Sparks Fly: A Kaylor Love Story

Chapter 9: How Things Are

Taylor waited outside Karlie's house. Karlie hadn't actually replied to the text, so Taylor just assumed that she'd seen it and was going to be there. Sure enough, Karlie's front door opened and Karlie walked down the path towards Taylor.

"So what's the verdict?" Karlie asked when she reached Taylor.

"Can we do this somewhere less public?" Taylor asked.

"Sure" Karlie said with a nervous smile. It was the first time Taylor had ever seen her nervous.

The two of them walked to the end of the street, to a small park. They found a park bench and sat down. They sat in silence for a moment, as Taylor searched for the words.

"Okay Karlie, here's how things are..." Taylor began. She hesitated as the words caught in her throat. "I like you. You're an awesome person to spend time with. It's just..."

"You don't like me like that?" Karlie asked. Taylor noted the hint of disappointment in her voice.

"I don't think so. I kissed you out of curiosity more than anything I think." Taylor said, before hurriedly adding "that's not to say it wasn't fun. I really enjoyed it, it just didn't cause any sparks to fly."

"I understand." Karlie said, after a momentary silence that felt eternal "Still friends though, right?"

"Of course." Taylor said with a smile. Karlie smiled back. Taylor started to feel a lot more at ease.

"No weirdness?" Karlie asked.

"No weirdness." Taylor repeated.

"Can we still hug?" Karlie asked.

"Of course." Taylor said, and put her arms around the other girl. "If we stopped hugging because of this I'd consider things to be officially weird between us."

After they hugged, Karlie stood up. She was so tall, and pretty as hell. Taylor envied her looks.

"Well" Karlie said "my mom needs me to help her with some things so I'd better get home."

Taylor couldn't tell if it was the truth, or if Karlie was looking for an excuse to leave.

"Walk back together?" She asked. Karlie nodded, and Taylor stood up.

As the two of them walked back to their houses, they talked about music. It was the first subject Taylor could think of that felt totally neutral.

When they reached their houses, they said a final goodbye and parted. Taylor entered her house and walked calmly up the stairs and into her bedroom. She shut the door behind her and fell back against it. She stood there for a moment, leaning against her door, before allowing herself to slide down until she was sitting on the floor. She buried her face in her hands and tears began to flow.

She'd lied to Karlie.

The kisses meant something to her although she didn't know exactly what. She lied because it didn't feel like it meant enough for her to want to deal with it. It was probably better that they just stay friends. So why was she crying?

She guessed it was the fear that she'd made their friendship awkward within a week of meeting each other, coupled with the guilt of having lied. But was that all? What if she was crying because her feelings ran deeper than she wanted to admit? What if she'd effectively broken her own heart by deciding to tell Karlie the kisses meant nothing?

She took her phone out of her pocket and stared at it. She wanted to call Karlie up and tell her she'd lied, and that she felt like they might be something more than just friends, but she couldn't. That would just make things worse. She'd have to admit to lying, to toying with Karlie's emotions. Karlie had looked genuinely sad when Taylor told her they were just friends.

"No." Taylor thought to herself. "I've made my bed, now I have to lie in it... at least until I understand what's going on in my head."

She decided to call Selena. Selena and Taylor had been best friends all their lives, and had always told each other their deepest secrets. Selena was someone she could trust with this, and who she was sure would help her work out what was going on.

Taylor had initially intended to just talk over the phone but she couldn't get the words out, and asked if Selena could come and pick her up. Selena agreed, and promised to be there in fifteen minutes. Taylor thanked her, hung up, and began to mentally prepare for telling Selena the whole story.