I was the first to wake up at eight o'clock. When I went out into the main room, Mina and Liz were both crashed on the couches, still wearing what they wore to the party last night. I decided to be kind and let them sleep, assuming that they were probably hung over and did drink last night, and just went into the kitchen to make breakfast.
Within the hour that I made breakfast, everyone gradually woke up. Shayna and Jess were the first to wake up, then Mina and Liz woke after hearing Shayna and Jess talking and turning the TV on in the main room. Mikayla and Sydni were the last to wake up, and came into the main room just in time for breakfast.
I placed the plate stacked tall with pancakes in the center of the table, bacon, sausage, home fries and toast on the sides. Coffee, milk, and orange juice were at the end of the table to be passed around. Everyone started digging in and putting food on their plates before I could even sit down. And once I did, I noticed an empty seat.
"Hey guys, where's Tess?" Everyone looked around the table at each other's faces and processed that Tess indeed was not here with us.
"She never left the party. We went over and told her that we were leaving and she told us that she wasn't coming home tonight. So we told her to call us if she needed us to come get her and that was it." Mikayla shared, cutting into her pancakes.
"So it's safe to assume that she spent the night with John?" I said, trying to come to a conclusion.
"Without a doubt, we all saw it coming." Mina said. "And as far as I know, she didn't drink while we were all at the party. So unless he gave her something after we left, she chose to do it; so good for her."
"Did you guys drink last night?" No one answered me, but I could tell by the few heads hanging low and staring at their food that some of them certainly had.
"I didn't, I'm clean. Couldn't risk it." Mina cheered, bitting into a piece of toast. There was a pause before anyone else spoke.
"I did." Liz confessed. I couldn't say I was surprised after seeing her dancing with the guys there, but I couldn't really judge it. It was her choice. And she's here now and safe, that's all that matters.
"I did too." Jess chimed in. Again, not really surprised after hearing about her and Oliver last night, but I was just glad she was safe.
"Okay, so who else?" No one else spoke up. I looked across the table to Shayna, and her eyes just widened at me.
"What?! Don't assume I was drinking! I'm not drinking until I'm of legal age." She yelled, attempting to defend herself.
"I didn't even accuse you of anything! I just looked at you!" I yelled back.
"Can we please stop the yelling?" Jess groaned. "I already have enough of a headache."
"How much did you drink?" Mikayla asked Jess.
"I don't remember, but I didn't think it was that much. I just remember falling asleep in the car and I woke up when Shayna tried throwing me over her back and carrying me inside."
"You're welcome for that." Shayna said, looking for a thank you.
"Thank you Shayna." Jess said sarcastically, but of course she still meant it.
"I just can't believe that Tess, out of any of us, actually ended up sleeping with someone at the party." I tried changing the subject away from the alcohol. "I mean, not to judge, but she's never even had sex before. So imagining goodie Tess who won't lie to her parents loosing her v-card at a party with a guy she's only talked to for three days is a little out of the ordinary." As if on command, a car pulled into the drive way. We all heard the tires against the crushed shells of the driveway and turned our heads to look out the window. It was the same red jeep that had brought me home last night.
I got up from my seat and went towards the sliding glass front door, and walked out to the car. After walking down the stone walk way to the driveway, I was met by John, Derrick, and Tess.
"Good morning, what are you guys doing here?" I asked, crossing my arms together and trying to mask my tank-top-exposed arms from the chill in the morning air.
"Well, aside from dropping off your friend, you also seemed to have forgotten this." Derrick replied, holding my hat with my bag inside of it out in front of him. I had completely forgotten about it. "I went to take a shower this morning and when I grabbed my towel off of the shelf in the closet, I saw the rim of your hat and recognized that it was yours. I figured that I would return these to you." I reached out and took them from him.
"Thank you, really. I can't believe that no one else saw it and stole it."
"Had I not showered this morning, I probably wouldn't have noticed it until you had already left Cape Cod. You chose quite the hiding place."
"Thank you." I laughed, then looked over to Tess and John. "So how was your night, you two?" Neither of them answered, they were too busy talking to each other. But within several seconds they closed the conversation with a kiss and Tess walked over towards me. "Thank you again for having us last night, too. And thank you for returning this one in one piece." I said, gesturing towards Tess. "I can only imagine how his bedroom looks or what you had to hear last night." I laughed, looking to Derrick now.
"It's not a problem, I just turned the music up for a little bit and didn't have to worry about a thing. And thank you for coming, we really enjoyed your company."
"We did." John confirmed, looking to Tess still, not towards me.
"Enjoy the rest of your week here, stay in touch!" Derrick said as I pulled him in for a quick hug before he ran back into the jeep and they sped off home. Tess and I turned and walked inside, and everyone from the table stood up and looked right at her.
"What the hell happened?" "Did you sleep with him?" "How was he?" And tons of other questions erupted into the air before Tess could even take her seat.
"Guys, calm down. Tess just got home, let her have something to eat and recuperate." I said, signaling for all of them to sit, which they did. "I'm sure she had a very, very long night." I grinned.
"Oh my god guys." Tess said walking over to her empty seat. "I can't say I didn't expect this, but you act like we're all back in middle school and I just had my first kiss."
"Well, it's sort of exactly like that." Liz commented, "Just on a bigger scale and with a few years added on to our ages." Tess sighed and started filling her plate with food.
"So, what happened?" Mikayla asked. Everyone's focus was still on Tess. She took a deep breath and then started talking.
"After all of you guys left, we stayed on the beach for the whole night until everyone was out of the house except for John, Matt, Derrick, and their other roommate friends and their one night stands. Once everyone was gone, we snuck up to his room and we kissed and it just went on from there."
"So you guys did it?" Shayna asked.
"We did." Tess exhaled as she spoke, her cheeks turning as red as the strawberry jam on the table.
"Did you tell him that it was your first time?" Jess asked, still holding her temples and resting her elbows against the table.
"I kind of had to." Tess said before taking a sip of the coffee she had poured herself. "He didn't mind. He never stopped asking if I was comfortable and kept telling me to say something if I was in pain and whatever, he made it feel safe." Tess was still wildly blushing, but she had the biggest smile on her face too. Anyone could see that whether or not she'd known John for very long or been in a relationship with him, she was happy with what had happened.
"So he was good?" Liz asked now.
"I don't exactly have anything to compare it to, but I did enjoy it if that's what you're asking."
"We're really happy for you Tess." I lifted up my paper cup of apple juice, "To Tess, the morning after her right of passage." Everyone else brought their cups up. "May there be many, many more beautiful men, or maybe even women, who end up in your bed." I laughed and so did everyone else, but Tess just gasped.
"Cheers!" Everyone called, clinking paper cups against each other and giggling.
"Alena I'm straight, but thank you for not forcing one sexuality onto me." Tess glared, saying her sarcastic thank you. But each of us could tell she was just trying not to laugh with us.
"Tess you know that we love you no matter what." I said, standing up and giving her a hug from behind her seat, but she just rolled her eyes and mumbled out an of course. After everyone was done and cleared their plates, we got comfortable on the couch and started watching TV. "So Tess, are there any plans for today? Or were you too busy last night?" I said messing with her.
"I did put together a plan for today, thank you for asking Alena." Tess stood up from the couch, walked over to the table and grabbed her notebook, flipping it open to the plans for the day. "Since it is our last official day here, I decided on doing something classic and simple, a beach day." Everyone started talking all at once, but everyone was in agreement about the beach. "So, we'll hang out here until later in the afternoon, pack dinner to bring with us, eat on the beach and stay for the sunset until closing." Tess said. "I figured it'll be packed with families during the day, and it'll be more fun to just go when it isn't really busy."
"Great thinking Tess, thank you for putting that together." I smiled to her.
"You're very welcome." She spoke sarcastically before taking her seat back on the couch. Our attention went back to the TV, and nobody moved for the next several hours unless we were getting food, juice boxes, or going to the bathroom.
AUTHOR'S NOTE; hello everyone! updated two days in a row! I don't even remember the last time I was able to do that.
I should be updating again tomorrow with their actual trip to the beach, so stay posted! But in the meantime, please vote/comment/tell your friends and enjoy this (unfortunately short) chapter (: