Taylor's Version

Note: Inspired by a true story that happened merely last Valentine's Day

"Have you listened to it yet?"

Cassandra blurted excitedly, handing me her cell phone which almost fell out of my hands in her haste. Her yellow hair was a huge mess like she hasn’t combed in days. I almost laughed at the sight, my best friend since high school hasn’t aged a day, well… mentally. I shook my head in response and that only made her even more animated to make me listen to it now. We have been waiting for this song to come out for almost a year now but those days felt like a full journey through eternity. And now here we are, listening to it at last.

YouTube flashed into view as I finally took her phone and exhaled heavily. This was it. I have never felt this way before since I left high school and received my acceptance letter to Oxford. It was terrifying as it was enthralling. I closed my eyes for a moment before I looked at Cassandra who was biting her nails in anticipation. "All right," I said.

A strange yet familiar wave of nostalgia struck me to the core the moment I pressed the play button. I almost felt like I was sent back in time to meet my 13-year-old awkward-self singing that same song. I can still hear Ms Young’s stern voice scolding us to stop singing like concert queens during her lecture. Not to mention when James and I danced together like forbidden lovers pining for each other during one of those fall formals in high school.

"It's too perfect, isn't it?" Cassandra squealed, bringing me back to the present. I only grunted in response, and she looked at me apologetically. She must have thought that she interrupted the song which made me annoyed. Little did she know that she had interrupted something more precious. The best part of the song was finally playing, and so I decided to remove the earbuds from the phone and increased its volume to the fullest bar. I can’t let the song continue playing without our signature freaky dance and screaming session while listening to it aloud.

We sang at the top of our lungs like we had no care in the world, forgetting that we are already 26-year-old serious law students and that this is my parents' house we are staying in. All we know was we were still wearing those dyed jeans and nerdy glasses in that old classroom like we used to.

We could not help but sing and dance like clumsy teenagers because that's what it felt like listening to this song. It held too many memories.

“Ahem…”

"I see you're still obsessed with that song after all these years", I straightened up quickly when I heard that voice. Now this feels more memorable. My mum’s eyebrow was raised at us like we were underage girls doing our noisy games all over again. She had been watching us for quite some time since she arrived from the General Store. I smiled at her and watched her as she took the groceries to the kitchen. It was a relief to see her not carrying too many bags this time because she had been panic buying ever since the pandemic started.

The moment she reappeared from the kitchen I quickly spoke, "Uhm, Cassie and I are just listening to Taylor’s new re-released song. It was just so fun feeling like a kid again. I haven’t done this in years.”

“You mean your flopped live performances as a teen?” my mum chuckled at her own joke.

“Mrs Braden you have to listen to this. This is Taylor’s re-recorded song. It’s been like 13 years but she still sounds the same” Cassie was basically marketing Taylor Swift to my mother. I couldn’t be more surprised. We were Swifties ever since the world began, and let me tell you, that is not an exaggeration.

Cassie’s cheeks turned red when she received no reply from my mother who was just sitting there amazed at her enthusiasm. To quickly lighten up the mood, Cassie began her chatter yet again.

“I think the reason why this song is so popular because of its reference to Shakespeare as well as the catchy melody that knocks anyone’s socks off," she said dreamily while she closed her eyes as if she was in a middle of a woodland fairy tale reverie. "She also changed the ending of the story to a happy one. Romeo and Juliet is truly the greatest love story of all time” she added.

“No, I beg to disagree.”

I did not expect to hear that. Did my mum really just say that?

“What?”, Cassie asked dumbfounded, “of course Love Story is a beautiful song, it’s the -”

Before Cassie could finish her speech my mother interrupted her, “No, that’s not what I meant. It is a perfect song. What I said was about the last words you said. Romeo and Juliet is truly the greatest love story of all time.”

It was my turn to argue this time. I wasn’t just a Swiftie, I was an avid fan of both Shakespeare and Jane Austen. “I don’t understand, Mum. Is there any other story out there much better than Romeo and Juliet?”

“Perhaps there is…” she briefly answered which only made me even more curious. Cassie was simply watching me now, she was content with my mother’s words about the song, and she wasn’t going to make any more comment on that.

“Then which is it? And if this story really exists, why haven’t I heard of it?’

My mum smiled at me and said “Because I haven’t shared that story with anyone.”

Cassie and I looked at each other. Did she mean their love story? My parents’ love story? Then it hit me, I don’t know their story or how they met. After all this time, they never took the time to tell me that. They were both so secretive and silent as they had always been. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to know, but then I decided I want to know. Not because I really want to, it's because I deserve to know.

Before I could even say a word, it was Cassie who popped the million-dollar question of the day:

“Won’t you tell us that story, Mrs Braden? I’d like to know how you and Ann’s dad met. That would be like the best story ever!”

All I could do was nod in agreement with my best friend’s notion and urge my mum to finally share this story, with us. I felt a little jittery inside for a moment, especially when she finally whispered the word “Okay”.

"It was one of the worst days of my entire life, I can still recall, the day I met your dad, Ann", she began. "I can still feel my trembling body when I left the party of my best friend’s house, Miles. I had a boyfriend you see, Charles his name was, and he was that one guy whom I thought would change my life forever. He was the only one for me. I loved him so much it hurt. It hurt to find out that he had discarded me from his plans when he decided he wanted to go to a different city. College was different he said. He had to find himself and somehow I was the one who had been impeding his way."

I walked out a little foxed from Miles' birthday party when I told myself I wanted to take a stroll to the old Lover’s Lane. I didn’t know what I was up to back then, maybe I was just going to make myself reminisce every memory he and I had. I was crying profusely like some stupid kid in a romance movie when suddenly the rain poured down. I was stumped and couldn’t help myself from feeling angrier.

What the hell? Does the rain know exactly when to pour just when I was in the middle of crying? Were the skies sympathizing with me or were they just simply mocking me? I didn’t really know. I felt helpless and stupid standing on a deserted street drenched in water and sadness.

“Are you all right?”, a voice called. I felt the rain stop pouring on me but I can still see the rain falling, so what just happened? That’s when I noticed him, the owner of the voice. He was carrying an umbrella to cover me from the rain. I was silent for a moment, trying to figure out what to say.

Instead of talking and humiliating myself even further, I merely watched his face and examined his features. He was slightly taller than me, he had blue eyes and dark brown hair. I soon realized I haven’t seen him before. I shivered at the idea of being alone with a stranger 23 minutes after my boyfriend dumped me for college.

He must have sensed my discomfort that’s why he stretched out his hand and introduced himself. “I’m John, John Braden. I’m new in town.”

If I had met him in a different circumstance I would’ve shaken his hand and given him a warm welcome. But no one in my position could ever do that. “Carmen, Carmen Rutherford.”

I wasn’t sure if he laughed because I looked stupid and ridiculous but that’s when he spoke again. “You mean like the renowned physicist?”

I was surprised by his words. “Excuse me?” He was looking more bemused than I was like I said something so incredibly bizarre to his ears.

“The one who discovered the atomic nucleus, the…” he stopped his sentence when he noticed I was clearly clueless about the things he had been talking about.

He smiled for a second and finally explained to me what he was up to earlier. “Your last name, it’s the same with the guy who made great breakthroughs in science. He’s actually famous”. I didn’t know what to say after that. All I know was, he was smart. He knew that Rutherford physicist and I didn’t.

“Can I walk you home?” he asked, “it’s getting dark and I don’t think the rain is going to stop any time soon”.

I nodded my head in response and we perambulated the streets of Fenderwood in silence. I went home that night safely, thanks to that kind stranger I met.

I thought I was never going to see him again when I crossed paths with him again a couple of months later in my English Literature class. We were of the same age but I knew he was wiser beyond his years. Even wiser than Charles, I thought. We saw each other every time we joined that class but we never spoke until we had that debate between the Dashwood sisters from Jane Austen’s work."

I was a little surprised when she mentioned that story because I remember them fighting over it back when I was in high school. We were discussing the same novel right after we had discussed P and P (Pride and Prejudice) but they failed to mention this part of the story? Wait, whaaat?

I always hated the fact that Marianne only married Colonel Brandon out of pity and friendship. I was under the impression that she never truly loved him. It was a happy ending for Elinor and Edward but what about Marianne, especially the poor Colonel who only loved someone so dearly but ended up receiving no affection from his wife? I was trying to prove my point to the professor and I knew I was going to emerge victoriously.

That’s when your father chimed in and said, “No. I think not. It was stated in the book that Marianne eventually fell in love with the Colonel and couldn’t even bear losing him when he decided to eschew the Dashwood family for a moment because he felt like he was flocking his presence too much. It does not need to be written in great detail how much Marianne has changed through the course of the story. Besides, I believe that even though Marianne never learned to love her husband, he would never stop trying and hoping to make her see how much he loved her. Forcing her to love him is never the answer. He never forced her to marry him. She did it on her own accord. If you think that the Colonel and Marianne were unhappy, I strongly disagree. Love isn’t just about personal happiness, it is about how much you can sacrifice and offer to a person.”

I felt defeated by his words. But, he was right. I couldn’t disagree with that. I only gave him a small smile before I sat back in my seat. He wasn’t just smart and kind, I thought. There was so much more about him that needed discovering.

Weeks had passed and we started talking and slowly getting to know each other. It felt good not to think about Charles every once in a while. Soon, I realized I have forgotten him much quicker than I believed I could. I’m not sure whether it was John’s doing but I didn’t want to answer those questions just yet.

One day, we were heading to the school library when I asked him a question. “We’ve been talking to each other but you’re still such a mystery to me. Won’t you tell me more about yourself?”

He was obviously taken aback by this and just stared at me, his blue eyes sparkling with interest. “Why?” he inquired.

“I don’t know, perhaps it’s that scientist’s blood running through my veins that makes me want to discover not just science stuff but someone I know, like you for example.” He chortled a little bit and then we started hanging out for real, I guess.

“Of course, and the rest is history, awwwwww”, Cassie broke the story and I knew that there was nothing I could do to make the storytelling continue. I was gaping at my mum for a second imagining how those beautiful memories of her and my dad came to be, 32 years ago now. I have seen them argue and face problems as all married couples do but they still loved each other.

“Okay, okay, the story is a very good one but I think I’ll have to go with Romeo and Juliet” I winked playfully at my mum. She sighed and merely shook her head smiling. I know she understood that I loved their story even more than Shakespeare’s but I won’t admit it openly.

“Ann, don’t say that. It’s romantic and beautiful, plus, this story is real. It really happened. It’s not some fictional narrative created by a dead poet” Cassie intervened, her eyes glowing in shock and excitement.

I was about to throw the cushion on her head when the gate opened. We all looked outside the window to check who it was.

“Mr Smart Braden is here, Mrs Braden!” Cassie was looking at me rather than my mother and she burst out laughing. I had no idea what to do or think after my mother’s tale but when I saw my dad come in and kissed my mum on the cheek, I realized I do know what to think or say.

“A love story isn’t great because of its genius plot or impeccable characters; the presence of love and how it came to be, is what makes it great…”

But hey, I’m not saying I’m not going to enjoy Taylor’s Version of Shakespeare’s most prized work, it’s still my favourite though, song and story.