Crush

Nineteen

Tess flicked through the messages on her phone. There were three from Maddie, five from Lizzie and one from Will. They all asked if she was up for hanging out (she wasn't), how she was doing after last night (crap) or telling her to call them if she wanted to talk (she didn't). She chewed on the corner of her thumb nail and considered texting Maddie to see how her appointment went this morning. She decided against it, because as soon as she sent Maddie a text, she'd probably assume Tess wanted to talk. She tossed her phone onto the bed beside her. She closed her eyes and lay back on her pillow and sighed.

She'd been waiting all day to talk to Pop but he'd been holed up in the sheds doing who-knew-what, so she hadn't even seen him. She'd thought about just going down to the sheds and confronting him, but the way she figured it, the longer he had to cool down and think about the festival without her interfering, the higher the chances he'd decide not to cancel it. At the moment, those chances were still pretty slim, and the fact that Gran hadn't done any more baking told Tess all she needed to know about the current fate of the Crush Festival.

Tess was considering her chances of sneaking out for a snack without running into Gran when she was startled by a knocking on her window. She sat up and pulled back the curtain. Standing on the other side, grinning, was Maddie. Tess pushed out the window and asked, "What are you doing?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to come to dinner," Maddie said.

"Why didn't you come to the door like a normal person?"

"Because normal's boring. Anyway, I thought it might be a bit more romantic doing it like this."

"Romantic?"

"Yeah. You know, like Romeo and Juliet sneaking out at night."

"Right," Tess said. "So you'd be Romeo then?"

"At your service, my fair Juliet," Maddie said, and bowed low.

Tess smiled in spite of herself and shook her head. She leaned out the window and looked around, expecting to see Will and Lizzie hiding somewhere nearby.

"It's just me," Maddie said, answering the question Tess hadn't asked. "No-one knows I'm here. Are you coming or not?"

"I don't really feel like talking," Tess said.

"You don't have to talk. It's just dinner, Tess. I've already told Gran you won't be here tonight, so if you don't come you'll be fending for yourself."

Tess sighed. What harm could it do to get out of the house anyway? She'd only be wallowing like she'd done all day, and spending time with Maddie would be a good distraction. "Fine," she said. "I'll meet you around the back."

"Can't you just climb out the window?" Maddie asked.

"I haven't climbed out of this window in years."

"Live dangerously for a while," Maddie said. "Pretend you've been kept against your will and you're finally able to escape with the help of your knight in shining armour."

Tess laughed in spite of herself. She said, "You know I turn into a pumpkin after midnight?"

"I'll have you home well before then, Cinderella," Maddie said.

"I thought I was Juliet?" Tess said.

"You can be whoever you like, Princess," Maddie replied, grinning.

Tess climbed up onto the window sill and swung her legs out. She pushed the window out to give her some more room, and then pushed herself off, landing on the grass in a crouch.

"That drop always looked so much bigger when I was little," she said. She dusted herself off and said, "Where are you taking me?"

Maddie took Tess's hand and said, "You'll see."