the summer I turned pretty

chapter 2

Taylor's POV: I stared at my ex-boyfriend. "What are you doing here, Cole?" I asked him, as he smirked. "I moved here. What are you doing here, Tay Tay?" He asked. "You don't get to call me that anymore. And I'm visiting my cousin. Please leave." I said, trying not to cry.

He left, and I broke down into tears. "Taylor, how do you know him?" Conrad asked as Jeremy rubbed my back, soothingly. "He's my ex-boyfriend." I said, sobbing. "Why did you break up?" Conrad said. "He humiliated me in front of everyone at school after my parents had died." I said.

I noticed that Conrad and Jeremy had their hands clenched into fists. "Are you guys okay?" I asked. "We're fine. We're never going to hang out with him again." Conrad said.

"You don't have to do that." I protested. "We have to. We would never hang out with someone who hurt a girl, so we're cutting all contact with him." Jeremy said, and I hugged him tightly. "Thank you." I whispered. He put his chin on top of my head. "Of course, Tay." He said.

We stayed like that until Elina came out. "Lunch is ready. What happened?" Elina said. "Cole was here, Elina." I said and she came over to me and hugged me. "It's going to be okay." I went inside to lay down.

Conrad's POV: "What happened between Taylor and Cole?" I asked Elina after Taylor went inside.

"For a while after Taylor and Cole started dating it was good. After Taylor's parents died in the car crash, Cole started acting different. Then one day he made fun of her for not having parents. He dumped soda on her and so Taylor's brother, Liam, fought him. Taylor broke up with Cole, and they haven't talked since." Elina explained.

Jeremy looked furious. "How could he do that to her? She needed someone!" He said. "He didn't like that she didn't have parents. She was so depressed after he broke up with her. I didn't know what to do. I decided that we should go here." Elina said.

"Has she gotten over her depression?" I asked. "Not really. I hear her crying sometimes at night. I'm so worried about her. II feel like it's gotten worse but when she's around Jeremiah she's happy. I think she really likes you Jere." Elina said. My heart sank as I realized that Taylor might be in love with my brother. I pulled my brother to the side. "I think Taylor is in love with you." I said.

"That's impossible. We're just friends." He protested. "She's really happy only around you. She obviously does." I said. I knew that she did love Jeremiah and not me. "I'm going for a walk." I got up and left.

Taylor's POV: I laid face down on my bed and heard a knock. "Come in!" My voice was muffled by the pillow. Someone came in and sat down. "Tay are you okay?" Jeremiah asked. "Hey Jere. It hurt seeing Cole. I couldn't look at him after what he did. Does the pain ever go away?" I asked. "Eventually it does but you have to let it go." He stroked my hair.

"Have you been heartbroken before?" I asked. He sounded like he was speaking from experience. "Once. I eventually let it go and the pain went away. I can help you if you want. Connie helped me when I was heartbroken. He was by my side the entire time." He said. "You would do that for me?" I said

"Of course I would. You mean a lot to me Tay." He said and I smiled. "Thanks Jere." I said. He smiled back. "We should go eat lunch." He got up and held out his hand to help me off the bed. I giggled and took it. We walked to Conrad and Elina. I ate in silence, sitting next to Jeremiah. "So what's your favorite book?" Jeremiah asked me. "Uh...Harry Potter. Your's?" I asked. "The Vampire Diaries." He said. "Wow. I didn't think you liked those." I smiled. "They're awesome." He replied

(Both are really good books and tv series. Well, Harry Potter is a movie but you should watch them!!)

"What's your favorite music or song?" I asked. "Definitely Alec Benjamin. Yours?" He said. "Olivia Rodrigo or any sad song." I replied, looking down. 

(I struggle from depression so I am adding a little bit of myself in this)

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Yeah...I'm fine." I said. My head was filled with thoughts of all heartbreak I had went through. "Are you sure?"  He said. "Yeah..." i left