spaces between us (grayson Dolan)

ch.25 finally some familiar faces

Tessa's (POV)

"Remember honey that the Richards are coming to stay with us this week, so when you get home from school make sure the house is some what clean." my mom said while scrambling to find her car keys.
I took a quick sip of orange juice while nodding my head to show that I had heard what she had said. Seeing that I had understood her orders, she raced out the door on her way to work. It was 7:10 now, and school doesn't start till another hour. I decided to crawl back upstairs and lay in my bed.

"Tessa, why are you still in bed? I'm leaving in like 5 minutes!" Nick said poking his head through my door. Oh my gosh, I had totally lost track of time. I rushed to the bathroom and my closet in attempt to change and do my hair at the same time. Ugh I hate Mondays. Everything about them is horrible. I ran downstairs and grabbed my backpack.
Assuming Nick was already waiting, I sprinted to the car and we drove to school relieved that we might actually get to school on time.

*after school*

Nick and I raced home immediately after school. The Richards would be coming in a couple hours and we still had yet to clean the house. I'm so excited! I haven't seen Austin in ages. We met at a park when we were both three. He was playing in the sand box, trying to build a sand castle and I came along and stepped on it. He got really mad at me and pushed me and pulled my hair. I pushed him back and we started screaming. Our moms came and separated us, calming us down. After that, they both made us apologize and we started building a castle together. We've been friends ever since. We still laugh at that memory to this day. Anyways, you get the picture, we've known each other for quite a while and I'm just over-the-moon about him and his family coming.
When we finally got home, Nick and I sprinted into the house. If the Richards came and we had a dirty house, mom would KILL us. Literally. We decided to split it evenly, Nick, the downstairs, I the upstairs, and we both would clean the basement. I pulled out the cleaning stuff and got to work.

Exhausted. I flopped onto my bed after about an hour of cleaning the whole upstairs. And from the sound of it, Nick was still cleaning the downstairs. Might as well help him so we can get this over with. I walked downstairs to see Nick tangled in the vacuum cord.
"Well that's a sight you don't see everyday!" I struggled to say over my continuous laughter. He spun around and gave me an innocent look.
"I could use some help over here." he replied giving me a joking glare. I walked over and helped him out of the cords. Together, we finished cleaning the downstairs and the basement. It was 5:10 and mom and dad were picking up the Richards at right about now. I went to go get Hadley from her room, only to find that she wasn't there. Then again, I hadn't seen her since this morning. This can't be good!
"Nick! Where's Hadley? I shouted down the stairs.
"Shit!" He yelled. "I was supposed to pick her up from Kindergarten!"
I heard the door slam signaling that he probably went to pick her up. My phone dinged from across my room, verifying I had one new message from my mom.

Mom: Hey honey, the Richards' flight was early so will you please start dinner? We will be home in about 30 or 40 minutes. There is some noodles and meat to make spaghetti and meatballs. love you and see you soon!
Tessa: ok, will do! See u soon!

I got out the ingredients and started cooking. 15 minutes later and dinner was almost ready. Nick and Hadley came through the door. She ran up and hugged me, starting to cry a little.
"It's ok Had. I'm sorry, did you get a little scared that no one had come to pick you up?" I asked, rubbing her back as she slowly nodded.

"WE'RE HERE!" people shouted as my mom, dad, Mrs. Richards, Mr. Richards, Austin, and Brooks, (Austin's older brother) walked through the door.
"Oh my god! Austin!" I shouted as I ran up and engulfed him in a huge hug. He started laughing, as he picked me up and hugged me back. I pulled back laughing, finally having a chance to see a familiar face. And my, he was pretty good looking. He'd grown so much since the last time I'd seen him which was 7th grade, and now we were almost juniors in high school.
Everyone sat down for dinner, and the conversations began.