After I got off the phone with Taylor, I headed down the hallway to Rachel's room. I was still kind of mad at Taylor. He had no right to be acting like such a pig! Humph. I knocked on Rachel's door.
"Come in," she called.
I opened the door and walked in her room. "Hey there. Whatcha up to?"
Rachel was lying on her floor, writing furiously in her journal. "Oh, I'm just writing, that's all."
"Oh. Mind if I hang out?"
Rachel shook her head. "So, did you talk with Taylor yet?"
"Yup."
"And?"
"And....I don't know. He and I really didn't establish where we are. So, I have absolutely no idea what to think."
Rachel gave me a thoughtful look. "You know, when Tay came over here earlier, he looked really upset that you were out with Ryan."
"So?"
"Well, that shows that he really likes you, doesn't it?"
"I suppose so."
"Okay. So, if he really likes you, and you like him, then you guys should be okay." Rachel looked very pleased with herself for figuring all this out.
"Rach, it's not that simple. First of all, I'm only going to be here for the summer. Second of all, I don't want to have to sacrifice a friendship with Ryan because Tay gets jealous. And third, well, I don't have a third. But, one and two make a pretty convincing argument, don't you think?"
"Abby," Rachel said witheringly. "You're just try to justify your actions because you want Tay to come crawling back to you. Well, if he hasn't done it already, he's probably not going to do it, so suck it up. Be the first one to apologize and move on."
I could only stare at Rachel. Did she have any idea what she was suggesting? "What, so do you want me to call him or something?"
She shook her head. "I think you should do it in person. That's the most sincere approach."
"I think you're crazy."
"I think you're a chicken!"
"Hey! I resent that! I am NOT a chicken!" I exclaimed.
"Well, then, you should have no problem going over and talking to Taylor."
I stood up. "Fine. I'll go. But only because I want to and not because you said I should."
Rachel smiled. "Whatever, Abby."
"Well, I'm going now. I'll be back in a little while." I quickly left Rachel's room and went to mine. I checked my hair and makeup and then grabbed my shoes. As I was leaving the house, I called out to my dad that I was leaving for a few minutes. Then, the next thing I knew, I was standing on the Hansons' front porch. Oh god. What had I let Rachel talk me into doing? As I was standing on the porch, debating whether to ring the doorbell or not, a car pulled into the Hanson's driveway. Shit. Now I was caught. I watched as Isaac got out of the driver's seat. Then, Tay got out of the passenger's seat, and then someone else climbed out of the back seat. What in the world? Tay saw me and ran over to me.
"Abby! What are you doing here?"
"Um, well, I came to...apologize for being so stupid. It was a dumb thing to fight over and I just want to put it in the past." I gave Tay a small smile. "So, what do you say?"
He looked at me nervously as the person who had gotten out of the backseat came over to us. "Abby, I'd like you to meet Jenna. Jenna, this is Abby."
I could only raise my eyebrows. "Jenna? What is she doing here?"
"She's kinda of spending the night," Tay mumbled.
"Oh. Okay. Well, um, I've really got to be going." I brushed past Tay and began walking toward my house.
"Abby! Wait!" Tay called after me. I ignored him. Suddenly, Tay was grabbing my arm. "Jeezus, Abby. Calm down! Jenna is only my friend. I promise you!"
I tried my hardest not to look Tay directly in the eye. I could feel tears forming at the back of my eyes. The last thing I wanted to do was cry in front of Tay. "Look, Tay. I don't care. Really, I don't. Just go ahead and do whatever you want. It doesn't matter to me." I pulled out of Tay's grip and ran towards my house. This time, Tay didn't bother following me.
I ran into my house and upstairs to my room. I slammed the door and locked it, then collapsed on my bed in a fit of tears. I was so confused. Why the hell did I care so much? Why was I crying? I felt like such an idiot, but the tears wouldn't stop. All I could think about was the fact that Jenna was going to be sleeping in the same house with Taylor, possibly in the same room, maybe even right next to him. I really hated her. But, by the same token, I felt horrible about hating her. I wanted to trust Tay's word that she was only his friend, and she probably was only his friend. Nothing more. But still, the thought that she would be there, at night...and near Tay. I'd seen them hugging in the mall. They looked so close, so intimate. What was stopping either of them from kissing? My tears fell even faster. There was suddenly a knock at my door.
"Abby?" Great it was my dad. "Are you okay?" he called through the door.
"Yeah," I said in a choked voice.
"Honey, will you open the door?" I got up and shuffled over to the door and opened it. One look at my dad had me sobbing even harder. "Abby, what's wrong?" My hugged me.
"Tay....and Jenna...." I mumbled.
My dad looked at me confused. "What are you talking about?"
I sniffled. "Well, you know how Tay and I have kinda been going out? I just went over to his house because we got in a fight, and I wanted to apologize. But, he had a girl at his house and she was spending the night, Dad! Spending the night! Can you believe it?" I immediately began crying harder.
My dad sighed. He led me over to my bed and he sat down beside me. "Abby, I'm new to all of this Dad-stuff. Well, at least this teenager stuff. But, it seems kind of fast to me for you to being dating this kid. You've barely been here a week."
I looked at my dad in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"I think you should cool it. Besides, isn't he in a famous band or something?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"I don't want you to get involved with a guy like that. I'm sure he'd just break your heart." My dad gave me a sad smile. "Actually, I think he's already broken your heart. I just don't want you to give him the chance to do it again." He paused. "I don't want to you see him again, Abby. Is that clear?"
I nodded. I couldn't very well say no. I was pissed at Taylor as it was. And besides, my Dad was probably right. I was better off without Taylor. "Thanks, Dad."
He kissed the top of my head. "You're welcome, sweetie." He gave me a hug and then left the room.
The next two weeks passed by quickly. Taylor had tried to call me once, but I'd had Rachel tell him that I didn't want to talk to him anymore. He hadn't called since. It didn't matter, though, because I was busy. Dad had asked me to come in and help him at the office. I accepted, and Dad agreed to pay me. So, I spent most of my time typing and filing stuff, basically just being a secretary. I really didn't mind. It kept me busy.
Monday evening, almost three weeks after my fight with Taylor, the phone rang. I was busy painting my toenails, but I leaned over and picked up the phone.
"Hello?" I asked, being careful not to smudge my polish on my comforter.
"Abby?"
"Yeah?"
"Hey, it's Ryan. How are you doing?"
"I'm good. How about you? I haven't talked to you in a long time!"
"Yeah, well, I've been busy. I was the counselor at a boy scout camp last week, so I wasn't around. I meant to tell you before I left, but I was so busy that I didn't get a chance to tell you."
"Oh. Well, that's fine. Did you have a good time at the camp?"
"Yeah, I guess. I mean, I had to watch seven little boys for an entire week, and if that's your idea of fun, than I guess it was fun."
I smiled. "Hmmmm. I see what you mean. So, what are you up to now?"
"Not much. I was calling to see if you could come to my birthday party this weekend. It'll be Friday night."
I quickly thought about the upcoming weekend. It would be my last weekend in Tulsa before I headed home. "Well, I'll have to check with my dad. I'm going back to Greensboro a week from Thursday, so my dad might have something planned."
"You're leaving next week? Why so soon?"
"Well, because I only agreed to come to Tulsa for a month, and a month is almost up. I have some commitments back in North Carolina, too."
"Oh. Well, that really sucks."
I shrugged. "Yup. But, as much fun as I've had in Tulsa, I'll be glad to get home. I miss all of my friends and my mom and everything."
"I guess I understand. I wouldn't want to be away from my family for any extended period of time." Ryan paused. "Well, I have to get going. Will you check about Friday night and get back to me?"
"Sure. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"
"All right. Talk to you then." Ryan hung up and I did the same.

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