Summer Delinquent

Chapter 21

"I understood the anger from you and dad, I just didn't expect it which is why I snapped back," she nods her head in understanding. "But what really threw me was Bass, like I know we have that sibling rivalry thing but that's just us messing around and it's fun but his reaction genuinely freaked me out."

"Tessy," she pauses for dramatic effect, "Sebastian is one of the most protective people I know. The fact that he wasn't with Maddie when she got hurt killed him. And then when we found out that you were missing, oh my god don't even get me started, he wanted to call the police and make them send out an Amber Alert for you. Charlotte had to talk him off the ledge."

"Yeah he taped my phone to my arm when he found me," I tell her, holding up my phone which still has the duct tape on it.

Her head whips to my phone before she lets out a surprised laugh, "Of course he did. Man I love that boy, he's not the brightest but he's the best." She shakes her head with a grin, walking back into the pantry.

She walks out of the pantry with a bunch of supplies in her arms. I recognize all the ingredients and smile, "Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies?"

"I may have six kids but I know what each of you like," she stands on her tiptoes to try and reach the mixing bowl. She looks over her shoulder with a pout, "Honey, please."

I grin widely and get off the stool, moving to grab the mixing bowl for her, placing it on the counter. "Now, talk to me about tonight."

My mouth shuts quickly. "Um..."

She gives me a knowing look, "Tess, come on this is a no judgement zone and trust me whatever you did I've done it worse."

I roll my eyes. She pulls out the peanut butter and the measuring cups. I stand next to her and start measuring out the dry ingredients. I end up telling her all about my day, from Maddie falling off the skateboard to Harry throwing me in the pool.

"I was wondering why you looked a little damp," she teases, bumping her hip next to mine as she scoops out the cookie dough and places them on the baking sheet. I twist a few locks of hair over her and let a few droplets hit her. "Hey! Not cool." I laugh and hug her side. "But seriously, how do you feel? From what I recall, you've never come home drunk before so this is new territory."

"My head hurts a little, not too bad though. And I only felt I was gonna chunder once and that was after the backflip," I explain, opening the oven door for her to slide the baking sheets in.

"Backflip?" he oven door slams shut as she looks at me in shock.

"Um yeah, turns out drunk Tessa can do backflips off of stair railings and land perfectly," I shrug, grabbing a few pieces of paper towel to start wiping up the counters.

My mother shake her head and mumbles to herself, "Oh my god." She hands me a glass of water and two Advil, "Take these, it'll help in the morning."

"Thanks mom," she kisses my cheek and walks towards the oven door, peeking through the glass.

"Okay, now tell me about these new friends you made, they didn't pressure you into anything, did they?" She asks, pointing her wooden spoon at me.

I shake my head quickly, "Nope, if anything they were the ones telling me it was okay if I didn't do anything."

"Well that's positive."

"I didn't really get to know them, Loretta was making out with a guy and the rest were, everywhere."

"What about that Addison girl, seemed like she hung out with you for most of the night?" she queries, packing up the ingredients and putting them away.

"She was, she kept me company so that I wasn't a loner."