Tessa’s POVMy phone rang for the third time, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at it. I knew it was Ruby again. She had texted me often after school, but I ignored her text messages.I felt completely sick to my stomach after overhearing Joseph’s conversation with Miss Emily. She asked him out to a café on Friday, and he accepted. He didn’t even stop to think about it; he just accepted.I guess I don’t really have a right to be upset over this. But I couldn’t help myself. My heart was so broken and all I wanted to do was sit here in my dark living room and cry.I knew if I didn’t answer Ruby, she would end up coming over and that was something I didn’t want. So, I sighed and reached for my phone on the coffee table in front of me. I frowned at the brightness of my phone, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the lighting, and saw a couple of missed calls from Ruby and a text message from her as well.“I’m worried about you. Please call me.”I sighed again and cleared out the notificatio
Tessa’s POVIt felt like the air had left my entire body. Or as someone punched me in the gut and I tumbled over, gasping for breath that wouldn’t arrive. I found it incredibly difficult to breathe. I knew if I remained where I was, gasping and panting, he would turn and see me standing there.I couldn’t let him see me.It would only take a minute before the tears spilled from my eyes. I felt the in the back of my eyes threatening to betray me. I bit onto my bottom lip until I tasted the metallic blood and as soon as the blood left my lips, I saw Joseph’s body tense.Crap. He could smell it. Before he pulled away from Emily and turned in my direction, I was already running down the stairs. The tears came quickly and once they started, they wouldn’t.I wasn’t sure how I was going to get through the rest of today in one piece without falling apart completely. I held my mouth with my hands, trying to keep the sobs from being too loud, but they, along with my tears, wouldn’t stop.I con
Third Person POVIt was obvious to Emily that something bad happened between Tessa and Joseph. It seemed as if Tessa was going to great lengths to avoid him. She even seemed a bit depressed and closed off. Emily didn’t have Tessa as a student, but she knew Tessa well from observing her to know when something was off.Regardless, she had come to know Joseph rather well and he also seemed off. She was never certain what was going on between the two of them, but she knew whatever it was, it had to be over.They were very careful to hide their relationship in front of others though. But somehow, Emily knew the truth. She knew they were hiding a secret relationship, and that Tessa was the reason why Joseph declined Emily’s advances.But now that Tessa seemed to be out of the picture, Emily found this to be the perfect opportunity to try again. Especially now that Joseph seemed to be struggling emotionally.She had already convinced him to go with her to the new coffee shop on Friday, now s
Tessa’s POV“I mean it, Brian. This doesn’t mean we are getting back together. I just needed to get out of the school,” I said, folding my arms across my chest as I stared out the window.We drove for about 15 minutes and the further I got from the school, the more I felt I could breathe. But knowing I was in the passenger seat of Brian’s car; I felt a sense of unease boiling in my stomach.The inside of his car hadn’t changed at all; he still had that stupid stuffed turtle he kept on the dashboard that he always had for good luck. His car reeked of his friend's cigarettes and Amanda’s perfume. Just as it did when we were together.The more I thought about it, the more I realized, I was never truly with Brian. He was always with Amanda, I was just the girl in the way.I wondered where Amanda was right now and if she even knew that Brian was with me.I somehow doubted it very much.Part of me wanted to ask him, but then I figured that it really didn’t matter anyway. I was only here to
Tessa’s POVWhen I returned to my apartment, I felt a little better. Not because I spent the entire evening with Brian, but because I was able to get some space from the school and Joseph. I was feeling like the cloud in my mind was parting and a little bit of sunshine was sneaking in.Of course, I was going to have a good excuse as to why I missed Joseph’s class. But that wasn’t something I wanted to worry about right now.I grabbed my phone out of my bag, which was left at school initially, but Brian brought me back to grab it before bringing me home. I hadn’t had a chance to even look at my phone since grabbing it from my locker. I already knew what I was going to see; Ruby would be in a panic for sure.When I looked at the screen, there were about 10 missed calls. 8 of them were from Ruby and two of them were from Joseph.I winced when I saw his name.There were also a couple of text messages from Ruby as well, but none from Joseph thankfully.I decided to ignore Joseph’s calls an
Tessa’s POVI was surprised by how quickly I got responses and replies to my blog posts and messages. It seems that most of my followers had forgiven me, which was a huge relief. I even gained some followers back and some new followers.I woke up the next morning to a text from Ruby telling me that she was proud of me for writing such a wonderful apology message and that the outcome was positive. I was glad to hear that, and it even made me smile. It was my first genuine smile in what felt like a long time.My chest felt lighter, and my head was less cloudy.I woke up early so I could work on my missed assignment for Joseph’s class. I didn’t have his class today, but I knew he would be at school like he always was. I just hoped he would give me another chance to improve my grade before I fell too far behind.I also spent a little time writing my next story for Fable magazine; I sent my editor an email and let her know that I’ll have a story for her as soon as possible. I just hoped sh
Tessa’s POVHow did he know this information? I stared at him with disbelief written all over my face as he raised his right brow. He didn’t look pleased, but I also didn’t understand why he would be so upset about this.I mean, he was the one who broke up with me after all.“Well?” He asked when it was clear I was too frozen to say anything. “You have nothing to say?”“I’m not sure what you want me to say…” I admitted, tugging at my fingers nervously. “It’s not like I skipped class to purposely hang out with him. I really did need time away.”“But you took time away with Brian,” he said; his voice falling short with aggravation.I couldn’t deny it; he obviously already knew the truth.“Yes,” I said softly. “I took time away with Brian. But it wasn’t planned. He was just available.”I wanted to shout at him, “Because I was so upset that you were flirting and hugging Miss Emily!” But I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to make things worse.Every time I thought about Emily’s hands all o
Tessa’s POV“Amanda, we’ve already talked about this,” Brian said, shaking his head at her. “Tessa is my friend—”“Friend is a strong word,” I corrected.“I don’t want them sitting here,” she said through her teeth.“That’s too bad,” Brian said shrugging as he began to eat his salad.“Believe me… I don’t want to be sitting here either,” Ruby muttered as she stuffed a meatball in her mouth.I tried and failed at stifling a smile.“Ew,” one of Brian’s cheerleader friends, Kate, muttered as she grimaced at Ruby. “Do you have any idea how many calories are in that one meatball?”Ruby raised her brows.“I don’t know, but if it’s the calories that make this so delicious, then I’ll eat all the calories,” she said through huge mouthfuls of food.I knew she was doing this on purpose; if she kept it up, I wouldn’t be able to hold in my laughter.“Maybe eat with your mouth closed,” Jake, Brian’s best friend and Kate’s boyfriend, said as he narrowed his eyes at Ruby.“So, how have you been, Tessa