"Hey baby." Luke said into my ears.
"What do you want,ass?"
"Theresa Octavia Harvey, didn't I ask you not to swear?" Ivy smacked me.
"Sorry Mom," I smiled at her.
"Your real name is Theresa?" Luke said to me.
"Shut up." I glared at him.
"You guys look cute together," Scott said, making goo- goo eyes at me.
"I know, right?" Luke agreed.
"Theresa, Luke, your ship name could be Thuke." Ivy opined.
"Sounds like puke," I grimaced.
"Or Leresa?" She said dreamily.
"In your dreams."
"You're in my dreams," Luke said and I groaned.
"What do you want?" I faced him. He was really getting on my nerves by being around me.
"Great question,Theresa," he said, looking straight at me.
"Could you please not call me that?"
"Be my date to Lucas's pool party this saturday," he dropped.
I sat speechless and started into his eyes before regaining my consciousness.
"I have a boyfriend, remember?"
"So?" He raised an eyebrow at me. "That doesn't mean you can't hang with other men."
I squirmed in my seat uncomfortably and he looked at me.
"Wait a second, it's not because of Mendes, you don't want to go with me."
"Thanks a lot for noticing." I smiled at him.
"Rude!"he scoffed.
"Sorry darling, you can't force me to go with you."
"Oh really?" A smile tugged at his lips. "Let's make a deal."
My brown eyes lit up.
"I'm listening."
"If you attend this party as my date, I'll stop bothering you. By bothering,I mean I'll stop following you around. I'll steer clear of you."
I pondered on that for a while before looking over at Ivy who nodded in agreement.
"Okay fine." I said to him as he let out a wide grin.
"Yes!" He screamed for the entire cafeteria to hear.
He placed his lips near my ear and whispered,
"Make sure your bikini's see-through." I turned red as he left.
"Oh my gosh, you're blushing. What did he say?" Ivy asked and Scott also angled his neck towards us.
"Nothing."
"Nothing means something."
Scott had a soccer game the next day. Ivy and I sat in the bleachers cheering him on. Then my phone vibrated. A message. From Julian.
I really didn't want to say this through text but I'm to ashamed to face you.
I'm gay.
I never realized it until now. Our meeting yesterday was supposed to be our last meeting until Luke ruined it. I know you're probably cursing at me right now but I don't care.
I want you to be with someone who deserves you cause I don't. You were a sweet girlfriend and I'll never forget that. Bye Tess, I'll really miss you.
Tears stung my eyes as I blinked rapidly. Ivy turned and noticed my mood. I shoved the phone into her hand and sped off.
"Tess, come on. Open the door," Ivy said for the hundredth time. They were back from the game. They tried talking me into opening the door.
It was already 8.pm. I told them that I would see them the next day and they gave up even though I heard Ivy say,"I hope she doesn't do anything drastic to herself."
After I heard them leave, I locked the front door.
I sank deeper into my bed and sighed. I really loved Julian. Even though I've had a lot of relationships,this one seemed real.
He was always there for me whenever I needed him.
I noticed a car pull up in my driveway. It was actually a van. I wasn't expecting anyone and I don't know anyone who had a van.
A figure walked out of the van an approached my front door. Then,I heard the doorbell.
I was in a stage of fright, panic and confusion at the same time.
I used the little courage I had left in me and I walked downstairs slowly.
I went over to the storage room first to take any tool I laid my eyes on.
The storage was empty. I sighed in frustration as I tip toed to the kitchen.
I grabbed a fork and walked to the door as the doorbell rang again.
I stood at the entrance, ready to plunge at whoever stood there. At the count of three, I'll open it,I told myself.
One.
I mentally counted.
Two.
Three.
"Theresa! Took you long enough to open it." He brushed past me into the house.
I stood there, frozen like ice. I almost had a heart attack all because of this prick.
"What are you doing here and how did you even know where I lived?" I ranted.
"Slow down, Theresa." He put a finger to my lips. I felt a shiver run down my spine. "I heard about Mendes."
Ivy and Scott must've told him when I refused to open the door for them.
I sighed as I felt my eyes get teary again. I sat on the floor and leaned against the couch.
"You got any movies?" He asked. I was in no mood to argue with this guy. I pointed to a stack beside the flat screen TV.
"Your house is huge, I mean look at it. It's like a mansion." He stood with his hands on his hips.
I could feel an headache coming. I walked to the kitchen and tried to reach the first aid kit on the top cabinet.
I stood on my tiptoes but it was effortless.
"Need some help?" He asked, standing behind me.
I pointed to the kit and he brought it down. I took some pills and he handed me a glass of water.
I staggered to the living room and sprawled out on the couch. Luke sat in the spot I sat in before.
"You've got to understand Mendes. He can only be happy if he's with the one he loves. Theresa,he let you go because he cares for you."
"I know. I'm just sad because I actually loved him."
"You know, when I started dating,I said to a girl,"If you were a booger, I'd pick you."
I stifled a laugh. "She actually fell for that?"
"Yeah, even I was surprised. She was literally swooning."
"Let me ask you some riddles. You're good at them, right?"
"A bit," I replied weakly.
"Which word in the dictionary is spelt incorrectly?"
"Come on, there's no such word in the dictionary." I replied swiftly.
"Did you even think about it?"
"No," I replied flatly.
"It's incorrectly. The word that is spelled incorrectly is incorrectly." He explained.
I burst into a fit of laughter." I did not see that coming."
"How about this? What word begins and ends with E but has only one letter?"
I cracked my brain in an attempt to answer his question. He looked at me with a questioning gaze and I shrugged.
"Envelope." He said.
"Well that was easy." I muttered.
"But you were unable to answer."
"Don't blame me."
††††
"Tess,you're getting worse."
"No, I'm not. Right Scott?" He raised his eyebrows at me and I groaned.
"Look,I understand that you're sad your parents abandoned you but that isn't a reason for you to act like this. You should be able to..."
I watched her as she rambled on.
"If you knew you weren't gonna behave, then you shouldn't have been born."
I stared at her unbelievably. Ivy said this to me?
With a sudden urge of power I felt in me, I lunged forward at Ivy, grabbing a knife from the basket of fruits.
"Tess!" Scott yelled as he pushed me over to the side .
Ivy stood up screaming and ran out of the house.
I dropped the knife as I returned to my normal self.
"I almost killed her."
A beast.
That's what I saw myself as when I was still dwelling in the past.
I mean, who just tries to stab her friend? Obviously me.
I'm not normal.
That's when I thought about therapy.
My therapist, Miss Julie, interacts with me like I'm a child. She knows how to make me boil and how to cool me down.
She said I'm like a lake.