It was awkward and silent as Chad and Taylor sat in homeroom the day Chad got the letter. Chad kept reading it and re-reading it and occasionally asking Troy for his opinion.

"You don't think I'm insecure, do you?" Chad asked for about the billionth time.

"What in the world is this thing you keep reading?" Troy asked, stealing the piece of paper from Chad and reading it. "Well, I will admit she's got one thing right. I am better than you at basketball."

"So not the point, man," Chad said, snatching his letter back. "You really think I'm insecure?"

"Well, the fact that you keep asking me about it doesn't help any," Troy said. "D'you s'pose she really hates the team?"

"Yes," Chad said, truthfully, looking across the room to Taylor's desk, where she was sitting, head down, staring at her textbook.

"So who do you like?" Troy asked, interested.

"That's really none of your business," Chad said. "Actually, it's absolutely none of your business."

"It's Gabriella, isn't it?" Troy asked.

"I said it was none of your business," Chad said.

"So, then, it is," Troy said. Ms. Darbus walked in at that moment, thankfully for Chad, and saving him from any further embarrassment. He would have bet that everyone in the school would have known about the note by the end of the day if he hadn't trusted Troy to keep it a secret. When the bell rang, signaling school being out, Troy and Chad walked to their lockers.

"So, in short, Ms. Darbus is officially crazy," Chad said.

"Sure," Troy said. "So, Taylor hates me. That's good to know."

"Better you than me," Chad said, dully, crumpling the letter and stuffing it in his already cluttered locker. He knew it by heart at this point anyway.

"Hey, she says she loves you," Troy said. "Usually that's a good sign." Chad just ignored Troy and all his "helpful" comments for the rest of the afternoon.

The rain poured down as Chad left basketball practice that evening. He flipped up his sweatshirt hood and walked out to the car he'd bought over the summer for the express purpose of taking Taylor on dates. He got in the driver's seat and started the car, before realizing Taylor was in the backseat.

"Do you have to scare the daylights out of me?" Chad asked.

"Do you have to ignore me?" Taylor countered.

"Do you have to make a list of the seven things you hate about me?" Chad replied.

"Do you have to be such a jerk all the time?" Taylor said.

"Why are you in here?" Chad asked.

"You drove me to school this morning, and it's raining," Taylor said.

"Well, if you hate me so much, why don't you get someone else to drive you?" Chad asked.

"Why do you have to be so stubborn?" Taylor asked.

"Shoulda put it on the list," Chad said. Taylor didn't have a response for that. "What do you want?"

"A ride home," Taylor said. Chad backed out of his parking spot, and began driving in the general direction of Taylor's house. "And an apology."

"For what?" Chad asked.

"For being such a jerk," Taylor said. "When we broke up."

"I thought I apologized for that," Chad said. "Seeings how were technically still friends."

"Ha," Taylor said. "No apology, no friends." Chad didn't reply at first, but recited the letter to himself in his head. As they pulled into Taylor's driveway, Chad had formulated a reply.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Tell me again when you mean it," Taylor said, hopping out of the car and slamming the door shut. Chad sighed and drove himself home. When he got home, he collapsed onto his bed and thought. Maybe if he made his own list, they'd be even.

The Seven Things I Hate About You…
You're annoying.
You're stubborn.
You call me names.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.