Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 3: Traylor Date.

I despise my coach, from now until forever. 11 a.m. on a Saturday is to early in the morning. Of course when I told Gabi, all she said was 'I have practice every Tuesday morning at 5 am.' Well to bad, I'm not Gabi, and Saturday's are my sleep in days. Though my mom likes to point out that 11 am isn't that early. I heard the coach call me to practice the relay. I was part of the 4 x 100,and I swam the butterfly, the final leg.

"Okay girls you can go now." The coach called after we finished our relay.

Finally, I can go home, and to think in just 6 and a half hours I'll be on a date with Troy. He wouldn't tell me where we were going just to wear something comfortable. I got into my silver PT Cruiser that had been a sweet 16 present from my mom and got ready to go home. When I pulled in the driveway I didn't expect my mom to be home. I love my mom and all but she just works so much, so when I pulled in the driveway and saw she was there, I was kinda shocked.

"Hey Tay." Joanne greeted me as I came in. "How was practice?"

"Same as always. What are you doing home?" I replied.

"I decided not to go into work today. I was thinking maybe me and you could do something." My mom said. Then it hit me, today was the day that my dad had left my mom 10 years ago. I always hated him for that. Now she's very untrusting of men, and I have to tell her I have a date tonight. Of all days.

"Yeah, maybe we can go to the mall or something." I suggested. My mom loved to shop, so where better to tell her that I'm going on a date than in a mall.

"That's fine. Go take a shower and then we'll get ready to leave." My mom commanded.

"Yes ma'am." I laughed. When it came to shopping my mom became a drill sergeant. Once, I had finished my shower I quickly threw on a pair of skinny jean and a shirt. "Okay, mom. I'm ready." I yelled as I was coming down the stairs.

"Great, so am I. Do you want to drive or shall I?" Joanne asked.

"You can drive." Was my only reply. I followed my mom out to her M3 blue BMW convertible. She got in and we started to the mall. As soon as we got there, my mom pulled me into Saks 5th Avenue. We both looked around for a little bit until we had enough to go into the dressing room. We walked into side by side dressing rooms and I decided now was the time to tell my mom. "Hey mom."

"Yes." Joanne replied.

"I have something to tell you." I said hesitantly.

"Yes, what is it." She said.

"I kinda have a date tonight." I said. I waited for a reply. Nothing. "Mom, are you okay."

"Wh-oh Tay, I'm fine. I was just a little shocked. That's all." Joanne said. "Why did you think I would be mad?"

"Well, I don't know. I mean after dad left…" Taylor replied.

"Taylor Emily McKessie, you listen to me. Just because you father left me doesn't mean I don't what you to have a nice relationship with someone. Now, tell me more about this boy." Joanne told her daughter.

"Well, his name is Troy, and he's really sweet, nice, kind. He's a basketball player, but he's totally down to earth." Taylor said.

"He sound like a very nice boy. I hope you have a lot of fun tonight." Joanne said.

"Thanks mom. I think I want to get this dress come tell me what you think." Taylor replied. After looking around a little bit more, Taylor decided she only wanted the dress(A.N.: picture in profile) she and Joanne left. They stopped for lunch at McAllister Deli, and headed home.

Since Troy hadn't said what we would be doing tonight I decided to just go with the same pair of skinny jeans I had one at the mall, and and "Go Green" tee shirt.(pic in profile) I had just finished getting ready when the doorbell rung. I came downstairs to see my mom invite Troy in.

"Hey Troy." I announced my presence once I got to the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey Taylor. You look fantastic." Troy replied.

"Thank you, you too." I told him. "Shall we go then."

"Yes, come along. It was nice meeting you Ms. McKessie." Troy told Joanne.

"As you Troy. Don't be home to late." Joanne called after them.

"So what's on the agenda for tonight?" I asked after we left.

"Well, have you ever been rock climbing?" Troy asked. I shoke my head no. "Well do you want to try?"

"Yeah, I looks like fun." I told him.

"Great. Next stop, Inner Peaks Climbing Center." Troy replied. We kept up a steady stream of conversation until we got to Inner Peaks. Troy and I walked up to the door where he greeted a man with the name tag Matt on. "Taylor, this is Matt, my cousin. He's going to be are belay."

"A what?" I asked.

"A belay. Their the people who hold the rope so that you don't fall." Troy replied.

"Oh okay."

"So are we ready to start?" Matt asked. We both nodded are heads yes, and Matt took us to get are harnesses fitted. "Have you ever done this before?"

"No."

"Okay, that's fine. Well start at the beginner and hope that Troy doesn't get bored." Matt replied.

"Oh haha." I heard Troy say.

"What do you mean?" I asked Matt.

"Well Troy comes here a lot so he normally skips the beginner level and go straight to Intermediate or Advanced." Matt told me.

"You never told me you were that good at rock climbing." I teased Troy as we walked to the first wall.

"Yeah, well you never asked." Troy rubbed the back of his neck. "This is the first wall. Its only about 10 feet tall. All you have to do is put you feet on the ledges and pull yourself up. When you get to the top let go, and Matt'll pull you down. Okay?"

"Yep." I walked over to Matt and got hooked up and started to climb. It was pretty easy and when I got to the top I looked down and saw Troy smiling. As Matt lowered me down I told Troy that I wanted to see what he normally does. We all walked over to the Intermediate 3 wall. It looked a lot harder than the wall I had just done. Instead of ledges, it had cracks that you had to put you feet in. "You do that?"

"Yeah, you wanted to see how its done?" Troy asked. I nodded quickly and blushed when Troy chuckled. Troy scaled the wall in about 5 minutes even though it was about 45 feet tall.

"Wow, that is amazing. I can't believe you can do that. And so quickly." I told him as he walked over. Troy and I climbed a few more walls and I got to Intermediate 1 by the time we left. After, we got to my house Troy and I sat on the front porch and talked.

"So did you have fun tonight?" Troy asked.

"Yeah, oh man. It was so much fun. I so want to do that again." Before I even realized I was shivering Troy put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into him.

"Your shivering." Troy said.

"Well, its is only February. And you know what they say about Febuary in Albuquerque." I joked. As soon as that came out of my mouth my mom knocked on the door 3 times. Our signal that it was time to come inside. " I guess I better get inside."

"Yeah, wouldn't want you to catch a cold from this freighting cold Albuquerque February's. Troy said.

"Oh hahaha." I mocked his laughter earlier today.

"I call you later Taylor okay?" And with that Troy lend in and gave me a kiss. It was the perfect first date kiss. One that I was passionate but gently at the same time. I stepped in the door and watched Troy walk to his car and pull away before I went upstairs. I couldn't wait to tell Gabriella and Kelsi tomorrow.