Chapter Eleven

A FEW TRAIN rides and some wrong turns later and they found themselves at the entrance to the London School of the Arts, which housed both Taylor’s music conservatory and Joey’s writing program. It was an old, beautiful school, made of brick and covered in greenery. Joey pictured herself sitting in a Starbucks back home, trying desperately to push past writer’s block before she had to get home to relieve a babysitter. Writing here, she realized, would be a piece of cake and she couldn’t wait to get started.

But first, they needed to drop their bags off in Taylor’s room, which they quickly found thanks to the map the school had sent along with her orientation packet. The door was unlocked, and they both laughed as they opened it. The room was comically small. It had just enough room for a twin bed and small desk with a chair, and that was about it.

“You sure about that offer to have me crash here?” Joey said as they closed the door behind them. There was barely room for the two of them to stand in the middle of the room with their bags nearby. What would happen when they unpacked?

“Very sure,” Taylor said. “We’ll just spend most of our time outside. All we really have to do is sleep in here.”

The word sleep made them both look at the tiny bed and blush.

“Hey, where’s your cello?” Joey said, realizing Taylor seemed to have not packed a crucial piece of equipment.

“Oh, well, my parents bought me one here, as a graduation present.” She cast her eyes down.

“That’s awesome! Really, Taylor, that’s such a nice gift.”

Taylor exhaled and Joey knew why. As an only child, Taylor had been what some people might call spoiled. She got a brand-new car on her sixteenth birthday and her parents had been able to afford things other kids at their school could only dream of, like attending this school. Even before her scholarship, Taylor knew she’d be able to go, but she never flaunted any of it, so Joey didn’t mind. Owning two cellos was obviously a luxury, but it made sense. Carting one back and forth internationally was not only a pain, but probably a little risky. And since Joey knew Taylor was going to make it in Europe as a musician, she was secretly impressed with the foresight of Mr. and Mrs. Page.

“Well, if you can store it somewhere else and use the practice rooms, I think you’re right about this room,” Joey said. “We’ll be just fine.”

She collapsed on the bed in a heap, suddenly aware of how tired she was.

“Not so fast,” Taylor said, reaching down to pull her up. “We can’t go to sleep yet. We have to try and stay awake and adjust to this time zone.”

Joey resisted and pulled Taylor gently down to the bed with her.

“Okay, so no sleep,” Joey said. “I can think of other things we can do in this bed.”

Taylor smiled and leaned forward to kiss Joey as they both adjusted themselves so they were soon completely horizontal and facing each other on the bed. Joey realized it wasn’t as small as it looked as they both fit comfortably. And besides, being right up against Taylor each night seemed like a pretty good thing.

They kissed and kissed some more, and Joey recognized that old feeling of being in a space of her own with someone she cared about for the first time. She might have the memories of a thirty-eight-year-old, but clearly had the hormones of an eighteen-year-old and she was nearly overwhelmed with how strong her emotions were in that moment.

She wondered if she ought to pump the brakes a bit but decided to let Taylor take the lead. She wanted to know her better to see if Mary Fate had been right, but that certainly didn’t just mean physical stuff, nor did it mean they had to do all the things on their first day together.

As they kissed, Taylor’s hands explored Joey’s body and Joey answered each touch with one of her own, taking her cues as she went. She wondered why anyone felt the need to label another person’s sexual preferences as she went; wasn’t a body just a body? Why did it matter that she and Taylor had the same parts?

But in the same way she knew that it didn’t matter to her, she knew it mattered quite a bit to a lot of people and tried to push those thoughts from her mind. Heck, it even mattered to the person whose body she was currently exploring. Taylor had known from a young age that she just didn’t feel anything when she kissed a boy. And not just any boy, but Johnny Sanglin, widely acknowledged as the hottest guy in their school.

Joey felt oddly proud and sexy that she’d been someone Taylor had been attracted to over Johnny. It wasn’t a competition and certainly not fair since Taylor wasn’t attracted to men in general, but still: Taylor had chosen her then and was choosing her again now.

“Have you ever been with a woman?” Taylor asked, pulling Joey back into the moment.

“Not since you and I kissed.” Joey took the opportunity to catch her breath.

“I meant have you had sex, but I’ll take that as a no.” Taylor laughed.

“Ah, no,” Joey said, also laughing. “I’ve never had sex.”

“At all?” Taylor sounded surprised. “I thought you and Dan…?”

“Not until next week.” Joey realized a moment too late that her reply made no sense. “I mean year. We were thinking we’d wait until next year.”

“Oh. And here I thought I was at risk of comparison.”

“Well, we’ve done other things. But not all the way.”

“So, we can be each other’s firsts,” Taylor said matter-of-factly. “I like that.”

Taylor leaned forward to kiss Joey again and picked up where she’d left off with her hands. As much as Joey didn’t want to stop, she tried to put herself back into the mindset of an eighteen-year-old and knew they should probably slow things down before things went too far. She gently took Taylor’s hands in her own and brought them up to her lips to kiss them.

“Hey, we’re in London,” she said. “What do you say we go explore the city for a bit?”

Taylor flinched, but then nodded.

“Trust me, I want to keep going.” Joey pulled Taylor’s chin up a bit before kissing her again. “But we have time. And a very small bed. I have a feeling we’re going to know each other’s bodies very well by the time this summer’s over.”

Taylor laughed and pushed herself up into a sitting position. Her hair was a mess after the long flight and subsequent fooling around, and Joey realized she was likely similarly disheveled.

After a quick stop by the community loo, they left the room for their first official outing as a couple. Even though Joey was eager to get back to bed, she was equally eager to get to know Taylor and their new home. And besides, she was right; they had nothing but time.