Taylor Scott patted down the stairs and into the kitchen Saturday morning she saw her mom standing in front of the fridge while her older brother Ryan stood stacking pancakes onto a plate.
“Good morning,” Taylor smiled as she took the plate that Ryan held out to her.
“Morning Kid,” Ryan smiled back.
“Something smells good,” Jake, the oldest said loudly coming up behind Taylor and messing up her hair, which earned him a smack on the back of his head. “Where’s Dad?” Jake asked between bites.
“He went to pick up Greg,” their mom answered. Greg was the youngest in the Scott family, by about two minutes… a fact Taylor never let him forget.
“Where was Greg?” Ryan asked sitting down on the other side of Taylor.
“Josh’s house, how can you not know you share a room with him,” Taylor asked with a small laugh.
“I was out with Jen, got in late, I saw a body in Greg’s bed,” Ryan shrugged then took another bite of his breakfast.
“That was me, Mom told me Greg was gone so I crashed in there, but of course nothing compares Jen,” Jake rolled his eyes and reached around Taylor and smacked Ryan.
Ryan retaliated, but hit Taylor in the process.
“Hey!” She whacked both of them used to this type of behavior, living with three brothers had made her pretty tough.
“That’s enough you two,” Mom over ruled them and picked up the boy’s plates even though they weren’t done.
Taylor smiled triumphantly, she hardly ever got into trouble unless it really was her fault, then she finished her last bite and picked up her plate and put it into the dishwasher.
She jogged up to her room to take a shower. While she was getting dressed she heard Greg call her name. She yelled back that she’d be down in a moment, and threw on one of Jake’s sweatshirts that she had in her room.
“They went outside, Honey,” Her mom told her from where she sat in her office looking out the window toward the backyard.
“Thanks,” She said as she bent to pull on her tennis shoes and slid open the glass door.
“You took long enough!” Greg said laughing from where he stood in the middle of the small circle.
“Isn’t that mine?” Jake asked narrowing his eyes at his varsity football sweatshirt. She shrugged and smiled. “I’ve been looking for that.”
“Forget about it, come on I want to play,” Greg said bouncing with excitement.
Among her brothers and dad there was a head she didn’t recognize, at first she thought it was Josh, but he didn’t have short, dark brown hair.
“Tay, this is Aaron Wilson, he just moved in next door a couple days ago, I met his dad this morning.” Dad explained to her with a wave.
“Nice to meet you,” she said joining the circle, standing right between Greg and Aaron.
“Hi…Tay?” he asked a bit confused looking at her.
“Taylor,” she told him with a small smile, ignoring the funny feeling in her stomach. “So, Greg what’s up?”
“Needed one more person,” he said giving her one of his famous puppy dog faces.
She rolled her eyes and agreed only after getting the look from the other two brothers.
“You play football?” Aaron asked a bit surprised.
“Yeah, I play basketball, soccer, and baseball almost as well,” she laughed with a twinkle in her eye.
“Point taken,” he laughed with her.
“Alright let’s get this game started, Jake you up for being captain?” Kevin Scott asked spinning the football in his hands.
Jake nodded and called his first pick, “Tay.” They all broke the circle and Taylor joined Jake on his side of the imaginary line.
“Aaron, you’ve got to prove yourself,” Kevin said slapping him on the back, already treating him like one of his sons.
“Yes sir,” Aaron smiled and saluted him.
“Greg,” Jake said with a smile, glad his dad hadn’t picked one of the twins so he got ‘em both!
“Ry, come on, son,” he said his middle son’s name catching the look in his oldest son’s eye.
The two teams talked strategy before they started playing.
“This is getting creepy,” Aaron said halfway through the game. Taylor and Greg kept pulling out stunts they had done when they were younger. Their “twins stunts” as everybody else had called them.
“It’s our twin telepathy, buddy,” Taylor laughed at him.
The next half of the game Kevin’s team started to improve, but they still lost by a touchdown--- or two.
“Good game,” Taylor said to Aaron when they were done.
“Yeah, yeah, you’re just saying that because you won,” he said as they walk toward the house together.
“Maybe, so how old are you?”
“Seventeen, what about you?”
“I’ll be seventeen on December 13th,” she answered.
“She means, we’ll be seventeen.” Greg corrected her coming up beside Aaron.
“You might want to take another shower, Kid,” Ryan said swinging his arm around her.
“Thanks, you might want to try one too, it’s been what, two? Three weeks?” she asked teasing him as she pushed him away.
“Four at least!” Jake joined in grabbing Ryan in a headlock.
“Do you have any sibling?” Taylor asked Aaron as her brothers started to wrestle on ground.
“One sister, she’s three years younger than me,” he told her.
“That’s like me and Jake, hopefully I’ll get to meet her sometime.” She smiled and heard the phone ring, then her mom call her name.
“See ya later,” she waved goodbye and finished her way to the living room.
“Hello?” She answered half hoping it would be her best friend Kristal.
“Hey Babe,” the familiar greeting of her boyfriend greeted her instead. “Want to go to the movies?” Charles Baker asked her in his “I’m so cool voice”.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Jake’s home, so we’re hanging out as a family, ya know watching football and ESPN,” she told him knowing he hated all that stuff. He was more in to “the arts”, that was what had connected them in the first place. But now Taylor felt more annoyed him than she used to.
“Maybe I’ll stop by in a little while,” he told her pulling her out of her pondering.
“Really? Well, we just finished a game of football and I’ve got to get a quick shower.” She told him surprised he was willing to come over and be with her family. The guys didn’t exactly hate him, but they didn’t like him and that had never been a secret, so for the most part they usually avoided each other. Except now Charles was willing to come spend time with her brothers. Maybe he was finally realizing how she was pulling back. “That gives me enough time to get over there, be ready I’ll take you to whatever movie you want to see. Jake won’t even miss you, he’ll be too caught up in whatever he’s watching. Please Babe, just a quick movie with me then you’ll be back home,” he pleaded.
So much for him seeing things my way. Taylor thought before she answered that she would go. She finished the call then ran upstairs and took a very fast shower then she dressed in a cute outfit and headed back downstairs, hoping to beat Charles there.
“Don’t you look nice,” Greg told her when she entered the living room.
“Don’t you look smelly,” she said sitting on the armrest next to him.
“Why thank you, I work hard,” he said with a big smile. “Seriously though what’s up?”
“Charles,” all three proclaimed after half a second of thought.
“Yes, we’re going to see a movie,” she told them with a sigh.
“Who’s Charles?” Aaron asked innocently, he had been sitting there the entire time, yet this was when Taylor noticed him.
“He’s her boyfriend,” Jake answered first.
They all had something to tell Aaron about him, but quieted when the game came back on.
A few minutes later the doorbell rang and their mom answered it on the second ring after none of the kids moved.
“Hey Babe,” Charles said his usual greeting when he came into the living room.
“Hey,” Taylor said back, but her eyes never left the screen. They left at a commercial break with Taylor making the guys promise to tell her the score when she got home.
“What’s up with that guy?” Aaron asked the Scott brothers once the other two left. “And how did Taylor end up with him?”
“He’s really into music and so is Tay, it’s right up there under sports,” Ryan answered.
“That—“he was about to say more but was cut of by the game.
Charles chose a romantic comedy that he thought they both would enjoy. Taylor didn’t really pay attention to it though, all she could think about was the new neighbor sitting in her living room watching an amazing game with her brothers.
After the movie Charles asked if she wanted to get something to eat with him before heading back home.
“Actually I want to get home, I have no idea when Jake is going home and I’ve barely spent any time with him.” Taylor explained and was relieved when Charles headed toward her house and didn’t with her. Jake was a freshman at a university an hour and a half away so he only came home for short visits.
Charles sighed loudly when he pulled into her driveway, he turned the key and looked at her. “I hope you had fun, I’ll call you later,” he told her then leaned over and gave her a kiss goodbye.
Taylor nodded then headed into her house, trying to remember who was playing that afternoon. She was pleasantly surprised to see Aaron in the hallway with a plateful of nachos in his hand.
“You’re still here?” She asked with mock annoyance.
“Yes, is that a problem?”
“I guess not,” Taylor smiled at him now. “Is that lunch?”
“Yep, the stuff’s in the kitchen,” he told her pointing over his shoulder.
“I think I know where it is,” she nodded her head and hit him on the back as she passed him to get her own food.
“Just making sure,” he had turned around now watching her.
“Thanks,” she rolled her eyes, but still smiled in spite of herself.
They all spent the rest of the night watching the different football games that were on. When the last one finished Aaron walked back home in the dark, glad to have made some friends that day.
The next morning while the Scott’s were getting ready to go to church their doorbell rang. From where Taylor stood in the hallway ready to go downstairs she heard her dad open the door and greet the guest. As she listened she realized she recognized the voice, but as she started down the stairs Greg blew past her wanting to talk to Aaron first. Taylor smiled and waved, but continued on her way to get breakfast. As she pasted though she heard Greg asking why Aaron was there. She didn’t want to seem obvious so she didn’t wait to hear the answer figuring she would find out the answer sooner or later.
“You look nice,” someone whispered to Taylor later that morning while she stood in the pew at church waiting for the rest of her family.
“Hey, she turned around to see Aaron in the pew behind her with a short girl with the exact same color eyes. “You too.”
“What about me, don’t I look nice too?” Greg asked from where he stood next to Taylor
“Well, I guess you did shower,” Taylor shrugged and smiled at Aaron, “And this is?”
“Lizzy, my sister, Liz these are my new friends…” Aaron went on to tell his sister all the names of the Scott family.
After church both family’s went out to lunch together to get better acquainted.
When Taylor got home that afternoon she realized she had left her cell phone on her nightstand. She picked it up and opened it, and found that it had seven voicemails all from Charles. She hit the button and listened to the first two, then decided to delete the rest. Seconds after the last one had been deleted her phone rang again. Taylor groaned and threw her phone onto her bedspread. After changing she listened to the newest message. “Hey Babe, where are you at? Church isn’t that long,” Charles voice entered her ear. “Call me as soon as you get this.”
Taylor deleted this one too; she would call him back later. Minutes later the doorbell rang and she prayed that it wasn’t him. She had just pulled a pair of socks out when someone knocked on her bedroom door. Jake poked his head in and asked her if she was willing to play one more game of football before he left.
“Fine,” she sighed trying to look put out.
“Great come on,” he said hurriedly then disappeared into the hallway. Taylor took her time getting a hair tie then wandered down the stairs and toward the kitchen. Greg and Aaron standing by the back door talking about something. When she approached Greg said something then disappeared leaving Taylor and Aaron standing alone in the kitchen.
“Hey, what happened to your hair?” Aaron asked, his face showing momentary disappointment but it was quickly replaced by teasing.
“Can’t play football with it down,” she told him with a laugh. Her normally straight hair had been curled that morning seconds before she had thrown it into a messy bun on the top of her head.
“Makes sense, I don’t really have that problem,” he said with a smile as he pointed toward his short, dark hair.
“Apparently,” she gave him an eye roll and opened the door and motioned for him to go out. Kevin’s team had called a rematch, so the teams remained the same. Jake’s team won again, Greg and laughed and pulled his sister into a hug.
“Good game,” Aaron told the twins with an easy smile on his face.
“You’re just saying that because you lost,” Taylor laughed and shoved his arm slightly.
“What do you think you are doing?” A voice called from the back door.
“Excuse me?” Aaron asked looking up at an angry Charles.
“What do you think you’re doing with my girlfriend?” Charles elaborated on his question.
“Charles, we were just playing football,” Taylor tried to tell him calmly.
“So that’s why you haven’t returned any of my phone calls?” Charles narrowed his eyes toward her.
“What are you talking about? I went to church, like I do every Sunday morning, then I came outside to enjoy a nice game of football with my family before Jake goes back to college.” She explained everything, hoping he would assume she hadn’t checked her phone.
“Family, huh?” his glare traveled from Taylor to Aaron then back.
“We were short a guy, Charles, lay off,” Greg said from where he stood with his arm still around Taylor’s shoulders.
“I can’t do this right now,” Taylor shrugged away from her brother and pushed past her boyfriend and jogged up to her room.
Minutes later she heard a soft knock on her bedroom door.
“Go away,” she called out, but whoever it was, wasn’t giving up that easily. “If it’s Greg, Jake, Ryan, or Charles, please just leave me alone.”
“You forgot me, but then again you’ve only known me for a couple days, so I forgive you,” Aaron said sticking his head inside.
“How kind of you,” she rolled her eyes at him, but couldn’t stay mad when he was smiling at her like that.
“Look, I just wanted to see if you were okay, and to apologize for what I did,” he told her with a serious face.
“And what would that be?”
“I’m not quite sure, want to explain it to me?” He asked her, most of the seriousness gone.
“Is Charles still here?”
“Nope, your brothers kicked him out, so…”
“So, you didn’t do anything, he just used you as an excuse.” Taylor told him.
“That it?” he raised his eyebrows in question to her vague answer.
“For now, you’re still new, I don’t know how much I can trust you with,” she smiled at him, letting him know she was doing better.
He nodded and let a slow smile fill his face, “I’ll leave you be then, see you at school tomorrow,” he waved at her then slipped back out the door.
The next morning at school Taylor dropped into her homeroom seat next to her best friend Kristal.
“Monday’s aren’t they wonderful!” Kristal said with a giant smile.
“Why are you so happy?” She asked giving her friend a Monday morning look.
“Well, I just heard that there’s a new kid, and he’s almost as gorgeous as those brothers of yours.” She smiled slyly at Taylor.
“Gross,” Taylor shot her a look then continued. “His name is Aaron, he moved in next door to us.”
“Is he hot?”
Taylor nodded to the classroom door where Aaron and Greg were walking in. “You tell me, he’s right there.”
“Wow,” she looked at the guys. “Hot, yes, but nothing standing next to Greg.”
Taylor made a disgusted sound then told her friend to shut up.
“Did you just tell me to shut up?” Greg asked, only hearing the end of their conversation.
“So what if I did?” Taylor looked up at him.
“So then I would have to do something,” he said trying to sound tough.
“Like what?” she cocked her head to one side, then turned her attention to Aaron and smile. “Remind Aaron about how we smoked him… twice,” she said wiggling two fingers in his face.
“Yeah, yeah,” he pushed Taylor’s hand away.
“That was exactly what I was going to do,” Greg laughed at his new friend.
“I think you both should shut up,” he refuted sitting down in the chair directly in front of Taylor.
“Wow, New Kid’s got sass,” Kristal laughed as their teacher tried to quiet everyone down.
“So where’s Chuck today?” Kristal asked as the two of them headed to one of their afternoon classes.
“We had a fight…” Taylor said trying to choose her word carefully.
“And you waited until now to tell me?!” Kristal threw her arms up in exasperation. “Just your best friend over here.”
“You waited until now to ask?!” she mimicked her friend. “He came over yesterday all mad that I hadn’t returned his calls all morning.”
“That cannot be all of it, come on spill it sister.”
“I was playing a game of football when he decided to grace us with his presence…” she continued.
“Tay! Come on!”
“What? Jake was home so we were having fun.”
“Wait,” Kristal stopped walking, “didn’t you say something about playing with New Kid?”
“His name is Aaron.”
“I know his name, and that’s not what I asked,” Kristal looked pointedly at her friend. “You were ignoring your boyfriend while having fun with a hot new guy, Taylor Michelle Scott.” She placed her hand over her heart and gasped. “That is so unlike you.”
“Shut up will you, we needed an extra player and Aaron lives next door,” Taylor rolled her eyes.
“And you were “having fun” with him,” Kristal asked using air quotes.
“Kris, stop. I met him like three days ago, he seems like a cool guy…” she hitched her shoulder trying to shrug away the conversation.
“Yeah,” Kristal rolled her eyes, but took the hint and moved on, to another subject Taylor didn’t like-- cheerleading.
“Have you given anymore thought to cheering with me?”
“Nope, I could never be a cheerleader… I get way to mad during games,” Taylor laughed as she sat down in her seat in class.
Taylor found Aaron loitering by her locker after school and gave him a funny look as she spun the combination and sung the metal door open.
“May I help you?”
“Not really,” he smiled but continued to stand there.
“Well I think you were in all but one of my classes today,” she pulled a book out of the black hole and dropped it into her bag.
“Yep, and Ryan’s in to other one so I know someone in every class,” he nodded as he talked.
“Why do you have a class with the seniors?” she asked closing the locker.
“Because I’m a super-genius… only in math though,” he raised one eyebrow challenging her to argue with him.
“Right that must be it,” she laughed and started walking toward the exit.
“It’s really because at my old school I missed a class and they let me choose if I wanted to continue or go back-- and have a class with freshmen,” he explained to her.
“See, now that I believe,” she held out her hand for emphasis.
“Too bad the first story was true,” he shrugged and walked away.
“Yeah right,” she rolled her eyes and pushed his arm as she went past him.
“I’m just messin’ with ya.”
“Ummhmm,” she nodded but didn’t turn, “Ryan’s waiting.”
“Good thing he’s giving me a ride then,” Aaron said, his eyes dancing as he opened the door for her.
Taylor sighed and walked past him, to where her brothers were waiting.
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