Pride & Popularity (21 page)

After passing under the watchful glare of the two fierce lion statues that guarded the home, I hurried up the paved stairs. As I reached the pillars, I paused a moment and looked at the splendor all around me. Never before had I been this close to something so—so, huge. I climbed the last of the steps that led to tall, double French doors adorned with matching floral welcome wreaths.

Another deep shaky breath brought me up to the doorbell. I pushed the white button, then thought,
What if Taylor answers the door? Guess I’ll just drop the bag and run.

I was grateful when the door was answered not by Taylor but by a woman dressed like a maid. “Can I help you, miss?” she asked, giving me an odd look.

I realized I was staring at her. “Oh, sorry. I’m Georgia’s ballet teacher, and she left her bag today. Could you give this to her?” I attempted to hand it to the lady, but she had other ideas.

“Oh, Georgia will be so happy to see you.” She smiled. “Please come in.”

What? No way.
“Oh, uh, I would rather—” I was about to protest until the woman opened the door wider and I got a peek inside. The house was incredible. “Oh, okay. Thank you.” I smiled as I stepped over the threshold and gawked.
Wow. This is like a movie set.

I stood for a moment in the large entryway, mesmerized by the gorgeous crystal chandelier before me. Behind it I could just make out the top of a double-sided staircase that cascaded down either side of the marble-floored foyer.

“This way,” the woman instructed.

She waited for me to follow her further into the house, but I couldn’t. My feet wouldn’t budge. All of a sudden I was indescribably nervous.
No thanks,
I wanted to say.
I think I need to go now.
I actually would’ve dropped the bag and fled the house completely had Taylor not shown up at that precise instant.

“Mrs. Little, was that the doorbell I heard?” his voice came from above me. Dismayed, I froze as I watched his progress down the right set of stairs. First his sock-covered feet, then his jean-clad legs, then his bold-striped chest, then all of him. His steps faltered as he saw me, and our eyes locked.

“Chloe?” he said in obvious disbelief.

He looks so good! I forgot how hot he is, even without shoes. I’m going to melt right here,
I thought. Except I couldn’t do anything. Speechless and completely paralyzed, I was sure I couldn’t have looked like a bigger freak if I tried.

Unfortunately, Taylor had no problem moving as he bounded down the last few stairs.

He’s coming. Yikes.
In my embarrassment, I looked away from his incredulous stare and saw the ballet bag in my hands. “Oh. Uh, I, this—this is Georgia’s,” I was able to spit out. “She left it at dance class today.” I offered the bag to Taylor as he stopped a few feet away from me, but he wasn’t looking at it. My heart jumped.

“You’re here.” His eyes searched my face. “You’re actually here.”

“Um, yes.” I looked away from him, thinking he probably wished I was anywhere else but in his house. I tried to step back and was amazed at my traitorously stubborn feet, which apparently didn’t want to be anywhere else.
Breathe. Take a deep breath and breathe.

“Mrs. Little, I’ll take care of Chloe, don’t worry,” I heard Taylor say near my ear. With a small tug he gently took my hand. My eyes fluttered back to his.
He’s holding my hand!

“Thanks,” I heard the woman say as Taylor pulled my hand slowly toward him. I realized then that it was still clamped onto Georgia’s bag, and that it was the small tote and not my hand he was really after. I jerked my palm away and released the bag, which fell at Taylor’s feet. Mortified, I mumbled, “Sorry,” and started to bend over and pick it up.

It was Taylor’s hand on my arm that stopped me. “Wait.” My eyes fluttered up to his and were held captive by their intensity. Slowly his fingers moved down my arm and left a delicious trail of sparks until his hand held mine again. I gulped, unable to look away. “I’ll get the bag,” he said.

Then I watched in amazement as he bent over with our hands still clasped, picked up the bag, and stood, in one fluid motion. Thankfully, that action allowed me the moment I needed to collect my wits. “Thank you, Taylor. If you could give that to Georgia for me, I’d be really grateful. Anyway, well, I better go.” I would’ve stepped back but my feet still refused to move. And my hand! My hand refused to even think of pulling out of Taylor’s warm hold.

Taylor looked down at our hands and ruefully smiled before he brought them up in between us. Slowly, his thumb traced a small circle on top of mine, whereupon I let out a tiny gasp at the currents that raced up my elbow. His eyes met mine again. After a moment of hesitation, he nodded his head as if deciding on something. “Do you really have to go this second? Come on. I’ll take you to see Georgia.”

Another slow, lazy circle was drawn over my thumb, but I heard myself answer, “Uh, yeah, of course. I . . . uh” —I could feel my face turning red— “I would love to see Georgia.”

“Great.” Instantly, Taylor was all smiles. “She’s up this way.”

He pulled me along after him, and soon we climbed the elegant staircase side by side. As I floated up the stairs, I had visions of attending a royal ball. Of course, in those visions I wasn’t wearing jeans and a T-shirt.

“Your house is really big,” I remarked, probably sounding like a complete idiot.

“Yeah, I know.” He chuckled. “It can get annoying.”

“Really?”

“Well, I guess if you like to run then it’s not so bad.”

“Run?” I couldn’t picture anyone running through a house like this.

“Thank goodness we have Mrs. Little. It used to be pretty bad when we were in the back of the house and the doorbell rang. Can you imagine my mom sprinting in her high heels to catch the door? Sometimes we wouldn’t even hear the bell ring. People would think we were lying when we said we’d been home all day.”

“Wow. I never thought of that.”

“Well, that’s Mrs. Little’s job, really.”

“Answering the door?”

“Making sure we don’t miss visitors like you.” He smiled down at me again and winked.

We walked into a pretty lavender and white room with a huge Victorian-style dollhouse dominating the center. I couldn’t see Georgia anywhere.

“Georgia, Miss Chloe’s here to see you,” Taylor announced.

“What?” the dollhouse answered. Then a mop of golden curls and two happy blue eyes peered around the side. “Miss Chloe! Miss Chloe!” Georgia hollered as she ran around the dollhouse toward me.

“Hi!” I giggled when she almost knocked me over with her energetic hug. Taylor quickly stepped behind me and steadied my shoulders. Georgia’s bag in his hand gently bobbed against my arm.

“Sorry. She can get really excited when she sees people she loves,” Taylor murmured near my ear.

Loves.
The word echoed all around me. Breathlessly, I hugged her back.

“Look what Miss Chloe brought you,” Taylor exclaimed. “You left it at the studio today.” He brought her tote around so she could see it.

“My ballet bag!” she shouted. “You found-ed it! See, Taylor, I did leave it there!”

“I thought it was in—” Taylor began.

“He thought-ed it was in Mom’s car, but it’s not. It’s here!” Georgia did a giddy little dance. I looked up at Taylor and we both started to laugh.

“Wanna see my dollhouse?” She snatched my hand and began to pull me around to the back of the house.

“Sure,” I replied as if I had a choice. “Wow. That is so pretty.” I gasped. It was the most beautifully decorated dollhouse I had ever seen. I couldn’t help myself. I sat down on the floor next to her.

“Diss is my Barbie,” Georgia stated. “Diss one can be yours.” She handed me a pretty, redheaded Barbie. “And diss one is Taylor’s.” She handed it to me, too.

“Taylor’s? Are you sure?” I grinned at the dark-haired Ken doll as I turned it over in my hands.

Taylor leaned over the house and smiled down at us. “Yep. That’s my Barbie.”

I teasingly smirked up at him. “You play with Barbies?”

“Er, yes.” Taylor lowered his eyes briefly, then looked at me again. “Just don’t tell anyone, okay? I have a reputation to maintain.”

I laughed. “Reputation? Believe me, I wouldn’t dare repeat this little fact to anyone. They would all think I had gone crazy.”

“Well, that’s a relief.” He laughed too.

“Come on, Taylor,” Georgia said. “Me an’ Miss Chloe are waitin’ for you.”

“You are?” Taylor’s eyes questioned mine. “Georgia, I think Miss Chloe’s very busy. I don’t think she can stay and play today.”

“Oh. You can’t play?” She stared at me pleadingly.

“Well, I can’t stay very long. But would it be okay if I played for a few minutes?”

Georgia’s face lit up.

I glanced up to see if it was okay with Taylor that I stayed. The look he sent me would’ve buckled my knees if I’d been standing.

APRIL'S FOOL

It was just a couple days after I went to Taylor’s house that my life nearly fell apart. I remember the day distinctly because it was April Fool’s Day. I cannot begin to say how much I wished it was a joke when I received that phone call.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Chloe. This is Taylor.”

Taylor? Oh my gosh. He called me.
“Hi.”

“This is going to sound weird, but could you do me a favor?” “Um, sure.”

“Can you—is there any way you can check on your sister

for me?”

“My sister?”
Huh?

“Yeah, Cassidy. I know it’s probably nothing, but I’m—I’m

. . . okay, look. I pulled up Blake’s profile on Facebook because he’s been kind of acting funny all week. And I came across something—it may not be any big deal—but could you just check for me and see if she’s there at the house?”

“She’s here. She’s in her room. She went to lie down

because she wasn’t feeling good.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah, I just talked to her about five minutes ago. So

“Um—Chloe, this doesn’t feel right. Will you check her room, please?”

“Why? I just saw her.”

“I would feel a whole lot better if you did. Please?”

Sheez.
“All right.” I got up off the couch and walked through the kitchen.

“Are you there yet?”

“Hang on.” I chuckled as I began to jog down the hallway. “Okay, I’m here. Cass?” I knocked on the door and waited. Taylor’s impatient sigh caused me to worry a bit.

“Knock again,” he demanded after a couple of seconds.

“Okay, okay.” I knocked. “Cassidy? Hey, can you open up?”

“She’s not there, is she?”

“Taylor, will you stop. You’re beginning to scare me.” I tried the handle. It was locked.

“Sorry, I’m just—”

I began to pound on the door. “Cass? Cassidy! Are you asleep? Open the door!” I waited a few more seconds. Nothing. My hand shook as I placed the phone to my other ear. “Taylor, I don’t think she’s there—”

“Get in that room now! I don’t care if you have to break the door down. Get in there. Make sure she’s gone.”

Frantically, I stood on tiptoe and began to search for the small screwdriver we had above the door. “What happens if she’s gone? What does it mean?”

“Don’t worry, I’m coming over right now.”

“Don’t you dare hang up, Taylor.”

I heard the engine of his sports car roar to life. “Chloe Hart, wanting to stay on the phone with me—imagine that.”

“Very funny.” I went to my bedroom door and searched above it. “I found the key.”

“Is she there?”

“Hang on.” My hands were having the hardest time just trying to get the screwdriver in the door handle.
She better be in there. I swear if she isn’t, I’ll—
The door unlocked. In an instant, I flung the door open and walked into the room. It was empty. Creepily, eerily, empty.

“Chloe?”

I took a breath to calm my nerves before I answered, “She’s gone, Taylor.”

“Ah, I knew it. Look, I’m about five minutes from your house. I want you to look all around outside, okay? You’re sure you talked to her a few minutes ago?”

“Yeah, I’m positive.”

“Okay, good. She may still be close by.”

I dashed out the back door and ran around to the side of house to Cassidy’s bedroom window. It was shut, but I noticed the side gate was open.

“Do you see anything?” Taylor’s loud voice in my ear caused me to jump. I had forgotten I was still holding the phone.

“Not out back. I’m going through to the front right now. So are you going to tell me what you saw on Facebook, or what?”

“Or what.”