Sydney Bay Janes

I don't think anything felt better than having a crush on Wilson J. Taylor.

Everything flowed so easily, our personalities and love languages meshed so well. With him, it was easy. I quickly unlearned most of the bad habits and negatives of relationships from Tony. 

Will's a teacher, impatient, but we get there. He's always working, I doubt that'll ever change but it hasn't gotten in the way of us much. Although, things are early. We don't even call each other pet names, yet. Well, other than Squiddy and Goob. I get Nene [Neyney] from Damian and Chyna now, though, too.
 Oh, Will is Goob is because I stole a look at one of his baby pictures and young him looked just like little, sleepy Goob from 'Meet The Robinsons.' So cute!

We're taking things slow, still no official title, but was a label even necessary? 

Often I'd get worried he'd be seeing someone else then remembered he hardly had time for himself. Whenever he wasn't working, he was doing some family-related event, helping raise Hunter, or trying to keep up with me. With his autobody shop thing taking off, too, it got so crazy I took Finn in. 

I tried getting him to rest but he said it wasn't that serious and he'll rest when he's dead. Damian sympathized but said that's how he's always been, Will. D's not that far off from Wilson, though, he almost works just as much since joining him in the car business.

The few nights I'd spent with Will after the pool party were short. I'd try to make a move and only get to second or third base, never a home run. He was always tired or aching or caught up with something. While I loved his devotion to everything he did and everyone, I wished he'd slow down.

Never in a hundred years did I think a guy would genuinely like me for me. Sometimes I get skeptical that he'll up and leave me one day or become the villain. Then, he says something to make my cheeks red and I snap out of it.

Hunter still didn't like me. After picking him up from practice one day when Will or his parents couldn't we had a heart-to-heart It went something like this:

"--I know you don't like me, but Will's busy, so," I pushed out, talking to the teen through the window.

He groaned but hopped in the back.

I just stared at him in the rear view mirror.

"What?" he asked.

"I'm not an Uber, get up front."

After cursing me under his breath, Hunter seated himself beside me. Like a normal person.

Five minutes went by before I noticed I still had the music down. When I went to turn up the volume, Hunter spoke up.

"I do like you," he admitted. That made me feel better, I didn't like having beef with someone so dear to Wilson.

"Good-" I tried to talk.

"I just don't want you with Will," he finished.

Oh.

"Well, I'm not gonna apologize or change anything. I like him, and he likes me."

Hunter nodded, staring at my side profile as I drove carefully.

"Do you actually like him?"

I didn't hesitate to say, "I do, yeah." I even smiled.

Hunter began to relax and dial back his tone.

"Is it because he's a good guy? Anna thinks so, too. Well, she used to," he said.

"Anna?"

"My mother."

Made sense. I didn't like that's how I learned that bit of information but I figured it was only a minor detail. Although it explained her claim on Will and why he feels the need to be there for Hunter. I didn't know Anna from a hole in the wall but she clearly wasn't winning any 'mother of the year awards' anytime.

To answer his initial question about if I thought Wilson was one of the good ones, I returned the smile to my face and nodded my head.

"Yeah," I said low, "he's the best."

*

Karina and Miranda are total dolls! Karina's killing it with the choreography and Miranda's a great social media manager for our new business - Fidelity events. It didn't have as much razzle dazzle or backstory as Reignbow, but it was fitting.

My biggest thing now was loyalty. All I had was Chyna. Miranda and Karina were becoming solid friends, too though.
I'd say Wilson, but even though I'm basically head-over-heels for the kid, he can leave me. Chyna can too but I'd have to kill her first. 

You're probably wondering why I didn't list Delaney. Tom left her that night and only came back to collect his things. He stopped paying some of her bills and blocked her. I think he had a whole family on the other side of town, anyway. 

Yet, she blamed me for it. Once she was all out of tears to cry and she stopped threatening Tom, she directed all that energy towards me. First it was just less chat, then cold looks, snide comments, and finally we just started avoiding each other in the house entirely. I kept to myself when home, barely used anything that belonged to her -- except water, wifi, and the AC-- and didn't even park mine or Chyna's cars in the driveway anymore.

We've been looking for places, Chyna and I. Oh, hold that thought -- let me tell you about her and Damian!

So they, like, totally love/hate each other. Whenever she talks about him she calls him names and can't stand his guts then the next second, he's in hers if you know what I mean. It's the craziest thing, I don't know if they actually like each other or not. When we're all together, they just bicker like an old married couple. You'd think they're enemies or siblings. But when he hits her up at the end of the day, she grins and runs to his car, not coming home until the next morning sometimes. I think they're perfect for each other and just need to get it together. Chyna's still trying to see other people, though, but it's not going so well. Everyone she goes on dates with just uses her, trying to get a shout out or something, they're just lame. Then Damian, oh, he's so sweet. He's loyal to her. I think it's because he knows she'll come around one day and she's otherwise the perfect girl. Will thinks he should move on but I think it'd be cute for our best friends to date, too.

Okay back to the apartment thing. Chyna's super picky. We had a nice budget so finding a good place wasn't the hard part. No, the difficulty came from Chyna picking apart every place our agent showed us. It was either the bathroom was ugly, the ceilings weren't high enough, there wasn't enough yard, or she down right didn't like the location. Me, I didn't care, anything was better than staying at Delaney's any longer. 
Will didn't mind me staying at his place sometimes but I did because then all I'd do is sit around for him to get back. That and we weren't even having sex, it would really be like having a roommate, and that's what I have Chyna for.

Though finally, we agreed on the perfect place, a townhome. She didn't want to buy a house, she was saving that for the first time to do alone once she saved enough. I respected that. I also didn't want another loft, I found them overrated and kind of lonely.

We looked at some very nice apartments, but none spoke to us. The townhome was cute and gave the vibe we were looking for, I feel. It screamed "we're stable." It's not permanent, but felt like we had a home. I thought it was mature and represented growth and triumph, but okay it's not that serious. 

I kinda wanted space to myself. So a week before signing anything, I talked to Chy about it and she moved in a few doors down. I just wanted more space, individuality. My decision was last minute and she was lucky there was vacancy as they were brand spanking new, but Damian pulled some strings. 

It's just that after dealing with Delaney and seeing as though Will was so independent, I didn't want to be a burden to anyone. I love Chyna, but we do need time apart, too. Plus this way she could finally have a studio, a free room possibly as a second closet, and she can take as long as she wants in the bathroom doing her hair.

Me, I wanted to really get to know my new city and come into my own. The freedom from Chyna was really refreshing. Without her, I could do my own thing. Albeit, I didn't have much to do as I still had to work with her, but off the clock, I got to be my own person. 

Having my own place felt weird, I felt like a child home alone. Except my parents were never coming back and I couldn't ask my father to hang a painting, fix a faulty sink, or tuck me in bed. And I didn't have my mother's delicious omelettes to wake up to, I couldn't raid her closet for clothes and jewelry, or ask her to do my makeup. No, I just had two other empty bedrooms besides the master and one sad living room with no tv or furniture. I hardly decorated the place as it was enough hassle moving my things from storage and Delaney's place. On the bright side, though, I barely unpacked my things in storage so at least it was mostly in boxes.

Will invited me to a banquet for his parents, Chyna had a housewarming coming up, there's also Damian's surprise birthday party at the club, and the big performance at Leddy's. It all seemed like a lot, but I was excited for this new chapter and more to come.