"L A B E L S"

Episode 46

Joe walks up to Taylor's front door on Saturday and knocks, waiting for the door to open. Ms. Alison opens the door with an agitated expression. "Who are you?"  

He sticks out his hand with a polite smile. "I'm Joe, Joe Adam. You must be Taylor's mom."  

She glances down at his hand before giving him a quick look and yelling up the stairs. "Taylor! Get your butt down here!" She looks back at Joe with the same expression. "She'll be down in a minute."  

He nods, trying to keep up his polite smile despite her rude demeanor. She gives him a quick look before closing the door, leaving him standing outside. He looks at the closed door, in surprise and mumbles to himself. "Okay...nice to meet you too...?" He turns around and slowly begins to sit on the steps outside the door.  

Taylor rushes down the stairs and looks around, seeing her mom sitting on the couch. "Where's Joe?"  

Ms. Alison motions towards the door without moving her eyes from the television. "Outside."  

Her eyes widen in embarrassment. "You just left him outside?!"  

"Well, yeah. What? Did you expect me to just invite him in for tea and a nice chat?"  

"Actually, that would have been great." She rolls her eyes and walks over to the door.  

"I'm leaving tonight and won't be back for a few days."  

Taylor turns back to her mother with confusion. "Where are you going?"  

"Business. I left pizza in the fridge, that should last you until I get back."  

"When are you leaving?"  

"Around eight."  

"Whatever, it doesn't make much difference whether you're here or not." She quickly opens the door and walks out before her mother has a chance to respond.  

Joe stands up from his seated position on the porch and turns to her with a smile. "Hey."   

She smiles and walks closer to him. "Hey."  

He looks down at her simple yellow dress with brown boots. "You look beautiful."  

Her cheeks turn a light shade of pink without her permission as she lowers her head in embarrassment, wishing there was a switch she could flip and gain some confidence. "Thanks." Taylor's smile fades as she point back to the door. "I'm really sorry about my mother. Whatever she said, you kind of just have to let it roll off your back sometimes."  

"Is she always like that?"  

"Pretty much, besides when she's worse." She snickers and begins walking beside Joe back to his car.  

"What about your dad? Is he more...welcoming?"  

"Not from what I remember. He left when I was thirteen."  

He looks over at her with obvious sympathy. "I'm sorry, Taylor."  

She shrugs and forces a smile as Joe opens the passenger side door for her.  

~~~  

Scarlett's sitting on her couch, blankly flipping through channels when the door bell rings. Her smile widens as she puts down the bowl of popcorn and looks up the stairs at Mia. "Mia, he's here. You should really call Logan and see if he wants to come over."  

Mia's standing at the top of the stairs, looking down at Scarlett. "Scar, you and Jake are actually dating; me and Logan...I don't even know. It would just be weird."