Love to all!

|| Chapter 11 ||

The school field looks like a battlefield of graduates. A sea of green and white fill the field and I can barely make out one person that I recognize. Alyssa is sitting next to me on the bleachers with the rest of my family including Olivia.

"Is the Dragon Lady here?" My mother whispers next to me and I shake my head with a grin. Alyssa bursts out laughing and I nudge her arm trying to get her to stop.

"Mom, you can't keep calling her that, and Drew said that she was coming," I scold her while trying not to laugh.

She huffs and sits up, fixing Maddie's headband, "Like heck I can't, if she insults one of my kids, she's on my-" she quickly covers Maddie's ears, "shit list."

"Who's on your shit list Momma C?" Olivia asks, leaning her head back, so that it rests on my lap since she is sitting one row down from us.

"Drew's mom," Maddie informs her with a shrug. "We call her the Dragon Lady because she thinks Tessa is a bad influence on Drew." Well I did talk him into getting matching tattoos last night...

"We call her Dragon Lady, you cannot," my mother looks at Maddie pointedly.

"A bad influence? I don't see it," Olivia comments, sitting back up.

"That's because you're Charlotte's bad influence," I tell her with a smirk, pulling a strand of her hair.

She grins up at me innocently, "Bitch."

"Swear Jar!" Maddie yells not even looking up from her iPod. There aren't even games on that thing, what is she doing, scrolling through music?

Olivia sighs dramatically, looking at Charlotte next to her, with a pout on her face. "Char..."

"Don't even think about it, you brought this upon yourself," Charlotte responds immediately.

Olivia scoffs and looks over at Sebastian who hasn't even been paying attention to our conversation and is busy talking to our father about something. "Babe," she tugs his shirt gaining his attention. "Can I borrow five bucks?"

He looks down at her skeptically, "Why?"

She gives him a flat stare, "Because I need five bucks."

He raises an eyebrow, "Did you say a bad word? Because I've already counted how many fives I have and I can only say six bad words today, so I'm going to save them," he grins cheekily at her.

"I hate you," she grumbles, opening her purse that is filled to the brim with snacks for this ceremony. She pulls out a small packet of cookies looking back at Maddie, "Can I offer you cookies instead?"

Maddie looks up for the first time and examines the cookies in Olivia's hands for a few moments, "Okay, fair trade."

"You're sharing those with me," My mother informs her with a smile.

Maddie pulls the cookies to her chest, "But they're mine."

"And I gave birth to you," she states, ending the debate.

"Oh look there's Drew!" Sophie points out and we all look towards the field, searching for him.

I can clearly spot him since he's one of the tallest seniors in his year. He's standing by himself since his last name starts with a 'B'. He's looking over the bleachers, probably trying to find either his mom or my family. He can't seem to find us even from all our waving so Sebastian stands up and starts yelling obnoxiously loud. "Drew! Hey, hey Drew, babe! We're over here!"

"Sebastian, sit down," my mother hisses, smacking his back.

"Look, he sees us!" Sebastian yells waving at Drew who finally notices us. He waves shyly as everyone around him snickers at Sebastian's outburst.

"I can't believe that worked," Olivia face palms and looks at Charlotte. Charlotte giggles, trying to stay serious but once Olivia chuckles all hope is lost.

I look at Drew and he smiles at me with a bright smile, I pull a funny face and he chuckles.

Someone taps a microphone on the stage, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the ceremony will begin in fifteen minutes, please get yourselves seated, thank you." Principal Johnston walks off the stage and starts talking to another faculty member.

Olivia looks at Charlotte, "Gerald is still alive?" she asks in mock horror.

"I honestly thought our school year would be the last straw for him, we drove him mad," Charlotte giggles.

"Let's not lie ladies, the fact that he's still here after Sebastian's graduation speaks volumes," our mother reminds them with a loving kiss on Sebastian's head.

He looks up at her with a boyish grin on his face, "Thanks Ma, I love you too."

"Maddie!" A young voice yells from a few rows away and we turn to look at a bunch of kids making their way down to the field. Natasha, Maddie's best friend motions her to come over.

Maddie waves back and looks over at mom, "Mom?" she asks pleadingly.

Mom waves her off, "Go have fun, but if are not back in ten minutes, I will eat the rest of your cookies." Maddie rolls her eyes with a smile and runs off to her friends.

A boy standing next to Natasha makes a comment to Maddie, pulling a strand of her hair, which makes her punch him in the arm with a scowl. He laughs at her attempt at violence and watches her walk off with Natasha, trailing behind them with his friends.

"Hey, who's the kid?" Sebastian asks, scowling at the boy who isn't even looking this way. "He looks a little too comfortable with Maddie."

"Honey, isn't that Carl's stepson?" My mother asks my dad for clarification.

My father looks over at Maddie, eyeing the boy carefully. "Yes, his name is Grayson, good kid."

"Good kid, my ass, did you see him pull her hair?" Sebastian demands.

"I did, and I also saw her punch him back, she's fine Bass," my father says with a twitch of his lips.

"Oh my god there she is," my mother hisses, pinching my leg to get my attention. Ms Benson is walking through the crowd at the base of the bleachers with her phone glued to her ear. Typical. She turns in our direction and my mother hides behind Sebastian's big head, "Don't let her see you!" I sit up taller with a smirk on my face.

"Mom, you're so dramatic," Charlotte comments from in front of us.

"Do you want her to sit near us?" My mother asks rhetorically.

"Well if we're being honest, if she sees us, she'll probably head in the opposite direction," I counter with a shrug of my shoulders.

My mother's head lifts up and a smile slowly graces her face, "Tess, Honey, you're a genius," she sits back up and proceeds to talk loudly to my father next to her.

Thankfully Principal Johnston comes over the mic asking everyone to take their seats as the ceremony is about to begin.

Maddie maneuvers back over to us after saying goodbye to her friends. "So, who's this Grayson kid, huh?" Sebastian asks as soon as she sits down.

Her nose scrunches up, "None of your beeswax." Sebastian's mouth drops open. Olivia and Charlotte jerk their heads in her direction with wide eyes.

"Madeline, do not talk to your brother that way," my mother's voice is calm but her eyes are terrifying.

She sighs, "He's just an annoying kid from school, calm down."

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the graduating class of 2021," Principal Johnston announces over the microphone, ceasing all previous discussions as applause breaks out among the spectators.

|| ✨ ||

"Where the fuck did you get a piñata from?" I ask as Charlotte turns onto Drew's road. Maddie is riding with our parents so the curse words have been flying around the car the moment we got in.

Sebastian grins from the backseat where he's holding the Avengers piñata on his lap while Olivia shoves candy into the little hole on the top. "Party City, duh," Sebastian answers as if it's obvious. "They didn't have any graduation ones so we got the next best thing."

"The Avengers is the next best thing?" Charlotte comments, risking a glance over her shoulder to look at the piñata.

Olivia drops a couple pieces of candy on the seat, "It was either this or a cactus."

I smile to myself at the thought of Drew's mother seeing the piñata. This will be fun.

We slowly come up the small driveway that leads to a circle with a fountain in the middle. "Damn, this is Drew's house?" Olivia asks quietly, watching people walk through the lavish iron double doors. "What the hell is happening?"

"How did you not know he was rich, look at his car," Sebastian tells her with a laugh. He pats her head softly, "The elevator doesn't always reach the top floor," she glares at him but that just spurs him on, "She's three fries short of a Happy Meal," he pauses for a second before a smirk comes onto his face, "She fell out of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down-Ow!" Olivia smacks him in the stomach.

"Does he have a brother?" Olivia asks as we pull into the driveway behind a few other cars. Sebastian scowls at her. "For pure interest sake," she grins sweetly at Sebastian.

I shake my head with a chuckle, "Nope, he's an only child."

"Damn," she whispers. We all climb out of the car and head over to the open front doors as people trickle through.

"It's okay Liv, Drew's eighteen remember?" Charlotte adds with a mischievous grin. Sebastian leans over and smacks her upside the head.

My father's car pulls up behind ours and the look of despair on my mothers face is almost comical. She makes eye contact and shoos us to go ahead of her and dad as they take their time getting out of the car. My mother grabs Maddie by the shoulders, "I will give you five bucks if you have a meltdown in forty minutes so that we can leave early."

Maddie tilts her head from one side to the other in consideration. She finally shrugs, "Sure." My mother smiles brightly and kisses Maddie's forehead before standing up straight with a more relaxed smile on her face. Sebastian shakes the piñata at her and it looks like my mother can't figure out whether to laugh or yell at him.

Drew's mother is standing just inside her front door in the foyer with her usual fake smile plastered on her face. Once she sees my family shuffle through the entrance her fake smile drops and her scowl, solely reserved for me, graces her features.

"Hello Ms Benson," I stand tall, staring down at Drew's mother politely.

She looks me up and down, studying my attire, "Tessa, always a pleasure," she replies with a forced smile. "I see you brought your whole family, how...lovely."

"Drew actually invited them, since he sees them, all the time." The smile on my face is as fake as hers. We've never gotten along because she thinks that I'm a horrible influence on her son and I think that she's a bitch that has no idea who her son is but we both tolerate each other for the sake of Drew.

"Well, you look... appropriate, except for the shoes of course," she replies gesturing to my white converse that have Sharpie drawings on them.

"Thank you, I try," I smile brightly, turning on my heel and walking away from her.

"Sup Ms B, I got a piñata," Sebastian informs her as he walks right through the entrance without a second glance.

We step outside onto the back patio and Olivia is immediately lost to the refreshments. Charlotte mumbles something along the lines of watching out for her but Sebastian just hugs the piñata closer to him as he shuffles away.

Drew is standing with a few of his friends. Jesse, Drew's best friend, has an arm around Drew and is pulling his head closer to him, fake crying. I find myself rolling my eyes with a smile on my face as I make my way over to them.

"Hey Little One," Jesse says, draping an arm around my shoulder.

I stare at him quietly, "You do know that I'm taller than you, right?"

He scoffs half-heartedly, "By two inches."

"Two inches counts for a lot Jess." He smirks at my word choice, no doubt letting his mind wander towards the gutters.

"T, if you wanted to count my inches so bad, all you had to do was ask nicely," he winks playfully making me burst out into a fit of laughter.

"Never change Jesse," I tell him, hugging him lightly.

"Bet," he winks.

Drew shoves Jesse back and stands in front of me, "Did you see my mother?" The grimace on my face gives it away. He sighs, "And how was she?"

"A delight as always," I smile sarcastically. "How's the tatt?" He smiles sheepishly, pulling his sleeve up to show the bandage still on his wrist.

"I told my mom that I accidentally cut it while making food," he shrugs.

I raise an eyebrow in response, "And she believed you?"

He shrugs again, "She wouldn't have even noticed if I hadn't told her about it."

"Then why the hell did you bring it up?" I ask with a laugh of disbelief. Only Drew would potentially rat himself out.

"Because he's afraid of his mom," Jesse leans over on Drew with a sly smile, throwing an arm around his shoulder. Drew scowls at him, "Hey man, I get that she's hot but your mom scares everyone."

I scrunch up my nose in disgust. Drew's mom, hot? Ugh.

"The party has arrived!" Mateo shouts from the back door where he's just walked outside. At that moment Isaac walks out behind him and smacks him over the back of his head. I chuckle loudly at Isaac's nonchalant attitude.

When he reaches us he immediately holds a hand out for Drew to shake, "Congrats, man." Drew smiles and shakes his hand. "Hey Tessa." I give him a head nod in reply. "So, this is your house?" He asks pointing at Drew, who nods his head, "That explains the car."

"Hey Tess, have you seen your brother? I lost him by the snack table," Olivia walks up to me but she keeps looking over her shoulder for Sebastian. When her head turns to us her face brightens at seeing Drew. "Drew! Congratulations on graduating," she hugs him tightly. "Fuck you're tall, what are you, 6'5?"

"I'm 6'3, Liv," Drew chuckles looking down at her.

Isaac smiles and moves to stand next to me, "I'm Isaac," he smiles at Olivia. Wrong move, buddy.

She stares at him silently with a blatant confused look on her face, "Olivia. Are you...Drew's...friend?" She asks, not recognizing him.

"I'm Mateo's cousin, I'm down here from New York for the summer. I just graduated." She nods her head politely, not really interested. "So, where are you from?"

"Here."

"That's cool, how old are yo-?" He gets cut off and I can't help but run my tongue along my teeth to stop myself from laughing.

"Babe, where the hell have you been? I found those mini quesadillas you like," Sebastian walks over to us with a relaxed smile on his face but I can see him sizing up Isaac the closer he gets.

Drew's face scrunches up in confusion as he eyes the piñata in Sebastian's arms as he balances a plate of food on top of it. "What is that?"

Sebastian looks down at his arms and back up at Drew, "Quesadillas." I suck in a breath through my nose to stop from laughing out loud.

"Yeah, no I'm talking about the piñata." Olivia grins at Drew in response as she grabs the plate of quesadillas from on top of the piñata and gives Sebastian a kiss as a thank you. My eyes avert to Isaac and he has his hands in his pockets as he kicks at the ground awkwardly.

"Piñatas are for parties," Sebastian says, gesturing around the yard, "This is a party, even if it started off boring we're ending it with a bang!" Our friends cheer and look around the yard in search of a tree appropriate for the piñata.

"That one!" Jesse yells out, pointing and pulling Sebastian in the direction he's pointing in.

"I'll get the bat," I volunteer heading back towards the house.

My mother and father are standing on the patio with a few other parents, holding a glass of wine in their hands. Mom winks at me as I scooch around and I salute them in reply. Charlotte is sitting on the white sofas in Drew's pristine fancy-ass living room (that no one is allowed to actually use unless there is a party), and sitting next to her is Jackson Hartly, one of her ex-boyfriends best friends from high school. Rumor has it that Jackson hasn't spoken to Chase since graduation and he goes to NYU so Charlotte has been seen him a few times around the city.

She catches my eye and waves daintily. "Piñata in five," I tell her as I walk through the house, into the kitchen and through the door that leads to the garage.

Drew and his mom's cars are parked in the three-car garage and a feel an itch to grab a Sharpie from my denim jacket pocket as I stare at the Lexus but I resist and move along towards the sports equipment.

I grab the baseball bat out of a box and flip it a couple of times in my hand. As I'm walking back out of the garage Ms Benson's angry tone of voice stops me in my tracks.

"This is ridiculous, you said that you would be here!" She whispers harshly into the phone. She's silent for a few moments, "George, he was expecting you to come and now how am I supposed to tell him that his father is an asshole? Oh wait, he already knows that!" My eyes widen at hearing Ms Benson actually showing emotion for what feels like the first time in her life. "Getting him an apartment for college is not going to make up for you being a shitty father, you can't keep buying his affection, it didn't work with the car and its not going to work now. Get your shit together, good bye."

I wait a few moments, hoping that she's left the kitchen when I stroll through casually as if I hadn't heard anything. She's leaning against the counter with slumped shoulders. In clear my throat loudly and her head jerks up. "Tessa, what are you doing with that bat?"

I use the bat to point outside, "We're gonna hit the piñata."

She sighs loudly, "Of course you are." She straightens her shoulders, moving a piece of hair that had fallen from her pristine bun. "Very well, do it away from the guests then." I nod my head and start to move away from her. "Tessa." I turn back around, giving her my full attention. "When summer is over, so is your friendship with Drew. I will not let you corrupt him more than you already have, as a mother I can't let it go on."

I lean against one of her counters nonchalantly, "With all due respect Ms Benson, Drew can do whatever the hell he wants, he doesn't need you policing him every five seconds." I push off the counter and look down at her. "Your son is afraid of you, what do you think that tells people?" I ask her and walk out of the kitchen not waiting for an answer.

|| ✨ ||

I don't think I can tell you all just how much I appreciate all the support from you guys, thanks for sticking around*

Love to you all and Happy Holidays,

Sammipott xx