing when they join up for jacuzzi. Like sitting there, beside her. Like seeing her inhale the lunch she's made on the pier after they leave the park, spent and warm. Small, mundane things. Things she's not had since Emma set out to make her life hell, not until this wonderful, kind, smart, funny and beautiful girl came into her life.
Throughout it all, Taylor finds her eyes wandering, with one thought insistently worming its way back to the forefront of her mind. What would it be like, to have this forever?