UNEXPECTED

Bad News

VAL'S P.O.V

 Taylor and I have gotten closer. She has been doing really well considering what she went through. 

  She was over at my house and we were studying for our finals. Junior year is almost over and senior year is about to come. I am super excited! I've had straight A's, mostly because I'm a bit of a teacher's pet.

   We were talking more than studying though. Only 1 more month to go of school.  Taylor was still the hot gossip of the school. 

   I looked over to see Taylor, with her nose in her history book. She looked tired, but I was glad she was doing better.

     Suddenly she closed her book, and looked at me.

"You've been staring at me for like 5 minutes," She says amused. She smiled softly, and squinted her blue eyes at me. 

   I blushed, widening my eyes. I didn't even notice. I smiled back, rolling my eyes. 

"I'm tired of studying," I said, pushing all of our study books away. 

     She followed my lead, and pushed all of her school books out the way.

We sat in silence for a minute, looking at each other. "Soooo......." I started to say. 

  I gulped a little, feeling nervous. "Do you have any plans for summer vacation?"

Taylor looked away quickly. Her smile faded away, and instantly I panicked. It's been almost 4 months since her mom died, maybe that was the wrong thing to ask. This would be her first summer without her mom. 

  I couldn't imagine losing my dad. He's like my best friend.

     Taylor shrugged her shoulders, and looked over at the wall. "I don't know"

"We don't have to talk about that if you want," I said, trying to change the subject. 

   Taylor pushed her hair behind her ear and looked up at me again. "It's fine. I can't change the past. I think Tina, my dad and I are just going to go on a family road trip. Just something small. How about you?''

    I let out a deep breath. "I'm not sure. My dad has work, and I'll probably spend the time applying to colleges, scholarships, and doing volunteer work. That always looks good on a college application."

     I really wish I was a bit more fun, but my future is very important to me. Luckily my dad has a college fund for me, but it doesn't include cost of living if I decide to move out when I'm 18. Only one more year to go. 

    Taylor looked confused. "Isn't school out for teachers too? Why would your dad have work?     It didn't occur to me until now that I've never told anyone about my dad's job as a cop. 

"He's a cop now. He finished the academy a while back. He's still a rookie, so he no longer teaches." 

     Taylor got real quiet. She started rubbing her thighs slowly, looking straight ahead at my bedroom wall. 

"What's wrong?" I asked, curiously. She seemed nervous. She started massaging her forehead, closing her eyes. 

"Do you have a headache? I can get you some aspirin,'' I said slowly standing up. Taylor shook her head quickly. 

 I slowly sat back down, wondering what could be bothering her. "Are you okay?"

  Taylor looked at me, and gave me a small smile. But it wasn't reassuring. Something was bothering her.