almost | taylor swift au

chapter 22

Taylor takes another bite of the mac and cheese that she ordered and giggles at Jett as he finishes up the story he was telling her about when he was told in high school that he should take a dance class to improve his stage presence.

"I'm telling you, it was so awful that they gave me my check back and asked me to leave."

"I cannot believe that it was that awful," Taylor laughs. "Wow."

"It's all good, the chicks in the class weren't that into me anyway," he rolls his eyes. "They were too focused on the glitz and glitter of the whole thing."

Taylor bites her lip. "Well, I mean... it was their art. They didn't want to be distracted by some guy who came in and wasn't that serious about it all probably."

He shrugs. "Oh well, whatever. Like I said, it was way in the past. You were still in elementary school when I took this class."

"Right..." Taylor says, fidgeting with her fingers. She doesn't like when Jett brings up their age difference like that. And she didn't like that he said the girls were too into the glitter of dance to pay attention to him. If she knows one thing about dance, it's that there's a lot more work that goes into it than what it looks like on the stage. Even if the recital is glitz and glitter, every single rehearsal looks more like blood, sweat, and tears. Of course they didn't want to focus on some stupid boy who came in and was going to make them all look silly... if he was really as bad as he says he was.

"Hey," she says, changing the subject, "do you want to hear the song that I wrote the other day? I can run down the hall to my room and grab my guitar. I think you'll really like it. I'm super proud of it."

"What?" Jett asks, looking her dead in the eye. "You don't want me to sign a contract first, promising I won't steal your song?" There isn't a single ounce of humor in his voice. It's not a joke. His words are genuinely bitter. They sting.

Especially because Taylor thought that he was fine with it. Taylor thought that he didn't have a problem with the contract. He seemed so willing to do it; he was in such a good mood all morning. He's suddenly shifted, like the flip of a switch.

"Jett..." she whispers.

"What? I'm serious. You think I'm trustworthy after you threatened to sue me over stealing your song?"

"I didn't threaten to sue you," Taylor tells him.

"Yes you did. You gave me a fucking ultimatum."

"I was giving you a warning. A heads up of what my team and I were planning."

"Your team?" he raises an eyebrow. "What team? You aren't even a real artist yet, why would you have a team?"

"I have a manager that I work with. And he's got lawyers. My manager and I... we talked about it all at length. You know this, Jett. He's the one who hooked me up with this job in the first place, to help me get my foot in the door."

"Oh, well, that you certainly did," Jett rolls his eyes. "Your foot's in the door, congratulations. You're sleeping with a band member. I suppose you thought I'd be doing a hell of a lot more to help your stupid little career, huh? That's why you're sleeping with me in the first place?"

Jett's words feel like a punch in the gut to Taylor. "Jett, we're not sleeping together. We're dating. There's a difference, and you of all people should know it."

Jett doesn't answer her. Taylor can see his face red with anger. His fists are clenched and his breathing is heavy, echoing throughout the silent room.

So Taylor continues speaking. She feels tears forming in her own eyes, those of sheer anger and frustration.