New Beginnings: A Hessa Story (2)

Chapter 29: Tessa

"Noah!?" She yells. "You're here too?" Oh no, Noah.

"Josie..." He walks over and stands next to me.

"So are you two... what is this?" She asks.

"We're just friends now." I say as Noah says, "It's a long story."

"Wow, Noah! Look at you!" She reaches over and squeezes his cheeks. "All grown up! Look at this beard!"

Noah seems extremely annoyed, as he should be. Him and Josie don't have the best relationship. Noah and I would spend a lot of time together, and that didn't make Josie very happy. I think she was jealous for the majority of our friendship, and I think she had a crush on Noah too. I mean, who didn't at my school? He was attractive, sweet, athletic, smart... the total package on paper.

"Thanks, Jo. Still as touchy as ever I see." He flings her hands off his face, and she reacts shocked. If Josie was anything, she was dramatic. Noah turns around and summons his fiancé to stand next to him. "This is Shannon, my fiancé."

"Your fiancé, wow. I'm Josie. Noah, Tessa and I went to high school together back in Washington."

"Nice to meet you." Shannon shakes Josie's hand, but there is a weird tension between everyone right now.

"Well come, Josie. Let's catch up." I grab her hands to move her away from Noah before stuff starts to get too tense. We move to the couch.

"So, tell me everything you've been up to!" I start the conversation.

We talk for at least an hour about each other's lives. I learn that she still lives in Washington, and that she actually went to WCU for college, but she transferred there after I left. She graduated an Environmental Studies major, and works at some nature preserve. She has a pretty serious boyfriend; they've been together for the past five years. She lives in Tacoma with her boyfriend and two dogs. Her parents have both passed away, unfortunately, and my mother's cancer diagnosis creeps back into my mind.

"Well, that's my life. Now it's your turn."

"I don't even know where to begin." And that's true. A lot has changed in the last eight years.

"Well, first off, why don't you tell me how you ended up with someone like Hardin. What happened between you and Noah?"

"It's a really long story, but pretty much Hardin and I met at college, he hated me and I hated him, but then we fell for each other, hard. I learned that I never truly loved Noah in a romantic way."

"Oh, that's adorable. I still can't believe it. I really thought you and Noah were gonna be endgame."

Endgame? "Yeah, I think everyone did."

"I mean you would spend every waking second with that boy!" She exclaims, causing Hardin's head to turn in our direction. "Like literally you ditched me so many times so you can hang with him. Do you remember that time we all went to the movies?"

"Yeah..." I don't need her telling this story out loud.

"You and Noah couldn't keep your hands off each other! It was so annoying." She laughs, and I see Hardin's eyes widen as he tries to focus on a conversation he's having with his mum.

"Well, that was a long time ago. We've both moved on and are happy. So yeah... I'm in event planning now! I'm actually planning Noah's wedding."

"What!" She turns around quickly to Noah, who is sitting in a chair talking to Shannon. "She's planning your wedding?" She asks him.

Noah's cheeks flush in embarrassment, and I can tell Shannon doesn't know how to respond either. "Yeah..." He eventually says.

"Wow. What a freaking world. I'm happy for the both of you." She reaches over and touches my shoulder. "Well, your mom looks like she's doing well. She looks so much happier with that man than she ever did with Richard."