Who I Am With You (Imagination #10) - Staci Stallings Page 0,67

smack him for calling her so soon.

Taylor hadn’t even made it to the non-working elevator when her phone rang. Figuring it was Yoli or maybe even Lily she pulled it out and puzzled at the caller ID. Greg Everett? What could he possibly want?

“Hello?” she asked, dragging the two syllables out to ten. “What did you misdial? I just left you.”

“I know. I know,” he said, and the excitement in his voice made her heart jump with confusion and hope. “But… I just… I got the text, the notification thing…”

“What thing?” she asked, seriously concerned for his mental state.

“The thing. I passed!”

“What?” she shrieked, not remembering where she was. “Are you kidding? Greg, this had better not be a joke.”

“Nope. No joke. I did it. I really did. I passed!”

“Wh…? Where are you? Are you still here?”

“Y—yeah?” he said as if he didn’t understand the question.

“Cool. Do not leave.” She spun around and headed back the direction she had come, half-hopping, half-running with no real walking to it. “I’m coming. Are you still where you were?”

“Y-yeah, but you don’t…”

“Stay right there. Do not move.”

“Okay. Okay. I’m not moving.” He laughed, and she loved the sound of his happiness.

Although Greg was watching the doors, he wasn’t at all prepared for the creature who seemed to travel on wings as she came flying out and down the sidewalk. So happy he couldn’t contain it all, he slid out of the car just as she made it to him and jumped into his arms. Hugging her to him as she hugged him to her, he spun them around once, picking her up body and soul right off the ground.

“You did it,” she squealed. “I knew you were going to pass.”

When he let her down, she whacked him on the shoulder.

“Ow. What was that for?” he asked, bracing though it was too late.

“For making me worry for a week.” Her eyes were shining as she grinned up at him. She let out a long breath and shook her head, never losing the smile. “So now you can do it, you can apply for the tech job.”

That dimmed his excitement a bit, and he leaned backward onto the back door of his car. “Yeah, well, they already closed it at five.”

“So?” she asked, waggling her head.

He shrugged as his hands found his pockets and dug themselves inside. “So, I mean, what’s the point? I’m not going to get it.”

“Now you don’t know that.”

“Well, I kind of do. They said they had several people apply, least that’s what I heard through the grapevine.” He put his hand on the back of his neck and rubbed there. “It’s probably a waste of time.”

“Now, you listen to me Gregory Ronald Everett,” she said, pointing at him. “That is your problem. You give up on yourself without even trying.”

“Yeah, but…”

“No. Now, no buts, Mister. What time is your first class tomorrow?”

“Uh, Chemistry at ten, with you.”

“Ten. Okay. Good. Then you get up at eight and get yourself down there and tell them that you passed. Show them the notification thing. Get that on your application.”

“Yeah, I don’t…”

“I’m not kidding,” she said, angling her eyebrows up. “You’d better go to that hospital and get that in, or you are not going to like what happens to you in Chemistry. You got that?”

He put his head down and nodded before folding his arms in front of him. “Fine.”

A breath, and she smiled again. “Good. Now, get home, put the groceries away, and get yourself some sleep. You’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

Beating back the smile didn’t really work. “When did you get so bossy?”

She quirked her head at him. “You’ve known me since the third grade. When have I ever not been bossy?”

“Good point.”

Hannah was nowhere to be seen when Taylor got to her room, and she was more thankful for that than kindness allowed. She took a shower, got her things ready for the next day, and when she thought again about Chemistry, she smiled. That boy…

Swiping up her phone, she sent him two texts.

Just remember… SOOOO happy for you!

And don’t overthink the hospital thing. Just do it!!!!

Greg couldn’t believe all that had happened. He called his mom, and they talked for almost an hour as he tried to catch her up on everything.

“You’ve had quite the first week,” she said when all of his stories wound down.

“Tell me about it.”

Why should Wednesday morning at four a.m. be any different than all the other night-mornings-when-even-God-is-sleeping? Taylor was in the middle