✅ The Last New Start [NaNoWriMo2021]

27. Three Moments

Tess made a dash for the school gates, hoping that she wasn't going to be late. She didn't have a reason to be late today, she'd just been careless. She had been half asleep all morning, and felt like she was moving more slowly than usual. That wasn't exactly rare now, but she hadn't realised how much she'd been relying on Gabby to help her get ready on time.

Gabby wasn't here this morning. She had an early morning meeting with a client in Birmingham, so had decided to stay overnight at some hotel. Coming home the night before, Tess had been worried that she was going to get yelled at. Paranoid thoughts that Gabby would have found a wet diaper in her trashcan, after she'd insisted she didn't have an accident. Or that something else would have tipped her off. But as it turned out she had come home to a note on the table, and dinner sitting in the microwave ready for her. Gabby wouldn't be back until tonight, and Tess had the house to herself overnight for the first time since she moved in.

It had been great; she didn't have any problem cleaning up after herself, and hiding any evidence of her accident. And she could watch whatever she wanted on TV, but she had quickly realised that there was nothing broadcasting at the moment that she was particularly interested in seeing. She'd been drunk on freedom, and shortly after that drunk on wine, having decided that it was reasonable to help herself to one glass, on the ground that Gabby usually offered her one. One glass had turned into one more glass, and then it had been easier than she expected to sit in front of Captain Kairo all evening, until the bottle was gone.

About the best thing she could say about this morning was that she had woken up dry. Staying up so late hadn't been the best decision in the world. Her flask of nutrient-rich tea had possibly helped to fend off the worst parts of a hangover; she wasn't sure. It was hard to be sure of anything, because it felt like her brain was filled with cotton wool. She'd found that preparing breakfast for herself was a lot more work than Gabby made it look; and took longer as well. She didn't know how much of that was because of the fuzziness in her head, but she'd managed to miss the bus to school for the first time since moving.

She was very glad that Ffrances had stopped by to check on the house, and would be washing her breakfast dishes while she was out at school. She was especially glad of being able to get a ride to school, but she felt guilty that she had needed it. And only cars on an authorised list were allowed to park in front of the school itself, so she still had to run the last two hundred metres to the gate.

"Glad you made it," a voice joked as she passed through the gate, and her fist clenched before she recognised that it was Spike talking. "School would be hell without you."

"You were waiting for me?"

"Charming, isn't it? But no, I was running late and I saw you when I crossed the road. Serendipity, though, we can walk to class together."

"We could if you were a year older," she smirked. "Now get to your class or we'll both be late."

He said something that she didn't quite catch, but followed her advice. Tess didn't get into any trouble, which she was glad of, but she wouldn't know about Spike until she spoke to him later. She hoped that a few seconds talking to her wouldn't be enough to make him arrive after the bell to his first class.

* * *

"Something bothering you?"

"Hmm?" Tess looked up from her lunch, and tried to work out how to respond.

"Something wrong?" Kim repeated. "You've been staring at a pretzel for ten minutes now, and I don't think you even know what we've been talking about."

"Yeah, I..." she started, and then realised that she didn't really know what had been occupying her mind. Or perhaps she did, but wasn't quite ready to admit it even to herself. "Sorry, just wasn't feeling so good this morning. Drank a bit too much last night."