I awoke in my bed. After one look around my much too bright room, I moaned in agony. For once, the morning sun was not welcome in here. I pulled the duvet up over my head and attempted to get back to sleep. But, the smell of banana pancakes and freshly brewed coffee filling my bedroom was enough to get me up. Slowly and carefully, I emerged from my cocoon and made it to the door. The rest of the house seemed even brighter. Damn windows, stupid open concept. I moaned and plunked myself down in a chair at the table. Tess looked at me and chuckled a little.
"Coffee, please," was all I could manage to mutter. She poured a mug and placed it in front of me. Inhaling the wonderful, rich aroma, I sipped cautiously. I didn’t know how this would react with my stomach. I seemed to be fine so far, so I continued. Then I remembered the fountain dream.
"Did you push me in the fountain last night?" I asked accusingly. "And what the hell was with the dust?"
Tess looked at me nervously, examining my face. "I didn't push you in, you fell backward off the edge." She was such a bad liar; it literally looked like it was painful for her to say. "And the dust was from an old legend. I got it from the same friend who makes the wine. She said that it was for protection or something. Sorry, I didn't mean to get it in your eyes," she apologized while placing the pancakes in front of me hesitantly. "It wasn't last night either. You slept the whole day and night yesterday. It's Sunday."
"What? How drunk was I?" I cried. "Tess, I can't believe I wasted a whole day, and I can't believe I fell in the fountain! How could you let me do that?" I stopped yelling and tried to calm down; my head suddenly spun like crazy. "I’m sorry, it must have been pretty hard to carry me all the way back to the house," I apologized.
"Nah, it wasn't so hard," Tess claimed with a smile. "You could afford to lose a couple of pounds, though," she teased as she sat to join me for breakfast.
We ate while planning my moving strategy. I was going to take the Vespa while Tess led the way in the Mustang with all my belongings. I would go and wait at the park while she dropped everything off at the apartment.
"It's not fair that even you get to see the apartment before I do," I complained as we left the house. “Julie wouldn't even tell me the address. All she said was that it was close to the school.”
"It's a surprise, Avery, accept it. You worry way too much; Julie has everything under control. It'll all be worth it tonight, trust me," she assured.