really long chapter full of dramaaa hope you like it(:
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Chapter 8
When the first day of classes came around, Taylor rolled out of bed at 9 am to go to her first class. She had three classes that day, with the one she was most excited about—songwriting—being last. Cat and Michaela had been in Taylor’s literature class, but Taylor was not expecting to see anyone in the songwriting class.
The class was in the art building, Ebony Hall, at 8:00 at night. Taylor glanced up at Leo’s ledge to see if he was there (he was not) before opening the door and walking inside. She remembered the hall from when she took refuge from the rain, and found the stairs quickly. She walked quickly up them to the second floor, and then found the room, 203.
There were five students in the room when Taylor entered, and she was surprised to see Leo sitting at a table in the corner by himself. The tables seemed to be designed for two. The other four students were sitting together at the other two tables, leaving the only empty seat next to Leo. It seemed like this was going to be a small class.
The teacher, a young looking woman with blonde hair, glanced up at Taylor as she walked slowly back to Leo’s table. Leo didn’t notice Taylor until she set her notebook on the table beside him. Then he looked up at her for a second and diverted his eyes. What is up with this guy? Taylor sighed a little and sat down beside him. Maybe he //should// get together with Tessa, he seems to be just as cold as she is.
“Seniors! This is advanced songwriting, I hope you are all prepared,” the teacher said. Everyone already seemed to know her and have taken her classes before. Even though Taylor wrote songs for a living, she got a little nervous. “Today we are just going to take it easy, and we’ll start some fun things tomorrow!”
Everyone started talking as the teacher walked back to her desk and pulled out some paperwork or something. Leo suddenly reached out his hand and slid Taylor’s notebook over so it was in front of him. Taylor watched his face as he slowly wrote something and slid it back. It said ‘Ms. Witlach’…. That must be the teacher’s name.
“Thanks,” Taylor said, trying to smile at Leo, but he wasn’t really looking at her. Taylor sighed and closed her notebook. Changing her mind, she opened it again, turning to a new page. ‘Why is this guy such a puzzle?’ she wrote. ‘I can’t pinpoint anything about him’ She continued writing ideas and lines for a song, sneaking peeks at Leo for inspiration. He seemed oblivious; he had taken out his notepad that Kendall said he carried everywhere, and was drawing something. He had it angled away so that she wasn’t able to see, just as she had her notebook angled away from him. They probably looked ridiculous sitting together like that, Taylor realized. She shut her notebook and rested her chin on her hand, staring out the window.
Kendall really had been right when she said that Leo was extremely antisocial. It seemed to Taylor that it would be impossible to get him to talk. She stared at his sharp jaw line and messy hair before catching herself and looking back out the window.
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A month later, Taylor was enjoying many things. A fun songwriting class, a new friendship with Kendall, Michaela and Cat, and a new boyfriend! Yeah, that’s right. The day after classes started, Harper talked to her…and obviously you know what happened. He confirmed his feelings for Taylor, and she showed hers for him.
“Babe,” Harper said, catching Taylor as she walked to her songwriting class one night with a kiss on the cheek.
“Sweetheart,” Taylor answered with a grin. Harper seemed to be the absolutely perfect boyfriend. He was so sweet, and of course the good looks didn’t hurt anything. Kendall had informed Taylor that she was the most envied girl at Itinley since she was dating Harper. Taylor had just rolled her eyes, even though she realized it was probably true.
“Three weeks exactly,” Harper told her, taking her hand.
“Isn’t it the girl who is usually keeps count?” Taylor told him, giggling, reaching up to ruffle his hair with her fingertips. Harper didn’t answer, instead he stopped their footsteps with a breathtaking kiss. Since it was almost 8:00 at night, there was no one on the path, and they just stood there kissing.
“I’m going to be late!” Taylor yelped, pulling away.
“See you later tonight?” Harper asked.
“Sure,” Taylor answered. “Class is usually over around 9:30, but you already know that.”
“Cool,” Harper said, and they went their separate ways.
Once in the building, Taylor took her usual seat next to Leo, who had yet to talk to her. Ms. Witlach looked up and clapped her hand once, looking around to see if everyone was there. Because of Harper’s interruption of her walk here, Taylor was the last one to arrive.
“As soon as you guys finish your song we’ve been working on for the past two weeks, you can leave. Just turn it in to me and you will have a really short class as long as you are almost done,” the teacher told the class, to the obvious happiness of some of the students.
Taylor finished her song in 15 minutes and turned it in. It was about Leo’s blatant avoidance of all human contact. Usually she could finish a song in one day, but the assignment was supposed to take two weeks, so that’s what she did. The process interested her though, because there were lots of different exercises and activities to generate ideas and sometimes even just single phrases.
Taylor hurried back to her dorm, eager to put her notebook back and head over to Harper’s room. She was excited to have more time with him than usual, because she was about an hour earlier than every other day. Taylor bounded up the stairs and walked quickly to her room. The room was dark but she heard noises from the direction of Tessa’s bed and the faint outline of people. Figures, Tessa probably brought another guy back to the room like usual. Taylor wished she could just drop her notebook on the floor and leave without turning on the light, but she really wanted her phone. She flipped on the light switch, not meaning to look but she couldn’t really help it.
Tessa was just wearing a bra and a thong, and was straddling a boy with her back to the door, kissing him. The boy looked suspiciously like…
“Ohmygosh,” Tessa huffed, turning around, and Taylor saw his face. It was Harper.
“Taylor?” Harper asked, squinting, eyes adjusting to the light. He quickly shoved Tessa off of him, revealing that he was shirtless. “It’s not what it looks like.”
“Classic line when boy is busted,” Taylor snapped, trying to hold back her shock and tears. Tessa just glared icily and smugly at Taylor. “How long have you been hooking up with her?”
“Stupid question,” Tessa said, flipping her hair off her shoulders. “On and off since sophomore year.”
“I can’t believe you,” Taylor said with only a slight quiver in her voice. She couldn’t break down here, in front of two people who didn’t care about her.
“He just knows who is hot, and who is not,” Tessa said snottily, looking disdainfully at Taylor.
“Taylor—“ Harper started, but Tessa cut him off.
“Don’t worry Harper,” she said, pushing him towards the door, “Taylor won’t tell anyone you cheated. I promise.”
“How—?” Harper started again, but Tessa just told him to trust her and shut the door behind him, after throwing him his shirt.
“I’m not going to be the bad guy in this,” Taylor said angrily to Tessa.
“Don’t be so sure about that,” Tessa answered. “Neither am I. And I know something about you that I //know// you don’t want anyone to know about.” Taylor’s heart pounded quickly and she got dizzy. Was Tessa talking about what she thought she was?
“And this proves it,” Tessa said, pulling out a drivers license. Taylor recognized her own, ‘Taylor Swift’ it said clearly. Taylor swallowed hard, extremely nervous.
“I can’t believe you went through my things,” Taylor said.
“I can’t believe you’re f.ucking Taylor Swift,” Tessa said. “Her music, well YOUR music, sucks balls.”
“Just tell me what you want me to do.”
“You don’t have to do anything but be quiet. I will tell everyone what actually happened tonight, which is that Harper walked in here to find YOU in bed with a guy.” Taylor’s jaw dropped.
“Are you kidding me? Everyone is going to hate me for cheating on him! Plus I wouldn’t even //be// in bed with a guy.” Taylor said in disgust.
“It’s either that, or everyone knows you’re Taylor Swift and you can kiss your college experience goodbye. I’m doing this to save Harper and I’s reputation, so if you don’t say a word about our secret, I won’t say a word about yours. Deal?”
Taylor swallowed hard, feeling like she was about to make a deal with the devil. “Deal,” she agreed nervously. Like she had any other choice.
Why hadn’t she listened when everyone told her Harper was a player?
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