Burn Baby Burn

When I stormed off, I felt relieved. I didn't want to be in this constant cycle with Taylor. I was glad to get rid of the doubt that I had of whether he wanted me or Farrah. Farrah can have him all to herself now. I don't care. That wasn't really true, I did care, I was trying to put on a brave face. Henry saw me storm out and pulled me in for a hug. I tried my hardest not to cry when I was in his arms. I felt so betrayed by Taylor. He knew that Logan had cheated on me and he thought that he could do the same thing. I was overwhelmed by feelings.

"Are you ok?" Henry asked me, gently. He might have had a slight idea of what happened and looked concerned. He didn't want to get involved with the drama and decided to wait here, outside.

"I don't know," I admitted. I didn't want to stay here. I wanted to go home and be alone/ "Let's go." Henry nodded.

The next thing I knew, Taylor came bursting out of the restaurant, coming after me.

"Courtney!" he yelled. When he saw that I was right next to the restaurant door, he looked embarrassed. "Can we talk?"

I looked at Henry, as if asking him what I should do. I was practically cowarding behind Henry, using him as a shield against Taylor.

"I don't think that is a good idea, Taylor," Henry told him. "We're leaving. Come on, Court." Henry gently tugged me and I followed him to the car. Of course, Taylor wasn't giving up that easily. He followed along like a little puppy dog.

"Courtney, it's not what you think it is!" he protested. I pulled myself away from Henry and stood on my tip-toes so I could get right in Taylor's face.

"Oh, yeah? Then what was it?" I asked him, angrily. "Because to me, it looks like you were cheating on me with your ex-girlfriend, who you can't promise me that you don't have feelings for, at a place that is out of town so you wouldn't be seen by anyone. You made me choose between you and Adam. Right now, I'm really regretting that decision." Taylor looked hurt from my words.

"Hey, man," Henry said. "I think that you should leave now." Taylor looked at him.

"No, not until I get a chance to explain," he said. He looked at me. "Court, there's something I have to tell you. I want to start off by saying that I'm not proud of it and I didn't want you to know and think less of me."

"What is it?" I asked him, warily.

"Last year, when I was still in high school, something happened," he told me. I nodded. "It was really bad. Ricky and I were at this party and both of us were drinking. I'm still not quite sure what happened, but we were being stupid and goofing off. The party was really lame and we ended up drinking more than we were supposed to and Ricky started lighting things on fire on the grill. One thing lead to another and the next thing you knew, the house was burning." I gasped, knowing what he was talking about.

"You're talking about the McNeely fire!" I blurted out. "It was you?"

"No, it was Ricky!" he insisted.

I was stunned. I looked at Henry and he was equally as stunned.

"Somehow, Farrah got a hold of this information and is using it against me," Taylor continued, angrily. "She's threatening to turn me into the police as an accessory to the fire."

"What does she want from you?" I asked him, curiously.