A/N: Well, I'm starting a tradition for myself. 6K reads!! I. Am. Happy!!! Here's chapter 25 :))
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"Who's ready to go back to high school with me?" Taylor shouted, skipping back to the center of the stage. The entire stadium started screaming, but Taylor searched the front row for the woman with violet eyes. Eventually, she found Gabi in the crowd, losing herself while staring into the bright orbs that were staring right back at her. She was so distracted she almost missed her cue to continue singing and scrambling to continue the song. Luckily, she didn't think anyone noticed, but it was definitely a close one. She saw Gabi whisper something to a man next to her. Instantly, something flared up in Taylor, but she wasn't sure what it was. Actually, scratch that. She knew exactly what it was, but also knew it was completely unjustified.
With jealousy surging through her as she watched Gabi and that man talk about God knows what, Taylor struggled to finish the song, running on autopilot for the rest of it, especially after seeing Gabi blush at whatever he had said. Who was the guy anyway? Her boyfriend? Of course she had a boyfriend – an amazing, talented, kind, absolutely gorgeous girl like Gabi would have a boyfriend by now, if not fiancee. Taylor knew it was silly to still be hanging on to a tiny crush on someone she hadn't seen in over a decade and only knew for a couple days. It was absolutely ridiculous. Pathetic, even. But she just couldn't help herself.
For the rest of the show, just for the sake of her own mental and emotional stability, Taylor did absolutely everything she could to avoid meeting Gabi's eyes, even though she had to fight every second to make it happen.
What Taylor didn't know was, well, several things. First, that "that man" was Zach, Gabi's best friend, and more importantly, "that man" was taken in the romantic sense, being in a strong relationship with his wonderful boyfriend. Taylor also couldn't have known that when Gabi whispered to Zach, she was asking him if Taylor seemed distracted and if he thought something was wrong. And when Gabi blushed, it wasn't because Zach had said something romantic to her. It was because Zach's response was, "She's distracted because she's crushing on you so damn hard! Like, head over heels," to which Gabi immediately denied, flushing red as a result.
Taylor also wouldn't have realized that she wasn't the only one clinging to the dying remnants of a schoolgirl crush. Gabi was, too. And Taylor didn't know that when she started to try avoiding Gabi's eyes, it broke the purple-eyed girl, who had begun to question whether Zach just maybe could be right about Taylor. Of course, when the blonde stopped making eye contact for the rest of the show, any hope the brunette might have had about Taylor sharing that tiny crush was stomped out, and Gabi stopped thinking about the matter completely, convincing herself she didn't care what Taylor thought of her and she was only there to enjoy the show. Nothing else. Definitely no ulterior motives. Nope.