SKYLAR
"How'd'ya feel?" Connor asked me from my bed where he was doing something on his phone.
I sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the mirror by the bunk bed. I was concentrating really hard to draw a big 13 on my right hand but it was super hard and I almost gave up about a hundred times.
"Huh?" I said, holding my hand up in front of the mirror to see how it looked so far. I was drawing it upside down from the way I saw it and doing it with my non-dominant hand, so it wasn't the prettiest thing ever, but it worked.
"How do you feel?" Connor repeated his question and this time I looked up at him.
"Uhmm, let me see... like crap."
He glanced over at me and then looked back at his phone again without saying anything. Two days earlier, my social worker had told me about a foster family in Kentucky who might be able to take me in after the summer, and that on top of everything else was just a lot.
I knew Connor hadn't asked about that though, he was asking about the performance tonight. I was performing at our school's talent show. This would be my first performance since Mason's death, but I felt surprisingly calm, this was something I knew I could do.
At five o'clock, Susan came to get us. Mike was driving the kids who were coming to the show — and weren't already at school — in the bus, and it was already dark outside when we all stumbled out onto the parking lot.
"That's pretty," Callie said, pointing to the blue 13 on my hand.
"Thanks," I smiled at her. It turned out better than I thought it would.
"Is it, like, some sorta Taylor Swift thing?" she asked, and I only nodded. "Cool."
TAYLOR
I couldn't really comprehend what I was actually doing. Was I really in a car on my way to Skye's school? Yes, yes I was.
Earlier in the afternoon, Connor had posted a story to their Instagram account saying that Skye had had a rough couple of weeks and that if any Swifties were in Jackson — and wanted to see her perform — they could draw a 13 on their hand and come see Skye perform at their school's talent show.
I couldn't explain it, but as soon as I saw Skye exit that bus, I felt like it was meant to happen. I was destined to meet Skye, and once again, I was destined to see that Instagram story.
Since it was about a two-hour drive from Nashville to Jackson, I didn't have a lot of time to think about it. I immediately went to draw a 13 on my hand, got changed, and then went to my car and started driving to Jackson. I was super excited to see Skye again and thought that maybe this would be the perfect opportunity to tell her about the free ticket to the concert in Nashville.
When I first told Tree about the idea, I could tell she wasn't thrilled. She started rambling on about all of the things that could go wrong; people could find out and start demanding free tickets, it could lead to bad press, Skye could start asking for more from me, etc. But I had already made up my mind after talking to my mom, and I really wanted to do this for Skye.
I didn't pull up in the school parking lot until 5:56 PM which meant I had four minutes to get to wherever it was held. I hurried into the building, and they had thankfully put up signs leading me to the auditorium. It was already dark in there when I walked through the doors, and I went to sit down in an empty seat at the very back of the room.
SKYLAR
"Alright Skye, you're up," Thomas said, giving me an encouraging smile and nodded towards the stage.
I could feel my heart beating faster in my chest as I grabbed the guitar and started walking out onto the stage. Thankfully the lights were kind of blinding so, if I didn't concentrate on the individual faces in the sea of people in front of me, they all just looked like dark blobs. I went over to the middle of the stage, gulping.
"Uhm, hi," I said, waving a little with my right hand. "My name is Skye, and I was originally s'pose to sing Change by Taylor Swift for y'all... but uhm, — I don't know if you know this or not — but I work at a preschool. I really love it because I get to perform Taylor Swift songs in front of a bunch of happy preschoolers... but about two weeks ago, one of those happy preschoolers actually passed away."
It felt like my throat was closing up and I had to stop and take a deep breath. My eyes were also getting teary, and I already knew I would be crying soon.
"His name was Mason, and he was just the sweetest kid. He never forgot to give me a goodbye hug and he was always smilin'. Uhm, so like I said, I had planned to sing Change — because my life is a bit of a mess right now and I just wanted to sing somethin' that would make me feel better — but I actually changed my mind, like, right before I went out here. So instead of Change, I'll sing another song, also by Taylor. It's called Ronan, and this song goes out to anyone who knew and lost Mason like I did."
Yup, I was crying, but I knew I had to do this. I really wanted to do it, for Mason. Taking a deep breath, I positioned the guitar and started playing the intro.
"I remember your bare feet down the hallway, I remember your little laugh. Race cars on the kitchen floor, plastic dinosaurs, I love you to the moon and back."
I felt tears streaming down my face but, somehow, my voice still came out clear which I was really thankful for.
"I remember the drive home, when the blind hope turned to crying and screaming 'why?'. Flowers pile up in the worst way, no one knows what to say, about a beautiful boy who died..." This was the part that always got to me, no matter where I was or what I was feeling prior to listening to it. I continued to sing but my voice was now a little shaky and I had to force myself to make the words understandable. "And it's about to be Halloween, you could be anything you wanted if you were still here..."
After finishing the song, I broke down completely and ran off the stage, not caring about saying anything else. I was glad that I hadn't been able to see the audience's pitying faces because I didn't think I would've made it through the whole song if I had.
While the next person got onto the stage, I made my way over to an armchair and sat down, letting myself calm down and eventually stop crying. Only a few minutes after I'd stopped crying and was feeling better, Thomas walked over and looked at me as if he was afraid to talk.
"Hi?" I said, looking up at him questioningly.
"Hi... are you okay?" he asked gingerly, and I nodded. "Okay, so Maia was going to perform next, but I just found out that she's sick. If you want to, you could take her place? You could sing that other song that you had planned?"
I furrowed my eyebrows looking up at him for a moment, thinking it through. "... sure, why not," I replied finally and gave him a small smile that he returned.
"Great! Then you're up after William. Good luck!"
This time when I walked up in front of everyone I wasn't half as nervous as before, even though the lights weren't as bright anymore and I could see the faces of the people in the audience. I gave them a warm smile and went to sit down in the chair that someone had placed in the middle of the stage.
I laughed nervously through my nose as I sat down and smiled at everyone. "Hi again. So, apparently Maia who was up next is sick and they asked if I could take her place. I promise it won't be sad this time, but I felt it really important that I sang Ronan, so I hope you don't hate me for making it all sad in here earlier. Anyway, I'm gonna sing Change for y'all and hopefully someone else in here might relate to this song too."
I started playing the song and — since I only had my acoustic guitar — it didn't sound exactly like on the album, but I liked it this way.
This time I stayed and thanked the audience after I'd finished the song and got off the stage much happier than last time. I was glad to have gotten to perform Change too because it really did make me feel better like I'd intended it to.
The talent show ended, and I waited to meet up with Connor backstage in the armchair. I was on my phone and saw that Connor had posted a video of the first performance, from the time I got onto the stage to when I ran off. He'd also posted a ten-second story of me singing Change, and I smiled when I saw that the 13 on my hand was visible in the videos.
"Hi Skye," I heard a woman say with a voice that sounded familiar, and I looked up to see who it was. When I saw who the person standing in front of me was however, the smile dropped, and I stared up at her with my mouth gaping open. I was in a state of complete shock and lost all ability to form words.
"I'm Taylor." Taylor smiled sweetly at me and giggled at my expression. "I'm sorry to catch you off guard like this, but I was wondering if you would like to maybe go somewhere more private and talk?"
I noticed Connor standing slightly behind Taylor, and when our eyes met he shrugged at me with a smile of his own. Letting my eyes fall back on Taylor, I nodded and stood up.
"I just gotta..." I mumbled, pointing to my guitar, and she nodded. When I had packed up my stuff and put the guitar back in its case, I shyly glanced up at Taylor again, not really sure what to do.
"Lead the way!" she said happily and motioned with her hand for me to walk in front of her.
I was still in total disbelief as I started leading Taylor out of the auditorium, glancing back a few times to check that it was really her. Every time I looked at her, our eyes met, and I quickly looked away again and blushed. I mean, what was going on? And why hadn't I said more than three words to her yet? How did she even know my name? And what was she doing here?
There were so many questions swimming around in my head, and I was almost surprised when I realized I'd subconsciously led us to my English classroom on the second floor. The room was cozy — it was my favorite classroom — and my English teacher had even put a purple couch in the back with a bookshelf next to it.
I watched as Taylor closed the door behind us and strode over to the couch as if this wasn't her first time here. She sat down and looked up at me with the smile that I loved so much, patting the spot on the couch next to her. It felt like my heart was going to explode, but I put my stuff down on the floor and walked over to sit down next to her, not daring to look at her. This felt like it was straight out of a dream, and I was afraid that if I looked at her, it would be the end of the dream and I would wake up again.
"Skye," Taylor spoke suddenly and it came out of nowhere, making me jump a little. "I just have to start by saying how amazing you were out there. Really, you were just so so great."
I think she waited for me to say something but all I could do was muster enough courage to actually look at her and give her the slightest of smiles. This was really happening. This was really happening. Taylor Swift was sitting right next to me! She even complimented my performance! What was going on?!
"I cried during Ronan," she added, and I raised my eyebrows automatically.
"Really?"
She nodded and her smile grew. "You know... I'm sorry, this must be so weird for you. I feel like I have to explain myself."
I just looked at her, wide-eyed, and absorbed every single word she uttered. This was a goddess, and she was talking to me.
"So, I came across your Instagram account that you share with Connor a while ago and I was totally blown away by your talent. And today, I — I don't know if you know, but Connor posted to your Instagram stories about you performing..." She trailed off and I nodded.
"Yeah, I saw. No one came though, I didn't see anyone with a 13 on their hand."
Taylor responded by holding up her own right hand for me to see a big number 13 drawn in purple.
"I came," she said, and I couldn't help but laugh a little. This was so surreal, and I didn't think I had fully comprehended what was happening because I had been positive before that I would break down crying if I ever met Taylor. "You know, uhm, we have actually met once before."
My face scrunched up in confusion, and I tried to think of what she was referring to but my mind went blank. I was almost afraid to contradict her, but I didn't want her making a mistake by thinking I was someone else. "Uh, no, I don't think we have. I've never been to any of your shows or anything," I said in a small voice, but she just smiled.
"Yeah, we did. Don't you remember? We were in Nashville, and you were getting all those M&M's, but you didn't have enough money..."
My eyes went wide when I realized what she was talking about. It had been her! She was the woman who helped me pay! I knew I saw her coming out of the store!
"It was you!" I blurted out before I could stop myself, and she giggled and nodded. "But... did you know that I- that that was me? How did you know that I was her?"
"I recognized you when you got off the bus. You aren't someone I could easily forget."
Okay, well that was strange because no one else seemed to have a problem forgetting about me or consciously blocking me out of their mind. The entire situation finally started to dawn on me, and I knew I needed to stop myself before I started crying again.
"Hey, are you okay?" Taylor asked gently, placing a gentle hand on my arm which I ended up staring at. Taylor-freaking-Swift was touching my arm.
"M'fine," I mumbled, not daring to look Taylor in the eyes. I knew that if I did, I would break down, and I didn't want her to see me like that.
"Sweetie, that would be a lot more convincing if you looked at me when you said it," said Taylor.
Shit, now I had to look at her. Slowly, I forced my eyes to stare into her blue ones and she stared back, waiting for me to answer again.
"I'm fine!" This time I tried to say it louder, but it just came out in a high and squeaky voice.
She raised her eyebrows looking amused. "You know you sound exactly like Ross right now, and he was most definitely not fine."
This made both of us burst into fits of quiet laughter, and it took a little while for it to cease.
"How'd'ya know I love FRIENDS?" I asked curiously once I'd stopped laughing.
"You were wearing a FRIENDS hoodie."
I nodded, not questioning it, and let my gaze fall down to my hands again. Taylor moved her hand to place it under my chin and forced me to look up at her.
"You mentioned earlier that your life is a mess right now... Do you want to talk about it? I'm a great listener."
I sighed and felt my eyes sting. I was very close to saying no before I realized who I was actually talking to. It didn't matter that I really did not want to talk about my messed-up life right now — since I knew I would start crying if I did — because this was Taylor Swift goddamnit and I would do anything she said.
"Uh, I- I'm a foster kid," I started off and looked to see what her reaction would be. When most people found out, they were always kind of shocked, but she just nodded.
"I know, I saw your videos."
"Oh... okay, so then you know that I haven't seen my parents since I was very little." She nodded again. "Well, now..." I choked on my words and the tears that had threatened to fall for the last few minutes finally did. "I just found out that my mom recently died, and my biological dad wants to see me again. And I don't know if I want to because... because the last time I was with him, he was really scary and he was hitting my mom and I... They were both alcoholics and he was also addicted to drugs so I remember him being angry all the time. And also, my social worker thinks she's found another foster home for me but they live in Kentucky and I don't want to leave my friends and my life here... and I'm really scared of what will happen and I don't know what to do and it's just too much!"
Taylor waited until I had finished ranting before she quickly pulled me into a warm hug. This was the first real hug I'd ever gotten from an adult that wasn't Susan or Mrs. Martin, and it made my whole body relax into hers as I hugged her back and sobbed into her shirt.
"Shh, sweetie, everything's gonna work out," Taylor said softly, rubbing circles on my back to try and calm me down.
"How do you know that?" I asked between sobs, my voice muffled by the fabric of her — now tear-stained — shirt.
"I just know. And... if you ever want someone to talk to about that, or anything really, you can always call or text me."
I pulled away from her, tears still spilling from my eyes, but I was momentarily distracted by her words.
"What? No I can't."
Taylor smiled. "Yes you can."
"But I don't have your number?" I stared into her eyes, trying to figure out what she'd meant.
"Oh, but I'm gonna give it to you now. Here, give me your phone." She held her hand out with the palm up, and I stared at her amazed as I pulled up my phone from the back pocket of my jeans and placed it in her hand. "Aw, I love your lock screen. That's so cute." It was a picture of me and Connor from when we were seven. "You should definitely get a passcode, babes," she added with a slight frown that faded a second later.
When I got my phone back, she'd added her number and named her contact 'Taylor♥️😸'.
"Okay, you have to promise me not to give the number away to anyone, alright? I trust you, do you trust me?" she asked, as she handed me her phone to add my phone number to her contact list.
I nodded, taking the phone.
"Good. Remember that you can call me whenever you need to talk. Now I do have a tour coming up-" She cut herself off with a gasp as if she just remembered something. "Oh, did you know I'm going on tour?"
I nodded, giving the phone back to her. I had added my number with the name 'skye🦋'. "Yeah, the Rep Tour."
Taylor smiled when she looked down at her phone and then nodded at me. "Mhm. I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go to the one in Nashville?"
I stared at her and nodded, but it quickly turned into a sad look. "Yes, it would be a dream come true... but I can't."
"Why not?" Taylor asked sincerely.
My eyes fell to my lap as I replied. "I don't have any money. And the group home would never pay for something like that."
"That's fine. I thought as much, which is why I can get you a free ticket if you'd like one."
It was as if someone had just told me that I'd gotten ten additional years to live, I was so happy. Letting out a happy squeal, I threw myself into Taylor's arms and wrapped her in a tight hug. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!"
She laughed at me and explained that — since she's gonna be on tour — she probably wouldn't be able to quickly reply to my text messages all the time or answer calls, but that she would call right back as soon as she had time. "Oh, and the show in Nashville is on August 25."
"Really? That's my-" I stopped myself and pursed my lips together. Of course Taylor wouldn't care about my stupid birthday, and I didn't want to bother her with it especially since she was being so kind.
"What?" Taylor asked curiously. "Skye, please know that you can share anything with me. And I want you to know that I will always want to hear what you have to say. I really want to know."
I blushed and looked down. "... It's my birthday," I said quietly and watched as Taylor's face lit up with a smile.
"That's awesome, buddy. It'll be my birthday gift to you then."
I hugged her one last time and thought to myself that that would be the best birthday gift ever.
***
A/N
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate today and happy holidays!!
I feel like this chapter was a little bit rushed but at least Skye and Taylor properly met now, and I actually thought it turned out pretty cute anyway :)
I hope you guys have a great day, sending you all so much love!!