Chapter 25

On the second day of my suspension, I woke up to a quiet house. I knew that Tessa had an early meeting with her publisher about the progress of her current book. James was probably at work already, trying to make up for his absence yesterday, but it still surprised me that the house was empty. It had never been that way before. 

Walking into the kitchen, I grabbed some waffles from the freezer and popped them into the toaster. While they cooked I poured myself a glass of chocolate milk and grabbed the syrup. After the waffles were done, I sat down and enjoyed my breakfast. Instead of scrolling through my phone like usual, I just glanced out of the windows enjoying the peace. 

The mail came early around here, so once I was done eating I headed out to grab it. Getting the mail had sort of become my job in the past couple of months. It wasn’t until I was halfway back to the house that I felt it. 

It felt like someone was watching me. 

The feeling was so strong that it made me stop in my tracks. Shaking my head and laughing at myself, I walked back into the house. As soon as the door was closed it went away. I’m just going crazy. 

I set the mail on the counter and sat down in the living room, deciding to watch a movie. Not long after the movie ended, Tessa came back home. I watched as she walked into the living room and spotted me on the couch. She walked over and plopped down on the couch a few seats away from me. I laughed before seeing the look on her face. She looked stressed. 

“Hey, how was your meeting? Did everything go alright?” She sighed before bringing her hands up and rubbing her eyes. 

“Yeah. It’s just, I thought I was on track. I thought I was where they wanted me to be in my books. Turns out I’m at least 10,000 words behind.” 

At the end, she sighed again. I felt really bad. I knew how much she worked on that story of hers. It was a lot. During these last couple of months, there were days at a time when I barely saw her. She would be cooped up in her office typing away. For her to be that far behind, it had to be really stressful. 

Getting up, I moved over to sit right next to her and leaned my head on her shoulder. I wrapped my one arm around her, trying to be comforting. 

“Please don’t stress yourself out. You’re an amazing writer and I’m sure you’ll be able to do what needs to be done.” We sat in silence for a few minutes before she nodded. 

“You’re right, Sera. Thank you.” With renewed hope, she stood up and starting walking away. “I’m going to work on it now.” Before I could say anything, she was out of sight and walking upstairs. 

Hours later, I was watching Arrow in my room when my phone chimed with a notification. Opening my phone I was met with a text from Mason. 

Hey, school’s out! Meet me at the park in 10? 

Shock and curiosity ran through my body. What could he possibly want to meet me at the park for? 

Hold on, let me ask. 

Without waiting for a reply I headed out of my room in search of an adult. Passing the office I could still hear Tessa typing away. She was really determined to get on track. Not wanting to bother her, I continued downstairs hoping that James was home. Luckily, he was and I found him in the kitchen looking for a snack. 

“Hey, how was work?” He turned around slightly startled but laughed when he saw that it was only me. 

“Sorry. Work was good if a little stressful.” 

Immediately I felt guilty. If it wasn’t for me he wouldn’t have been behind. However, before I could go any further he cut off my thoughts. 

“It was worth it for yesterday though,” he said raising his eyebrows, daring me to disagree. 

“Okay. But that makes two of you who are stressed.” He looked at me confused and I explained to him what happened with Tessa. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. I immediately felt guilty for adding more stress to his day. 

“Thank you for letting me know, Sera. I’ll try to make sure she eats.” Tessa tended to forget about that kind of stuff when writing. 

“Anyway, Mason asked if I could meet him at the park. Can I go?” He glanced at his watch for the time and then nodded. 

“Yeah, go ahead. Do you want a ride?” 

“Nah, it’s pretty close. I’ll walk.” 

He nodded and went back to looking for a snack and I headed back to my room. I texted Mason to let him know that I would be there and started to get ready. Yeah, I was one of those people who didn’t change out of their pajamas unless they were going somewhere. 

After taking five minutes to change and brush my hair, I headed downstairs again, said bye to James, and started to make my way to the park.