Gavin and Taylor chat for a while

“Hey, Gavin,” Taylor called out to her brother’s friend as she walked towards the living room. Gavin nodded and joined her on the couches. Normally he would be scared out of his mind of talking to someone like Taylor, but his experience with Elle made him less nervous around girls.

Taylor looked especially great that evening, wearing a black t-shirt, jean shorts that left most of her long legs bare, and a pair of black sneakers. Gavin used to have a small crush on Taylor, it was hard not to, going to Zack’s house all the time and that older beautiful girl showing up to talk every once in a while. It was funny, now that he thought about it, Zack staring at Hannah and him gawking at Taylor.

“So, did…,” just as Taylor started talking, Zack bolted from his room and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door close. “What the hell was that?”

Gavin raised a curious eyebrow. “I…have no idea,” he wondered if something had gone wrong between Zack and Heather.

Taylor chuckled at her little brother’s craziness and then turned to his friend once again, the guy she saw as a younger sibling as well, what with how much time he spent on her house over the years. “Alright, forget that, I was going to ask if Hannah talked to one of you guys or Heather to decide about dinner.”

“Mmm, I haven’t talked to her, maybe she asked Heather.”

Taylor slowly nodded. “Oh, okay, I’ll talk to her later,” she said before a smile made its way to her lips. “You’re different, Gavin. I don’t remember ever being able to hold a normal conversation with you before, could it be because of a certain girl Zack told me about?”

Gavin blushed and let out a nervous chuckle. “Sorry I was a bore, but yeah, I think being with Elle kinda helped breaking that wall, you know?”

“Don’t worry about it, you and everyone else have every right to have insecurities. Well, considering you’re one of my brother’s best friends and I’ve known you for a long time, I’m glad you could get past yours,” the tall brunette said. “Plus, it’ll be nice to have an extra person to talk to this weekend, too many doses of Hannah aren’t good for anyone.”

The two of them laughed together at her joke, and Gavin felt good that he was able to talk normally to Taylor now, hearing his best friend’s older sister’s raspy voice and not trembling in shyness was a very good sign in his opinion. It just made him wonder how much better the weekend would be with Elle’s presence.

At that moment, Monica exited the Lake Room. She had changed her blouse for a white tank top with an unbuttoned shirt over it. “Hey, you two.”

Taylor smiled as her mother joined them in the living room. “You look ready for a hike, Mom.”

Monica grimaced. “Not too relaxing for today, sweetie. Maybe tomorrow or Sunday, preferably when it isn’t dark,” she replied. “So, where’s Zack? Still unpacking?”

Zack chose exactly that time to get out of the bathroom. “Hello, everyone,” he greeted, an innocent look on his face that made Gavin stifle a laugh. “Mom, earlier today Heather told me about our options for dinner. One option, really, a restaurant a few minutes from here. She wanted to know if you preferred to go there or order something.”