Sliding (The Stone Series) Read online

  I came to the dance with my friends. Jeff has been going out with Missy, Brook’s friend, since the first week of school. Jeff is my quarter back and a hell of a good one. He and I have this connection, when he throws the ball I just know where to be to catch it or he just knows where I am to throw it, either way it just works. Bobby is a linebacker who I can count on to block for me every day of the week and twice on Sunday. David plays on the line, blocking for me as well.

  I notice Annie staring at David and I have to follow him as he goes right up to her. She’s standing with Brook. I make a decision right then and there to make Brooklynn Adams my girlfriend.

  “Little Red Corvette” is playing when I ask her to dance. I notice for the first time that she has nice eyes; they are kind of green but kind of brown. She is skinny but has curves, not many of the girls are lucky enough to have a body like her.

  I have no clue how to dance and normally I don’t care but now that I am trying to do it I kind of wish I knew how. We just stand there swaying from side to side but as the music changes I decide to put my arms around her tiny waist and sway closer. She puts her arms around my neck and follows my lead. She smells fruity and sweet and I want to inhale deeply with my face in her hair. Her hands on my neck are making my skin warm and my jeans tight.

  We dance together all night and when the last song comes to an end something makes me gently kiss her on the cheek and she moans, maybe she thinks I’m stupid for kissing her or she’s bored with me. I don’t know what’s happened to me, I don’t want a real girlfriend. I just want the other girls to leave me alone. But I am never washing my lips that touched her face again!

  The guys all sleep at my house and we stay up all night watching R rated movies on HBO. We drink sodas and eat chips and candy all night. I tell the guys that I think Brook is hot and about my idea to help keep the girls away from me.

  “Dude, you should ask her out, we’ll call her house tomorrow” Jeff says.

  The following day Bobby is the only one who is brave enough to call and ask for Brook when her mom answers.

  “Hey Brooklynn, its Bobby. What’s up? Yeah, um Tate wants to go out with you, so what do you say, should I tell him yes?” I hear him ask.

  Bobby hangs up and smiles at me, “You got yourself your first girlfriend Taylor, good luck man.”

  I have no idea what to do with a girlfriend. Should I call her and talk to her on the phone? What are we going to talk about? I hope she likes music, maybe we can talk about that. Maybe I should just tell her that I don’t want a real girlfriend, that I just want her to help me keep the girls off my back. But then I remember what she smelled like when we danced and how it felt when I kissed her cheek.

  Later that night when I’m in bed listening to the radio I work up the nerve to call her house. Thank God she answers and it’s not one of her parents. We talk for a while and she’s really kind of cool. I think I like her and she is really hot so I’m going to give this girlfriend thing a try.

  ************

  I am brought back to the present by a flight attendant. I remove my ear buds so I can hear her ask if I would like a drink. Does she even have to ask that question? I am flying to California in the hopes of salvaging my marriage, I am sitting here listening to my past play in my ears and the feelings and memories that are surfacing are too overwhelming. A drink is the least of my needs, but if that’s the strongest option she has to offer than I’ll take it. I order a vodka and cranberry and tell her to keep them coming as I put my ear buds back in.

  ************

  As “You Can’t Hurry Love” comes on I begin to remember what it felt like to go back to school on Monday after the dance as Tate girlfriend. Tate came up to me in the lunchroom and asked me and my friends to sit at his table with him and his friends. Tate says he loves the tater tots they serve in the cafeteria but he still offers to share his with me. I love tater tots too but I can’t eat in front of Tate, please! If I even tried I would vomit, plus I have a game this weekend and I need to be skinny so it’s no food for me. We sit side by side at lunch and talk with our friends more than with each other but I don’t care, I’m Tate girlfriend and I am sitting at his table…not eating lunch.

  Later that day my friends and I go to watch the boy’s football practice and Tate gets hit pretty hard. He’s down on the field for what feels like hours to me and I want to go to him and check to be sure he’s alright. Finally after an eternity Tate gets up and comes off the field to sit on the bench. I am paralyzed because he has his helmet in his hand, he is dirty and sweaty and he winks at me with a smile to die for and everyone sees.

  At school on Monday the other girls are still looking at me and smiling or laughing but none of them try to ask me out or tell me that I’m cute, thank God so I guess this having a girlfriend plan has really worked. I ask Brook and her friends to sit with the guys and me at lunch. I figure that should keep the girls away. Let’s just hope she doesn’t want to talk to me the whole time, I want to talk with the guys about sports.

  Brook turns out to be a really cool chick and I start to like her for real, I mean really like her. I love that she has a nickname for me; she calls me “Taters” or “Tater Tot”. I spend every night on the phone with her and I want to know everything there is to know about her. The more I get to know her the more I start to like her. I like her so much that I wish I could hide her away from everyone else. I know these other guys are just waiting to snatch her away from me.

  Bobby’s brother, Eric told Tate to keep an eye on me because every year the senior boys always pick a few freshman girls to try to “conquer” and before he left for college he said they had their eyes on me. I try to reassure Tate that I’m not that kind of girl. I’m true to my word and if I say I’m his girlfriend then I’m his and no one else’s.

  I am the only freshman from my group of friends who makes the Varsity cheerleading team. It’s hard to work with a whole new group of people and trust them when they are flinging you into the air. The Varsity squad is also the competition team so our season never ends, we cheer for football and basketball seasons then we enter into our competition season which leads into summer camps and conditioning.

  Tate is a running back on the JV football team, and he’s pissed that he’s not playing Varsity. Everyone says he’ll play Varsity basketball, there’s even some talk of him starting and this is not going over well with the returning point guard. Tate is well liked by everyone but I know some of the older guys feel threatened by him.

  Fall goes by quickly and football season turns into basketball season. Tate and I see each other at school every day and we sit together at lunch. I start calling him “Taters” or “Tater Tot” in part because of his name but also because he eats them all the time. I spend my weekends either cheering at games or in New York at dance seminars. Tate and I spend every night on the phone together and we never run out of things to say. I want to know everything there is to know about Tate and he says he wants to know everything about me.

  By the winter Asia and Bobby are going out and we have a Winter Snowfall Dance, this time I am Tate’s date. Tate and his friends arrive about ten minutes after my friends and I and Tate comes right up to me and grabs my hand. He is wearing his standard black t-shirt with jeans. He always looks so perfect it makes me want to scream. He leads me to the dance floor excited to show off the new moves I have shown him. He really can dance; he just needed a lesson in the hallway the other day instead of eating lunch. It was fine with me, I never eat lunch anyway.

  “Beat It” is playing when we make it to the floor and Tate and I cause a commotion. Everyone makes a circle around us and we dance in the center. At one point some boy who I don’t even know comes into the circle and tries to dance with me, taking me away from Tate while some girl does the same to him. I see Tate charging at me, I realize too late to stop things that it’s not me he’s charging at but the boy who is trying to dance with me. This causes David, Jeff and Bobby to also come charging. Thankf
ully Bobby has the sense about him to grab Tate off of the kid before he does any real damage or a teacher catches him starting a fight. He pulls him off the dance floor into the hallway while Jeff does the same to me. David talks to the boy, telling him that he’d be smart to just walk away and not pull a stunt like that again with Tate Taylor’s girlfriend. Once in the hallway Tate raises his voice at me for the first time, like this was somehow my fault.

  “Did that kid touch you?” he screams at me.

  Before I can answer he turns on Bobby and Jeff, “Why the hell didn’t you let me kick that guy’s ass? Who the hell does he think he is touching my girlfriend?”

  “Look, I don’t know who he is but we couldn’t let you kick his ass in the gym in front of every teacher in this school so you can get kicked off the basketball team before the championship game” Jeff yells right back at him.

  Tate turns to me again, “Do you know him? Have you talked to him before? Why would he think you’d want to dance with him when you’re with me?” And then more quietly he whispers, “Did you want to dance with him?”

  This proves my suspicions that everyone thinks because he is good looking and popular that Tate must never get insecure but Tate is really as insecure as the rest of us.

  “I don’t know him Tate, and even if I did I’d only want to dance with you. Now let’s just go back inside and have a good time before the teachers come looking for us and you get into trouble”

  My friends and I stay together the rest of the night with Tate and his friends and even after a shaky start to the night it turns out to be a fun time. When a slow song comes on Tate pulls me close to him and whispers into my ear, “I don’t want anyone else to ever touch you again. I want my hands to be the only hands on you forever.” And he kisses me gently.

  The spring time flies by and Tate and I still talk to each other every night on the phone while listening to the radio and talk about the latest videos.

  ************

  With my second vodka and cranberry in hand and memories of my early days on my mind I am beginning to feel a little better so I decide to check my iPhone to see if I have any messages. That phone ringing as I left the house this morning keeps popping into my brain. I know I am not supposed to use my cell phone while in the air but I figure one little peek won’t hurt anybody. When I power my phone up the first thing I see in my inbox is a message from Tate.

  From: Tate Taylor

  Subject: Abuse of an innocent fruit

  Date: March 16, 2011 10:18am

  To: Brooklynn Taylor

  Brook,

  Don’t u think 2 drinks are more than enough? U r not allowed 2 use cell in air…start following rules baby… u have never been a rule breaker…don’t start now while on plane! Glad 2 hear u r wearing my fav dress. Can’t wait 2 set eyes on u…been 2 long…eyes hurt from not seeing u as does a more important body part of mineJ reminds me of our younger days when I was in constant pain!

  Gotta slide…c u in a few

  Tate Taylor

  CEO, Taylor Studios, Inc.

  I look around to see who might be sending him information. Obviously he has someone keeping tabs on me as always. I give up trying to figure out who’s watching me, knowing he means well and used to it, I put my ear buds back in and “Every Breath You Take” comes on. I know Tate is this amazing music guru but really how is he pulling this off with the music?

  From: Brooklynn Taylor

  Subject: Abuse of your talents

  Date: March 16, 2011 10:24am

  To: Tate Taylor

  Taters,

  As u r well aware 2 drinks would be enough 4 me under normal traveling circumstances but I think u’ll agree this trip is far from normal so cut me some slack. U have not seen me in 6 months so how would u know if I am a rule follower any more or not. Oh, that’s right u have probably had people watching me the whole time. Who is on this plane with me sending u info anyways? and if they’re not using their cell how r they getting info 2 u? little hypocritical, no? if u don’t want me on cell don’t send me messages…sorry 2 hear u r in pain…sure it doesn’t compare 2 my pain from u leaving me

  …Sliding and turning phone off

  Rule Abiding Brooklynn Taylor

  Taylor Studios, Inc.

  I don’t want to read his response so I turn off my phone. I don’t know what’s gotten into me; I am never that sassy with him. I finish my drink and order a third while I check over my shoulder to see if anyone is on their phone reporting my third drink order to my husband. Not seeing anyone I decide to put my ear buds back in and enjoy the rest of my flight. But Culture Club’s “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me?” is up next and I let myself remember the first fight.

  ************

  Tate and I are on the phone, it’s the start of summer and we have been going out for nine months. Apparently Missy and Jeff just broke up because Jeff found out that Missy hooked up with a guy at the carnival we went to together. Tate is angry, cold and distant with me; I have never seen him like this before.

  “Who did you hook up with?” is how he greets me when I say hello. I’m confused but I was with Missy so at the same time I know why he’s asking.

  “I have no idea what you are talking about” is my response but Tate doesn’t buy it for a minute.

  “I know all about you and your friends going to the carnival and picking up guys, getting their numbers. What else did you do with them, huh? Did you kiss some guy too, maybe even more?”

  I didn’t even talk to the guys that Missy and Annie were talking to. I was hanging out with some girls I cheer with drinking a slushy but Tate goes on before I have a chance to explain, “I told you I didn’t want you to go without me, why did you have to go there again, we were just there together last night. I hope you’re happy” he yells before he hangs up on me.

  I try calling him back, repeatedly pressing redial for hours but he must have taken his phone off the hook. I feel a pain and sickness in the pit of my soul, a pain that is foreign to me, this is all new territory and I don’t know what to do. I spend the rest of the night in my room crying and listening to love songs. After hours of anguish my phone finally rings and I know its Tate. I answer it on the first ring and I hardly recognize my own voice after crying for hours.

  “Taters?” I choke out.

  “Brook” is all I coldly get in response.

  I instantly start sobbing because I thought I would never hear his voice again, because I don’t want to fight, because I’m scared of losing him.

  “I’m sorry that I made you mad” is all I can think to say but even as it’s coming out of my mouth I’m questioning why I’m saying it. Why am I apologizing to Tate for doing nothing? I didn’t talk to another boy, I didn’t anyone’s phone number, I didn’t do anything.

  “Yeah, are you ready to tell me what the hell went on at this carnival now?” Tate breaths down the phone.

  I explain the whole thing feeling horrible as I do, knowing that I am throwing Missy under the bus but I can’t think straight with Tate mad at me. I tell him about Annie and Missy talking to a couple of older guys. I told Missy she was being stupid and that we should just leave but she wanted to stay and hang out with the guys so her and Annie went with them and I stayed with some girls I cheer with until it was time to leave. When we got in Annie’s mom’s car we were really quiet and I honestly have no idea what went on with Missy and Annie. Tate tells me that Jeff called him crying.

  “Do you know what it takes for a guy to call his friend crying, Brook? Do you know what Missy has done to him? I don’t want you hanging out with her if she’s going to try to take you away from me.”

  I reiterate what I have already explained about not being with them and the guys but its falling on deaf ears, Tate is not hearing a word I am saying. He starts ranting about the kind of clothes my friends wear and the way they’re always throwing themselves at guys.

  “She broke up with him, did you know that? She just calls him and says, “We’re over�
��. Tells him she met someone else at the carnival and it’s done. What a bitch.”

  I agree that was wrong of her and that Missy shouldn’t have done what she did but that I didn’t do anything wrong.

  “Who are these guys, where are they from? Jeff said that Missy told him they go to a different school.”

  “Tate, please listen to me. I have no idea who they are or where they’re from. I was with Erica and Melissa having a slushy when Missy and Annie met them.”

  Tate sighs deeply on the other end of the phone and for the first time in hours I almost feel like maybe he’s calming down enough to listen to me and that maybe things will be alright with us if I can just get through to him. As “Straight from the Heart” comes on the radio Tate says the best words my ears have ever heard.

  “I love you, Brooklynn.”

  I can’t breathe, can’t respond. He loves me?

  “I see how guys look at you, Brook and I don’t want any other guy to look at you, talk to you, or get any other ideas in their head. You have no clue how beautiful you are; how your body drives guys crazy, do you? Do you have any idea what it’s like being a guy? What we think about all the time? I want to keep you all to myself. I’m sorry if I over reacted but the way Jeff called me crying and shit I just went through the roof.”