Authors: MJ Fields
Probably to see if I’
m drunk,
she thought.
“Honestly I fell asleep at camp, your last m
essage woke me,” Tessa laughed.
“Why were you there?”
“I started to clean up after hunting season. I laid down to rest for a bit and well, I’m here now,” she laughed.
“Okay,”
Lucas felt her head. “You’re not sick are you?”
“No, just tired,” she
smiled. “Did you need help tomorrow with the big move?”
“No everything’s done. Oh I’
m throwing myself a birthday slash New Years Eve party tomorrow night. Do you think you and Alex could come?”
“Sure, we can try. Y
ou know how busy our schedules are. Will Sadi be there?”
“No.”
At that moment, he knew what he would do to make this easier for her.
They at
e dinner at seven and by nine everyone was in bed. Tessa couldn’t sleep and walked downstairs. She decided to read until she fell asleep. Tessa had another dream and woke up as Lucas walked down the stairs. He started to pick her up.
“I’m awake. S
orry I woke you”.
Lucas
sat next to her, “What was the dream about?”
“An accident, as usual,” Tessa whispered
.
“C
an I sit here until you fall asleep?” Lucas asked, secretly wishing she hadn’t woken up.
“You don’t have to. I’
m sure you’re tired, and you have a big party tomorrow. Oh by the way, Happy Birthday Lucas.”
Lucas
looked at her, “Thanks Tessa.”
He sat back and s
he leaned over and hugged him. He kissed her head and wrapped his arms around her. They both fell asleep.
Tessa woke up, and
Lucas was gone. She rushed to the window to see if his SUV was parked in the driveway, and it was. She took a deep breath and started breakfast. She heard the shower and knew it was him.
He walked out in the kitchen and she smiled, “Happy Birthday!”
“Thanks Tessa, I think we already went through that.”
She handed him two gifts. In one pa
ckage, she gave him a few sweatshirts, one from each of the schools he had talked about attending next year. In the other was a watch, it was the same silver as his necklace and on the back it read, YFA TT.
He smiled “What’s that mean?”
“Your Friend Always and TT is what you’d been calling me when I had that engraved. There’s one more thing, come here.”
She grabbed his hand and took him outside. She opened his hatch, and there was a cooler with a big red bow on it.
“Thanks TT.”
“Open it,” she clamped
Lucas opened it. It was packed full of frozen food she had made, each package was labeled, and there was enough for at least a month.
“Tessa, you didn’t ha
ve to do that,” he smiled and hugged her, “But I’m glad you did.”
“Breakfast foods have green writing, lunch has blue, and dinner
has red. I think I got it right. These are the foods you seemed to like the most, and there is enough for you to have seconds. There isn’t side’s, but I think you can boil water, well I know you can especially after last night’s dinner. I know you’re a great cook,” she was looking down.
Lucas
lifted her chin and looked in her eyes.
“I’
ve been so lucky to have you through all this. I want you to know that Tessa, I’ll never forget it,” he kissed her, and she kissed him back.
It was not the kiss she was used to and despera
tely wanted right now. It wasn’t one that begged for more. It was a kiss that said goodbye. She looked in his eyes and knew she was right.
Lucas
left an hour later after he said goodbye to the family and thanked them. They were all going to miss him. John told him that he was welcome back anytime, and that if he ever needed anything ‘don’t hesitate to call’. Lucas said he would, but Tessa knew better.
Tessa had finally finished
crying; she sat down and wrote in her journal. She hadn’t done that since he’d come into her life. She wrote all about him, and how much she loved him, she wrote about what she would do to keep herself busy after tonight’s party. Tessa wrote a long letter to Toby. She finished her letter by telling him how right he was and that her focus needed to, and was going to change. She told him that she hoped when she was done with school he may still be there, but understood that falling in love was something no one ever could plan. She sealed his letter and put it in the mailbox.
~
Tessa showered and got ready for the party. Alex had already picked up Phoebe; it was eleven when they left. John and the kids were snuggled up in the living room watching the New Years Eve countdown, waiting for the ball to drop.
Alex, Phoebe, and Tessa p
ulled in and saw all the cars. Most of which she didn’t recognize. They rang the doorbell and a stranger opened the door. They made their way through the crowd to the kitchen where Jade and Tommy were sitting lost in each other’s eyes.
“Hello Jade. Hey Tommy,” Tessa smiled
, “Happy New Years Eve”.
They chatt
ed for a bit and heard loud cheers from the living room. They peeked in, and Lucas was surrounded by a slew of girls doing a keg stance. Tessa watched as he flirted with them, and even kissed one the mouth.
Tessa turned to walk out, and he s
aw her, “Tessa baby, come here!”
Tessa stopped and waited for him to walk over to her. He grabbed her and kissed her. She didn’t reciprocate.
“You look so good tonight,” he kissed her again. “What time is it?”
She looked at her
watch, “Five of twelve.”
“Excellent I have a surprise for you, come with me,”
Lucas led her up the stairs and pulled a blindfold out of his pocket and put it around her eyes.
“You trust me?
Leave that on-- okay baby?” he kissed her nose and slid it on.
He opened his bedroom door and brought her in.
“It’s dark in here Lucas, and your messed up, please let me take this off.”
“Nope, I think you’ll love this surprise,” he kissed her and unbuttoned her shirt. “Okay Tessa now I wa
nt to share something with you. I’m going to turn on the light and remove the blind fold. I want you to promise me you’ll have an open mind. In three, two, one.”
Lucas
removed her blind fold and kissed her. He slowly pulled away.
Tessa looked at his bed and saw Madison and Jamie lying there together, she looked
back at him, and he was taking his shirt off.
“Is this what yo
u think of me? Are you fucking crazy?” she yelled as turned away buttoning her shirt.
He grabbed for her, “I know you’re very curious and thought you’d love t
his for your first time Tessa. Was I wrong?” he held her arm.
She reached up with her other hand and pun
ched him in the jaw.
“Nice,” he winked and gave her his steamy eyed look.
Tessa pulled free, and Lucas grabbed for her as she turned to run out the door. She tripped and hit her head on his dresser.
Lucas
pulled her up and looked at her eye. His eyes changed, he looked less fucked up and more concerned.
“Don’t you ever fucking
touch me again,” she yelled as she tried to pull her arm away again, “Let go of me or I will scream.”
“
Lucas let the bitch go, we are still waiting,” Jamie said.
“ALEX!
” she screamed.
Lucas
let go of her, and she ran down the stairs.
Alex was at the bottom, “Take me home now please.”
~
Lucas picked up his shirt and threw it
on, “You can leave now.”
“Really?”
From his look, they knew he was very serious.
“You served your purpose,” he growled.
Lucas walked downstairs and Tommy grabbed him, “What the fuck just happened?”
“Just doing what needs to be done,”
Lucas laughed and pulled away.
Jade slapped him across the
face.
“You should be fucking thanking me
, Jade,” Lucas snapped and walked into the bathroom.
Madison and Jamie walked down t
he stairs, and Tommy saw them. He knew exactly what Lucas had done and he knew he couldn’t tell Jade.
~
Alex and Phoebe took Tessa home: not a word was spoken. Tessa went in the bathroom and quietly sobbed.
How could he
? She thought, she looked in the mirror and her eye was black and blue.
“Shit.”
She washed her face and brushed her teeth and then walked out into the living room past Alex and Phoebe and grabbed a bag of peas from the freezer and put it on her eye.
“Did he
hit you Tessa?” Alex growled.
“No
, actually I hit him and then my dumb ass fell and smacked my head on his dresser.”
“That’s good. I would’
ve killed him. Tessa, what happened?”
“Nothing Alex and I can g
uarantee I’m done.”
The next morning
Lucas called the Spot and told Josie he wouldn’t be able to work there anymore.
“Bullshit, boy---
I need you on Saturday nights. Tessa called an hour ago and changed her schedule. Does this have anything to do with that?” Josie asked.
“No. O
kay—I’ll be there,” Lucas said.
~
Break was over on Monday and Tessa walked in to school with a black and blue eye. She walked past the boys looking down. Lucas saw her eye and slammed his locker and walked the other way.
~
On Wednesday night, she was at her mother’s. She sat alone in the small apartment bedroom and thought about what to do next.
Later that night she helped her mom wash
dishes, “Mom, I want to go visit Aunt Ann.”
“At the Cape?” Maggie asked.
“Yep, just for a long weekend. I figured I could take a bus. I really need this. We have a three day weekend coming up, and I could miss a day of school. Can I please?” Tessa’s voice broke
“Of course Tessa, of course,” Maggie hugged her.
Tessa got off the Greyhound bus and immediately saw her great Aunt’s big car that she had driven since Tessa could remember. It was a pale yellow 1960’s Dodge Dart still in mint condition.
“Hello Tessa,” Ann hugged
her tightly, “Look at you!”
Ann and Tessa hugged for a long time. Both had tears falling but not because they were sad, they were happy
to see one another. It had been far too long.
Ann handed Tessa the keys to the car, and Tessa drove to the beach house
. Ann and her late husband Fred built the house themselves over forty years ago.
Tessa and Ann walked into the house hand in hand. Tessa smiled as she watched Ann grab the bucket of scraps under the sink and put them in a dish outside the door facing the parking lot.
Ann didn’t waste anything. Bread bags, tin foil, and glass jars were always washed and reused. Thanksgiving turkey carcasses and ham bones were made into delicious soups. She washed clothes and hung them on the line even in the winter and only used the dryer if she had to. She believed careful planning could save time and lots of money. She loved all people regardless of what others thought. She was very involved in her church and helping people in her community and did so without spending a lot of money. When Tessa was younger she used to come help her mother with her home and family. When Maggie, Ann’s only niece, was having children she was always there to lend a hand. Ann loved the garden, and she talked to the plants as she cared for them
because if you take care of them and love them they will take care of you
. Tessa never knew if it was true or just coincidence, but whenever Ann helped with the garden it produced two or three times what it did when she wasn’t there. Ann brought bags full of high quality clothes whenever she visited and always laughed at what others got rid of. She could remove any spot with something found in any households cupboard and fix any imperfection in clothing with a needle, thread, or a patch, leaving it appearing brand new. She never had children; an undetected miscarriage during World War II shattered that dream. Ann didn’t wallow in self-pity; she still loved life to the fullest. She didn’t seem to care what people thought of her. She was what some called eccentric. Ann was one of Tessa’s favorite people in the entire world.
Fred had had a good job, and he and Ann worked very hard. Neither made a lot of money but with careful investing and saving they had a beautiful home on the Atlantic Ocean without any debt against it. Their car was ancient, but in showroom condition, their furniture was covered with slipcovers unless people came to visit and Tessa immediately noticed it had been removed, and assumed it was because she was there.