"Did you ever stop to think a thief in the night has come to steal your loved ones?" -- This Providence 'Certain Words In Uncertain Times'
4
She wasn't sure how she had ended up spending five hours in the mall with Hailey and Lauren, as well as buying a good amount of clothes she wasn't sure she needed, but she had been drug into it - she knew that for sure.
Hailey had called her up that morning reminding her about her out dated wardrobe - most of which she'd had since high school. So she had managed to spend a month's worth of paychecks all in one day.
Now, they all sat in the food court, munching on their late lunch as they watched the people walk by.
"Was that Jack?" Jack was Marshall's cousin who had moved to California when they were younger. But occasionally he would come to visit. "Sorry, Tess. It just slipped out, but I swear that guy looked just like him." Lauren apologized as everyone looked in the same direction at the back side of a rather tall guy with messy blond hair.
"Lauren, none of us have seen him in, what, three years?" Hailey mentioned. "You're probably hallucinating."
Tessa rolled her eyes and smiled in amusement as her two friends dove into an argument over their conversation. While her friend continued to argue, she gathered all their trash and took it to the trash, bumping into Teddy on the way.
"Hey Rude Girl!" He smiled at her, but apologized when she gave him a look of annoyance. "Sorry, Tess."
"Hey Ted. What are you doing here this... afternoon. Is it afternoon still? I've been here almost all day and I swear its got me highly disoriented," she said, surprised that she was actually willing to have a conversation with him.
"You know, just hanging out. I thought I'd buy a couple CDs." He told her and she nodded. Why was she nodding her head? She had no idea, but she felt like an idiot.
After a long awkward pause, she spoke up, "So yeah I'm gonna get back to my friends," she laughed awkwardly. "Bye."
"Bye?" She heard him say as she walked away. She felt her cheeks growing warm in embarrassment. She was always horrible about keeping up a conversation after the initial greetings.
"You guys ready to go?" Tessa asked as she began collecting her bags quickly.
"Whats the rush?" Hailey asked curiously. "You don't have to work tonight."
"I know, but I'm tired and I hate shopping, so I'm ready to get out of here," she told them and they shrugged as they followed along.
"She's been acting really weird lately," she heard Lauren say to Hailey.
"Psh, rock stars," Hailey said, followed by quiet chuckles from the two girls.
- - - -
Open mic night at The Shop was her favorite night. It only happened once a month, but it was always fun to watch the silly guys trying to do Christina Aguilera songs on Karaoke. It was also interesting to see kids younger than her who actually had quite a bit of talent.
"Hey guys!" Marshall said loudly as he joined them, his new girlfriend in tow, along with someone else. "This is Jenna, and you guys remember my cousin Jake, right?"
"I knew it!" Lauren said as she elbowed Hailey, while the guys all welcome Jake back to Middle Of Nowhere, Georgia.
They found two extra chairs to pull up to their usual table, which was always on the right side of the stage and always the closest to the stage.
Tessa tried her best to avoid Jake, but it did no good, because he sat his chair down next to her and gave her a warm smile. They had a slightly complicated history, and every time he came back to town, things were awkward between them... Maybe three years would change things?
"Hey Tess," he said in his deep voice. "How are you doing?"
She eyed him nervously and gave him a small smile. "I'm good. You?"
"I'm good," he laughed at the awkwardness, "So I've been thinking about you a lot lately."
"Oh really?" She wasn't sure how to take what he had just said.
"Yeah, I think about you every day actually."
"How come?" She faced him now, even though she wanted to watch who ever was about to perform.
"What do you mean how come?" He asked her. "You know why. We shouldn't have broke up over that, ok?"
"We were eleven!" She half-shouted at him.
He looked a little hurt as he looked around to see if anyone was watching or listening. "Right, but that doesn't mean I still don't have feelings for you."
"Look, I want to enjoy my night, ok?" She asked him and he nodded. "So if you want to continue this conversation, lets do it later."
Of course, her group of friends had all told her that she never should have broken up with Jake all those years ago, and although they knew the reasons, they just didn't see it as a big deal like she did.
She watched as Teddy took the stage and looked right at her with an odd look. "Hey guys, I'm Teddy." Was all he said as he sat on a stool and began playing a Postal Service cover. She didn't know he had could play... or sing, but she liked it. He was good at it.
She loved watching him perform. When he played, it was as if he didn't know anyone was there except his guitar, and he just played. She loved to play and perform, but she didn't get quite the same rush that everyone always talked about getting.
"Hey Tessa, why don't you get up there?" Marshall asked after Teddy was finished. Despite her efforts to remain in her seat, she found herself making her way to the stage.
She heard a few of the local people who knew who she was start clapping when they saw her and she smiled and waved. "Ok, so this is one of my favorite songs." It was then that she realized she didn't have a guitar. "Oh man, so I guess I'm singing acapella tonight since I didn't bring my guitar. Anyway,"
Everyone chuckled innocently as she stood in the spotlight quietly as she focused on the words.
"While forever seems to take its time, we're still standing here in line waiting for the sun to rise, as she looks on she's so confused, her heart is lonely broken and bruised, a closed circle with no more room for one more, screams 'to hell with you' " She had never realized how much the song related to her, until she reached the last few lines of the song.
"Where did our hero go and who did he dine with? We say the world's gonna end in the end anyway, and anyway, i'm ok so it doesnt concern me
And did you ever stop to think a thief in the night has come to steal your loved ones? And did you ever take the time to see the world around us is falling apart?"She didn't realize her eyes were closed either, until she opened them and saw her friends clapping at their table, along with the rest of the shop... And who was that patting her on the back?
She turned to see Teddy smiling at her, his guitar still hanging from his shoulders. When had he gotten back there?
"I thought you didn't have a boyfriend?" He whispered as they stood behind the curtain at the edge of the stage.
"What? Jake? No, he's Marshall's cousin and we dated when we were, like, eleven, but not now. No." She kept shaking her head like she had something to prove.
He smirked at her in amusement as he turned to the side and began writing something down.
"Since we're friends and all now," he laughed. "Here."
"What? Who said we're friends?" She teased and he put a hand to his chest and acted hurt.
"Your words cut me deep, Tess." She kind of liked how he left the 'a' off the end of her name.
"Oh, Ted, you big baby." He laughed as Jake stuck his messy blond head around the corner.
"Tess, we're all going to Lauren's." He told her and she nodded, then looked at Teddy.
"I'll see you later," she smiled at him and he smiled and nodded, looking a little offended. She figured it was because she didn't invite him along. "Unless you want to come?"
He shook his head. "No, I'm good. I think I might sing a bit more."
He still had that look in his eyes, but she nodded and waved goodbye before joining her friends. But not without looking over her shoulder to see if Teddy was still there.
