What I Should Have Said

7

Elizabeth posed for photos in front of the house that both she and Mike's mother had been taking. "Oh look at how cute they look." Eleanor smiled. "Mom..." Elizabeth sighed. "What? you both do look cute." She smiled. "Can we go now?" Elizabeth mumbled to Mike. "Mom let's go please?" He asked. His mother nodded and made her way to the car. "Have fun kids!" Eleanor called out as they got in the car.

---

"You look beautiful." Andrea smiled.

"Say hi to the camera." Scott said as he approached with his video camera.

"Dad." Taylor whined. "Where are you going?" He asked. "To a dance." She replied and waved to the camera. "That's my little princess." He smiled and shut off the camera. "Okay, time for us to go." Andrea nodded and grabbed her keys. "Have fun kiddo." Scott waved them off. "Bye dad!" Taylor shouted.

-

"Have fun sweetheart." Andrea smiled and watched her daughter walk off toward the school alone and look at all the kids together in their groups. She waited for her to go inside and went to park and wait. She knew there was a pick-up time but her mom instincts were telling her to stay.

-

Taylor made her way inside and looked around at the decor. Some students were dancing and others were off talking with friends. She looked around hoping to find Elizabeth. She looked toward the dance floor and saw Elizabeth laughing and dancing with Mike. She couldn't stand the sight but she couldn't look away.

"That was fun." Elizabeth laughed as the song came to an end. "Want to keep going?" Mike asked."I'm going to get a drink but I'll get back to you." Elizabeth replied. Mike nodded and went off to join his friends. Elizabeth made her way to the snack table and noticed Taylor standing alone. She had been avoiding her all this time and a part of her was starting to feel guilty.

She approached the snack table and looked around. "Betty?" Taylor asked. Elizabeth turned to see her standing behind. "Oh, hey." Elizabeth faintly smiled. "Can we talk?" Taylor asked. Elizabeth glanced around the room and noticed some girls watching the two and whispering. She started to feel panicked but tried her best to not let it show. "About?" Elizabeth asked.

"About what happened." Taylor replied. Some more people began to glance over and talk within their groups. She didn't know if it was all in her head or if everyone knew. If they knew something she didn't, something she didn't want them know. "Can we not do this here." Elizabeth mumbled and looked away. "Oh, okay." Taylor replied confused by Elizabeth's behavior. They made their way out of the main room and out into the hallway.

"What do you want to talk about?" Elizabeth asked. "Is something wrong?" Taylor questioned. Elizabeth looked around to make sure no one was around to see them. "Betty?" She asked waiting for a response. "No." Elizabeth sighed.

"You've been avoiding me ever since what happened that night. Did I do something wrong?" Taylor asked.

She didn't, but Elizabeth didn't know how to explain that to her. Taylor was her best friend and she never cared what anyone thought before but this time it was different. Everyone speculated and spread rumors around and after what her mother told her, she didn't want the worst for either of them. She didn't know what this was all she knew was that she was scared.

"No. I...I just don't think we should be seen together." Elizabeth sighed.

"What? Why?" Taylor asked.

"We just shouldn't okay?" Elizabeth replied.

"But you kissed me?" Taylor questioned.

"It was a mistake."

Taylor felt her heart shatter. "B-but y-you kissed me..."

"It didn't mean anything okay? just drop it." Elizabeth said as she approach the doors.

"But Betty...I love you." Taylor said with a heavy heart, hoping Elizabeth would turn around and tell her she felt the same.

Elizabeth stared down at the door handle and refused to look back at Taylor. She opened the door and went back to the dance without giving her friend a response.

--

Taylor ran out of the school as tears flowed down her cheeks. She felt lost and didn't know where to go. She broke down on the entrance steps of the building and hugged her knees as she cried.

"Taylor?" Andrea asked.

Taylor looked around, her vision slightly blurred from the tears, and noticed her mother approaching. "Mom?" Taylor sniffled.

"Baby, what happened?" Andrea asked and sat down next to her on the steps. Taylor couldn't manage to say anything and broke down in tears once more. "Hey...it's okay...Tell me what's wrong." Andrea comforted and held her.

"I don't want to be here anymore Mom please... can we please just move to Nashville already?" Taylor begged.

"Taylor, what happened in there?" Andrea asked with concern. She couldn't tell her. This was just one of those things she had to keep to herself no matter how painful it would be to deal with. "They're all mean to me and I'm tired of it, mom...I don't want to be here anymore I just want to leave please."She begged.

Andrea held her in her arms and thought for a moment. She knew Taylor was having some trouble in school but she didn't know it was this bad. "Let's get home okay?" Andrea whispered as she and Taylor made their way to the car.

--

Taylor and Andrea arrived back home. "Hey!" Scott smiled and greeted them as they entered. Taylor ran off without saying a word and locked herself in her room. "What happened?" He asked. Andrea hung up her keys and sighed, "I think we should talk about moving to Nashville."

"What?" Scott asked confused and taken by surprise. "I'm serious." Andrea replied. "Where is this coming from?" He asked. "You know Taylor has been annoying us to move there and now I'm starting to think maybe we should." Andrea shrugged. "But what happened? Why is she upset and why are we talking about this?" Scott questioned.

"She's been having a hard time honey. I think it's getting worse and maybe we should start considering a possible move. Maybe it's what we all need." Andrea suggested. "So you expect us to just uproot our lives like this? what about work?" Scott asked. "We can find work anywhere. But we can't stay somewhere that isn't working for our family anymore Scott."

Scott sighed and sat back in his chair. "I guess maybe it wouldn't be bad to check it all out."

"This summer?" Andrea asked.

"Yeah, we can take a trip out and see if it's worth it." Scott nodded.