Through Blessed Eyes

Chapter 8--Tess

TESS

While Scout and Evelyn were upstairs talking about Mr. Perfect, I needed to speak with mom and dad, and tell them a simple white lie.

"Mom, Dad?" I ask. The two of them are sitting in the family room. Dad is lying on the couch, reading the daily news while mom looks at me through her reading glasses, putting down her newest mystery novel.

"Yes?" they both reply in unison. I glance at the floor, but quickly look up at them again.

"Evelyn, Scout, and myself, we're doing some, ah, extra credit for school," I tell them.

"What kind of extra credit?" Dad asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Community service," I quickly explain, "We're going to be helping out Mr. Bales so Greer could have a day off."

"Mister Bales?" my mother still says puzzled, "The crazy old man who claims to see brownies?" She chuckles a little, "Alright dear. Just don't catch his crazy." I give a slight smile, even though I don't believe her. I leave the room and hop up the steps.

Once upstairs, I peak into Scout's room. She is sitting at the computer desk with the computer turned off and Evelyn is on the bed (which I see Scout took an attempt to make. In a house full of boys, I could understand the way she acts now).

"I'm telling you, he's a selkie," Scout says and Evelyn shakes her head.

I stand back for a moment. Could Daniel really be a selkie like Scout said? She does have true sight and all, but can she still sense that he's a selkie?

When she held my wrist I could... feel that something was off about that incredibly handsome boy, but for now I decide to hang it with Evelyn. It’s fun to see her head-over-heels over him.

"I'm back," I say, strolling into the room.

"Welcome to my humble abode!" Scout says, "What did ya’ have to ask your parents about?"

"Oh, I just had to make up a little white lie so they’d let us go over to Mr. Bales house during the weekend without question," I sigh, proud that I actually did something. I walk over and sit next to Evelyn on Scout's bed.

"What did you tell them?" Evelyn asks.

"I said we were doin’ community service for extra credit," I shrug, "Nothing too fancy."

"I wouldn't mind going back over there after school tomorrow," Scout says, "I want to know more..."

The three of us share an awkward silence. After all, Evelyn and I didn't really know anything about the true sight other then what we read on the Internet. And Scout could get her information from a four hundred-year-old man? Which one sounded more reliable?

"So..." I say, trying to break the silence, "We should probably catch up on some homework,"

"Uhhhh," Scout moans, "Do we have to?"

"Do you want to fail and be sent back home?" Evelyn asks before leaving the room to retrieve her book-bag. I give a slight chuckle before getting my own bag.

~~~

We work on our homework together and then do a mixture of studying and chatting until dinner. Tonight we were having steak and turnips, one of my favorites.

"Hey!" Scout quickly says, "I've got an idea." Evelyn and I look up from our books.

"What?" Evelyn says first.

"We should leave some crackers out tonight," Scout smiles, "Maybe we could get a brownie to come. "

"That'd be cool,” I say, "And a big help around the house. He, or she, could through away my dad's old 'action figures' from the attic without him ever knowing," I say and Evelyn and Tess smile.