It was a beautiful spring day, and the wind was softly blowing through the trees at Oral Roberts University. It felt so, well, wierd to be walking through campus and not be a student.
Even though Mom is home all day, I decided to send Maddy to day care at ORU. I thought this would be a good preparation for kindergarten in the fall. Even though many kids are home schooled, Maddy would be going to public school. My mom was by no means a teacher, and I have to work. The state wasn't going to pay me to teach Maddy.
As I continued to walk through campus, memories of my fall semester freshman year flooded my mind. I just reflected, though. I did my best not to let the memories haunt me. There was no point in it. I couldn't change the past, and I didn't know if I wanted to, either. After the 'one night stand,' I felt as if I couldn't do anything right. But raising Madeline proved to be just the opposite. And if Taylor couldn't appreciate and understand that, then I didn't want him near her. As for me, just one more sacrafice made for the sake of my daughter.
"I'm sorry. I was off in my own world." I apologized for bumping into a student.
"No problem, Laura."
"Zac?"
"Yup."
"You look great." He really did. I remembered when Hanson first burst onto the scene. Most looked upon Zac as just a cute kid. Now he's gorgeous, undoubtly breaking hearts all across campus, and causing heartache across the globe as well.
"I didn't expect to bump into you here. How've you been?" he asked.
"I'm holding up, I guess. I gotta pick Maddy up from day care," I explained.
"Would you like an escort?"
"Sure. Thanks."
We walked to the day care in silence. For the life of me, I couldn't think of anything to say. Well, there was ONE question burning in my mind. I just didn't know if I could bring myself to ask it. Oh, what the hell.
"Zac, how's Taylor doing?"
"Honestly? He says he's doing okay, but Ike and I know he's not. I mean, he's always got wrapped up in our music, but he's completely absorbed by this album. He's using it like a drug, or something." Zac appeared frustrated by Tay's behavior.
I looked at my shoes. "I'm sorry," I said softly.
"Don't be. It's not your fault. You ARE NOT responsible for Tay's actions."
At that point, we arrived at the day care. The kids were out on the playground, and Maddy was swinging on a swing, her favorite.
"Oh my God, Laura! She looks exactly like you!"
"Yeah. Yeah, she does," I said smiling. Every night I thanked God for this. I really had no desire to know what it was like to love someone who looked like someone you absolutely despise.
"Mommy!" Madeline ran to me, arms outstretched.
"Hey, Sweetie," I said, picking her up and giving her a big hug.
Madeline turned to Zac. "Hey! You look like Taylor!"
"That's because I'm his brother, Zac," he explained.
"How many brothers does he have?" Maddy asked. Zac and I laughed. She began to fidget in my arms. "I wanna say goodbye to everyone," she said.
"Okay," I said, setting her down. She ran off towards the swingset. "Don't run!"
She slowed down.
"She's quite a character," Zac commented.
"Takes one to know one." We laughed.
Maddy came running towards us, coat in hand. "I thought I told you not to run," I said sternly. Again, she slowed down.
She walked up to Zac, and he knelt down to be eye-level with her. Maddy extended her right hand. "Call me Maddy," she said.
Zac chuckled, shaking her hand. "Call me Zac."
"Zac?"
"Yeah, Maddy?"
"Would you tell Taylor and Ike I said hi?"
"Will do."
"Yeah, me too. And good luck with the album and all," I chimed in.
He nodded. "Sure."
Maddy grabbed my hand. "Bye, Zac."
"Bye," he said, grinning and waving.
"Laura!" he called out to me.
I turned around. "Yeah?"
"You did good. You should be proud."
I smiled. "Thanks."