My Heart Belongs to You

The rest of the school week seemed to be going well, until Taylor walked into the cafeteria on Friday and knocked Michelle's food tray out of her hands as they collided.

"What the hell?" Michelle shouted as Taylor apologized, "Watch where you're going, troll."

"I said that I was sorry," Taylor argued, "It's not like I did it on purpose."

"You could have seriously hurt me."

"Overreacting much," Taylor added, causing Michelle to turn on her and cross her arms over her chest as if waiting for something, "If you're waiting for me to care, I hope you brought snacks because it's going to be a really long time... I already apologized and I'm not going to do it again."

"You... these shoes cost more than your entire wardrobe, do you know how long I begged my dad to get me a pair?"

"I have no idea, but I do know that your dad could afford another pair if they were in fact ruined... which they're not."

"How about I get your dad too... oh wait, your dad can't do anything anymore can he?" Michelle replied with a smirk, causing Taylor's breath to catch and tears to well up in her eyes.

Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Taylor shrugged it off and turned back towards the doors to leave. Finding someone blocking her way, Taylor looked up at them pleadingly to get them to move and was surprised to see Dylan standing in front of her.

"Wait here a minute," Dylan whispered, approaching Michelle, "How could you say something like that?"

"It was just a joke," Michelle stated, "It's not my fault that she's oversensitive."

"Do you have any idea how hard losing her dad was for her?" Dylan inquired angrily, "Do you know what it is like to spend every day with someone that you love, watching them wither away and not being able to do a thing to help them."

"No, but obviously you do," Michelle snarked.

"Yeah, I do," Dylan admitted, "I know because I watched Taylor do it, I was there when she needed a shoulder to cry on and I held her hand as her dad took his final breaths."

"Why would you do that?" Michelle added as if she hadn't truly heard a word that Dylan had said, "You don't even like her."

"Taylor has always been my friend and you may be my girlfriend, but I won't stand by as you tear her apart with your insensitive jibes."

"Dylan," Michelle called as he returned to where Taylor stood, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and leading her outside as she broke down.

Taylor didn't say anything for the rest of lunch, sitting with Dylan on the bleachers and staring out across the playing field. The bell signaling the end of lunch soon rang and Taylor followed Dylan to their music class, where she chose to sit alone at the back of the classroom. They were half way through the lesson, when Mr. Corrick approached her and crouched down next to the table to talk to her.

"That's really good," he said, pointing to the picture she had drawn, "I heard about what happened in the cafeteria, if you need someone to talk to you know where I am and my door is always open to you."

"I'm okay," Taylor replied, offering him a small smile, "I'm sorry that I wasn't paying attention."

Collecting her books at the end of the day, Taylor put them in her bag and headed towards the music room. Tersely, her eyes flickered over the now empty corridor and she swallowed nervously as she reached the classroom. Finding Mr. Corrick at his desk, Taylor took a deep breath and tapped gently on the door to get his attention.

"Taylor," he stated with a warm smile, "Come in."

"Thanks," Taylor mumbled, entering the room, "I'm not even really sure why I'm here."

"That's okay, why don't we start with you telling me what happened at lunch time?"

"It wasn't a big deal, I accidentally walked into Michelle and knocked her tray out of her hands," Taylor explained.

"Is that all?" Mr. Corrick asked.

"I apologized, but she wouldn't let it go and... she made a comment about my dad."

"Are the comments about your dad a regular thing?"

"This was the first time... I didn't think that it would hurt so much, but just the mention of him felt like a dagger had been rammed into my heart and twisted."

"I was a few years older than you when I lost my dad and I know that it's painful, but talking about him really helped me come to terms with what his death really meant."

"Thank you for listening to my side of things," Taylor said, standing up abruptly from where she had been resting against the edge of a desk, "I should be getting home though."

"I'm not going to force you to talk about your dad, Taylor, but just know that you can if you want to," Mr. Corrick replied, grabbing a piece of paper and writing something on it, "This is my number, if you ever need to talk or you're in trouble... don't hesitate to give me a ring."

Nodding, Taylor took the paper from his hand and put it in her pocket as she left to go home.