Everything Has Changed (feat. Ed Sheeran) (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift
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The Apple pre-set alarm ringtone blasts in my ear as I'm awaken from my slumber.
I groan loudly as I press snooze on the blaring alarm, and I roll over to the opposite side of the bed, hoping to get some more sleep.
My phone dings loudly, letting me know I got a text message.
Groaning again, I roll back over.
The bright blue lights of the IPhone screen blinds me as I squint to look at the message.
Jace: Morning sunshine
Suddenly, I'm wide awake, smiling into my pillow as I reread the message over and over again.
After our Saturday detention, Jace and I have been non-stop talking. I unblocked him a while ago due to school work, but we didn't talk much outside of the few exchanges of answers.
We sent all of Sunday texting: sharing stories, memories, anything really. The conversation flowed so easily, and I missed having Jace as a friend.
Another ding is heard and excitement fills my system to see what Jace will text next.
This time, it wasn't Jace who texted me.
Parker: Woke up with a fever :( wish I could come to school to see you, send me anything I miss in calc <3
Poor Parker.
I quickly send back a 'of course! feel better'. I debated putting a little heart at the end, but I decided against it.
My phone chimes again, this time, the message is from Jace.
Jace: Open your curtains
I stare at my screen, confused and a tiny bit afraid of what he means.
Jace: Stop thinking and just open your curtains Walker
Just like he read my mind.
I walk over to my bay window, opening my white, lace curtains to see Jace eagerly holding up his notebook, facing me with the words 'breakfast?' written on the paper.
I bite back a smile, shaking my head, going on my phone to respond to him.
Me: seriously? couldn't have texted me that?
I look up to see Jace smiling at his phone. He flips to a new page, writing his response.
"What's the charm in that?", it reads.
I giggle, holding up my pointer finger as I grab the nearest notebook.
I write down my repsonse holding it to him.
"Dork but yes, I'll gladly have breakfast with you"
Jace starts jumping up and down, excited, and I laugh at his little celebration.
He eagerly goes to jot down his response, showing it to me.
"My house, 15 minutes?"
I check the time on my phone. That gives us about 30 minutes, not counting driving, to eat before going to school.
I nod my head, waving goodbye before closing my curtains.
I rush to get ready, throwing on a light pink crewneck that has "love you to the moon and to saturn" embroidered in corner, a pair of light washed, ripped mom jeans, and my go-to white Converse.
I did my makeup light, put on a pair of gold hoops, brushed out my hair, put my belongings into my car, and left for the Lockheart's house.
I walk up the white porch leading to the all too familiar light blue door I used to knock on everyday. I ring the door bell and loud barking comes from the other side.
I hear loud footsteps as Jace opens the door with their dog, Molly, behind him, barking still.
I love the Lockhearts, but Molly is definitely my favorite.
The Lockheart's got Molly when Jace and I were in middle school, and we instantly fell in love with her. Besides from some aging, she looks exactly the same as I left her three years ago.
"Clam down Molly." Jace says, trying to get Molly to calm down. He looks up at me, sympathetically. "Sorry about her."
"It's fine. I love Molly."
Jace lets me in, and Molly instantly runs over to me, sniffing my shoes. She sniffs them more before she looks up at me and sticks her tongue out, jumping on me.
"Molly!" Jace yells.
I sit on the ground as she jumps around, tail wagging like crazy, licking me in the face.
"Hi Molly. I'm glad you recognized me. I thought you wouldn't." I say looking into her chocolate brown eyes. She barks at me making me laugh. "I know. I missed you too."
"I know you probably missed Molly, but we are in a slight time crunch." Jace smiles down at the two of us.
I reach my hand out, and he grabs it, pulling me up.
We walk into the Lockheart's kitchen, and it's like a blast from the past.
Nothings changed. Everything is exactly where it used to be.
I let out a small chuckle, and Jace eyes me, grabbing two plates. "What are you laughing about?"
I nod towards the slight dent in the wall. "How you never fixed the dent in the wall when you pushed my chair backwards to see how far the chair can balance before it tips over back in third grade."
Jace laughs. "My parents were so mad at me when that happened, but now, they look at it with fond memories."
I walk around their kitchen as Jace fixes our plates. I smile at all the framed photos of their family hanging around their kitchen.
I stop at one in the top left corner of the photo wall.
It's a picture of Jace, Lane, and I when we were younger at the beach. Jace and Lane are on either sides of me, and we're all smiling brightly, teeth missing at the camera.
"That was fun day." Jace stands next to me, looking at the picture.
"I'm surprised you kept it up." I state honestly.
"My mom could never take it down, even when I protested. She said you are just as apart as the family as Molly is." A peaceful silence settles between us as we continue to look at the photos for a moment. "Come on. We should eat."
Jace leads me to the island, pulling out a barstool for me, before hoping on his own.
"I see you still sit in the same seat." I smirk at him.
"Can't break tradition." Jace shrugs.
I look down at my plate. There's two pancakes with a side of strawberries and maple syrup, and some apple juice poured in a cup.
"This looks great. Did your mom make these?" I ask cutting into my pancakes.
"Yeah. She made these for Lane and I before school, but you know her, she cooks to feed an army."
I pop a piece into my mouth, moaning slightly at how heavenly these are.
"I see you missed my mom's cooking." Jace chuckles, cutting into his pancakes.
"You have no idea. No one does cooking like Amy."
Loud footsteps pound down the stairs, and Lane comes down, typing on her phone.
"Jace..." Lane's voice trials off as she sees me. "Well, this is a sight I never thought I'd see again."
"Hey Lane. How are you?" I smile at her. I've always loved Lane. She's like the younger sister I've never had.
"I've been doing great." She grabs a strawberry, popping it into her mouth, looking between the two of us curiously. "So, what made you start talking to my brother again?"
I shrug. "We talked things over."
"Finally! It only took, what," She looks down at her Apple Watch. "two months. I was starting to think my brother would never grow a pair and actually talk to you."Jace chucks a strawberry at Lane. "What! I'm just telling the truth. Sorry the truth hurts."
I lean closer to Jace. "She hasn't changed a bit." I whisper.
Jace shakes his head, staring at his sister who is now preoccupied with her phone. "No. Not at all."
A loud honk is heard from the outside the house. Lane quickly grabs her things. "Well, I'm leaving. Bye guys!"
"Wait!" Lane turns back around. "Who is taking you to school? I'm supposed to take you." Jace says flatly, crossing his arms against his chest.
"Change of plans. Gotta blast!" Lane makes a book for it before Jace could stop her.
"I swear if it's a boy Lane, I will beat him up!" Jace warns.
"Get ready to fight whore!" Lane yells back.
Jace gets up from his seat. "Delainey Noel Lockheart!"
"Bye guys!" Lane yells, slamming the door.
Jace shakes his head, sitting back down. "What am I going to do with her."
"Why are you so grumpy?" I poke his frowning face. Jace shoots me a glare. "She's sixteen, let her live."
"She's my little sister."
"Who can protect herself and make her own decisions." I remind him.
"You're not seriously siding with her." Jace stares at me with a judgmental look.
"Judge me all you want, but the girl deserves some freedom." I get up from my seat to put my dish in the dishwasher. "Besides, what's a girls life without some fun and romance."
Jace sits back in his seat, pouting. "I still don't like it." He mumbles.
I go over to him, squishing his cheeks with my hand. "Aw. Is little Jace upset he can't control his sister?" I mock, speaking to him like how I speak to a little kid. He nods, playing along with me. I let go of his cheeks, giving one a light smack. "Well, get over it. We have to get to school."
I walk away, and I turn back around to see Jace still sitting in his seat, pouting at me.
I roll my eyes. "Stop pouting dipshit. We have to get to school."
I leave the Lockheart's house, walking over to my driveway to start my car up.
"Walker!" Jace calls out. I turn back around, looking at Jace confused. "Where are you going?"
I look between him and my car. "My car?"
"Do you have practice after school today?"
I shake my head. "Coach is working with some of the lower ranked girls today, since there's a 'Future's' tournament Tuesday which will get them some varsity time. Why?"
He nods towards his car. "Get in. I'll take you to school."
"Oh, you don't-"
"I want too." He firmly states.
"Um- ok." I unlock my car, grabbing my backpack, before locking it and walking over to Jace's car.
I put my backpack in his back seat and get into the passenger seat.
Jace turn to look at me. "Good?" I nod, and he puts his car in reverse, backing out of his driveway with his hand behind my seat.
"Can I have aux?"
"Are you going to play Taylor?" Jace lifts an eyebrow.
I sink in my seat. "No." I mumble.
Jace laughs. He grabs his phone from the cup holder. "I'm teasing. Play whatever you want."
I snatch the phone out of his hand, smiling to myself as I go on Spotify. "Ok. No Taylor this time, but how about this song."
The familiar tune of Perfect by One Direction plays through the speakers.
Jace's tongue presses against his cheek as he smirks slightly. "How did I know it would be One Direction?"
"They're the best boyband. Everyone of them has a special place in my heart."
"And I don't?" Jace sounds hurt.
I push him very lightly, since he is driving. "You know what I mean."
He chuckles as we continue driving to school.
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Jace and I walk into calculus laughing. He's telling me some stupid story of him and Devin running away from Devin's neighbor after they shot a hockey puck through their window.
"I can't believe you guys did that!" I'm laughing so hard that my nonexistent abs hurt.
"Our parents were so mad. We had to do yard work for them for the rest of the summer." Jace laughs.
"What happened in detention to cause you two to start getting along, to the point you're laughing and acting like friends?" Madison speaks up, staring at the two of us, shocked.
Jace and I share a look, and we both shrug.
"We worked out our issues." Jace shrugs, taking off his backpack and sliding into his desk.
Jace pulls out his phone, typing on it. Madison turns back to me and mouths, "tell me later?", and I nod my head. She smiles back at me and turns to face forward again.
Jace places his phone on the desk with a loud bang. "No Parker today?"
I shake my head. "Parker texted me saying he woke up with a fever."
Jace smiles. "Since he isn't here, you want to be my partner?"
"Um." I look towards Madison since she's my usual partner, but she's preoccupied talking to Tyler, our senior basketball captain. "Sure."
Jace smiles at me before pulling out his binder to get started with some work.
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Today has been one of the fastest school days of my life. Surprisingly, school doesn't feel as dreadful when Jace is around. He's always cracking jokes, sharing stories, anything to make me laugh.
Somehow when we're together, time always flies.
We walk into English, our second to last class of the day, and we take a seat next to each other.
Once again, I'm laughing while Jace is telling me, yet, another adventure of Devin and his.
"You're telling me that you and Devin thought it would be a great idea to go into the woods with Molly, leaving a bread trail behind to lead you back." I laugh in disbelief.
"We didn't think Molly would eat our trail!" Jace exclaims.
I laugh, shaking my head at the two idiots. "You guys are something else."
"We were sophomores."
I burst out laughing again. "Sophomores? Really Jace? I thought this was in freshman year. Oh my god. This makes it better." I wheeze out.
God my abs and cheeks hurt from laughing too much.
"Hey! To our defense, our prefrontal cortex was not fully developed or even developing at the time." Jace looks at me with a stuck up face.
"Oh, I see you using your AP Psychology knowledge." I say, poking his cheek.
He bows a couple of times. "I know. I know. I'm so sophisticated."
"Don't flatter yourself."
Jace leans in close to my ear, lips grazing them. His breath tickles me, and I shiver slightly. "You love my playful banter." He picks up a strand of my hair, twirling it in his hand. "Don't you Juliana?"
I turn my head, and we're close enough that he can feel my breath on his lips. "I don't know what you're talking about." With that, I push his head away, smiling at myself.
From the corner of my eye, I can see Jace bite back a smile as he rubs his sharp jawline.
Checkmate.
"Ok class." Mr. Markley starts, standing at his podium. "As I have mentioned before at the start of this course, you will have a mandatory project to complete that is worth ten percent of your grade. I didn't mention it much because I decided on a new project this year."
"New project?" Jace whispers to me. "I heard last years project was horrible."
"Same here."
Jace groans, throwing his head back. "Can't wait to spend my precious time on some bullshit assignment."
"This year," Mr. Markley starts. "your project will be all about a partner of your choosing."
The room erupts in small talk as everyone looks around, looking for a partner.
"I decided, instead of making you write about your own personal narratives, someone else writes one for you. This project will focus on your partner's personal narrative. What makes them, them? What challenges did they have to overcome? This essay is open to interpretation and can fit any topic that you really choose. It must be at least five pages, MLA format. Today, you must choose your partner, no groups, and tell me who it is. You may not change your partner either. After you tell me your partner, the rest of the time is yours to look over the rubric and start planning. This assignment is due in three weeks."
The class breaks off into different conversations, talking about the project and picking their partners.
Jace nudges me. "So bestie, what do you say?" He raises his eyebrows at me. "Partners?"
"Woah. Woah. Woah." I say. "Who said we're besties? I planned on working with Brenda." I lean back in my chair, putting on the best poker face I can.
"Come on Walker. You're breaking my heart." Jace pleads.
I turn to see Jace pouting at me again, something he always did whenever he wanted something. "Stop pouting. I'm just kidding."
Jace's pout turns into a grin. "Good. I wasn't letting you partner with Brenda without a fight."
"Aw." I place my hands over my heart. "You were willing to fight for me?"
He shoves me lightly. "Now it's my turn to say 'don't flatter yourself'."
"Touché."
"I think this is the perfect time to ask you to get some ice cream with me from Mrs. Rosewood."
I gasp. "They're still open?"
Mrs. Rosewood is an ice cream shop started by a close friend of ours Mrs. Linda Rosewood to honor her husband. Mr. Rosewood always dreamed of having an ice cream shop, but never got to fulfill his dream, so after he passed, Mrs. Rosewood started the ice cream shop filled with speciality flavors that change every week to fulfill his dream.
"Yep." Jace says, popping the p.
"Can we please? I've missed their ice cream. Cali ice cream never hits as hard as Mrs. Rosewood's."
"Of course. It's tradition for us to get some after your tennis matches. I would start it up again, but your season is probably over by now."
"Well, I have one more regular season game before leagues and districts."
"You made it to leagues and districts?"
I nod my head. "Yeah. I qualified during regular season. Districts will determine if I head to states or not."
"Congrats Julie!"
"Thanks! As I was saying, my last regular game is actually senior night..." My leg starts bouncing up and down again.
I don't know why I'm nervous asking Jace to go to my senior night. I never ask him to go to my games when we were younger and same went with him. Going to our games or any event to support each other goes without saying. I don't know what would be different now.
Jace places a hand on my shaking leg. I look up to meet his hazel eyes. "If you're asking me to come to your senior night, don't because I'm going. I'll always be there to support you."
My heart warms at his words.
I place my hand on top of his. "Thanks Jace."
"Why don't we start our project early, since you have leagues, districts, and states potentially and my season starts soon. Since we both don't have practice today, let's start today, after school? It can be at my house or yours. Doesn't matter."
"You're my ride, so I'm ok with whatever. You can come over to my house, since you treated me for breakfast today. You can raid my snack cabinet." I giggle.
"Deal."
Jace holds out his hand for me to shake. I grab it firmly and shake it.
All I know is that everything has changed.