Place Your Bets

Chapter Six

Today was Friday, Taylor was standing at the bus stop waiting for the school bus to find it's way to him. It was raining, scratch that; it was absolutely down pouring, You could barely see three feet ahead of your feet. He normally wasn't superstitious, but this rain was making him feel like going on a date with Colton was not his best idea. Maybe they weren't supposed to be lovers, maybe this was a sign of God and he should just back out of this deal. But why should he? He had a right to happiness, even if this happiness came in the form of a ghost white boy by the name of Colton. He deserved to fall in love, get married and have two children by the names of Cali and Congo. Wait, did he really think this far into it, even if it was only the first date? 

As the bus pulled up, Taylor was left feeling a little shaken when the advertisement on the side of the bus was something for divorce lawyers. First the rain and then the fact he was staring at a sign for divorce, he really didn't quite understand what this all meant, but in his stomach he was starting to worry this was something he was not supposed to do. It was one date though, one measly little date. He could at least try and if it went terribly, then he could always back out and go on his merry way, falling in love with someone else. 

Or maybe he could rekindle his love with the man he thought might be his true love. Sighing, Taylor remembered the first boy he ever loved, the first boy he ever thought he would make love to. It was only a weird coincidence his best friend Jeff was amour with his sister, Debra.  He always remembered David, but after he left for high school and Taylor moved to his new town, he thought he would never see him again. When he started high school and noticed Debra had been a student in his Social class, it was an excited feeling he got when he realized that maybe he could have the love he felt again. 

But then he had found out David was dating one of the Carlson Twins, the bad boys of the school and the honestly terrible people. After he found that out, he pushed the thought directly to the back of his mind where it sat dormant. He was now amour with Colton, who shoes extreme promise. Hoping for real love again, Taylor would do anything to make the boy fall in love with him, even if it meant forgetting what he did to David. 

As Taylor stepped onto the bus he made his way to the middle where he saw Jeff flirting with Debra, the one sided love game Jeff was so prone to doing. "Good Morning." He sat down next to Debra who actually had an empty seat, Jeff's seat was filled books and his foot, which slightly irritated Taylor. 

"Hey Man." Taking a deep sigh, Jeff also looked slightly irritated that his plans of courting Debra were thwarted again by the bad timing of his best friend. "You look like hell, did you get any sleep last night?" 

"It's been an extremely rough night, dad and mom were up all night yelling about something, I didn't know what exactly, I tuned them out with my iPod. I think my mom is pissed because my dad has to go on another business trip, which she thinks is key word for affair." Taylor furrowed his eyebrows, disappointment in his eyes. 

"Does your mother actually think he would cheat on her? They seemed so happy the last time I saw them." Debra spoke up, confusion in her eyes, "Has he cheated on her at all?" 

Taylor shrugged, "I don't think so, but you never know. Anyways, I have my date tonight." Taylor was beaming, his voice hitting a high note as he said the word date. "What should I wear?" 

Jeff started chuckling, "I think you should wear nothing, I think Colton would like that." 

Taylor gave him a disapproving look, "No. I haven't had sex and I don't plan on doing it my first night. That's reserved for someone special." 

The bus came to a stop as the three friends made their way off the bus, walking towards the school together, their umbrellas trying their best to keep them dry. As they talked and walked, Taylor opened the door and let everyone in. They laughed with each other as they dried off their jackets and headed to their lockers. 

As the bell rang, they ran to their respective classes. Both Jeff and Taylor ran to their computer science class, where they sat down at their terminals. The second bell rang and Taylor looked over at Colton's chair, which lie empty. Confusion hit Taylor's face as he noticed he still wasn't coming in, even fifteen minutes after the second bell. 

Relief flushed through Taylor's body when he saw Colton walk into the class, but it was soon replaced with an anxious feeling when he saw Colton was sporting a black eye. Jeff lightly pushed Taylor's shoulder, motioning towards the boy. 

"What happened?" 

"I don't know. When we were texting last night, he seemed fine. He said his father was drunk, but it was nothing new. I didn't think he would hit him." 

Jeff gave him a sad look, motioning for him to go talk to him. 

As he made his way over to Colton, Taylor just happened to see a text from someone he knew very well. It was from David and it read out the words loud and clear, Does the black eye hurt? That's what you get for not listening to me. Taylor is mine and always will be, you need to rethink your position as my friend. 

Looking up at Taylor, the tears were already starting to form.