I pulled my hair up into a messy bun-type thing and stood back to look at myself in the mirror. Pink spaghetti-strap tank top, gray flare sweat pants and a messy bun to top it off. Not bad for a night of pizza and movie-watching. There was a sudden knock on the front door of my apartment. I ran from my room, down the hall, through the living room and flung open the door.

"Hi, come on in." I stepped off to the side so he could enter. "Mmm... pizza." I sniffed the box as he walked by me. "You can go set it in the kitchen."

"All right. I got pepperoni... I hope that's okay."

I shut the door and walked behind him into the kitchen. "No that's not okay." I said in a disgusted tone. "I absolutely HATE pepperoni pizza."

He turned to me with a look of horror on his face. "Are you serious? I didn't remember hearing you say you hated pepperoni earlier at the studio, so that's why I got it. I'm so sorry, I can order another one if you want... "

I started laughing. "Tay, I'm joking. I love pepperoni."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay. Good. Just... don't do that again."

I chuckled. "I'll try not to."

* * *

Right in the middle of the movie, Taylor's cell phone rang.

"That's probably Candice." I said, referring to his girlfriend, who just happened to call him at least once every hour.

"I know." He grabbed his phone off the coffee table and flipped it open. "Hello?"

I paused the movie and sat back against the couch while he chatted away.

"Yeah I'm over at Mya's watching a movie... no... no... tomorrow? Um, I'll probably be locked in the studio most of the day. I might have time to call you late tomorrow night. Will that work?"

My cat, Baby, jumped up in my lap and laid down. I smiled down at him then glanced over at Taylor. He looked at me and smiled apologetically. I shook my head as if to say, no big deal.

"Okay well listen, I'll try calling you tomorrow night after I get home, sound good? ..... All right. Talk to you later then, bye bye."

"Maybe you should just turn that off." I suggested after he set his phone back on the table.

"I was thinking about it."

"She seems a little over-protective of you lately."

"I know. It's like she doesn't trust me around other girls."

"Exactly." I agreed

"I mean, I'm fine around you. We're just friends, it's no big deal."

I nodded. "Right. So let's continue with this winner of a movie, shall we?"

"We shall."

* * *

After the movie was over I carried my empty plate into kitchen, with Taylor following closely behind. "What was with that ending?" I asked, turning to him as I set my plate in the sink.

"You got me." He said, shaking his head. "It was pretty stupid though."

"Totally."

"Well thanks for supplying the movie." He said

"No problem. Thanks for buying the pizza."

"My pleasure."

He turned and I followed him to the front door of my apartment. He slipped his shoes on and grabbed the door handle, then paused. "I had fun." He said seriously, "We should do this again sometime."

I nodded. "You got it. And hey, maybe next time we could switch. You know, you bring the movie and I get the pizza."

"Wow, we really know how to spice things up, don't we?"

I laughed and punched his arm lightly. "Shut up."

"Aww Mya, I'm kidding. I'd love to do that."

I smiled and nodded. "Okay."

"So I'll see you on Monday?" He asked and pointed at me.

"I'll be there."

"Awesome, see ya then. Have a good weekend. Don't party too hard." He opened the front door and walked out.

I went and stood in the doorway, looking down the hall after him. "Don't you worry!" I called out.

I heard him laughing as he rounded the corner towards the elevators. "Later Sweat Pea."

* * *

What was with this LA traffic? I just didn't understand. It took me twice the time it should've taken me to get to the studio today.

I huffed as I grabbed my backpack out of the backseat of my Eclipse. The sun beat down on my bare shoulders and I wished I could just take the day off to lay outside. A beautiful day was very rare in LA. Too much smog all the time, but today it actually seemed somewhat nice. I threw the bag over my shoulder and walked across the parking lot, passing Isaac's 4-Runner on the way. I welcomed the cool air of the building as I walked down the long narrow hall just inside the main doors.

I stepped inside the studio and looked around for anyone else that might've been in there. Since it was completely quiet I knew I was the only one. I threw my bag down on the love seat and stood there in the middle of the room with my hands on my hips, debating my next move.

I heard the door creak open and a loud, "BOO!"

"Hey Zac." I said. I knew it was him without having to turn around.

"What, didn't I scare you?"

"The door told on you, so no, you didn't scare me."

"Oh damn. I tried so hard, too."

"Maybe next time. You've gotta catch me completely off guard though."

"Yeah I know. I thought that's what I was doing this time but I guess not."

I sat down on the couch. "So where's your brother?"

"Which one?"

"Taylor."

"Oh, him. He's uhh... he's... you know what? I don't know where that kid is."

"Probably on the phone with Candice... again." I rolled my eyes

"Yeah she calls a lot, doesn't she?"

"You think?" I asked sarcastically "She's really gotta stop that otherwise he's gonna go off on her about it."

"What makes you say that?" Zac asked, sitting down in a chair in front of the sound board.

"He was telling me the other night how pissed he is that she keeps calling all the time. Like she doesn't trust him around other girls or something." I opened my backpack to look for my folder with all my papers in it.

"Meaning you."

"Huh?" I lifted my head and gave him a quizzical look. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh come on, she knows you two hang out a lot - "

"Once." I corrected him, "We've only hung out once."

"Whatever." He shook his head, "My point is that she knows about you. And she figures that since Taylor talks about you a lot you must be somewhat attractive, so she's got nothing else to do but to be jealous and call as often as possible."

I thought about everything Zac had just said. "Hmm... well, that does make sense I guess."

"Of course it does. I said it."

"Yeah, well. I've got work to do, and I'm sure you do too."

"As a matter of fact, I do. I just have to find Ike." He stood up and headed for the door, which swung open wide. Taylor stepped into the room, his ringing cell phone in hand.

"I'M NOT HERE!" He shouted, throwing his phone down next to me.

"Should I answer it?" I asked him

"I don't care anymore." He plopped down at my side, leaving his phone in the small space between us. He rested his head back behind him and covered his face with his hands.

I reached down and picked up the phone, then flipped the top up and placed it next to my ear. "Hello?"

"Who's this?"

"Mya... is this Candice?"

"Yes, where's Tay?"

"He's uh... not here right now. Can I take a message?"

There was a slight pause on the other end of the line. "Just tell him to call me please?"

"I'll do that. Bye." I ended the call and threw his phone in his lap. "Call her." I said, "She sounded kinda pissed that you weren't here."

"And that you, of all people, answered my phone."

"Yeah, that too."

"Ohhh... " He groaned, "I so don't want this."

"What do you mean by 'this'?" I asked

He lifted his head and picked up his phone, holding it directly in front of my face. "THIS."

"I'm so lost."

"I'm sick of her calling all the time. I hate the fact that she doesn't trust me. And most of all, I hate the way she accuses me of cheating on her with you."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Excuse me?"

"No! Mya, that's not what I meant." He grabbed my small hands and held them in his big ones. "I meant I hate the fact that she's accusing me of cheating... period. Like she doesn't trust me. I didn't mean for the idea of you and me together to sound completely wrong or anything... not that I'm implying we should get together either... I just... I mean... "

"Taylor," I smiled at his embarrassed and slightly flustered state. "It's okay, I understand."

He breathed a small sigh of relief. "Okay, good."


[ chapter 3 ]

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