Lost In A Memory (A Taylor Lautner Story)

Forfeit

Chapter 20- Forfeit

            There were too many things going on in my life, and of all of them… this shouldn’t be the worst. Yet… I feared it was.

 I stared at the television with faked interest while my mom ironed a few items of clothing. I wasn’t about to tell her to change the TV, mainly because I had become increasingly curious over the last twenty seconds; partly because the TV show we’d been watching was actually alluring. This ad, however, was not.

            ‘It’s just an advertisement,’ I told myself. ‘It’s just a stupid ad.’

            It was more than that. My mom started talking about this dreadful thing with a piped voice. “I knew he’d get there,” she chided, leaving me alone in the darkness.

            “He got there, all right.” I closed my eyes and tried to block out the sound of fame, the sound of my mom’s elated bantering and, more importantly, the world’s uncaring slap in the face which it had just delivered.

            “The Adventures of SharkBoy and LavaGirl… 3D… Coming soon to theaters.” The rugged sounding announcer took my breath away.

            Previously, there had been Taylor on the screen, prancing and karate chopping and smiling… and even singing. The premise of the movie was trivial, yet it suited him: he was a hero. Of course, I’d known about the movie since my fifteenth birthday, only a half a year ago. That didn’t justify my hurt as he showed up on my television screen.

            “Man. I still can’t imagine seeing him in theaters.” My mom ranted on and on. I wanted to slap her. I could imagine it all too clearly… any move he made would remind me of something he’d once done to me, and any word he said would have once been mine.

            Mine. Wouldn’t that mean Taylor was mine? No. Not anymore. I sat back up straight and opened my eyes, which had been closed for quite some time. Only now, after her initial excitement, did my mother turn to face me. “Is something wrong?”

            “Yes.” I paused and looked straight at her. “You know there’s something deathly wrong here.”

            “I’m not… following.” My mom looked as though she’d been hit with a baseball bat; my face must have been that murderous.

            “He’s…there.” I said, not thinking coherently. My thoughts had suddenly taken a wrong turn, leading my mind into the deep depression that I’d held back for so long. The problems were piling up. Olivia, one of my best friends, had been raped, for God’s sake. My father had been neglecting child support again. I was dating Rob, a guy that I didn’t care enough about. And never should I forget the original hurt… the day he had left me.

            “He’s there.” I cooed, my voice breaking hoarsely. There were a few pillows on the other side of the couch. I collapsed onto them, crying. My mom could no longer be unsupportive. She walked quickly over to me, sitting closely on the sofa.

            “Who’s there? Taylor?” I cringed at the mention of his name.

            “There…. On TV…. Not here…” My cries broke in between my words. “I miss him.” At least I managed to choke that one out.

“Honey, I thought you’d gotten over him months ago. That new little boy seems like a nice guy… what happened between you two?”

“Still…together…” I mumbled.