18 - I Wanted To

Taylor was adorably nervous on Wednesday. Both about hanging out with Jones and about Owen finding out. I was glad that Eli and Owen had team bonding after practice tonight because that meant a less likely chance of Owen showing up and figuring out that something fishy was happening between Taylor and Jones.

I completely supported their relationship, however small it may be at this point, but I suspect there must be more than Taylor is not telling me. Why would Owen be so against Taylor dating one of his friends? They seemed like the kind of twins who told each other everything, so I hoped that if anything happened tonight, Taylor would own up to it. I don't think hiding anything from Owen was going to be helpful.

They were just so close, and I was envious of their sibling relationship. I would have loved to have someone like that to grow up beside.

We were going bowling at 5 PM, so Taylor and I had time to get ready.

I was going to be driving Taylor and Jones was going to be meeting us there. None of the other boys knew where we were going tonight unless Jones had told them. I am glad Eli had not asked because I would have felt guilty lying to him even if it was about something silly like this.

"Okay, what do you think of this?" Taylor asked, turning around. She was wearing a pair of her flared jeans that she brought with her and a neon crop top from my collection.

I had no issues sharing my clothes with her. The whole point of what I like to do is have clothes that everyone can enjoy. Unfortunately, due to our height differences, most of my pants don't fit Taylor, but I think most of the shopping collection would, and she can comfortably wear my tops.

"Damn, girl!" I said. She looked perfect. She had her hair in two side braids and was wearing a bandana. She looked like a 70s/80s mixed queen.

"Is it too much?" she asked me. On a regular bowling trip, maybe it was, but I wanted her to feel confident.

I laughed, "You know what, I will wear something outlandish, and then anything you wear will look normal."

She grinned, "I love that and you."

I ended up wearing a matching purple set with flare pants from the 70s. Taylor giggled, "You do look hot, though, Betty."

I smiled. "I'll wear this, but only if we can take some cute pictures together!"

Taylor agreed with me, "hey, if Jones can't deal with us taking pictures, then I might as well give up on him now."

My dad all but applauded our style when we came downstairs. "YES! PERFECT! This is exactly what I need. This is perfect, ladies!"

Taylor looked between my dad and me, utterly confused, but I knew exactly what he was going on about since he did this to me a lot.

We didn't have to leave for another thirty minutes, so we agreed that my dad could take us outside to get some cute pictures with his newest piece.

Taylor laughed when she realized that my dad wanted us to take pictures next to a large Coca Cola sign that my dad had just acquired for the store.

"Perfect!" He said, looking at the pictures. "Thank you, ladies!"

Taylor was laughing, "has your life always been one big photoshoot?"

In response, I showed her my dad's store's Instagram, and she scrolled through many years of pictures of me in fun outfits, posed with new pieces. His Instagram had way more followers than mine did, even though every third photo was of me.

"Wow," Taylor said while scrolling through.

"Weird?" I asked, cringing slightly.

She looked up at me, holding me back my phone, "not at all! I am jealous! Why have you never thought of modelling professionally?"

"Noo!" screamed my dad from inside the house. I guess the door was still open. "Then I would have to pay her!"

We both laughed. I loved taking pictures, but I always preferred the clothes and styles to the actual posing.

My dad airdropped us the photos he had just taken, and they were adorable. I would post one on my feed later. "Ya know Betty; I don't know if Eli Is going to like these pictures."

My stomach dropped, "Why?" I asked.

She giggled and pointed at the Coca Cola sign that was still in my front yard. "Isn't he obsessed with Pepsi or something?"

We both burst out laughing. Eli sure did love Pepsi.

We grabbed our purses and jackets and hopped in my VW to go to the bowling alley where Jones would be meeting us.

Taylor was giggling nervously the whole way, and I had to tell her to calm down before going inside.

Jones had already paid for us when we got there, and he was waiting for us at the front.

"Oh my god, you paid? Jones, you didn't have to do that!" Said Taylor, but she was smiling from ear to ear. She loved that he did that for us.

"I wanted to," he said, smiling shyly. Jones did always act shyer than the other three boys, but I had never seen him look so smitten before.

I went up to the counter and asked for some shoes in my size, then wandered over to sit at the lane that Jones had paid for, leaving him and Taylor standing at the front talking.

Before we started playing, we made Jones take some pictures as Taylor had promised me; however, we didn't take too many because we had already gotten a sizable amount from my dad earlier. I think I would try to sell the set I wearing after today. I now have enough pictures of it to last a lifetime, and someone else would probably enjoy using it for a similar shoot. Usually, if I get good photos in an outfit, I have an easier time selling it.

During the first game of bowling, Jones and Taylor were flirting aggressively. I swear at one point I thought they were going to drop on the floor and just start doing it in the middle of the bowling ally. It was a little bit awkward, but I was happy for Taylor.

It didn't take long for the flirting to move to something more because after the first game, Jones and Taylor had started making out, and I quietly excused myself to the bathroom. I didn't need to watch that. It was impressive that Taylor managed to move things this quickly. I mean, I am not too sure how long this sexual tension had been building before I got here. I guess this was the first chance they had without Owen being there.

I decided to give them a few extra minutes before I came back to start the second game. Maybe they would have gotten it out of their system by then, or perhaps I should just go and leave them to it? I would have to ask Taylor quietly. I didn't want to abandon her, but I also did not want to ruin their moment.

I expected to find the two of them on top of each other when I made my way back. The last thing I expected to see when I walked back over to our area was Jones sitting on the ground, looking dazed and Taylor screaming bloody murder at Owen, who looked furious.

It was evident by the group of people standing around that the soccer team bonding had decided to go bowling, and Owen had caught his sister making out with Jones. I felt almost guilty like I should have been looking out or something, but I couldn't have known.

I decided it was time to step in for Taylor's sake, but I was jerked backwards when I tried to rush over.

Eli had wrapped his arm around my waist. He whispered for me to stay out of it, but I knew Taylor needed me.

Unfortunately, Eli was much bigger and stronger than I was, and he pulled me away from the scene. "Hey, hey, stop. There is a lot more going on here then you know."

I looked around his shoulder. Now Taylor was crying, and Owen was apologizing to Jones, who was still sitting on the floor, looking just as confused as I felt.

I looked at Eli, frantic, "But Taylor... I was her ride, and I need to get her out of here. She is so upset. Why did Owen do that? What the hell is going on, Eli."

He shook his head. "It's not my place."

"You're being unreasonable, Owen! I love you, but it's not his fault! It's not mine either! YOU NEED TO GET OVER IT!"

I was more confused than ever when Taylor came stalking back towards me, and Eli let go of me so the two of us could embrace.

I pulled Taylor tight, confused but worried for my friend. She was a lot taller than me, but her knees had buckled, so her face was buried into my neck, and she was sobbing.

"Do you want to stay at my house tonight?" I asked her.

She nodded.

I looked at Eli and glanced over at Jones. He nodded; he would take care of it.

I pulled Taylor over to a seat and went back to get our stuff. Some of the soccer team looked concerned, and others were filming the scene in front of them, laughing. I glared at one of the boys who pointed his phone at me.

"Hey! Put that down, you asshole!" Growled Eli, who had made his way back over to the group.

I glanced over at Taylor, and a boy from the soccer team I didn't know was sitting with her, looking lost and helpless.

"Shut up, dude, this is hilarious!" the boy was laughing and pointing his phone in Jone's face, still on the ground.

Eli grabbed the guy's phone, standing in front of Jones. "I don't need to remind you what I did to the last guy to film someone on this team."

His teammate put his hands up in surrender, and his eyes went wide.

Eli huffed, "delete it," he grunted, handing his teammate back his phone.

I shook my head, trying to get my mind back on Taylor. I leaned down to grab our shoes, and Owen seized my shoulder, "Betty, I...," he said. His voice cracked.

"Not right now, Owen. I need to get her out of here."

He had tears in his eyes. I glanced over at Taylor. She was looking down at one of the boy's teammates, who was now helping her untie her bowling shoes. I gave Owen a quick hug. One that I know Taylor wouldn't see. I don't know what was going on, but Owen was upset too.

Taylor was sobbing when I went over to help her put on her shoes, and the two of us made our way over to my car.

We drove home in silence, except for the occasional sniffle from Taylor.

When we got back, my parents were in the living room. I sent Taylor upstairs and went to make sure they were okay with her staying the night, not that they had much of a choice.

It was only 6:30 PM so my parents ordered us some take out and thirty minutes later, Taylor and I were sitting on the floor in my bedroom, eating noodles out of boxes.

"I'm surprised you haven't asked what happened yet," said Taylor sniffling.

I looked up at her, "I knew you would tell me when you were ready."

She smiled at me. "You really are too nice, Betty."

She put down her food, and I copied her. Although I was trying my best to be nice, I did want to know what was going on.

"Owen's first kiss was Jones."

My mouth hung open, and I quickly closed it. Taylor giggled, "I'm sorry, I just, I was not expecting you to say that."

"When we were in freshman year, Jones found Owen crying in the park after a soccer game. Owen had always been open about being gay, but not everyone has been nice about it. Usually, he didn't get picked on too much because he is tall and athletic, and to someone who was just seeing him play soccer, he doesn't look gay."

I nodded.

"But one soccer team knew because the previous summer, Owen had gotten close with one guy from their team at camp. He liked this guy, and he thought that this jackass actually liked him back." Taylor stopped to take compose herself. She wiped a tear off of her face.

"I wasn't there that summer; I was away at my grandparents in Florida, so I didn't see this happen, but eventually the guy exposed him to everyone as the boy who had a crush on another boy. They taunted him and said things like, 'do you think I would like you?'

It was horrible, but Owen was strong because, of course, he was. He just focused all of his energy into soccer. But then he ended up playing a huge chunk of the boys during a game in freshman year. They taunted him about how no boy would ever want to kiss him, stuff like that. I guess he wasn't expecting it, because after the game he just broke down.

Jones had been on the team at that point and watched him run off after the game, and I guess he followed him."

She took in a deep breath.

"Owen was crying on a bench, and he opened up to Jones. About what the guys had been saying to him during the game. About how he believed it and about how he would never have his first kiss. I think it was harder for him because I had already had mine, and so had all the rest of the guys. It was just him."

"I guess there isn't a lot of guys out around here?" I interjected.

Taylor shook her head, "not really, but there are a lot of allies. Like Jones, who just wanted to make it better for his friend. So, to fix the problem, Jones kissed him."

We were both smiling at this point.

"It was just short and sweet, but I think it did make Owen feel a lot better. He got a lot more confident after that, and while his focus hasn't been dating, he has always loved Jones a little bit for what he did for him that day. I have too."

We both paused for a moment, and suddenly, Taylor had tears streaming down her face again.

"I knew it would upset Owen to see me with Jones, that's why I didn't tell him. But I just have liked him for so long, and Owen knew this even before that day, and I think it is unfair that just because they kissed that one time, I can't explore my feelings with him."

"I'm so selfish." she cried out, flopping on the floor.

I grabbed her shoulders, "Taylor, no, you're not! I think you and Owen need to have a heart to heart about this. Owen loves you more than anything, he'll understand."

She nodded, tears flowing down her face.

Then we heard music.

I got up off the floor and looked out my window to see Owen standing on the lawn holding his phone and a small speaker. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw him. What the hell is he doing?

I opened my window. Taylor was still on the floor. "Come down here, or I'm coming in!" he screamed. It was getting a little dark, and I didn't want to go outside. I looked at Taylor, who heard her brother's voice.

She sighed, nodding her head.

I went downstairs to let Owen in. He said hi to my parents before I shoved him upstairs. Taylor was sitting on my bed by the time I got back upstairs with Owen following me like a sad puppy.

Her hair was a mess, and her make up was all over her face.

Owen saw her and gasped, pulling her into a hug. "Tay, I'm so sorry," he sounded shattered.

Her chin wobbled, "I'm sorry too!" They embraced, and I shut my bedroom door.

Even though it was... my bedroom. They needed time to heal whatever had been broken.

---

2724

"But who's gonna catch you when you fall

And I need you, but you need me too

Maybe you don't believe

I think you need a friend like me" - Betty Who

who do you love most?