Birds, Secrets, and Love

Chapter 4

 "...and then he gave Mouse a massage! Can you believe it!?," Tessa informed Holly as they fished in the lake behind the lakehouse. "I genuinely cannot believe it. Your life is like a Hallmark movie!," Holly responded. Tessa laughed at her best friend's remark as her mom came sprinting towards them. "TESSA!!! I just got a call from your old high school representative! You didn't tell me you guys were having a high school reunion! TONIGHT??!!," her mom said, pretending to feel left out. "That's tonight!?", Holly exclaimed. "Yep. I don't get why you two are so excited...," Tessa responded. "GEORGE!," her mom and her best friend said in unison. Tessa rolled her eyes, "Guys, he's been in Denmark for like a decade. He's probably not going to be there". "You never know....," her mom responded.

Tessa frowned as her mom and Holly shook their heads in disapproval at her dress. "You have to wear something fun. This is a party, not a fancy dinner!," Holly exclaimed, fed up with her friend's boring closet. After many failed attempts, they agreed that Tessa should wear her old prom dress for sentimentality. It was her first ever dress design. "...Are you guys sure? It's so ugly," she asked. Her best friend and her mom nodded aggressively.

Tessa arrived at the reunion and entered the impressive gymnasium. The walls were dotted with blue and white and silver streamers hung from the ceiling. A disco ball illuminated a banner that stated: 'WELCOME BACK CLASS OF 2011 TO THE UNDER THE SEA DANCE'. She scanned her surroundings for George's iconic wavy dark hair, but she didn't spot him in the sea of old classmates. Tessa busied herself by small-talking with some old acquaintances. Much to her dismay, her old bully; Gemma Thorntack strutted up in front of her. She looked the same as back then, but meaner. She could have been beautiful, if she ever smiled. Her ridiculously long blonde hair was pinned in the tightest ponytail and she wore an expensive-looking black dress with a scarf of (hopefully) fake fur. "Aww I love your dress Tessa! Didn't you make it yourself? So cute...," Gemma scoffed sarcastically. Tessa couldn't believe that she was still a stereotypical 'mean girl', even after all of these years. "Hey, Gemma! Nice to see you too. You haven't changed a bit," Tessa responded with some sass. Gemma kept her fake smile gleaming. "So...do you know if George will be here? Or did he stop hanging out with you," Gemma asked with even more sass. Throughout all four years of high school, Gemma was obviously trying to get George to ask her out, but he never did. He was always on Tessa's side so he would tell her to back off when she bullied her. Tessa figured Gemma hated her so much because she got to spend so much time with George. "I have no idea if he'll be here or not. But just so you know: I never tried to steal him from you. He just didn't like you very much," Tessa said proudly and walked away before Gemma could respond.

Tessa grinned to herself as she filled a cup with punch. She was taking a sip when suddenly, the doors to the gym opened and a fresh breeze flowed inside. Her childhood best friend, George Olives, walked into the party, fashionably late. Tessa's jaw dropped as she noticed his newly muscled physique. This was not the skinny kid she remembered! They have been keeping in touch by writing letters, but they haven't seen each other for over five years so this was quite the shock. He was definitely attractive back then, but now he was a greek god! His looks were one thing, but his fashion was impeccable. Tonight, he was sporting a sparkly black suit that had flecks of europe. You could tell he was well-traveled, even from just his atmosphere. The George she knew before was still there, just honed to masculine perfection.

Their eyes met from across the room and he smiled his bright smile. He took off at full speed, running straight at her. He was never able to go this fast during their games of tag! The crowd parted as he sped through yelling, "TESSSAAAAA!!!!". Everyone stopped dancing and turned to watch as George wrapped Tessa into a huge bearhug, lifted her up, and spun her around. The two best friends were reunited and it was as if time and distance had never kept them apart.

They giggled uncontrollably as the hug dissipated. "It's so great to see you!," George exclaimed as he stared at his best friend. Tessa smiled up at him and said, "I know, right! What has it been? Five years?". "Five years too long!", he responded. The crowd that was gawking at them went right back to dancing like nothing happened. "You always knew how to make an entrance...," Tessa laughed. "Is that a good thing or...", George grinned back. "Definitely a good thing, come on let's dance like old times", Tessa said as she grabbed his hand and led him to the dance floor. Gemma stood in the shadow, watching. When they were little, Tessa's mom forced her and George to take a salsa class. They always pretended to hate it but they came around to it after a couple years. They killed it on the dance floor! Everyone surrounded them, cheering...except for Gemma. Their dancing ended when George flipped Tessa into the air and then caught her perfectly. The crowd went wild.

They walked away from the crowd, exhausted and sat in a couple foldable chairs. "WHEW! We still got it!," George gasped, his blue eyes sparkled. "We sure do! Hold on, George...do I hear an accent? You sound kinda British?," Tessa asked, confused. "Well, I guess that's what happens when you spend so much time in Europe! I've been going back and forth from Denmark and Cornwall," He described. Tessa gave him an even more confused look when he said Cornwall so he added, "It's a village in the UK". Tessa nodded slowly and said, "Wow, you've been to so many cool places!". "Yep! I'd love to take you some time. Cornwall has the most picturesque fields, you would love it-," George said as Gemma walked up to them.

"OMG George! Your dancing was just fabulous! You're still the prom king I remember!," Gemma exclaimed as if Tessa wasn't even there. Tessa frowned as she remembered Gemma getting crowned as prom queen and how she got to dance with George. She wasn't jealous exactly, but she was upset because George was obviously uncomfortable, but those days were long gone. "Thanks Gemma...It's nice to see you," George lied. It was at this point that Tessa noticed her phone rumbling in her dress's front pocket (she had sewn four pockets while she made the dress since she was angry at the womens' fashion industry's lack of storage). She answered the call only to hear panicked gibberish. "Isaac? Is that you? What's going on?," Tessa asked, thankful for a distraction from Gemma. "TESSA, GET OVER TO THE FARM.....FIREEEEE!!!," the distressed Canadian yelped. Tessa's world came crashing around her as she felt her knees wobble and her torso falling. The next thing she knew, she was in the arms of George, his eyes filled with worry.