Authors: MJ Fields
-two days, goodnight…Tessa
Tessa texted Jade
-are we okay?...Tessa
-of course I just feel like I suck as your friend right now and I guess I’m lashing out. I’m sorry…Jade
-I’m glad you’re in love Jade. Tommy
is amazing and loves you so much…Tessa
-Oh thank you, I have never been happier Tessa I can’t wait to be with him forever…Jade
-I can honestly say I believe you two will be together for the rest of your lives…Tessa
-Well how about you? What’s Ben like?...Jade
-He’s perfect, and I’m trying to be that for him too, he wants to go slow and I’m so happy he does…Tessa
- Do you love him?...Jade
-I know I could someday…Tessa
-Good, lunch tomorrow?...Jade
-We shall see, goodnight…. Tessa
Friday went by fast.
Lucas came to school in the middle of lunch, Tessa wondered where he had been but wouldn’t ask. He acted very uncomfortable, and Tessa was too. Lucas bounced his knee up and down and didn’t eat. She excused herself and left them.
Tessa had one week before the play. Next week was going to be busy, and she welcomed it. After school
, she went for a run in the park. It felt good, she needed to do this every day again, and she decided she would. On her run back to the school Lucas drove by and looked the other way.
Fine by me, asshole,
she thought.
Mad is good, yep really good.
Cassidy and a few of the cast
members decided they wanted to go up and watch Ben’s band. Tessa was excited; she would ride up with them and back to her house with Ben.
Saturday morning she texted Jade, Phoebe, and Becca
-I want to get a Mani Pedi at eleven, and maybe lunch, anyone else want in?…Tessa
- I am ….Jade
- Me too…. Phoebe
- Me three…Becca
-Excellent, I’ll pick you all up at 10:30…. Tessa
They drove to Ithaca and walked in to t
he salon.
“What brought this on?” Jade asked smiling.
“I’m going to meet Ben tonight; he’s playing in Syracuse again,” Tessa smiled.
“That’s cool, you like him Tessa,” Phoebe said.
“There’s nothing not to like, he’s hot, loves music, and plays sports. When I’m with him it’s like I’m the only person on the planet. Ben has been in three relationships that all ended well and is willing to wait until all the demons are gone from my crazy head. His views on relationships are awesome, it’s two people that respect each other, and he doesn’t share. Just like it’s supposed to be. Honestly if, I don’t grab him up now, someone else will,” Tessa looked surprised she had said that, they all laughed.
They went to lunch, and as their appetizers were delivered
Lucas walked in with a girl. Tessa was shocked, and the girls all looked in the direction she was looking.
Phoebe grabbed her hand under the table an
d whispered “Tessa, look away.”
Tessa looked at her and
felt like she couldn’t breathe.
“I need to go to the bathroom now Phoebe
, please.”
Lucas
saw them and noticed Phoebe was holding Tessa’s hand. He knew she was probably upset, but what the hell did she expect? She had Ben. He looked over at the table, and Jade was walking towards him.
“Hey
Lucas, what are you doing?”
“Hi Jade, I’m getting lunch. W
hat are you ladies doing?” he smiled.
“Girl stuff --
speaking of, who’s your friend Lucas?” Jade pushed her hip against him and scooted in the booth next to him.
“Jade this is Amy, Amy thi
s is Jade, Tommy’s girlfriend.”
“You know
Tommy, Amy was it?”
“I do
-- we used to go to school together,” she smiled.
“Well isn’t that
special.” Jade smiled. Her smile turned to a scowl as she looked at Lucas, “So Lucas, are you on a date?”
“Amy excuse us please, Jade let’s take a walk,”
Lucas all but shoved Jade out of the booth with his hip. He stood up and stormed across the restaurant and she followed him.
“What are you doing Jade?”
“Just meeting your friend,” Jade raised her eyebrow as she put her hands on her hips.
“Okay
well what I do is none of your business, or hers,” Lucas pointed to Tessa as she walked by.
“Well genius this isn’t helping your cause, and to think I was giving her a
hard time about Ben, guess I’ll switch teams now, asshole,” Jade sneered.
“Jad
e, Amy is friends with Sadi. I’m here to talk about Sadi. I am not going to take her home and fuck her. And as far as Tessa goes, she can do whatever the hell she wants, there has been way too much damage done there.”
“So you don’t care abou
t her?”
“Actually
Jade I’m fucking pissed at her!”
“Why?”
“I don’t want to talk about it! Why don’t you go join the Doe camp crew and let me eat fucking lunch,” Lucas stormed away.
“Good chat Lucas,” Jade called after him.
Lunch was on the table when she got back, “Friend of Sadi’s.”
They finished eating lunch and left. Tessa was angry with herself for getting upset, even
more angry that she threw up in the bathroom,
Phoebe had laughed when she threw up, “Look at that, a
sign; he even makes me physically sick.”
Tessa went home and
showered and shaved her legs. She washed her face and brushed and flossed her teeth. She wasn’t sure what to wear, so she called Jade. Jade told her loose jeans and a very tight shirt. Tessa did as she was told and added brown cowgirl boots, a brown belt and a cropped jacket. Her hair was blown out and down. The way Ben liked it. Her make-up a little heavier than she usually did. She looked good.
Cassidy picked her up and ha
nded Tessa a bowl, “Actually I’m good,” she smiled.
They pulled in, and Tessa got butterfl
ies. It’d only been five days since she’d seen him, but it felt like it was all new again. Tessa walked in, and he was singing. Black jeans and a white tank under a buttoned down gray shirt, he looked hot. His face was beautiful and very boyish, he had big dimples, and he was right about his butt… it was perfect. Tessa stood smiling as she watched him. Ben seemed to be scanning the crowd; she knew he was looking for her. She grabbed Cassidy’s hand and walked as close to the front as she could. Ben saw her and lit up; he winked at her and kept singing. Cassidy and Tessa danced as they watched the band.
His first set was over, and he jumped off stage and grabbed her face and kissed her.
“You look hotter every time I see you, Tess.”
Tessa smiled and stepped back and looked him up and down. She walked around and patted his butt.
“So do you,” he laughed and kissed her again.
Ben went back on, and he played guitar for a few songs and then he sang. Tessa loved to he
ar him sing. As his eyes bore into her he sang-- making the butterflies turn into humming birds. She lifted her shirt and flashed him. Ben stopped singing and laughed the band stopped.
“Tess
, come up here for a minute,” she shook her head no, “You can either come up or I’ll come get you,” Ben raised his eyebrow and held his hand up. He grabbed her and pulled her onstage.
“Tess did y
ou just flash me?”She smiled and slowly shook her head no, “Tess the truth,” she laughed.
“Did the girls miss me
?” she laughed, and he dropped to his knees and slowly started to lift her shirt. She pushed his hands away.
“Trust me,” he mouthed.
He kissed her belly and then blew really hard on it. Tessa laughed, and the crowd went wild.
“I think they like you almost as much as I do, smile for them Tess.”
She turned and smiled and waved. Tessa saw Tommy, Jade, Ryan and Lucas standing in the crowd. Jade was smiling. Ryan and Tommy were looking down, and Lucas was pissed.
“Stay up here with me wh
ile I finish this song Tess, then you’re going to sing with me,” she smiled at him.
He pulled a stool up and sat her on it and started the song were they left off.
He walked over and kissed her cheek “Do you know
Close My Eyes Forever
?”
“I do, but I don’t want t
o screw up,” she shook her head no.
“I ha
ve the song on my CD player. We’ll do it next set?” she shook her head yes. “Cool… I can think of something for now.”
She looked at him and shook her head no, and he laughed.
“Okay I got one” he whispered to the other guitarist.
They started playing
I Touch Myself.
He winked at her, and she laughed and sang it to him, she didn’t dare look out in the crowd. She played the part and danced around while she sang. When she was done, the crowd cheered.
“Awesome job Tessa, but betwee
n you and I,” Ben whispered into the mic, “You’ll never have to do that; I’ll take care of you. Alright we have only worked on this for a few days so bare with us.”
They played
Zeppelin’s Thank You
, he sang to her and smiled, it was perfect. The set was over, and he dragged her off the side and gave her his CD player.
He kissed her “You’ll do awesome.”
Jade ran up and hugged her, “You did excellent! And by the way, he is so damn cute and very into you.”
Tessa
hugged her back.”Why is he here?”
Jade whispered, “He wanted to come, sorry, he was well aware of who was playing.”
“Oh,” she was confused. “Hi guys,” Tessa smiled.
They said hello and
Lucas rolled his eyes and walked away.
Lucas
walked up to a pretty dark haired girl and whispered in her ear, she took his hand.
Tessa turned
to find Ben. She hugged him tightly.
“What’s up?”
She pointed to Jade and Tommy and Lucas, and the brunette walking towards the door.
“Company.”
“Does it bother you?”
“I just don’t know why
he had to come here.”
“Me either, but we’
re going to have fun anyway,” Ben kissed her, “Practice!”
Ben put the head phones on her. She buried her head
against his chest and listened as he glared towards the door
Ben went o
nstage singing: she watched him and smiled. He truly was amazing.
“Tess
, come on up here,” he said, and everyone cheered. “They still missing me?” he grabbed the bottom of her shirt, she looked away blushing. “You ready to sing with me? You ready to hear Tessa sing again?” he asked, and they all cheered.
He leaned over and kissed her "Just look at me.”
They sang together perfectly, both put so much emotion into it. At the end they stood face to face, looking into each others eyes as they both tried to catch their breath. Ben finally smiled and looked away.
“Let’s hear it for Tess everyone,” she turned and smiled and immediately she saw
Lucas making out with the girl.
She watched as he kissed her neck and his hands moved to her breast and she
tipped her head back. As they kissed he walked her to the side of the room, and he grabbed her arms and pinned them against the wall, kissing her and grinding against her.
“Tess,” Ben whispered, “You going to stay up here and sing with me again?”
She turned to him and smiled. “Anything you want Ben and I mean anything,” she heard cheering and the crowd going wild, she laughed and kissed him.
Ben smiled and said,
“On the ride to your place, we’ll talk about it.”
“You can drive Ben and talk all you want, my mouth will be busy doi
ng something else,” she pulled him by the waist band into her and kissed him. The crowd cheered, and she bit her lip and raised her eyebrow, turned, and walked off stage.
“Alright everyone thanks for comi
ng and goodnight,” Ben started walking off stage, “Oh snap. One more set.”
As she danced she felt someone bumped into her. S
he glanced over her shoulder, and it was Lucas and number thirteen. Tessa moved, and Jade glared at him, Lucas smirked and moved closer to Tessa.
The song ended.
“Hey Tess, is that asshole bugging you?” Ben asked, “Come on up here girl.”
She smiled, and he pulled her onstage.
“We have got another song for you girl, and all you ladies out there who have encountered douche bag boys like Lucas.”
The ban played
Two
Princes
. Ben jumped around and sang, his moves were amazing; she could not wait to get out of here. Lucas didn’t even respond he was too busy to even come up for air. They did one more song and ended.