backlogged dreams & day old teas

III - double presents

"Joe... he refused to sit with me on the bus and chose Inez, then... then she gave him the same present I was going to give him because we saw her mom at the store and she saw me with the gift..." Taylor spoke as sobs wracked her body and she was shaking uncontrollably with snot in her nose and tears cascading down her face.

"Oh Taylor," Abigail said, patting her back to calm her down. "He doesn't deserve you, just give him the gift later. Come on, wash your face before the bell goes."

Joe was even more worried when he saw Taylor walking into class with a tear stained face, puffy eyes and a red nose. Normally, he would cheer her up by joking about how her nose was like Rudolph's, but today he couldn't shake the feeling that he was the cause of her crying. Nevertheless, he thought she looked beautiful and wondered if he had a crush on her. His thoughts were interrupted by the teacher speaking so he cut them off and paid attention for the rest of the day.

When Taylor arrived home that day, Andrea noticed her smile didn't meet her eyes and her enthusiasm had waned since the morning.

"Hey honey, what's wrong?" Andrea could read her daughter like an open book.

"Nothing, but can you drive me to Joe's house? I need to drop off his gift cuz I didn't have the chance to give it to him yet."

Andrea didn't want to pressure Taylor into telling her knowing that she would speak up in her own time. "Sure honey."

"Okay, I just gotta run up to my room to do something really quick." Taylor fished some paper and a pen out of her backpack, snatched the envelope off his gift and ran upstairs.

Andrea didn't ask any questions when Taylor came back down. She just she grabbed her keys and drove Taylor to Joe's place. After dropping off his present on his front porch, Taylor returned to the car.

"Let's go out today honey," Andrea said trying to cheer Taylor up.

Taylor nodded and for the rest of the afternoon, they window shopped, at ice cream and Taylor circled back at least three times to look at those opals on display at the jewelry store. She had forgotten all her problems at school, for even Inez's name had left her brain for the day.

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Joe returned home after soccer practice a little later than usual. His attention was not focused on the game the whole time, so the coach asked to speak with him after. He was thinking about Taylor and if she was ever going to wish him a happy birthday. Were they not friends? Did she save him a seat on the school bus after school? Is she okay now?

He ran up to his front porch after thanking his mother for the ride and found a box on his doorstep with an envelope attached to it. In Taylor's scrawly, imperfect writing, was his name written on the envelope of the card. He excitedly picked it up and ran to his room. Maybe he wasn't the cause of her sadness earlier today.

When he opened it, he realised Inez had already given him the same army tank. It must have been a coincidence, he thought to himself. He was still very grateful Taylor had thought of giving him such a nice gift and displayed the tanks side by side on his shelf.

Then, he opened the envelope containing the card and was surprised to find a relatively long note attached to it.

"Dear Joe:
I really don't know how to write this type of weird stuff, we are only in first grade after all. I was going to give this to you on the bus this morning, but I suppose you picked someone else who had the same exact thing for you. I met her mother at the store and she copied my gift for you. I feel quite sad I was rejected by you, but I suppose I never meant as much to you as I thought I did. Happy Birthday, I hope you had a great day anyways.
Taylor"

When Joe read the message, he was close to tears when he found out Taylor felt this way and he was angry at himself that he rejected Taylor on the bus earlier that day. He knew he must apologize to Taylor the following Monday, and on his own accord, not because his mother forced him to do so. All he wanted to do was to beg for Taylor's forgiveness at that moment.

"Joseph, come down, I have some news for you." Elizabeth called up the stairs.

Joe eagerly ran down and found his mother hanging up the phone.

"I was just talking to Taylor's mother and we have arranged for you guys to have a play date this Sunday! I saw you guys getting along pretty well."

I guess I won't have to wait the full weekend then Joe thought to himself as he trudged back up the stairs

Across the pond, after Taylor had heard the news, she was sick with anxiety and nearly threw up her dinner. Her mother was sick with worry, yet Taylor still refused to tell her about what was going on. I'm going to have to see Joe again, I hope this won't be awkward.

A/N:
Hey besties! I'm still getting used to wattpad, ive only been here for like a few days and I am used to reading it on web without an account. I hope you guys liked this part, please comment your thoughts below and support me by giving me a star. I will start writing the next part when this one reaches 5 stars and 5 comments. ily yall, stay safe, stay healthy, wear a mask. <3