It was mid-March now and the weather was slowly turning towards the spring. The chilly winds of the winter, the dead season, had lost their grip on the world and were slowly, reluctantly, giving ground to the soft, sweet winds of springtime. There was a sense of hope and renewal and love, and for Taylor Townsend, the world was a pretty one.

True she was without love, and true she was not over Ryan Atwood, but she sensed, as the ice melted and the ground beneath her feet thawed, that the future was improving. The early spring air sparked thousands of small memories, of an innocent and happy childhood she knew did not exist but for some strange reason, existed in her mind. There was a feeling of love and hope that stirred in her breast as she breathed in that crisp early spring air; the world seemed to her greener and fresher. The disappointments of the past were being pushed aside and the future loomed like the rising sun, orange and hot with the promise of great brilliance.

"I have a plan." She had told her mother one early day in March and now, as she sat with Anna Stern, she was seeing that plan come to fruition. "I'm going to stay in Rhode Island for the summer, take a class or two, get a job."

"Where are you going to live?" Her mother had inquired; of course the answer was very simple, with Anna. She too was staying in Rhode Island for the summer and was going to get an apartment for her senior year. She needed a roommate and Taylor was going to be the perfect one. As for a job, the linguistics department needed some student workers to work in their offices, and since Taylor was such a prized student, it was an easy task of obtaining work.

"So we're really going to do this?" Anna asked Taylor on a warm mid-March afternoon. The morning had been cold but as the sun had risen higher in the sapphire sky, the day, like the world, had given way to a pleasant warmth.

"Absolutely. I've found a couple of good places near campus."

"Great—how about we check them out this weekend?" Anna herself had plans to take a class or two over the summer and was planning on going home to Pittsburgh for a couple of weeks as well. "I'm excited, this is going to be a great summer."

"Go to work, hit the beach."

"Go out dancing at night. Pick up some guys." Taylor high-fived Anna in mock celebration; she honestly wasn't interested in dating anyone, but that wouldn't stop her from forgoing an evening of pleasure.

"Cordelia will be around." Summer would not be; her father had had a small stroke and Summer had swore that as soon as school was done, she would be at his side the entire break. It was good in a way that Summer was going to be gone because she had become a part of Seth's life again, much to the worry of Cordelia, and in turn, Taylor.

"Summer wont be." Anna had a knack for reading Taylor's mind. "I saw her yesterday"; Anna wasn't a big fan of the girl, not even when Anna had herself completely gotten over Seth Cohen. "There were a couple of moments I saw some confusion on our boy Cohen."

"Do you think it's serious?" Seth himself said there was nothing to worry about, but Taylor wasn't so sure. Summer seemed to be hatching some sort of plan behind those brown eyes of hers.

"I don't know—I honestly don't know what Summer is up to-or if she even knows what she is up to."

"She still seems pretty happy with Matt." They were an interesting couple to be sure; he seemed more devoted to the cause then to her but Summer didn't seem to mind that. "She said she loves him because he believes so much in reform and revolution but I don't see it." Taylor really believed that Summer did not love her boyfriend, but was trying very hard to do so. "She might very well be hung up on Seth still."

"After all this time."

"She certainly had herself convinced that she didn't love him and that he wasn't the guy for her." Taylor never had that problem about Ryan; she always knew that she had loved him. Taylor had just fooled herself in thinking in various times of her life that she had gotten over him. She still wasn't.

"What would you do?"

"About what?"

"If it came down to supporting Seth and Summer or Seth and Cordelia?" The problem was an easy one for Anna; she would support Cordelia until the end. The blonde was sweet and easy going and unaffected and made Seth happy. Summer had caused Seth a great deal of anxiety and despair. In Anna's eyes, Summer wasn't worth the trouble.

"I don't know." Truly she didn't. The question had bugged her now for the past month, ever since Summer had come to Taylor asking for help in gaining back Seth's friendship. She had succeeded at that but it had cost her and Cordelia a bit of ease and comfort. Summer of course swore she only wanted friendship, but there were times, maddening times, when she seemed to want more. "I love Summer to death but Cordelia doesn't deserve any pain, she's so sweet and so good to Seth."

"You'll have to lose someone."

"Why do you think that?"

"If you choose Cordelia over Summer Summer wont forgive you for not supporting an old friend. If you pick Summer and help her win back Seth, then Cordelia will loss her trust in you for helping Summer break her heart." Anna looked at Taylor pointedly. "You know it's true though, Cordelia loves Seth and she'd be crushed if Summer stole him from her."

"Maybe I pick neither side and stay out of it."

"Impossible; you'd lose them both that way for not coming to their aid and I know you couldn't do that. It's not like you, you help people."

"Hopefully it wont come to that."

"It might not—but I have a feeling; I've seen this all before." So had Taylor; she had watched as Summer, Seth and Zach Stephens had been plunged into a love triangle. Of course it was Summer and Seth who had come out on top. Poor Zach, he had transferred before the start of junior year; such was the possible fate of those who mixed with the fire that was Summer Roberts and Seth Cohen.

"Do you plan on getting a job this summer?" Taylor was anxious to change the subject. "I might be able to get you something with me if you want."

"I'm trying to get something lined up with Professor Franke—he says he needs a research assistant for the summer."

The summer seemed so far away for Taylor at that moment. The darkness and coldness of the passing winter, which had seemed to be dying not so long ago, had returned. The wind seemed colder and harsher now and the spring seemed to hold less promise. Had Anna spoken true words? Was she on the verge of losing a friendship, someone that was dear to her? Would Summer be a distant memory some day, or would it be Cordelia, whose affections were so new and sweet. Would Cordelia pass from this world curing the memory of Taylor Townsend? She shivered but it was not from a cold gust of air; decay had passed by her and she could not escape the feeling that it had brushed her shoulder.

The spring, with its hope of renewal, had staggered back for a moment and as she shivered away that feeling of dread, of decay, she realized that she could not, would not, escape it. When the winter passed away, Taylor realized, it did so smugly. It announced to the world, as it departed, that it would return. The spring and summer, for all its sensual glory, would perish and die; the perfect moments of life, which seemed so glorious, were truly imperfect because they did not last. They were merely the top of the mountain, which everyone must pass over before the terrible tumble down into decay and death.

It was true of her friendships as well. As she had realized on the night lying at Gregg's side, she might pass from this world not knowing if Anna, Summer, Seth or Ryan were alive or dead. The best friends of today, Taylor thought to herself, would not be the best friends of tomorrow; there was nothing she could really do because life took each of us in many different places. With Ryan life had taken him and put him in Sadie's path and out of Taylor's. Her attempts to win him back had failed; their emails now were infrequent and short, formal. It saddened her but that was how things were; try as she might, she could not conquer all, would not always get the ending she wanted.

Cordelia might not get the ending she wanted either Taylor thought to herself. The sun continued to sparkle down on the sitting girls.