Chapter 13

At the cafeteria....

"Let me guess...you also got one?" Paige asks Taylor.

"The invitation from Anderson? Yeah," Taylor states in a discgusted tone.

"Come on, girls. I know he's a jerk, but are we really gonna miss Tim Anderson's party?" Lillian asks in a calming manner.

"Hell yeah. The last time he hosted a party he poured tequila into my drink without my concern," Eleanor states.

"Damn," Paige says.

"But seriously. It's just a party. Besides, we won't be seeing him anymore after graduation. What's the lose of just spending some time together?" Lillian states.

Eleanor raise her right eyebrow at Lillian's direction.

"Besides, Oli's gonna be there," Lillian states.

"Did a ball just hit your head or something?" Eleanor ask in a sarcastic yet surprised manner.

"Eli!" Taylor calls her sister's name, trying to remind her to not get too emotional.

"Sorry," Eleanor says.

"Come on, girls. No hard feelings involved. I know Tim's a jerk and all, but can we just spend some normal time together at a teen party?" Lillian ask.

"I suppose you have a point," Paige says, starting to agree with Lillian's statement.

Taylor became silent for a moment as she starts to reconsider Lillian's statement. As much as she found Tim Anderson to be the most annoying guy on earth, Lillian did have a point that there's no lose in just attending his birthday party. After all, they might not be able to see him again after graduation.

"So? What do you say?" Lillian ask the girls.

Taylor sighs, "I guess we have to agree with you on this one, Lil."

A few hours later...

"So are you girls coming to Tim's party?" Joey ask the girls as the three of them are walking through the hallway.

Eleanor sighs, "I guess."

"As much as he can be a pain in the head at times, it wouldn't hurt to attend," Taylor says, trying to sound a bit positive at the thought of it. She's not one who likes to hold negatives thought about people, no matter how annoying they can be.

"Yeah," Joey says. "I heard Oliver and David are planning a little surprise for him."

"What kind of surprise?" Eleanor ask with a curious tone.

"I don't know. Oli said it's better to wait and find out," Joey says.

Eleanor roll her eyes, "Ugh, I bet it's another one of his dumb ideas."

Hearing this, Joey chuckles at Eleanor's sarcastic manner. The young girl had always been the most feisty in their group, making her a complete opposite of her twin sister, Taylor. He couldn't help to find her cute at some points. Joey then turns his head to see Eleanor from the side. Her brunette ponytail slightly swinging when she walks, while her lips sort of pouted, signaling then she's feeling a bit annoyed.

Taylor noticed Joey's gaze at her twin sister. Somehow she felt a weird sting in her heart when she caught his eyes looking at Eleanor. She know that she shouldn't even feel this way, and the fact that after her last kiss with Joey she had been feeling more anxious when she noticed him having a bit of attention towards Eleanor, or the other way around. She could say that she was starting to feel jealous.

Damn it, Tay. She's your sister and he's your best friend. Snap out of your feelings. Taylor thought.

"Well, I gotta go. My chauffeur's here," Joey says as he puts his phone back in his pocket.

"Bye, Joe," Eleanor says as she gives Joey a small smile, in which he smiles back.

"Bye, girls," Joey says, before he turns his head and walks away from the girls.

An hour later...

Joey's POV...

I unlocked the front door of my house and walked in with some groceries in hands. I remember my mom told me this morning that she wasn't feeling well and insisted me to buy some groceries on the way home.

"Mom, I'm home." My voice slightly became higher as I search the living room for any sign of her. She's not here.

Curious, I walked to the kitchen to see if she happens to be there. Yet, I wasn't quite prepare to witness what is presented.

"Mom!"

I see my mom lying down on the floor. She's facing down to the ground, with her hair now messed up and covering her face. Panicked, I dropped the groceries and bends down to see her condition. Her skin is all pale. My heart suddenly dropped at the sight.

"Ron! Take her to the hospital!"

The next day...

At school...

Eleanor is walking through the crowd as she spots Oliver flirting with Lillian near the lockers. She rolled her eyes in annoyance as she continues to walk.

Looks like the biggest player is playing again. Eleanor thought.

While having her mind flying into no where at the sight of Oliver and Lillian (and literally not paying attention to where she was going) suddenly Eleanor bumps into a tall male figure, making both of their books fall to the ground. Eleanor looks up to the guy who she just bumped into, and for a moment she kinda regretted having to bump into this person.

"Don't you have any eyes, Anderson?" Eleanor spats she kneels down to start picking up her books from the ground.

"My vision wasn't wrong when it decides to bump into a beautiful girl like you, Elizabeth," Tim says with a cheeky smile as he also kneels down to gather his books.

"It's Eleanor! You jerk," Eleanor says as she picks up all her books from the ground and walks away.

"Don't forget about my birthday bash, though! You're gonna regret it," Tim says as he watch Eleanor leaves his sight with annoyance.

A few hours later...

At the cafeteria...

Taylor, Eleanor, and Joey are having lunch together as they continue to listen to Joey telling them about his mom's current condition, after Eleanor had asked him about why his phone was off last night. He had told them that he had been taking care of his mother the whole night, since his brother just left for Stanford and his dad is still out of town for business trip.

"So how's your mom?" Taylor ask as she starts opening her bottle of kiwi juice.

"Well, the doctor said that she still needs a lot of rest," Joey says before taking a bite of his tuna sandwhich.

"I see," Taylor says.

"We're sorry to hear that," Eleanor says.

"Well, it didn't even came to our minds," Joey says.

"I see. By the way, so how's your brother doing in Stanford?" Eleanor ask as she tries to light up the situation by bringing up a new topic.

"Pretty good. He told me that college life is the mix of sugar and spice," Joey says.

"What does that mean?" Eleanor ask with a curious look.

"Sugar for sweet girls, and spice for spicy lectures," Joey says as he makes both Taylor and Eleanor laugh at his sentence.

"OMG, Joe! That's too good," Eleanor says, while attempting to stop her laughter.

"I'll say," Taylor says.

"And not to mention that next year, you'll also be experiencing the same thing," Eleanor says.

Taylor slightly widen her eyes as she turns her vision to Joey. She was a bit surprised by what she just heard.

"You're going to Stanford as well?" Taylor ask Joey.

"Well, that is still a blury image for now, but I'll spill the details to you girls later," Joey says before he takes a sip of his orange juice.

"Hell yeah, soon-to-be Stanford boy," Eleanor says before she takes a bite of her burger.

Joey smiles, "That is, if I even get accepted. And how about you, girls?"

"I'll be studying economics in USC," Eleanor says. "Well, if possible."

"Cool. How about you, Tay?" Joey says as he gaze at Taylor who's in the middle of drinking her kiwi juice.

"Me?" Taylor looks into Joey with a small smile. "I think I'll be studying acting in Juilliard."

"Woahh, seriously?" Joey ask with excitement. "Literally you're going to New York to study acting?"

"Yup. I guess I kinda grew interest in acting since the play," Taylor says with a shy smile as the thought of the play surface back in her mind. Till now, she still gets butterflies everytime the thought of it surfaces.

"Well, you gotta thank Miss Amy for that," Eleanor says with a small laugh as she makes both Joey burst into laughter.

Taylor smiles at the warm moment between the three of them, but deep inside she couldn't help but feel anxious at the sudden news of Joey will be going to Stanford. Other than that, why didn't he tell her about it? And how did Eleanor even knew about it? Why did he told Eleanor but not her? These are questions Taylor kept spinning in her head.

To be continue...