When he actually landed and got to my house, I wasn’t even home. He got in early and met my mom, dad, and sister before even meeting me. In my defense, it was summer and I was out basking in the glory of the weather and all the opportunities to get a tan and get splashed with friends. I had lost track of time, and no one came looking for me to let me know he had gotten to my house earlier than planned. When I walked into my house looking like a drowned rat in a bathing suit and towel, I was fully humiliated to a new degree. There, sitting in the kitchen, was Taylor. He was breath-taking. My mom was sitting with him talking and making him lunch. Our eyes met, and I turned a bright shade of red.

“Liz, you know Taylor” my mom interjected.

“Yup. Thanks mom…” I tried to say without letting my words drip too much sarcasm. She went to say something else, but stopped herself, smiled, and went outside to garden.

“Hey..” he said quietly. His eyes were sparkling, and I couldn’t seem to focus on anything else.

“Hey there. I am so sorry about my ‘H2O’ ensemble. I’m mortified. You’re early!!” I exclaimed, turning an even deeper shade of red than I knew I was capable of.

“It’s hot as heck out. I understand people might swim or do something to stay cool during these sweltering months, so you are excused” he laughed as he mocked me.

“How sweet of you. Let me go get changed” I could feel my legs turning to jello. His eyes were even bluer in person. I tried to shake this feeling he was having over me. He was just my friend. That’s all, at least that’s what I told myself. He just smiled brighter. I handed him the remote for the television and let him channel surf while I bolted upstairs to try to dry off and make myself look more presentable. I threw on jean floods and a black tank top. I put on my usual make-up; consisting of some powder, mascara, bit of eyeliner, grabbed a clip for my hair that was still drying and ran back downstairs, throwing my hair on top of my head as I went.

“Well don’t you clean up nice” he stated once I got back to the den area. He got up from his chair and hugged me. I stood there in shock for a split second, but then hugged him back tightly. I was so lucky he came into my life.

“Um.. thanks, I think.. I’m really not anything—“ but he put his hand up to my mouth to stop me from talking. We had discussed my insecurities with my looks in several earlier conversations, but he saved us from starting up that conversation yet again.

“Stop. You look fine. You look really pretty actually. Different from pictures I’ve seen. Now I can really put a person to the voice I had been talking to all these months”.

“Thanks, anyway, how was your flight? What do you want to do while you’re here?” I asked.

“The flight was good. I have no idea, show me around this state.” He replied. It took me a minute to think, and I had to get mom to drive us around since we were both too young to drive ourselves, but we wound up keeping it casual and headed up to the mall. We walked around, had some dinner, talked, and just lost track of time together.

When we got home, my mom had the sofa bed pulled out in the den and all set up for Taylor to stay while he was up here. I went upstairs to throw some pajamas on, and when I came back down, he was ready for bed as well.

“What are we doing in pajamas, in the middle of summer, at about 10:30 at night? We must be getting old or something” he joked. As adorable as he was, his sense of humor was always weird to me. I smiled anyway and we began to rummage through some movies to find something to watch. I don’t remember what we chose, probably because we talked through the entire thing, but I know it was over for quite some time before we started to get tired.

“I should go upstairs and sleep soon…” I said as I yawned.

“Yeah. I mean, if you want to. Get some rest okay?”

“Aren’t you tired? You had a long flight in and I ran you around quite a bit trying to give you a bit of a tour”

“A little. This day has been so crazy. I can’t believe I’m actually here. I’ve wanted to meet you for such a long time, and I finally got the guts to come here, and as crazy as that is, I feel like I’ve known you forever. This is really comfortable. I feel like I’m home” he replied in all honesty as he moved to lay down on his back next to me.

“Yeah, this feels really great” I agreed. I tried not to lay down so that I had the energy to make my way upstairs to my bed and give him his space, but we kept talking about our situation and our whirlwind friendship that had bloomed over such a short time, until we got so tired that we both fell asleep on the pull out couch together. Just me, and Taylor. My Taylor.

I woke up a few times during the night to move into a more comfortable position, and I had to get my bearings every time I saw his face just mere inches from my own. I had butterflies, but not because of whom he was, not because I was waking up next to “Taylor Hanson”. I couldn’t put my finger on why. I felt like I was in love with him when I saw him on television so long ago, before I knew him, but since we actually talked on the phone a million times, and being with him in person, I was getting these butterflies over my great friend I was so lucky to have found in him. I cursed myself for even thinking I could have had a crush on him before I knew him. That’s so silly. I was judging someone I didn’t even know, and that wasn’t fair to him, considering how amazing he was. I eventually drifted back to sleep, completely content and grateful with how great our friendship was turning out to be.

The rest of Taylor’s first visit was really fun. He was perfect and we got along amazingly. We swam at the pool in town, hung out in my backyard, went to the movies, the mall, and a few dinners. One night we even got to go down the Jersey Shore and go on all kinds of rides, eat really awesome pizza, and play tons of boardwalk games. We even took old time black and white pictures in those vintage photo booths. He kept one half and I kept the other. I felt like I had known him for a hundred lifetimes and we were having a blast. We had become inseparable, even when fans and random people pointed Taylor out from behind his hat or his shades that he wore when we went out in public and chased him away from me. Since we were both blondes (at the time) we avoided the “girlfriend” rumors by just saying we were related. Not that people who saw us would say we were a couple, we definitely didn’t act like one, which made sense, because we definitely weren’t a couple. We did anything to keep him and his image safe though. Unfortunately, our time together went too quickly, and soon, he had to go, and I was devastated. I felt like half of me was being ripped away. We said our goodbyes, and he swore he’d call as soon as he got in, and he would be back to visit again before I even had the chance to miss him. When we parted ways, he looked like he was at death’s door, but I never got to ask him why. He kept his word though. He called as soon as he landed, and every day after that, sometimes even more than once.

Chapter 3 | Guestbook