Who I Am With You (Imagination #10) - Staci Stallings Page 0,203

wasn’t someone looking for a spotlight. This was someone looking for a place to disappear. He couldn’t believe he had said those things to her. What was he thinking? Not only was she never going to be his girlfriend, after that she wasn’t even going to want to be his friend.

“Well, try real hard, okay? Everybody wants to see you guys at Valentine’s.”

“Yeah, okay,” Taylor said, and she gave LaChelle a quick hug. “Take care.”

“See you at the Valentine’s Dance,” LaChelle said with a wave to Greg.

“Okay… you too,” he said barely holding her gaze long enough not to be rude. Instead, his gaze followed Taylor over to the wall where she slipped her coat on, shook her head, and lifted her chin.

“You ready?” she asked without really looking at him.

“Yeah.”

They walked out to his car in total silence. Taylor was so angry, she knew if she said one word, it would come out as a scream. What had she done that was so awful? That’s just how she was around Alpha Chi. That’s the way everyone was when they were at the sorority. It was part of the culture. The younger girls put the older girls on a pedestal, hoping that one day they would be placed there as well. It was a given. It wasn’t her fault.

“I’m sorry,” Greg said, looking straight forward as they drove out of the parking lot, “about back there. I was way out of line saying that stuff.”

Without looking up or over, she shook her head. “I’m really not trying to act like I’m better than anybody else.”

“I know,” he said, “but sometimes…”

“Sometimes… Sometimes what?” she asked, her gaze jumping over to him.

When he said nothing, she scowled even more.

“Just say it, Greg… what?”

“Sometimes,” he said slowly, “I get the feeling that you don’t think we’re good enough to be around you.”

“Not good enough?” That punched her in the gut. “What does that mean?”

“They are all like, ‘Oh, Taylor… Ah! Oh! Wow!’” he said over-dramatically. “And part of me wants to say that’s not your fault, but part of me…”

“Part of you… what?”

He sighed. “I get the feeling that you only hang around us until somebody better comes along, and then we’re all completely invisible.”

“Invi…? That’s not… It’s not like that. It’s never been like that. You’re my friend. I’m here with you right now, right?”

“Yeah. Because you’re taking a break… from them, but eventually, you know, break over, and we’re right back where we started.”

“You think I would drop you that easy?”

He glanced over at her. “You didn’t?” A breath and he shook his head. “Look, I’m not trying to make this an us-or-them thing. It’s just that, when you’re with them, I feel like an after-thought if that. Like they’re all suddenly way more important, and I don’t even matter anymore. That if you could choose, you’d be with them in a heartbeat.”

“Oh, my gosh. Are you serious right now? Why do you think I’m hanging out with you? Huh, why? I could have been over at the sorority house every night if I wanted to, but I’m not. I haven’t been.”

“Yeah, and why is that?” he asked as he pulled into the driveway. “It’s pretty clear you’d rather be over there.”

“How… where are you getting that?”

“Because they show up, and you’re like, sooo happy to see them.”

Taylor sat stunned. “Because I have to be. That’s who they want me to be.”

“Who they want you to be?”

“Yeah.” She thought deeper into it. “They want me to be Queen Taylor. I hate that, but you’re right. It’s true. That’s who they want me to be, so that’s who I have to be around them.”

“Or what?”

“Or… I don’t know. I go back to being a nobody.”

“Like me.”

“What?” she asked in horror. “No. Not like you. Not like… That’s not fair, Greg, and you know it.”

“What’s not fair about it? That you’ve got this fabulous life that none of us are a part of or welcomed to join, or that I’m Plan B when a better Plan A doesn’t show up?”

“Wow. Really? That’s really what you think of me?” She closed her mouth and set her face.

“I don’t know. I guess I’m trying to figure out where this is going, where we stand.”

She nodded. “Yeah. So am I.”

When they got inside, Taylor went straight to the kitchen, knowing Greg would go to his room to get ready for bed. It was a good thing they weren’t married or even dating because tonight, they would