Lifeline

CHAPTER 8

"I talked to Dad this morning."
Tessa glanced up from her notebook to Akira who was dusting off the collage of family photos on the walls. A majority of them were her, her dad, her older sister, and Akira when they were younger. After their dad left, they quit taking pictures as much. Their used to be a lot more of them with their mom in them but those got taken down for...various reasons. "Oh, really? What did he say?" She asked.
"He was just checking in on us. He told me he would've called more but he's been so busy with work." Akira explained.
Tessa hummed in reply. "That makes sense." She looked back down at her notebook and began writing some more. On the paper were supposed to be some notes about subjects needing to be brought up at the next Toman meeting, instead, her brain decided to quit working so the paper began to be filled with random scribbles of random objects. When she was little, she used to draw a lot and was good at it. But after a while, she stopped and didn't do it unless she was bored or needed a distraction. With everything going on right now, she needed a distraction.
"Did he ask about any of my endeavors with Toman? Or did he purge that out of his memory." Tessa asked with slight mock in her voice.
"I think he preferred not to ask." Akira said with a laugh.
Tessa shook her head. When her dad found out that she was involved with a gang, he wasn't pleased with her considering he said she was "following in her sister's footsteps". But he did not stop her either. Instead, he would prefer not to ask or hear about it because it would make him worry and probably make him grow grey hairs.
"Speaking of Toman," Akira continued putting down the dusting rag, "have you talked to Mikey and Draken?"
Tessa clicked her pen closed and shut her notebook. "Don't even get me started on those two idiots."
Those two have caused her more stress over the past few days than normal. After their little conflict with Moebius in the warehouse, which ultimately ended with Pah's arrest, Draken and Mikey got into a huge fight which caused Toman to split in two with Tessa stuck in the middle of it. She tried to get them to talk which led to nowhere so she gave up. It was normal for those two to have fights before and they always made up in the end. However, this was the worst time for this to happen considering the fight with Moebius is around the corner.
The two girls heard a knock at the door so Akira stopped what she was doing and went towards the door. When she opened it, she saw Draken standing there.
"Hey Draken," she greeted.
"How are you, Akira." Draken patted her head. "Is Tessa around?"
"She's in here!" Tessa called from inside.
Akira stepped to the side a bit allowing Draken inside. Out of all the Toman members, he was always the one who would knock before opening her door. He even told them that he wouldn't use the spare key unless of an emergency. The others would just barge in as they please.
Draken walked into the living room to see Tessa standing up from the couch.
"I'll give you two some privacy." Akira said walking upstairs.
Tessa shut her notebook and tossed it onto the couch.
"So, what brings you to my humble abode," she asked with her arms stretched out to the side.
"I wanted to check on you. I haven't spoke to you in a few days." Draken answered.
"I figured. Considering you've been a little busy with your feud against Toman's President."
"Tezz," Draken sighed out. He knew that if he came over here this is what would happen. "I dont' want to talk about this, and I especially don't want to talk about 'him'.
Tessa knew that when he said 'him', he meant Mikey.
"Well, we're gonna talk about it. This fight has gone on for too long. Look, I love you both, but you two have been driving me nuts over the past few days. This is not the time to fight." Tessa ranted.
Draken sat down on the couch, his elbows on his knees. "Mikey's acting ridiculous. He thinks we should've taken Pah with us, even though Pah wanted to turn himself in."
Tessa sat down on the table in front of Draken. "Pah is a founding member of Toman. He means a lot to Mikey just like the rest of us. His feelings are clouding his mind. It's okay for him to feel that way." She sighed. "But I have to say, Pah did the right thing turning himself in. If he didn't and ran with us, I know he would've felt guilty for stabbing Osanai. And I know Mikey will realize that."
Draken chuckled. It was no wonder Tessa was Toman's Advisor. She always knows what to say and has always been like ever since he met her. If anyone was fit for the role, it was her.
"So, will you make up with Mikey?" Tessa finished.
Draken's eyes wandered up to Tessa's. He sighed. "No."
That completely threw Tessa off. "What?"
Draken stood up. "I'm sorry, Tezz. I won't do it."
Tessa stood up too. 'And here I thought I wouldn't get involved in this fight.' "After all that, you still say no?"
"That's right." Draken answered.
"Gosh, you are being so childish." Tessa muttered under breath while walking to the kitchen.
"Childish," Draken followed behind her. "This is coming from the girl who wouldn't talk to me and Mikey for almost a month over something little." He pointed an accusing finger at her.
"Little?" Tessa repeated lowly. "You two flooded my bathroom. Do you have any idea how hard that was to explain to my dad that my bathroom was now a swimming pool?!"
Draken rolled his eyes. 'It was an accident.'
"So, yeah, I had every right to be mad."
"Alright, well, that was in the past." Draken retorted. "Look, I'm heading over to Takemitchy's place to check on him. He's out of the hospital."
Now that he said that, Tessa forgot about Takemichi going to the hospital. She remembered calling Emma and sending his location to her so she could get him there. "Can I come with you?"
"Sure."
~~~
The walk to Takemichi's place was quiet. Draken opened the door and let Tessa walk in first, him following behind. As they walked up the stairs, they heard multiple voices talking in Takemichi's room. Letting Draken go first, she stood out in the hallway.
"Who'd you say is arguing with who?" Draken peered into the doorway.
Tessa peeked in to see Takemichi and his friends.
"Came to check in on you. Brought Tessa with me too." Draken said.
Tessa gave them a small smile and a wave.
"Man, it's hot as hell in here. Is it 'cause it's full of dudes?" Draken smirked.
'Seriously?' Tessa deadpanned.
"Oh, yeah." Draken held up a watermelon that he and Tessa grabbed on the way. "I brought this so let's eat.