✅ The Last New Start [NaNoWriMo2021]

8. The Problem with Stress

Tess bundled up her clothes from yesterday inside the sheets. She had a plug-in air freshener that her parents had said might come in useful, and she plugged it in by the desk before heading downstairs. Hopefully that would be enough to deal with any linkering smell of pee. She could still hear Gabby moving about on the top floor, which must have been her bedroom, so she figured that it would be safe enough to run downstairs carrying a bundle of damp sheets. She loaded them into the machine, and turned the dial on the front until the tiny screen displayed "COTN 80 STRN SP", which looked like it might be suitable. There were symbols which, when you looked at them from the right angle and squinted, might have depicted a scoop of detergent powder; with the numbers '1' and '2' overlaid on them. So she put two scoops of detergent into the two numbered trays at the top of the machine, closed the door, and looked around for a 'start' button. After a few attempts, a light flashed and she heard the sound of water flowing into the machine. She congratulated herself, and then ran back upstairs to grab her school bag.

Gabby was coming down the stairs now. She was dressed in clothes that looked so much more natural on her; a dark knee-length skirt and matching jacket, in a style that might have been called business casual. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun, highlighting a blonde streak going back from her left temple. Everything about her screamed 'confident businesswoman', but she smiled at Tess as she came down the stairs.

"Got everything?" she asked. "Don't worry about the dishes, I'll put the machine on when I get back. You need to be moving now, if I got the timetable right." Tess mumbled some wordless thanks, flew into her room, grabbed her bag and just trusted that she'd remembered to include everything she would need. Then she was hurrying down the stairs behind Gabby, and trying to remember where she had left her shoes.

"You'll need a key," Gabby pointed out, reaching into one of the kitchen drawers. "Here, I forgot to give them to you yesterday. Oh, and the door to the left of yours on the landing is the boiler cupboard. The shelf at the top has three spare sets of bedding in there, so you don't need to hunt around for them. I'd offer you some of mine if you want a different design, but they're not the same size. I think I mentioned it to your mum."

"Yeah, I... Wait, why are you telling me now?"

Gabby just jerked a thumb towards the washing machine. Tess had left the cupboard open in her rush, so it was easy to see the lacy pink edges spinning around behind the glass.

"Look, it's not... I mean, it never happened before, not in years. I'm practically an adult now, I can look after it myself. It was just... I don't know, can you just ignore it? I mean, it's not like... You can't treat me like a baby just after one... it was just... it won't happen again, I don't..." Tess quickly realised that she wasn't making any sense, but she was panicking enough that she couldn't get her mouth to stop talking, desperately reaching for excuses when she really couldn't think of any. She only stopped when she felt hands warmly gripping her shoulders. Gabby hugged her, and that was a big enough surprise that Tess went silent. Then she realised that she could have bluffed, could have said that she spilled her coffee on the bed or something. But now she couldn't be sure if her frantic babble of excuses hadn't just blurted out a truth that Gabby had only guessed a part of.

"It's no big deal, trust me on this. It can happen sometimes with stress, right? And moving into a new house, with someone you haven't spoken to in years, certainly qualifies. Plus... maybe it's my fault for giving you wine. I guess you're not used to it. And two bottles of the low-alcohol stuff is almost the same as a whole regular bottle, except for more liquid in it. I really didn't mean for us to get through quite so much, but we were getting on so well. Perhaps we should avoid it in future, give you chance to grow up a little more?"

"No," Tess pouted. "Okay, maybe it was the wine. I haven't tried that kind before. But now I know, I'll be more sensible with it. I'm not a baby, right? You said you'll treat me like a mature housemate, so no scolding me, and no telling my parents. That totally wouldn't be fair."

"Of course, you don't need to worry. It could just be the stress of living in a new place. I promise, I would never look down on you over anything that's just a one-off fluke. If you're sure about that."

Tess could see the indecisiveness in her cousin's eyes. She knew that she wanted to crack some joke, but was trying her best to be supportive. And to Tess, both mocking and supportive were a little insulting, because it was treating like she wasn't old enough to look after herself.

"Look, I'm sure, right? If it happens again you can call me a baby all you want, but until then you can respect me. Right?"

"Whatever you say. But I think you'll be running to catch the bus now, that took a little longer than I thought. Probably better if I give you a ride to the school gates, I'm going that way anyway, and we can try to get you organised faster tomorrow morning."

Tess nodded, crisis averted. She was never going to wet the bed again, so she would never be treated like a baby. It wasn't an ideal start to her first day here, but in the end it hadn't turned into the train wreck she'd expected. Gabby, perhaps, would be more understanding than she had dared to hope.