Page 23 of Take Care, Taylor

I groaned. The top page of topics was all about him.

No—the topthreepages.

The wordsRoommate switch requestjumped out at me as I reached the next page, and I clicked—ready to make a deal.

I’m the 50th pick, and my place has a perfect view of the sea. I’m in the smoking section, since my roommate and I both smoke.

Looking to trade for whoever is rooming with Taylor Wolff LMAO

I swallowed a pent-up scream and shut my eyes.

If this was the universe’s idea of irony, it was nailing the assignment.

TRACK 8. MIRRORBALL (2:59)

AUDREY

Two hours later

An aimless walk around campus dropped my blood’s temperature from boiling to simmering. At this rate, I’d be ready to return to my suite with Taylor by next month.

Granted, I’d miss the entire first week of the program and lose any chance at winning the top award, but it might be worth preserving my mental health.

Snap out of it, Audrey. You can’t let Taylor win again…

Taking several deep breaths, I resisted the urge to take an Uber back to the airport. Instead, I strolled around the small town that bordered the campus, taking in the shops and restaurants.

A bright blue sign flashed “Gayle’s” ahead of me, and I stepped forward.

The store was closed for the day, but the faux stacks of pancakes in the window beckoned me to come back with their labels:“For when you hate your life,” “For when you’d rather be home,” “For when you want to restart the day.”

I made a mental note to come back this weekend and continued strolling.

No matter how far I walked, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the universe was laughing at me.

“That which we call a ‘rose,’ by any other name would smell as sweet.” A guy held out a bloom when I returned to the residence building. “What’s your name?”

“Audrey.” I smiled and took it from him. “Audrey Parker.”

“Harold Bessemer.” He gently grabbed my wrist and kissed it. “Would you, by chance, be the same Audrey Parker who won the Rhodes Writing Award this year?”

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“Oh.” His smile vanished. “Well, you must feel really good about yourself for winning that.”

“It was a pretty big highlight for me.”

“Well, you won’t be getting a highlight in this program, bitch.” He snatched the rose from me. “Hope you’re prepared to lose to the man who actually deserved that Rhodes Award.”

“Um… okay then.”

“It’s not okay.” He narrowed his eyes. “If you possessed a single ounce of human decency, you would write a letter with your basic prose skills and tell the committee to reroute that award to me.”

“Are you being serious or sarcastic right now?”

“Serious.” His voice was tense. “If you’d like, I can write the letter for you, since we both know you overuse em dashes and sprinkle them wherever you can.”

Oh my god…