Ten & Levan

33. Thirty Three

TEN

So, the inside of my home looks like this; there's a bottle of champagne on the counter, which is almost empty, but next it is a whole carton of the same. There are boxes and boxes of something mysterious, two huge boxes probably containing some kind of clothing and there's my mother, her face aglow and her eyes wide and bright. Wow, we must be having a party, otherwise my mother needs the talk, I think, easing out of my heels.

"Are we having a party?" I ask her as soon as I reach the kitchen but there's a head full of auburn fire hiding under the sink. "Thea, you can come out of there, I see you!" I say, putting both hands on my waist and she automatically falls out from the crouching state and lies flat on the kitchen floor, laughing. I give her a hand and she manages to stand up before we dance around in a hug.

"You weren't supposed to be back before Monday, what the hell!" I laugh in her ear. She shrugs as we separate.

"Uh, long story..." she tells me, by her facial expressions, I can tell that it isn't a very pleasant long story. "I'll be staying here for the night, my parents will be back by tomorrow evening," she tells me. She seems worried, so after giving her a knowing glance, I return my attention to my mother who sands smiling cheerfully at the two of us.

"What's the occasion?" I ask her.

"Take a guess..." she says, barely containing the excitement she feels. Feeling puzzled, I try to step into her shoes and wonder what could make her that happy. Is she still cheering about Justin and I because boy, I want to tell her that movie started with ending credits. I also want to tell her that I ended up watching a totally different movie, one I really, really, really liked.

But then it strikes a chord somewhere in the back of my brain-strings and I know just what it is.

"Did you win the case you were working on?" I guess and she squeals with delight as a confirmation. I give her a long hug and holds me to her, like she never wants to feel less happy than she is right now. Truly, I don't ever want her to feel less happier. I don't want us to feel anything but happy.

"I'm so proud of you," I tell her, grabbing her face in my palms. Her eyes glaze over, but she doesn't cry. I go back to the week after dad left and how I told her I wouldn't want her to cry anymore, and she complied. Since then, we've only laughed and so we've embodied joy.

But when she bursts into a wide smile, I realize how it sometimes causes people so much pain just to stay happy.

***

Turns out, we're having a blast of a party.

Tomorrow.

So Thea and I help mom with decorations, food and drinks supply. We run to the mart when we figure out that what mom got isn't enough for the amount of people she intends on inviting. And obviously, my mother has a messed up sense of ratio and proportion. Thea later helps me try on the new dress Heather bought for me. For once, I'm glad she was able to shop on her own, or that she was able to shop at all.

I tell her I love it. She tells me she loves me.

When we're all done with discussing the party, we all sit down and watch half of Mean Girls as we have dinner. Thea and I have watched it so many time we literally have no chill about it. She and I recite the dialogues along with the characters. She does Gretchen and Karen, I do Regina. She tells me I resemble Regina and I tell her then she must have Karen's talents.

We pillow fight our way into bed and when mom turns the lights off for us and our hair tangles up together, her auburn fire into the depths of my brown, I prop myself up on an elbow so that I can look straight into her eyes.

"Tell me," I say. Her eyes roll up and her lids fall on them instantly. She takes her time, a short time, but just the amount she needs before she can open up to me. She always does.

"See, you'll have to promise you won't freak out," she tells me, raising her brows. While she wants me to remain calm, her words do the exact opposite to me.

"We'll if you're about to tell me you're pregnant, I swear I won't scream bloody murder," I tell her miming up a zip lock on my lips. Her eyes smile before she does

"No, you idiot," she punches me in the shoulder, giggling bitterly.

"Then what is it?" I ask her. It can't be something worse than that right?

"So you know how I thought mom and dad are keeping something from me?" She mutters, I nod, "Well I suspected they were getting a divorce or something..." she reveals, "So when they took me on this trip, I figured they'd be telling me about it," my heart falters.

"I'm so sorry, Thea..." I whisper, she frowns.

"No, wait...they took me to Canada so they can show me the new house they bought. Dad is doing well over there so..." she says, taking a deep breath and looking around.

"So what? Don't leave me hanging!" I order her, she sighs.

"We're moving to Canada," she says.

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny, Athena..." I say, rolling my eyes until I lose sight of her.

"I'm not joking and don't call me that," she says, giving me a glare. I feel the panic rising up my throat as I see it in her eyes, green as mother earth but holy fuck, she's serious. I shoot up to a sitting position and she does the same.

"Stop it, this can't happen, you can't go Thea," I blurt, staring her square in the eyes.

"I'm not sure If I'm ready to go, Ten, Chill," she says, placing a hand on my shoulder and squeezing it. "For the moment, parents are definitely moving, but I might not."

"My god woman, even if you were, I'd keep you tied in my basement until your parents got sick of looking for you and left without you," I tell her, giving her a scornful side eye. She giggles, her eyes glistening. Oddly so, it makes me look at her. I want to tell her everything she means to me and so I do.

I tell her how she's more a sister than a friend.

She tells me that I'm the reason why she wants to stay, and stay until the end of our days.

I smile at her, wondering what I did to deserve her.

"Now, are you planning to tell me about your date or what?" she says, sitting up straight. Not so surprisingly, my mother's ace pops in through the door.

"Are we discussing the date?" she says, of course, she was waiting outside to hear all about it.

"Oh yes, come on in!" says Athena, shifting so that all three of us could fit on my single bed.

"Just a heads up, I didn't really finish my date with Justin..." I say. The two of them prepare to kill me and bury my body while I'm still breathing so I decide to continue before they draw their weapons, "But!"

"Oh you're so lucky there's a but Ten," Mom sighs, Thea nods.

"I know, there better be a real good excuse girl," she mutters.

"There is," I say, calming them, "because I went to see Levan instead..." I announce, both their jaws detach from their mouths and fall away. I roll my eyes, here we go.