Change

I made my way into the grocery store with Belle the next morning. The store had opened an hour or so ago, but we had gotten breakfast together first. I had told her about my Taylor encounter, and all she had to say was "I looked him up on google and he's hot now". I had given her 'the look' and she had simply shrugged before informing me that "people can change". Maybe so, but it wasn't so easy to change the things they had done to you and it was even harder to change the way you felt towards them about what they did.

"Hi, girls," my mom greeted from the cash register. She waved us over and we stood behind her as she finished with her customer before turning to us. "I know you two enjoy working together, but we're a bit behind with stocking, so I was wondering if Belle could do the soup aisle today and Veronica, honey, if you could do the apples and such?"

Belle and I exchanged glances and nodded.

"Sure thing, Mrs. James." Belle saluted and punched me lightly on the arm before heading to the soup aisle.

"You okay, honey?"

I turned towards the sound of my mom's voice and gave her a tired smile. "Yeah, I just didn't sleep much last night." My mom nodded sympathetically and squeezed my hand before sending me on my way.

I hummed along to Katy Perry and even did a few hip sways to the beat. I smiled at the people who passed by me. Some of them said hello and we had a quick conversation; I knew a lot of people who visited the store. I was leaning across to place an apple in the middle of the pile when I heard someone clear their voice behind me. I turned around, surprised.

"Hi." In front of me stood Taylor, his hands in his pockets, looking incredibly nervous and fidgeting. I did nothing but stare, my eyebrows raised, my hands on my hips. I had been home for four days and I was already sick of drama. There shouldn't have even have been drama. It was summer, I was home, and I wanted to relax. As I stood there, waiting for my nightmare to speak, I realized that relaxing might be a bit harder than I had planned.

"Um," he said, scratching his forehead and glancing at the floor before looking back up at me. "I was wondering if we could talk."

I let out an angry sigh and crossed my arms. "Why?"

"Because there are some things I need to say to you."

His words sparked something in me, and before I could stop myself I snapped. "No, Taylor. You don't have the right to say anything to me," I fumed. "I've heard way too much crap come out of your mouth before. It's my turn to talk. You ruined my last two years of high school, Taylor. You tortured me with snickering and taunts. Do you know how afraid I was of you? It shouldn't have been like that." I was nearly in tears as I spoke, and almost laughed out loud. I could not be letting him get to me right now. I could not be vulnerable when he was standing in front of me. He needed to know that he ruined my life then, but he was not going to ruin my life now. I was not the same girl I was a year ago; I didn't let people walk all over me.

Taylor's big hand covered the lower half of his face and I watched him, waiting for an answer. He closed his eyes for a few moments, and I was beginning to think he had fallen asleep on the spot. He finally opened them again, staring right at me.

"If you would let me talk, I would try and explain, try to fix things." He stared at me pointedly before shaking his head in exasperation and walking away.

My jaw almost dropped. He had just walked away from me. I stood there staring long after he was gone in disbelief.

***
"I've been so deprived of this all year," Belle groaned from beside me.

I nodded in agreement. "Summer never comes fast enough."

The two of us were lying side by side on the concrete beside the pool backyard, enjoying the sun as it rained down on us. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the warmth on my skin. I let out a content sigh and heard Belle giggle beside me. I ignored her and draped my arm over my my eyes. Even with my sunglasses on and my eyes closed, the sun was coming through my eyelids.

I was nearly drifted off into a peaceful sleep when I heard the doorbell ring through the open screen door. I let out a groan and involuntarily grunted as I stood up. I felt the blood rush to my head and put my hands in front of me to steady myself. I quickly recovered and slid open the screen door. I grabbed my towel from the kitchen table and wrapped it around myself before pulling open the door. I inwardly groaned, my head falling back slightly as a small sigh slipped past my lips.

"Hi, Veronica," Taylor said, breathing a sigh of relief.

I squinted up at him, my one hand gripping the door while the other held my towel up. I was suddenly feeling very self-conscious.

"How'd you find where I live?"

Taylor smiled sheepishly. "Your mom told me."

I clenched my teeth and gave him a sarcastic smile. "Great."

He looked like he was about to speak again but before he could, the screen door opened behind me. I rested my forehead against the door, trying to find a way to get rid of this boy who seemed so desperate for my forgiveness. Why did he even care?

"Hey," Belle greeted. She smiled at Taylor. He nodded in acknowledgment, furrowing his brows.

"Do I k-"

"Yep," Belle chirped. "High school." She glanced between the two of us, realizing that she had brought up a touchy subject. I simply looked at her and shook my head. Taylor shuffled his feet awkwardly, running a hand through his dirty blonde locks and turning towards me.

"I wanted to see if we could talk, but I guess you're busy..."

Belle waved her hands in a 'no-nonsense' fashion and motioned for Taylor to step inside.

"You can join us. We were just sitting by the pool."

Taylor looked between the two of us. I kept my face blank, completely unwilling to show any emotion in front of him. He finally seemed to decide it was okay and reluctantly stepped past me. I inhaled a deep breath before closing the door and following the two of them out into the backyard. Taylor and Belle sat in the chairs while I sat down on the side of the pool, my legs swinging back and forth in the water. It was silent for a moment before Belle spoke up.

"So, Superstar, what brings you to our - I mean, Ronnie's - humble abode?"

I rolled my eyes but didn't turn, my back towards the two of them.

"Um," Taylor began, and I felt his eyes on my back for a moment. "I wanted to talk some things over with Veronica."

Belle was silent for a moment and I imagined her raising an eyebrow for him to continue. When he didn't, she let out a breath of air that sounded like an 'oh' before replying, "I see. I know when I'm not wanted."

I knew she was joking, but I was kind of amused when Taylor said frantically, "No, no, I don't-"

"Chill, bud. Just kidding. I should head home anyway."

That caused me to react, and I whipped my head around to stare at my supposed best friend. I attempted to give her a death glare but she simply grinned at me and winked. My lips formed in a tight line and I stared back out over the water, listening as the screen door slammed shut. I couldn't believe she had left me alone with this guy. I tried to ignore the silence, enjoying the breeze that ruffled through my hair gently and brushed over my skin. I still had my towel wrapped around me.

"If I talk, will you listen now?" Taylor's voice broke through the peace and quiet and I sighed.

"You're the one who walked away from me the other day."

"You were yelling at me... I already feel bad enough," Taylor said quietly. I was surprised by the softness of his voice and almost looked at him, but I resisted. No emotion, I reminded myself. "I was frustrated, and I might have said something else I regretted and not been able to fix this, ever."

I let out a sigh and let my head fall back slightly. "Why do you even care?" My tone came out harsh, and I almost felt bad.

"I don't..." Taylor sighed. "I just... I have regrets, Veronica. I thought I was a big shot when I played in Windsor. I was, what? 17, 18? I used anything I could to make me look cooler. Those kinds of things get to teenage guys' heads. And now that I'm playing in Edmonton, well..." He paused, and I noticed my head was tilted to the left, listening to him. "It sounds stupid, I guess, but it's taught me responsibility. I see all these guys go home to wives and kids and... I don't want to be alone forever. And the guys on the team... even if we get on each other's nerves, we always have each other's backs. I've been so fortunate, and... I just feel like I need to make things right with some people."

"Me being one of them."

"Yeah."

I finally swiveled my neck around so that he could see my face, but I didn't meet his eyes. He was sitting in one of the chairs, leaning forward, his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped together in between his knees. "So now that you're famous, you want to be charitable to those less fortunate so that you don't ruin your image?"

Tayler sounded as though he was holding his breath before he let it all out, causing me to jump slightly. "Am I not allowed to apologize?"

"You could have just done that without the big dramatic speech."

"I knew you wouldn't accept that, and that was fair; I knew I owed you an explanation."

"You don't owe me anything," I muttered, crossing my arms.

I heard Taylor shift and glanced at him. He was leaning back against the chair with his hand rubbing his forehead and his eyes closed. He opened his eyes and I quickly looked away.

"I wish you would just hear me out and accept that I really am sorry, instead of trying to find even more reasons to hate me."

I didn't say anything, and I heard him get up. By the time he opened the screen door, I had decided that I had to say something. I just didn't know what. I stood up and rushed inside behind him.

"Taylor." I called after him. He didn't face me as he put on his shoes. I leaned against the railing of the stairs, letting out a sigh. "I appreciate you apologizing, but it just...It just doesn't change what you did."

Taylor simply nodded and pulled open the door. I watched the back of his head until it disappeared behind the closing door.