Summer waited outside of the Cohen family house, anxiously drumming her fingers against the steering wheel as she waited for Elena. Summer had their entire day planned—she, Elena and Taylor were going to go get their nails done, grab some lunch, go shopping and then get their hair done. She knew it seemed a bit excessive but she wanted Elena to take to Taylor, for everyone's sake. Especially Ryan's.
A few minutes later Elena walked out, her hair tied back in a loose braid, a yellow sundress and a pair of simple white sandals on.
"Hey, Lena! You excited?" Summer asked when Elena climbed into the car.
Elena nodded, forcing herself to smile. "Yeah!"
"Okay, we're going to go pick Taylor up and then we'll go to the salon, sound good?"
"Great!" She lied. She was, after all, less than thrilled at the idea of spending her entire day with this Taylor girl. She didn't want to seem rude, though, especially towards Summer who was always so generous and always went out of her way to be friendly towards her. She had to, at the very least, pretend to be excited about it.
They arrived at Taylor's house roughly ten minutes later. Summer honked the horn and Taylor practically skipped out of the house, the excitement evident on her face. Elena took one look at her and decided she was justified in not liking her; she was beautiful, sure, but her outfit was practically screaming look at me! Look how rich, snotty and pretentious I am! Besides, the grin on her face was so obviously fake.
She climbed into the front seat next to Summer and Elena let out a barely audible groan.
"Hi!" Taylor smiled brightly at Elena, oblivious to Elena's glares, and eagerly extended her hand out. "Elena, right?"
Elena stared at her for a second, an unreadable expression on her face, before leaning forward and attentively taking it. "That's me," she replied, not bothering to hide the irritation in her voice.
"It's so nice to meet you! I'm Taylor."
"Yeah, I know." Elena said indifferently before not to so subtly rolling her eyes.
"Okay," Taylor said slowly, slinking into her seat, clearly uncomfortable. After a long silence, she opted to change the subject. "So...are you excited about school?"
"Nope," Elena said dismissively before crossing her arms and staring out the window.
Yep, it was long to be a long day.
Two hours and a mani-pedi later, Taylor, Summer and Elena were waiting for a table at the restaurant across the street from the nail salon. The trip to the nail salon went relatively smoothly, all things considered—mostly because Elena refused to talk and the booths in which their nails were getting painted were a few feet apart. There, were, of course, a few minor hiccups, the biggest one being the hateful glares Elena kept shooting Taylor. Taylor looked to Summer for support, but she was too wrapped up in the nail technician's analysis of last night's episode of the Valley to take notice.
After about a fifteen minute wait, the hostess sat everyone. They all sat down, Elena making it a point to sit as far away from Taylor as she possibly could, while Summer eagerly began thumbing through a menu. It wasn't until Summer mentioned her hunger and how amazing their chicken alfredo was that any of them spoke.
"Their food is delicious," Taylor agreed as she stared down at her menu. She carefully glanced up at Elena. "Have you ever been here, Elena?"
"What, you think because I'm from Chino, I couldn't afford a place like this?" Elena snapped defensively, a scowl forming on her face.
"C'mon, Elena, she didn't mean it like that." Summer spoke up, placing her hand on top of Elena's.
"Sure sounded that way to me," Elena replied icily, the scowl not leaving her face.
"I assure you I didn't," Taylor said, shaking her head furiously. She wasn't sure what to say but Elena was still staring at her so she felt compelled to say something. She swallowed thickly, hoping, praying she wouldn't stick her foot in her mouth. "I'm sorry if I offended you."
Elena's expression softened slightly, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she began scanning through the menu.
After about ten minutes, they all placed their orders and Summer and Taylor began chatting mindlessly about their school schedules. They were careful to not exclude Elena from the conversation, but Elena didn't seem very talkative. After their food came and they all finished eating, Elena excused herself to go to the bathroom.
"Why does Elena hate me?" Taylor asked in a harsh whisper when she was certain Elena was out of earshot.
"I don't know," Summer said, even though it sounded more like a question than an answer. "Did you do anything to piss her off?"
"I, um.." She knew she could be a bit abrasive and neurotic at times and she had a tendency of sticking her foot in her mouth, but she certainly didn't think she did anything to make Elena act cold towards her; did she? No, of course not. She barely knew the girl. "No!"
"Look, Taylor, her brother is all she ever had. She probably just feels threatened. Don't worry about it. She'll get over it eventually. There's nothing you can do except be nice to her and hope she gets over it sooner rather than later," Summer explained apologetically.
"Hope?!" Taylor shouted incredulously before pinching the bridge of her nose and letting out a shaky breath. "Look, Summer..I really like Ryan. I want this to work."
"I'll talk to her later about it, Tay. Just relax. I promise you, you're over thinking this whole thing."
"I hope you're right."
After they finished up lunch, they went to the outlets. The uncomfortable silence on the ride there was almost too much to bear, but somehow, they all managed. When they arrived, they opted to go to Ralph Lauren first. Elena was hesitant at first, knowing full well how expensive their clothing was, but Summer insisted.
"Elena, we've been through this! You're the little sister I never had," she told her, linking their arms together. "Besides this is, like, the only positive to school starting back up again."
Elena made a face. "yeah-school."
Summer chuckled giving her a one armed hug as Taylor just stood by awkwardly. Summer looked over at Taylor and motioned her to try to get involved in the bonding moment. Taylor nodded and she smiled hooking her arm with Elena's free arm. Elena though didn't like that very much. She yanked her arm away and slightly pushed Taylor.
"What the hell are you doing!?"
Taylor was lost for words.
"I don't like you! Stop trying to get me to like you! Sure my brother likes you but that doesn't mean I have to like you! So don't touch me again you stuck up bitch!"
Summer was as well very shocked up her face scrunched in a scowl and grabbed Elena's upper arm and started to lead her out of the outlet mall. Taylor followed slowly behind trying not to cry.
"Elena you sit in the back of the car and do NOT say a word until we get back to your house is that understood?" Summer's tone was soft but firm. Elena never seen her so mad. She just nodded.
Taylor got into the passenger side as Summer got into the driver's side. The car was silent, all you can hear was the hum of the engine and the tires on the road. Summer dropped Taylor off and gave her a hug and an apologetic look. Once Taylor went inside her house Summer took off towards the Cohen's house. As soon as she parked the car Elena jumped out and scurried into the house as fast as possible.
"Hey how'd it go?" Ryan asked Elena as she sped pass him and not even acknowledging him. Ryan looked puzzled then looked at Summer who just walked in the house. The expression on her face told him everything was not okay.
Summer sat down with Ryan, Seth, Sandy and Kirsten and told them the events of their outing.
Ryan was pissed to say the least. "Oh she is in so much trouble!" Ryan shot up from his chair but Sandy's arm stopped him.
"Ryan…" Sandy said and just looked at him with an 'I'll take care of this look'. Ryan nodded and sat back down as Sandy stood up. He walked out of the kitchen just to return a second later.
"What is it Sandy?" Kirsten asked as he was looking through a drawer.
"I forgot something." He mumbled and pulled out a wooden spoon and ventured back out of the kitchen. He knocked on Elena's door but didn't wait for a response to enter.
Elena looked at him then noticed the spoon in his hand and her eyes widened.