Letter to a Girl

Chapter 10

Despite countless prayers sent up by the student body over the previous weeks, finals began the next day. I managed to get through the first set of exams relatively unscathed, but I wasn't out of the woods yet. I still had the dance recital to endure that evening.

"Anna and I will be with you in spirit," Owen said; the three of us were in Chemistry getting some last-minute studying done before Mrs. Wells came in with the final exam. "In between spiking the punch bowl, of course."

Anna rolled her eyes at him. "You know there will be chaperones there, right?"

"Oh, honey. I plan to get them drunk too."

"How long does your recital go, Tessa?" Anna asked, shaking her head as she turned to me. "Maybe we can catch the end of it."

"You don't have to worry about that. Enjoy the dance," I said, smiling at her. The yellow sunlight falling through the windows was throwing buttery stripes across her red curls. It was hard not to stare for too long. "Besides, I'm not sure how great it's going to be anyway. We're all pretty burned out thanks to Mrs. Takeda. She made someone cry the other day. The woman is nuts."

"Now there's someone who could benefit from a spiked punch bowl," Owen said, grinning. He scratched his nose with his pen. "By the way, do you guys know if this test is gonna be multiple choice or essay format?"

"Essay?" Anna repeated, looking horrified.

"Yeah, how would that even work?" I said. "Write 500 words on the wonders of Niobium while trying not to bore anyone to death?"

"Niobium?" Owen repeated. He heaved a defeated sigh and slumped in his seat. "I'm going to fail. No thanks to you, Tessa."

"What?"

"We all know you take the best notes because you're anal retentive. Anna and I had a study session last night and I texted you a bunch of times to join us but you totally blew me off. You better have been taking a really good shit or something. I don't know what else could possibly justify not responding to me immediately."

I laughed. "Yeah, I got those this morning. Sorry. I wasn't really on my phone last night." I glanced around the room to make sure nobody was listening before I leaned forward and whispered, "I kind of...told my mom about me and Anna." They both stared at me for so long I began to feel guilty. I looked nervously at Anna. "Sorry, was that not okay? I didn't think---"

"Of course it's okay," she said quickly. She beamed at me. "I'm just surprised. How did it go?"

"She already kind of knew, I guess. Even before I said anything."

"Not surprising. You get this really embarrassing look on your face whenever you say Anna's name," Owen said.

I flushed and glared at him. He smirked at me, then turned to Anna:

"What about you? Do your folks know about this forbidden romance?"

"Owen, that's nobody's business," I started, but Anna gave me a reassuring smile.

"I actually told my family about us a week ago," she said. "I just didn't know how to tell you, Tessa. I didn't wanna like... pressure you or anything."

I gaped at her. "Jesus, really? How'd that go?"

"Well, Isaac asked me why I was telling them this now. Apparently, he and Abe have been telling all their friends for years that I'm gay."

I stared at her, then started laughing. "I guess they've got good instincts."

She shook her head in exasperation. "They're unbelievable."