At Wits End

Chapter Four

I got out the car, popping open the trunk and took out the pink floral booster seat Ana Maria herself picked out at the store. I put it in securely in the back seat and closed the door, looking up to see Tessa staring at me.

I bit down on my cheek, forcing my blush to go away. "Why are you staring at me?" She shrugged and turned to walk. Frowning, I hurried after her until I was right next to her. I walked inside the school, finding myself in the newly familiar office.

The young woman at the desk grinned when she saw me, her red painted lips splitting across her face. "Julian, you're here again!"

I forced a smile. "Yeah, sure am." I watched in masked horror as she got up and came around her desk to engulf me in a hug. "So glad to see you and not the other ones." She said, making me clench my fists. The woman, Justine, was again talking about my fathers.

Justine, the ever-so devoting Mormon that likes to spit on gays, let me go and looked over my shoulders at Tessa. She smiled slightly at the younger girl.

"Ah, this must be your girlfriend!" Why does everyone just assume that? Justine giggled like a schoolgirl. "And here I am, hugging all over your Julian! I'm sorry if I made you upset in any way."

"Trust me, I'd never be jealous of you." Tessa said bluntly, boredly, her arms crossed. I gaped at her while Justine turned as bright as her lip stain. Her shoulders hunched in flushed anger.

"And what do you mean by that?" Oh, my God, this fucking woman.

"I mean, just look at you. You're like, what, 30 something? Your perfume reeks of desperation, and your lipstick makes you look like a pufferfish."

"Excuse me?" Justine screeched, sounding like a bird. "I'm only 27!"

"Oh, wow," Tessa mocked in a deeper voice, waving her hands around before crossing them once more. "Big deal. As if I actually care about your fucking age," She spat, irritated. "But believe it or not, we're not here for you. We'll be leaving now, right Julian?"

I wasn't listening. I kept thinking about this reminded me of the Tessa I met this morning, and different it was from the Tessa I hung out with in the store and at my home. This shows me just how little I know about her.

"Julian." Tessa snapped impatiently, the muscles in her arms tightening. "Can we leave before I--" I didn't know what she was going to say but I didn't want to. I grabbed her arm and lead her away from the front office, down where Ana Maria's second grade class was.

A few other parents I recognized from the previous times I picked up my sister were waiting by the door, idly chatting with each other.

"Don't grab me like that," Tessa growled under her breath, easily wrenching herself from my grip when we stopped at the door. I frowned and started to open my mouth when someone else addressed me.

"Ah, Julian. It's good to see you!" A kind elderly woman smiled, the dark skin around her eyes crinkling in happiness. I smiled back, the smile genuine unlike before.

"You, too, Mrs. Jacobson."

"I suppose you're here for Ana Maria? It's a shame that Sebastian and Aaron never come anymore." Mrs. Jacobson sighed softly, still smiling. "It was the cutest thing to see them arrive hand in hand, and have Ana Maria run out the room to them screaming 'papá! daddy!'."

I bet it was, I thought to myself. That was until Justine practically drove them out.

Mrs. Jacobson's eyes landed on Tessa, again brightening up. "Oh! You must be a friend of Julian's? My name is Emilia Jacobson; my granddaughter is friends with Julian's sister."

Tessa nodded, "Tessa Reynolds." At her name, Mrs. Jacobson's face darkened in recognition. Her lips tightened, ready to speak but the bell tone of school ending resonated, and doors opened.

The door to Mrs. Enders room, Ana Maria's teacher, opened and a stream of excited children ran out to their respective places. I saw a brilliant shade of blonde in the mob of small kids and grinned. Shining blue eyes searched the crowd and when they finally landed on me, they widened in elation.

"Julian!" Ana Maria screamed in delight, racing towards me with her fluffy pink skirt bouncing around her. I crouched down and held my arms open as she ran into them, embracing me with her thin arms.

I laughed and ruffled the light blonde hair that contrasted with my dark brown hue. "Hey, girlie! How was school?" Said kid popped her head out my chest, grinning with the kind of innocence adults are envious of.

"Mrs. Enders gave me candy today for being a good, uh... Samteran."

"You mean good Samaritan?"

"Yeah, that!" Ana Maria shouted, grinning wider. Her deep eyes traveled from me to Tessa, whom I momentarily forgot about. "Jul, who is this?"

Tessa was glaring at the wall in annoyance, avoiding the pairs of kids and their parents. When she realized Ana Maria was talking about her, she turned to us and half smiled. Though, it kind of came off looking like a grimace, I noted as Ana Maria hid herself a little.

"This is my friend, Tessa. I met her today."

Ana Maria gasped. "You can't just bring people you barely know with you to pick me up!"

Stunned, I raised my eyebrows and stood up. "W-what do you mean?"

"What if they want to kidnap me? Daddy always says I'm a cute little girl and easy to take!" She pouted, her pink lips pursed.

"He's absolutely right, you know?" Tessa said next to me, her voice so suddenly deep and ominous that it slightly scared me. Ana Maria's ears perked, coming out of her hiding place a little. Tessa leaned down, her face close to hers. "I only pretended to be friends with Julian so I could steal you away, little girl. Better run as fast as you can."

Ana Maria made a little squeal before giggling and running out of the building. I however, stayed rooted in place and stared wide eyed at Tessa. "Why would you tell her that?" I asked, incredulous, and began quickly trailing after my baby sister as fast as I could without actually sprinting.

I found her outside, standing on the sidewalk she stood one day when I was late. She was smiling, thankfully not affected by Tessa's words. Which I suppose is a good thing. When I caught up to her, I frowned.

"Don't just run off, Ana Maria. What if you fell?" I scolded, feeling bad immediately when her smile fell slightly.

"I'm sorry, Julian." She muttered, clicking her pink rain boots together.

"Oh, stop being so overprotective. She's fine and you know it." I turned and saw Tessa casually strolling up to us, her arms in their usual crossed position. "She knew I wasn't serious. Right, Ana Maria?" She ruffled Ana Maria's hair lightly, making the youth giggle once more.

"Right! You're too pretty to steal little girls."

What the hell is this? The scary delinquent was getting along with my sweet princess of a sister. A helluva lot better than me, the awesome older brother!

"That's not true, Ana Maria. You still need to be careful of people," I whispered under my breath in vexation. "Especially Tessa." A closed fist bulleted its way to my arm, the hard force making me cry out.

"Don't lie to the poor girl," Tessa said dangerously, her eyes twinkling darkly. This is what I meant by her being scary sometimes. I shrunk back a little.

"Tessa, are you coming home with us?"

"Yeah, just for a little bit. Julian and I are gonna have a makeover party."

Wait, what? I don't remember ever talking about this. I literally just met this girl.

Though, Ana Maria didn't seem to mind as she happily giggled and grasped onto Tessa's hand. She began tugging her off the sidewalk and towards my car, while I had no choice but to follow them gloomily.