house that there’s a guest room in addition to my room there, so again, no
pressure. Anything else we could just take it easy and see if we mesh in
other areas. If you want to.”
“You’re being so nice about all of this. You’re a lot younger than me,
but you’re oddly mature. For a virgin.”
“Hey!” Taylor giggled. She looked around discreetly to see if someone
had heard. “I’m no longer a virgin in any sense.”
“You’re different today.”
“I guess that’s what happens when I’m not keyed up from strange
feelings that I don’t understand.”
“Did you really have a hate on me for not pushing your idea through?”
Taylor sighed. She traced a pattern on the table with her index finger.
“No. I just built up all that negativity to deal with other things that I didn’t
want to understand. Last night was a release of all that tension. I really did
feel— connected with you. Like something cosmic happened. That sounds
bad. Never mind. Just pretend you didn’t hear that.”
“I felt it,” Christina blurted. She laughed guiltily. “Although, you can
pretend that you didn’t hear that either.”
“So, you’ll stop avoiding me? I know it’s a big change. Like a huge
one-eighty. If you need time to think—”
“No. I get it. I was struggling with some feelings too. You’re also right.
I didn’t really understand them, truly, until last night. I had this sense, but it
was like going and doing something for the first time and finding your hazy
suspicions to be noticeably clear afterwards.”
“Hazy suspicions,” Taylor snorted. “Jeez.”
“I’d like to hang out with you and Chloe. I don’t have any friends here.
If you’re willing to give me time…”
“I need time too. I might be all peppy and cheerful right now, but inside
I’m pretty scared too.”
“I can’t tell.”