"Did you win?" Taylor asked immediately. It was the first thing out of his mouth after Fran picked up the phone. She had just stepped into the shower when her phone rung. Taylor had told her that he was calling that night, so she had to run out in a towel and pick it up.
"Hi hun! I�m doing great. How�s the trip going?" Fran asked, cynically. He laughed. "Yeah we won. Thanks to me."
"You�re so modest, Frenchie."
"Well Taylor that�s me!" she said, then sat down on the bed. "I can�t talk long. I had just stepped in the shower when you called me. Right now I�m dripping wet and wearing a towel."
"Ooh!" Taylor said, a hint of a smile in his voice. "How come I�m not over there right now?" She smiled. That Taylor was one big boner waiting to happen. Fran had gotten used to his sexual thoughts and appreciated the fact that he saw her that way. Most guys thought of her to be too boyish to be sexual.
Taylor really appreciated her. Their relationship meant a lot to him, and he expressed it often. His family didn�t know the side that Fran saw, and saw all the time. He wasn�t as wholesome as they thought. They never knew that the two were constantly making out.
"I miss you," Fran said. "I miss you already and you haven�t even been gone a day."
"French, I miss you more. I miss your eyes, I miss your nose, I miss your lips�" Fran smiled. "I miss your lips a lot!" She had to laugh. "I�ll miss my daily make out session with you."
"Oh honey you know I�ll miss that," Fran said. Taylor paused, waiting for his brother to pass by. Fran was used to the pauses, knowing that he wanted the family to keep their �clean� image of him.
"So, how was the party?" Taylor asked, a twinge of regret in his voice. "I hated that I had to miss it." Fran sighed.
"The guys plotted against me and took off my top."
"Dammit!" he said. "I knew we should of left a day later. But no�we had to leave early! Just in case�" Fran laughed. "It would of given me an excuse to stare at your chest."
"Taylor you don�t need an excuse, everyone knows you�re a pervert." She could hear him roll his eyes. It was something he did often. "At least me and my team do. Everyone was saying that now that you have a record deal that you�re going to be gone all the time and you�re going to forget about me."
"I could never forget about you, Frenchie. I might be gone a lot but I could never forget about you." She sighed. He admitted he was going to be gone a lot. She shared his excitement, but knew she was going to miss him. How come she couldn�t go with him?
"I miss you," she whispered, gripping the knot in her towel. She missed him being there, she missed him whispering into her ear as they gazed into the stars, she missed his lips against hers, she missed his tongue over her neck�
Dammit it had only been a day.
"I miss you," he whispered back. He sighed, and muttered three words that were barely audible. "I love you." She let herself smile, her eyes glistening with joy. He said it, he actually said it. He hadn�t said it before�she needed to respond before he killed himself.
"I love you," she said, almost giddy. He laughed, pleased. "And I really have to go now." The happiness vanished, immediately.
"Alright. Goodbye Frenchie."
"Goodbye Taylor." She hung up the phone and went back into the bathroom with tears in her eyes.
Fran lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling. Her eyes flickered to the clock. 2:37. Dammit, she had school the next day!! The first day of school and Taylor wouldn�t be there to walk her to the bus stop, watch her go and wait for her when she came back. He did that every year since they�d known each other. Well he wasn�t going to be there.
She looked around the room. It was so dark in there. She was afraid to turn on the light�her mother might be around and yell at her. She lay awake, her hands gripping the pillow next to her. Taylor always stayed over the night before her first day of school. That was another thing he always did.
Fran sighed and turned to the space next to her. He wasn�t there. That side of the bed was empty. She could possibly spread out and be comfortable but it wasn�t right. She didn�t even have that big of a bed�just a twin. The other bed was in the guest room�Taylor used to sleep in there. But one night a few years back he was dead tired and fell asleep on her bed. From then on they shared a bed whenever he was over, and when she was over there.
She smiled, remembering once when she shared the bed with Zac. He was so uncomfortable with the whole situation. So she climbed up into Isaac�s bed. She remembered his comment. Hey, sleep with Taylor, my bed�s full. She remembered why too, cause Zac felt left out that she always hung with Taylor and Isaac. She spent most of her time with Taylor because they were the same age. Eventually she became friends with Isaac. When Zac felt left out, she was friends with him. Now all four of them were great�but she still had that special bond with Taylor.
Taylor hadn�t called her that day.
She had waited by the phone. He called everyday previous, around the same time. Today he didn�t call and she wondered why. She was wondering if he was beginning to forget�Fran, shut up!! He probably was too busy today. It�s one day. If he doesn�t call tomorrow than you can worry. When she heard the clock in the hallway chime three, she became nervous. Why can�t I sleep? I can always sleep. I�ve never been up this late before. Besides that one night when we were high on Dr. Pepper and jellybeans.
Fran had to snicker. That night was so hilarious. The two went to the store together, got a case of Dr. Pepper and a large bag of jellybeans. They popped in old movies and made fun of them. When Fran had come close to showing any kind of emotion besides laughter in one movie, Taylor threw jellybeans at her. She hit with a pillow and started a pillow fight that lasted hours. She remembered her mother coming in around four in the morning. The two had messed up hair and pillow in their hands, but stopped when she came in .
Shut the hell up! There�s people in here who have to sleep! When she left the two just laughed and continued what they were doing. She was the only adult Taylor was comfortable using the work fuck around. Even around Coach Curtis he wouldn�t say that word. Taylor had slipped when he was eleven years old, and was immediately embarrassed. Fran remembered how Sally didn�t even care.
Fran sat up in her bed, leaning against the back frame. She felt the empty pit in her stomach. She�d been hungry for weeks now, but food didn�t do anything. She wanted Taylor back, and she knew it wouldn�t be happening. A knot twisted inside her, pulling tighter and tighter. She gripped the sheets from the pain. It was a dull ache, an aching for her best friend. It ripped around, causing her to get nauseated.
"This isn�t supposed to be happening," she whispered to herself. "I�m not supposed to be getting sick." She gripped the sheets again, clenching her fingers so tightly her knuckles went white. She waited for the pain to subside. It normally did, if she stayed in one position then it would just dull itself out. It didn�t this time.
Fran got up and ran into the bathroom, flicking on the light. The sudden brightness made her head pound. She ran to the toilet and threw up everything she had eaten that day.
She washed her face and brushed her teeth once the nausea passed. This was insane. She missed him so much she was making herself sick. She was starting school, she didn�t have any time to think about Taylor. Fran walked back to her bed and gently laid herself down on it. He was probably having the time of his life over there�living his dream to become famous. It was everyone dream, of course, but he was actually living it in reality.
Fran watched as the numbers on her clock reached hours beyond her normal waking moments. She�d never before seen five in the morning, not even four-thirty. She had to admit she normally went to be around ten and woke up around seven. Those hours in between were not known by her eyes. To see the little dot at the AM portion of her clock, and having the clock read 6:01 was odd. She was waiting for the sun to rise.
At 6:10, Fran ran out of her room and onto the balcony. Not really being in her right mind (for she had lost it all from the lack of sleep) Fran found her way onto the roof. She looked east, over the houses and over the trees. The stars faded away, making her cringe. She hated when the stars left. When she couldn�t see the stars she never was happy. Light rose from the ease, slowly. It was a reverse sunset. It was beautiful. Fran had never seen the sun rise before. She watched every sunset and waited for the stars to come out every night. She�d never seen the stars disappear and the sun come up.
She wished Taylor was there to see it with her. She wished he was there and that he would tell her that the sunrise was beautiful. She wished he was there to walk her to the bus stop. It wasn�t that far away but he needed to be there. She wished he was there so they could sit in the backyard and wait for the stars to come out, and kiss softly until it was time to come inside. She wished he was there to kiss her passionately until it was time to come inside. Fran missed his hands over her back, holding her tight.
"Fran!! What the hell are you doing up there?" Sally yelled. Fran let her head shoot to her mother. That woman was being to nice to her lately. "Get down here before you kill yourself." Fran carefully climbed over to the balcony and let herself down on it. "How did you get up there?"
"Mom, I climbed. It�s really not that hard." Sally gave her an upset look, which only turned to worry.
"You�re thinking about Taylor, aren�t you?" she asked. Fran nodded. "I thought about my first lover that way too when he left."
"Lover?" Fran asked, shocked. "No mom, not yet." Sally looked at her, wide-eyed and confused.
"You mean to tell me you two sleep in the same bed with each other every single night and yet you don�t do anything?" Fran shook her head. "Damn I wish I had your will power. I seriously don�t know what you�re waiting for."
"Mother I�m only thirteen." Sally looked at her child, shocked. Fran let her mouth drop. Her mother didn�t even know how old she was. How pathetic.
"Are you sure?" Fran nodded. "I could of sworn you were fifteen." Fran walked past her mother and into the house. Sally followed, confused. "Well then, Fran. I suggest you wait until your fifteen�gotta be careful ya know. People might think you�re a slut or something."
"I�m not having this conversation with you, mother," Fran said. "Taylor and I do not have sex, and we won�t for a very long time. At the rate he�s going we�ll be thirty by the time it happens."
"Why? He�s moving slow or something?" Sally asked. Fran walked into her room and picked out her clothes for school. Why was she even talking? Must not be doing anything for a while.
"Not really, it�s just now he�s going to be gone a lot." Sally nodded, understanding, then smiled. "Mother! I�m not telling you how far we�ve gotten. You don�t need to know." Fran pushed Sally out of the room.
"Wait! I have another question."
"No you don�t!" Fran yelled and slammed the door in her mother�s face. Sally smiled and walked away. She could pressure anything out of that girl. She was just too easy to bug. And from what she heard, and what she�d seen before, she was just easy.
"Since when have she been thirteen?" she asked herself. "I could of sworn that girl was fifteen. I could of sworn it!"