You Belong With Me

Taylor's P.O.V.

Jack said he would come pick me up around 8:30PM and we would get dinner and then go to The Den, this cute little club right near Johns Hopkins University. I’ve never been there, but I heard they don’t card and I knew that I really needed a drink tonight. Screw the consequences. I wasn’t going to let anything or anyone hold me back anymore. I had nothing left to lose.

As soon as I got off the phone with Jack, I started getting ready, considering it was already 7:00 and I needed to shower and wash my long, blond hair. My hair is extremely thick, so it always takes forever to make it look the way I want it to. When I was finally done with my hair, I stood in front of my closet for about five minutes just trying to decide what to wear. Eventually, I decided on a denim jean skirt and a purple halter top with a neck that swooped down to the chest with black strappy high-heels to go with it. I decided to leave my hair down and wavy and I wore dark purple eye shadow with brown eyeliner and mascara with a little bit of blush. When I was finally satisfied with the way I looked, I looked at the clock: 8:15. I was early, so I went downstairs to sit and wait for Jack to get there.

As I was waiting, I found my mind wondering over towards Alex and Katelyn and what they were doing together. I hoped she hadn’t found some way to turn him against me. I felt a strong sense of depression come on as I realized that I would probably see a lot less of him, especially now that he was officially with that bitch. Should I tell him about what she said to me today? I wondered. Even if I did tell him, I’m not sure he would want to believe me. He was already so head over heels for this girl and it killed me to see that he did not realize what she was going to do to him and his heart. If Alex and I did ever get together, he would be damaged goods. Then, I realized that if my boyfriend said something like that to Alex, I would definitely want to know. My decision was made: I would tell him just what kind of a girl he’s with tomorrow. As for tonight, I wasn’t about to let anyone ruin it for me.

Finally, I heard the car horn beep from outside and ran out the door and into Jack’s silver maserati. His parents are ridiculously rich with a whole bunch of nice cars.

“You look very nice,” he commented, looking at my outfit as he drove off.

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” I responded. For once, he wasn’t wearing a hat or a sweatshirt. He had on a nice white polo shirt and jeans with plain black sneakers. This was what Jack considered dressing up.

“So where do you want to go for dinner?” he asked.

“It really doesn’t matter to me,” I responded. “How about we go somewhere cheap though. I don’t really have much money.”

“The cheaper, the better,” he responded.

“How about we just go to a pizza place near the club or something? That’s pretty easy.”

“That’s a good idea.”

We drove to the club and decided to see what pizza places were nearby. We finally decided on California Pizza Kitchen, which was just a few blocks down from The Den.

“So why did you want to go clubbing all of a sudden?” Jack asked as we found a table after ordering a medium pizza and splitting the cost, since this was definitely not a date.

“Well, for one thing, I love to dance. I feel like I just need to let loose after this stressful first week of school. And who better to go clubbing with than you, right?” Jack is so funny when he’s drunk and dancing. If there’s anything I need right now, it’s to laugh and just be carefree like Jack.

“Yeah, I hear you. Let’s get wasted together.”

“That sounds perfect,” I said, smiling at him.

A few minutes later, someone came to our table to deliver the pizza. Jack and I were both starving, so we started taking pieces and eating right away.

“So you never told me why you’ve been acting so weird lately,” Jack said in between bites.

“I know I promised I was going to tell you, and I will, but you are going to have to wait until I have a few drinks in me first.”

“Ok, how about this? We can wait until 10:00 to go to The Den just in time for the beginning of happy hour and I will buy us both the first round of drinks and you can tell me then.”

“Fine, but I really need to be drunk for this. I brought a ton of cash with me just so that I could afford to buy a lot of drinks. Tonight is going to be a wild night.”

He raised his eyebrows at me. “Coming from you, that's a pretty big statement. You must really mean business.”

I nodded. “You bet your ass I do. No more Miss Nice Girl.”

“Taylor, I've never known you to be so...reckless. I like it.”

“Well, I'm glad you're happy, Jack,” I smiled.

We finished our food and decided to head over to the club since it was 9:45 and happy hour was starting at 10:00.

When we got to the club, there was already a line out the door, so we had to wait for about half an hour just to get in.

“So what can I get for you guys?” the bartender asked when we finally made it in. Jack turned to look at me.

“Hmmm I think I'll start off with a jolly rancher. I need something fruity and strong,” I replied.

“And I will have a corona with lime,” added Jack.

“Coming right up.” The bartender went to make the drinks and came back with two cups of corona and two jolly ranchers. The Den's happy hour was a two for one deal: two drinks for the price of one. All the better for me. Jack paid for the drinks and we went to find a table.

“Ok, now it's your turn for the spotlight,” he said as we sat down at a round table for two.
“Hold on, let me drink some of this first.” I took a few big sips of my drink. Jack never took his eyes off me.

“Come on, Taylor. You have been stalling for too long. Tell me what's up.”

“Ok, fine. Remember when you said I was jealous of Katelyn?”

He nodded.

“Well, you were more right than I admitted.”

“What do you mean?”

“I said I was jealous because he was spending time with her when he usually only hung out with us and that he was going to be spending more time with her. I mean, I guess that's true, but there's a lot more to it than that. When I first saw Alex holding hands with Katelyn, I had this terrible feeling in my stomach and I couldn't explain what it was or why I felt it. It was so weird because I never felt that way before in my life, not even when I was with Ryan. Then, Alex came up to me afterwards and told me he was going home with Katelyn, so he gave me his keys. When I was driving home in his car, he was all I could think about. I just had this feeling that things between him and I would change and then I started thinking about why I felt jealous of him and Katelyn. I used to think of him as a brother, but then I realized that now I thought of him as so much more than that. I realized I was in love with him.”

“Wow.” By the time I was finished, Jack's mouth was completely open.

“Yeah, tell me about it! I was just as surprised as you are now.”

“What are you going to do about it?”

“I don't know, but I do know that Katelyn is a complete bitch, and I'm not just saying that.”

“What did she say to you?”

“Remember how she followed me to the bathroom this afternoon?”

“Yeah.”

“She told me that she could see right through me and that Alex was hers. Apparently, if I try to take him away from her, she's going to make him see what a 'bad friend' I was to him all this time. Basically, she means that, if I try anything with him, she'll try to turn him against me.” When I said “bad friend,” I put two fingers in the air.

“Are you going to tell Alex?”

“You think I should, right? I was thinking about it before and I would want to know if my boyfriend said something like that to my best friend.”

“Yeah you should definitely tell him. I had a feeling that girl would turn out to be a bitch.”

“By the way, their relationship is now official. He asked her this afternoon and she said yes. He made sure to tell me over a text message.” I made a face as I drank more.

“I'm so sorry, Tay.” He looked at me with the most sympathetic eyes. “This must be so hard for you.

“Thanks. I feel so...confused and heartbroken. Of course I want him to be happy, but I just wish it could be with me, and not some bitch who's just going to end up using him,” I said as I finished my second drink. “I'm just so scared that she's going to ruin our relationship and then break his heart in the end.” By this time, I began to cry. Jack took me in his arms and held me.

“Thanks for being so understanding,” I said a few minutes later, finally breaking away from him. “I'm not sure what I would do without you, Jack.”

“A life without your Barakuda would be very sad,” he joked, putting a comforting hand on my back. “Besides, you would do the same thing for me. If Katelyn turns out to be who we think she is, Alex will eventually realize it. If he knows what's good for him, he'll feel lucky for what he has right in front of him: you.”

“I hope you're right.”

“I know I am. The Jack is never wrong.”

I laughed, but got up. “I'm going to go get some more drinks. Do you want anything?”

He shook his head. “Not right now.”

I began to make my way towards the bar and noticed that there were a lot of people crowded around it waiting for drinks. I let out a long sigh and decided I would wait with everyone else. I didn't feel like going back by Jack right now because that would mean I would have to talk about Alex again. Talking about Alex meant that I had to think about Alex and, when I thought about Alex, I thought about Alex and Katelyn, which was the last thing I wanted to do.

To distract myself, I began to look around. To my right, there was a large group of guys laughing and talking excitedly, probably already drunk. I noticed as a pair of curious green eyes slowly turned toward me and I looked up to see the rest of his face. His eyes danced with the promise of laughter and fun and his smile was stunning and his dark brown hair fell across his face in thick tufts. My eyes wondered down the rest of his body. His muscles were pretty much perfectly toned and he had a six-pack. Damn. If I had to think of someone to compare him to, I would say that he looked exactly like Zac Efron.

To my surprise, he smiled widely when he caught me looking at him and he began to walk over towards me. “Hey, what's up? You waiting to buy a drink?” he asked as he stationed himself right beside me.

“Yeah, but it seems like it's going to be awhile,” I responded, motioning to all the people around us.

He shrugged. “I guess everyone has the same idea. Since we have some time on our hands, what's your name?”

“Taylor, what's yours?”

“It's a pleasure to meet you, Taylor. I'm Kyle,” he said, showing me his pearly whites. “I noticed you looking at me from over there and I couldn't help but notice how gorgeous you are.”

I blushed. “Thanks. You aren't so bad yourself.” I can't believe I just said that...

His smile widened. “How about when this crowd dies down, I buy you a drink?”

Now, it was my turn to smile. “That would be great.” Kyle would be exactly the kind of distraction I needed.

“So, Taylor, are you single?” I nodded and he seemed relieved. “Good. So tell me about yourself.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Anything you want to tell me.”

“Well, I guess you should know that I'm still in high school.” When I said this, I searched his face for any sign of surprise, but I didn't find any.

“I'm a sophomore in college, so that does not really bother me,” he responded. “I go to Towson.”

“Are you originally from Maryland?” I asked. A lot of people that went to Towson came from out of state.

“Yeah, I'm actually from Cockeysville. What about you?”

“Cool. I have some friends out in Cockeysville. I'm from Lutherville-Timmonium, so we are pretty close.”

“Nice. I should get your number so that we can hang out sometime.”

“Yeah that would definitely be cool.”

He took his phone out and told me to put my number in, so I did. There was absolutely nothing wrong with picking up a random guy at a bar, especially since he was a hot college guy. We noticed that most of the crowd had finally gone away, so we went up to the bartender. I decided on a sour appletini while he wanted Bud lite. I downed my drink pretty fast and went right back to get another one.

“You can really hold your liquor,” Kyle said in an impressed tone.

“Yeah, but it really sucks when I want to get drunk because it takes longer,” I responded as I finished my fourth glass. I was on a role. Kyle got the next one for me.

“Do you want to dance?” he asked as he handed me my next appletini.

“I thought you would never ask,” I responded. He took my hand and led me to the middle of the dance floor.

We danced. And then we kept on dancing. Each time Kyle saw that my drink was almost empty, he would go and get me another one without even asking. By my eighth drink, you might say I was pretty wasted.

“Let me get you another one,” he said as I finished another drink.

“N-no, no I don't w-want a-another one,” I said, grabbing his arm trying to keep him from leaving my side. One more drink and I would be completely done for. I couldn't even speak coherently anymore.

“Are you sure, baby?” he asked as he pulled me close to him. I nodded. “Ok well then lets dance some more.” He turned me around and pulled me so close to him that I could feel the boner inside his pants. His hands roamed around my stomach, down to my thighs, and then all the way up to my chest. At this point, I tried to force his hands back down, but to no avail. He was so much stronger than me.

“K-kyle, p-please stop,” I stammered. “I d-don't want you to t-touch me there.”

“Oh, I'm sorry, baby,” he said, not sounding sorry at all. I continued to try to get him to lower his hands, but he wouldn't, so I started to squirm as much as I could. It was hard because I couldn't exactly stand up straight, so I was leaning against him, yet trying to get him to let go of me at the same time.

All of a sudden, he seemed to get frustrated, so he turned me around so that I faced him. He pulled me as close to him as possible and then crushed his lips to mine and started kissing me furiously. I put my hands on his broad chest and tried to push him away but nothing worked. I started moaning and screaming as loud as I could, but he continued as if that was supposed to be a sign that I liked it. My knees gave out and I felt like I couldn't breathe.

He picked me up before I could fall, his lips never breaking apart from mine. I felt my world closing in around me. I punched and hit and pushed against his chest, but he just kept on going.

A hand appeared on Kyle's shoulder and he finally broke apart from me. I gasped for air and nearly fell over again. Kyle turned around to see who had literally laid a hand on him and came face to face with Alex and Jack. I had never seen either of them look so furious in my entire life.

“Yes? Was there something you needed?” Kyle said, clearly pissed off that they had ruined his fun with me.

“Take. Your. Hands. Off. Her.” Alex spat out giving him the death stare.

Kyle pulled me even closer to his side and I nearly stumbled over his foot. “No way,” he smirked. “She's mine. Get your own.” He motioned to the rest of the people in the club. “There are plenty of others to choose from.” It was then that Alex's fist collided with Kyle's face.

“N-no, stop!” I screamed as Kyle punched Alex back and Alex went at him. I tried to break them apart, but Kyle pushed me so hard that I fell down. Jack grabbed Alex and tried to hold him back, but then Kyle just punched Jack too, so all three started fighting. I found that I could not get up to break up the fight that was caused over me, so I started to cry. This was definitely not how I wanted my wild night to turn out.

A short time later, the bouncer came over and finally broke up the fight and threw us out on the street. Kyle was sporting a bloody lip and a cut on his forehead, Jack had a swollen cheek, and Alex had a bloody nose and a black eye. It was a pretty gruesome sight to see. As soon as the bouncer disappeared behind the closed door, Alex took my arm and started pulling me toward his car and Jack followed. I looked over my shoulder and saw Kyle standing there watching us leave. He put a hand up and waved to me. “I'll call you!” he said.

“Like hell you will,” Alex said under his breath. When we got to his car, he opened the front door and helped me get into it. He drove Jack to his car I'm guessing because he did not want Kyle to try anything else. After he dropped Jack off, he pushed his foot down on the accelerator and we sped away.

I looked over at him again. I had never seen him look this furious before. His whole face was completely red and he would not even look at me. Those big brown eyes I knew so well stared determinedly at the dark road ahead. We drove along in silence. He seemed to be too mad to talk and I didn't know what to say. Eventually, we got to my house and he helped me up to my room without a word.

“Alex...” I said hesitantly as he was about to leave.

“Taylor, how the fuck could you be so stupid?” he exploded. He stared me dead in the eye now. It seemed I had opened Pandora's Box. “Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you? He could have taken you off somewhere and raped you or even killed you! I never thought that you of all people would do something like this.”

“Do wh-what? Have a little f-fun for once in my l-life?” I stammered, getting angry now too. “Y-you and I never do s-stuff like this. I've been telling you for the l-longest time that I w-wanted to t-try that p-place out and you kept putting it off. M-maybe if we had g-gone before, the option would not have been so appealing to me t-tonight.”

He shook his head at me. “Don't you dare try to put this on me. You acted like an idiot tonight and you know it. You have no idea how much you scared Jack and I. He called me when I was with Katelyn and I never heard him sound so scared in his life. He really thought something had happened to you. It took the longest time for us to find you after I got there. You have no idea about the things that were going through my head as we were looking for you. I was so scared that we weren't going to find you...” He stopped talking and turned away from me with a pained look on his face.

“Alex, I really am s-sorry,” I responded. I felt hot salt water start to come out of my eyes again and I brushed my tears away impatiently. “I never meant for any of this to happen. I just wanted to have a good time with Jack, but then I met Kyle at the bar and kind of forgot about my initial plan. I never meant to hurt anyone.”

“I know you didn't mean any harm, but how the hell could you think that picking up some random guy in a bar is ok? You had absolutely no idea who that guy was, Taylor. He could have been a rapist or a serial killer for all you knew. It's a good thing I found you when I did. He could have taken you away to some hotel room somewhere and raped you.”

“God, Alex, h-how many times do I have to s-say I'm s-s-sorry?” It's rough trying to talk when you are drunk and crying. “I know I was s-stupid, o-ok? I kn-know it's my f-fault that you and J-Jack got in a f-fight with K-Kyle and y-you got k-kicked out of the c-club and I'm so f-fucking sorry!”

“Well, sometimes sorry isn't good enough” he said through unrelenting eyes. “You still won't admit just how badly you could have been hurt. I saw how he grabbed your boobs and then kissed you and how you tried to get him off you. The only thing you have yourself to blame for is letting him near you in the first place.”

“I-I didn't think that was g-going to h-happen.”

“Well, thank you, Captain Obvious,” he said as he threw his hands up in the air in frustration. “You seem to specialize in naivety lately. And I can't believe how you just ditched Jack like that. What a terrible thing to do to a best friend.”

“I-I know, Alex. I'm the sc-scum of the e-earth,” I said miserably. “J-Jack doesn't d-deserve that.”

“Yes, speaking of which, how dare you tell Katelyn to stay away from me,” He got in my face and I could see the anger in his eyes.

“Wh-what?” I said, taking a step back.

“Don't you fucking play dumb with me! She told me how you said that you were going to make sure you stayed the only girl in my life.”

“And you believed her?” I asked incredulously. My tears turned angry and I was finally able speak clearly; being this upset killed my buzz. “Alex, you are my best friend! How could you think that I would do something like that to you?”

“Well, I didn't think you would ever go off and get drunk with random strangers probably just to get attention, but you did that, so who's to say you didn't do this too? What reason would Katelyn have to lie to me?”

“Gee I don't know maybe because she's a lying bitch who's using you?” I said condescendingly. “What reason would I have for lying to you?”

“Jealousy.”

“And why the hell would I be jealous of her?”

“Because I'm going to be spending more and more time with her and you know that. It kills you because I'm finally moving on from my old relationships and you're still stuck in the past.”

I looked up at him with glassy, pain-filled eyes. “We have known each other since we were two years old and we grew up together. My family is your family and vice versa. After all this time, you believe some girl you just met like two days ago over me, your best friend for the past fifteen years. Do you even realize how much that hurts me?”

“Not as much as it hurts me,” he said looking at me through his cold hard eyes.

“Get out.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Get the hell out of my room, Alex. If you can't believe what I'm telling you and if you can't trust me, then I don't want to see you.”

“Fine.” He walked toward the door, but when he put his hand on the doorknob, he turned to look at me again. “We're done,” he whispered.

“Wh-what are you talking about?” Now that I lost my conviction, my face crumpled and the tears fell uncontrollably.

“I mean that I can't be friends with someone who lies to me.

“F-fine,” I said. My lips quivered around the word. “And I c-can't be f-friends with s-someone who d-doesn't t-trust me.”

“Fine,” he repeated. He turned away from me and left without another word.

I collapsed on my bed as the tears began to fall even more quickly. I watched as he came into his room and immediately pulled the shades down. So much for Peter Pan and Tinker Bell, I thought bitterly.