Page 54 of Dreams
Chapter Thirteen
Taylor didn’t hear from Josh all week. The team was on a road trip out west and wouldn’t be back for a few days. He usually didn’t talk to her on game days, but she was worried about him. He’d been playing fine since his dad and brother left. Technically, he wasn’t making mistakes, but as Taylor watched him on TV, she could tell something was off. He didn’t fight, even when the other player was asking for it. She watched him shake his head and skate away. Fighting was a part of the game. It always had been and always would be. It might be used less and less, but Josh had grown to love it.
He told Taylor how he loved the energy rolling off the crowd as they all stood to get a better look. He loved the way it amped up the team. How one player, especially one who didn’t score much, could change the flow of the game.
Why wasn’t he fighting?
She didn’t know when she’d get the chance to ask him. The team was flying home late tonight, but she had to spend tomorrow studying if she was going to the ball on Saturday.
A ball. Just the term made her laugh. It was a charity event for the foundation run by the Jackets. Their schedule got too hectic to have it after Thanksgiving, so it was going to be the weekend before. She wasn’t planning on going, but her mom got her tickets and made her promise to come. Abigail and Colin, in their tension filled state, were coming with her.
The next evening, she was studying when Abigail jumped on her bed, scattering papers onto the floor.
“What the hell?” Taylor yelled.
“Sorry, but seriously we need some girl talk.”
“I have an exam on Monday.” She got off her bed and crouched down to pick up the papers.
“I know, but tomorrow we’re going to a ball.” She spread her arms wide and threw her head back. Taylor couldn’t help but laugh.
“Ha! I knew I could make you smile, oh serious one.”
“Ever think I’m laughing at you, not with you?” Taylor quirked an eyebrow.
“Does it matter?” she asked. “The point is you’re laughing.”
“Touché.” Taylor sat across from her on the bed and pulled in her legs.
“Have you talked to Josh today?”
“No,” she sighed. “I don’t know, Abi.”
Abigail leveled her with a glare. “Never call me that again.” Then all the tension in her face disappeared, and she nodded. “Go on.”
Taylor was used to Abigail’s quirks by now, so she didn’t stop to ask questions. “I didn’t tell you this, but we kissed. Again.”
“Oooo yay.” Abigail leaned closer. “I’m listening.”
“It was like the kiss of all kisses. Serious earth-shattering stuff.”
“I’m liking what I’m hearing.”
“But that’s the problem. That’s it. I haven’t talked to him since that night.”
“Well, that’s no good.” Abigail leaned back on her elbows, her eyes searching for something in Taylor’s face. “I don’t know if it’s okay to ask you this or not.”
“Just do it.” Taylor sighed, somehow knowing the question was the same one she’d been asking herself.
“Are you ready for anything more to happen?”
Taylor didn’t speak at first. The question flipped over in her mind, an answer eluding her.
“I still think about Danny every day, if that’s what you mean. Everything reminds me of him. It used to make me sad, like I would mourn him forever. Lately, he’s been making me smile, like his memories are a good thing, rather than something that just haunt me.”
Taylor reached for her sketchbook and flipped it open. “I’ve been drawing him.”
Abigail looked through the drawings with wide eyes. “Tay, these are amazing.”
