chapter sixTaylor leaned over to type in the password for his internet connection. As he did, he purposely brushed his hand against her arm. She glanced up from the screen and smiled at him. He pressed the enter button, and leaned back as his computer made a connection. He watched her closely as she checked to see if the modem was working. He watched her profile, and couldn’t help wondering why he felt so differently about her than all the other fans he had met. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he knew he really enjoyed her company, and had been surprised at how much they had in common. Isaac reckoned it was just a crush…..god knew he’d had enough of them….. but Taylor knew there was something different about this one. He was secretly glad that both Isaac and Zac had gone to friends houses and left them alone. They went to a couple of sites, looked at her homepage (hehehe…ahem). Before he knew it, it was 7:30, and they had to leave if they wanted to get to ther movies on time.
After buying the tickets, they made their way into the theatre and found their seats. As the movie started, Taylor found himself constantly glancing at her to see what she was doing. Every now and then she would look at him at the same time, and their eyes would meet briefly. Her eyes had a deepness to them that he had never seen before. When, during a dull point in the movie, she glanced up at the same time, he leaned over and softly pressed his lips against hers. The kiss was longer than the first one, and deeper. When they pulled away, he reached his arm around behind her, and she moved closer and put her head on his shoulder. For the rest of the movie, neither of them paid much attention to the script, and just sat, savouring the feeling they got when they were close.
* * * * * A week later, I had been out with Taylor twice more, once to a fun park and once rollerblading in the park.
It had been Taylor’s idea to go rollerblading. We were in a private chat room on the Internet when he suggested it. I hadn’t wanted to, at first, because, although I have my own skates, I’m not very good on them, but Tay had convinced me. And that’s how we came to be sitting at a park bench in surburban Tulsa, eating ice-cream cones and talking. Neither of us was entirely sure exactly where we were, but we weren’t too worried about it - Tay thought we could ask at a store if we got really lost.
"what flavour is yours?" I asked. After our first date, talking to Taylor had become so much easier. I no longer had to worry about every word I said, because I felt so comfortable with him. Now, I felt as if I could talk forever.
"strawberry. Do you want some?" He asked, offering me the cone.
"Thanks." I said, taking it off him, and giving him mine. We sat watching some kids play soccer for a few more minutes, before Tay said;
"Come on, I’ll give you a race."
I looked up. "I thought you’d realised by now how bad I am."
He grinned in reply, stood up and started off down the path.
"Hey!’ I called, as I tried to follow him. I turned a corner in the path, to expose a long stretch of cement, and Taylor nowhere in sight. I turned around, trying to decide where he’d be. I just about died when someone’s hands slipped onto my waist. I twirled around, trying to keep my balance, and found Taylor’s face incredibly close. He half-smiled, and before I could yell at him for taking ten years off my life, he kissed me. He still had his hands around my waist, and when my shock died off, I looped my arms around his neck. When he pulled away, he left his face up close to mine, and for a few seconds, I was lost in those impossibly clear blue eyes.We eventually found our way back to his house, in fits and starts. I had blisters on my feet and several bruises by that time, so I was infinitely glad to take my skates off at the door.
"Hi, Rhian," Zac called as we passed the lounge.
"Hi." Tay looked over at me.
"So, what do you what to do now?"
"Let’s just sit outside" He nodded, and led me through the corridor to the back yard, and over towards the treehouse.
It was actually quite stable, I noticed when I made it to the top. Along one wall was a sort of bed/couch thing, with a rug thrown over it. It was the only bit of furniture there, not that you could really tell, what with the amount of junk that carpeted the wood. Shoes, books, lego blocks, anything and everything had managed to find its way up there.
"Sorry about the mess." Tay said, a little embarrassed. I grinned.
"It’s okay. I kind of expected it after you room."
He smiled back, and gestured for me ton sit next to him on the couch. It was an incredibly hot day, but the treehouse, in the shade of the huge oak tree it occupied, was surprisingly cool. We sat there for quite a while, looking out through the window cut into the wood, at the sky. A light breeze had picked up, and we could hear it rustling through the leaves of the tree. We were interrupted by Ike softly calling; "Tay? We’re going to grandma’s. Do you guys want to come?" Taylor didn’t even have to look at me to know how to answer. "No, I think we’ll stay." There was silence from below, and then Ike cleared his throat. "Okay, well, you’ve got the house to yourselves, then" he sounded a bit hesitant, as though he didn’t trust us alone together. "Okay. See ya." Tay called down the ladder. We listened to Isaac quietly pad away across the lawn, and a few minutes later, the noises of the family climbing into their car, and pullig out of the driveway.
Tay looked thoughtfully out at the sky.
"We need music." He said suddenly. He took my hand and we made our way down the ladder and onto firm ground again. He led me back through the house, and into a room I hadn’t seen before, which, from where it was situated, appeared to be a garage. The first thing I noticed about it was the walls. They were covered with murals of every shape and size. As I turned around, taking it all in, I realised it must be their practice room. In one corner was Zac’s drums, while in another was Tay’s keyboards, and Ike’s guitars. In the other corner, was a min-system, and a towering CD stand, that looked to me to have just about every CD ever produced on it. Tay walked over to it and put a CD into the player. A few seconds, the soft sounds of the Beatles White album flooded into the room. He walked back to me and put his arms around my back to rest on my lower back. I felt the newly - familiar thrills of his touch run up and down my back. I leaned closely into him, and we gently swayed to the music coming from the speakers.