troubled | e.d.

ten

ethan

"hey!" i call out as i spot tessa hurrying down the sidewalk to her car at around 5:30 pm.

she turns around, surprised when she sees me.
"oh. hey."

i look around before saying, "where are you going?"

she gives me a funny look, then holds up her keys. "home. where are you going?"

"i have to run and get something for your dad."

"on a friday night?"

i shrug. "why not? nothing better to do."

she nods, slowly backing away to her car. "well... cool. have fun."

yeah, okay. you're bad conversationalist, ethan. she's already trying to get away.

"see you... monday..." i call out slightly awkwardly and shake my head down at my feet as i make my way to my car.

my hand is on the door handle when i hear her call out, "wait!"

i lift my head up and see her jogging to the car.
"let me come with you."

i furrow my eyebrows. "what?"

"let me come with you," she smiles, a little out of breath as she reaches for the passenger side door. i have no time to respond before she slides in.

i duck down into my seat and we both reach for our seatbelts, me still a little confused.

"your dad's gonna kill me, you know that right?" i ask as i pull out of the lot.

she shrugs. "who cares?"

i hesitate before asking, "why did you come with?"

she shifts in her seat before answering, "because i didn't want to go home and do nothing. this gives me a purpose on a boring friday night, and that's all i need."

i nod approvingly. "got it."

she notices my tentative nervousness— no matter how hard i try to hide it— and to cover up the silence, she reaches for my car radio.

she flips through the stations, wrinkling her nose at the country stations, frowning at the political ads, and finally landing on a random channel that plays 80s and 90s hits.

she hums under her breath as i drive to the nearest mall outlet where he told me to find an espresso machine for the break room. no idea where i'll get one, but he gave me his credit card and i was slightly surprised.

"you were tried for assault, dolan," he said to me as i raised my eyebrows at it. "not credit card theft. don't buy anything else."

"what are you looking for anyway?" tessa asks, breaking me from my memory.

i grab the card from my pocket and hold it out to her. "espresso machine. take this, i don't want it. he'll probably feel better if it's with you."