Eleven: Chocolate Chip Pancakes
I fluttered my eyes and behold, the first thing I saw was Taylor Hanson. I pulled my covers over my head fast, yelping.
“What are you doing?” I choked out, peering out from under the covers. He sat there on Avery’s messy bed, dressed and with wet hair, just watching me.
“Watching you,” he shrugged, “Sorry.”
“Why on earth are you watching me…? What time is it…?” I wondered aloud, sitting up and looking at the digital red numbers on the night stand. 11:42.
“I didn’t know you were sleeping over,” he admitted, “I was shocked when my mom told me you did.”
“So you decided it would be a good idea to come up in here and stalk me?”
He grinned, “You don’t even know the extent of stalking.”
“Why are you awake? Shouldn’t you be hung over and passed out or something?”
“I don’t get hung over. I never have in the dozen or so times I’ve drank, actually. I’ve been up for two hours. I always get up early the night after I party.”
Of course he didn’t. He’s just that obnoxious. It didn’t make sense to me, but when I first wake up, nothing ever makes sense to me.
“You’re weird…” I muttered.
“I already got my car,” he smiled, “Isaac drove me over and my parents didn’t notice anything. They think I was an angel last night.”
As soon as the memory of him holding my hand invaded my mind, it was replaced by the memory of hearing about Melissa being his girlfriend. I could just picture him walking around the party, introducing himself as the host’s boyfriend.
“You look really terrible,” he giggled.
I shot him a nasty look, rubbing at the mascara I assumed was smudged under my eyes. I only wore make up around Taylor.
“In a really…pretty kind of way,” he added.
I stood up and began busying myself by making the bed, a bit self conscious of him seeing me in his sister’s short pajama bottoms.
“Would Melissa appreciate you saying that?” I snapped.
Bitter much?
“Probably not,” he smiled, “She likes the attention all on her.”
I took a moment to contemplate the humor of Taylor and Melissa together. How would two attention whores manage to be together?
I raised an eyebrow at him, “So you’re dating her why?”
“I’m not dating her. I just have hung out with her a few times…” he frowned.
“I’ve heard otherwise.”
“From who?”
“Doesn’t matter. I just have.”
“Well…either they’re confused or Melissa is taking this a bit too far. I don’t even like her, Gabrielle. C’mon, what do you take me for?”
“You certainly acted like you liked her just the other day!” I said, fluffing the pillow aggressively.
He snorted, “Just to try and piss you off.”
I stopped and turned to him. He was being so honest. He was confirming everything I had already known without pride.
“What kind of game are you playing now? What is your strategy?” I said out loud.
“I’m not playing any game,” he said, looking me straight in the eyes, “I just…I’m being honest now. I swear.”
“But you were playing games before…?”
I glanced at myself in the mirror, combing my fingers through my messy hair.
He looked down at his fingers and nodded, “Yeah. I was. Sorry.”
Within moments, the boy I had met was back. He was kind, honest, and genuine, and I almost jumped for joy. I had to remind myself though that he could be an asshole when he wanted to be, and that I was working for his family.
“Thanks for taking care of me and everything…” he looked up at me, blushing a bit in his cheeks.
Adorable.
“Undressing you for bed?” I snorted.
He blushed a bit deeper.
Even more adorable.
“I was drunk. I would have done it myself if I weren’t…I would have stopped you.”
I grinned and wiped at the mascara under my eyes, “No you wouldn’t have.”
He bit his lip, smiling and watching me in the mirror.
“Taylor! Did you wake the poor girl up?” Diana Hanson appeared in the doorway.
“I was being perfectly silent! She woke up on her own.”
Diana looked at me, “Was he in here when you woke up?”
I smiled awkwardly. She looked at Taylor.
“Taylor!” she said, taking a step towards him and gently smacking him in the back of the head.
“I’m sorry!” he gasped and rubbed his head as if more than his ego was actually bruised. “I was just watching her. She was fully clothed and everything…just…sleeping.”
Diana shook her head and stepped in front of him, looking down on his face carefully, “Did you have fun last night? Where did you go this morning? You were gone when I got up.”
“Out to breakfast with Isaac,” he smiled.
“And then you came back and ate a pile of pancakes…?”
He nodded, “I was hungry.”
“And you took separate cars why?”
Taylor sighed, throwing his hands up, “Because we argued about who would drive, Mom! So we were both stubborn and both drove. Is that a good enough answer?”
“Isaac said it was because you had to run an errand.”
Taylor looked at her, panic in his eyes. He was moments away from being caught, and that meant I was moments away from being caught too. I shot him a begging expression in the mirror, careful not to let his mother see.
“I had to do that too,” he nodded his head, “Fill up with gas before the prices keep rising- soaring, actually.”
She eyes him and ran her fingers through his damp hair, smoothing out his part, “Okay.”
He sighed of relief as she stepped away and stopped interrogating him.
“Are you hungry Gabrielle? How do pancakes sound? I don’t know how warm they are anymore…but we have chocolate chip and blueberry?”
Taylor grinned at me in the mirror that I was still peering into, “They’re amazing.”
“Can I shower really quick first…?”
“Oh, no problem! I’ll set out a towel and washcloth for you and then when you come down for food, I’ll make sure I’ve made some hot pancakes.
“Cold is fine!” I gasped, not willing to let her go through any trouble over me.
She smiled, “They’ll be warm.”
I followed behind her towards the bathroom where she took a towel out of the linen closet and showed me how to work the faucet. Taylor followed behind us, watching from the doorway of the bathroom with interest.
“Holler if you are having trouble with the water. It can be tricky,” she smiled, stepping into the hall.
“I can come up and help you figure it out if you’re confused,” Taylor grinned.
Diana swatted him gently again and smiled ear to ear, the same smile Taylor wore. It occurred to me then how much he resembled his mother. It went beyond his blond locks. She shook her head in amusement, “If you have any trouble, I’ll come up and help you figure it out.”
Taylor stuck his bottom lip out and moved from the doorway so I could close the door. I could hear his mother and him talking quietly as they walked down the stairs together.
When I came downstairs, there was a plate of pancakes and eggs on it sitting in the table, waiting for me I assume. The entire experience confused me to no end. I had seen mothers and families like this on television, but I had always believed it was fake. Families like this didn’t exist in real life. But as Diana Hanson set a glass of orange juice down next to my plate, I realized that perhaps there really are a few.
“Did everything work okay for you? I hope the boys saved you some hot water,” she smiled. “Sit down! Eat something.”
I smiled and sat down to eat. “Last winter my mom didn’t pay the heating bill. So not only was the house always freezing, and we don’t have a fire place, but the water was always freezing as well. I learned that winter that cold showers will only make you stronger.”
She laughed and sat down next to me. “You have heat now, I hope.”
I nodded and took my first bite of the pancakes. “Right now we do. My mother has a boyfriend. Sometimes her boyfriends cost us more money because they just eat our food and use our electricity… and they’re usually bums without jobs. But sometimes they actually pay for stuff and that helps. Her boyfriend right now is the second biggest jerk in the world, but he has some money at least so…” I was careful to censor what I really wanted to say about him. I understood how Christian of a home I was sitting in.
“Only the second biggest jerk?”
“His teenage son is even worse,” I smiled.
She laughed and put her hand on my shoulder, which caused me to flinch. I was not from a world where people touch each other nicely. What was she doing touching me?
“Even worse than my teenage son!?”
“It’s difficult to imagine, but yes.”
She smiled and nodded at my food. “Eat that! You’re too tiny. You look almost as skinny as Taylor, which is a very scary thought.”
At the mention of his name, Taylor walked into the room. Although I always found him handsome, that morning he looked absolutely breath taking. How could he be so good looking after spending a night getting himself smashed? He leaned against the kitchen wall in his ripped jeans and white t-shirt, undoubtedly aware of how good he looked.
“What about me? I heard my name.”
“You’re too skinny,” his mom smiled, getting up from the table with me. “Why don’t you sit down and keep Gabrielle company while she eats?”
He looked at me and I actually sensed some apprehension in his face. He rarely hesitated anything.
“Gladly,” he said after he composed himself, and he took her seat at the table. He tapped his fingers on the table as she walked out the room, clearing his throat when she left.
“Yes?” I asked him. He had something to say, apparently.
“How’s the breakfast?”
“It’s good.”
He nodded, still fidgeting his fingers, watching me intently.
“Can I help you?”
“Huh?”
“You have something more to say,” I said.
“I do?” I raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re right. I do.”
I sighed. He was being strangely shy. Twenty minutes ago he was sitting without shame across from me watching me sleep, and now he was sitting there tapping his fingers and blushing profusely for no reason. He was a moody one, that was for sure.
“So go ahead,” I encouraged, “You’re acting weird. Can you just say what you want to say and get it over with?”
He nodded, taking my fork and stabbing it into my pancakes, nonchalantly eating some f my breakfast. He set the fork back down and cleared his throat again.
“Well… I was wondering… I was wondering…” he sighed. Bashful Taylor? Was Taylor Hanson embarrassed about something? It couldn’t be so. “Okay, I’ll just say it. Avery told me that when you took me home last night I stripped down completely before I got in bed and walked around like a naked moron.”
My mouth dropped. That certainly had not happened… unfortunately.
“I don’t remember that happening, but hell. I hardly remember much. Did it…?” He squeaked out.
A smile curled against my lips as I noticed his rising blush. Avery Hanson was evil- and yet so damn clever.
I shrugged, “It wasn’t a big deal.”
“It really happened…?” His voice was hardly above a whisper.
“Oh, it happened,” I nodded.
“You saw me naked?” he whispered, glancing around the room, “Actually walking around my bedroom just completely stripped? Did you see…”
I giggled and shoved a piece of pancake into my mouth to avoid laughing more and giving myself away. I’m generally a good liar, but something about him makes it difficult to look at him and lie to his face.
“Oh yeah. I saw it.”
There was no need to clarify what it was. It was an unspoken, child-like understanding between the two of us.
He blushed deeply now, covering his face with his hands. I was surprised when he didn’t try and play the whole thing off with a clever line or joke. His entire mortification was almost as adorable as his blushing.
“And that kids, is why we don’t get ourselves so wasted that we can’t control ourselves.”
“Seriously…” he muttered.
“And you told me how bad you wanted me,” I teased him, enjoying the fact that he would believe every word I said.
“I what!?”
“You said Gabrielle, I want you so badly. Sleep with me right now. Make slow, erotic love to me,” I lied.
“I did not!” he gasped.
“You did! And you revealed to me that you have some kinky fantasy about sex and chocolate sauce, and you wanted me to help you fulfill it.”
He crossed his arms at his chest and glared at me. “Now you’re making things up. I don’t even have that fantasy. The thought of that doesn’t turn me on… at all,” he added for emphasis.
“Apparently it turns your subconscious on, because you said it.”
Taylor remained red for the rest of the morning. He was just plagued with a constant blush that would not fade despite his efforts to try and act casual around me. I was kind enough not to bring it up again on the drive back to my house, until he pulled up next to my house at least.
“Are you going to pick me up Wednesday to work? I feel bad that you always have to come get me.”
He shook his head, “Don’t worry about it. It’s my pleasure. Really.”
“Well… thanks. I guess I’ll see you Wednesday then,” I said as I took off my seatbelt and got out of the car. I almost closed the door and walked inside without mentioning the night before at all, but I just couldn’t help myself. His blush was too endearing, and I was disappointed to see it had mostly faded throughout the car ride.
“And Taylor,” I said, leaning into the car and looking at him, “Maybe you can keep your clothes on next time.”
It was amazing how much I was convincing myself that he had actually danced around the room naked. He hadn’t, of course, but in my mind I could even picture… oh god, I cringed, refusing to stand there thinking of Taylor Hanson’s man meat right in front of him.
He blushed, but I could tell he was trying to recover and come up with a witty response. He has this look that he can’t avoid when he’s thinking. It’s like he actually has to pause to think.
“Don’t act like you didn’t enjoy it,” he smirked.
“Oh, I enjoyed it for sure. It was humorous to say the least.”
“And don’t act like you weren’t… impressed,” he said, lowering his eyes to his jeans and clearing his throat.
I laughed and tossed my head back dramatically, “Impressed by all two inches.”
He glared at me, “That’s not even funny it’s so untrue.”
I shrugged, “Maybe I’m underestimating.”
He smiled, “Thank you.”
“Two and a half inches at least.”
“Oh shut up!” he sighed, “Goodbye Gabrielle.”
I stuck my tongue out at him and slammed the door closed. I wondered if he knew the only reason I teased him was because I found it so endearing when he blushed. That and embarrassing Taylor was the only way to get him to shut up, and sometimes, with all his rambling, it was a nice break.