Today was...well, it was weird. I ran into Taylor at the mall and we actually talked to each other without being rude. Well, a little rude, but a lot less then normal. I swear, it was a mistake and I'll never do it again. Anyway, I walked into the food court and saw Taylor and some girl eating lunch with each other. I was as excited as the day I learned that soccer practice was going to be at 6 in the morning every day one summer. But the girl, she was a girl I knew and I really didn't like either. So it was like a double whammy. I walked casually up to their table and stood by the side.
"Hey Abby, hey Taylor." I said, smiling sickly at both of them. Taylor looked confused and Abby rolled her eyes at me. I had a great idea. "Tay-tay, we need to talk about last night." I said, placing my hand over his. His eyes grew wide and he coughed a little around the sprite he was drinking. I squeezed his hand. "Alone..." I whispered in his ear, loud enough for Abby to hear. A look of pure disgust washed over her face before she pushed her chair back and stood up abruptly.
"Well Taylor, I guess I'll be talking to you later. Do you want my number?" She asked loudly.
"Oh, I don't think he'll be free tonight. We have" smile suggestively "plans to have a little fun together." I said, looking over at Taylor and licking my top lip. She turned on her heel and walked away. I was about to pat myself on the back for ruining Taylor's little date, when he started talking.
"Thank you SO much, Addy. You have no idea how much I hate that girl." He said, quickly pulling his hand out from under mine.
"You hate her? Then why did I just break you up?" I asked angrily. "You were supposed to really like her so that you'd be pissed at me for acting like this!" I explained to him.
"Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but I hate her. All she does is ask me out and then talk about Ike all day. And she has no personality, no friends, and gives me no reason to be interested." He rambled. Dangit, my plan had really backfired. "Anyway, thanks a lot for doing that. It really helped me out."
"Ok, so that's the first time I've ever helped you. But you've never helped me, so do you owe me now or something?" I asked. "We always pay each other back when we're rude."
"I dunno..."
"Well, if you DON'T do something nice for me, I'll have to break up a date that you're actually enjoying." I said menacingly. He laughed and held up his hands in defense.
"Ok, ok! I'll help you ONE TIME, but that's it. And this better not be a pattern." He said, brushing past me to throw away his tray. I followed him, thinking about tripping him in the middle of the food court so everyone could see Taylor Hanson, age 17, trip and fall flat on his face. Maybe someone would have a camera with them...
"And I better not get home and see you and Zac haging out and playing video games, or you and Ike parked around the campfire singing "Kumbaya" anytime soon." He continued. All thoughts of public humiliation flew out of my mind.
"Ew Taylor! The only time I even go to your house is to babysit, and you're never there, thank goodness. I think you should be there though because you're the biggest baby I've ever met." I said, realizing that my joke was really dumb and made me sound like a fourth grader. I hoped he wasn't paying attention to me talking (like usual) because I knew that a verbal assault was about to ensue.
"Oooh Addy, man, that really hurt my heart." He said rolling his eyes. He paused to take a breath when I cut in.
"So anyway, you owe me something nice, so what's it gonna be?" I asked him impatiently. We were wandering around the mall, arguing, and I had plenty better things to do. I waited for him to say something. "Taylor! What are you doing?" I asked. I looked back at him. He was staring off to the left with his mouth agape.
"Oh my gosh, Addy, hide me!" He whispered, before dropping to his knees behind me and pretending to tie his shoe. I looked around awkwardly, cursing the day he was born. Well, not really. My life would be a lot more boring if the next door neighbors were anyone else, I suppose. I snapped back to reality when a group of twelve-year-olds walked by, one of them clutching a rolled up poster that said Hanson on the side. Oh, I get it, Taylor was hiding from his fans. There you are, Mr. America.
"Hey TAYLOR, why are you hiding behind me??" I asked loudly. I watched his eyes, which were following the group of girls, bulge out of his head. He jumped up quickly, clamped a hand around my mouth, and dragged me into a little hallway where the bathrooms were. He pushed me against the wall and let go of my mouth.
"Are you crazy!?" He hissed into my face. "Those girls would eat me alive! And they'd be meaner to you, perhaps a public stoning, when they saw you walking around with me. I bet one of them at least had a camera, would take a picture of me and you standing there, and would publish it in the Enquirer!!! What are you trying to do, kill me?" He asked angrily.
"You are such a drama queen Taylor. If they saw you and me, they'd probably stop, whimper a little, and then they wouldn't know what to do or say, and they'd leave you alone." I said with annoyance, rubbing my hand over my jaw. "That really hurt, you know. You could've just pulled me by my arm or something." I said sullenly. He let out a frustrated sigh and took a step back. We both stood, leaning against opposite walls, staring at anything but each other.
"Imsorrythatihurtyourjaw."
"What did you just say?"
"I'm SORRY that I hurt your jaw. Happy now?"
"Wow Taylor, you said the magic words and my jaw suddenly feels like its never felt before."
"Screw you Addy. I just apologized to you for the first time in my life. I'm going home. Have a nice day." He spat out. He turned and started walking out of the hallway and back into the mall.
"You still owe me, you know! Something NICE!" I yelled after him. He nodded his head in acknowledgement and turned the corner.
See, I told you that today we were able to talk to each other without being rude.