-October 8, 2012-
"Tay! I'm home!" I yelled into the seemingly empty apartment. I had come home last week from filming. Lexi was kind of a more minor character so I wasn't on set as much as Melissa was. This actually worked out really well for me though, because I didn't have to miss as much school and soccer. The only downside of this is that I spend most of my time in an airplane flying back and forth across the country.
"In here!" She called out from her in-house studio room.
"Hey," I said, walking into the room.
"Hey, how was your day?" She asked.
"Good," I replied, "you're coming to my game on Saturday right?"
"Yes, yes of course I am," Taylor confirmed.
"Ok, don't forget; Saturday, at Gaelic Park, 2pm," I told her.
"I know, I know; Saturday, Gaelic Park, 2pm," she repeated.
"Good," I said satisfied.
"Go shower then we can go out somewhere," Taylor told me.
"Ok," I said, walking to my room. I threw my stuff down on my bed and walked into my bathroom. I took my sweaty soccer uniform off and threw it into my laundry basket. I turned on a cold shower and hopped in. After my shower, I walked into my room wrapped in my towel. I looked through my closet trying to pick something to wear.
"Taylor! Where are we going?" I yelled to her.
"I don't know, where do you want to go?"
"Can we go to that one restaurant in the city that has really good pizza?" I asked.
"Ooh, yeah!" Taylor agreed.
I grabbed a pair of plain blue jeans and a white knit sweater that I stole from Taylor. I put on my white high top converse and a long gold necklace that had a cursive K at the end. I walked into my bathroom and blow dried my long reddish-orange hair. I braided my hair and let it drape over my shoulder. I applied a little bit of makeup and put on some gold earring studs and a gold Alex and Ani bracelet designed with a Wonder Woman decal.
"Kaitlyn, are you ready yet?" Taylor yelled.
"Yeah! I'm coming," I said, grabbing a small cross body purse with my wallet and phone. I walked out to where Taylor was waiting while scrolling through my twitter feed. I walked into the kitchen and accidentally bumped into something really hard. I looked up and saw a guy standing there.
"Oh, sorry," I said.
"Hey, Kaitlyn this is Connor Kennedy," Taylor said. "Connor, this is my sister Kaitlyn."
"Nice to meet you," I said.
"You too," he repeated.
"Connor's going to join us for dinner," Taylor said, shyly.
"Oh shoot, I just remembered I have a huge project due tomorrow for photography class. I have to go to Toby's place to work on it, guess I have to miss dinner sorry!" I said. I'm not really sure why I said that, my mouth just kind of did it.
"Connor, can you go start the car? I'll be there in a minute," Taylor said sweetly.
"Yeah sure," he said, walking out of the apartment.
"Are you okay?" Taylor asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?" I said quickly, putting on a brave face.
"Kaitlyn," Taylor said sternly.
"Tay, I'm fine. I just really have to go to Toby's place," I said, taking a deep breath and walking out the door. I heard Taylor sigh behind me and she followed me out. I decided to walk to Toby's apartment instead of drive. I shot him a quick text to see if he was busy and he replied no so I walked my way to his apartment. I let my mind wander as my feet walked the trained path to the apartment building. When I got there, I rode the elevator to the fifth floor and walked down the hall.
Toby is my best friend; he is the sweetest, most caring guy I've ever met. I walk up to the door to his apartment and knock. The door opens and he was in sweats and a t-shirt.
"Kaitlyn? What's wrong?" He asked, pulling me into a hug while closing the door. I sighed into his arms before responding.
"Can we sit?" I asked.
"Of course," he replied, leading me over to his familiar couch. "What's going on?"
"Well, Taylor and I were going to go out to dinner, but she brought her new boyfriend Connor along and it was the first time I met him. And I freaked out and pulled out of going to dinner and so I came here," I said, all in one breath.
"Why did you freak out?" He asked.
"I don't know," I said.
"Kaitlyn," Toby said sternly, knowing very well that I knew why.
"I really don't know Toby. I saw him and Taylor told me he was joining us and my mouth just lied and I ended up here," I explained. "I'm really sorry to spring this on you, but I didn't know where else to go."
"Hey, never be sorry, we're best friends which means you can talk to me about anything," he told me honestly.
"Thank you, Toby," I said, giving him a hug.
"You know I'm always here for you, Kait," he said.
"Thanks," I smiled.
"Are you going to go home?" He asked.
"I will, but can we hang out for a little while?" I asked.
"Sure, why don't we watch a movie," he suggested.
"Perfect," I said.
He grabbed the remote and turned on his tv. He flipped to the Hallmark channel where our favorite movie of all time Mamma Mia was playing. The movie had just started so he made some popcorn and we watched the movie, singing along to all the songs. After the movie, we decided to watch another one off of Netflix and we chose Hugo. The movie was about a kid who lives in a train station and he meets a girl. We watched the movie curled up into each other with a cozy blanket over us. I fell asleep on his shoulder and he must have covered me with the whole blanket and let me crash on his couch.
I woke up to the smell of food and I slowly awaken and remember last night's events. I get up from the couch and rub my eyes which hurt from accidentally sleeping with my contacts in. I look at the time on my phone and see that it is 8 along with a bunch of texts from Taylor. I shut my phone off and walk into Toby's modern styled kitchen.
"Good morning sunshine," he said.
"Good morning, thanks for letting me crash here," I said.
"Anytime!" He cheered.
"Well I need to head home now," I said sadly.
"Ok, I'll see you at class today," he said.
"Ok, bye," I said, leaving the comfort of Toby's apartment and walking into the cold October air. I walked back home only stopping at Starbucks to pick up some coffee for both me and Taylor. Maybe coffee can be my olive branch to her. I walked into our building and up to our apartment. I took a deep breath before opening the door. I saw Taylor sitting on the couch with Connor. She was sobbing and it pained me a great deal to know that I had caused this.
"Taylor?" I said, setting the Starbucks tray on the counter.
"Kaitlyn?" She responded, running to me from the couch. She pulled me into a bear hug. "I was so worried. Are you okay? Where have you been?" She asked while inspecting my face for any indication of anything bad.
"Taylor, I'm fine, I was at Toby's house and I accidentally fell asleep and he let me stay the night," I explained.
"Did you finish your project?" Taylor asked.
"What?" I asked; she smirked. Shoot. "I'm sorry, I lied to you and I shouldn't have but I did and I'm so so sorry."
"Hey, it's ok, we can talk about it later and you know I'm always here to talk about anything and everything," Taylor told me.
"I know and I love you; you're the best sister anyone could ask for," I gushed, giving Taylor a big hug.
"I don't mean to interrupt, but it looks like everything is good here so I'm gonna go," Connor cut in.
"Of course, thank you for staying here," Taylor said with a smile.
"No problem," he said, making his way to the door.
"Hey Connor," I said.
"Yeah?" He replied.
"Thank you," I said, springing a hug on him.
"For what?" He asked.
"For being good to my sister," I breathed out.
"I love her," Connor said, glancing at Taylor. "I will always be good to her."
"You better or I will personally come for you even before Austin," I threatened quietly so that Taylor didn't hear.
"Got it," he whispered.
"I'm going to get going, bye," Connor waved.
"Bye," Taylor said, giving him a kiss.
"Ew," I commented.
"Bye Kaitlyn," he laughed.
"Bye," I said.