Taken

Chapter 11{Book 2}

RIKKI

February 14, 2014 7:15 p.m.

As Kade dribbled the ball down the court, he yelled out a play to his teammates, "Vegas! Vegas!" Taylor cut down the lane towards the basket, and Kade passed him the ball. Kade had a wide-open jump shot, but he missed. Badly. The ball hit the top of the backboard and bounced off of it hard. Thankfully, Kade got the rebound and put up a three. It went straight through the hoop with a swish. My friends and I screamed our heads off, me being the loudest of all. All of the junior and senior guys were jumping up and down like monkeys.

By the end of the first half, the score was tied at 40. The only reason that the other team was even still in the game was because their star center, Jake Herrington, was having an awesome game.

Everyone on our team had been doing well with the exception of Taylor. I could swear that he had been having the worst game of his life. His shooting was so bad that he missed the rim every time. He either airballed his shots or hit the backboard way too hard. Every time Taylor missed a shot, Lacey, Tanya, and I would exchange looks. We had a pretty good idea as to why he was having an awful game.

"Guys," Bailey said as the guys ran back onto the court to start warmups after their halftime meeting. "I think I'm gonna go home. I can't stand to watch this anymore."

"Are you sure you don't want one of us to go with you?" asked Tanya.

"No, you guys all have dates tonight. I'll be fine," Bailey said as she got up and began to make her way down the bleachers.

As Bailey was leaving, I saw Taylor glance at Bailey's now-empty seat. Taylor moved his eyes to meet mine. He gave me a look that said he was confused. I jerked my head in Bailey's direction, and he finally saw her. Taylor passed the basketball he was holding to Kade, then ran after Bailey.

"Bailey, wait!" he called.

"Leave me alone, Taylor," we all heard Bailey say.

"Bailey, let me explain myself," he begged.

"What is there to explain? You didn't think it was important to go out or even do something for your girlfriend on Valentine's Day. What more is there to explain?"

"Bailey, I was being stupid, and I'm sorry." By now, the gym had gone silent and everyone was staring at the former couple.

"It's too late for apologies, Taylor," spat Bailey as she turned to leave, but before she could make it out the door, Taylor grabbed her arm.

"I screwed up, Bailey, I know that, but that doesn't mean that I don't care about you."

"Well, what you were saying yesterday doesn't do anything to help prove that," Bailey muttered as she rolled her eyes. "Just let me go, Taylor. Let me leave. We're done, and nothing can change that."

"You might be done, but I'm sure as hell not," Taylor said firmly as he looked Bailey straight in the eye. "I love you, Bailey, and nothing can ever change that." As the crowd in the gym heard those words, they let out a chorus of 'awws'.

For a few seconds, Bailey just stood there. Finally, she surprised me. Bailey jumped into Taylor's arms and kissed him fiercely. The whole gym errupted into loud applause, and Lacey, Tanya, and I just looked at each other and smiled.

After a while, Taylor whispered something into Bailey's ear and she smiled at him before walking back up the bleachers to sit by us. My friends and I didn't say anything to her, and she didn't say anything to us as the second half of the game started.

A few minutes into the half, I leaned over and whispered to Bailey, "So what did he say to you?"

"He said he's going to plan something special tonight for us," Bailey smiled.