Chapter 21

"Oh, I had insomnia last night," Taylor says, trying to look as if it wasn't a big problem.

"Oh, ok," Eleanor says. "Anyway, let's go."

"Ok," Taylor says as she grabs her blue backpack from the floor.

At school...

"So Fred called me again last night," Eleanor says as she and Taylor walk through the hallway.

"Oh yeah? What did he say?" Taylor asks, sounding a bit curious.

"Just asked what I was doing, and that we should hangout again some times," Eleanor says.

"I see," Taylor says.

"Turned out we actually have a lot in common," Eleanor says.

Taylor forms a small smile while turning her head to Eleanor's direction.

"So...what's the next step?" Taylor ask.

"We're just friends, and that's cool," Eleanor says.

A few hours later...

At the cafeteria...

Taylor's POV...

I didn't have the appetite to eat much today, so I decided to just go with a carton of milk for lunch. I also chose to sit alone and not mingle with anyone. Of course, Eleanor had insisted that she wanted to acompany me, since she didn't want me to be alone. Even though it kind of bothers me, but I can't fight with that. Besides, she's just being a caring sister.

"Ok, spill it," Eleanor says.

"Spill what?"

"You've been acting all silently weird since morning, not to mention your face looks sleepless," Eleanor says before taking a bite of her cheese burger.

"I told you I had insomnia," I say. "There's nothing wrong with me."

"Is insomnia really a reason to look all blue?" Eleanor asks, her voice sounded a bit sarcastic.

I sigh. "Just had a few things on my mind. Let's not talk about it."

Eleanor turns her head to look at me. Her face still fillied with wonders, yet he chose to not ask me further. I guess she didn't want to pressure me with more questions, which is a relief.

We continue our peaceful lunch, when a tall figure with brown hair suddenly approaches. I'm already so sick of this guy and here he is approaching our table? Oh great, this is really not the time.

"Hey! Is this seat taken?" the guy, Joey, asks.

Eleanor shifted her gaze to Joey. I noticed her eyes sparkle when they have eye contact. I also noticed that Joey had been avoiding my gaze since he first approached our table.

"Nope," Eleanor says, her lips slowly forming a small yet awkward smile.

Joey puts down his lunch box on the table and pulls out the seat across us. I didn't bother to glance at him, since I'm still mad. Besides, his present already irritates me that I'm planning to get myself away from him ASAP. With that thought, I quickly finished my carton of milk.

"Ok, I'm done," I say as I get up from my seat.

"Woah, you're really not gonna get anything to eat?" Eleanor ask.

"Nope. By the way, I gotta go now. Bye," I say to Eleanor before walking away and exiting the cafeteria. Right now I wouldn't bother to be anywhere but near Joey.

Meanwhile...

Eleanor and Joey are having an awkward lunch together. Even after Taylor left the table all of a sudden, the two teenagers still kept quiet and just focus with lunch. While Eleanor felt both happy yet a bit nervous after the kiss, Joey just felt awkward at the situation that he had kissed two girls who are sisters, in which one of them is currently mad at him.

"So...how is your mom?" Eleanor decided to let out the first words just to break the awkwardness between them.

"The doctor said she's ok for now," Joey answers. His vision still focus on his box of mashed potato with mushrooms.

"I see," Eleanor says, before she takes another bite of her burger.

"By the way, is Taylor ok?" Joey ask.

"She said she had insomnia last night," Eleanor answers.

Hearing that, Joey isn't surprise. He had expected that, and knew that it was because of what happened between them on the phone last night. It made him feel guilty.

"Perhaps, do you know what's up with her?" Eleanor asks with curiousity. She wondered if Joey might know what had been bothering Taylor's mind, like she said.

"No," Joey says, before he takes another spoon of his mashed potato. It was a bit surprising to him that Eleanor didn't know about what happened between him and Taylor, yet he assumed Taylor probably didn't want Eleanor to know about. Other than that, he thought it wouldn't be necessary for him to tell Eleanor about their talk on the phone last night.

"By the way, Joey, there's something I want to talk to you about," Eleanor says.

Joey shifts his gaze slowly to Eleanor. Her hazel eyes sparkling like stars, reminded him of the night where they shared their first kiss. Slowly, mixed feelings starts to crawl back to him, making him remember of his mistakes. If only he never kissed his best friends, maybe things wouldn't be this complicated. He realized that if he wanted to make things better, he had apologize to them and make things right, starting with Taylor.

"What is it?" Joey ask.

Eleanor smiles, "Can you meet me at the soccer field after school?"

"Ok," Joey answers, not thinking much about whatever they're gonna talk about later. Since now, all he can think about is how to apologize to Taylor. He had to find her first.

At the library...

Not wanting to socialize with anyone at the moment, Taylor decided to get some quiet time at the library while reading her history book. It was enough that she didn't want to mingle with anyone today, but Joey's present ruined her already low mood more, making her just wanting to escape.

Despite feeling tired after not getting any sleep last night, the quiet surroundings in the library made Taylor felt a lot better. She was glad to be able to finally have some peace over a book.

"Hey, you ok?"

At least, that's what she thought for a moment. Taylor shifted her hazel eyes to see the guy who stood in front of her. His present irritating her already calm heart.

"Why ask?"

To be continue...