Closet Party

*Tessa*

The rest of the week was horrible. On top of the school work I had to do, my nightmares were increasing by the day. The first night was awful. All that dream consisted of were my parents' screaming matches. When I was little, I never actually saw them argue. But damn could I hear it. I tossed and turned the whole night and woke up covered in sweat and tears at three in the morning, not being able to handle it anymore. I stayed up the rest of that night and went to school having four hours of sleep. Let's just say, my pr-calculus teacher was not happy with me.

The second dream wasn't pretty either. In my dream this time was instead of my parents arguing with each other, they argued with me and Mason. Mason and I were sobbing as my parents called us names and threw things at us. That night, I got three hours of sleep.

The final dream was the worst. I got one hour and by that point, I was done. My dream was again my parents yelling at each other, but this time I wasn't just listening from my room. I was watching. I saw my father hit my mom on the cheek and him throwing a vase she liked against the wall. My mother was screaming her head off and their eyes were red. I was crying in the dream and in real life. I woke up to Mason telling me to wake up cause I was making noise. I told him that would be fine, but I wasn't. I couldn't get those images out of my head and instead, I just did my homework throughout the night and wrote in my notebook.

The worst part about the effects weren't that I was tired, but that my friends were noticing. The first day I passed it off that I was tired from doing homework. Spencer, of course, knew I was lying. I had told him earlier that day I had none, but I almost hugged him for telling the truth. The second and third day though? Homework wasn't a good excuse so I just said they were worrying too much and I spent a lot of the night reading.

Spencer didn't believe me though, and he didn't have to tell me that. His facial expression revealed it. He may be able to hide a lot, but that was plain as day. He would narrow his eyes at me and shake his head in disappointment. I knew he wanted to know what was actually going on, but I could tell him. I was embarrassed. I'm sixteen and having stupid nightmares.

"Tessa!" I looked up from my plate at my friends. They were all looking at me weird, like I had grown a second head.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"You've been staring at your food for twenty minutes and destroying it." Rocky said, giving a pointed look at what I was eating. I had originally brought berries. They were now jam.

"Sorry. I have a lot on my mind." I said, trying to act perfectly fine. Again, Spencer narrowed his eyes.

"How much sleep did you get? Your bags are big and dark, you've been spacing out all day, and you almost fell asleep in class today."

"I told you. I was reading a really good book. Elise actually recommended it." The whole table shifted after that. Except Spencer. He was still glaring at me.

"Wait. Did you say Elise? Like, Elise Haller?" Carlos asked. He had a shocked face with a smile showing through and his eyes were big.

"Yes..." I drew out the yes, confused at his reaction.

"How do you know her? She barely talks to people here."

"Really? She was really talkative on the tour she gave me. When I first came here, my mom signed me up for a tour and she was the one that did it. She's really sweet. Why a sudden interest." Rocky answered for Carlos.

"Carlos has a massive crush on the girl. Has had one since freshmen year when they sat next to each other in bio. I think he has her as his screen saver on his laptop at home." I laughed and saw that Carlos was beet red. "Sad thing is, he hasn't done a thing to get with her. He just stares at her with those beautiful eyes." Carlos glared at Rocky and she smirked. "You can't deny it. Why not just ask her on a date. You look good enough."

"It isn't as simple as that. What if she doesn't like me?"

"What if she likes you and just stares at you like you do with her?" Rocky countered.

"I could talk to her. See how she feels about you. I have class with her on Monday." Carlos beamed at me.

"Could you? Tessa you are the best!" I chuckled and took a small glance at Spencer. He was still narrowing his eyes, but it was at his plate.

"So Spencer, you ready for the beach tomorrow?" I asked. He looked up but a slightly surprised face, not expecting me to ask him anything.

"Yeah. Super ready."

"You two have been acting weird all week. Tessa is always tired and staring off into space. And Spencer just glared at Tessa or something else. What happened between you two on Tuesday afternoon after school?"

"Nothing happened Rocky. It's just a coincidence. Plus, Spencer is always glaring at people." I answered quickly. I wasn't about to let Spencer say anything about what happened on Tuesday.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive." The lunch bell rang right after I answered and I quickly stood. "I got to go to class. Spencer, I will see you there." I turned on my heel and left the room. I was walking to my locker when I felt a hand grab my wrist and yank me into the janitor's closet. "What the hell?!" I yelled. It was too dark for me to see the person that grabbed me.

"Shut up before someone hears you." I knew that voice.

"Spencer? What the fuck are you doing?"

"Figuring out what happened on Tuesday. I'm sick of you lying Tessa. Those other idiots may not be able to read you, but you are an open book to me. What the fuck happened?" He was angry, but I wasn't sure why. It's not like we were besties.

"Nothing important."

"Then why haven't you been sleeping? Something is keeping you awake and I want to know what."

"I told you. Homework and reading."

"That's bullshit and you know it. You told me yourself on Tuesday you had no homework."Okay, he had a point so I scrambled to come up with another lie.

"I meant nothing due Wednesday. I was working on our partner project. I told you I didn't want to cram to finish it."

"You're lying." He said through gritted teeth, and he was right but I would never admit it. No way was this kid learning about my problems.

"No, I'm not. Why do you care anyway? Before Tuesday, you were ignoring me and now you won't let me leave."

"You broke down crying in my house when my sister and dad were in an argument. You wanted to leave right away and your brother was like actually behaving and acting way more mature than he should."

"You are reading into everything. Just leave me alone and stop acting like you care. We've known each other for less than a week. I don't have to tell you anything. Now move so I can get to class." I could tell Spencer had no interest in moving before finding out the truth, but he moved anyway. I shoved past him and went to class.

The whole class I ignored him. He had no business asking me any of those questions. I had a right to my privacy and he didn't. No one was supposed to know about my panic attacks or my nightmares. I didn't want them knowing about my parents either. There was no way I'd be able to keep the divorce a secret, but I could try.

*****

"As I was saying, the fur trade was..." The teacher droned on and I felt my eyelids droop. Just before the teacher made me fall asleep, the bell rang loud and clear. I shot up out of my desk and shoved my notebook in my bag. Everyone around me did the same, except for Spencer, who was taking his time. "Make sure to do your worksheet on the fur trade!"

I rolled my eyes and ran out of that room, happy that I didn't have to sit through hell. Now I could think about the beach trip we were doing. I was obviously excited, but I was definitely nervous. Not because of wearing a swimsuit. I lived in California so I was used to that. I was worried for the sleepover.

What if my nightmares continued? What if I had one and everyone found out about my panic attacks? No one was allowed to know about them. Non of my friends back home did, and my friends here wouldn't know either. My plan was to see if I had a nightmare tonight, and if I didn't, I would go to the sleepover. If I did, I would skip the sleepover, but still head to the beach.

"You ready?" Rocky asked, making me jump. She smirked and I rolled my eyes.

"Yep. I still have to double check with my mom about spending the night since it's well, my mom, but we'll see. I'll tell you tomorrow."

"That's fine. Now are you going to be the girl that never goes in the water or are you actually gonna hang out?"

"Rocky, I lived right by the beach. You better believe I'll be in the water and not reading. I would go to the beach with my friends, and I was the one forcing people to get in the water. Babies." Saying those things reminded me of when I would bring my guitar and we would barbecue on the beach and I would play music.

"Awesome! I'll see you tomorrow when I pick you up. Bye!" Rocky ran away to leave and I finished up at my locker. Making sure I had my stuff, I made my way to my car to pick up Mason. I got to my car and saw Spencer leaning against it.

"Okay, don't even think about talking to me. After that little closet party, I'm in no mood. You aren't getting any information cause there isn't anything to tell so just leave."

"Tessa-"

"No! Spencer go away. Just leave me alone for God's sake. I'm not telling you anything so just give up. After your little stunt you pulled today, you can believe that I never want to talk to you. So just leave."

I got in my car and drove to pick up Mason. Mason saw me and ran to the car. I saw Lena waiting and waved to her.

"Is Spencer coming?" She asked, impatient that her brother was late.

"I think so, but I'd be careful. He isn't in a stellar mood."

"Since the break up, he never is. Are you going to that beach trip tomorrow with Spencer and his friends?" I nodded and looked behind me to see Spencer's car coming near.

"I got to go. Looks like Spencer's coming. Bye Lena." Lena waved and I drove off.

"What was that about?" Mason asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean why did you leave all of a sudden? And how do you know Spencer is in a bad mood?" I sighed and turned right on the road, taking the long way.

"Spencer wants to know what happened and won't mind his own damn business. He shoved me in the janitor's closet just to get me to tell him. He keeps trying to ask me, but I won't tell him. I saw him coming and wanted to leave immediately."

"Dang. He's a stubborn ass." I glared at Mason. "Fine, he's a stubborn donkey." I laughed at that. "Why do you think he wants to know so badly?"

"Well think about it. If Lena just burst into tears when some people got into an argument, you would want to know why. It would be something you didn't know would happen and would worry you. You would want to make sure she was alright."

"So what you are saying is that Spencer cares about you and wants to make sure you are okay?" I whacked my brother on the head at his comment.

"Maybe. Or maybe he just wants to know what triggered it to make sure that awkward situation doesn't happen again. He probably doesn't know how to deal with people crying and doesn't want to be put in that situation again."

"So he only cares about himself?"

"No. If you have ever felt uncomfortable, you don't want to feel like that again. People crying can scare people or make them feel uncomfortable because they don't know how to react. He might care, he just doesn't want both of us to feel sad and/or uncomfortable."

"Now that makes sense." There was silence before he spoke again. "So are you ever going to tell him?"

"Not planning on it. No one needs to know about any of that. And they aren't finding out about mom and dad until a question is asked. My problems aren't relevant right now."

"What about that sleepover thing I heard you talking about?"

"I may or may not do it depending on how tonight goes. If I have a nightmare, I'm not sleeping over. If I don't have one, I will do it."

"Okay."

I parked in front of the house and got out with Mason doing the same. Walking into the house, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. It was Rocky's name on the screen and she was calling. I accepted the call and brought the phone to my ear.

"Tessa?"

"Hey Rocky, what's up?"

"Don't get mad, but Spencer is picking you up tomorrow." I gripped the phone harder.

"Why?" I asked, trying, and failing, to keep the bitterness out of my voice.

"I'm going to get there late, and Spencer lives pretty close to you so I thought he could pick you up so you know exactly where to go. Look, I'm sorry, but I'm helping my dad out so I'll be late. I know Carlos is an option since we are all friends, but he lives like twenty minutes from you, while Spencer lives ten."

"Fine," I sighed. "You owe though. You know we aren't on great terms."

"I know, and I'm sorry, but I have to go now. See you." Rocky hung up and I felt myself begin to dread what would happen tomorrow more and more.

Why did it have to be Spencer of all people? I had a car! I could take myself. Why did the one person I'm mad at have to take me?

"Who called?"

"Rocky. Turns out Spencer is taking me tomorrow. Joy."

"Huh, the universe really hates you."

"Shut up. Don't you have a game to play or something?" Mason smirked and ran to the living room couch to play his x-box.

I turned to go to my room, hoping I'd be able to live through a twenty minute car ride to the beach. After all, it was only twenty minutes. I would be fine. He isn't getting any secret out of me.