Two weeks later found me still in a fake relationship with Taylor. He still hadn�t thought of anything to top my idea for a break up. And for some reason the thought of he doesn�t want to kept rolling through my mind. It was somewhat logical, but it couldn�t be true.
We were in Chicago. Zac had stopped by earlier to remind me of the exhibition at the museum. After he left, Darling came over to talk. Taylor left with Zac (they had some problem locating Isaac�s guitar).
I looked up at Darling from my position at the table and I instantly felt bad. Here it was, two weeks since I�d talked to her and she was back here. I couldn�t do anything about it, Taylor wasn�t agreeing with me! It still didn�t make me feel any better.
�Hi,� I said.
�Hi.� She sat down. �Um, this is Amber�s hometown. She�s back home now. I wanted to go visit her; I was just wondering if you wanted to go.�
�Me? Go see Amber? What the hell?�
�Well, I just wanted to ask,� she said and got up. As she walked away, I realized this would be among the few times I could be with her until Taylor and I broke up.
�I�ll go.�
�Um...okay.� I followed her out of the room. �Are you going to tell Taylor you�re coming with?�
�Oh, he�ll figure it out,� I said. �We don�t exactly keep track of each other.�
�Okay.� As we got to the elevator, Taylor, Zac and Isaac came out of one, Isaac holding his guitar.
"Good. That�s an expensive one," Darling said. I smiled. She sounded like a wife already. �We�re going to see Amber.� Taylor and Zac both looked at me, questioning why I was going along.
�Shut up,� I said.
�Can I come too?� Taylor asked. I gave him a look. If he came along, I was sure Darling wouldn�t talk to me.
�I don�t know...�
�Please? She�s still one of my best friends. I haven�t seen her in months.� I looked at Darling. She didn�t even look at me, much less approve.
�Alright.�
He stayed in the elevator. Zac and Isaac walked back to the rooms while Darling and I went into the elevator. The door closed. I gave him a look.
�What?�
�Nothing.� I leaned against the wall. Surprisingly, he grabbed my hand and kissed my cheek. �What was that for?�
�No reason.�
�Okay.� I glanced at Darling. She shrugged. As we walked over to the parking lot, I pushed Taylor in the direction of his car. I knew Darling didn�t like to drive (I�m sure the reason she wanted me to come along was so she didn�t have to drive.)
�So I guess I�m driving?� Taylor asked.
�Well Darling doesn�t like to drive and I don�t want to, so I guess you�re stuck, hun.�
�Great,� he muttered. He walked over to the driver�s side. I stood by my door and cleared my throat. He looked up. �What?� I glanced to the door and back to him. �Oh, no. You can open it yourself.�
�I don�t know...I might break a nail or something.�
�You don�t have any nails! You cut them off because you can�t stand them!�
�I�m still waiting for you to open the door for me.� I said, and put a hand on my hip. �And Darling�s.�
�I have to open both?�
�Yes. You are so not a gentleman. Zac opens my door for me whenever we�re together, even if he�s with someone else.�
�I�m not Zac.�
�It�s obvious.� He stuck his tongue out at me. �I�m still waiting, Taylor.�
�At least you stopped calling me Tay.� I crossed my arms over my chest and tapped my foot against the ground. �Ugh! Fine!�
He walked over to my door and opened it, I smiled and got in. �You�ll thank me later that I push you so hard,� I said. He shut the door.
�You know I love you, sweetie, but shut up,� he said, He opened the door for Darling and she got in the back seat.
When he got in the car, I turned to him. �What did you mean by that?�
�You�re talking and I�m not liking what you say so I told you to shut up.�
�No, before that.�
�I guess I�m still stuck in being your boyfriend because there�s someone else here. I forgot you knew, Darling.�
�What a way to make me feel special.�
�I love you too Darling.�
�Dear God no.� He gave her a look. �Watch the road, Taylor.�
�I haven�t started the car yet!�
�You better do that so we can get going. Amber�s expecting us at two.� I looked at the clock. We had a half an hour. �She lives out in Franklin Park; it�s going to take a while to get there.�
�How am I supposed to get there? I don�t know this city at all.�
�If you go south on this road, the second light is North Avenue. We can take that to Franklin Park.�
�Okay, just tell me where I�m going.� Darling began to give him various directions, confusing the hell out of him and soon we were lost.
�Taylor, we�re lost.�
�We�re not lost,� he said, stubbornly. �I know exactly where we are.�
�No you don�t. We�re lost. You said you didn�t know this city at all, so how could you know where we are?�
�Because I�m a guy and lost is not part of my vocabulary.�
�Well you suck. Pull over, I�m driving. I know that when Darling says �turn right here� I don�t got left at the next intersection.�
�It was a one way street going to other way!�
�No it wasn�t!�
�Yes it was. I swear it was. I�ll go back there and show you.�
�Oh, like you ever know how to get back there.�
�I got us here, didn�t I?� he asked.
�Here? Where is here? Where the hell are we, Taylor?� We passed an intersection.
�We�re on Irving Park road.�
�Irving Park?� Darling yelled. �How the hell did you get us from North Avenue to Irving Park road? We�re nowhere near where we�re supposed to be!�
�I knew that. I just wanted to make sure you were paying attention.�
�Taylor!�
�What?�
�What�s the name of that street up there?� she asked. He squinted his eyes to see.
�Uh, Harlem.� He thought about it. �Harlem? Are we still in Chicago?�
�Turn left up there at Harlem.� She sighed. �We�re not as far as I thought. When you get to Belmont, turn right.�
�How far are we from Amber�s house?� I asked, trying to take the conversation away from yelling at Taylor.
�About five or six miles.�
�See? We�re not that far away.�
�You keep looking for Belmont, okay? We started five or six miles from her house.�
�Whatever. We�re still not far away. You made it seem like I drove us to Canada and back.�
�You probably did, you just turned around when you saw the sign.�
�Sure, I drove all the way to Canada and back in a hour.� I looked at the street sign ahead.
�Aren�t you supposed to be turning up here?� I asked.
�Oh. Thank you.� He switched to the left lane.
�Taylor, we�re turning right.�
�I knew that.�
�I will not be surprised if you kill us all trying to get five miles down the road.�
�Shut up. I�m driving, you�re not. I�ll get us there in one piece.� I looked back at Darling.
�Is Amber really expecting us?�
�Her mom is. I�m not quite sure that Amber knows.�
�Well that could be a problem. I�m sure the last surprise Amber wants today is to see me.�
�Why�d you even come anyway?� Darling asked. �I just wanted to get out of driving and you were the only person around.�
�I don�t know. I guess I wanted to spend some time with you. But then my loser boyfriend decided he wanted to come along too.�
�I�m sorry! I just wanted to see Amber!
�You two do remember you�re not in a real relationship.� Taylor and I looked at each other and shrugged.
�Yeah, but it�s fun.� We sat in silence until Taylor finally found his way to Amber�s house. The only words passed were Darling�s occasional directions.
Taylor pulled in front of a rather small and ragged home. �This is Amber�s house?� he asked.
�Her parents had to sell the other house and a lot of stuff to pay for her medical bills. They didn�t have good insurance and no one would take them and pay for her rehab.�
"What a dump..."
�Taylor! That�s mean!�
�It does look nice from the inside. They have more money now that she�s out of the hospital. Her father does make a lot of money, they just had to suffer for a while.�
�It still doesn�t seem like Amber at all.�
�This time next year they�ll be back in their mansion, if all goes well.�
�Did you see her house before this one?� I asked. It was rather run-down, I had to admit that.
�This place is a cardboard box compared to their old place,� Taylor said. �That place was huge.�
�I didn�t see it, but I have been here a few times,� Darling said. �Let�s go.� She opened the door and got out.
�Do I have to open you door?� Taylor asked.
�Yes.�
�Figures.� He got out of the car and I waited for him to open my door. He held out his hand to me. �Mademoiselle...� I smiled and took his hand. He helped me out of the car.
�Tu es tr�s mignon.�
�Huh?�
�You are very cute.�
�Well duh,� he said. I kissed him. �You gotta stop that. I�ll start thinking we�re a real couple and take advantage of you.�
�You better not.�
�I�ll try.� We walked hand in hand to the door. Darling was already there, waiting.
�It�s about time, you two. Stop acting like a couple. You�re supposed to be in love with other people.�
�Yeah whatever,� I said. �Just ring the doorbell.� She knocked on the door. �Or knock, whatever.�
�The doorbell doesn�t work.�
�They don�t even have a doorbell!�
�Shut up, Nic, they�ll hear you. God, you can be so fucking loud sometimes! Hi!� Darling said, putting on her best smile as Amber�s mother opened the door.
�My, my, I wasn�t expecting a crowd.�
�Well I just had two people who insisted on coming,� Darling said. Amber�s mother looking at me, then to Taylor.
�Taylor! I haven�t seen you in so long!� Taylor smiled, releasing my hand. �Come here and give me a hug.�
�Hi Mom, I missed you too,� he said, hugging her. I exchanged glances with Darling. She didn�t expect Amber�s mother to like him this much either.
�Amber will be thrilled you came. All of you.� Her eyes landed on me again. �I don�t believe we�ve met. I�m Claudia.�
�Hi. I�m Nicole.�
�Nicole? Where have I heard of you before?� My eyes grew; Amber must have told her about me.
�Um, you haven�t. No reason to dwell on the past. Let�s go,� I quickly said. She smiled and let us in.
Darling was right, it was nicer on the inside. It looked bigger because of the way things were spaced and lit. Claudia led us towards the back of her house.
�Amber still has some problems with her heart, so she can�t do very much. I�ll go in there and tell her you three are here.� Claudia went into the room.
�How long has it been since she overdosed?� I asked.
�It�s been about five months, but she�s damaged her heart completely,� Darling whispered. �She won�t be able to handle much in the future.�
Claudia came back out, smiling. �Alright, you can go on in. She�s excited to see you.� Claudia walked away.
�You two go in first, it�ll draw attention away from me.�
�She�s going to know you�re here, Nic.�
�Well I don�t want to go in first.� Taylor rolled his eyes and went inside. Darling and I followed him in.
�Taylor!�
Taylor�s face lit up and he ran over and hugged Amber. The first thing I noticed was how little she was now. She was skinny to begin with and now she�d lost a lot more weight. She was paler and her eyes were clear. She looked so different. I had a hard time believing this was the real Amber. But I could definitely tell what Zac had seen in her (he'd known her before she started drugs.) She was beautiful when she wasn't high.
Darling walked over and gave her a hug too, but I stood nervously at the door. Amber looked over at me and I saw a flinch in her eyes. �Hi Nic.�
�Hi Amber.�
�You can come in and sit down, I don�t exactly have a reason to hate you anymore.� I took a seat at her desk. I don�t know what I was doing there, but I was there and I couldn�t just leave. �Darling mentioned to me your plan to break up Zac and his new girlfriend. Damn, why didn�t I think of that? Wait, I did.�
�What? You tried it?� I asked, my eyes flickering to Taylor.
�Yeah. We started out as a couple to break you two up, but I fell for Amber so it didn�t work,� Taylor said. �We were just close friends before.�
�Well Taylor and I weren�t even friends before,� I said. Amber shrugged.
�It�s still the same,� she said.
�Not it�s not!�
�What do you have against me, Nic?� Amber asked. �Everything would work out so much better if we joined forces instead of using them against each other.
�We tried that, remember? Then you just stabbed me in the back.�
�Why don�t we stop this conversation right now?� Darling asked. �I don�t want you two at each other like you always are! If you both don�t drop it we�ll just leave.� I sat back and shut my mouth.
Darling and Taylor talked avidly with Amber while I pretty much just sat there. I wasn�t being a good sport, I know, but that was how I was feeling. I did notice how Taylor and Amber were sitting. He had his arm around her and she was leaning up against him. Hmph, what a bitch, I thought.
What the hell was that? That sounded like jealousy. Me? Jealous because Taylor was paying more attention to Amber than he was to me? Why would I be jealous? He�s not even my boyfriend! Why would I be jealous of her anyway? I am so pathetic. But I was still jealous of her. Taylor never held me like that.
Oh dear God, I�m jealous of Amber...I need help.