CLEAN || Taylor Swift Adoption

FOURTEEN

"I'd never forget you as long as I'd live..."

~EVERLEIGH~

August 5, 2023

"Ever!" Opal called, waving her hand from a seat on the bus. "Come sit over here!"

I rushed down the aisle and slid into the seat next to her, a giddy smile present on my face. "Okay, do you want to go first, or should I?"

Although my phone said that it was five thirty in the morning, the entire bus was buzzing with chatter as if it was two in the afternoon. People couldn't stop talking about meeting Taylor, it seemed, and everyone was sharing stories up and down the rows on the bus. Opal and I had promised each other that we would talk to each other first, though, so we quickly delved into our own little conversation about our experiences with Taylor before talking with the rest of the people on the bus.

"She was so sweet!" Opal gushed. "And she gives the best hugs ever."

"I know, right?" I asked. "Like, I know everyone says that she gives really good hugs, but I don't think I expected them to be that good."

"You were right, by the way," Opal said. "I told her about my girlfriend, and I gave her the bracelets that we had made. And she loved hearing about it. She wouldn't stop talking about how cute we looked—she had seen pictures of my girlfriend and me on my Instagram—and we spent almost the entire time talking about it. She wanted to hear everything, from how we met to the details of our first date, and since my girlfriend is gonna be a senior in high school, I was telling Taylor that we're gonna go to prom together. And she told me to get a light blue dress, so that's what we're going with."

"Oh my god, you're gonna have to post your prom pictures online," I said. "And I promise you, I will do whatever I can to make sure Taylor sees them. That'll literally be the best thing ever."

"It would be," Opal nodded. "So what about you? What did y'all talk about?"

An involuntary smile spread across my face. "A lot, actually," I said. "I told her how much I love 'Clean', and that led me to talk a bunch about being in foster care. And then... I basically thanked her for always being there, especially since most people haven't always been there for me. And I told her that she made me feel like I mattered, and then she gave me the biggest hug and told me how important I am."

"Aww!" Opal gushed. "That's so sweet."

I dabbed at my eyes, which were already starting to get watery at the thought of reliving it again. "Yeah. I... I don't know. It really hit me hard. I haven't had someone tell me that stuff before, and hearing it from her... I don't know. She speaks to you in a way that makes you want to believe everything she says, but I never used to believe that I was so important. But when Taylor says it..."

Tears pricked my eyes again. "We're doing really well reliving this, as you can tell," I said, gesturing to my face as tears streamed down my cheeks. "Oh, god, I've cried so much more today than I've cried in months."

Opal laughed. "Ugh, that was literally me. This whole day has been absolutely insane."

"I fully agree," I replied. "Who would've guessed that it would've gone this way?"

"Not me," Opal said. "And like, oh my god, the album?"

"I know!" I exclaimed.