All Spencer's POV.

Chapter 18: I Been Watching You All Day

"Hey Aaron, it's Spencer, I'm good how are you doing?" I listened to him chatter for a minute about some guy he'd met with nipple piercings while I shut down my computer. My mom and Ben were off on one of their destination trips, so I had the house all to myself for the party. With the exception of my sister, who would most likely lock herself away in her bedroom. "You're still gonna work the door tonight right? Awesome, I owe you big. You know how I hate it when the underclassmen show up and pretend they were invited. Okay great, I better hop in the shower, see you at 9."

I hung up the phone and tossed it onto my bed, stripping my clothes off as I made my way to the shower. It was my favorite part about my room, the shower was huge and it was hooked up to my iPod with a sync system, so I could just call out any song that I wanted to hear. Or dance to, whatever I wanted really. The hot water felt good as it hit me in between my shoulder blades, soothing the stress that had gathered there. The Taylor situation had not become any better over the past couple of days; she and I were more awkward than that one time I caught her on the loveseat with Aaron after they both got so plastered they couldn't tell which gender was which.

"Play song Shine by The Morning Of." I called out over the rushing water. Soft piano filled my ears as I massaged the pineapple shampoo into my scalp. Before long I was singing along at the top of my lungs. "Never felt this way in my whole life! Never had this feeling before tonight! Can't you off my mind! Cuz you shine girl, oh you know you shine!"

I was getting really into it when I noticed my bathroom door slide open, and of course, my heart jumped into my throat. I watched a shadow move from outside my frosted glass door and felt all of the hair on the back of my neck raise up. Oh my god. I was going to die naked. In my shower singing songs about a girl. This was God's way of punishing me, I was sure of it. Silently I prepared to die as the shadow loomed closer.

"Hey Spencer! Can I borrow your straightener for a minute while you blow dry? Mine broke," Taylor's smooth voice filled my ears and I was instantly relieved. Almost relieved enough to plunge out of the shower and give her a huge hug. Then I remembered I was naked and that I had just been singing really loud. "Nice song by the way, I was listening to it on the way over."

"Play song Daybreaker by Beth Orton," I said through my tensed vocal chords to my shower who immediately obeyed. It was nice to have something uncomplicated in my bathroom at the moment. "And yeah you can. I'll be out in a minute."

"Okay."

I quickly finished washing my hair and shut the water off letting my body drip for a minute. Taylor was working on her hair in front my mirror when I stepped out of the shower with a towel wrapped around my moist body. I ran my hand through my hair, breaking the wet pieces apart and smiled at her. "Hey."

"Hey." She didn't even look at me. Her ocean water eyes stayed trained on her reflection as she grabbed another piece of hair to straighten. Inside my heart sunk a little, I'd been expecting the weirdness to wear off at least a little bit. I suppose it had been too much to ask for, considering my actions had been beyond cowardly. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What's up?" I asked inwardly becoming a little hopeful.

"Would you mind if I brought someone tonight?" Taylor asked not even looking in my direction. "I know you hate it when underclassmen come, and she's a sophomore. I figured I'd better ask."

"Whatever you want." I answered coldly a few seconds later when the jealousy and anger that had bombarded my mind had dissipated enough for me to form sentences.

"Really? Whatever I want?" Taylor prodded with an edge to her voice. "Cool, I'll call and give her directions then."

It was too much for me to take and I dug my blow drier out of the bottom drawer of my bathroom cabinet. Snatching the cord up into my arms I stalked into my bedroom, trying not to cry and scream at the same time. I had been right, she didn't care about me. Not even a little bit. Two could play this game, I thought to myself as I pointed the hot air at my wet head. And it would be interesting, considering I invented this game.

There were way too many people in my house. I had invited the usual 75 and told them that it was alright to bring dates. It was a Valentines party after all. I'd figured that only half would be able to get dates, but I was wrong. Now there were over 100 people in my kitchen, living room and all other rooms. Kyla was upstairs in her room trying to study and I'm sure that was impossible with the racket from down below. Taylor was across the room from me, her tanned arm slung around the shoulders of some slutty sophomore girl who looked at her like she was a toasted meatball sub from subway. Every now and then she would lean in close to her, saying something that would make the poor brainless sex sack laugh. God, Taylor could have ended up with VD just from breathing that girl's air.

Finally, I'd had enough of watching them canoodle in the corner and I located Aiden, who was busy doing his third keg stand. Between the cheers and chugs I managed to drag my boyfriend away from the alcohol and onto the dance floor. The apparent drunkenness had loosened him up a little and I linked my arms around his neck as his muscular arms pulled me close to him. Her eyes were on me, I could feel them boring into us but I kept dancing. I let him kiss me on the neck, and I closed my eyes pretending to enjoy it. A few minutes later I felt him gather me into his arms, close to his body as the song switched to something slower. I made sure I could see Taylor over his shoulder and I was surprised to catch her staring at me. Not breaking eye contact, I kissed him on the mouth hard and pointed at Taylor with my free hand drawing a heart in the air and winking at her. Disgusted, she threw her arm off of the Human Petri Dish and stalked out of the room.

"Hey Spencer, you want to go up to your room?" Aiden slurred in my ear. His breath reeked of stale beer and breath mints; it made my stomach turn and shift dangerously. Pushing him away from me, I just glared at the perpetually stupid drunk boy. Once upon a time, we'd had something special. Now he was just a routine, and I was getting sick of the monotonousness of my daily life.

"No, it's my party and I need to stay down here with everyone. Maybe another night," I said trying to let him down easy.

"Spencer it's been a long time!" Aiden yelled just loud enough for everyone in the room to turn and look. I should have just walked away, but like an idiot, I stayed.

"Aiden keep your voice down! No one needs to know."

"Know what?! That we've had sex?! That we have a lot of sex? SPENCER AND I HAVE HAD SEX! AND IT WAS FUCKING GREAT!" Aiden roared. A few people laughed and my face burned red. "BUT my favorite thing is when she sucks my dick."

"Aiden Dennison, you say one more word and we're through. I have NEVER gone down on you. Even though you wanted me to. SO you just need to shut up. You're being drunk and stupid!" I yelled right back. Taylor had reappeared and stood by, her eyes wide. It was well known that Aiden and I never fought.

"Yeah well you're being a tease!" Aiden screamed tossing his beer up in the air. Unfortunately it landed right on my head, drenching my hair and my shirt. Silence prickled the air and for a moment I contemplated slapping him across the face. Instead, tears of shame and embarrassment slid down my cheeks. I rushed up the stairs and sought the solace of my bedroom. It was there where I lost myself in my tears. To say that it was all about Aiden would have been a lie. These tears had Taylor written all over them.

I went straight to my shower and thought about running to Kyla's room. No one would look for me there and she wouldn't ask questions. Though with the way I'd been acting, she might've thrown me out. I let the water pour over my alcohol laden hair and let the sobs out. My body shook and my breathing was ragged as I tried to regain control. Shutting the water off, I heard my bedroom door open and close and prayed that it wasn't Aiden. He and I were through as soon as he was sober enough to hear it.

"Spencer?" It was Taylor. I bit my lip and fought back the urge to say something. "Hey I know you're in here. Come out. It's bestie time."

"Shouldn't you be attending to Lolita down there?" I asked as I stepped into an old pair of pink striped boxers and threw my wet hair into a messy bun. My mascara had washed away in the shower and my face was free from the make up I usually wore.

"So Patrick punched Aiden in the face."

"What?!"

"Oh don't worry Aiden's fine. Patrick broke his hand though," She held out her hand and I took it, genuinely glad to have my best friend with me. "I gave him some of my pain killers and wrapped his hand up. We'll go to the doctor in the morning."

"I guess defending honor isn't always scratch free. Well, if I had any honor left to defend that is."

"Spencer, you know that you do. I know you do. And Patrick knows it. Everyone down there knew Aiden was out of line. So what do you want to do? Do you want to go back down or stay up here?" Was this a test? Was she testing me? She was, I knew she was.

"Do you think we could just stay up here and watch a movie on the flat screen?" I asked my gaze pointed at my carpet. "I can get you some boxers and a t-shirt while you get ready."

"Okay," She said with a blinding smile as she headed for the bathroom. I heard my sink turn on as she scrubbed away the makeup on her face. It was tradition when we watched movies in my room to get dressed down completely: hair up, makeup off, and old boxer shorts on. A moment later she emerged, without a stitch of makeup and my stomach jumped at the sight of her. Pushing down the butterflies I handed her the green striped boxers and tried not to look as she changed. I failed at that by the way.

"What do you want to watch?" Taylor asked after she was changed. I was about to answer when a knock on my door interrupted my thoughts. "Who is it?"

"It's the emergency movie night cavalry! I have snacks and sodas. Better let me in, these pills made me woozy." I laughed at Patrick's slur and opened my door, letting him slip in. His arms were full with a bowl of popcorn and three cans of 7-Up.

"Hey Spencer should we invite Kyla?" Taylor asked. A lump rose in my throat and I fought the biting remark off of the tip of my tongue. It wasn't that I was opposed to inviting her, I just wanted to be alone with Taylor. And odds were, if I picked the right movie, Patrick would pass out.

"Nah not tonight," I walked over to my bookcase and pulled out the Encyclopedia L, opening it and plucking the D.E.B.S. DVD out. I slid the DVD into the player and grinned as I heard the cheesy music. Taylor looked quizzically at me for a minute and settled onto the floor behind Patrick who laid lazily on her legs sipping his 7-up. Sitting down next to her, I jumped a bit when our hands brushed together. It didn't seem to faze her though. The movie was only thirty minutes in when Patrick started snoring.

"Please don't smoke. Tell her not to smoke!" Janet said when the DEBS found themselves trapped in the bank vault. I chuckled and Taylor grinned.

"I love Janet," I said. "I think she's my favorite."

"Spencer can we talk?" Taylor suddenly asked. I didn't answer verbally; I just nodded as butterflies filled my stomach. "The other day. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said those things to you."

"I deserved it."

"No Spencer, no. You never ever deserve to be treated without respect. I could have acted way more mature than I did and I just--"

"Taylor. I don't even know why you like me. I don't have anything left to give you. I'm so used. Aiden made sure everyone knew that tonight." I said with tears brimming at my eyes. She looked at me, her blue eyes shining with their own tears.

"Do you realize who you're talking to?" Taylor laughed bitterly, a few tears escaping down her cheeks. "I couldn't even kiss you because I think you deserve more. More than me. If anyone is used I am. I thought that if I could be with people, that I could get you out of my head. But Spencer you are not used. You will always be beautiful to me. You're the only reason I go to school everyday. It's you. I've always wanted you and now, it's too late."

"It's never too late." I whispered putting my hand over the top of hers. For a moment I was struck at the corniness of what I'd just said. I've obviously had way too much exposure to the WB teen soap line up. My face began to heat up and the back of my neck was burning. Her name slipped to the tip of my tongue. "Taylor."

"Yeah?" Our faces were moving closer together now. All I could see were her lips. Her tongue raked across them and I gripped her hand a little harder. I closed our distance and brushed her cheek with my lips. Her skin was as soft as cotton and smelled like my face wash. My lips moved on to her other cheek and then onto her closed eyelids. "Spencer."

"Yeah?"

"Please kiss me." Her voice was deep and honest. How it managed to cut me like a knife, I'll never know but it did. I felt my heart for the first time in years, beating as hard as it could.

"As you wish." And with those words I took one last look at my life before it changed forever. Her lips were softer than I could have imagined and the kiss was one of the lightest that I'd ever given anyone. I tentatively pulled back and saw her smile, which made my heart thump even harder than before. The second time our lips met I grazed her top lip first and then moved onto her bottom lip. Her bottom lip was fuller than her top and took all of my will power not to bite down. Instead, I continued giving her feather light kisses. She sighed and touched my face with her free hand, sending goose bumps down my arm. Timidly, I slipped my tongue into her open mouth. Taylor met me there going slowly and I savored her minty essence. Suddenly Patrick stirred and we broke apart, breathing hard. But instead of running away, I just smiled and kept holding onto her hand.