"Hello? Anyone home?" Tessa called as she and Brian walked into the house that she shared with Skylar, Zoey, Kristin, and Megan. She threw down her stuff on the kitchen table and led Brian into the living room. She could hear the sound of Savage Garden floating down the steps.
"Skylar’s here," she smiled. They headed up the stairs and walked to Skylar’s door. Tessa knocked and, since the door was cracked, it opened a little. She pushed it open a little farther, and she and Brian walked in.
Skylar was standing at her easel, painting and singing to the top of her lungs. Her dark hair was in a ponytail and paint smudges were all over her face, hands, and blue smock.
"Skylar!" Tessa yelled over the music. Skylar looked up and smiled. She set down her paintbrush and pallet, then walked over to her CD player and cut it down. She then walked over to Tessa and Brian.
"Hey, Tess," she said, then she looked at Brian. "Hi."
"Skylar, this is Brian. This is the guy who bought my gas and had supper with me last night," Tessa said.
"Hi, it’s nice to meet you," Brian smiled and shook Skylar’s hand. When he let go, he noticed paint all over his hand.
"Oh, sorry. I forgot I had paint on my hands," Skylar apologized. "I’ll get you a rag." She walked over to her easel and grabbed a rag. She returned and handed it to Brian.
"That’s alright. My friend Nick draws a lot with chalk when he’s home, so he usually has chalk all over his hands. He loves to get the stuff all over his stuff, his brother and sisters, me, everything," Brian explained.
Tessa and Skylar laughed at the thought. "You’ve got a friend who likes art, huh?" Skylar asked, grinning. "How old is he? Is he available?"
"Skylar," Tessa chided.
"What? It doesn’t hurt to ask."
Brian smiled. "No, it certainly doesn’t. He’s 19, and, yes, he’s available."
"Oh, only two years younger; that’s not bad," Skylar commented.
"Hey! Are you guys here?!" Zoey’s voice yelled from downstairs.
"Yeah, we’re up here!" Skylar yelled back. She then turned to Brian and said, "That’s Zoey. She’s a little brash when you meet her, but she’s really a very nice girl."
"You guys are never gonna guess what happened today." Tessa turned around to see Zoey stroll into the room. "Rich; you know Rich, that prick known as my producer. Well, he cut my show short by fifteen minutes today. He said that they needed the time for the news. Can you believe that?" she complained. She then stopped when she saw Brian. "Who are you? You look familiar; have we met before?" she asked.
"I don’t think so," Brian answered. "I’m Brian."
"Brian…?"
"Littrell."
"Oh, Zoey Bryant. I usually don’t complain like this, but I’ve had a bad day."
"Don’t believe her. She usually complains like this," Skylar interrupted. Zoey glared at her.
"That’s okay. Tessa has given me a rather full day today as well."
Zoey raised her eyebrow and looked at Tessa. "And what have you been doing, Miss Thang?"
Tessa smiled. "Nothing. I met Brian yesterday. He was the one who paid for my gas and had supper with me. He was nice enough to hang out with me today and help me look after the kids. Trisha got fired," she explained.
"Oh, I’m glad; I never liked that girl anyway." Zoey’s brown eyes shifted back to Brian. "Well, it’s nice to meet you. How long are you staying?"
"I’m leaving tonight. Tessa asked me to stay for dinner," Brian answered.
"Oh, okay. Well, do you guys want to eat here? Tessa can make her famous homemade spaghetti, can’t you, Tess?" Zoey asked, grinning. Tessa could tell that Zoey knew she liked Brian. The two girls had been friends since Tessa’s sophomore year and Zoey’s freshman year at Grayson, so they knew each other well.
"Sounds great to me. I don’t mean to be rude or anti-social, but I kind of want to get back to my painting. It was nice meeting you, Brian," Skylar said and went back to her easel.
"Alright, I can make spaghetti. That’s cool," Tessa agreed as she, Brian, and Zoey left Skylar alone.
"I still think I know you from somewhere," Zoey said to Brian.
"I can’t imagine where. You mentioned a producer; where do you work?" Brian inquired.
"Ah, the school radio station," Zoey answered.
"Hey!" Tessa and Zoey answered. Zoey found
MTV and set down the remote.
Megan walked in and plopped down into a
reclining chair. Once she was settled, she asked Brian
the same thing everyone else had. He replied, and
explained how he had met Tessa. Megan sat back in her
chair.
"So, Meg, how was your day?" Tessa asked.
"Oh, nothing special. I set up a display of
Egyptian dress, then went to lunch with Scott," she
answered.
Tessa rolled her eyes. "You’re not still
seeing him, are you? He demands too much of your time,
and he gives me the creeps."
"Well, we have been having problems lately. I
had to sneak away from work yesterday to avoid him and
have lunch with y’all. He’s getting more and more
demanding," Megan said.
"Dump him. He’s a prick anyway," Zoey chimed
in.
"If I’m allowed to ask, who’s Scott?" Brian
questioned.
"Scott Myers. He and Megan have been dating
for about six months now. We really don’t like him,"
Tessa explained.
"Tessa, don’t tell him everything. I barely
know him," Megan said. Megan was a very sweet and
giving person, but she could be very secretive about
her life. Even Tessa didn’t know that much about her
family.
"It’s alright; I promise I won’t tell," Brian
smiled.
Megan smiled back at him, and Tessa could tell
that she would be okay with him knowing. Tessa turned
away from Megan and watched the television. Carson
Daly was on the screen talking about the number one
video by the Backstreet Boys which had just played.
She wrinkled her nose; she was always missing that
video. She looked up at the clock and noticed that it
was almost 4:30.
"Well, I suppose I’d better start supper. I
know Kristin won’t be home for another hour and a half,
but I'll still start it anyway. I think I’ll make one
of my famous salads with it," she said.
Zoey looked up. "Ooh, one of your salads? Oh,
yeah!" she grinned.
Tessa stood up and began to walk to the kitchen.
"Be nice to Brian," she called over her shoulder.
"Don’t worry; we’ll reveal all of your
innermost secrets," Zoey called back as she returned to
the television. Tessa just stuck out her tongue and
continued walking into the kitchen.
Tessa pushed her plate away and sat back in her chair.
"Oh, I’m full," she commented.
"Me, too. That was very good. It’s been so
long since I’ve had a home-cooked meal," Brian said.
He had gone through two plates and had stopped halfway
through his third.
Tessa blushed. "Thank you," she smiled.
"Yeah, Tess, you outdid yourself this time,"
Zoey smiled as she, too, sat back in her seat.
"I agree," Megan said. She stood up and began
to collect the plates. Skylar and Kristin both
finished up their dinners and handed their plates to
Megan.
"Well, I have to run to Wal-Mart. Who’s coming
with me?" Kristin announced as she stood up.
"I can’t. I’m going to have to go. I’m sure
the guys are getting kind of worried," Brian answered.
He stood up as well.
"I guess I’ll stay and say good-bye to Brian,"
Tessa grinned shyly.
"You know, I think all the rest of us need to
go to Wal-Mart, too. Skylar? Meg?" Zoey said,
catching Tessa’s eye.
"But, I’m almost done with my painting," Skylar
protested.
"Skylar, your painting can wait," Megan hinted
with a smile.
Tessa bit her lip to hide her grin. Her friends
were never known for their subtlety. She looked over
at Brian and could tell that he thought their actions
were obvious as well.
Her four roommates gathered their stuff and
said their good-byes to Brian. Then they left. Tessa
and Brian walked into the living room and sat down on
the couch. Zoey had forgotten to turn off the TV, so
MTV was still blaring. Tessa grabbed the remote and
turned down the sound. She then turned to Brian.
"Well, I guess this is good-bye, huh? I wanted
to thank you for helping me look after those kids today,"
she said.
"No, thank you for giving me the most normal
day I’ve had in a long time," he said.
"Why? What have you been doing that’s not
normal?"
"I’ll tell you later."
"But, after you leave, I’ll probably never see
you again," Tessa bit her lip, and her face turned red
again. She couldn’t believe that she had just said
that. She looked down.
Brian gently touched her chin and lifted her
head. Her blue-green eyes met his blue ones. "Oh,
you will see me again. Trust me, I’m coming back."
He leaned in and gently kissed her.
When he pulled away, Tessa still had her eyes
closed. She had been kissed before, but never quite
like that. She had felt his kiss all the way down to
her toes. She opened her eyes, bit her lip, and smiled.
This was right. This was so right. But, it had to be
too good to be true. Something had to give.
"I’m sorry," Brian apologized. "That was a
little forward, wasn’t it?"
"No, it was fine. I didn’t mind," Tessa said.
Brian leaned back into the right corner of the
couch, and Tessa rested her head on his chest. She
honestly did not want him to go. Why couldn’t he stay
longer?
They laid there for a little while watching TV.
Brian had found the remote and was flipping through
the channels. Tessa looked up at him, then she let
her eyes fall past his neck and to his chest. Where
she was pulling his shirt down, she could see a little
part of a scar on his chest.
"What’s this?" she asked.
"What’s what?" Brian asked as he looked down
at her.
"This scar."
"Oh, it’s from heart surgery last year. I was
born with a ventricular heart defect, which meant I had
a hole in my heart. I had surgery on it last May."
"Oh, my God," she breathed.
"Well, it’s okay now, and it’s just a small
scar," he laughed.
"Oh." The day was beginning to take it’s toll
on Tessa, and she rested her head on his chest again.
She glanced up at Brian and could see that his eyes
were beginning to close as well.
As she looked back at the TV, she could hear
his heart beat through his chest. His tender heart,
she thought as she smiled. Slowly, her own eyes closed,
and she fell asleep to the sound of his heartbeat.