Chapter 48: Unexpected Meetings in the Dark
Ellie turnned around to a stunned Taylor.
"Tay!" she gasped, the tears still falling.
"Ellie! Hey, sorry..........whats wrong Ellie, why are you crying?"
Ellie's lower lip began to quiver again. She broke down crying, and Taylor pulled her into a hug. She cried into his shoulder as hard as she possible could. Taylor rubbed her back and tried to hush her. He stood there with his arms around her, trying to calm her for about five minutes. After awhile, he pulled her off him and looked at her face.
"Ellie, tell me what happened. Please." he begged, a sincerity in his eyes.
Ellie sniffled.
"Your shirt, I'm sorry." she whispered with a small smile.
Taylor looked at his shirt and grinned.
"Ah, don't worry about it....its Ike's shirt."
"Oh! It is?" Ellie laughed.
Taylor nodded.
"But I know thats not whats wrong Ellie. Please tell me what happened." he pleaded, serious again.
Ellie took a deep breath.
"When I was going home, I saw Zac, and we just stared at each other Tay. I don't get it. I don't know what to do about him. Then I went inside and my dad told me that he got transferred."
She began to cry again.
"Oh no!" exclaimed Taylor, pulling her into another hug.
"How long will you be here?" he asked.
"Thats the worst part Tay." she said with a laugh.
"We leave next week."
Taylor's jaw dropped.
"Where are you moving to?"
"Cleveland."
"Cleveland! Thats kinda far."
"Yea, I know. I don't want to go."
"I wouldn't either. But hey, look at it this way. You'll be able to come visit us! And you can stay with somebody. You're always welcome at my house, and probably at Lindsay's and August's, it wont be that bad. It'll work. You'll be able to come back and see Zac." Taylor said with a wink.
Ellie laughed.
"Tay, theres nothing between me and Zac, and now I really doubt that there ever will be." she said with a disappointed sigh.
"Why do you say that?" asked Taylor.
Ellie shrugged.
"Well, he was acting really weird and won't talk to me. I don't know what to think."
"Ok, thats true, but Zac always acts weird."
Ellie laughed.
"But truthfully, he doesn't know what to do. He really does like you, but the last time he asked a girl out, she laughed in her face and embarrassed him in front of all his friends and hers."
"Why would she do that to him? Zac's like, the nicest guy in the world!"
Taylor nodded and shrugged. They were silent.
"What was her name?" asked Ellie
"What was who's name?" asked Taylor.
"The girl that turned down Zac."
Taylor nodded.
"Oh. Scout Higgins."
Ellie's jaw dropped.
"What did you say?"
Taylor looked confused.
"Scout Higgins." he repeated.
"Wow." exclaimed Ellie.
"Wow what?"
Taylor was confused.
"Scout is Lindsay's cousin!" exclaimed Ellie.
"Seriously?" asked Taylor.
Ellie nodded.
"Wow........speaking of Lindsay, we should probably be heading over there." he suggested.
Ellie nodded.
"Tay?"
"Yea?"
"Thanks."
"For what?"
"For being a friend and listening.....and for letting me cry on your shirt." she added with a laugh.
Taylor grinned.
"Hey, thats what I'm here for. I'm just doing the job of a friend. And remember, its Ike's shirt."
Ellie smiled. The two finished the walk to Lindsay's and walked in. They walked down to the basement and all heads turned towards them.
"Tay! Where'd you go?" asked August, standing up.
"I followed Zac. We talked for awhile."
August nodded.
"Where is Zac?" she added.
"He went home."
"Is everything alright?" asked Isaac.
"Yea, he's just a little confused. We're going to talk to him when we go home Ike."
Isaac nodded. He noticed the stain on Taylor's...er....his shirt.
"Tay, what happened to my shirt?"
Taylor looked down.
"Oh. I ran into Ellie on the way over here."
"Yea Ike, I'm sorry."
"Hey, its ok. But what happened? Any why does it look like you were crying?"
Ellie took a deep breath and sat down.
"Because I was."
"Ell, what happened?" asked Lindsay.
"Well, I told you I had a ‘family meeting', right?"
Lindsay and August nodded.
"Well, I got home and my dad told me that we're moving." she whispered as tears began to fall again.
"Thats terrible!" exclaimed August.
Ellie nodded.
"I leave next week."
"Next week!?" said Lindsay in disbelief.
Ellie nodded again.
"I'm moving to Cleveland. Me and my dad got into a fight, and I left. I was running, and I stopped, and Tay ran into me, and he brought me back into reality."
"Well, thats Tay for ya!" exclaimed Isaac. "He's the only one of us that lives in reality."
Everyone laughed.
"Well, look at it this way Ell. Whenever we're up there on tour or something, we can all hang out." suggested Isaac.
Ellie nodded.
"I would like that."
"Oh, I know you would! You'd get to see Zac and show him off to everybody!" joked Isaac.
Ellie's face fell.
"Whats wrong Ellie?" asked Isaac.
"Ike, when I was walking home, I saw Zac, and he just looked at me and went inside. I don't know what to think right now, and I don't want to think about it right now. I don't want to worry about it. I only have a few days left in Tulsa, and I want them to be good."
Isaac nodded.
"He'll come around. I promise."
"I hope so. I don't want to leave with him and I not friends. Better yet, I don't want to leave." Ellie joked.
Everyone smiled.
"Oh!" exclaimed Lindsay. "If you hadn't noticed, Leigh, Josh, Chris and Amy left while you were gone."
"Oh, thanks Lindz, I wouldn't have guessed!" Taylor said sarcastically with a grin.
Lindsay rolled her eyes and the friends sat silently.
Chapter Fourty-Nine
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