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Alana rubbed her forehead. “No coffee, no cigarette—”
“Cigarette? Do you smoke now?”
She huffed a breath. “Not anymore.”
“Good, because that’s absolutely disgusting.”
“So everyone tells me.”
Tess crossed her arms. “I don’t care if you’re in pain right now. I’ve been in pain without my best friend who completely shut me out of her life.”
Alana tucked her hands into her sweatshirt pocket.
Tess glanced away from her, cheeks pink. “You weren’t the only one grieving, you know. Losing Sybil was hard on all of us. My mom is still distraught. I feel like I lost my second mother and my best friend all at once. I spent most of my days drowning, trying to make sense of all of it.” She grabbed a fistful of curls and pushed it past her face, only for them to spring back into place like they always did. “Not only did my best friend come back out of the blue, but she didn’t even have the balls to tell me.”
“I kept looking up at the house,” she explained. “It seemed dark and empty. I figured you were gone.”
“My parents are on a trip,” Tess replied. “And I don’t live there anymore.”
Alana blinked. “You…don’t?”
She tilted her head. “Did you really think I was going to live with my parents forever?”
“Well, n-no,” Alana stuttered. “But I’m surprised you still live in the area.”
“Why? You know I love it here.”
“Yes, but I don’t know, I thought maybe you’d finally decided to go to grad school. You always talked about studying art therapy.”
“I’m working at a practice in Geneva, connected to the public schools.”
“Do you live up there?”
“No, I live here.”
“By yourself.”
Tess hesitated. “No. I met someone.”
Alana’s mouth fell open.
It only made Tess angrier, her cheeks now burning red. “Don’t look at me like that.”
Her mouth peeled into a grin. “Who is he? Do I know him?”
“No. You don’t get to know. Not until we figure this out.”
“Figure out what? I’m home, I’ve apologized.”
“Still not good enough.” Tess held up a finger. “I want to know why you left.” She held up another finger. “I want to know where you went.” And another. “And I want to know what the fuck happened with Chris.”
“Language!” Sophie squeaked through the screen door.
Tess smiled, softening a bit. “Sorry, Bean. Cute pajamas.”
“Stop swearing,” Sophie demanded.
Alana turned to face her sister. “Soph, can you give us some privacy, please?”
