+chapter.one+
“Kim?”
“Hmm?” Kim asked, unlocking the car and getting in.
“Where did the black and blue come from? Josh?”
“Jenn, don’t start with me okay? I have the day off and I just want to have a fun day at the mall with my friend...” she trailed as Jenn got in the car.
“Kim, you won’t be having many fun days when your six feet under because he beat the shit out of you.” Kim turned to Jenn quickly and gave her a glare.
“Jenn, please don’t bring this up today, okay?”
“Well, when would you like for me to bring it up? Your funeral?”
“Why must you always insist that he’s going to kill me?” Kim questioned, pulling away from her house towards the mall.
“I am just watching out for you, Kim. First, it’s a black and blue on your arm. Then, it’s a black eye and then...Well, I just don’t want to think about it.”
“I swear I would never let it get that far.”
“Yeah, but who says when he decides to really hurt you. You’ll never be able to stop him. Kim, he shouldn’t be doing what he’s doing to you now...It’s gone too far already.”
“Jenn, you don’t understand, it’s my fault he hits me. I make him mad.” This wasn’t exactly the subject she wanted to talk about.
“Kim, you don’t get it. No matter how mad he gets at you, he should never hit you. No matter what you do. It’s just wrong!”
“Jenn, can we please just drop it?”
“No! I am not dropping it until you promise me that you’re going to leave him.” Kim just stared out the window. This was something she thought about often but never had the heart to go through with. She knew where this was all going. Jenn and her had this conversation many times before. She knew exactly what Jenn was going to say before she said it.
“Kim, just promise me that next time you see him you will end it.”
“Jenn, it’s just I am so scared of what he’ll do when I end it. You know? I mean, look what he does to me now,” Kim spoke, holding back her tears. Jenn looked at her, seeing Kim made Jenn want to cry too. She knew the pain she was going through.
“Listen, I’ll help you get through this. Just promise me you will end it. Before it’s too late.”
“All right,” Kim spoke reluctantly. “I will end it next time I see him.”
“Good...” Jenn trailed. Kim pulled her car into the mall parking lot. They both got out and walked in the main entrance.
Meanwhile…
Zac and Taylor were walking the mall, near were Zac worked.
“Man, Tay, I am here to often on weekdays why’d you have to drag me here on the weekend? Especially the one I had off?” Zac whined.
“I'm sorry. I wasn’t the one who was still in his pajama’s at noon playing video games saying ‘I’m so bored!’”
“Hey, I had to rest up. I’m going out tonight.”
“Yeah. Okay. Exactly where are you going?” Tay asked.
“Em and I are going clubbin'.”
“Wow, that’s funny. I thought you had to be twenty one to get into a club.”
“Shut up, Tay. We’re going to one of those teen clubs. Don’t ask, okay? Em is just dragging me there. By the way, why are we here anyway?”
“I have to get Monica a gift for her birthday. Believe me. I wouldn’t be here either unless I had to be,” Taylor spoke as they walked the mall.
“Hey, Tay, I wanna check out a CD. Let’s go in there” Zac spoke pointing to the CD store.
“Oh no, we can’t. That means you would be shopping at the competitor’s store.”
“Oh, shut up. Let's just go,” Zac spoke, as he walked into the store.
Meanwhile…
Kim and Jenn walked the mall checking out all the guys. Kim was in a better mood now. Jenn always seemed to have that effect on people. As they walked, Jenn flirted with numerous guys. Ever since she and Zac broke up, she’s had a bad reputation around school for being flirt, and maybe much more. Kim watched as Jenn got yet another guy’s number. Jenn strolled back over to Kim with a grin on her face.
“One more name, one more number, to add to my little black book.” Jenn laughed and they began to walk again.
“Yeah, how many is that now? What? Two guys in that little black book? His and Sean’s.”
“More than you seem to have…” Jenn trailed jokingly with a smile.
“Hey, let's go into that CD place. I wanna see if they have this CD I wanted,” Kim spoke, pointing to the store. She chose that one because that was the one Zac didn’t work at and she felt it would be safer to avoid his store altogether then risk him having work that day, little did she know. The two girls walked into the store together.
+chapter.two+
Zac flipped through the CD racks looking for the CD he wanted, the whole time eyeing up this girl who had her back turned to him. All of a sudden, a familiar face walked over to the girl. It was Kim. He watched as Kim talked to the girl. Kim looked over at Zac and gave him a smile, and then her face went completely blank. Kim tried frantically to direct the girls attention away from the back of the store where Zac was. The girl then walked over to one of the sale’s reps and began to flirt with him too. When the coast was clear Zac went over to talk to Kim.
“Hey,” Zac spoke.
“Hey,” Kim replied turning around to talk to him.
“Who was that girl you were talking to?”
“Oh, her? She...she’s just a friend.”
“Oh, well maybe you could introduce me to her sometime.”
“Zac, I thought you had a girlfriend.”
“Hey, the more the merrier.” The two just laughed. Then, the girl turned around. Zac look over at her and so did Kim. Zac gasped at the all too familiar face. It was Jenn that he had been eyeing up. Jenn also gasped at the sight of Zachary. It wouldn’t have been so bad, but there he stood, talking to Kim. Jenn just stared at the two, who were staring at her, waiting for her reaction. All the memories, the pain, the heartache, flooded Jenn’s mind. Jenn didn’t know what to do. The rage was building, and the tears were coming. She did the only thing she could do. She ran. She ran right out the entrance to the store to the mall area. Kim looked over at Zac, whose gaze was following Jennifer.
“Oh God...I have to go get her,” Kim spoke frantically as she rushed to the front of the store. Before she got there she bumped into someone. She didn’t catch sight of who it was at first, considering he was much taller than she was. She looked up at him and before she could say she was sorry she meet those crystal blue eyes. As she realized who it was, she dropped her purse and her keys that she was carrying. She just stood there looking at him her mouth wide open. Taylor did the same. The memories filled their minds. It seemed like they stood there for an eternity, but it was only a few seconds. Kim quickly picked up her stuff, said she was sorry and ran out to find Jenn. Taylor turned around and watched her run out. Zac walked up to Taylor.
“So, we meet again. Huh, Tay?” Zac spoke, looking up at his brother, less shaken then Tay.
“Yeah...I...I guess we do,” Taylor replied, still looking in the direction of where Kim went.
Meanwhile…
Kim caught up with Jenn. She sat on a bench in the middle of the mall, her head in her hands, crying. Kim sat quietly next to Jenn.
“Jenn?” Kim spoke.
“Go away.”
“Jenn, we really need to talk. It really wasn’t what it looked like. I swear.”
“Oh, then what was it Kim?” Jenn looked up at her.
“Listen, Jenn, we’re just friends...we stayed friends this whole time.”
“Oh,” Jenn was taken aback. “I thought you were all done with those two. I guess I was wrong, huh?”
“Jenn, why are you being like this? We're just friends.”
“Oh yeah? Well, that's what you said last time and look what happened.”
“Jenn, that was two years ago. And why would you care if I’m friends with Zac now?”
Jenn just sat there and didn’t say a word.
“I know what this is about. You still have feelings for Zac. After all this time. And you don’t like the idea that I’m his friend because of what happened.” Kim stared at Jenn, who was looking down at the floor. “That’s it...I knew it you still have feelings for Zac.” Kim said looking at Jenn.
“Why the fuck wouldn’t I still have feelings for him, Kim? And you're not going to tell me you don’t have any feelings for Tay. You lied to me. You told me you never talked to either of them after what happened. And that's what I’m angry about!”
“Oh, well, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you because I knew you would react this way,” Kim spoke.
“Yeh, well you were right, Kim,” Jenn got up and walked towards the GAP where she had to work that night. Kim headed out to her car and drove home to an empty house. The whole drive home, Kim kept thinking about what happened earlier at the mall. All she kept seeing in her head was Taylor’s crystal blue eyes. They just kept flashing in her mind over and over. She missed him so much, but she knew she could never go back to him. All she wanted to do was call him. She looked over at the phone. She quickly picked it up and dialed the number before she lost all her courage.
“Hello?” The little voice picked up.
“Hi...is Taylor there?” Kim asked Mackie.
“No. He doesn’t live here anymore.”
“Oh where does he live?”
“Um, hold on.” Kim could hear him put down the phone, then a new voice came to the phone.
“May I ask who’s calling?” Diana asked.
“Oh, Mrs. Hanson? This Kimberly...” She hoped the boys never told their mom what happened.
“Kimberly? Hunnie, how are you? I never see you anymore!” Obviously they didn’t tell her. “I’m good...how are you?”
“Oh, the same ol', same ol’. Would you like to leave a message for Taylor?”
“Um...yea. Can you just ask him to call me? That's all.”
“Okay, I’ll do that.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem. He should be dropping by tomorrow. I’ll give it to him then.”
“Okay. Bye.”
“Bye, Hun. I hope to see you soon!”
“Same here...bye” They both hung up at the same time. She missed Taylor so much, but there was something else she missed. And that was the Hanson family. Always so kind and caring...something her family never seemed to be.
+chapter.three+
“Hey, Zac,” Tay started as he drove home from the mall.
“Yeh?”
“Why don’t you spend the night at the dorm with me tonight? I’ll pick you up from the club, we could take Emily home, and then you could stay with me? I don’t have any classes until three tomorrow.”
“Aight,” Zac agreed. “Sounds cool.”
“Yea. You can meet Mike. He’s cool. He might bring by a girl he knows that works at the GAP with him.”
“Cool,” Zac smiled. “That’ll be phat, Tay.”
“Hey, speaking of you and Em, how are things?”
“They’re okay…I guess.”
“You guess?”
“I dunno,” Zac replied. “There just isn’t anything there…You know? The way there was with…”
“Her?”
“Yea. I don’t know. I wish I could turn back time. There are so many things I would change.”
“Zac, why are you still so hung up on her? Just let it go.”
“Tay, I gave her my virginity. And she gave me hers. You can’t just let something like that go.”
“Are you serious? You had sex with her?”
“Yea…”
“When?”
“The last day we were going out…When we went upstairs…”
“Oh my God. I thought you two were just fooling around.”
“Oh, we were fooling around alright.”
“Oh man.”
“Yep,” Zac replied, watching the passing scenery. “But owell.”
Taylor kept quiet. He’d hit third base, but never home plate. That really did have an effect on his brother. Suddenly, he felt extremely bad for giving Zac the silent treatment for so long.
“Hey, Zac, I’m sorry. Not just about that, but with everything.”
“Hey, whatever. Everything’s been said and done and I’m a better person now.” Zac gave a light smile. “But forget that. We’ll have a good time tonight.”
“Definitely,” Tay smiled.
Meanwhile…
Jenn gave a sigh as she walked into the GAP. Of course, she had to work tonight. She was the only one who had to work that she knew of.
“Hey, you,” Mike’s voice came.
“Hey,” Jenn grinned. “What’s goin’ on?”
“Nothin’…Hey, since tomorrow’s Saturday, you want to spend the night at my place? I know it’s just a dorm, but I think my roommate’s going out tonight…” Mike trailed, hinting.
Jenn smiled, trailing her fingers over his jawbone. “We’ll see,” she spoke, giving him a provoking smile.
“Cool,” Mike replied.
Jenn went into the back to drop her stuff off. She dialed her mother, reaching the answering machine. “Mom, I’m staying over Janine’s tonight. See you tomorrow after work. Love you. Bye.”
Jenn hung up and walked back out to the floor. She began to straighten things up on the displays. This was going to be a long day.
