by Autumn Brown
“Was it our side? Or the other team’s cheerleaders?” I asked her.
“Ours. Blue and gold outfits. Very cute uniforms.”
“It was me then. I’m the tumbler.” I explained to her.
I cheered with the other girls most of the time, but I did tumbling on my own too, when it was time to get the crowd really revved up.
“You’re amazing.” Todd said. “I saw you do a full body twist in the air. What did you call those, Janel?”
“They’re called aerials.” She said.
I smiled. I was feeling more uneasy in one way, but more at ease in another way. I crunched my chips loudly, too loudly. I wished I hadn’t done that. All eyes were on me as I ate.
Spencer smiled at me. “And she plays the keyboard.” He added.
I laughed at him. “Kind of.” I knew I wasn’t very good at playing the keyboard, but I liked playing it.
“And sings.” Janel added. “We heard you singing. You’ve got a great voice.”
“You two harmonize really well together. It’s a lot better than listening to Zane’s voice.” Todd said.
I was getting the feeling that they were building me up for some reason.
“I’ve heard Zane sing. He upsets the cows when he sings.” I laughed at the memory, then told them the story about how the cows almost started stampeding when Zane was goofing around giving the cows a concert while we milked them.
They laughed imagining it.
“Zane milked cows too?” Spencer asked me. I thought I caught a hint of jealousy in his voice.
“I con everyone I know into milking. Zane and I have been friends since the second grade. He helps any time he comes over.” I told him as I laughed at him.
“Just when I thought I was special.” He joked with me.
I laughed at him. “You did really well today. No one has ever caught onto milking as quick as you did today.”
As our snacks disappeared, I became more comfortable with Todd and Janel. I looked at my watch. “Oh crap. It’s probably time for me to go. I’ve got to get up at four in the morning and milk again. Daddy’s not going to let me out of it again.”
“I’ll walk you to your car.” Spencer said, stepping up from the table.
“It was nice meeting you, Todd and Janel. Thanks for the Coke and the chips.” I did my best Miss Manners impression.
“It was nice meeting you too.” They both chimed in together.
Spencer walked me to the car. “I guess we’ll work on my song next time?”
“Sure.” I answered him. I hoped there would be a next time. Boy did I hope there would be a next time. I drove away, looking in the rearview mirror at him. He was so good looking. Why wasn’t he taken? He was so nice, and so polite. Surely every girl in our school couldn’t be so turned off by his birthmark that they wouldn’t even give him a chance. It made no sense to me whatsoever.
Spencer POV.
I walked back into the house after saying goodbye to Taylor. I couldn’t believe I had so much fun today. Milking cows was really hard work, but I didn’t want to look like a wimp in front of her. I struggled to keep up with her. I couldn’t let her outdo me. I really liked eating at her house too. It was really cool to eat with such a big family. I’d always been an only child. Dinner time had never been that lively in my house.
“So, what did you think?” I asked Janel and Todd as I walked back in the kitchen.
“She’s really nice.” Janel said quickly. I’d heard that tone before. It meant she didn’t think Taylor was very pretty. I knew I’d brought Taylor in when she looked her worst. I loved it that she wasn’t one of those girly girls. She got down in the pits and worked her ass off at the dairy. We stepped in cow manure all day long, and washed cows, and fed them. She was amazing.
“She wasn’t too pretty today after working in the dairy, but usually she’s the prettiest girl in school.” I told them both.
“She was really funny, and she sings really well.” Todd jumped in.
“It sounds like you had fun.” Janel said. “Tell me, how are her grades?”
“Straight As from what Zane says. She’s always helping him on his homework, and he makes straight As already. I don’t have any classes with her.”
“I’m glad to hear she’s smart. And, she likes you. That’s the main thing. She seems like a great girl.”
I laughed at Janel. She wasn’t going to believe that Taylor was pretty until she saw her like I saw her everyday at school.
I went to my room, and took a shower. Cows did really stink, but they were cool animals. After my shower, I worked on my songs some. Uncle Todd had me come out and help him with the yard work a little later. I didn’t mind too much. I felt like I owed them anything they asked of me. I did everything I could to help out around the house.
“So, you like this girl?” Todd asked as we were picking up dead bushes from the yard. Nothing seemed to grow here, not like in California anyway. Todd was constantly cussing the yard here.
“I do.” I told him.
“And, she likes you?” he asked.
“I think so. She told Zane that she did. They’re good friends.” I told him.
“That’s good to hear. Do we need to talk about sex and birth control again?” he asked.
“No. I don’t think it’s going to get that far any time soon, Uncle Todd.”
Todd laughed. “Girls today seem to have sex a lot quicker than in my day.”
“Not Taylor. She’s got a reputation around school. She’s the school’s last virgin, I think.” I tried to explain to him.
“Lucky you!” he said sarcastically.
I laughed at him.
Taylor POV.
Monday morning, I practically ran to Senior Pole, hoping Spencer was there. He was waiting for me with a big smile on his face. I’d wanted to go over to his house again yesterday, but I didn’t want to look like I was too eager. I didn’t want to look like a stalker in front of Todd and Janel either.
“Hi.” Spencer said to me, as he rubbed my arm.
That was different. I rubbed his arm. Turnabout was fair play after all. “Hi there.”
Zane caught the looks exchanged between us, then smiled at me. “So you two had fun milking?”
“Oh god. You didn’t get conned into milking. Did you?” Jose asked Spencer. “Dude. When she says the word ‘cow’, run. Run like your life depended on it. Those suckers are so nasty.”
I laughed at Jose. He didn’t fare so well at the dairy. My dad was still laughing at how much of a wimp he was around the cows. “He did really well.” I told Jose. “My dad was impressed.”
“It was fun.” Spencer defended me against the guys playfully.
Zane laughed. “Nothing about milking is fun. Dude, you are warped.”
Everyone laughed at Spencer, but he took it all in stride, laughing at himself. There were several more jokes about cows after that. Everyone laughed at our expense. Spencer simply smiled at me, trying to show me that he didn’t mind.
Vicky walked up about that time, and pushed my shoulder. She pushed me so hard that she threw me off balance. I stepped back, surprised that she would be so physical with me.
I looked at her, shocked. “What the heck, Vicky?” I asked her to explain herself.
She was almost twice my size. She was a big girl.
Dwayne stepped in front of me, as if blocking Vicky from touching me again. “I told you. It wasn’t Taylor.”
Oh boy. She must have found out that Dwayne was with someone Friday night. Darn it.
“It had to be Taylor. I couldn’t find her either, and you’re still pining for her.” Vicky retorted.
“It wasn’t me. I was with Spencer all night.” I told her quickly. Dwayne still asked me to go make out with him occasionally at the parties when Vicky wasn’t there, but I never did. I would never cheat with a guy. I didn’t think Dwayne still liked me, he just liked to make out with whatever girl he could find at the moment.
“Yah, like
I believe that one.” Vicky said rudely.
“She was with me.” Spencer defended me to her. “All night long. She never left my side.”
About that time, Sandy walked up, smiling, then her smile faded when she saw Dwayne with Vicky. She was hurt. Obviously she thought their make out session meant a bit more to him than he did. I could always read her face. She’d been my best friend for a couple of years now. I felt badly for her.
“Hey Sandy?” Vicky said rudely to her. “Was Taylor with Spencer all night long at the party Friday night?”
“Yes.” Sandy said, but she didn’t say it very convincingly. She was confused as to what the heck was going on.
“I knew it. It was Taylor. You cheated on me with Taylor. You sorry bastard.” Vicky slapped Dwayne across the face as everyone watched.
Everyone made an ouch face as Dwayne grabbed his face. “It wasn’t Taylor.”
Just then Vicky grabbed the sides of my face with both hands and started shaking my head. She could almost pick me up off of the ground.
Dwayne tried to pull her away from me, but she had a death grip on my face that she wasn’t releasing any time soon. Spencer pulled her hands apart, releasing me. Oh crap. What the heck just happened? I’d never been in a fight before. Was I just in a fight?
“Vicky. We’re finished.” Dwayne yelled to her. “I am not going to date some lowlife white trash girl that starts fights in school.”
“That means a lot coming from a cheater. Don’t be pointing fingers, you sorry bastard.” She screamed the words out.
The crowd was getting thicker. Everyone had heard the commotion so far, and they were gathering for the impending fight. Holy crap.
“Leave.” Dwayne ordered Vicky as he physically turned her around away from us, then he turned toward me. “I’m so sorry, Taylor. I didn’t tell her that I was with you. She just assumed that it was you.”
“That’s okay.” I said to him. My face still kind of hurt where she had grabbed it, but I didn’t want to look like a baby.
“I’m sorry.” Sandy said. “I didn’t know what was going on when she asked me.”
I laughed at her. “Yah. Thanks Sandy.”
“Are you okay?” Spencer asked as he turned my head to look at my face. “It looks like she dug her fingernails in. There’s some blood.”
Zane tilted my face up so he could see it. “Yes there is blood. Look what your white trash girlfriend did to Taylor, Dwayne.”
“I’m fine.” I told them all.
“I’m so sorry.” Dwayne apologized to me again. I knew he was sorry. I knew he’d never stop cheating, but I knew he didn’t want me hurt because of it. He smiled at Sandy. She smiled back at him.
The crowd thinned out when the first bell rang. Spencer rubbed my shoulder then headed to his Calculus class. I headed to my History class with Zane.
“That was exciting.” He joked with me.
“Maybe for you. That girl scares me.” I confided in him.
“Do you want me to teach you some moves in case she attacks you again?” he asked.
“No. My dad has me covered. He shows us his army moves once a week, whether we want to do them or not.” I told him.
“Oh yah. I forgot about that. Those might come in handy with Vicky. She was suspended already this year for fighting.”
“Damn. I didn’t know that. I might be in trouble then.”
“I’ll be your bodyguard. I’ll get all the guys to chip in. We won’t leave you unguarded.” He offered.
I laughed at him. “That’s not necessary. And I don’t want her to think that I’m scared of her.”
We walked into History class together and sat in our seats in the back as always. “She’ll cream you, Taylor. Let us watch you.”
“You can’t hit a girl.” I told him.
“I don’t have to hit her, just keep her from hitting you.”
I waved him off. I didn’t want to talk about it any more. I was kind of scared that this wasn’t over for her. I didn’t understand why she refused to believe that I wasn’t the one Dwayne cheated with the other night.
After class, I waited outside my shorthand class, hoping to run into Spencer as he came into his English class. He walked up just as I was about to give up on him.
“Hey, you’re still alive?” He joked with me.
“Yep. For now.” I said.
“I think she’s going to give up on you. I saw your friend Sandy talking to her a minute ago. Maybe she set her straight.”
“Thank God. But now I have to worry about Sandy getting beat up.” I told him.
We talked for a minute, then went our separate ways. Once inside my class, I pulled out my cell phone. I had a text from Sandy. “I told her it was me, but she didn’t believe me. Maybe I should have taken pictures with my phone.”
Darn. That meant she still thought it was me. And it meant that she was still upset about it. Was it too late to ask Zane for that bodyguard service? I’d never had an actual fight before, except with my sisters. We’d come to blows a few times over stupid things at the house: blow dryers and blue jeans.
After shorthand, Spencer invited me to lunch. I told him that I usually did lunch with Sandy, but he could join us if he wanted. He agreed to meet me in the parking lot at lunch. Sandy and I waited for him by my car at lunch.
“So you like him?” Sandy asked, as if she couldn’t believe it.
“I do.” I told her with a smile. I could always tell her anything. She’d been the closest friend I’d ever had in my life. “He’s the nicest guy I’ve ever met.”
“Honestly, I’m not sure I could handle the birthmark.” Sandy said.
“I don’t even notice it any more. Cheryl told him it was pretty.” I told her. “My little sister.” I added when she gave me a funny look, telling me that she didn’t know who I was talking about.
“That’s cute. You know he’s really good looking except for that. He’s got quite a body, and great hair.”
“His face is perfect too.”
“Except for the birthmark.” Sandy added.
“That makes him more unique, more special.” I told her. I meant it. He was beautiful.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this caught up in a guy before. Even Jose didn’t have you this clabbered. Or Jim. If I had to put money on which guy you would have fallen for completely, I think it would have been Jim.”
I laughed at her. “I can’t really explain it. I just like him. A lot. Are you and Dwayne going to start dating now?”
“Nah. He’s an awful kisser. Just like you said. I had razor burn all day Saturday. It burned when I washed my face with my acne wash. The guy actually hurt my lips because he kisses so hard. My lips were swollen all weekend.”
“Tell me about it. I can’t believe Vicky actually wants to fight for the guy.”
“I can’t believe she didn’t believe me. I was ready to take a punch for it and she didn’t believe me.”
“I wonder why she’s all convinced that it’s me.”
“Probably because Dwayne is still in love with you.” Zane said as he walked up to us.
Zane startled us both. We hadn’t seen Zane until he spoke. Spencer was right next to him. I was glad they didn’t show up a little earlier when we were discussing how much I liked Spencer. That would have been embarrassing.
“Hi.” Spencer said. “Can we all fit in your car?”
“Sure.” I said to him.
After pushing my gym clothes to the floor, Zane and Sandy climbed into the backseat, giving Spencer the front seat. It worked out perfectly. I drove us to Pizza Hut. We all had the buffet since it’s quicker than ordering. We only had forty five minutes for lunch. We all laughed and talked and ate pizza. Spencer was getting to be more fun the more he opened up to me. Even Sandy commented on how much fun he was now that she knew him a little better.
Spencer POV.
After lunch with Taylor, Sandy, and Zane, we walked onto school property from the parking lot. That
was really fun. Taylor definitely had a goofy side to her. The jokes and the silliness didn’t stop all during lunch. Zane suddenly stopped in front of us, causing us all to bump into him. He put his hand on Taylor’s stomach. “She won’t touch you.” he said in a protective voice.
What was he talking about? We all looked up to see Vicky coming toward us. It was more like stomping. Damn, she was a big girl. I hoped she wasn’t about to pounce on Sandy or Taylor. She’d cream them.
