CAROLINE'S POV
"Taylor? Are you okay?" I asked as we got into the backseat of yet another black SUV. We had just gotten done with a college visit at Vanderbilt and Taylor was acting strangely.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." Taylor replied. I wasn't convinced but I dropped it. I liked Vanderbilt a lot. It was a super nice school and it was in Nashville so it's very close to home. But it's also a private school, which is different.
"I liked the nursing program here better than at UTK but at the same time I don't know." I said, trailing off at the end. "Vanderbilt is a private school, it costs so much more than Tennessee."
"Caroline, you know money isn't an issue." Taylor said, sounding exasperated as we drove away from campus. I looked over at her to find her oddly out of breath. I was about to ask her if she was all right again when she began speaking.
"Let's talk about all this college stuff later, can we?" She asked, reaching for a water bottle.
"Yeah I guess so." I said nervously.
"Are you alright Taylor?" I asked again. She didn't look well. She was out of breath and pale and strangely sweaty. She assured me once again that she would be fine. I studied her from the corner of my eye, thinking maybe she was going to be sick.
"Do you need to go to the doctor?" I asked in all seriousness after a short silence. Taylor looked at me with her bangs sticking to her face from sweat.
"Caroline, I'm not sick. It's just a little anxiety and I'm fine." Taylor said before taking another sip of her water.
Anxiety? I knew Taylor was easily worried by things but I'd never known her to have legitiment anxiety attacks. I didn't know what could have caused this, she seemed fine until about an hour ago.
I went through all the possible explanations in my head. She started acting weird shortly after a lot of students came up and asked her for selfies. But then again, she never got anxiety around fans. As far as I know nobody mentioned anything about Karlie, a subject she was very protective of and secretive about. We were on a college visit and she worries about me going to college, maybe that was it.
"Are you two still wanting to go out for dinner tonight?" Our driver and security guard asked from the front seat.
"No, I don't think so. Maybe we could order in though." Taylor said in a shaky voice. I looked at her with worry. I had never seen her act this way, something was very wrong. It seemed like more than just a "little" anxiety.
As we drove towards the apartment I couldn't help but keep glancing over at Taylor. Her breathing was unsteady and she kept staring at her hands as if she was trying to calm herself. But her hands were far from calm, she wouldn't stop fidgeting with them and pulling at her fingers. Every so often she would wipe her clammy palms on her jeans. I thought about suggesting we go to the doctor again, but that would just upset her more.
By the time we pulled up to the apartment's parking lot I was more worried than ever. I didn't know what to do. She needed help but I wasn't good at that kind of stuff. She had always been the one to comfort me when I was upset or having anxiety. I guess I always felt like she was stronger than me, stronger than someone who has these kinds of feelings regularly. Like she wouldn't need comforting, she would just always be the comforter.
When we entered the apartment and the door closed behind us Taylor broke down. She started sobbing and I watched as tears that she'd been long holding back began to stream down her face. Her sobs were soft but frequent and broken up by fast and shallow breaths. Her eyes got wide with fear every time she couldn't catch her breath which made me more scared than I already was.
