backlogged dreams & day old teas

III - double presents

17th Feb
It was close to Joe's birthday so after school, Andrea took Taylor to pick out a present for Joe.

"Mom, look at all these pretty opals! Opals are beautiful, can we get one? Pretty please with a cherry on top..." Taylor made puppy dog eyes and looked at her mother.

"Honey, they're quite expensive and we're only here to pick out a present for Joe. Maybe when you're older okay?" Andrea replied.

Taylor sighed as she was browsing the aisles for an appropriate gift for him. She knew he loved cars, specifically black ones, but it seemed like he already had everything she laid her eyes on. She continued browsing the rows of neatly lined toy cars when she laid her eyes on an army tank. She took a fair guess that Joe would love it and ran back to Andrea, waving the box at her. She found Andrea with a woman with strawberry blonde hair.

"Taylor honey, come say hello. This is Mrs. Reynolds, Inez's mum. She says you and Inez are classmates!"

"Hi," Taylor mumbled, clearly uncomfortable with being with Inez's mother. She can't let both of the mothers find out she made Inez cry.

"Hey Taylor! You're so cute, who is this toy for?"

"Oh um it's... it's for my brother," Taylor said, embarrassed that she was buying a present for Joe.

"That looks wonderful! My Inez came home looking quite sad on Friday, but she told me she had a friend called Joe whose birthday was soon and sent me here to pick out a present for him."

Andrea chatted with Mrs. Reynolds for a long time, and when Taylor was just about to cause a scene, said her goodbyes.

At home, Taylor decided to write Joe a card too. He isn't that bad, I mean, he gave me a hug didn't he Taylor thought to herself as she wrote the card.

"Dear Joe:
Happy 7th Birthday! I hope you like your present and add it to that big collection of yours.
Taylor"

21st Feb
When Joe got on the bus, he saw that Taylor was already sitting there and a seat was saved for him.

"Hey Taylor, um actually... I'm going to sit with Inez today." Joe said, scratching the back of his head.

"Oh. Well that's okay," Taylor said, feeling quite disappointed she was rejected by Joe and that he chose to sit with her now sworn enemy. She saw Inez smirking at her in the corner of her eye and looked at the window with tears threatening to fall.

Inez was sitting across from her in the window seat, holding a familiar sized box. "Happy Birthday Joe!" she said cheerfully, handing it over to him. Joe thanked her profusely and opened it hastily, and to Taylor's surprise, it was the same army tank she had picked out for him.
Curse you, Mrs. Reynolds! Taylor thought angrily.

During school the whole day, Joe got many other presents and received a lot of attention, since he was popular among the class and got along with everybody. He noticed that Taylor was strangely quiet and didn't tease him the whole day so during lunch, he went over to where her and Abigail were sitting to talk to her. When Taylor saw him coming, she immediately fled to the bathroom, leaving a confused Joe with Abigail.

Abigail walked into the bathroom cautiously to check on Taylor, but only heard muffled crying noises coming from the only closed stall.

"Taylor, I know you're in there, please come out." she said tentatively.

Taylor opened the stall door and Abigail walked in and wrapped her arms around Taylor.

"Tell me everything," Abigail said, knowing there was only ten minutes before lunch would be over.