DONT BLAME ME

Assignment

~Tess POV~

I had not recently gotten to spend much time with Hope, considering the fact that she was with Ren all the time now. Today I finally convinced her to ditch the girlfriend and hang out with me. My mom was on her way to a book club meeting, and she needed help with the treats. Hope and I were helping make the cupcakes.

"Ha! Gotcha!," Hope smeared icing on the tip of my nose.

"O-oh, you're so going to pay for that," I laughed then proceeded to chase after her.

"GIRLS! NO RUNNING, I HAVE A CAKE IN THE OVEN," my mother shouted at us.

I ran after Hope with a spatula full of icing. I chased her all the way upstairs into my bedroom to eventually tackle her to the floor. I straddled her, "There. Even," I laughed, smearing icing onto her nose.

Hope grinned. Breathing heavily, we paused for a moment looking into each other's eyes. We were so close, I could feel Hope's heart race. I caught Hope's glance from my eyes to my lips, so I did the same. I wanted to kiss her.

I started to lean in when, "Umm you have icing on your nose," Hope giggled. She wiped the icing from my nose with her finger then licked it off.

"So do you silly," I grinned helping her up. I then wiped the icing off of her nose with my finger, then licked it off. I admired her for a brief moment. "What?," she said.

"You're perfect," I said. That left her with a surprised expression.
——

I had to get used to the fact that I would sometimes be walking into school by myself. Hope was going to be with Ren in the mornings. It's fine, I mean it's whatever. I saw both of them at Hope's locker, so I decided to go on over. "Hopieee, are you ready for class?" I basically pleaded for her in a baby voice. It was embarrassing after I did it. I ignored Ren, because what could she actually do? "Yeah, just let me get my books...bye babe,"

We made it through our first few classes. In the third period, we were put in partners to do an assignment. This is the perfect opportunity for me to spend more time with Hope.

"Alright ladies and gents. This is your end of semester assignment. Pick a scene from your favorite movie, then write a short essay on how it describes someone in your life," Mr. Price states.
"This is worth one hundred points. Fifty for the essay, forty for correlation, and ten for the scene.," he continues.
"The reason you are partnering up is so they can proofread, fix any mistakes you may have, because we are all in this english class. You have two weeks. Any questions, no, good", he finished.

This was scary. The first person that came to mind was Hope. I basically had to write a love letter to her, then have her read it in front of my face. That was crazy. I wonder what she was thinking.

"Some assignment right," I gave a nervous laugh to Hope.

"Oh, I don't think it would be that bad. We have the same favorite movie, Grease." Hope smiled
"And your favorite scene is 'There are worse things I could do', but like the lesbian version. So all you have to do is put the person to the song," Hope spoke again.

"Yeah I guess. You love all the scenes though, so who is your person?," I questioned her curiously.

"You'll just have to read the essay," Hope chuckled, looking away.
——
Hope and I walked outside to the courtyard, only to meet Ren at the big tree we were headed towards. Before we got too close, I halted. "Hey umm, I'm going to get going. I'll see you later," I spoke softly, flicking my eyes back and forth between Hope and Ren.

Hope stopped me by grabbing my arm, "Hey Hey, what is up with you and Ren?" Hope asked softly.

"What do you mean, did she say something?," I questioned in a panic.

"No Tess, but you just proved something is up," she raised an eyebrow. I froze.
"You were hostile towards her before, but now it's like you're-," she furrowed her brows now.
I took one more glance at Ren. "-no everything is good, I just want to get started on that essay,"
I went home.

When I walked into my house, this mother of mine had our home shining so bright that it hurt my eyes. "Um mom, is someone coming over?" I asked her, looking around in confusion.

"Huh? Oh no. I was just washing dishes, then got carried away and continued with the whole house," my mom said breathily. She was working hard.

I smiled in awe. Oh, how I love this woman. "Ok. Let me just take this and you go sit down," I grabbed the swiffer out of her hand and handed her a bottle of water from the refrigerator.
"How was your day, little me," mom asked.

"Oh man! So I literally have to write a love note to Hope," I over exaggerated.
"Wait, what! Say swear right now," she exclaimed.
"I kid you not, the essay was assigned to us today and the best part is she has to proofread it," I explained to my mom.
"So what are you going to say?" my mom spoke softly.
"I mean, what could I say," I looked at her with a soft expression.
"The truth Tess...the truth,"

I was in my bedroom listening to the Grease soundtrack.
"I could stay home every night, wait around for Mrs. Right..," I sang. I loved this song. I sang it loudly every time it came on shuffle on my playlist. For some reason this song was the one that made me emotional. "...but to cry in front of you, that's the worst thing I could do," I shedded a tear as the song ended. Somehow this tear gave me motivation to put my feelings down in this essay.

I started, "Hope,"
——
Me: Hey, I finished my essay. Wanna proofread?
Hope: Already? Lol omw.

I was nervous. I was finally going to tell Hope how I felt about her. Deep down I wanted to back out, but my mom was right. It was time to tell the truth, about everything.

I hear a knock at the front door. I slowly open it, afraid of what's to come. Hope and I are standing at the threshold, "Are you going to let me in or," Hope fakes a laugh. "Oh right, sorry. Go on up," I moved to the side, then closed the door.

"So I was thinking I would just read it and correct it going through, ya know to get it over with," Hope pursed her lips into a straight line, then shrugged her shoulders. She seemed pretty eager, emotionally eager. "I don't know how you've finished al-"

"-Actually, I was thinking I would read it. And if anything sounds like it needs fixing then...," I trailed off. "Sure whatever," Hope seemed frustrated. No, emotionally frustrated, and she was trying to hide it. Hope and I sat on the edge of my bed to read out my essay. I start.

"Hope, there are worse things I could do, than treat your feelings like a tool. Even though your girlfriend thinks that I'm trashy and no good, I suppose it could be true, but there are worse things I could do. I could tell all these lies, but my emotions can't hide. Ignore you every chance, think about you all day, then refuse to see it through. That's the thing I tried to do. I could stay home every night, wait around for Mrs. Right. Watch you and Ren everyday, and throw my heart away, on a dream that won't come true. I could hurt someone like me, out of spite or jealousy. I don't steal and I don't fight, but I will love you every night. A fact I'll bet you never knew, but to cry in front of you. That's the worst thing I could do,"

I looked up, Hope's head was lowered. The paper I was reading was wet from tears falling from my eyes. This was an emotional moment.
I touched her hand, "Hope, say something," I spoke softly. Hope lifted her head up, and I saw that her face was wet with tears. We paused looking into each other's eyes. No words said, many of them spoken. Quickly, without thinking, I kissed her. I kissed Hope.

I pulled her in by cupping the nape of her neck. Her soft lips smashed into mine, immediately giving me the salty taste of our tears. Our breathing became one and our rhythm was smooth. You could tell we go together like ramalamalama kadingadadingadong. The kiss didn't last long but I wanted more.

"Wh-why did you do that," Hope said standing, covering her mouth.
"What? Hope, you kissed me back," I stood with her.
"No, no I-," she panicked
"Yes you did," I said calmly.
"No, I-You-Ren-I got to go," Hope fumbled her words then ran out of my room.

The realization caught my attention. Ren! Oh no, what did I do?...Fuck it, it's fine.

AN; Yes, I change the words in the song to fit the story. RIP ONJ <3