…Hey, everybody… I know I apologize in every author's note, but I have been so extremely busy lately and haven't had much time to write. Who agrees that AP World History is the devil's incarnate??? Haha, well anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. To make up for my complete lack of work ethic, This chapter will be pretty long. Please review!!! Enjoy! =D

Recap: He smiled and hugged me tightly. "Thank you. Thank you so much. I hate it when you're mad at me."

"Yeah, well it's not much fun being mad at you, either," I replied, and hugged him back, and then pulled back.

"Well, as long as you forgive me…" his expression became nervous and he started again. "Will you go to Homecoming with me?"

He got a hopeful look on his face, and I felt bad that I was going to say no, so before I thought, I blurted out, "Sure."

His eyes brightened and he hugged me again, and said, "Great. Um, I'll pick you up at seven."

I smiled half-heartedly, and said, "Yeah, okay, well I'm going back in there…."

"Okay," He smiled. "I'll see you at lunch," then he walked out happily.

"Oh, God. What did I just agree to?" I asked myself quietly.

7. What Have I Done?

I walked back into the choir room to be met with nine pairs of questioning eyes. One pair catching my attention the most. Those warm brown eyes could always see right through me, and I'm sure they saw that I was feeling guilty or just off.

Taylor came up to me after I stepped further into the room and asked, "What was that about?"

"Oh, nothing," I replied, nervously. "He was just apologizing for the Hummer."

"Hummer? What Hummer?" Mia asked incredulously.

I turned my full attention to her, grateful for a reason to look away from Taylor's probing gaze and became very animated as I told her about Jake's monster. A little too animated.

"You didn't hear? Or see? Damn! That thing's kinda hard to miss! Yeah, so apparently, Jake's dad came home last night with an H3 for Jake, and he 'just couldn't refuse,'" I used air quotes. "So he drive's that thing to school and conveniently forgets that I can't stand Hummers. So he catches up with me and Taylor while we're walking into the building and asks 'Hey, Aria! What do you think of my new toy?'" I mimicked his voice—very badly, I might add. I shook my head and grumbled lowly. "I swear, I about choked him right then and there."

Mia looked shocked, and she was about to reply when the bell rang, telling me I had to go to Biology.

"Dang. Well, see you at lunch, I guess," I waved to Mia, Justine, and all my other friends before heading out.

Taylor followed me, of course, so he could go to Physics and it seemed like he wanted to say something a couple of times along the way, but either couldn't muster up the courage, or couldn't find the right words. So when we got to the Biology lab, he stopped and faced me and said, "I guess I'll see you in Theater, then."

I nodded, "Yup," and went into my classroom.

I couldn't pay attention to anything in Biology. My teacher called on me once, when I obviously wasn't paying attention, but I somehow managed to spit out the correct answer. The bell rang and I robotically gathered my stuff to put it in my backpack before I went to English. My mind was still on the topic of homecoming, wondering why the hell I said yes to Jake. I mean, I've never liked him like that. Sure he's cute, but I've just always seen him as my brother or a really close friend.

I must've taken longer than usual, because the next thing I knew, Taylor was in the lab next to me, staring at me with worried eyes. That snapped me out of it.

I looked up at him and said convincingly, "I'm fine. Let's just go."

He continued to stare at me quizzically for another moment, and he nodded in agreement before we went off to our next classes.

When I got to English, I saw all of the different things for Romeo and Juliet and that reminded me of the theater play, and then that got me nervous and excited for next hour. In contradiction to all the different things set up in the room that we could've done, we just watched some of the 60's version of the movie. We had just gotten through the balcony scene where Juliet is too damn giggly as the bell rang.

I jumped out of my seat and practically bolted for the auditorium, even though I walked. My nerves were getting the better of me. I don't usually get nervous, but knowing that Taylor was easily the best Romeo that auditioned and he would get the part, made me want to get Juliet all the more. I didn't want anybody else touching him. …Oh, god. Now I sound like a possessive, obsessive girlfriend, or something.

I took my seat in the auditorium, and Taylor came in shortly after and took his designated seat right next to me. I knew he could tell that I was nervous, because shortly after, he took my hand in his to stop it from fidgeting. Huh, I hadn't even realized that I was doing that. After I thought about it, my knee was bouncing up and down uncontrollably, too. Well, damn. So much for appearing calm, cool, and collected.

More students started filing in, and Taylor leaned over to me and said, "Aria, relax. It's going to be fine. There's no need to be nervous."

That calmed me down a bit, so I stopped fidgeting and leaned into him. With my head resting on his shoulder, I whispered, "Thank you. I don't know how you do it, but you always manage to calm me down."

A shit-eating grin appeared on his face as he put his arm around my shoulders and squeezed. "It's a gift."

I slapped his chest playfully and we both laughed at our childish behavior. When Kate got on stage, everyone was quiet and she cleared her throat before talking.

"All right. Well, I'm so amazed by everyone's auditions yesterday, and I've thought long and hard about this casting decision. So, Apothecary—Devin, Peter—Greg, Abrahm—Eric, Samson—Dylan, Gregory—Matthew, Prince Escalus—Andy, Paris—David," She continued to list the characters and the actors. Then she finally got to the characters I was interested in.

"Romeo—Taylor," no shocker there… She looked down at something before continuing. "Juliet—Brittany..." my heart sank, and Taylor put his hand over mine on the armrest. "You're wanted in the counselor's office for a schedule appointment or something. Right, so anyway, Juliet is Aria, Lady Capulet—Brittany, Nurse—Lexi," and she continued some more, but I couldn't concentrate. All that was going through my head was the fact that I was going to be Juliet!

Taylor squeezed my hand gently, bringing me out of my stupor. I looked over at him, and before I could help it, a broad grin was eating my face. He returned the expression easily and brought me close for a hug. His mouth was at my ear and he whispered, "Congratulations."

I couldn't make the grin leave my face for anything until we got to lunch. We all sat down in the same spots as yesterday, and when Taylor and I were telling the table about Theater class and our parts in the play, Jake pulled up a chair on my right and sat down, throwing his arm around me, pulling me closer to his side, and farther away from Taylor.

"Hey, Aria. Have you been thinking about Homecoming?" Jake asked suggestively.

I tensed up and nervously glanced over at Taylor to see him glaring at Jake and staring at me questioningly. "Uhm… what about it?" I asked.

Jake poked me in the side, his wide grin never wavering. "Oh, don't tell me you forgot already! Our date! You know, the one you agreed to this morning…" I cringed. Wow, how stupid could I be? I set myself up for that one.

I looked around the table to see everyone's eyes wide with shock that I would ever agree to go out with my best guy friend. Especially with the scene I threw this morning about his Hummer. I saved Taylor's eyes for last, knowing that I would see shock, confusion, and anger burning in his eyes. I was right. But I also saw one more thing. Was that… betrayal? I quickly cast my glance aside and muttered, "Oh, yeah. That. No, I haven't forgotten…"

"Well, good," Jake said, relieved. "Because it's been the only thing I've been able to think about," he whispered in my ear.

I cringed and leaned away. I saw everyone's confused eyes and then I turned to Taylor who had his head down and was picking angrily at his food before I pushed Jake's arm off of me, scooted my chair back and stood up. "I'm cold." I started to walk away with all of my stuff.

"Aria, you're wearing long sleeves, two sweatshirts, and a workout jacket! How could you be cold?" Mia called to me.

"I just am!" I replied and kept walking. I walked out the doors to the courtyard of the school, which was really actually very stupid, since I just made a scene about being cold, and I walk out into the colder air. I didn't care, though. I just had to get away from all the drama I'd caused.

Taylor POV

I watched discreetly as Aria walked outside after her claim of being cold. I couldn't believe how stupid I'd been. If I'd just asked her like I'd planned to this morning, she'd be going with me and not that loser prick, Jake.

I wanted to get up to go talk to her, but she seemed like she wanted to be alone.

"I wonder if I should go get her…" Mia mused.

I was about to tell her that she wanted to be alone when Jake spoke up and said a little too cheerfully, "Nah, I'll go. After all, I'm her boyfriend, so I should go, anyway."

Boyfriend? What else didn't she tell me about that little encounter with him in the hall this morning? Not to mention I hated how he made talking to her and comforting her sound like an obligation. There are never any obligations when it comes to Aria. She's the most selfless person I know. She won't even kill a spider in her bathroom or anything. She'll put it in a paper cup, and release it outside. She would never want anyone to feel obligated toward her.

I watched as Jake picked up his things and followed her outside. When he caught up to her, he grabbed her arm, turning her around to face him. He said something I couldn't hear through the wall and long distance and she looked extremely offended. I felt a small swell of satisfaction as I saw her tell him off for something.

Aria POV

I didn't want anyone to follow me. How was that too much to ask? Okay, that's not exactly true. I wanted Taylor to follow me, so I could explain. But of course, that just couldn't happen.

I felt Jake grab my arm, and it made me turn around to face him.

"Baby, what's wrong?" he asked.

Baby? "Baby?" I asked incredulously. "Why the hell would you call me baby?" I sneered the word.

He seemed taken aback. Good. "Well, I guess I just kinda figured, y'know, since you're my girlfriend and all that I could call you that… I guess…"

"Girlfriend? Jake! I am NOT your girlfriend! I'm sorry! I shouldn't have even said yes to Homecoming. I don't see you as anything more than one of my best friends, Jake! I only said yes, because I felt bad for saying no. I saw how hopeful you were, and I should've stuck with my head and heart, but the word 'yes' just fell out of my mouth before I could even think," I ranted.

He looked dejected as he dropped his hand away from my arm and said, "What?"

"Jake, I'm really sorry. The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but really, I don't think we should go to Homecoming together. I'm still going to go, and we can hang out there, but not as a date or anything."

He hung his head a bit and said, "All right. I'd rather have you as a friend than nothing at all," and he went back inside, not stopping at the table, just going straight to his next class.

I looked through the window at my friends, and saw Taylor staring at me with an unreadable expression planted on his face. I looked away and sat down on a bench right by where I was standing.

God, what had I done? I somehow managed to hurt my old best friend and my new best friend all in ten minutes. Man, this is one skill that I really hadn't hoped to acquire.

I heard someone approaching and looked up to see Taylor. He half-smiled at me and then sat down next to me and pulled me into his arms. He just held me like that until we had to go to our fourth hours and when we stood up, he pulled me back to him in another hug, and kissed the top of my head.

"I'll go with you to your locker after Spanish, and then I'll take you to skating, okay?"

I smiled at him. "Okay. Thanks, Taylor."

He returned my smile easily. "No problem."

As I walked off to the gym, memories from the past entered my head. Memories that one simple hug triggered.

Hello, again, guys. Thank you so much for reading =D Now, please review!!!! They really do motivate me and the reviews have been a little on the slow side lately… I really appreciate the feedback. Hope you enjoyed the chapter! =D you all!