Page 39 of Dreams
Chapter Nine
Fall in Ohio could be a beautiful thing. The crisp chill in the air made for perfect sweatshirt weather. A rainbow of orange, green, and red leaves covered the ground as a soft cushion beneath the feet of college students as they talk of the upcoming football game or weekend tail-gaiting. The nice weather didn’t last long, so they had to enjoy while they could before the long, frigid winter took over.
Leaves crunched beneath Taylor as she shifted against the tree. She was sitting on the ground, sketchbook propped on her knees, nose scrunched in concentration. She didn’t hear him walk up, despite the lack of stealth fall noises created.
“Taylor.” She heard it in the back of her mind, but kept drawing.
“Taylor.” Louder this time.
A foot nudged her leg, and she startled out of her trance. Closing her book quickly, she looked up, squinting into the sun.
“Hey, Colin,” she said.
“You good?” he asked.
“Yeah, yeah. Just working on something.”
“Homework?”
“Something like that.” It was a lie. The truth was, Taylor hadn’t been able to bring herself to work on much homework since retrieving her sketchbook. She’d even skipped her classes today in favor of drawing. There was a picture she just couldn’t get right. A picture of Danny. It looked like him, but she couldn’t get it out of her head that something was missing, a feeling.
“You sure you’re okay?” he asked, realizing she’d zoned out again.
She nodded, and he took a seat beside her.
“Can I ask you something?” He looked at her and her mind told her this was a bad idea, but she agreed anyway.
“Shoot.”
“Did Abigail cheat on me?”
Those warning bells that had been going off in her head - yeah, she should have listened to them. Taylor had always been a terrible liar. Danny said it was because she had too many tells. Chewing on the end of her hair? Well, she couldn’t do that anymore. Shifting her eyes away was less obvious beneath her glasses. But, tapping her fingers against the side of her leg? Yes, she was doing that.
Colin looked from her fidgeting hand to her face and sighed. “That’s what I thought.”
“But, I didn’t tell you anything,” Taylor argued.
“You didn’t have to.”
“Look, you need to talk to her about this.”
“Like she’ll tell me the truth,” he scoffed, scrambling to his feet and looking down at her. “Don’t try to lie, Taylor. It doesn’t suit you.”
“Because of my damn tells.” She leaned her head back against the tree, remembering what Danny had said to her.At least I know you’re always being honest with me.Then he’d laugh.
“Whatever.” He kicked the ground. “I have to go.”
Taylor watched his retreating form as she stood up and brushed off her pants, the mood officially killed. Sighing, she walked in the direction of the dorm, passing the football stadium, or “The Shoe” as her football obsessed classmates called it.
Saying a quick “hi” to people she passed in the hall of her dorm, she hurried to her room, where Abigail sat hunched over a textbook at her desk.
“You need to talk to Colin.” Taylor tossed her bag onto her bed.
“He’ll live,” Abigail responded, closing her book and rubbing her temples. “I hate accounting.”
“Abigail, seriously, Colin’s a nice guy, and he just came to me asking about you cheating.”
“I didn’t cheat.” She shrugged.
