Page 2 of Take Care, Taylor

No plot twists ahead.

I didn’t know it then, but as the years unfolded and our paths continued colliding, he became the type of guy that decorated the pages of romance books—the brooding bad boy who knew everything about sex and was “broken” at the age of seventeen.

Except... he was real.

And he wanted to break me.

So I refused to believe that we were blazing a trail “from enemies to lovers.”

We were enemies tothe death—and I refused to let him kill me first…

BULLY YEARS: SIXTH GRADE

TAYLOR

Dear Audrey,

I’m sorry I stuck gum in your hair this week.

I’m also sorry that I ruined your favorite jacket with permanent marker & paint.

I’ll never do these things to you again.

Very very sorry.

Hope you’ll forgive me,

Taylor

If it were truly up to me, I would crumple this letter and throw it right at Audrey’s ugly face, but I have an audience…

And for whatever reason, they seem to have missed the first act of this show and forgotten exactly whyFraudreyParker deserved far more than some cheap gum in her hair.

She’s not innocent AT ALL.

“Get out of the car and do it now, Taylor,” my mother said as I stared at Audrey’s house. “Then walk home and tell me how everything went.”

“Why can’t you come with me?”

“Because I wasn’t with you when you behaved terribly to that girl.” She leaned over and unbuckled my seatbelt. “Go apologize. Now.”

I rolled my eyes and opened the car door.

“Make sure you apologize to her parents as well,” she said. “Oh, and be sure to look directly into Audrey’s eyes when you speak, too.”

“If I do that, I’ll turn into stone. You know she’s a witch, right?”

“Taylor…”

“Okay, fine.” I stepped out and took my time walking down the long stone path that led to Audrey’s front door.

I looked over my shoulder, hoping my mother had pulled off so I could turn around and run home, but she was still there watching.

Sighing, I pressed the doorbell.

The door swung open within seconds.

“Hello there, Taylor!” Audrey’s mom beamed. “You’re super early.”