Dance Till We Die

Chapter Four (Tessa)

TESSA

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I couldn't believe it. I really couldn't. I guess British people are just smarter than Americans. That's not cool, though.

Jade and Nicole stood at my desk, staring at the laptop screen. Joshua had his eyes closed and was shaking his head, walking up and down my room.

"What did you just say?" I asked him. He didn't even look at me, just shook his head more. Nicole watched Joshua as he paced the area of my room, and so did I. I could tell that Nicole hadn't understood what he meant by 'That's the one', and neither did I. Jade was still staring at the screen. Joshua stopped, and he looked like he was about to say something, but Jade interrupted with a loud, strange shriek.

"I got it! I have it, I have it! Oh my God, I'm freaking scared! How--"

"SHHHH!" Joshua interrupted Jade.

"He can hear us?" Jade asked. She was now standing up following Joshua around the room. They stopped in the middle of the floor.

"Of course, you bloke! If you didn't notice, he's the flat right above Tessa's!" Joshua exclaimed and whispered at the same time (how does he do that?)

"People, what are you talking about?" Nicole asked, standing up and facing the both of them. I just stood at the desk, watching the three of them bicker and yell.

"Nick, look at the screen. Look at it. The fifth name, Nick! The fifth damn name!" Jade urged, one hand on her forehead and the other making forceful gestures. I scrolled down the list at the same time with Nicole, but she was the astonished one and I was still confused.

"OH, MY! What the... How did he.. What's going on?!" she exclaimed, making choppy sentences that made no sense.

The fifth name was Alexander Torpode, who lived in the apartment  (or flat) above me which is B3. After a few seconds, I realized that B3 is the flat where the arrows came from. "The arrow man lives upstairs?" I asked, sounding stupid.

"YES!" They all said in unison.

At that moment, Jason peeked his head through the door. "Is everything alright in here?" he asked. Jade was about to say no, but I interrupted. "Yeah, we're fine. Um, bye." I nervously blurted.

Jason stared at my face for a few seconds, then let his eyes travel lower and lower slowly, examining every part of my body, then he looked back up at my face."Come here for a sec, Tessa." he said. It was an order, and I knew I had to obey.

Without looking back at Josh, Nick, or Jade, I followed Jason out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. Once we were inside, he closed the door (why would a kitchen have a door?) and sat down on the stool. Jason grabbed me by the waist and forced me to sit on his lap. "What are they talking about in there?" he asked between clenched teeth. His grip on my waist was too tight for me to wriggle free, so I didn't try.

"They want to find out who shot the arrows." I said. My hair rested on Jason's shoulder, and it brushed his neck a little when I turned my head away from him. "What did you tell them?" he whispered. When Jason whispers, I automatically know what's coming. "Whatever." I dryly said.

He held me tighter, and pushed my head roughly into his chest. I couldn't see anything but his dirty white T-shirt, so I just closed my eyes and waited for him to stop what he was doing. Every few times his hands moved, I flinched. Jason was about to go further when I heard the bedroom door swing open.

He dropped me before Jade opened the door, and I almost fell on the kitchen floor. Jade's timid face poked through the door, and she cracked a small smile. "Um, hi. My friends and I were wondering if we could step out to check something out for a minute, so when we come back could you let us in?" Jade asked in a soft voice. She seemed to be only talking to Jason.